skydvrboy

@scottd, FYI, I went to a great aviation weather symposium this weekend where I was introduced to the BUFKIT tool. You've been holding out on us!

That surprises me because both the jumpers and the pilots are on the hook for the violation. Skydivers have to abide by the same cloud clearances as VFR pilots and they should all know what those are, as they had to test on it to get their license. Yes, skydivers are licensed. They have a graduated licensing system (A-D) through the US Parachute Association (assuming they are a member as most are). However, even if the drop zone is not a USPA member, the FAA will still hold the pilot responsible for any airspace violations. On one of my early jumps I saw a cumulus cloud a half mile or so away and wanted to see what it would be like to drop through it. I tracked over to it and blasted right through the middle. Our safety officer met me before I made it back to the hangar and grounded me for a month. Though I have to say, it was pretty cool seeing the full circle rainbow close in on my shadow before hitting the cloud.

One other point, when you talk to them, all altitudes will be in AGL (except the pilot). For obvious reasons, jumpers don't care about sea level and set their altimeters to zero before each jump.

From my experience, it has been no factor. I used to jump quite a bit and the local pilots loved having us around (at least that's what they told us). Now I'm on the other side and regularly fly out of an airport with a skydiving operation. They have not caused any issues for my flying. Not sure about the transponder requirements, but they are required to communicate their intentions and "jumpers away" on both CTAF and the ARTCC frequency (or other controlling agency). Their pilots will keep everyone in the area informed when they are in the air. You will find there are two very distinct types of skydivers. About half are the stereotypical crazy, do it for the thrill type. Strange as it may sound, they will quickly get bored and move on to something else. The other half are very intelligent, thoughtful, and safety conscious folks, who do it for the challenge it provides. Since perfection is illusive, they will stick around for hundreds or thousands of jumps. They're also the ones who will be running the operation. You'd be amazed how many of our skydivers were Engineers. Finally, you should jump with them to find out what it's all about. Pilots make the best skydivers (and visa versa), because so many things cross over between the two. Aerodynamics, energy management, traffic patterns, airspace knowledge, weather knowledge, FAR's, etc.

I had my own similar bonehead mistake that I'll share. My process was to set trim after landing and then only verify trim with the checklist before takeoff. I had been flying solo, so I set the trim a bit nose up after landing. My next flight I had two passengers (450 lbs.) who both wanted to sit in the back. Checklist said "Trim," I looked and said "Set," and off we went. Quite the surprise when I took off at a very low airspeed with the stall horn blaring. PUSH DOWN, PUSH DOWN!!! Now when I check my trim before takeoff, I visualize my CG and set the trim accordingly.

Welcome. BTW, you have an AWESOME wife!

@kortopates Don't get me wrong, I still think he was/is a great instructor. He has a tremendous wealth of experience as a Wright Brothers Master Pilot who grew up on an airport and has been flying ever since. He even owned an F until 2000, so he knew my plane inside and out. He was just stuck in what he had learned many years ago and viewed me as the know-nothing new kid. We get along well now and fly together a couple times a year as friends.

I had a contrarian CFI. He insisted that climbs needed to be done at 2600/26, in no case was I ever to put the engine in an "over squared" configuration, and thought that lean of peak blow up an engine in a hurry. CFI's are hard to find around here so I kept bringing him articles that debunked those. Fortunately, he was open minded enough to realize they may be on to something. In an area with more CFI's available, I would have just moved on.

I don't think I exceeded 20 degrees of bank the whole day. There was just no need for sharp turns with the terrain being so open and flat. One concern was that if we flew directly over a target of interest it might be missed, so I tried to fly to the side of or between areas of interest.

