A64Pilot

I was going to post that but you beat me to it. Even though we are pumping historic amounts of domestic oil, my guess is SWA and specifically the Gulf of Aden and the Houthis are having a not insignificant effect. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-01-12/#:~:text=NEW YORK%2C Jan 12 (Reuters,prices unexpectedly fell in December. https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/A-Houthi-Retaliation-Could-Send-Oil-Prices-Soaring.html

As I was Retiring “blue force” tracking was being installed on my units AH-64D’s. It broadcast precise position data and other information so that the Commander can see all his assets in real time on a terrain map. Of course they were being told that the “enemy” couldn’t receive this data. I guess I retired in time because there was no way that I would go down range transmitting position data. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_force_tracking We already had every aircraft we were flying with in an integrated net so that I could see where they were on a digital map, where they were looking if the had a weapon selected, how much fuel they had, ammo load etc.

Neighbor flies for Netjets, flies the big Citation, the X maybe? Anyway as was posted it’s not that hard really all it takes is follow the directions that are posted by ADSB stack exchange to build your own receiver with a Rasberry Pi and the nut that followed them to the airport can now track them. I’m sure posting this data will make them a celebrity on that website. I don’t know what a Rasberry Pi is really but apparently they aren’t expensive, and can be easily bought Apparently even flight aware is in on it, so you can feed data directly to flight aware, so much for the FAA request to be not reported, flight aware even incentivizes it, giving away free accounts etc that you normally pay for https://www.flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/build/

I know you can’t protect from someone determined or willing to spend some money. It was I’d guess maybe 15 years ago at Sun-N-Fun in camping I noticed some guy wandering around obviously writing down tail numbers, as he was writing mine down I asked him what he was doing, his response was he was an airplane spotter and it was his hobby, apparently a bunch of these idiots write down tail numbers and report the location to each other? Todays world is nuts. Been I’d guess a month or two ago I entered mid field Right downwind at an airport that only had one side traffic, right after I did I head this guy calling a “tear drop” entry into the opposite traffic, well I could see him in front of me on downwind, he did a left 180 and now we are facing each other on a collision course, so I asked him if he had ADSB in, his response was I use my eyes to see where I’m going, so I told him to look in front of him, that the airplane he will see with the landing light on is me, and his course reversal in downwind put us on a collision course, by that time I had dropped to 500 ft so I could keep an eye on him Long story short this guy went ballistic telling me he had my tail number and was going to find out where I lived call the FAA etc. I told him please call that I had a screen shot of his ground track Nearly every day on the news I hear about how someone got cut off in traffic or something and responds by shooting. I’d just as soon this idiot that was threatening me couldn’t find out my Address, who knows just how stupid people are now.

I’m no Lawyer either and haven’t stayed in a Motel in months. However comma my belief without knowing what the laws are, couldn’t this fall under “stalking”? Example I believe I can’t follow someone wherever they go even if I never set foot off of public property, and for example I don’t even think I can maintain surveillance on someone from the air. Even following their activities on line I think constitutes stalking. I believe but again I’m no lawyer but key to being stalking is does the activity cause emotional distress or fear? My guess is they could get him as a Stalker, she can certainly afford a whole team of Lawyers, while I doubt he can afford one. I know justice is supposed to be blind, but often the truth is the deeper pockets win. I would hope but know better that this free and public dissemination of aircraft related data that would never be allowed for automobiles will be stopped. Then I wouldn’t have to maintain an LLC that while it’s not real expensive it I’d guess a couple hundred a year that I’d rather not spend AIS for boats pre dates ADSB by years and is very similar in it reports position, and that data is also publicly available

I don’t know what I’m looking at with that chart, but my 81J it’s nearly impossible to load out of CG, it’s one of the very attractive things to me about a Mooney. I think if you can easily get out of aft CG that there is likely a math error somewhere

