Austintatious

While what you say is true, still, pushing the rudder only will put you out of coordinated flight.... Seems like a really bad idea to me in IMC, but what do I know.

Sure, if you carry a backup and keep it accessible... Me personally, I'd rather not have it to bother with for hardly any benefit. I can operate safely at FL210 without the need for it... I have enough stuff in the plane as it is. But that is just me.

That is strange, there was definitely something strange going on. Also, I cannot hear my breathing over my headset, not sure how this was even an issue for you. I have no issues with low O2 even using a cannula at FL210. O2 refills range in cost... at my home base it was about 80 bucks to get someone to come fill it. I have had issue on the road with not being able to find someone to do it... now with the MH system, I need a refill about every 1.5 years. A really long and high flight with myself and my wife will use up maybe 80psi from the bottle.

reviving old thread... still looking for a set of these!

Keep in mind, everyone is different... I became useless long before the 3 min mark.... At the 3 min mark the instructor had to put the mask on my face as I was unable to do it. My heart rate was 195 bpm and my O2 had dropped to 57. At ~60 is where consciousness can be expected to be lost.

The rapid decompression does have an effect, but I do not know how much. That being said, in the alt chamber that is precisely what I did... took the O2 mask off at FL250. And I only made it 3 min. So I suspect we are talking mere seconds of difference, not minutes

Well, we know the wing is strong, but 8.5 g's .... holy smokes! also from the report ... A friend of the accident pilot stated that the pilot had adopted an instrument flying habit in the Mooney airplane that involved making turns on approach primarily with the rudder and adjusting pitch attitude with the pitch trim. Is this a thing? I have never heard of this, nor would I recommend it. I may be misunderstanding, but as I read this it would suggest he just used the rudder which would cause uncoordinated flight... something one should avoid in IMC.

Yea, seems strange I know. it sort of just pulls the oxygen right out of you. remember, when you are holding your breath, there is air in there... when you decompress, that air is either coming out of you or exploding your lungs if you try to hold it. At our breathable altitudes, even if you exhale completely, there is still more air in your lungs than at those extreme altitudes. On top of that, the partial pressure is very low and thus you cannot as easily absorb the tiny amount of O2 that is present.

This is a good thread... I have a few pennies to toss in. First off, If you are going high and using oxygen, you are really missing out if you don't have a pulse demand system such as Mountain High. Not only does it conserve oxygen to a degree you will not believe if I tell you, but it adds what I consider a large margin of safety. The unit will sound an alarm if you are not breathing oxygen. I have had my O2 system fail on me at FL210... well, fail may be a bit harsh, but what happened was that my elbow knocked my scott connector (before I had the MH system) loose and I stopped receiving oxygen. I noticed pretty quickly, hypoxia for me feels miserable so there is no going off into a euphoric la la land for me. This is obviously different for different people. This is why I feel the MH system adds so much safety, you miss ONE breath and an alarm will go off, you cannot ask for better awareness of your O2 intake. As far as how high is safe: That probably varies for everyone. I am comfortable with FL210 and I will explain why. Having been in an altitude chamber, I know what it is like at FL250 and it is MUCH more rapid onset of symptoms and you will find yourself in bigger trouble a lot faster than at 210. Looking at the TUC chart So, by staying at FL210 or lower I have 10 min.... go to FL250 and you drop to 3-5min. And believe me, the 5 min is for the youngsters. More than likely if you are 30 or older it will be closer to 3 min. Now, keep in mind, if you found yourself at FL250 with a failed O2 system and symptoms of hypoxia (which you will feel IMMEDIATELY) , you dont need to get down to only FL 180, you are ALREADY hypoxic, you need to get much lower, probably 12,500 or less. So you have 12,500 feet to lose and you need to do it pretty quickly. I can pop speed brakes and reduce power a few inches and come down at about 1500 FPM at the yellow arc. That will take 8.3 min to get down to breathable air.... IMHO this is simply not fast enough. So, from FL250 if I have an 02 failure I need to be making a large reduction in power and getting that rate to more like 3000 FPM which will get me to 12.5 in 4 min. This is certainly achievable, however I now put my engine at risk of shock cooling. Or at the very least subject it to large rapid changes in CHT which is also not good. I don't want a failure of my 02 system to be a major event. If I limit myself to FL210, I start with 10 min of Useful consciousness, which in itself is plenty of time to 1: see if the problem can be solved, say by plugging the scott connector back in! and 2. begin a much more normal descent down to breathable air. You give up about 8 knots staying at 21 vs 25. Over A full tank of fuel that gives 5 hours of cruise flight, this is less than 15 extra min of flying.

