ValkyrieRider

@carusoam of the 25K, I have only been able to read about 500 of them - but in that 500, I get to claim that I gained a lot of knowledge and experience - that you shared. THANK YOU for yours, and many other's contributions to new Mooney pilots, it is invaluable.

@carusoam Very well thought out. You are 100% correct, it did sound good prior to reading many of these comments ... which I why I came to you guys. 1. The ability to ensure your plane flies 10 hours a month, regardless of my schedule. 2. Use the extra money to pay the fixed costs. 3. Without paying the fixed costs, I can use my saved AMUs to upgrade even further. 4. I would have access to my plane anytime I wanted ... as long as it isn't already pre-booked. Thank you for your input and thought.

At first read my initial thought was ... no, I don't let people ride my bike because it is too big for many riders, and I don't know their skills. THEN - I realized, you may have used a play on words to get me thinking ... if I am nervous of loaning my bike out, how much more should I be nervous of loaning my plane out? THANKS.

Great question, I am not sure how the key card access would work?? I would suppose they would have to apply to DVT Admin to be approved? I know I just met a Mooney pilot that flies between CHD and DVT that parks his mooney in covered on the south side, but I am pretty sure he doesn't rent his out.

I understand that they already have signed one M20C at KDVT. I appreciate all of the comments to this point, especially the concern about insurance and additional maintenance requirements. I obviously didn't seek out the company, but received a call and decided to listen to the proposal. It sounds enticing as I would ensure that my bird was flying, even when I am not able to take time to go up. I though the revenue generated could offset some of the fixed costs - but hadn't considered any additional costs that would be associated with renting. They state that all of the pilots that fly it will be commercial pilots that would respect the plane, but even in my head I realize they will never treat it the way I would. I understand that they have been operational in California for about two years, so was hoping to hear from someone that may have some firsthand knowledge - as well as advice. THANKS

I am considering signing up to allow Blackbird Aviation lease out my aircraft, but have ZERO experience with this. Talking with the gentleman that contacted me, it sounds like a real win/win situation, but I am looking for input from anyone that has any knowledge about it.

@carusoam, I will be headed to the airport tomorrow evening ... guess what I am going to be looking for I will look under the cowling and see if I can find this transducer and see how it is connected. I will let you know. Thank you.

Watching this thread for comments also, as I am having the same issue with my STEC30.

@mike_elliott I too just sent a donation, as I haven't been able to be on Mooneyspace for about a week. As someone stated above, reading the update on Mark was like a kick in the gut. I pray for him and jenny as they face this devastating news and adjustments. I also pray somehow this tragedy can be turned into a positive blessing in some way. It was sober reading @gsxrpilot post and I couldn't help but saying, "that is exactly what I was saying." I try my best to learn from all of the more experienced pilots (especially Mooney Pilots) and hope to react correctly in such a highly stressful situation. I definitely need to purposely set time aside to practice emergency procedures more often.

I will check the setup when I go back to the airport, thank you.

Prior to the JPI900, I don't believe I ever went over 2700 RPM, so I was surprised when it went there during practice runs. I will have to watch that on take off in the future.

Jim, I wish I read your post before taking the plane on a maintenance run. Throughout the orbiting over the airport, the fuel pressure was high, then entire time. I was trying to figure out why it wasn't high previously, on the ground, and regardless of the electrical fuel pump, the pressure remained high. The mechanic and I took it out today, and after about 10 minutes, the fuel pressure sat perfect in the middle of the green. I didn't do anything different ... now with your comment, it makes sense.

First of all, thank you for your response and information, it is valuable. I hadn't considered that yellow arc would be acceptable for low RPM. Based on your response, it seems you wouldn't be concerned with the reading, and I should monitor it during cruise to verify if it moves into the green. After that test flight, I may want to discuss with the A&P about adjusting the oil pressure regulator? I will also be sure to check the JPI prior to turning on the pre-oiler to see where the cold reading is (or as cold as Phoenix summer gets).

I have a pre-oiler, so part of my start-up includes turning on the pre-oiler, which usually adds oil pressure to the engine. Once that is stabilized (usually about 15 seconds or so) I turn off the pre-oiler and then finish with the start-up. Prior to pre-oil, "I believe" it read zero as the JPI was starting up, but I didn't really catch it.

