Jeff Uphoff

This was a fun run a couple of years ago, heading to Yankee Stadium for a game: 11k', WOT and LOP getting 182 KTAS on 11.9 GPH. I was probably running 2500 or 2550 RPM. By fuel flow, that's 57% power. I was seeing a bit of wave action again, with TAS varying from high 170s to low 180s. The Ovation is remarkably efficient LOP. I've done several 1000+nm and/or 6+ hour legs with solid fuel reserves. --Up.

This was taken a couple weeks ago coming out of Reno. I had a monster tailwind, so I dialed the RPMs/power back (2400 RPM) and flew WOT at a touch lean of peak EGT. Pic shows 169 KTAS (it was varying from there up into the mid-170s due to waves) at 15k' on 10.5 GPH. By fuel flow, that's 50% power. --Up.

My Ovation has a useful load of 1030. I've owned a turbo Mooney, an M20K/231, and when going a distance, I often flew it in the mid teens, typically 15-17k eastbound (higher would require a mask). I can count on one hand the number of times I had a reason to take it higher--up into the flight levels (18k+). In the Ovation, I typically cruise above the bumps at 9-12k, and then when I want to grab a tailwind or really stay above weather, I'll take it up into the mid-teens as well. I spent a lot of time this past month at 15k in it. With 310 sea-level horsepower, an Ovation is making MORE power (HP) flying wide-open throttle at 15k' than a turbocharged 210/220HP M20K would be at 75% power at that same altitude. And that's something to think about! I fly the Ovation very much like I did my old M20K, but the Ovation is even better for my current mission because those extra 100 sea-level horsepower get me out of the bowl of mountains I'm based in and up to 5-6k' in an instant. (The Ovation is also roomier and holds more gas.) Here was a recent week in it (pic below). Virginia to San Antonio, TX nonstop, and then later Reno, Nevada (which is WEST of L.A.) to Virginia with a single stop. --Up.

Thanks much, both of y'all!

I was referring to replacing the hot, lens-melting halogen recognition lights (only) with the LED ones--no plans right now to replace the nav lights or strobes. Is it the same case for those--no need to remove the wingtips? --Up.

Curious what the replacement procedure is like for the 28V wingtip recognition LED lights (replacing the old, hot halogens) on a Mooney Ovation. The wingtips need to come off (i.e. rivets drilled out) to connect the new wiring, or is it simpler? Thanks. --Up.

I had a dream last night I got brought into KROA all goofy-angled by ATC and had to go around, and @donkaye, MCFI, you'll be happy to hear I retracted my gear before raising my flaps during that go-around. :)~ --Up.

There's an STC to goose the Ovation up from 280HP to 310HP (mine has it), but I've never heard of one to turbocharge it. Given the turbocharged Bravo/Acclaim models are basically identical to the Ovation save for the engine(s), I can't see the sense in it. --Up.

I landed my M20C in 36G42 at KWJF once--right down the runway. I've never carried so much power on final. The biggest issue there was my wife trying to get the door open in that wind after we'd parked! --Up.

Looks like someone finally described a good reason for our tails being on backwards--it helps us to land the airplane backwards! Here's proof: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQJtcHljXwI/?igsh=MXZqNW4zbDVqYWQ3ag%3D%3D

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.