A64Pilot

I slip sometimes, but if I do it’s because I came in too high, so it’s not usually intentional. ‘I’m going out on a limb a and going to guess he’s saying don’t touch down in a slip? As we don’t have down locks I believe you could collapse a gear if you do. Some aircraft it’s OK to touch down not aligned with the runway, coming from so much tail wheel time I couldn’t bring myself to do that though. Is there a prohibition of no slips with flaps like some Cessna’s in the POH?

The thing that struck me about that photo was the rod was completely separated from the crankshaft, and I’ve not seen that before, usually a rod will break in the middle somewhere. Makes me wonder if a rod bolt broke.

probably last 20 years

Who did or does yours? Noticed your in Fl.

I just got the airplane and I’m pretty sure nothing has ever been done to the gear actuator included. 2200 TT Been contemplating best course of action, searching back some it seems quite a few are determined that only a few years have bad springs in that they were formed after heat treat and that of course starts a crack, Don’t have any idea as to the validity of that. ‘I don’t think I want to do it myself, but do I take the aircraft to someone in Fl, or do I remove and send the actuator to Lazar or someone else? Are springs even available? I’ve not yet been able to buy a single Mooney part, relays, limit switches, gear switch, all are unavailable.

If there is an enormous hole in the top of the engine, I’d expect the preliminary report to say engine failure?

I believe it’s how they are cast, many Conti’s are sand cast and I believe that gives them a different finish, I’d assume rougher.

I was thinking that too, maybe enough to make seeing through the windshield impossible.

The rating I think only applies to maintenance, the manual if I remember correctly has you retracting and extending 5 times to check for proper operation and interference etc. Who cycles the gear over and over in flight?

Yes, it seems to be way de-rated, which I like, derating is often a way to a long life. Data plate says it’s good for 2000 lbs and 55 amps, It’s protected by a 15 amp breaker and mine seems to pull about 10 or 12 or so looking at the amp meter. I’m aware of the different gear ratios but am unaware of what I have. Gear cycle time seems quick but not really fast, I’d guess maybe 5 sec, but that’s a guess only, probably less. I took it out this morning and did several approaches and go-arounds, didn’t touch as I live on a grass field, it’s not rough, but it’s not smooth like pavement either. Go arounds are dead easy, just full throttle, get the gear and when you get the flaps, be running the trim nose down, the flaps and trim seem to wash each other out so there is no excessive pitch force. Anyway it hasn’t hesitated dropping gear yet, still early to declare victory, but I think it is the gear switch. I’ll feel better in a month.

Thank you.

You can run LOP at any altitude and any flight condition without harm, so long as you don’t increase power by too much, if you do you could cause harm. I didn’t say you will cause harm, just saying that at high power it’s possible to if lean. For me the fuel saving isn’t worth the risk. Let’s say you have a 10 min climb, and your burning 10 GPH more being ROP. I’m a simpleton and like simple numbers. ‘So that climb is 1/6 of an hour, so you will save 1.6 gallons LOP, and that’s with a 10 GPH difference, which is probably a little excessive. Check my math, I’m not good at math But if I’m turning and need to climb 1000 ft to maintain correct altitude, then I’ll leave power alone and just slow to climb. ‘But in cruise flight when traveling I’m often up high for comfort and am leaned out and at full throttle due to HP loss at altitude, so then I’ll just slow at little to climb as going rich isn’t a whole lot more power anyway. ‘You could of course climb ROP to say 7500 then transition to LOP and continue the climb, but I don’t but then my cruise is usually around 9 to 10 thousand anyway.

