Mooney 217RN

I'm just looking at the entire picture here. the powerlines, the trees and fence at the end of the runway, the thought of going around looks like you're not going around. I have landed years ago at Chico Ranchaero, 2,156' X 30' That was in my E Model. i wouldn't take my Ovation in there, not a chance. It's not nearly as perilous as what I see in this photo. https://airnav.com/airport/CL56

Anyone ever see this picture before??? Mooney M20M landing on a 36' wide runway in Washington State. Can it be done? Yes. Would I do it? Judging from the photo, no...

I once before read a thread like this, and I had a moment to do a bit of research on the matter. Our airframes are quite popular. there are 48 airborne right now across the nation. That's saying something. Nothing compared to the number of C172's in the air, but still more than the number of Beech Bonanza's being flown right now. https://flightaware.com/live/aircrafttype/M20P To look at all aircraft airborne right now, go to: https://flightaware.com/live/aircrafttype/

The higher fuel flow is for the 310HP conversion...you then have 27-28 gph on departure from sea level.

Once the Global Warming alarmists and the Green crew realize that they cannot hop on an airliner for that weekend trip to the beach in Belize or that jaunt over the pond to London without JetA, they'll come back to reality. Here's the issue with petroleum in sum - there's easily a 300+ year supply of known reserves. we went from burning wood to burning coal to burning kerosene and then of course gasoline. Oil has taken us from Little House on the Prairie to where we are today. Oil has 30x the energy of wood burning. Electrical power is 2x the energy of wood burning. There's the difference, electric flight is a pipe dream that will not occur in our lifetime, if ever. I am by the way, all for alternative energy. It's not practical however as a transportation fuel.

Will Wobbe william.wobbe@gmail.com Don Kaye is also excellent, but in Northern CA

Everything checked fine at inspection. First flight post annual and this occurred. It’s going up on jack’s next week back at MSC.

I have a troubling problem with my Ovation. I picked it up from annual inspection a few days ago. I noticed my airspeed was off by 12-15 kts. We determined it was possibly the gear doors. Then today, I confirmed that the mains were not fully retracting and stowing away. The “barber pole” in the gear indicator window on the floor was partially visible. The conclusion is that the gear is not fully retracting. The MSC did not do any work on the landing gear whatsoever. It was lubed, emergency gear operation checked out, and it deploys perfectly with green indication on the floor and illumination on the annunciator panel. Has anyone ever seen this problem before and how can we fix it?

I transitioned from an E Model to the Ovation 3. Landing took work to train for it, flying it is a breeze. The Screaming Eagle is essentially an Ovation. I flew a friend's 231 quite a bit. It wasn't terribly different from the E Model, just a bit more power but more weight. The biggest issue I see in the transition to this airplane is landing it. The long bodies are heavy aircraft compared to the light and nimble E,F,J&K models. You really notice the weight landing. You have to carry in a good amount of power compared to the predecessors. A stabilized approach is critical to your successful transaction.

I've been at KOA watching KC-135's doing T & G's.

I've been told it is very tough on an engine to do T & G's by many an A&P/IA with heat being a primary concern in a tightly cowled aircraft. Going around is something you just have to do, so you do need to be prepared to go around. But to intentionally do T & G's in a complex/high performance aircraft isn't the brightest thing in the world. I often will ask the tower for the option, reconfigure on roll out with a checklist, and takeoff again. That's a lot different than a T & G. Full disclosure - I am based at a high altitude field, and the DA is part of the issue for flight safety AND engine cooling. I am also familiar with another airport where T & G's are prohibited due to runway length (2,600'). Pick your poison; I have done T & G's in my Mooney, just choose not to do so regularly.

Personally, I find the vernier controls to be cumbersome, especially the throttle. My old E Model had levers, like a throttle quadrant. I loved it. My Ovation has the verniers. The nice thing about them is that you can really dial in precisely the controls. I could do so just as well with the levers on my E Model. As for touch & go's in a Mooney - no thank you. it may take a little more effort, but taxi back and make each landing full stop. T & G's are horribly tough on an engine, and you need to reconfigure for departure. I know some people will say just do the T & G without reconfiguring, as the down flaps will offset the nose up trim. I've done that, don't like it. My first Mooney flight was in an E model while I was in flight training. It had the johnson bar gear and flaps. The flight school made it very clear - no T & G's were permitted in the Mooney.

As I understand it, no. I am equipped identically. At one time there was support from Mooney to do this, at a very expensive cost. I think it also included removing the STEC and replacing it with the G700 autopilot. I went to do a software upgrade a couple of years back, couldn't do it because my G1000 is non-WAAS. I was told then that the ability to convert to WAAS had come and gone. I don't think Mooney knows how many Ovations and Acclaims are out there equipped like this. I have been told anywhere from 45-60 at a minimum.

Caruso, this is not an AD. it was never an AD. It was about to become an AD, but TCM and the FAA were talked down from it. it is a "Critical Service Bulletin"

My date of manufacture on the engine is April of 2005. That really, truly sucks. The PPI did not note this in the AD's, I didn't own the plane when this topic was hotly discussed, I purchased it less than a year later (May 2018). Very low time on aircraft/engine. This is the first time this matter came up. And this is not an AD, which is probably why it didn't come up in the PPI. I am thinking inspect it, but don't just replace it, which requires pulling the engine AND machining/modifying the case.