Pasturepilot

Today, I found my vacuum leak. The forward (red system) rudder actuator bellows. Got some calls, emails, and PMs sent looking for a replacement. Slowly but surely we’re getting there!

I didn’t even realize that one had made it online yet. He’s been gone a year and a half and I still had to keep the tissues handy when I wrote it. And now, as I read it, too. If it’s online that means the next one isn’t far from newsstands. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Banker’s bag to hold pens, flashlight, and any small loose items. It and my iPad or iPhone are the only loose items normally when I fly. Everything else lives in my flight bag. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Monthly column with Plane & Pilot Magazine. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes. One penny against the plastic, to elevate the second penny and protect the plastic yoke. The second penny wedges between first penny and under the rim of the PC button. I'll try and remember to take a picture or video next time I'm with the plane.

Thanks! I carry moleskine notebooks with me when I fly and jot down ideas, outlines, and stubs that later turn into columns. “Dual Citizenship” is one I just started jotting on yesterday. Some elements from GA carry over to airline flying. Some airline stuff likewise crept onto my GA flying. But they are very different sides of the same coin. I can’t do an aggressive forward slip in the Airbus. The computers would rat me out to headquarters and a chief pilot would be standing at the gate awaiting my arrival. (But my taildragging feet refuse to sleep through a crosswind landing). I can’t go punching buildups in the Mooney that I wouldn’t blink an eye at in the ‘Bus. At the end of the day, though, it’s all in dogged pursuit of a passion that hasn’t faded a bit since I walked into the local FBO at age 13 and refused to go home.

This may be the simplest "AOA" install, although I don't know about how probe-less AOA works. It's something I've been meaning to study up on. https://aerovonics.com/av-20-1?fbclid=IwAR0YorKuB2KvOdM4ToIfwR8I_l1sJ2Gv3L3mWdNDTzZ7ybT48kI4YUcGCaw

That’s exactly how my landing light breaker switch failed.

Yeah, those two screws look to be wedged against if not atop the lower housing for the button. The mistake I made (Mine was in there pretty tight as well) was prying against the lower housing of the button instead of the plastic part of the yoke. Photo of the button assembly attached (swiped from an eBay listing) to make sure you don't make my mistake. The whole thing comes out as a single assembly. I've heard people say pennies are the best prying device so you don't damage the button, and that's good advice. As long as you're less destructive than I was that day. Pop that bracket out of the way and see what happens.

“Honey, the Boss said to take a day or two off between changing job roles next week. Can we fly to the beach?” “Only if you want to transform the five-hour torture session into a 1:45 flight.” So, first trip together. Only answered three radio calls with my airline callsign. Fulton County tower now replies to my initial call with “are you that airline guy again or a real pilot this time?” She loved the trip down. Once clear of Atlanta’s arrivals, we got up to 7,500 on top of a scattered layer for a smooth 145-knot nonstop run to the beach. (Just the slightest hint of a tailwind). Did a quick run up and down Cumberland and Jekyll Islands and landed there at Jekyll’s 09J. Nice folks, friendly golden retriever, and no tie down fee for a night’s stay. Caught a ride to the hotel with some of the airport folks who swore they were headed to lunch anyway after the hotel said it’d be a whopping 15 minutes before they could get to us. (Spoken with some sarcasm about the van wait - I’ve written magazine columns in bits and pieces while waiting on hotel vans for work layovers). Gave Robert a few bucks to help with lunch and thanked him profusely. Had a great but quick stay on the island. Ate a mess of fresh seafood, walked a gazillion miles in the salt air, got up for the sunrise and as we neared the end of our walk, stumbled across a lone hatchling loggerhead turtle working his way to the water. Amy and I provided air cover against the seagulls as he worked his way to the waves- no short trek for a tiny creature on the giant beach at low tide. Watched him hit the waves (pics and videos on my Instagram, same username) and started on to the hotel, then stumbled across two of his siblings. Wound up spending a magical hour guarding the last three turtles to leave that nest. Ate breakfast at the hotel. Lounged by the pool. After lunch with a high school friend who lives down there now, he dropped us back at the airport for the flight home. Landed at Baxley, Georgia for a fuel stop. Gas cheaper than $4 a gallon (by a penny) and a great little FBO with accommodations for aviators who get weathered in. Two bedrooms and a van available. I’m filing that stop away into my bag of tricks for navigating the convective minefield that is aviating in the south. Airborne again and with a full load of dinosaur juice, we got on top of most of the clouds so I could pick my way between the buildups. Before long, though, Atlanta gave me the “thou shall not” regarding their class B. Big storms had everyone deviating off the arrivals and departures, and a couple of jets were going missed off Hartsfield. Flew a big arc around their airspace, landed at Carrollton and topped off before hopping to my buddy’s airstrip to put her to bed. Takeaways: The PC system works, but not authoritatively. I distinctly remember the yoke sawing back and forth when I was a kid flying this bird, now full lock left or right on the trim will eventually generate a gentle turn. Time to go leak-chasing. The attitude indicator is getting verrry sleepy. Time to start making a decision. Don’t want to overhaul the AI if I’m just gonna go with glass in a couple months. When it’s too bumpy to fly with the trim wheel and the PC left/right knob, using my wife’s knee as a prop to fly with my right hand on the right yoke is actually more comfortable than left hand on the left yoke. Makes her more comfortable too, she says I need to find a permanent place to keep the CO detector. It’s time to install o-rings on the fuel caps. Spent my time on the beach hoping it didn’t rain for different reasons than most beach goers. It was all more than worth it when we landed at Jekyll Island and she said how much she enjoyed the flight and was much less stressed than when we do road trips! Continuing to enjoy my short-bodied traveling machine....