No one is saying it’s hard or that you have to be a pilot God, but it is different than most other aircraft. Most aircraft you can slow and descend, a Mooney it’s best to slow first, get dirtied up and then descend, better on the engine too as you don’t have to go to real lower power. I’m not saying drop gear at 10,000 feet, but its good to have them down prior to glide slope intercept. Same as landing, most aircraft you can shoot an approach at a little higher speed, chop power and it slows and lands, the Mooney of course doesn’t slow quickly, and how many accidents are there from people trying to land a Mooney like they did the 172 in training? But again, it’s not hard and doesn’t require excessive skill, it’s just different is all. My little J doesn’t get its decent cruise speed from its mighty 200 HP, it’s get it from low drag, and drag of course is your friend if your trying to slow. Be nice to have those speed brakes, butI I’m a poor old retired guy so I’ll have to do without. ‘I exacerbate it as I won’t drop gear until near the white arc, yes I know what the max allowed is, but I believe if you do things at the max limits all the time,it’s going to increase wear. Thsts one difference between an aircraft renter and an owner. On edit back in training with the Mooney, the Cherokee 180 for instance I would figure 500 FPM descent and if I had 8,000 to lose about 18 min or so out I’d trim it to 500 FPM and enjoy the speed, at 8,000 throttle was wide open of course ‘First cross country I did that in the Mooney and after a short while I noticed I was right at VNE. ‘Most aircraft after level off you let it accelerate a short while and trim it and your done, a Mooney will slowly keep building speed requiring more re-trimming than most, again not hard, just different, even if you do the climb 200’ over assigned and slowly descend to assigned altitude the Mooney takes longer to get to final speed.

He flies it pretty often, I assume he avoids rain like the plague though, I would. ‘The whole bottom is a single large image, I think maybe an Angel, the left wing is the Blue Angels with the pilots pictures, the right is a P-38 and it’s pilots image.

If you really want to do some interesting reading on navigation / instrument flying etc, read up on how the Pan Am clipper navigators and pilots did it prior to WWII and crossing oceans, even the Pacific at that. Some of the biggest thunderstorms on Earth are in the Pacific and you know they deviated around them and still found their destination

It really is just simply different than most other aircraft. The fact that your not a high time pilot in other aircraft is likely why you don’t understand, because you don’t have many other frames of reference, that can be an advantage sometimes as you don’t have other habits to unlearn. ‘Drop the gear on a C-210, followed by full flap and at idle you can descend like an auto rotating helicopter, not in a Mooney or if you do your going so fast that no way you can land. I did my Commercial instrument training in a then brand new Mooney AT, which I believe was just a J with a different paint job. But the school wouldn’t allow you to drop gear first before flaps, because they were training Airline wanna be’s and apparently regional turbo props and I guess now jets too you get approach flaps first and they didn’t want to ingraine Mooney habits of gear first. ‘I can tell you that if you don’t have something down at the outer marker, it’s unlikely that your going to make the approach, point the nose down on a J and it doesn’t slow down, it’s like a sled on ice. ‘The AT had those wonderful speed brakes, but they woudnt allow us to use them either. ‘The School syllabus was written so that you did your private in 152’s, got your instrument in Cherokee 180’s and Commercial in the Mooney’s. ‘I didn’t follow the syllabus. I saw no need in the private license so I didn’t take that ride, to get instrument rating you had to have a pilots license in Category so I got the Commercial before the instrument ride, and I didn’t like the Cherokee, flew like a truck, so I paid extra and did both instrument and Commercial in the Mooney. ‘I was punished for my transgressions, I got the instrument ride from Hell, because I was told that as a Commercial pilot I was supposed to demonstrate Commercial knowledge and proficiency of instrument procedures, but I survived

Looks like a sectional on the wall. ‘When was the last one of those printed? anyone bought a paper sectional in the last 2o years? Do they even teach on paper charts anymore?

I’m from around there, if he came from the South he overflew or flew right by Albany which is tower controlled and has crash rescue etc and is what maybe 20 miles away? It’s where the hospital they took them to is. There is nothing at Dawson, but there are several big fields South of Dawson too that would have been better than a road. Want to bet fuel exhaustion?

Very often what we think of as Modern technology isn’t nearly as modern as we think. ‘In 2001 I bought what I believe was the cutting edge of modern Diesel engine technology with a Duramax Diesel, which was a joint venture with Isuzu and GM. ‘It was an aluminum Diesel, and had dual overhead cams and believe it or not but four valve heads. Suoer Modern, it was advertised as the first Diesel with Aluminum heads and many thought it wouldn’t hold up. ‘Well later on while doing some studying on Armored vehicles, I hit on an old CIA document about the Russian T-34 tank. Would you believe that the engine was designed in 1931, it was. Diesel, with dual overhead cams, it was an aluminum engine and had four valve heads? So almost 70 years before the Duramax the Russians who we thought were technological primitives designed that engine when the US was just beginning to put pressurized oil systems in automotive designs?

