Heidiho

Hey there GeneralT001, Accomplished the same task just one week ago. Flew to Kentucky and picked up two, six-week old English bulldogs. We didn’t have a carrier large enough for two dogs, nor did we have two small carriers; so we put down a large contractor garbage bag then a moving blanket in the back of the Mooney. (Obviously we took out the seats.) Our flight was an hour long. The puppies pottied before we boarded and slept all the way home. Nothing like the hum of an M20K, and smooth air at 9,000 feet to put a baby to sleep. (We had a nice tail wind on the flight home—that was sweet.). You can see from the picture that the breeder sent some toys and blankets that the puppies were familiar with. I liked the fact that I could touch and pet them during the flight. They were born to fly! This may not work for you, but it is an option that worked for our situation. Heidiho

Just wondering if any of you have tried out Flying Eyes sunglasses—and if so, what is your take on the product. My husband and I visited their booth at Oshkosh and was interested in many of the features, but couldn’t pull the trigger because of the price. Are they worth it? I’d appreciate any advice you can give. I’m thinking of giving them as a gift if the feedback is positive. Thanks. H

Rob, with regards to your fuel line question, I don’t know, we didn’t question the mechanic’s procedure—Just stopped in to take some photos of the plane’s damage and get an update regarding the cause of the incident.

Congratulations! After going Full circle around the incident, We have finally landed back on the point I was making in my first post: Because there are always variables in flying that we can’t manage, it is important that we manage those we can, the easiest one being, whether or not we have sufficient fuel to get us safely to our destination. A thorough pre-flight should never take a back seat to complacency—no matter how short the flight or how great and knowledgeable a pilot we think we are. Much headache, heartache, and expense can be eliminated by erring on the side of safety. Merry Christmas to all.

I want to give an update on the 231 off field landing in North Georgia . It did happen on December 17, 2020, thank you Kortopates, I looked at the calendar wrong—my bad. It did occur at least five miles south of Lafayette, on the East side of the ridge from the airport. The ferry pilot took off from 9A5 after having a new GFC 500 autopilot and other goodies installed by Gann Aviation. +1 for Gann Aviation, you are correct GeeBee. Witnesses say after conducting a couple of test flights around 9A5, he took off again to the South for a 12 minute flight to home drone 1A0 with less than 12 gallons of fuel in each tank. Upon banking around to head North, the plane lost power resulting in a well executed off field landing in the cow pasture. This morning, December 24, 2020, mechanic documented for the FAA in a video showing that it was fuel starvation, not contamination or or other engine-related issues. I have certainly enjoyed the discussions generated regarding off field landings—pros and cons of gear up vs gear down. PT20Jbottom lined it, ‘when you touch down off airport, a certain amount of luck is involved. This ferry pilot seemed to have much of that on hand plus some great skill to smooth it in.

With insurance rates climbing higher, here is one more reason why you should always visually check the amount of fuel in your tanks and not rely solely on the gauges. This accident happened Wednesday, December 16, 2020. One soul on board, no injuries. The pilot actually made a pretty smooth landing—only one skid mark on the ground—-in the breeches, unknown.

Hi Van, I couldn’t help but respond to your blog because our 231 is the same year as yours. Several years ago we were flying over Nashville Tennessee in IMC at ten thousand feet. We initially smelled burning wires and looked at each other asking, “do you smell something burning? Then the smoke began to fill the cockpit coming between the radio and the auto pilot. My hiusband initially thought something was happening to the auto pilot and reached to pull its fuse. We were reaching for the fire extinguisher and preparing to declare an emergency when the smoke began to lessen and then stopped. As soon as we got into VMC we landed and called our mechanic and checked things out under the panel. We discovered the radio fan motor had disintegrated—but the fuse never broke—so be glad yours did. That smoke thing was a bit unnerving...Our breaker amperage was correct—-our mechanic said sometimes the “whys” I.e. (it didn’t break) can’t be explained. We were glad it wasn’t our auto pilot, for obvious reasons....that’s flying, though, there are bound to be some exciting moments in the sky. I hope you will find the cause of your problem, which I am sure you will, especially if you follow the advice given by Carusoam. He seems to be on track with the information he shares with everyone.

My husband began reading your blog to me and I said, “did you submit that blog? Because that is EXACTLY the way I felt about flying” in the beginning, that is. I even threatened him with divorce—obviously, he called my bluff. I have to agree with the PIC husbands’ advice, but wanted to share some thoughts With you from a “wife’s” point of view Which I hope your wife will read. I get motion sick very easily so I know where she is coming from. I can honestly say that the more she flies with you the less sick she will get. Her body will become accustomed to the ups and downs of flying plus the more she flies with you the better her comfort level will become regarding your skills and expertise as a pilot. Being more at ease in the plane also helps reduce the anxiety/ sick feeling that comes when flying. I have flown with my husband in Cessna 172, 182, and did not enjoy flying at all. The Mooney is a great plane. Its low wing and retractable gear enables it to travel faster and is very stable I appreciate being able to ascend to higher altitudes when circumstances call for that. Since we bought our Mooney, I enjoy flying. We go across the country and to the Bahamas and it’s great. I don’t even mind flying in IFR conditions. Tell her to just give it a chance. Take her for short flights on good calm days and work into longer ones. She will get to the point where even the bumps won’t bother her because she has a better feel for why the plane is acting the way it does. And one more thing. Teach her how to be your co-pilot. My husband made me learn things in the beginning that I did not want to learn. Now, I am very glad he did. It helps those long trips not to be so boring. Operating the radio and listening to A T C is fun. Her situational awareness will help you be a better pilot because she may catch something going on that you miss because you are preoccupied flying the plane. I hope she will give it a chance. As you teach her what you Learn it will reinforce it in your mind and Help her gain a sense of belonging.