dkkim73

Thanks! The "Bandit" scheme is pretty nice, a bit understated, too. It's even better when the plane is clean! (which occurs, occasionally...)

Thank you for that anecdote. I've had a lot of people say "you don't need that" locally (at least if I sump religiously, which I do, and include the gascolator in the winter), and the board is skeptical due to sealant issues. But then again we read about these weird fuel icing issues. I would probably be more worried coming North from FL due to the change. D

In this plane, just over 1 hr (at FL210, in fact). I'm usually in the high teens, 17K is often a sweet spot for my route, sometimes FL190. Why do you ask? I would think accretion rates would be even lower when it's colder. Most of the icing in my current flight regime is found in layers in the high 1000's or low teens, or in light precip returns. D

^this I've only worked with Mr. Kendrick remotely; he has been very helpful and knowledgeable. At some point I would like to get him the airplane (logistics a bit off this year to do the annual down there, and was at MFSC last year) as some things really would benefit from a Mooney-knowledgeable test-pilot. E.g. subtle mixture and fuel bugs, flight characteristics, etc. Most shops won't have a guy who will check the boxes (as a pilot) for your insurance company and know Mooneys well. D

FWIW if you have (or switch to) a glass panel, the backup alternator with the FIKI setup is additional peace of mind. Probably even if you don't

@wombat What's your protocol on use of the dedicated windshield de-ice pump? I haven't had much ice there yet, and the use of the defrost and the slow rate from the main system (to the windshield bar) has kept forward visibility pretty clear. It looks like you had a significant rate of accumulation there...

Flight went well today. Much better choice than the widespread IFR and changing lowering ceilings yesterday. Oil warmed up and stayed pretty warm. No hiccups. Did have to run ROP to keep in the green (went around 29"/2500/lean then switched to rich as expected). Temps in cruise around 180F at OAT -22C at lowest, warming up going west, actually all warmer than forecast. (I am told there is an oil cooler winterization kit with a bracket... I wonder if that's it in my earlier picture, and if there's a specific "block" that's supposed to slide in there). Quite pretty:

Hi All, Anyone know how straightforward it is to adjust the K-factor used from the fuel flow sensor, within the G1000 system? My fuel flow is probably reading a bit high, per Savvy's take over time, and per some of my own fuel tracking (comparing fills to what the totalizer says, over fills ups, comparing collar-to-collar points in time). E.g. TOT says I've burned about 102gal but the fuel truck says 100gal. I'd like to dial in the K-factor over time. I've found some snippets on the web about power-cycling with the ENT key held down, but am loathe to do anything without some better documentation (e.g. a G1000 manual). Does anyhow have: 1. specific thoughts on this situation? 2. any links to an appropriate G1000W manual (latest software rev, M20TN installation) Thanks! D

Yeah, it's funny but my temps are never really high except CHTs breaking in new cylinders ROP (expected and still only "high" using Mike Busch's 380F working limit). So it might be a bit conservative (if that's the right word). I was calculating -40F at cruising altitude had I gone today, so more heat is probably better. On the plus side, I found these guys to do my annual:

Thread drift, huh? But how do you *feel* about lean-of-peak operations, and Continental vs. Lycoming?

Gentlemen, Thank you for all the timely advice and help! Yeah, the IPA seems like a damned-if-you-and-damned-if-you-don't. I tanker fuel to that location, for both price and convenience, 89 gal and landing a bit under MLDW with baggage. Usually return and land with north of 24-28 gal depending on wind and power settings. So it would sit for a couple days and that was exactly what was running through my mind. I would probably try to run the tanks lower after the return leg for the reasons you note (e.g. local flights to burn them down). TKS stall strips: One was loose when I evaluated the plane for purchase, so the initial pre-purchase/annual/greenup involved re-bonding all of them at the MFSC. I haven't noticed any issues yet. I touch each of them on every pre-flight, though I'll be honest I don't push hard. I always check the little tubes which I understand, if they break, cause a lot of work and cost (as well as not functioning in the meantime). The broker who sold me the plane put clear repair tape over the loose strip for our test flight, after warning me about the little tube. He said "this looks crazy, but the fluid will seep under the tape and it protects the tube". Sure enough it actually worked well. After all that fuss, I punted the flight until tomorrow. The wx forecast got worse, lower ceilings at destination (followed by 180 degree wind shifts and gusts), IFR over a broad region with extreme cold wx warning, etc. Tops well into FLs, theoretically too cold for icing but I've seen the clouds not read the forecasts b4 in Feb . Things were starting to stack, and tomorrow should be clearer high pressure. I'll still get to deal with the cold, though, will report back if I get any good insights (how much to tape). At least the 2nd flight I've canceled or meaningfully postponed due to winter wx. I suppose I'm actually more surprised how often I've been able to dispatch.