I FINALLY got my M20C back yesterday after installing some new Avionics, adding an Alternator, and completing an annual. Part of the new Avionics was the addition of a JPI 900. Because of the heat in Phoenix, mid day yesterday, we decided to not test the engine yet. But, we taxied around the airport, performed a couple run-ups, and then did a high speed taxi on the runway. So far, from these ground checks, everything seems to be working great, with one exception - the oil pressure. The JPI showed the oil pressure in the upper yellow value during most low RPM operations on the ground, and even at high (take off) RPM it barely moved over the line to green, and really hovered on the line between the two. We plan on taking it up early Saturday morning to test fly it - then I had a short trip after, but there is concern about the oil pressure reading. During pre-flight, the oil level was about 6 1/2 QTs. The avionics installer has said that there is nothing wrong as long as it is in the yellow/line/green area. He also said that there is pilot adjustable calibration that should be done, but I haven't found anything about that yet (could be that I am blind). Any help? Thoughts?

You are not kidding, it took me months just to get IA and Avionics Tech to work on my C, and unfortunately, it has taken months since they started. The Avionics portion was complete a couple weeks ago, but the A&P portion is dragging on.

My C was previously owned by an MSC mechanic. He had a pre-oiler installed, and from my understanding, used it regularly. I use it now because the concept makes sense to me, but of course, I don't have data to back up my assumptions. The extra weight is minimal compared to the advertised benefit of protecting the engine, especially during the critical start-up. I have read many different articles, both aviation and non-aviation, that seem to support the pre-oiler as a protectant for the engine, but some also say it isn't necessary.

Jeff, great article and an excellent reminder to take the time and go back through the routine if anything is out of the ordinary. Some where in your mind, it was saying that things aren't right, which most likely is what caused you to realize that you were still on the AWOS frequency, Thank God you realized and took action to correct prior to negative consequences. I loved reading your bio at the bottom of your article also. I lived in Wichita, KS in Navy Recruiting for a period after Top Gun came out. I lived off of Mission, which was literally less than a mile from McConnel AFB. Coming from the Submarine community in the Navy, where we are known as the silent service, I realized living that close to the AFB, the air force has never been described as silent, especially when they scramble in the middle of the night.

I agree with @ragedracer1977 that it most likely was the accident pilot. On Monday, August 20th, I just completed my preflight at about 6:35 am local. My instructor and I were talking before we got in the plane and we noticed a blue biplane doing a low pass down runway 25L at DVT, and then he goes straight into a steep climb before the end of the runway. We sat and watched him through the low pass, the steep climb, and the sharp (to me, from the ground) turn to the left on crosswind before he was out of sight. While waiting for a hangar, my M20C is sitting at the southwest covered tie downs directly adjacent to 25L. We then jumped in the plane and was airborne very shortly after. We went over to Glendale (GEU) for about 8 landings and then returned. Upon returning to DVT we decided to do a simulated engine-out landing, so cut in 45' between base and final, and flew directly over the accident site - but I was so focused on the engine out procedures and making a nice landing, I didn't notice anything below me. Since the accident was outside of the airport, traffic wasn't interrupted, so we had no idea until we landed, and my instructor received a text informing us of the accident. As soon as we saw the plane, we knew it was the same biplane that we were watching, and actually marveling at how beautiful it was. I did not know that he also owned a Mooney - this was very sad.

@DXB , I know that completing the IFR training will not only make the Mooney more practical for cross-country flying but will definitely make me a better pilot. It already has, just going through about half of the training. I live in Phoenix so we don't see too many IMC days, but travel outside the area and they become more abundant.

Bob, I feel like I just took a Master's level course in reading your post. I am printing it out so I can practice it and commit it to memory, at least while I validate with my M20C. I appreciate the original poster "signing up for your class," because I got the advantage of the free education at the same time. THANK YOU.

I am finishing my transition time into my (new to me) M20C and will resume IFR training that I began in a 172. These figures look OUTSTANDING and I am going to try them without the hood, just to get the feel for each - and validate if they are accurate for my Mooney (I suspect they will be). THANK YOU for sharing, this is amazing.

Welcome aboard Ryan. The opportunity to learn from this very active, and extremely knowledgeable community will be invaluable. I know it has been for me.

It is always hard to read a story of a Mooney (or any plane) down, and the loss of pilots in the accident. I pray we learn from this accident, helping many others to be safer.

Thank you Tony!