A64Pilot

I guess this is a model specific question, mine is a J. ‘I know many are all about speed, but sometimes your not in a hurry and efficiency has its own attractions. So what do you J model guys use for a low power cruise manifold and rpm setting wise? I know in theory that low RPM increases both propellor efficiency and reduces engine drag so the lower the RPM, the more efficient on paper. But I’ve done some testing with a different airframe and found that while I’m sure that’s a correct statement that the differences weren’t measurable with a known accurate to .1 GPH fuel flow gauge and indicated airspeed. My motor seems “happiest” vibration wise not going lower than 2350, but I’ve not extensively studied this, there may be sweet spots at lower RPM’s that I’m unaware of, plus I don’t know how well my prop is balanced as it’s a new to me airplane, so what power settings do others use? I’m not meaning this to get into a LOP discussion, although it may end up delving into that, just wondering what others use for a power setting and why those numbers is all.

Boeing helicopter? I know of only a couple of those and wouldn’t think there would be any sales for them?

Exporting aircraft I would always leave from there,(Ft Pierce) the FBO will rent life rafts at a reasonable rate and the Customs people are nice, Not so much at Key West or Miami. Used to be several I think Grumman Mallards there, maybe there was a shop for them, are they still there?

Only prop that requires grease is I believe a Hartzell, and be very careful greasing them, many you can fill the cavity with too much grease and as a min that will make pitch changes slow. The larger Hartzell’s we put on turbine crop dusters, every one of them you removed one zirk fitting and pumped until you got fresh grease out of the removed hole, but the three blade on my Maule you didn’t, you only added two or three pumps, the prop manual was very specific about that, and that was one thing that yes you could easily overgrease and if you did the only fix was pull the prop and send it to a prop shop. If there is any doubt, call Hartzell, their service support guys are good. I personally like Corrosion-X for just general spray some lube on things like hinges etc as it’s excellent for corrosion prevention, probably not a very good lubricant, but how much lubrication does a hinge need? WD-40 isn’t a lube, nor is it an oil, it’s a solvent, probably doesn’t hurt anything, but really doesn’t do much either.

The thing about living in a aviation community is everybody is a pilot and aircraft owner, plus of course your airplane is literally right beside of the house, just like your car is now, just the garage is bigger, so no more having to drive to the airport to go fly. Need an O-ring or whatever? someone has it, I almost guarantee it. ‘If for example one afternoon you think today would be a great day to go fly, well within 5 minutes your flying, and 5minutes after landing, your grilling hamburgers on the back porch, not having to do that drive to the airport opens up a whole new world. Plis there is always something going on, Covid has obviously put a dampener on things, but last week we had a balloon Rodeo where balloons were released when you called for it and the object was to bust them. ‘Many if it most people have two airplanes, sometimes more but it’s usually a modern traveling airplane and often something experimental or an antique to just knock about he local area, like a Baby Ace or in my case a 46 C-140. ‘Every Sunday we fly somewhere to eat breakfast, today it was Crystal River, Wednesdays the guys fly out to lunch. we had I believe eight aircraft this morning

I think there are grass strips, and then there are gravel bars. ‘Now the Maule I would take into a gravel bar, but I’ve yet to see any grass strip that I woudn’t take my Mooney into, with some caveats to that, many are just too soft after a soaking rain, and if it’s bad enough that you need to remove the lower gear doors, go somewhere else. Ours I guess are well maintained, but both runways have hills on them so that if your not careful your approach angle will pretty much equal the rate the hill is descending so that you’ll land in the middle of the runway, there are also bumps or moguls if you will so yes it’s a little more demanding than 5,000 ft paved. I have a shed load of tailwheel time, I believe about 6,000 hours worth and personally prefer grass cause grass and tailwheels go together like pizza and beer, once you get used to grass I believe you’ll find it’s more gentle on the aircraft, tires for example last just about forever and if runway alignment isn’t perfect grass will give a bit as opposed to snatching you straight like pavement will. ‘What I would love is the old Aerodrome, a large circular field where you landed and took off into the wind, no matter the direction, but those of course just don’t exist anymore. But I believe a Mooney is very much capable of grass and doesn’t need to restrict itself to large paved runways. A Mooney is more challenging to land on grass which is often short and narrow than say a 182 or a Maule, but I believe that often it’s limits are proficiency based, not aircraft based. But I just bought mine, and it’s been over 30 years since I last flew one, so who knows, but I believe I’ll find out the same I did with a C-210, that properly flown it was actually a very good STOL airplane, now my M20J will never be STOL, but I think it will do fine in grass, just have to respect it is all, protect the prop etc.