Went out tonight and taped the front side of the cooler with metallic tape. I would guess about 30% coverage. I am thinking with the airflow direction I don't have to worry too much about a lot of reinforcement. Savvy suggested taping below 190F oil temp. I've been seeing 170's in the last couple weeks, temps about 20F higher, so I'll see how it goes tomorrow. Bringing more tape with me...

Tyvm for the detailed info and thoughtful comments; I was spitballing. I'm thinking of the split trim switch as an analog . If it's DPDT used as half (SPDT) you could always wire the halves in series. But that reduces the risk of an uncommanded action while increaseing the risk of a "no function" failure.

Here's my plane with the new tank

If you have to change the tank anyway... The O2D2 is pretty miserly, so you might get more time. But remember: "Nothing exceeds like excess" Esp. With a kevlar bottle the weight might not be a big issue. If it were me, I'd figure the price breakpoints and factor in convenience. If you want to be creative and techie, look into a hybrid system with a concentrator and bottle... Maybe chat with Aithre. They're also in WA and run by a very smart and innovative couple.

To the original concern, it could also be argued that drilling regular flows during repeated landings reduces the chance of forgetting that ritual at the end of a long XC when you get boxed around and side stepped at the last minute. FWIW I feel I needed a lot of time to really feel out the envelope of long body landing dynamics and decrease the variance to where I don't fear changing conditions as much (it's windy where I live). So the reps likely increased my net safety I think. Also always do taxi backs or stop and goes (on the long runways). A little bit more deliberate for me...

Shhhh! They'll hit you with airport fees...

Does that work out to about 1% IPA? (thinking 44.5 gal per, bottom of collar) I'm going by volume. I recall at least one person suggesting 0.5%, and the POH mentions up to 3%. I've gone almost as cold with nothing, so thinking lower values are better. I'm running 20W-50 but not type M. Hence the concern about blocking the oil cooler. Has anyone here done this on the TSIO-550G? Checked on that mod. While he didn't mention it by name (the SB you noted), the MFSC directory did tell me my plane "had the upgraded heater system". Should have clarified, but think that is what's in SBM20-308A/B. Thx D SBM20-308A.pdf

That kind of brings up an interesting point. If you had a loose contact and it got finicky in the flare, I guess the gear could come up. I don't recall any periodic switch inspection. Would be interesting to know how robust is the mechanism (I can see the headline now "Local pilot lands gear up after unecessarily monkeying with gear switch").

Now it's my turn to not be sure where this is going. Except maybe to remind me that there's probably not a lot of public sympathy for anyone who flies a private airplane. With which I will not argue. Where the poster who received the bill is a "little guy" is in that he is a private individual receiving a spurious bill from a corporate vendor contracted to at best another corporation, or much more likely, a municipality. So the bill recipient is on the hook for a bill and has to "fight city hall" to get it fixed. Whereas all the people on the other end aren't responsible personally, get to go home at the normal time and don't get fed any less for making mistakes like this. We have in the US numerous consumer protection laws to prevent predatory practices in certain areas and big gaps in others. My point is that, even if there aren't certain standards of care and diligence that apply to these situations, it's still crappy, and is another example of crappification of the economy.

