skydvrboy

This knuckle-busting problem, is it just the pilot side that you bust your knuckles or both? I'm thinking I might be able to use this on the passenger side where it would brush the backside of my hand and get the push button style for the pilot side. Of course, I'd need to check with the wife to see if she'd OK two different styles in the plane.

My plane uses one quart every 4-5 hours and I've talked to both the A&P and the IA about it. Both say it's a little on the high side, but still within normal limits.

My comment would be much shorter if they just had a "drool" emoji. Very nice!

This is a great reminder that we first need to understand the problem before trying to come up with solutions. As gsxrpilot mentioned, airspeed isn't the problem (alone), so something wired into your airspeed indicator to tell you that you are going too slow won't help. I can make your plane stall at 100 kts and can fly it well below the stall speed indicated on your ASI without stalling. In addition to the factors gsxrpilot already mentioned, bank angle and turn coordination are probably the two biggest factors leading to a stall and whether or not that stall will lead into a spin. The AOA indicator KSMooniac has is a HUGE improvement, but even that has it's limitations. Remember, the AOA is not the same along the entire surface of the wings if the ailerons are being used. The down aileron increases the angle of attack and visa versa for the up aileron. As such, different sections of the wing can stall at different times. That's why in a skidding turn stall, the plane will just spin into the ground toward the inside of the turn as the inside wing stalls first. In a slipping turn, the airplane will flip over the top toward the outside of the turn as the outside wing stalls first, which is probably more alarming to the pilot, but actually makes it easier to recover from. I personally think (private pilot only) that this situation is better addressed through training and understanding the aerodynamics than through technology. For a "fail safe" technology solution, you would need 3 AOA indicators and even that might not be able to catch every possible scenario.

A word of caution from experience. Be very careful with the adhesive remover, it is a much better paint remover than adhesive remover!

Nice to hear you're safe and sound on the ground!

Landing gear isn't part of your landing checklist? Yikes!

That's why we didn't talk to approach!

Man, first reply throws down the gauntlet with an amazing pic with three little kids. It's hard to compete with kids or puppies! But alas, it's worth the try.

I wouldn't worry about whether any of your previous experience officially transfers over or not. There is enough to learn in beyond how to control the plane that you won't run out of things to learn before you hit that 40 hour minimum. The point is that what you learned and absorbed will transfer over and make the training go that much easier. I had a skydiving background and none of that officially transferred over, but the skills and exposure helped me learn a lot faster. If you are on a budget (I was), don't worry about high wing/low wing, find the cheapest plane to fly. You can transition into your aircraft later. I'll also echo the comments about finding a small airport, less taxi time, more personalized instruction, and better support. In my case, the airport only trained about 2 pilots a year, so everyone knew me was VERY interested in seeing me succeed. Also, you are on the right track with self study for the written. The FAA provides everything you will need to know to pass your written free of charge, spend the time reading it. There are also some great websites for this http://www.ascentgroundschool.com/ or http://www.free-online-private-pilot-ground-school.com/, either will cover everything you need to know. My paid "ground school" consisted of my instructor quizzing me for 30 minutes before signing me off for the written. Last, I wouldn't wait to save up even $5,000 before starting. Yes, that would be nice, but isn't required. Don't be shy about asking the FBO operator if there's anything you can do in exchange for flight time, wash & wax the plane(s), mow the grounds, run errands, etc. Chances are good they are paying an A&P to do these tasks now instead of working on planes.

The smoke height will be defined by the mixing layer. Go to NOAA's website and get the location you are interested in. Here is the one for Santa Barbara: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=34.4194&lon=-119.699#.W2nnfNJKhEY Near the bottom of the page on the right you will find the Hourly Weather Forecast graphs. At the top of that page is a section for Fire Weather, so select the Mixing Height and hit submit. At the bottom of the graphs you will find the forecast mixing height for the day/time you are interested in. You will need to pick multiple locations to get a picture for your route. Here's a more applicable one for Reno: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=38.8935&lon=-119.9963#.W2npbdJKhEY

Mine showed up yesterday, thanks!

I'm well aware of how quick they sell and how hard they are to find, so I'm not overly concerned about the issues. Their stellar reputation is why I found Phil Monday morning at Oshkosh before he ran out. I like the light feel and not having my head in a vice, so I'd rather figure out how to make them work well rather than sell them, but that's always an option. I have and it seems to make no difference, other than I can make one ear louder than the other that way. I can think of multiple scenarios where that would be preferable or at least a good excuse.

