skydvrboy

Formation flying is so beautiful. I'm extremely grateful for the Mooney Caravan members who volunteer their time to train this discipline. I know several of them hang out here a fair bit, so hopefully a few will see this. Things get a bit wonky around 0:40. It's good to see even that even a guy who flies 100 hours of formation a year can get out of position and need to correct. It makes us mere mortals feel a little better about only being in position in passing.

Sounds like you have this solved, but I have one of these http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/1976 that I when I was renting a 4 seat airplane with a 2 place intercom. I think you would be able to plug it into the pilot side and flip the intercom to isolate. One's similar to Marauder's aren't too expensive if you end up wanting your own. https://www.gulfcoastavionics.com/products/283-iisx.aspx

I would fly in if the weather allows and my schedule is free. I don't have anything planned yet for either the 19th or 26th.

Perhaps I'm biased, but if you need load carrying capability, an F model might be right up your alley. Mine has a useful load of 1,067 lbs. and can fly 145 kts on 8.5 gph. Others on here say an F should be seeing a bit more speed, but my step is stuck down and I'm dragging a flap to get it to fly straight (I know). As for range, you have 6.5 hrs with an hour reserve that will get you over 1,000 miles before you have to stop for fuel. Plus, you get the benefit of actually having 4 usable seats. In fact, the rear seats are more comfortable and have more legroom than the front. Should easily be able to find a well equipped F in your price range.

So does the skybeacon work with any existing mode C transponder? I have an old KT 76 TSO that works fine and I don't want to replace it if I don't have to.

Thanks for the heads up guys. I've been following @rbridges thread and will check the condition of the teflon inserts during the overhaul and stake the balls into them.

I'm sure this has a lot to do with distance from the radar, altitude, etc. I'm no expert, but I can relate my personal experience. I took off from KLXT (SW of Kansas City) with an inop transponder heading west toward the class B. It worked when I went in, dead when I contacted ATC on departure. They were pretty sure they knew who I was immediately (1000 AGL) and had me to a 90 degree left/right to verify. The thing that surprised me was that they almost immediately cleared me into the bravo, even though I hadn't requested it (my intended flight path skirted just outside). Over the next few minutes they probably asked my 5 different times for altitude reports to make sure traffic above was clear. From what I've heard, the controllers around KC are much more forgiving and easier to work with than those in much busier airspace on the coasts.

That was painful to listen to. The whole time I found myself pleading with the ground controller to say "Mooney 113TA return to FBO." Then to the tower controller, I'm thinking leave the gear down, let the guy fly all the way to Denver that way. If he couldn't remember to put it up, he won't remember to put it down either!

Congrats on passing your check ride!

I think your onto something there, which is why we thought that the two little balls might be swapped. I have a good understanding of hydraulics and how a hydraulic pump works in general, but no actual experience with this mechanism. It seems strange that the flaps would stay down if some of the fluid is leaking back, but it must only be leaking back when the flaps are being pumped up or down. I'll get the pump rebuild kit from Lasar and go through it with my A&P with a fine tooth comb. The pump itself is not leaking, at least externally.

Yes, we pressure bled them from the bottom. Agreed, there is definitely something wrong, but what? And yes, in the air it feels like the back end drops about a foot instantly when I retract the flaps. It was a bit alarming at first, but I found if I give the yoke a slight forward push as I retract them it's not so bad. I don't think air in the system is the problem since it's been like this for over a year. Always consistently 8 pumps and I get very positive response with each pump. I had a leak last year and got air in the lines when the fluid got to low. When that happened, it took a few pumps before they started moving and felt mushy. I guess I didn't mention in my initial post, we did find the leak in the actuator and rebuilt that with the kit from Lasar. That fixed the fluid leak, but no change to the retraction speed or # of pumps.

I have two flap problems that tell me they aren't working right. First, it takes exactly 8 pumps to go from no flaps to full flaps, always has since I got the plane. Second, it takes about 1 second on the ground to retract the flaps, in the air this is less than 0.1 seconds. My A&P and IA just finished adjusting the set screw all the way in and it made no difference on the retract time. Any ideas on what may be causing this? Is it possible for the flaps to still work, but exhibit this behavior if one of the two balls is missing? What if they were switched?

I don't have near the experience that these other guys have, but the asking price makes me feel REAL good about how much I paid for mine.

Obviously, as an Engineer, you know how to learn and don't need everything spoon fed to you. As a mechanical engineer, you are already going to know 50% of what you need to learn to pass the written. So, don't pay for a ground school course. Get the info online for free. I used http://www.ascentgroundschool.com/ primarily and got a 98% on my written without paying a penny. You'll find there is plenty to spend your money on in aviation, so save it and use it for something you need (headset, flight bag, charts, instructor, plane rental, etc.). @gsxrpilot gave you a very good list of what to look for in an instructor. However, don't rule out the kid straight out of school. I was fortunate (unlucky) enough to have two primary instructors, one straight out of school building hours for the majors and one who had just received his 50 year Wright Brothers award, retired, and instructed in his spare time. The one straight out of school was the better instructor, he had just learned everything and could simply repeat the training he just received. He knew everything by the book and was current on all topics. The downside was when his young lifestyle caught up with him and I had to find a new instructor after 35 hours. The older instructor definitely had an advantage in experience, but with it he still believed several of the long debunked old wives tales. Instead of flying by the book, he wanted me to fly his way. In the end, I think it made me a better pilot having both instructors with the dramatically different points of view. I could learn the best each one had to offer, but it pissed me off that I ended up taking 46 hours instead of the 40 I was hell bent on achieving (and on track for).