My point is that it's a low-cost, crumb-catching business model with fairly blunt tools (it seems) that would reasonably be expected to generate a non-trivial rate of erroneous bills. My disdain crept through which probably made it less clear. I would disagree with "no more, no less", as I think there are some implications and externalities for which the vendor isn't taking responsibility. If you don't mind being on the receiving end, that's your prerogative.

Re-reading this (for the 4th time probably) as I am planning a cold weather trip tomorrow in the Acclaim. Usually cruise >=14K on the planned segment so assuming it will be a bit cold (negative single digits F at surface). Thanks SlickNick for sending the arctic blast down to us! You really shouldn't have I figure some aspects transfer from the Bravo to the Acclaim, but wondering is some folks have any direct experience and can advise on a few areas (e.g. @Danb @exM20K @Fritz1@kortopates, maybe @Schllc though FL probably doesn't see this ;)): - need to tape off the oil cooler and, if so, how much? Do you need to use metallic tape? (actual duct tape) Any caveats? I figure this is difficult to adjust in flight from the cabin, so don't want to blindly experiment too far - Thinking about adding anhydrous IPA. POH does mention it, though from multiple threads it sounds like more of an issue from warm to cold. Plane will be hangared so this might actually apply here, though the fuel will be cold in the truck outside. I'm fueling at one of the FBOs I trust more, so hopefully their filter and fuel drier will be working well. - Does anyone intentionally run ROP when it's cold to keep up cylinder temps? Even in warmer wx I get pretty low CHTs running LOP with the Type S cowl. - Noted @Slick Nick's comments on leaning and plug fouling. I've had a couple times when the engine was sluggish on a go-around running too rich, see I tend to keep it leaner recently. Sounds like something to be more aware of in the cold. Going to augment my survival kit a bit further, prob. take a MARS'ed ham handheld with, too. Thanks for any thoughts, D

I was under-stating it to be polite as I know there are some big EV proponents on the board. The situations I'm thinking about are like yours, in terms of range and tempo, and/or with additional community or tax mechanisms that would favor EV ownership, and where someone's really looking at new-vs-new purchases. OTOH there are situations where someone really does "need" the range or robustness of a petroleum (gas or diesel) vehicle. That said, there are some sweet spots out there, like an old Prius as a taxi, etc, where the TCO pencils out. I think most of the EV advocacy is preference, incl. for interesting engineering, enviropolitics or social pressures, etc.

Amen. Although there are some sweet spots, the ROI on newer cars isn't very straightforward. Check prices on the low end models v years ago. A known good old car compares very well against even a moderately used mid year car with unknown mx. The situation changes a bit if you really need an EV, but most don't.

"They" don't "think" you owe anything. Their business model, possibly executed by some unknown dude (or dudar-ji overseas) on Upwork, generated a bill that, on the average, will net some %age of collections. They get a cut of that, so as long as it's not painful to them, they don't even know, much less care, if they're occasionally (significantly?) wrong. Same rationale as insurance companies kicking back pre-auth on medical diagnostics that are indicated. They bet that a significant fraction won't take the time to fight it (thinking here of real examples of non-urgent but important medical evaluations). Of course you can come up with justifications for this kind of crappy automation, that also helps them. Poor starving airport authority. As for "who should pay" (the simple refrain): If you think the net benefit of this airport accrues to solely to those of us who might fly in a few times in a lifetime, divided by the # of us, and not to other fixed entities (say the nearby cities), I would suggest your're perhaps not thinking broadly enough about the various economic dependencies. (Yes, I know you're not making all the counter-arguments, you just brought up an entry point for discussion, so the intent is general and conversational here, not attacking your worldview). Ethics and principles aside, there are also politics. WA state revenue models (esp. with the burgeoning cost of social "help") are obviously strained... so easier to nickel and dime transient cessnas than try to solve the bigger tax base issues in Clallam County. Want a real annoyance? Try to commute by WA State Ferries.... Talk about days of greater glory. And the Olympic Peninsula isn't exactly wealthy as a whole to start with. You would think there are enough wealthy retirees there that they wouldn't fleece passers-by to prop up infrastructure. D