I’ve exported several Crop Dusters to Canada, factory new ones, zero time and it still wasn’t easy. ‘There are NO 337’s allowed. Lord knows how they get GPS spray guidance systems on crop dusters in Canada as none are on factory drawings etc. ‘I don’t think I have ever seen a US aircraft without some kind of 337, so how is it done? However it’s done and of course done frequently, we hired an Agent to get it done, I would think that is your best bet.

Your very honest, most aren’t. Winglets on almost any GA airplane won’t do much, because we don’t fly at very high angles of attack. If you really want to go fast and if money allows, put a GE H-80 in that thing.

I hate to say it depends, but it does, my early model M6/235 would hang on the prop at an airspeed that the airspeed indicator didn’t indicate, I believe due to the extreme nose up attitude, it also had pretty much zero aileron effectiveness at that speed, if a wing dropped, only the rudder would lift it. That was fixed with later model M6’s and subsequent Maule’s with ailerons that were 6” longer. VG’s helped aileron effectiveness greatly, but did little else except slow you down slightly ‘Anyway if you were trying to get in short, about 30 mph and you had a steep descent, elevator would not arrest the descent either, it took a little throttle to blow enough air over the rudder to raise the nose or you would land hard, hard enough to break something. ‘You could easily get stopped before the end of the numbers on a runway if you were light and zero wind, you could also get airborne before the end of the numbers too. The problem if you will with a Maule is fuel consumption, the MPG for my Maule was identical to the C-210L that I flew at about 10 NM per gallon, the 210 was 20 kts faster and could carry a lot more though, and if kept light a surprisingly good STOL airplane. It appears at first glance that my M20J’s fuel consumption is about 10 GPH at 155 kts giving of course 15.5 NM per gallon, butI’ve only had it a few days so not sure. I know I can slow down and likely get 20 MPG? Normal approach speed was if memory serves was about 50 MPH on short final, chop power and a Maule with flaps out glides about like a short wing Piper, that is to say drop a coke bottle out of the window to see where your going to land. On edit, a 235 Maule’s fuel consumption is actually lower than a 180 if flown at identical speeds, the reason is your power is so low on the 235 that you can very aggressively lean it out, and real world the 235 actually adds to useful load, a Maule’s actual ability to carry things is based on CG, and the heavy motor will allow more weight in the cabin before you get to stick force neutral point. A Maule has huge overlapping doors, think old station wagon and can carry large awkward things because you can get them into the airplane

Any decent SCUBA shop should be able to give you the number of a local shop to hydro your steel tank, once hydro tested, a hydro is good for 5 years. unfortunately I don’t believe kevlar tanks can be recertified, once they hit expiration date, they are no good. In other words don’t buy new tanks every 5 years. ‘Cost of hydro ought to be about $50.

Hesitant to post as I’m the new guy, but you shouldn’t shoot an approach with a lot of up trim, the reason is the reaction you’ll get on a go-around. I learned this on my Maule, a STOL airplane that full up trim makes for a nice slow approach with little force on the yoke, but with over 20 feet of 48 degree flaps and an IO-540 in the nose when you go to full throttle for a go around, it takes both hands to keep the nose down, or you will stall. The biggest reason it’s so bad on a go around is the force of the airflow from the engine at full throttle adding to the elevator force, an aircraft on a slow approach the airflow over the elevator is much less than it will be when the motor is at full throttle. So I now shoot an approach having to hold some back pressure, that way when the dog or whatever runs out on the runway in front of me, I can go to full throttle without it being so much of an effort. Now while not applicable to a Mooney, but in a normal airplane with an elevator trim tab, going full up actually reduces the total up elevator available, the reason is your driving that tab full down, and that reduces the surface area of the elevator.