Yeah, I didn’t know any of that and wanted an easy way out to “hide” my identity. Aircraft was in a Ga LLC and I was offered that LLC for free when I bought it, but the catch 22 I think is the number of days a non Fl registered aircraft is allowed in Fl before use tax is due, but apparently this use tax is only applicable to aircraft? I depreciated the Maule because one of the hats I wore working was as a Test Pilot and used the Maule for currency etc. Now I’m Retired and have no Company I don’t think I could depreciate the Mooney anyway. Idea behind the Montana LLC is that I don’t have to do anything, my Ga Corporation that I had the farm in was a PIA with Officers, meetings, yearly filings etc. Co-incidentally I got this email today.

This worries / bothers me quite a lot, I went so far as to create a Montana LLC that “owns” my Mooney. It’s cheap and easy. Apparently it was created as a tax dodge for primarily expensive motorhomes but they register aircraft too, supposedly they do not and won’t disclose who owns the LLC at least to the public, one assumes they will to LEO’s. At least in Fl it won’t work as a tax dodge for aircraft but will for motorhomes, Fl will make you pay a use tax for your airplane if it’s in Fl for three weeks, but your motorhome or Yacht can stay as long as you want without being taxed. Aviation doesn’t get to play on the same fields as Yachts and motorhomes for some reason? https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com/montana-vehicle-registration/aircraft

The first Annual performed by an IA should take significantly longer than succeeding ones, the reason is for the first he has to research every AD and it’s compliance back to the build date, but succeeding ones he only has to check from the last Annual he performed until current time.

In the US anyway an Annual and a 100 hr are the same, the difference is an Annual takes an IA to sign it off where an A&P can sign off a 100 hr so the labor hours should be the same

I think your an outlier, I think for most of us if faced with a 150 to 200K requirement it would break us, there would be a whole lot of scrap Mooney’s being parted out overnight. If I had to write off the Mooney that would probably put me in something Rotax powered, used at that.

Buy an airplane that can burn Mogas with an STC, often the STC is dirt cheap as many can with no modifications, some need extra pumps and cowling vents etc. Maule does for example, that’s factory drawings though I think. I have no idea really but can the 180 HP carbureted Mooney’s burn Mogas? If not then I guess a Mooney is out but many others can. Which has me thinking if you can’t make one run on Auto fuel for whatever reason, perhaps ADI would require 94UL? I’ve not seen 94UL for sale so I guess at this point it’s kind of rare? Anyway over there at the C-140 / 120 Assn it’s been known for a long time that the price difference between Mogas and 100LL pays for your engine overhaul, if of course if it’s burned full time to TBO. The price savings is substantial, but based on fuel price alone a Diesel conversion just doesn’t make $$ sense, even if you need an overhaul anyway. At todays prices anyway, we don’t know what the future may bring. When 100LL goes away I think things will accelerate in a hurry, right now there is no need.

In my opinion lowering the nose if able and increasing airspeed that you climb at is far more effective in controlling cyl head and oil temps than reducing power, reducing power can have the effect of making you slow down to best rate of climb speed in order to maintain climb and push temps higher. We don’t have this issue if we are fuel injected but many carbureted aircraft especially have an “economizer” feature that automatically leans the mixture when you reduce power which may not be what you want. I was corrected on that because I thought our fuel injection had the power enrichment at full throttle but it apparently doesn’t. Most engines do even auto and outboards go extra rich near full throttle. Holley carburetors for autos for instance https://documents.holley.com/techlibrary_power_valves.pdf Aircraft specific below https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/1998/april/flight-training-magazine/the-economizer Reduced power takeoffs and climbs have cooked many an R-1340 for instance by Ag pilots trying to be kind to their motor. The argument of reduced vs full power climb is the first memory I have of pilots discussing a technique at the FBO my Father kept his airplane at, roughly 1968 or so, maybe earlier. Its been around forever. While the POH takes precedence I believe Lycomings take is full power, full rich until 5,000 ft then begin to lean if roughness is noted, but that’s from memory not sure I can find that in print

