dkkim73

I think the 737 stuff was all about excess forces on the structure with rudder use. I'm not sure the lesson is transferable to our (more durable) airframes. Appreciating the other rudder comments, though.

I will actually do that. I'm sorry for your loss, and theirs. RIP

Full fuel in the Acclaim doesn't leave enough weight for 2 pax unless they are small.

*Great* pictures! It looks really clean and somewhat fighter like with the wing tanks. Very cool also you met The Great Man. I've heard him speak at Oshkosh years ago but never met him. I wonder how his new project (the ski amphib) is going. Thanks for sharing!

I wondered if he had an in flight issue mandating a descent, with distraction maybe causing a trim stall. NB this is of course all speculation. Very sad, overall. (Edit: fixed autocorrect, mandating not managing)

I think it's even cooler he built a Long EZ. I was seriously planning to build a Cozy back in the 2000's.

Good answers above and some fairly long threads on almost the same topic (might take a bit with keywords but you can probably find them). A few people here have done ab initio in a Mooney and thought it worked for them. They should be along shortly. I think that would be the minority. Agree most are better-served by a stepwise approach for multiple reasons. "Gnothi seauton" as the old maxim goes, know thyself. I would further add that, if you have limited aviation experience, you might be very discerning in other respects but not really have a basis for evaluating your own ability to do this kind of approach. A practical thing I would add to the above posts is: If you are an airplane owner/buyer you will spend a lot of time doing things that are not making you a better pilot. And you might decrease your actual aircraft availability vs. finding a good rental situation. Spitballing out of the blue: - get some hours of training, ideally through the pre-solo stage, make sure you like it - get a medical (required for the above) Yes a 172 or PA-28 is different than the Mooneys but the knowledge and skills will dovetail nicely into a foundation. You *might* have this same conversation about instrument training, but even then it's not a clear choice IMHO as a human factors guy. I think it's certainly too early to think that any time in trainers would be "wasted". As to cost-effectiveness, it could go either way. I'll leave the tax strategy to more knowledgeable people but if that's a determining factor for you, probably best to consult an appropriate planner early. HTH D

*Great* write-up! I love the practical weather stories here. Congrats and welcome.

This is a great rec. When life gives you lemons... You could also do some hard IFR sim dual. But taildragger time heals all wounds.

Coming back after close to 12 yrs off I was surprised by: 1. How behind I felt in the first hour (in a 172 to boot) 2. How quickly things came back thereafter. I will say the longbody extended the time to get the feel right, but the aviation environment, comms, IFR were all better than I thought they would be. No reason not to get dual if it's not crazy to find an instructor.

It's tricky doing medicine over the Internet, but what you describe falls into the general spectrum of decompression sickness ("the bends"). There're a broad range of manifestations, less and more serious, type I and type II, respectively. A bit discussing cutaneous symptoms is here: https://dan.org/health-medicine/health-resource/dive-medical-reference-books/decompression-sickness/diagnosing-dcs/ You might consider visiting with a doc who has some expertise in the area, ideally someone with a dive/hyperbaric certification. I never went to DMO training though I wish in retrospect I had. IIRC they will sometimes dive people after the fact. I will have to read a bit more and reflect on the comments earlier in the post where the flight doc recommended that restriction. That feels aggressive, though I've talked to a few other knowledgeable people that do not like flying the FLs in unpressurized aircraft. D

Wow, that's very cool. I have been impressed by how much you know about all the various models and their quirks, maintenance, etc, not just your own. Also appreciate how generous you are with your time in helping newcomers (e.g. me a little while ago). Hopefully I will get to meet you and some of the others at one of the meet ups. Best regards, David

Still pending a thoughtful response to Don's above (very very helpful). My browser is fighting me a bit in font coloring issues. I am thinking to do some practice go-arounds in full (Snoop Draggy Dogg) landing config soon to experiment wth configuration changes. For newcomers, this seems rather model specific. On a bright note: got my used copy of the "Al Mooney Story" last week. Love Gordon Baxter's aviation journalism.

This is *NOT* a criticism. Rather an acknowldgement.

Are you an AI? You summarize every post.... Prompt: "Please review the gear rigging thread and summarize it in the style of Andrew Caruso".