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0TreeLemur

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Everything posted by 0TreeLemur

  1. You nailed it. I learned on steam gauges and flew behind them for almost 40 years before my first experience with tapes and intermittent indicators such as rate of turn and VSI on the Aspen. My scan is much more in tune with pointers. A quick glance at an altimeter, ASI, or VSI just gives me all the info I need. A tape requires reading the numbers. An intermittent indicator requires a lot more mental activity (1) is it there? (2) is it changing? (3) how fast? (4) if I push/pull or turn the yoke does it react? (5) how much? My neural network can scan steam gauges three or four times while doing all that stuff. I am attuned to interpreting rates of changes of needles. I miss that with the Aspen. Because my panel has only one Aspen, it retains 3-1/8" AI, ASI, Altimeter, and VSI. In a pinch those are still my goto. Under normal IFR when things are pretty steady, I can stare at the Aspen and feel quite in sync with the airplane. But when I go through a bumpy cloud wondering which way is up, I rely more on the round dials.
  2. I agree that the turn rate indicator on an Aspen is hard to read in a scan. The Aspen VSI isn't much better. I had one open 3-1/8" hole in my panel and decided to go with a VSI. For me, that is a better steam gauge to have for flying a stabilized approach compared to a TC. It seems I'm always flying in turbulence lately and holding a standard or half-standard rate turn is impossible anyway!
  3. They taking longer to sell, I suppose? How long is the average time from listing to sale do you reckon?
  4. On an IFR flight plan today to Arkansas to scope out possible eclipse viewing sites, I got cleared through the MEM class-B. Took this photo of a FedEx heavy on approach just to capture the moment. I think I found a good small airport to view the eclipse if the wx gods approve.
  5. Several different manufacturers make these in different form factors. You gotta give us more detail or a photo so we know what you are talking about.
  6. Not sure. It was a short clip someone posted on reddit. My plane came equipped like that too and I love it! Too bad both companies seem to have surrendered to Big G. The nav side of my KX-155 is connected to the Aspen too, so I can display to VOR's on the HSI in case of an EMP. As far as I'm concerned, for what you get in terms of info on display, an Aspen beats to G5's. Two 275's too. But that's just my opinion. Of course Big G's Big Glass would be great too, but I don't have that upgrade budget especially since I like what I have.
  7. Recently I came across a video of a Navy pilot shooting a carrier instrument approach in (I think) a Grumman C-2 Greyhound. It dawned on me that my Mooney has essentially the same panel with an Aspen, and uAvionix AV-20, and Avidyne IFD540. A shop recently called mine an "anti-establishment panel" My JPI engine monitor is smaller... Screencap:
  8. I've considered that... but it creates a challenge because I don't think it will couple to the KC192 autopilot computer without over-driving the interelectrode diffusion integrator. Of course, Garmin sells a total solution, but I don't want to drop 65 AMU's on that turnkey solution.
  9. Yes! Good catch! All true, except the A-C design replaced spurving bearings with anachroic helecoidal units housed in a rendundant plenum to avoid the known problem with want of lubricity.
  10. Thanks. Maybe one of our newer members can offer one of those! I'd prefer the original as made by Allis-Chalmers though.
  11. Anybody have one of these they are willing to sell? I'm especially interested in the version with P/N ending in -17, which indicates functionally variable reflectance with double stator imposivity. Negative reluctance version not desired. Thanks!
  12. Your target EGT might be different from 1250F depending on how far from the exhaust valve your EGT probes are and random errors. The best way to identify your target max. power EGT is to observe the indicated EGT on takeoff from a field near sea level, mixture forward, in your airplane. It might be 1300 or 1200.
  13. @Shadrach, I pulled my numbers out of my arse. I mis-remembered the dry weight of the IO-360 as 250 pounds. But with the diesel, you must six quarts of water, a radiator, and mounting hardware too. I don't think that their 357 # includes that stuff. My number included a 30-lb add for that. For people like me with an early-mid '80's M20J that is a bit on the heavy side as they were made then and therefore UL challenged, going to a heavier engine just doesn't make much sense. Folks with a later J model with the increased gross, it might make more sense. Yesterday I filled out the questionnaire and received an e-mail back from the company this morning that seemed to indicate that the 180 h.p. version is most desired.
  14. Man, I got completely excited reading the specs. Sadly, it seems too heavy for most Mooney airframes given our useful load constraints. As I read it, the engine weighs >130 lbs more than the Lycoming IO-360. That would throw the CG out the front. Na ganna happan.
