skydvrboy

Kansas has lots of dry grass and we don't even consider it windy unless it's over 40 mph. It's not uncommon to see winds exceed 70 mph on hot summer day under the right circumstances. The big differences though, we don't have a lot of people and the land is relatively flat, so getting firefighting equipment to the fire is generally pretty easy. I believe the bigger issue than the dry grass is the dry evergreen trees. Grass fires are pretty small when compared to forest fires.

After having just finished searching for a hangar, I'm familiar with the prices at all the airports around me. Salina (KSLN) = $93/mo - concrete floor T-Hangar, electric included. (This is where I'm at) Abilene (K78) = $90/mo - concrete parking pad w/dirt floor T-Hangar, electric doors, electric included. McPherson (KMPR) = $75/mo - concrete floor T-Hangar, manual door, electric included Ellsworth (9K7) = $50/mo - concrete parking pad w/dirt floor T-Hangar, manual door, electric included As for tie downs, no tie down fees for overnight or long term parking except at KSLN. They charge $7 for overnight parking at the FBO, but long term parking is over by the maintenance shop with no fee.

Want to have some real fun? Try posting a picture of the entire engine compartment. Our trusty IA's (and some unofficial IA's) will tell you all the AD's that haven't been properly complied with, all the SB's that should done, etc. Not that this is bad, but you might quickly find your old trusty bird needs $10k or more of work at the next annual just to be "airworthy."

This came up in another thread recently. I'll just cut and paste my response... I love flying at night. The air is usually much calmer, visibility is greater, there's less traffic, and I can easily navigate by the stars and the lights of cities and towns along my route. I can usually pick out my destination airport when I'm 40+ nm out, something that's impossible during the day. Plus, it's just so peaceful and beautiful at night. That said, I take a few extra precautions when I fly at night. I fly as high as practical for the length of trip. I try to stay within glide distance of a "good" landing area (interstate highways or airports). I do a very thorough preflight, preferably before dark. I keep a red headlamp on my head and another flashlight clipped to my shirt. I use flight following for all cross country flights, even very short ones. I only fly over "flat" terrain, no mountains. And most importantly, I try to stay current and proficient at it, easier to do in the winter when it gets dark earlier. Approximately 1/4 of my landings are at night and 1/5 of my total time is at night. Everyone should have their own risk matrix and I won't try to tell anyone theirs is right or wrong. Stay safe up there!

I ended up going with the pull strap shoulder harnesses. I was concerned about ease of access to the back seats with the inertia reel hanging in the doorway and I often have people in the back. I thought about doing just the pilot side, but decided against it. It seemed the only time it would really come in handy was for changing the fuel tanks, which is always done in cruise, so I should be able to loosen the strap for that. Yes, their price list is confusing, they don't mention at all that they do Mooney seat belts, and their website is terrible. However, I found them very easy to work with when I called them and I'm quite pleased with the product and the cost. The lap belts are adjustable on both sides, so you can adjust to get the buckle exactly where you want it.

I just bought a set from Hooker Harness. They were $400 for both front seats, $200 each, plus shipping. You still need to buy the bolts and clamp from Alpha Aviation, but a lot more reasonable price. I’ll post pictures when I get them in.

$$$ of course. The electric step is $395 plus shipping whereas I paid $100 shipped for the used vacuum step. If you're not removing the vacuum system, no need to spend the extra.

If you decide to replace your vacuum step with electric, keep your fellow CB Mooniacs in mind and post your vacuum step for resale. They are hard to come by and in high demand!

Just like @Bob_Belville, mine was the fuel servo. Then when we got that replaced the idle was too rich and too fast. Mechanic adjusted it while I pulled all the levers and restarted it a few times. No issues since. Only my experience, not saying that is what's wrong with yours.

“He guys, first time owning an airplane,” Pictures, pictures, PICTURES!!!

Looking forward to seeing you and everyone else in a few days.

You don't need your sight for that... you can feel the difference as they walk your direction!

Platform shoes?

FWIW, right around the time I installed my Whelen LED landing light and my LED interior lights, we had the inspector from the Wichita FSDO come give a safety talk to our aviators group. I asked the same question about my landing light and basically got the same answer. His answer was something to the effect of "If we allow you to change tires and repack bearings, do you think we care about a light bulb."

FWIW, I’ve given up on a funnel, too messy. I now just hang onto my empty oil can and put the lid back on. When I need to add another quart, I cut the bottom out and I have a one time use, disposable funnel. Dump in the next quart, and the empty becomes the funnel for next time.

Something I wasn't taught during primary training living in the flat lands of KS. I can see that being an issue, but you have a parking brake, so you have another option if you're caught in that situation. If you're at an airport with a mid-west T-storm rolling in and no tie down straps, now what?

