T. Peterson

That is very true, but is that a sufficient reason to explain 4 Mooney crashes within days of each other? Maybe it is, but nevertheless is very disheartening. The Texas crash was due to an engine failure though it was low ceilings. I landed in DFW myself just before midnight and the weather was crummy, but so many more tools at our disposal in the big airplanes including an extra engine! I am grateful no lives were lost, but I am getting a real feel for just how dangerous this GA flying can be. Frankly it’s not giving me a warm and fuzzy. Wife and I are flying the Mooney to Branson tomorrow. I wonder if I will be sweating bullets the whole trip! LOL!

I understand, and I sure hope you are right because I am planning to fly to Branson MO tomorrow! I will probably pray a little harder tonight and really examine the weather!

This is the 3rd in two weeks! Wire guy, last night and today.

What in the world is going on? This is nuts!

You are absolutely correct. This is why at our airline we add 50 feet to the MDA of an Rnav approach but do not add it to a DA minimum. All of our approaches are constant descent. Therefore it is impossible to not descend slightly below the DA or MDA. Descending below the DA is not illegal, but descending below the MDA is illegal, therefore the 50 foot buffer. We never do dive and drive approaches.

Andy, Texas is calling!!

Yikes! is right! No wonder they can take out airliners…..or anything else…

FWIW, I think you exercised very good judgment. There is no fail safe. It can be a beautiful VFR day and if the engine seizes at 200 feet on takeoff, you don’t have a lot of outs. What I don’t think you can do is adopt every posters bad experience as your own and make yourself miserable with “what ifs”. I am NOT saying don’t learn from all these folks. I am grateful for the aggregate wisdom and experience on this forum, but you must come up with your own personal minimums. Use the experience here to inform but not to form. A lot of fellas here would not have done what you did, but what you did was thoughtful and contemplative. I will also bet you experienced a real sense of accomplishment after that trip. That’s what gives life spice.

I like it! Easier to get forgiveness than permission! Stay under the radar and don’t make an issue where there isn’t one!

Well said. Treat ice with the respect it deserves and the legalities will take care of themselves. Most likely you will only encounter Enforcement action if you land with the airplane coated in ice. If that happens you will be more worried about changing your shorts and grateful to be alive than a ramp check.

It seems that whenever problems become more and complicated (read ridiculous), it can be traced to the incoherent directives of an incompetent bureaucracy.

Outstanding!! Very well said!

Thanks for asking the question. I wondered the same thing but didn’t want to confess my ignorance! Makes me feel a lot better when fellas as intelligent as yourself have the same questions!

Thank you for repeating yourself. I found it very helpful. As a matter of fact I am going to screenshot and print this page. Thanks again, Torrey

Yep, I am a dummy. The post was comparing EGT, not cylinder head temperature! I sometimes just open my mouth to change shoes! Thanks for setting me straight, Will........ I hope MS doesn’t have a dummy of the day award!

Got it. Thank you.

Like well over 3x higher! Nominally 380 degrees vs 1550! I am not mechanic enough to have a clue as to how all that works, but I figure either temperature is hot enough to raise a blister.

I am unfamiliar. What is the story?

I completely understand. GA is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. From oil leaks that 3 shops couldn’t fix to concerns over the impending UL100 debacle it makes for a frustrating owner experience. However when one has family spread all over the country it sure beats pounding down the freeway. If my flying was recreational I would sell the plane yesterday.

True true! Guilty as charged!!

Wow! You fellas are learned men in the ways of Disneyland tickets. I used that phrase all my life and then one day realized no one knew what I was talking about! Obviously you fellas would have been the exception. Of course what that probably means is that we are a bunch of old goats!!

“..an E- ticket ride”…..not many know the origin. Sometimes I use the term in a passenger announcement if we encountered turbulence of one sort or another. Then I offer a free soft drink to any passenger that can describe the origin of the phrase. I have never had to give away more than one. Often no one on the plane knows. Of course I have to explain it to the flight attendants as they have no clue as to the meaning. Really cool to see you use it!….uhhh I suppose I am guilty of thread creep…

He just joined yesterday. Cut him some slack!

I think Lance may have just misunderstood your motivation. In his last post he sounded reconciliatory. You guys may never be best friends, but hopefully the angst and anger will diminish to the point of sincere cordiality. I am pretty new to Mooney ownership and new to MS. I am not sure if you are also new, but welcome aboard anyway! Many wonderful people on this board, and I am sure you are one of them…..and so is Lance and the others. Fortunately or unfortunately, most of us are probably type A personalities! LOL! Therefore debates can become heated and occasionally overheated. Sometimes we just have to swallow our pride and let things go. As Proverbs says, “ It is to a man’s glory to overlook an offense.” Torrey