dkkim73

Oh sorry, nested quotes and all.

Ouch. Yes, perhaps a different thread.

I heard some chatter at the FBO yesterday about whether stopping "private flights" would get attention rel/ the shutdown. Those airports certainly get enough traffic that prioritizing 121 stuff seems like sound triage. I wonder with respect to the above NOTAM how many exceptions would be made for higher-profile or more "connected" GA flights. I suppose there might be a loophole to reclassify a flight as "scheduled". Anyone flying corporate/fractional have any insight into what's actually happening? I need to get back to my Polo game...

Well it's obviously lacking legit mode A.

That actually had some good points. One practical point (besides the main privacy point) is that if you use VPN you might have the VPN's DNS (they use Nord as an example) redirect you to sites that will be higher-performance. I suppose a meta-issue here is that DNS is no longer the 'transparent' resolver system it was in the genesis of the net.

Confused on location. Where can the battery be picked up from?

Well then you don't need one. But it's a cute little tool. ETA: honestly it sounds ridiculous (USB?) but it makes things so easy; I otherwise would have to remember to put my compressor in the trunk/cargo area, drive to the airport, etc.

Very true. People (esp. those outside it) tend to moralize about government service, either bad or good, esp. recently when it can be used as a political point. But it isn't a bad economic deal in many ways and during many eras. The pension and security are a big deal to many people. Our friend who is a senior (career, not appointed) regional EPA guy would occasionally wax worried about "the big cuts" (lack of growth in budget about 8 yrs ago) but would also admit his excellent time flexibility, pension, healthcare and retirement options. And many of those folks were sitting pretty during the lockdowns when an enormous number of small businesses were effectively destroyed. And many of us who could and would otherwise work lost a year of income. I will disagree slightly in saying that, while one might be able to remove a bad apple if it's agreed what a bad apple is, it's hard to fire people due to marginal hypocompetence or hard-to-characterize poor personal attitudes. There's still a lot of security once you're "in". Though I'm not sure that's different in a union job, or state govt job. It's been mostly different in the private sector though I think people don't admit that some of the same bureaucratic forces apply. But back to the initial point, it can be a good gig, esp. if you find something you like.

Good to know; I also read good things about the airport scene there, flight school, AP etc. Probably I should try to give those smaller airports a bit of business, too. Just searched up Hungry Horse dam. Very impressive, will do. Next time I think we will also go exploring some of the valleys paralleling the Flathead nearby; couple of nice linear ridges and good scenery. BTW for anyone reading, there is a nice Montana state chart which, though not nav-current, is a good planning and orientation chart: https://www.mdt.mt.gov/aviation/docs/aeronautic-chart.pdf I laminated a big print out and am going to mount it in my office. If you register with the state they will also send you a decent size water-resistant one. Ah, making memories. I was tempted by the proximity to town, but figured I'd go to the big airport for the first run and get the lay of the land.

I think one of the issues here is you are being viewed as defending Dan Gryder, which is not what I think you were doing. I hadn't heard of him until a few years ago and, man, is he colorful. And I'm being neutral simply as I've never met him, but he's a poster boy for internet s***-stirrers. And probably you stepped on a toe without realizing it. Hence you are suddenly Alex Jones... You never know who has a relative who's working unpaid a tower etc. and took it the wrong way. Some investigations are pretty thorough, I would imagine some aren't for any number of reasons. They all do assign "probable cause" and so are all guesses to some extent. I'm not close enough to opine as to whether there would be internal pressures to conclude one thing or another, but at least people have biases. The process is supposed to control for that (at least on the .mil side). Still, I'm a bit surprised at the reaction. @TaildraggerPilot Are we not allowed to criticize the civil service? Every thread here on the FAA's aeromedical branch is full of dread, bad stories, and often low regard. Over on Beechtalk it's positively sneering. I get it, despite seeing the other side as well. Haven't you ever experienced incompetence or provincialism dealing with a bureaucrat? I treat them all with respect, and try to presume best intentions, but man we get let down sometimes...

Works like a charm. From a couple days ago. Won't let me upload the video, but you get the idea. Chugga chugga chugga. About 1/3 of charge (nominal) airing up my 3 tires after a couple months.

Yesterday, flying up to the big airport in Kalispell (Glacier Park International, KGPI). Nice airport. Read some bad PIREPs on the FBO fees but, at least this time of year, no issues for a Mooney (facility fee of $40 is silly, but waived with 15 gal or top-off). Courtesy car was a brand-new 4Runner. Traffic included a slick Challenger and a Caravan full of rescue dogs, among others. Drove past the tiny airport right in the city. 3000-something foot runway with buildings all around, displaced thresholds. Very old school, might get brave and try that sometime. Lots of amenities since I last drove there from my summer job in the sticks to go a movie 30 yrs ago. Anyhow, fantastically smooth and pretty day. Winds whipping around 30-40 kts at altitude but I am guessing the inversion capped all the valley air and so not the usual washer-and-drier effect coming up past the peaks.

