GeeBee

The California State Franchise Tax Board makes the IRS look tame. Not people to trifle with.

France, Germany or the Netherlands. MSCs there.

As I previously said, my employer entered bankruptcy. We had some of the worst management in the industry. The management gave themselves bankruptcy proof pensions while we all got wiped out. I know about being treated poorly and working for a bunch of dilitants. That all said, as one of the best VP of Ops I ever worked for wrote: "You ride for the brand. The brand is not the owners, the brand is your bunk mates and fellow cowboys. You never leave your cows, you never let down the bunk house. Good fortune will return to those who ride for the brand" It was so true. 10 years later, I had recovered what I lost in pension, with money in my own account, we had great management who treated us fairly, rewarded us handsomely, not just record profits, but the best in the industry ever. We became feared by our competitors, loved by our customers and rode proud in the saddle, all the way to retirement.

The Chinese aviation market was hot as a fire cracker. Chinese companies were hiring ex-pat pilots and aircraft sales were robust even in a place where flying above 3000' privately was difficult. Now they have a surplus of pilots, they are furloughing pilots and their entire economy is not that great add the 737 Max grounding and the aviation scene is bleak. Make no mistake about it, the current trade war is having a deleterious effect upon the Chinese economy and the thinking of Chinese investors. A historical look at the Shanghai index proves that. This morning they are celebrating because it is above 3000 when it was above 5000 in 2015. Make no mistake about it they have been hurt and are hurting. I am sure there is a lot of soul searching going on right now about throwing in more money. Equally so, where to place that money. Do you stay in the US where things are at their peak or go home to a down market with a large upside potential? There are so many things here at play we cannot know. Is the state owned Aviation Industries Group squeezing the Mooney investors? Who knows because it is all ChiCom politics. We cannot possibly know either the structures or the intrigue. It will all have to play out before our eyes and ears. I only know two things about Chinese investing. Do not trust their numbers because there is no verification by independent authorities and stay far, far away because it is most the time, smoke and mirrors.

Regardless Europe or the US, it is either an MSC or Aircraft Technical Publishers.

Have the exact same airplane, did it last August at Maxwell's. You want Mooney SB M20-305B, use option 2 (since you have an STec autopilot). Figure on 30 AMU when all finished. Don't know if Maxwell still has any kits left, but I would call. I would do it soon in case Mooney turns in their PC or TDCS. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4147179/technical_documents/service_bulletins/M20_305B-1.pdf

Here is one fact. We don't know the financial structure of Mooney. Anything beyond that is speculation.

I have often wondered how LineX bedliner paint would do. It has an extremely grippy surface and is very durable.

Lot of mis information here. First of all, China does have a national debt, about 5 trillion dollars which amounts to 47% of their GDP. second China as a country is deeply leveraged with total debt that amounts to 300% of GDP. when you consider that the "private debt" is owned by corporations that are often captives of the PLA aka the army, the national debt is much higher. Maybe as high as 80% of GDP Second the largest foreign holder of US debt is not the Chinese. It is Japan. Followed by the Chinese, followed by the UK. Japan and China each hold about 5% of the total US debt. Still the largest holder of US debt is US investors. Foreign buying of US debt has accelerated, but that is largely a result of demand for safety in a low or negative interest rate world. As to the current structure of Mooney, it is largely speculation given the private equity involved. However the lack of a bankruptcy filing at this point is hopeful, but not dispositive.

Yes, only two ways MSC or ATP on a subscription basis.

I have searched and a lot of threads on "how to" on MS for paint. As I prepare to remove my stick on wing walk and replace it I was wondering what is the opinions here. Randolph wing walk compound or 3M stick on? One MSC I talked to paints all of theirs but the factory does 3m tape. The 3M seems very good for grip. Wonder what the opinions are here.

I take it you will also offer training in owner's aircraft as well?

My guy is presently booked up as far as the eye can see in KGVL. However Cole is very good and close. He works on my hangar neighbor's airplane and does good work on it.

Single pilot no less.

It gets expensive on a 731 JetStar. To work on just about anything on the inboard engines, even to replace a starter/generator requires removal of the outboard engine. I laughed when I read the MM because the first thing it always said on engine related work was, "If inboard engine, first remove outboard engine".

By the way this was the JetStar's competition for the Air Force contract. The prototype sat at center field at KABQ for years. I don't know where it is now.

Oh yeah, I think they were -8s which was a small step up from -6s.

Actually this one is re-engined with TFE 731s. Stage 3 compliant. Sweet flying machine too. I amazed this one still flies. Most got drop sheared when they failed the "tank and plank" inspection. The old -6 units were good flying too......once they finally left the ground.

A clog is easily cleared.

I would agree, however if the DPI is triggered by a visual assessment of crack existence, then the crack is sufficient to be evaluated by DPI.

Certainly, eddy current would be the "gold standard" in this case, however you have three cylinders, with three identical "cracks". You would then have to conclude that a DPI failed in all three cases to detect the crack. That seems highly improbable. I would still keep an eye on them for a while, if you see blue stains stop flying it immediately. NDT can be problematic even in the best of circumstances. United 232 and Delta 1288 both proved the point, but think how rare the events that occurred in those cases. This can make for good reading on NDT. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR9801.pdf Cliff Notes version: The Safety Board recognizes that all necessary probability of detection data and crack propagation rates may not be immediately available, and may have to be developed for some components. Therefore, the Safety Board believes that the FAA should require, as an interim measure, pending implementation of Safety Recommendation A-98-19, that critical rotating titanium engine components that have been in service for at least 2 years receive an FPI, eddy current, and ultrasonic inspection of the high-stress areas at the engine’s next shop visit or within 2 years from the date of this recommendation, whichever occurs first. IOW, nothing is guaranteed. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Were you over FL? What area? ATC gets real quirky at the low FL's in Florida.

Yep. Three cylinders cracked in the exact same spot was just a little too weird. Glad you were spared the expense. Happy New Year, This episode goes straight to the article from Mike Busch I posted. Trust, but verify. The IA in that article was sure it was a crack too, pulled and replaced the jug.. If I may quote: "I asked whether the shop had performed a DPI to verify the crack before yanking the jug. My friend said he’d requested that, but the IA demurred, claiming it would be a waste of time and adding, “I know a head crack when I see one.” " Epilogue, the jug was retrieved, tested and found to be crack free. Money had to be refunded. I learned to verify cracks back in 1980 when a shop told me the spar on the horizontal stab of a T310 was cracked. They refused my request to go further. I pulled the airplane into another hangar, called out an NDT firm who performed an eddy current and guess what? No crack!

How often is the visual overturned by NDT in the case at hand?

I guess I would have to ask. What is the harm in doing an NDT inspection to verify that it is indeed a crack?