Jeff Uphoff

She's not blonde, but there has been a very famous woman astrophysicist around here flying her M20E. (This shot is us plus another friend in back on our way to Oshkosh in my Ovation this year.) --Up.

Wait...you have a Mooney Redbird now, or you were working with one of the ones at Kerrville? I'd love to do some training in one--things I won't do in my Ovation, such as a spin or impossible-turn practice. I didn't even realize there were Mooney Redbirds floating around. (I've only ever used Diamond ones. Meh.) --Up.

Wow, that's quite a change from the large, busy Top Gun I remember back when I lived and/or commuted to/from NorCal and they maintained my M20C & M20K! --Up.

In 3+ years of owning my current Ovation, I've only found one time where its heater wasn't up to the task of keeping me reasonably warm--I did a nonstop flight from Nebraska to Virginia this past winter at 15k' to take advantage of tailwinds, and it was a bitter cold day--especially the further east I went. I was flying closer to peak than truly LOP, given the engine's low power production at that altitude. (Yay for wool socks and flannel-lined jeans!) --Up.

I flew my LDA+GS approach set up like this, having closed the DP sidebar after briefing the approach to declutter the screen. I’m still experimenting. Shutting off the glide ring looks like a good idea. —Up.

A longtime ForeFlight user, I put the new Dynamic Procedures to use twice yesterday during mountainous IMC approaches, one of them a cockeyed LDA+GS down a valley to approaching minimums after a couple of soggy turns in a hold. It all just…made sense. I found moving to DPs a non-event. —Up.

The aforementioned zip-tie fix notwithstanding, mine did require an overhaul last year due to the pilot-side one eventually deciding to quit working, and even afterward, it still intermittently refused to retract normally in cold weather--forcing a breaker pull to disengage the clutch so the springs could slam it down. Apparently, the problem was a bad microswitch, which Precise Flight fixed as a warranty repair after their overhaul. It's still summer now, so I guess we'll see if that completely fixes the problem come winter again.... --Up.

I had this trouble at one point last year, and it turned out at reinstallation after routine servicing my shop had inadvertently located a canon plug for the brake's wiring such that it got in the way and blocked complete retraction. Something like a zip tie was apparently all that was needed in the end. --Up.

It's my first Oshkosh (hard to believe I've been flying ~30 years now and have never been!), and we've been doing it in interesting fashion. I picked up a couple of friends in Ontario on the way here from Virginia, and we flew into Milwaukee and rented a vehicle and e-bikes. We're staying in an AirBNB in town, about 5 miles away from KOSH, and have been commuting in and out on the e-bikes, which have made for nice, pleasant morning and evening rides. The terrain is flat, so the electric assist isn't much needed--though it's definitely nice to have after a long day of walking around an air show! Commuting by bike means no waiting in traffic, and we can park the bikes very close to the main exhibit area and control tower--super convenient! --Up. P.S. I stopped by the Mooney Caravan tent yesterday evening, but it seems everyone was out to dinner at the time. I'll try again!

I remember him posting some to the old Mooney email lists about the 252 flight testing.... --Up.

Was that Vince's? When y'all flew it east for him and then a bunch of us wound up on Tangier Island? --Up.

Did the follow-on M20K incarnation, the Encore, also carry the 252's FL280 ceiling? (I rarely took my 231 above 17k'--a few times to FL190 and I think once to FL210; I didn't care much for my chances in the event of an O2 failure up there, either.) --Up.

An M20E co-owned by someone I know went off the side of a runway on landing recently and hit a taxiway sign. Damage appeared limited to the left wing between the fuel tank and pitot tube, both of which were missed. I put them in touch with Don Maxwell's shop, and Paul seemed confident he could repair it. Didn't matter--despite the relatively minimal damage, their insurance company totaled it. --Up.

But do we have a good comparison with other Mooney models--especially short- and mid-body models--and statistics to support the assertion the Ovation is more dangerous? (If the primary problem is landings, I'd expect the Bravo and Acclaim numbers to be pretty similar.) --Up.

Les took a leap of faith checking me out when I transitioned to my C. --Up.

And how! My three-bladed Ovation3 (STC upgraded from an Ovation2--by serial number the first Ovation2 built, in fact) drops like quite the rock, too, if you chop power all the way. But it also lands smoother than any of the three Mooneys I've owned (previous were a C and a 231) when done well. Pure butter. --Up.

My first car, a '74 Dodge Colt, broke a rod. I didn't make it very far after that, either, though luckily I did drift into a 7-Eleven parking lot. --Up.

And let's not forget this legendary mid-90s ode to Little Debbie products, "Camel Walk" by Southern Culture on the Skids. (I've seen this band live more times than any other--they're incomparable in small venues.) --Up.

Don, I'm guessing everything you say here and in your video also applies to the Ovation, save for any manifold-pressure settings you might happen to mention in the video. (I landed my old 231 once in a direct crosswind gusting well into the 30s. That was exciting! Haven't had to deal with more than 20s in my Ovation yet...) About to break 2000 Mooney hours here and approaching 500 in my Ovation. Also about to order that video. --Up.

I recall back in the 90s the feds going after someone for deliberately shooting at planes around KSHD. Around the same time and just across the ridge at KCHO, I found a stray bullet on the ramp that had landed right next to the Cessna I was preflighting. --Up.

I'd love to learn more about the higher/lower RPM efficiency difference here between ROP & LOP! --Up.

Yup! I let the previous owner of my first Mooney (an M20C), a local who'd moved up to a 231 himself, keep a set of keys and encouraged him to take it up when I was away for more than a week or two. He was a CFII/ATP and a great mentor--hard to beat that. --Up.

Ah, I see that now. Damn. --Up.

Wow, is it just me, or is there not anything visible that looks like a typical forced-landing roll/slide? It's like...he came straight down? --Up.