This may be a hand grenade of a topic, but it has been bothering me a lot lately. We are constantly warned that man is increasing Co2 and that we need to stop or face doom... On NASAs website they state that in the last 150 years man has increased Co2 levels by 50%. Edit: I am editing the post I did in fact make a mistake which invalidated the numbers I posted. I do have more accurate and simplified numbers I can provide: There is about 7.8 gigatonnes of Co2 for every PPM in our atmosphere. Right now we are at 419ppm which means we have 3,268 Gigatonnes of Co2 in our atmosphere. Humans are emitting 36 giggatons of Co2 per year which is about a 1 % increase. Co2 is currently going up by about 2.65 ppm per year over the last 10 years. I am still interested in the various takes and discussion here.

I agree with Art. If you are however asking about a case where a plane you own becomes airworthy, then it may take a ferry permit to get the aircraft to a mechanic. If it is not eligible for a ferry permit, you have to get a mechanic to come to the plane.

You fly to a mechanic, Uber home. Hope they aren't too far away!

Same, got em all!

Good advice above. I can give a few nuggets. -Really the only way to know you are getting a good price is to make sure that the price is in line with other options on the market and then haggle as much as you can to get that price down. -Make sure you are getting a good engine... Do not buy an aircraft that has been sitting forever and not flying. Stay away from engines that were overhauled 20 years ago and only have 400 hours on them... TBO is not the only thing to consider. TBO is a recommendation, but less talked about is a 10 year recommended Overhaul interval despite hours on the engine. Check the logbooks, I once looked at a mooney rocket that was only getting oil changes every 80-100 hours and only flying 30 hours a year! For the plane I bought, I actually spoke to the over hauler about the engine to verify everything. That may sound extreme but engines are not cheap and people do stupid stuff... Like ding a prop and then send the engine to an over-hauler and start to pinch pennies. Buying a High time engine at a low price is definitely an option. If the engine has flown a lot regularly and you get the aircraft at a much lower price than a comparable aircraft with a low time engine, you may be able to fly a lot before you have to overhaul and thus come out better off on a per hour operation basis once you do overhaul. -Changing things like avionics is VERY expensive. It is sort of like putting in a pool. Cost a ton and you probably wont get the money back when you sell. So, find an aircraft with avionics you can live with. -I would definitely recommend that if you find an aircraft you want to move forward on and do a PPI (pre purchase inspection) you contact Saavy aviation. They could end up saving you a lot of money and time. And if you do end up with the plane, you could upgrade to their management service (at a discount if you used them for pre buy) , which as a new owner and pilot you may find useful. -Finding a good mechanic is definitely a real issue... it has been the single most awful part for me becoming an aircraft owner. I wont get into it in depth here, but please figure out if you even have any around you before you dive in... If you cant find a mechanic around you that can work on the aircraft, it can be a pain. Get a list going and have as many as you can on it. Saavy may even be able to help on that front. -That all goes for hangar as well... have you considered where you want to keep the plane? Is there a waiting list? Dont wait to find this out. -Have you factored insurance into the cost of ownership? For a Nice J model with your experience you may be looking at around 300 monthly. You might be able to get a rough quote from an insurance broker... Try Falcon Insurance agency. I would hunt of some of Mike Bushes (saavy aviation) videos on you tube, he has a lot of content you would find relevant. I would be happy to give a ride if you find yourself in Dallas/Fort worth.

That's a bit slanted. The rocket is more realistically 17.5 to go 190-210 KTAS, just depends on altitude, and It can get up there... at FL190 you see 210... at FL210 215KTAS. And truth be told, if I could figure out how to get more air over the number 5 cylinder, I could probably get the flow down to 16 gph. And FWIW, I can absolutely bring the power back to 10 GPH and still do 165 KTAS.... I do this with big tailwinds when stretching fuel... Where the extra power /speed comes in is when you have no choice but to suffer large headwinds... Faster is better. For instance, should you and I race from A to B... in a 160 knot wind... well, i will finish and you would still be at the starting line.

Nope, one of the few without apparently... I haven't found it to be much of an issue... 3.5 hours is about time for a stretch anyway... and also, usually the cheap fuel is in between the places I want to go. All long range tanks would do for me is allow me to buy more 7.00 a gallon fuel.

around 1150 right now... 75g of fuel = 450 lbs 1150 - 450 = 700 lbs I thought the MT prop was about 65 lbs lighter... maybe I have that wrong.

