Sue Bon

Go J!! Congrats. Beautiful airplane. I bought my J about a month before finishing my PPL. It was intimidating at first, but so exciting.... I'm still excited six years later

Me too!

Mooney of the Month? One more try....

It feels like it! Portugal is next forecast is up to 36C, but we will see....

I'm so glad you asked this question! FYI, I just had a couple of hot starts in Spain at 32C+ weather after shutdowns that were between 30 min and 1.5 hours. I tried all the tips I learned here: opening cowl flaps during descent, opening oil door on the ground during shutdown, not too much throttle during the start. I had the boost pump on, but didn't touch the mixture until starting. My engine started right up without any fuss to maintain the desired rpm. No problems at all. Thanks a lot for all your help on this. It was a timely thread for me.

Hello from Gibraltar! I can't believe this all worked out. In Swiss German this was what's called a Mwurks - like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole through asking, begging, coercing, forcing... I got so lucky! Of the five available parking spots, EasyJet and British Airways are taking four. At the very last minute (one hour before arrival from an airport one hour away) they let me have the fifth and then said, "Well, your plane is so small. If we have to, we can just move it somewhere."

I'm heading out tomorrow on a two-day mission to Gibraltar. During the trip there and back home, I will have fuel stops in very hot places, and for varying amounts of time. I will check for a click and try starting at less throttle than usual. Thanks for the tips!

Yes, I agree. The thing about the hot start for me is that my throttle is relatively open, almost half way. As soon as the engine catches and I go to full rich I have to be mindful to pull back on the throttle to not let the rpms go wild. I was taught 1100 but I'm not at all saying I meet that number every time. With a cold start, the throttle is not as open so it's easier to coax the engine to the 1000-1200 sweet spot.

Oh my gosh. I was so nervous saying anything about engines at all! I will sleep well tonight

I was just taught not to let the engine rev over 1100 rpm during any start. Apparently it's not good for the camshaft...???

I open the throttle a touch more than for a cold start and turn on the boost pump. I just have to be careful to reduce throttle while going full rich to make sure RPM doesn't rev above 1100 during the start. This works for me whether the shutdown has been a few minutes or a couple of hours and in any temperature.

My first reaction to this sentence was a defensive one, but you are absolutely right. 100%. Situational awareness includes anticipating potential problems that might currently be ten miles away. Thank you for that.

Yes, but the 340 was twice as fast as he should have been. There was no way for the 152 to know that. It took the 340 two minutes to go from 10-mile final to 3-mile final. That is over 200 knots... I deleted my comment earlier, but I still don't understand how the 340 planned to land when he had the accident at 1-mile final, 182 knots, and flaps one speed is 160 knots and gear extension is 140 knots. I don't have much experience at all (especially compared to you guys), but I don't know how concerned I would have been with a 10-mile final call. However, after the three mile final call two minutes later, I would have searched for any escape route I could find.

SF?

I love this video! I love her focus on the instruments and enthusiasm for being in the air. I love the gear down check four times. I do that too. Maybe I'm not such a Nervous Nelly and rather a normal pilot....

Exactly. There are a lot of things in aviation to be concerned about and the word Airmen is not one of them.

As a woman... this is just dumb.

How much is a 430W worth? I actually have one that I wouldn't mind selling.... My avionics guy said minimum 4K. Maybe the market here in CH is different than the US because it's smaller.

Thank you very much!

My autopilot will work dandy until it suddenly starts turning left for no reason whatsoever. I used to get flustered and turn the whole AP off with the switch on the yoke. Now I just switch off HDG and use the roll knob to steer while keeping the altitude hold. I've ordered a GFC 500 to be installed this winter (assuming it ever arrives). I would love to know why this happens. My avionics guy says that it's old and trying to die. Edit: I have a Century IIB and S-TEC PSS ST-049 for altitude/VS/GS

I also check the green lights multiple times. Like, three or four times - first after gear down and definitely on short final. I can be a bit of a Nervous Nelly.... But I think that was good for the one time that the gear didn't actually extend and I had to start problem solving.

This makes me wonder if a visual cue, linked to the gear horn, might reduce gear up landings. The GR UNSAFE light might not be an ideal solution, but if it lit red at the same time the gear horn went off, it would certainly direct my attention to the gear handle itself.

This is from a long time ago, and not a Mooney, but the pilot is the aircraft owner. In the right seat is a flight instructor and in the back is a buddy filming. None of them reacted to the gear horn. After the "landing" the FI is saying to the pilot, "You didn't put the gear down!"

Looks great! The only picture @Mooney in Oz can see properly is the last one

I just ordered two to replace my zero I'm so glad that you had yours and that everything worked out!!!