Wow, I guess what they say about not all CFI's being equal is true. With the exception of the FBO, all of this was covered on my first flight and repeated often. The FBO stop was covered on my first dual cross country, including education about ramp fees, courtesy cars, and complementary cookies (that was a CFI requirement for an FBO stop). Most of what you need has already been covered, but I find tie down straps much more useful than chocks. Just about everywhere you go will have some chocks you can borrow, but most places only have tie down anchors. I recommend the cam-lock type tie down straps instead of ratchet straps as you don't want to cinch the plane down, just keep it snug. Something like this https://www.harborfreight.com/400-lbs-capacity-6-ft-x-1-in-camouflage-cam-buckle-tie-downs-4-pk-61918.html (camouflage optional). Also not a bad idea to get a small tool set to keep in the plane emergency use. Something like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/Apollo-Travel-and-Automotive-Tool-Set-64-Piece-DT0101/204744858 Other things to consider, paint alignment lines in front of your hangar and on the back wall to avoid hangar rash on the ailerons. Also, have a stop block that you run a wheel into so you know when your in far enough and not too far. We could go on and on about all the small things, but part of the fun is figuring this stuff out on your own!

I'm a big fan of the MAC for it's ability to store and retrieve frequencies, but I think it might be redundant with the PAR200B. The big question for me would be how easy and intuitive is it to store and retrieve multiple frequencies in the PAR200B. It can store 5 frequencies, but if it's a pain to store, retrieve, or know what those frequencies are for, I'd keep the MAC. If that is all simple and straight forward, I'd save the panel space and go with the 165. I also have no idea how difficult or expensive it would be to reconnect the 165 to the CDI, so that may factor into the decision to keep the MAC after a talk with the installer.

I love flying at night. The air is usually much calmer, visibility is greater, there's less traffic, and I can easily navigate by the stars and the lights of cities and towns along my route. I can usually pick out my destination airport when I'm 40+ nm out, something that's impossible during the day. Plus, it's just so peaceful and beautiful at night. That said, I take a few extra precautions when I fly at night. I fly as high as practical for the length of trip. I try to stay within glide distance of a "good" landing area (interstate highways or airports). I do a very thorough preflight, preferably before dark. I keep a red headlamp on my head and another flashlight clipped to my shirt. I use flight following for all cross country flights, even very short ones. I only fly over "flat" terrain, no mountains. And most importantly, I try to stay current and proficient at it, easier to do in the winter when it gets dark earlier. Approximately 1/4 of my landings are at night and 1/5 of my total time is at night. Everyone should have their own risk matrix and I won't try to tell anyone theirs is right or wrong. Stay safe up there!

Why is the FAA guy getting involved at all? Just have your IA install it and put this in the logbook: ’The installed ADS-B OUT system was shown to meet the equipment performance requirements of 14 CFR section 91.227.”

Currently in a T hangar 20 minutes away from the house, but it's 30 minutes from work. Before that I was 1 minute from the plane, which was awesome, but that was on a 2200'x 30' grass strip that only had enough room to turn around on one end. It kept me on my toes knowing that I had 1800' from when I crossed the power lines to make the midfield turn off or I'd have to get out and push! Now I'm landing on a 12300' x 150' runway and I've noticed my landing accuracy is quickly deteriorating!

Perhaps that's saying something about a 172 vs a Mooney. I hit a dove on landing, leading edge of the wing just above the pitot tube. Feathers and blood everywhere, but no damage to the plane!

Starting right now, you could literally be compliant by this weekend if you really wanted to. The skybeacon is in-stock and several suppliers offer overnight shipping. Install, including programming and logbook entry takes less than an hour. No one will miss the deadline because they couldn't get it completed in time, only because they chose not to complete it in time.

When I first got the plane, all of the control surfaces were out of spec for the travel range. First annual, my A&P rigged all the surfaces to match the travel limits. At that point, it has a hard right roll... like 25 degrees per second the moment you let go of the yoke. My A&P compensated for that by dropping the right flap, which helped some. I'd also fly with a full right tank and empty left tank, which helped more. After resetting the flaps to zero and aligning the ailerons, it now flies straight and level for 5 seconds or more and then slowly starts a roll to one side or the other. It will not recover from this roll on it's own, but rather will progress into a spiral, which I think is normal. At any rate, I'm quite happy with the rigging now... and it flies about 5 mph faster.

You would be better off asking Don yourself rather than getting the info second hand. I know for certain that step one was reset flaps back to zero and ailerons so that both are neutral to the wings when the yoke is level. That's all we had to do and it flew great. If I remember right, the next step was to hold the wings level with the aileron and adjust the rudder until the ball was centered. Again, if I remember correctly, the final step was to slightly bend the back edges of the ailerons, like a trim tab, until it flew hands free. If you need to tackle this project, call Don first to make sure I understood him correctly and still remember correctly.