I can assure you the Government doesn’t give a rats behind, they have no interest in solving the issue, if it’s solved and I believe it has been that will come from private industry. I’m hanging my hat on the resurgence of ADI, alcohol water injection, even if your a Gami proponent, you need ADI to exist to help keep the price down, as I understand it Gami won’t have anything to do with pricing, that will come from who produces it, and if they have a monopoly well that’s not always good for the consumer. Any engine conversion is way out of my price range, especially one that will be as comprehensive as a Diesel conversion will be, everything forward of the firewall will have to be replaced as a min. As a WAG I’d think that would cost well North of $150K, start adding up prop, engine mount, exhaust and cowling etc and 150K might be a heck of a deal. Don’t forget labor this won’t be a quickie. If the engine is $100K I wouldn’t be surprised by the time it was all done if the total wasn’t twice that. Now a new aircraft depending on what OEM pricing will be may not be much if any more than a Lycoming or Continental powered aircraft. I think without looking that the 172 lost about 100 lbs useful. I’m curious, what anti Gami interests are there?

This may sound crazy, but if it did cause starter clutch slipping, I’d consider that a good sign for us Lycoming guys that don’t have clutches to worry about, it’s telling me that it reduces friction. Take wet motorcycle clutches for example, if you use a modern energy saving oil in your motorcycle with a wet clutch it can cause clutch slipping, this is because the energy saving oil really works, it reduces friction and a clutch relies on friction of course.

Do you have pedal extenders? If so that might be part of the issue

You can pull one heck of a vacuum with a fuel pump and the engine keep running, it was a turbine but I have seen a fuel tank collapsed from a clogged vent. Good catch. Dirt dobbers are bad Ju Ju, they have caused fatal accidents. ‘Many people catch a clogged vent when they refuel, pop the cap and hear it suck in a bunch of air, you have a clogged vent.

I think that’s key, staying in the green temp wise, you can run one too cold, too cold may not be as bad as too hot, but it’s not good. Even in Central Fl mine can get to the bottom of the green, and the difference in being at the bottom and near the middle for me is only .5 GPH. I’m all about being a CB, but saving .5 GPH but running at the bottom of the green is I believe being penny wise and pound foolish.

Just remember it’s just an opinion. It’s just I think there is something to be said for the progressive approach so to speak, sure it’s delayed gratification but I think the more airframes you can fly the better a pilot you will become, and older aircraft while they aren’t a smart investment, no airplane is, but they don’t seem to lose their value, I’m not a smart person with money but it seems they may hold their value, just don’t be bit by the I want to upgrade bug until your sure you have the airplane you will be happy with ten years from now. If it’s been flying for the last 40 years without a fancy engine monitor, chances are it will make another year without one, but put anything in there for engine monitor, I’m not knocking them, plug in new paint job or new interior instead, just saying don’t put big money into something you don’t plan on keeping Nothing wrong with a Ipad running Foreflight or good headsets etc because they carry over to the next airplane I think you will learn a heck of a lot owning a simple airplane for a year or so, and be a whole lot more educated with what your needs vs wants are, maybe form that maintenance network that your going to need. Me for example, I really don’t need a Mooney, but I’ve always wanted one, but logically I should be flying a simple airplane. I try to justify that by telling myself that being an A&P/IA changes the rules for me, maybe it does but in truth it probably doesn’t as much as I’d like. If it weren’t for that no question I’d be in an Experimental, an RV-8 would fill my needs as I’m sure others would too. Not a month goes by that I don’t consider selling the Mooney and buying something that would be smarter, but I don’t, because I’ve wanted a Mooney since I was a little boy dodging clouds in my Fathers C model.