Cheap headset??? I paid $50 for the most expensive of the 3 headsets I currently have, although I did add the Headsets Inc. ANR kit to the set I traded away a bottle of rum for. These Halo's cost me the equivalent of 4 months hangar rent! I did some more experimenting with the headset today. The mic picks up on the side with the round holes, not the slotted holes. Strange thing though, the mic picked up well when using the PTT, but very poorly when using the intercom. I don't have this issue with any of my other headsets. I was able to make it acceptably work by turning the squelch way up, but I'm concerned whether it will play nice with the other headsets at that setting. Since I was flying solo, I couldn't really check out how the multiple headsets work together. The black ear pieces seemed to work the best in the plane for noise attenuation, though they were still pretty loud. Oddly, the yellow ones were the quietest when trying them on at home.

If you're just using this as backup in case your primary instruments fail, why not just use an app on your phone? I have a magnetic mount where I put my phone and it has DG and attitude indicator app I got for free that works great as a backup if my primary instruments failed.

I don't even know what you mean by this. I can probably figure out which side of the mic to talk into in 30 seconds by trial and error since no one has been helpful in looking at theirs to see if its the side with the round holes or the slotted holes. It will just require another 40 minute drive to and from the airport in order to complete that 30 seconds of testing. After that, I'll have to determine which set of earplugs will work best. The foam ones work great when I tried them at Phil's booth in Hangar D or at home, but my plane is a LOT louder than Hangar D or the sounds around the house. At work, the foam ones work the best, so I'm not too optimistic about the others, but I'll give them a try. I really don't want to switch them out while in flight, so this will require 2-3 more flights for testing. If you can complete a test flight in 30 seconds, your Mooney is a lot faster than mine!

I picked up a set of Halo's at Oshkosh this year and tried them on the way home using the foam inserts. They were considerably louder than my cheap headset upgraded with ANR from Headsets Inc. Maybe even louder than my cheap passive ASA headset which was $100 when new. I'll try the other two sets of inserts before I give up on them. And yes, I wear earplugs regularly at work and know how to insert them properly. I also noticed that the mic on the Halo's didn't pick up my voice well. I had to turn up my squelch and nearly yell into it. Does anyone know which side of the mic you are supposed to talk into? One side has holes and the other side has slots. I'm wondering mine needs turned over. After one use with the Halo's, I'm not impressed at all.

From the left seat of P2... I couldn't hear them. I heard "Doc" call tower to announce that he was straight in 36R. Tower asked who "Doc" was like they'd never heard of him. They made him hold over the airport and land behind us.

I used https://knisleyexhaust.com/mooney when I had to replace mine at my last annual. Kind of pricey, but about half the cost of a new power flow exhaust. If you are bent on pre-ordering, you can get a discount here https://www.powerflowsystems.com/products.php?cat_id=5&pid=46, but you have to buy today. How much is increasing your performance worth?

I don't have a J, but rather a J wanna-B. I've got the F model (same body) with most of the J speed mods done. If want to see nice avionics, paint, interior, etc., I can't help you. But if you are just wanting to see how you'd fit in a J, I'm always looking for an excuse to go fly. P.S. I know we have several nice J's in the Wichita area.

Hmm, I showed up in my smelly camp clothes and was treated like a VIP as soon as I told them I was a Mooney owner.

If I were in your shoes, I'd treat this as a temporary plane since your family will soon outgrow it. Your kids are small enough that they will fit in the back of any of the Mooney models, so I wouldn't go with the J, it's overkill. I think a C or E would be best, but I wouldn't rule out a G or F if it is priced right and has the panel you want for your instrument training. When taking the whole family, have the two younger kids share a seatbelt, that is still allowed. When that is no longer feasible, sell this plane and move up to something with 5+ actual seats.

Just renewed: $1M/$100K, $40K hull. Upon notification of renewal, Falcon sent me a quote with an assumed 35 hrs flown since last year, which was $2200. At that time they told me if I provided my actual hours they may be able to get a better rate (I have no idea why they didn't just ask for updated hours first). With 200 total hours, 90 in type, VFR only, my rate was $1200 (down from $1500 with 0 time in retracts). I was hoping to get 100 hrs in type my first year, but being just shy didn't seem to hurt me too bad.

You mean like this?

I assume you are aware that there are locations that offer fuel discounts, food, or other stuff to pilots on their way to Oshkosh. EAA's listing is here: https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/eaa-fly-in-flying-to-oshkosh/fuel-service-and-discounts Global Air's listing is here: https://www.globalair.com/airport/specials.aspx