So... I bought a 2009 longbody from a pretty solid-seeming seller (didn't know him personally), sold by a knowledgeable broker. Plane well taken care-of but hadn't flown much in the few years before sale. No damage history or hidden landmines. Got lots of advice, paid and unpaid. The deal (as advised) had an agreed price, and then airworthy items the responsibility of the seller and non-airworthy of the buyer. There were some gray areas which the seller/broker were very reasonable on (eg. splitting a prop overhaul). We had an annual-as-prebuy done at the Mooney Factory Service Center under Michael Kneese. Very professional and honest eyes, lots of great communication. I was surprised by the level of detail you get into quickly. I had a *large* spreadsheet I made to track issues. I was *shocked* by the number of things they brought up; they were honest some things were "full disclosure, doesn't meet type design", some were real small but potential Achilles' heels (a wire issue to the air temp sensor which, if it goes wrong, will punk more of the G1000 than you'd think), some were just wear, rigging, etc. The TKS stuff went deep. They really dove into the Garmin servos and we needed two clutches. Lots of little moving parts. I knew I had some cylinder wear issues going in, negotiated that along with other things. The length of the squawk list made me initially think I'd made a mistake.... this was corrected after working through the list with the lead mechanic and an advisor. It's actually a very clean plane. Planes just have lots of little bits. It felt like a full-time job for a couple months (disclosure: I'm pretty compulsive but I don't think outside 1 SD around here). This was my experience. But it was very worth it to 1. separate out things that you really feel you need to work out with the seller, vs. decide your own priority on 2. know where you are starting. I have a good intuition for the aircraft, what's tip-top, what's going to need interval eyes, what's known wear, etc. It gives you a lot more info for decision-making down the road, and more confidence for flying decisions (I know TKS is solid, servo clutches are solid, after 2 yrs I know where the engine "is", what the turbo innards look like [borescope] etc). There will always be surprises, but this gets you "read in" in detail vs. figuring it out later chasing gremlins. Funny note @Schllc generously provided a lot of his time on the phone talking me through some aircraft and cylinder issues, advice on the process, etc. @Brandt and others here also stepped up and offered their expertise on-call. Yes, amen, amen. That's something to keep your eye on. It's immensely gratifying to have a plane you fly, and know, and in which you have pride of ownership and maintenance. Yeah, I think this is a good viewpoint. You're taking over the airplane and you ideally want to know everything. You will definitely care about things that are not technically airworthy-determining items. My 2nd annual was also a bit much, but that's a mostly-unrelated story. Beware squawk "wish lists" ;). On the bright side, doing the work up-front at purchase prevented knowable surprises. One insight I think is to factor in interval inspections and lifetimes (alternator coupling, prop governor, etc). HTH DK

On the DNS topic (not the email-related fork) there are a lot of choices for DNS including Cloudflare, OpenDNS, etc in addition to pointing directly at Google. Someone mentioned Brave as a browser... On a similar note, one thing to consider doing if you're somewhat technically-comfortable is to set up a Pi-Hole instance on your home network (a Raspberry Pi running a special system to provide DNS + an extra layer of scrutiny). Even in default mode it will "eat" resolution requests for various ad banner, tracking, and malware sites. Occasionally breaks some ad integration you might want, but generally just speeds things up and you're not using your connection to serve yourself ads. You can ad or remove things easily (sites, special blacklists etc).

That's a really great idea. I always notice the little parks, observation decks, etc, for plane spotting. Even some small airports will attract families from time to time. When I was a kid we used to specifically drive out to the park by DCA and watch arrivals. I think Dulles has a deck as well... kind of remember the Concorde.

If he's techy, he could think about something involving smart webcams for wx, monitoring bird activity near runways, etc. Maybe put together a destination guide or activity book for youth aviation (aerocamping,etc) in the region? He could start a club for younger children to pass the bug along? This has the advantage of building some social skills and meaningful connections in the aviation community. Some volunteer land-mapping for a local wildlife convervation activity? Starting a PMA parts clearinghouse for old CBs with niche airplanes on the internet. Just throwing spaghetti, hoping it helps...

Do you mean you are looking for the plastic light guide portion only?

I always wondered about that 400Hz, why that frequency. I guess using it for tone makes some sense.

Still awaiting delivery. They have a smaller bike one that was originally recommended by the OP (the one I got). They also have a car unit that is bigger (battery primarily I would guess).

Oh yeah, only useful when in that lower "regulating range". But when you're down there it's a nice cross check ..

I am not sure what may have changed with Mooney's status change. I think, to the extent they "run it through" the manufacturer, that could be a limitation. My local Garmin guy (KBIL) complained about Mooney's responsiveness, and that was a while ago; no issue since I had the loader card and it was just a re-upload. I had the upgrade done by Jeff Rossell/Michael Kneese at Mooney. So sad they are not there now but Jeff is, last I knew, across the field at Wolfe Avionics. Perhaps check with him? Another name might be Brian Kendrick. I am told he is also stellar at avionics in addition to the general Mooney advice he's provided me.

@Ibra That looks like a NASA photo or a Christmas card! Some of these night+cloud flights are magical. I remember flying home between layers with the moonlight overhead, returning from my IFR checkride in Minnesota; such a great feeling and a great memory. You and Sue and Matthias will have to have a European Mooney Moon Photo contest.

Yeah, man, me too! I hope I will patiently extricate them without a mark. I am also hoping to acquire musical skill, vocal skill, and looks and then become a rock star. Then there are my business ideas... I think it was Skip who advised me to aggressively fill the pockets with RTV. I.e. not just a dab which risks creating a void that will allow freeze/thaw cycles to jettison them over Eastern WA or northern Idaho. Also putting clear 100mph tape over them is cheap insurance. Any tips on deftly extricating them welcome by me and probably IvanP.

Hey all, I just bought one of these, and there's a roughly $7 coupon currently, so price is $39 ish now. (earning CB points with every 3rd post)

Yeah, I really like them and am often cross-checking them in flight. Or asking my wife to. One has condensation I wasn't able to bake out and the other is my ghetto special remarked dial (which I will say does work, and the price is right, but it's just not as easy to read). So I bit the bullet and got a couple. And they're the bees knees on the ground, too, for a quick range assessment and refill assistance. DK