skydvrboy

You have a great resource there in Paul. I wish I'd talked with him before buying my plane instead of after. I'm sure he talked to you a bit about the value of an engine monitor as well, since I didn't see that in your initial search criteria or in any of the planes you were looking at.

For another data point, when I bought my '67 F, it had the '68 F owners manual in it. The '68 owners manual lists Vfe as 120 mph, whereas the '67 is 105 mph. Previous owner had placarded the ASI as such and flown it that way every time. I have no idea if this started with him or some previous owner before that, but suffice it to say, it had a lot of operations above published Vfe. The pre-buy and subsequent 2 annuals have not turned up any damage FWIW.

I think the idea is sound, but like Paul said, I think you will have difficulty reaching a critical mass needed to make it effective. I'm going to disagree about knowing the local hangar situation though. I'm still searching for a hangar and had no idea one of the guys on the field had his plane in for maintenance and his hangar was temporarily available. The maintenance took nearly 4 months and I would have gladly rented that space from him during that time. I only found out about it a week before the maintenance was completed. I know this would be targeted to transient pilots, but like me, they would have no way of knowing that hangar was available without some sharing service like Airbnb.

First and foremost... glad to hear you are safely on the ground. I needed everything from the exhaust mainfold back and got it from Knisley Exhaust. I wasn't in a hurry, but I do recall it taking a while. If I knew then what I know now, I might have sprung for the power flow exhaust and picked up a few HP's. I have the Sensorcon Industrial Pro CO detector and can't say enough good things about it. I now have it "panel mounted" with 3M sticky velcro.

Not always true. When I bought my plane, the tiedown rings were bolts with chain links poorly welded to the end. During a windy day, one of them snapped off. Fortunately, my local IA looked out and noticed my tiedown strap whipping in the wind. He proceeded to secure the plane by tying down the same side landing gear. No damage was done, but new tiedown rings were ordered the same day!

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is KING!

I worked my way through high school and college at tire repair shops. I've repaired many tubes (and ruined a few). The tear in my boot is about 3" long, but it's worth a shot if I can't get a replacement. My IA/A&P lets me do about anything as long as it won't have any impact on flight safety. I'm pretty sure he'd let the step retract mechanism fall into that category.

Mine has a torn boot. Any idea where a fellow could get a replacement boot for it? If not, is there a way to repair a torn boot, even temporarily? Maybe electrical tape inside and out?

Like @Skates97, I see around 10-15 on the ground... unless I forget to lean and then I can get up to 50 - 60. If you're reading 50+ during taxi, check your mix. I also have readings all over the place during climb, anything from 5-50. I also always see 0 in cruise. I don't worry about small leaks that can let some CO get in through the body of the plane, it's leaks in the exhaust or heater that will get you in trouble in a hurry. If there is any question, to where the CO is coming from, turn on the heat and move your detector to the heater vent. If your levels go up, you have a problem, if they go down, you're getting it from somewhere else. Anything in the 50 ppm isn't going to hurt you unless you are on a LONG flight, but it is enough to monitor and see if it keeps going up (Yikes) or starts going down (Whew). Calling @DanM20C for further comment, as he's our resident CO expert.

I've been thinking about going, but my plane may not be done with the annual by then.

I know it's not exactly what you are looking for, but I currently don't have an engine monitor and am looking to get one installed (due in part to gsxrpilot's berating). I'm currently leaning toward JPI's EDM-900, but for the right discount could be persuaded to get the CGR-30C. My plane just went in for annual, so I need to make a decision on which one right away. I certainly have an good (ugly) panel for the before picture, so the before/after would be quite striking. I also have some pretty nice pictures in-flight and could get more. PM me if you are interested.

Is there any regulatory compliance issues with taking them out? Not that I would, I like being able to have my "co-pilot" take the controls to make other tasks easier.

No, in an engine out energy is your friend. And just like friends, it's easy to lose and hard to get back quickly if you need it.