Not much of rural Kansas could be considered congested, but we stayed at least 2000' away from any settlements in the area. We figured if the vehicle was in a town, someone else would have already reported it by now. True, and the wings keep getting in the way. I had it slowed to 120 mph as a balance between slow speed and stall margin. I should have mentioned I had two spotters, one looking out each side, so I could concentrate on flying and not worry about looking for anything on the ground. Winter around here is definitely the best time to be looking, as all the leaves are off the trees making it easy to see the ground in even the most heavily wooded areas. The only evergreen trees around here are cedars that rarely get over 10 feet tall. Currently, no snow on the ground so visibility was excellent. Thanks for the tip about the CAP. I'll ask the family about the cell phone & credit card. I also agree that my direct involvement is most likely over, unless there a phone or credit card ping that indicates an area relatively close that we didn't search. I'm just trying to get an idea if there is something obvious that we missed where we might find a missing vehicle.

Wondering if anyone has used their Mooney for a search and rescue mission. One of my coworkers is missing (I also work with his mom and brother) and they asked me if we could look for him from the air. I took his brother and a close friend out yesterday and focused on the surrounding rivers and lakes for a couple hours from 500 - 700 AGL. He has been missing for 3 weeks and his vehicle is also missing (silver Dodge Durango). My thinking was that if his vehicle was near a road, it would have already been found, but the rivers are quite winding and there are many nooks and crannies that can't be seen from the road. He also did a little hunting and a lot of fishing (though generally in the warmer months), so we thought the rivers and lakes would be good areas to search. For those who have done this or have training in it, is this a sound approach or is there a better way to search for a missing vehicle? I don't think we have any realistic chance of finding a person from the air, but a vehicle should be pretty easy to spot. Obviously, with the vehicle missing he could be in another state, or even another country by now, but I want to help any way I can. Any advice would be appreciated.

Russia alone accounts for 3.96 million of that 10.18 million square kilometers. I may be wrong, but I don't believe they have a lot of 200 mph trains going to the rural areas of Russia.

I'd calculate some relatively ridiculous cost to rent the plane plus hire a commercial pilot to fly it and list that as the value. Then start the bidding low, maybe even zero as Don suggested. For example: One hour sightseeing flight for two. $500 value, no minimum bid!

Yep, they match!

Colorado Pilots Association keeps a list of their mountain flying instructors online and several of them provide training in Mooneys. Not sure if they have an airplane to train you in or if they just provide training in your plane, but they may know of one available. http://coloradopilots.org/mtn_instructors.asp?menuID=47~47

Congrats on joining the club!

We have a saying here "If the brakes don't stop you, something else will!"

Congrats on joining us crazy Mooney owners. Now, don't spend a dime on upgrading anything until you have at least 100 hours in the plane. Two reasons, if it has set for 4 years, you could be looking at some pretty hefty maintenance bills. Plus, until you have a decent amount of time flying it, you won't know what upgrades are really important to you.

You're going to hate me but mine dropped 20% this year. Falcon, switched to Global from Starr. Caveat, last year I had 100 total hrs, 0 time in type, 0 complex. This year, 200 total hrs, 100 time in type, 100 complex.

Just a single datapoint, but you should have no trouble with the transition. I bought my Mooney with only 100 hours in a Cherokee Warrior and transition was simple. MANY others on here have a similar story. Having an instructor that had owned a similar Mooney for several years was a big help. Biggest things to learn: routine for putting/checking gear down, engine management, and how to slow down (they like to keep flying fast). +1 on the value guide. If you buy a Mooney, you could send Jimmy a pretty big donation and still be money ahead.

Yippee! I'm back in... weather permitting!

Here is another list showing just the contract towers, which I believe is up to date. http://air-traffic-control.com/federal-contract-towers/ @Skates97 list shows all towers (and a few non-towered airports) as well as number of daily operations, hours of operation, number of based planes, etc.

That's good to hear. We also invite the nearby tower managers to our aviation association meeting once a year. As you mentioned, everyone has put on a great presentation, been very professional, and were great guys to talk with... and also were aged out of the FAA towers. Mind you, not all of the controllers are aged out, but the managers have been.

Speaking of privatization and the shutdown... Does anyone know how the shutdown is affecting the contract tower controllers? About half of the control towers around the country are run by companies contracted by the FAA.

@Marauder Thanks for the reminder. I need to check back with Steve, who rode in my F last year, and see if he found anything yet!