I understand, as I said one of our dealers was installing the Diesel STC in 172’s as fast as they could before it went away. Their name is Africare and they are the Bell helicopter dealer as well as Cessna for Africa and of course sell a Lot in that Continent. Apparently for whatever reason Avgas is scarce in the African Continent, so they could sell more Diesel 172’s than they could modify and I’m pretty sure those were new 172’s. The market is there no question. Maule had a LOT of pre-orders but I think they were smart enough to not take deposits, if SMA hadn’t gone under Maule could have sold everything they could build easily. I think the Diesel market is for new aircraft though, not so much for our older aircraft, just too expensive, but I’ve been wrong before But I can’t think of anywhere there isn’t Auto fuel, in fact I’d say 87 Octane Autofuel is much more available than Jet, sure you would have to sell it at the airport, but how tough could that be?

In the past Diesel’s have always been heavier, due in part to the compression and in part to the rather erratic timing, erratic because a cold Diesel actually Diesels, but once warm and at operating speed there is enough heat in the cylinder so that the fuel begins it’s burn the moment it is injected. But with the magic that common rail is erratic timing can be handled and is why the NVH of modern Diesels is close to spark ignition engines. I don’t really understand the push for Diesels myself, I guess it’s because the fuel is already at airports? I would think that design and manufacturing of a modern spark ignition motor that could run on Auto fuel would be easier and lighter, for example look at what’s being done with Outboard engines. Bigger than we need, but 600 HP on 87 Octane, I only link this to show that you can make big power on Autofuel, just need modern combustion chamber which mean four valve heads and that means liquid cooling, or that’s what it took to put four valves in motorcycles, they couldn’t do it without liquid cooling. Boat motors differ greatly from automobiles, because often a boat is run nearly at or at full throttle for extended times like an airplane, but that’s almost never the case for Auto’s. https://www.mercurymarine.com/us/en/engines/outboard/verado/verado-600hp

I had heard of the NASCAR connection, and while I’m an open wheel road racing fan myself and don’t follow NASCAR, back in the day when I was building drag bikes we had two brothers that did NASCAR heads come down in off season and help us, it’s where I learned about what little I know about heads from them, so I quickly formed the opinion that while I didn’t like NASCAR, they sure had heads down to a science, and this was 1980 before it got the popularity it has now. Most of the power we made came from the head. A lot of port shaping isn’t logical, by that I mean what works is sometimes not what you think would and the flow bench that should tell you everything doesn’t. What flows good on the bench may not on the bike, once you think about it there are many things a bench can’t do, heat, velocity and pulses to name a few. Polishing is easy, porting on the other hand is an art, it’s not intuitive.

I have one of his performance engines, in my opinion they are worth the cost, it was a big deciding factor in me buying the airplane. I’ve never been to his shop, but it’s my understanding that he has someone that does cylinders as in hones valve guides, 7 angle valve jobs and ports and polishes them. I think, maybe this person has some NASCAR head experience, but maybe I dreamed that who knows. I’d trust Carlos’s word if he says he can make it work I’d bet lunch he can. If your expecting an overhaul sometime in the future I think I’d ask if I could schedule one by giving a deposit, can’t hurt to ask.

IF I understand and I certainly may not, but what happens is they wear smooth and don’t hold an oil film anymore, once that happens wear is rapid, just like bore glazing and or bore polishing. If you go through all the work to pull them and spend $$ on rings without being able to hone them, well the rings aren’t going to seat and it’s at least possible that your oil consumption could increase substantially. Having said that I book marked these from someone else who posted them on another thread, they are to be installed and torqued as a cylinder is removed, this maintains the torque the pulls the two case halves together. My plan before I saw this was to find four bad cylinders and use a band saw to cut off the bases, but at this price DIY just doesn’t make sense. https://flyboyaccessories.com/products/cylinder-torque-plate-for-lycoming-engines

Can you have those Honed? If not then you might be better off letting sleeping dogs lie. Between Chrome, Cermichrome and CermiNil I get confused