I remember an older 170 pilot chastising me for not taking off with full tanks every time for added safety. I got a pen and paper out and we started comparing performance of the two airplanes. His max range with full tanks and an hour reserve was 380 miles. We calculated that I had the same range and reserve with 28 gallons on board. You could actually see the look on his face change when he realized why I didn't need to fill my tanks to 64 gallons for every flight.

I just completed my first year of ownership... and these guys are spot on! My first annual was $9k and that didn't include many of the other expenses. I took my plane to a painter to get a quote because there are completely unpainted panels and lots of paint chips. Fortunately, he was a very honest guy and told me I didn't need to paint it to protect it, just if I wanted it to look better. What you are describing is not going to hurt the plane at all, use the money to keep it flying. Instead of spending money on anything cosmetic, I flew it... a lot! I put more hours on it in my one year than I had total before I bought it.

Couldn't agree more, but I still do it as one last trump card when I realize I've carried too much energy into an otherwise decent approach. I don't think this can be emphasized enough. A good short field landing (as with all landings) is all about a well trimmed stable approach and being set up properly early. LOL, I made that mistake during transition training once. Instructor made some comment like "See, I told you Mooneys like to float in ground effect." That's when I realized I hadn't taken all the power out. I bet I floated 2000' on that landing, at least it seemed like it!

Being that I'm now based at a 2000' strip with power lines on the threshold at the North end, this is an interesting thread to me. When I first started flying in there, I did the "drag it in" method, which worked well. However, when coming up on the power lines or the river on the other end, it always made me nervous about the "what if" the engine hiccuped. I now do the steeper approach, which feels safer and still yields short landings. As others have said, speed control is the key, but what that exact speed is varies by weight. I use 75 mph when fully loaded and 70 mph when light, which leaves plenty of safety margin for both stall speed and runway length. If I misjudged my speed and get caught in a 1' high float, I dump the flaps, which isn't standard procedure, but was taught by my Mooney CFI and works really well. If I'm sinking too fast, I add power and delay the flare just a bit. Like Shadrach, I can get my F stopped in the first 800' if I use a little braking. I normally just let the grass slow me down and have to add power to go all the way to the end since the runway is too narrow to turn around in the middle.

I don't have my plane or log book handy, but at my first oil change, I had 50 hrs on the tach and just over 60 hrs in my logbook. I'm getting close to my second oil change per tach and now have 114.4 in my logbook. I know it's going to be different based on the type of flying (short trips, pattern work vs. long cross country), but it seems 1.2 times the tach is about what I'm getting in my logbook, YMMV. I have a clock on the yoke that I start when I start the plane (part of checklist) and check when I shut down (if I remember) to determine what to put in the logbook. Don, how far off is your logbook from your tach?

I love the paint look so don't take this the wrong way. When I first saw it, with the color and design, I thought it kind of looks like a cross between a killer whale and the old Sea World logo. If you don't already have a good nickname for her, I would suggest Shamu.

Swap 1 & 2. Look before you even make your radio call.

I can't tell you how many times I've flown to an airport restaurant and went with the burger because the steak was too expensive!

Since I wasn't here in 2015, I'll chime in now. The count is easy since there are only 2 planes based at 1KS6. One is my M20F and the other is a Bonanza that the new owner needs to get moved off the field!

Line up and wait is the proper phrase and the only one they should be using per FAA. They changed because pilots (especially foreign pilots) when told hold position would taxi onto the runway and hold. At least that's the story I was told.

You should report the bird strike to the FAA. Here is a link https://wildlife.faa.gov/strikenew.aspx. You can also send in some of the snarge and have it identified to help identify what type of birds are being hit. Here is a link to the details for submitting the snarge for identification. https://wildlife.faa.gov/birdremains.aspx

Hank, the chart shows the green line as Vy, but at an airport like this (like the one I'm based at) I would climb at Vx to get above the trees, then Vy to 1000', then cruise climb. Would your initial climb to clear the trees be at Vx or Vy? I'm afraid by the time I accelerated to Vy I'd already be in the trees.