I believe that was a development / test flight, and a military only. maybe even classified?, not a fielded unit, I don’t know when actual PAR’s / GCA’s became available to the public. ‘But yes, instrument flight with gyro’s etc goes way back further then most realize, but Joe civilian wasn’t flying instruments until I don’t know when.

Real sure those were instruments above and behind those required for basic VFR like fuel gauges, oil pressure etc. The mail guys in the 1920’s sort of invented dead reckoning, they would fly over the top of a solid layer and if they didn’t breakout when they timed out, they would enter a spin and recover once they broke out under the layer. ‘I know that’s hard to believe, but it was really done. I don’t think there was GCA’s until well after WWiI, my 140 was built the year after WWII ended. With 15 years in the Army, I have shot a many a GCA, one version is known as a no gyro GCA, where you only turn at half standard rate, and the controller only says start turn and stop turn, they don’t give a heading. The controller is continually talking to you and you have a missed approach instruction thst says if you don’t hear form them in maybe 15 sec, execute missed approach. A GCA can and is sometimes shot down to the ground, last thing you’ll hear from the controller if you don’t break out is, “reduce power and land” But to be honest the HIRL will burn though anything so while you may not see the ground, you will see the lights. By the way as an Army aviator my VFR weather minimums were 300+1/2 day, 500+1 night, and we flew VFR at those min with only an ADF too. In 1929 Doolittle made the first totally blind takeoff, flight and landing solely on instruments. Sperry invented and flew the first real autopilot in 1912 I believe.

My 46 C-140 had the flare dispenser, they were pretty common. The purpose was to drop flares to light up the airfield for landing. ‘The attached photo is of the operators manual, there is no POH for the C-140, it predates the POH, so later the operators manual was printed and we carry one to show the feds rather than try to explain that there is no POH. Anyway, back in the day in order to fly a C-140 for hire at night beyond 3 miles from the airport, both a landing light and flares were required. Check out the required instruments for IFR, pretty ballsy huh?

I’m not aware of a duty cycle either, just figured to be conservative. ‘How do you know which gears you have? cycle time? I have an 81 J with an Avionic actuator, I’ll attach a pic. Can the gearing be determined by serial or part number? You can see on the data plate the duty cycle is intermittent, but I don’t know how often or how long defines intermittent, so I gave it a short rest between cycles

You get more power if you add more air even LOP because our engines develop power by the rapid expansion of air when it’s heated, if you have more air mass to heat you will get more power. Of course there is a limit as to how lean you can be and still get combustion, that’s the difference between us and Diesels. It’s not a whole lot of power and often it’s masked by the power loss of being too lean and uneven combustion. ‘Internal combustion engines do not get power from “exploding fuel” there should be no explosions, just burns, explosions are detonation and we know what that does. To get an idea how spark ignition engines operate LOP, it helps to have an in-depth understanding of the Diesel engine principles, Diesels only throttle fuel, there is no air throttle, they are the ultimate LOP engine if you will, even turbines throttle air through inlet guide vanes, bleed valves etc. There is never any vacuum in the intake manifold of a Diesel, if you put a manifold pressure gauge on an NA Diesel regardless of throttle setting and RPM/ load, at sea level it should always read about 30”, even at idle. A turbo Diesel will have a max pressure limit often controlled by a waste gate, but other than that the engines gets all the air it can even at idle.

Once your rated, get your complex endorsement, fly with current aircraft owner until your both comfortable. ‘I feel pretty sure insurence is going to require you to have x number of hours Mooney time before they will cover you anyway, current owner is covered so fly with him until you get those hours. ‘Now many seem to believe that touch and goes are for some reason unsafe, but in my opinion they are an important part of training.