  15. The KC-192 autopilot computer in my J has an intermittent connection. Reseating the computer can cause it to start working again. Would this adjustment work with those pins or should I get the pins replaced? Thanks, Fred
  16. Here's what me and Mrs. OTreeLemur did last weekend. When we bought our J in late '22, I thought the tail number looked naked. We fixed that. It was a long, fun weekend!
  17. Sorry Skip, I have never heard of BY plugs. What are they? It seems like your missing the "OB"? -Fred
  18. Last night I flew round trip from Tuscaloosa to Huntsville. Wicked SW winds. Flew there in 35 minutes (91 nm), at 5500 ft LOP in my J with fine-wire plugs burning 8.5 gph at 143 ktas and ~190 knot gs (WOT, MP 23.3 in. Hg, 2400). I knew coming back would be painful, so I flew back ROP just to fully fight the headwind, and burn some of that expensive avgas that Signature made me buy to waive the $30 "service fee" for gracing their establishment. At 4,500 90F ROP this resulted in ff=10.5 gph and 155 ktas with 115 gs (24 in. Hg, 2400). I rarely fly ROP, because my inner CB likes saving 2 gph at the cost of only 12 ktas. Most of my flight hours are long x/c flights. But I believe that those fine wire plugs easily pay for themselves the way I fly. Up high, around 10k, I cruise at 7.5 gph and about 140 ktas.
  19. Interesting problem and a bunch of us have the same problem. Unless you are near Texas, cloud cover forecasts the day before will likely cause the candidate airports to shift. Thoughts: Pick an airport with a runway too short for jets- cut down on the competition for parking. Fly in with enough fuel that you don't have to buy any before leaving to save time and avoid the worry about broken pumps. Someplace with plenty of parking on the grass. Fly in the day before and camp? From me (west-central Alabama) the closest places to see totality are Arkansas or Missouri. Could go to TX. We watched the last one in 2017 near Paducah, but that was before we discovered the magic of Al Mooney's creation. We flew to Chile (not by Mooney) in 2019 to watch a total eclipse on the beach!
  20. Just read that the lander is laying on its side. Incredible that they are in communications with it. https://www.space.com/intuitive-machines-odysseus-moon-lander-tipped-over I think it landed upright, and the little green men pushed it over on its side ala "cow tipping"
  21. That's a great idea. Knowing airspeed and heading while crossing a VOR's radials would allow you to estimate range from that VOR. Get winds aloft from FIS-B will allow a more accurate GS estimate. I could see a moving map display with an error ellipse around ownship. Do it with a stratux, it'll cost less than $500. The certified version will be $5,000 or more. It could include DME which would be a significant improvement and more $$. If cell phone companies would transmit time and position from each tower, that would make a fantastic constellation of surface based beacons providing essentially the capabilities as GPS. Cell phone towers are clustered in cities and along highways so coverage wouldn't be necessarily uniform. Less of a problem in the flight levels. Neat stuff.
  22. While I'm waiting on new connectors, today I hit them with a little fine sand paper, plus contact cleaner & scotchbrite. Plugged them in as firmly as possible and taped the connectors together so they wouldn't slip. They still got warm. Not has hot as before. New connectors will do the trick, I think.
  23. Ok. I believe you. It's still tar. The weatherstripping is not only easy to work with, it doesn't get all over you whenever you are elbows deep in the instrument bay after using it. It also doesn't cling to anything. The panels are easy to remove when you use the weatherstripping. And after you remove them, they don't have black gunk on them. Many upsides with using the weatherstripping. Oh, and it works really well at keeping water out.
  24. Beautiful evening to fly in Alabama, after getting fuel for $4.50 at HAB, my favorite fuel stop! The photo just barely does it justice. The colors reflecting of the wing were brilliant!
  25. This is how my trim switch is wired looking at the back, of the gang: I gather that power comes in the yellow wire.. The mechanism on the arm switch depresses the arm microswitch whenever it is deflected up or down. When that happens, it energizes the orange wire, and the normally open center taps on the other two trim switches. Pushing the switch in the down direction energizes the up trim servo, while pushing it in the up direction energizes the down switch servo. Just like yours, the center switch is reverse orientation from the two on the ends. My wire colors are different from yours, but the function should be exactly the same, because the jumpers between all three switches are the same.
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