Holy god.. 25 dollars for shipping for a 2 ounce bottle.... SMDH

I believe there are 3 in the tail of mine... I have the McCauley 3 blade... I would like the MT prop though for all the other benefits... Maybe If I got it a charlie weight or 2 could be removed. That could potentially get me to 800+ lbs of full fuel payload.

Wow, what a story... I have been saying that the most disappointing/frustrating thing about owning ones own aircraft is getting good maintenance... If it isn't gross incompetence, it's being charged for the A&P to learn how to do the job on my dime with a 30 min job taking 2 hours.... I had a guy drop my aircraft's nose off the spinner jack (yuck!!) during an annual, gouged the new paint then disappeared without fixing it... I cant find anyone who has any idea how to actually adjust the Rockets fuel settings properly. Some jaghole put the wrong nose tire on it. One of our Rockets was outfitted with 28v prop heaters... the aircraft is 12v !!!! HOW!!!! And the kicker is that I could and would do all of this $4!7 myself... cheaper, better, safer and faster... if not for the FAA prohibiting me from working on my own 40 year old private aircraft... Yet somehow if it was a Glassair 3 or Lanciar 4, that was heavier, faster, newer and carried more fuel, I could go to town on it. Sure, THAT makes a lot of sense... I fly as a career, so I will not risk doing anything illegal or not the way it is supposed to be done. But I have to wonder how many people out there are just saying "Screw it" and working on their own aircraft without being an A&P.... I wouldn't blame them.

It is true everyone is exposed to liability.. .Just by their mere existence... Perhaps I should have clarified to say that designing an autoglide system that would select and attempt to navigate to and airport via a path that goes through terrain, would certainly mean a huge settlement in the event it went to court. You could sue garmin tomorrow for sore eyes from the screens being too bright and causing you to squint and not see the 747 coming the other way on the taxi way and this caused you to spill your coffee and smash into their nose gear..... but that does not mean you will win.

It is quite different... For starters, if you are IMC and get a TAWS alert, you as the pilot have already screwed up and are not where you are supposed to be. In the even something isn't in the database (this would be very rare and likely the DB is out of date) and you hit it, again, the plane was not where it is supposed to be and it is BECAUSE of the pilot. Now, contrast that to auto-glide. The pilot is not necessarily at fault for the situation he might find himself in as far as the engine failure is concerned. Then the auto glide system, which is advertised as taking terrain, winds and performance into account, automatically flys towards a nearby airport. Given that the aircraft has no capability of doing a terrain escape maneuver, designing it so that it cannot determine obstacle clearance on the way to that airport would be negligent/misleading at best and criminal at worst. What makes you think a manufacturer wouldn't be held accountable if Auto land crashed an aircraft on landing in 0 visibility?

The CG envelope is exactly the same as the 20k... Most rockets have Charlie weights and an extra battery in the tail... The ONLY way I can be too far forward CG is to have 2 225 people in the front seats with an empty baggage and rear seats... this will put me about 1 inch forward and the plane flies just fine ( I know because I flew it this way on the demo flight with the previous owner and figured it out after Buying) Put people or stuff in the back and you find yourself smack in the middle of the envelope. The turbo is easy to manage... the waste gate is automatic. It is wild how little I touch the engine controls. I take off and climb full power... then I back down after leveling off to 29/22, lean to 17.5 gallons and cruise away at anything from 180-210 KTAS (depending on altitude). Descend at 600 FPM, leave power where it is at... then about 10 miles from the field reduce MP to 19 inches. Configure on speed, reduce power as needed, speedbrakes as needed... Leave mix and prop alone till touchdown... If there is a reason to I will increase RPM to 2500, otherwise I do not bother.

Right... but imagine playing this out in a courtroom or even in arbitration... There certainly is a disclaimer on the limits of the system... but if one of those limitations was that the system could not account for a wall of terrain between the aircraft and the airport it points you to... and that was not disclosed.... that would be hard to explain as reasonable.

Are you sure that is true? There are several ways to determine winds... The glide computer on my phone can do it... And does when I am flying my glider... It is able to determine the winds when I circle... it does make some minor assumptions but is pretty accurate. The other way is to use true airspeed, HDG and ground track and the winds can be determined... What cant be known is the winds down at lower levels unless that data is being pulled form somewhere. That all being said... the Glide ratio should always be set lower than the aircraft actual capabilities... this makes the glide ring conservative.