I don't think you posted enough info about yourself to adequately answer that question. Someone already mentioned long term goals, but I'd also add, what kind of student are you? Can you learn simply by reading something, understand it, and apply it to different situations, or do you need someone to teach it to you and answer questions? What background and familiarity with aerodynamics, physics, math, weather, etc. do you already have? You don't NEED to spend a penny on ground school, IF you are capable of fully understanding the topics just by reading them. All of the information you need is freely available on the intranet, most on the FAA website. As an engineer, with a skydiving background, I already had a pretty good handle on most of the topics. I started by taking a free sample test online and scored 80 before I even started studying. The extent of my instructor training for the ground school was asking me about 10 questions to see if I knew as much as I thought I knew, and signing the logbook to go take the test. Ended up with a 98 on the written. I'd say that's good enough. On the other hand, it is MUCH easier to learn the material if you have someone teach it to you, especially in person where you can ask questions back and forth. It's also easier to learn some of the concepts if you can experience them in the plane (VOR navigation didn't make a lot of sense until I saw it in the plane and then the light bulb lit up). As far as instructor preference, my instructor only insisted that I pass the written before I started solo cross country trips. His reasoning was that at that point, you build hours fast and will be ready for the practical in no time.

I think this is a very good rule of thumb for most Mooney purchases or similar type aircraft, but certainly doesn't apply to all aircraft. Also, there can be a HUGE trade-off between purchase price and maintenance. For example, your first annual will probably be more than 10% of the purchase price on a $4,000 used ultralight, but you won't need a $10k emergency maintenance reserve. Similarly, you better have a lot more than $1AMU walking around money for a Pilatus PC-12, as you'll need that just to fuel up. Further, if you skimp on purchase price, you may find that your first annual to be closer to 30% - 50% of the purchase price (my first annual was 30% and my AI let some things go that were "marginal"). But for most of what we are all flying, this is a pretty good ballpark.

Or while taxiing through the mud at Oshkosh.

Agree with the chance of getting busted. I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to turn on the strobes during the day and no one has ever said a word. In fact, my instructor didn't have me turn the strobes during the day at all. Pretty sure he was under the assumption that the strobes went on when the position lights went on.

Smart ass answer... "Nope, just get out and bump it when you need to use the fuel pump!"

According to CFR Part 91.209(b) No person may: Operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights. However, the anticollision lights need not be lighted when the pilot-in-command determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to turn the lights off. According to the link provided by @N201MKTurbo, you are NOT legal for flight without a waiver.

At 0 hrs in the Mooney and 100 total, I paid, $1500. I also got a quote on a cheaper fixed gear (Warrior) which was $900. I'm suggesting that the premium for the retract, all other things being equal, is a lot less than $1000. More in the neighborhood of $500 - $600. Don't let the retract insurance scare you. When you get a quote, you may be pleasantly surprised.

You can get insurance for on a 182 or Grumman Tiger for $200? At 200 hours total time, i'm only paying $1200 for insurance. I knew fixed gear would be cheaper, but I had no idea it would be THAT much cheaper.

Another area of the country for your map. Here are the places I've gone with a brief report of each. $100 Hamburgers KHUT (Hutchinson, KS) - Airport Steakhouse - nice place, great food. 38K (Lucas, KS) - K-18 Cafe - small town diner, everyone knows everyone... except you. Don't be surprised if they ask you about flying in. OK food, great prices (1/2 lb burger, fries, O-rings, side salad, & drink for $7.95) 1K1 (Benton, KS) - Stearman Bar & Grill - typical bar and grill. In the words of Yogi Berra, no one goes there anymore, its too crowded. Chicken fried steak is larger than the plate! 07S (Beaumont, KS) - Beaumont Hotel - Hotel upstairs, diner downstairs. OK food, land on grass strip, taxi on city street to Main St. Park across from hotel. K81 (Paola, KS) - We-B-Smokin BBQ - Awesome KC style BBQ KPNC (Ponca City, OK) - Enrique's - OK mexican food. KGCK (Garden City, KS) - Napolis - Bad Italian food, overpriced, would not recommend. Museum KFOE (Topeka, KS) - Kansas Air Museum - Actually toured this museum with our scout group, but it would be more fun to fly in for a tour.

I've heard a lot of good things about R&B in Topeka. I was worried about my poor paint job causing corrosion issues and took it to him to have a look. He was honest to a fault and told me there was no need to paint it unless I just wanted to change the look. He will be closer to the $16k end, but your forever plane will have a forever paint job to go with it.

Wow, I thought it was bad here! I just got a hangar today after a 15 month wait. I hate to say it (especially now that I have a hangar), but when they have long wait lists like this, they need to raise the hangar rent. Around here they range from $50 to $120 a month, but it doesn't matter since none are available. The one I finally got is $89 a month and has the added benefit of 4 separate runways with one of which is 12,300 ft. long. Sadly, I think a guy could make a living by renting out hangars as they come available and then subleasing them to pilots at a healthy profit! (not to give anyone ideas)