Have you had it out before? I’ll admit to damaging one by prying the wrong way- didn’t realize all the metal you see with the button comes out with the button. One of my first of several hard lessons on the Mooney after agreeing to buy it. Not until seeing a photo of the button for sale on eBay, did I realize how it came out as an assembly

Did a thing today, again. Fired up foreflight and followed the magenta line to Morganton, NC for a visit with AGL aviation. (Tickling 170 knots never sucks in a 180 hp bird. Tailwinds are cool.) It took five or seven pounds of right pedal to hold wings level on the way over. With a little breath of a tailwind I was tracking 170 knots over the ground at at 7,500 feet. After they worked three hours of shop time magic on my bird, and two test flights later, I cruised home using the PC trim knob on the yoke to hold my heading. I’m sure it’s faster, but didn’t run the numbers. The elevators match each other now and I’m not hanging the barn door rudder out to keep her straight. A public service message to rig your birds, if you haven’t yet. On the way back, I stopped at the airstrip in north Georgia where I bought a runway lot. I’m kind of an unknown there- to the extent that I landed, taxied to my lot, shut down and pushed her off into the weeds to clear the taxiway. Two old guys stood in a hangar door, giving me the stare. Finally another rode by on his golf cart to ask if I needed help looking for someone. “Nope. I’m just here to introduce this old gal to what will be her home, once we get it built.” I did make some new friends, so that’s always good.

Oh snap, just saw the OSH remark. Staying tuned for a date. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I’m off July 27... might have to join the party. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Different operators, different procedures. I just get the nod from the other guy that he’s ready to go, drop it in the second notch for flex power and start the timer. “Airspeed alive” is our first call. But yeah, one gets used to being insulted in the flare. Re:Engine Analyzers, @gsxrpilot, it’s got an EDM-700. For a 4-cylinder carbureted engine, that’s enough for now. Would love to upgrade to a primary setup to replace the old gauges, but that’s later. It could grenade next Tuesday over the hills of North Carolina, but I’m happy with 4cyl egt/cht/fuel flow and oil temp. It’s not the most intuitive, but I was sharp on that very box at age 23. Pretty sure that 15 years later I can figure it out again I have had one engine failure that put me off airport engine monitor wouldn’t have helped a bit with that one. First order of business is a little shakedown trip next week to NC. I’m gonna let the crew at AGL aviation put the travel boards to her and get everything rigged square. I’ll take a look at the Sensorcon CO detector. That’s money well spent right off the bat. I do appreciate the suggestions on how to spend the bucks! Some priorities came up that I hadn’t considered. Stay tuned. We’ll have some fun. For anyone who still reads those paper things, I sling some words at Plane and Pilot magazine. I mean, it’s no MAPA log - you’ll have to tolerate the presence of other sorts of planes- but I’m sure some Mooney tales will make it onto the pages here and there. BTW all my PDK folks, who’s got the most reasonable overnight fees? I need to stage out of there next week for a night.

Best upgrade suggestion ever.

Hi Neighbor! I just had lunch at the Downwind when you were posting this... My wife works on Clairmont and we live almost in the shadow of the King and Queen buildings. The airplane is out west of town, between Douglasville and Carrollton at Lyons Landing. J

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind.

I've flown this Mooney over to PLR a couple times, years ago, for lunches at Sammy's. I do have an ADS-B Solution installed. So I can skip that part.

Oh wait. I forgot to share this gem: How about a shot from 1980 when Chris picked it up from the previous owners?

I'm leaning toward the GPS175. I do need to get the #2 NAV looked at. It seems to be on strike. Or just lazy. Possibly deceased.

What, the PC wing leveler isn't an autopilot? I'm just a vacuum leak away from getting it sorted. (Says every PC owner, ever). I don't have a good autopilot plan yet. I haven't seen concrete information yet - But I'll admit to not having done a whole lot of searching on the topic. Will the TrueTrak Mooney STC include C models? It's a priority, just a very low priority.

It's not so much a "scan" as it is a "panoramic gaze!"

By the time I can hold weekends off, I'll be in the "young at heart" category. If I ever get my hangar built, I'll host Wednesday fly-ins for junior airline pilots.

This bird has the LASAR cowl inlet, and most of their speed mods, other than the clean belly mod to move the antennae inside. 201 windshield and wingtips, gap seals, flap hinge seals. The airframe is about modded-out. There are a few things that need attention outside, but the panel is going to be "The Money Pit." I was considering dual Garmin G5s until a friend suggested the Aspen e5. One box to replace both the AI and DG. It talks to legacy nav/comms and GPS units. Over time, I'd love to modernize, but realistically one box at a time is a more realistic way to go. In time the LORAN boat anchor will give way to a GPS - Maybe an older Garmin 300XL or the new GPS175 if I can swing the expense. Anyone got a better suggestion that I've not seen yet?