dkkim73

Is there air leakage past rings on any cylinders? I had good luck with the Savvy ring flush procedure. As for compressions being marginal, could be valves or rings. Potentially there are inexpensive mitigations if no major damage has occurred. Some shops are very comfortable lapping valves in place and trying the ring flush, and some look at you like you grew a second head.

I love the idea. I flew a longer trip yesterday and about 30 min from home managed to bounce my head off the ceiling. I think the ceiling will be ok. I'm guessing the long bodies really don't need these? I've never really felt any yaw under damping noe Dutch roll instability. The plane is just very stable. D

Hi All, I'm on the BAS Parts Sales mailing list and just saw they listed an M20K in their parts hangar. They'll note new planes every few weeks. Just an FYI for anyone looking for stuff. I have no financial interest in BAS, just a happy customer due to their good communication and value with prior transactions. HTH

*Great* product.

That's pretty cool, thanks for sharing. Nice weather out there this morning. I used to use Wunderground to plan before it was bought. I thought the general usability declined, but now it looks improved. Do you use it as a source or just contribute for the general betterment of knowledge and modeling?

I wonder what the experience using dry lubes is? e.g. silicone, PTFE-based things. In the world of high-velocity projectile launchers, required to have high availabilty and with occasional rugged conditions and long storage periods, I've had good luck with: 1. TW25B (available as a white grease and also an alcohol-based spray that "dries"), which I believe is PTFE-based and also with 2. Eezox. If cleaned off this leaves a very dry residual and inhibits corrosion very well but also contains tricholoroethylene [IIRC] in the delivery base. I've heard it can cause other issues but have never really understood the concern... I think it has to do with chlorinated organics doing something weird to metal. OTOH it has worked great for me over many years. I am still meaning to disassemble and clean my ball vents. I could always try Eezox or TW25B on those, and make sure they are touch-dry before re-install. OTOH they are aluminum (??) so not sure it would help. DK

Some more info: Asked the guys to look at it during my annual. One of the mechanics noted that the screws were in a slotted hole (elongated) and thus could move along the axis of separation from the door and plate. Ie. the magnet distance could be adjusted. That is now obvious in retrospect. The distance can be reduced and thus the attractive force increases (inverse cube of distance). They re-rigged it (using distance specs in the maintenance manual) and now the ALT AIR doesn't routinely open on takeoff. Next time the lower cowl is off, I'll recheck the force as well. Hope this helps someone down the road.

Spa quarter. Tell me about it! Just got my plane back out of annual

Go to the back of the line with all the plastic airplane people!

You got the reference!

Eddy current inspection

Of course maintain control. But machines are trying to kill me (again?!) so master is the most universal answer. Of course in my plane trim runs through AP so autopilot breaker/switch is a one stop solution also. But not sure that's in the spirit of the question. It could also be a man on the wing...

I think @PT20J posted a specific link as well, but something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/3M-Clear-Repair-Tape-1-88-inches-x-20-yards-1-Roll/462161976?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101281679 I went to Grainger to get it but probably any hardware store will have something comparable. Gorilla brand makes a similar tape. There is regular and "heavy duty". I'm unsure of the exact difference but probably thickness or tear strength, so I would think either is good for this application.

Yours is a good idea... Extended markings to relieve the pressure to get specifically marked gauges. IIUC the capsules are the same with different embedded markings. That's my experience retrofitting gauges. So your approach gets around the problem of finding the correct gauges or re marking them.

True. I can barely hear the chainsaw during takeoff. I keed.. I keed....

Doh. You are entirely correct sir. Didn't realize it was such a modest entry price.. i will get a few. Plus I need some work on my saws, spending as couple years in a subdivision. No brainer to enter and support the cause

Loved the photos. Have memories of driving a U Haul with a cat on my shoulder 21 yrs ago. Freaked my elderly dad out when she crawled up on him, but it all worked out. No aviation experience yet. Stihl chainsaws are awesome (lived in a frequent-fall area in the pacific NW a while ago), so definitely worth an entry! I have 2 already. Good on you for doing this work. Thx again for the cool post.

@gevertex My plane is in annual and I had some inkling the governor might need review. At last year's annual (MFSC) there was some variation after set-up and the manager told me it "might be getting tired". On some advice, I let it ride as the engine is de-rated from 2700 to 2500 rpm. The last several months I'd noticed some hunting of engine parameters, somewhat helped with mouse-milking the wastegate linkage (which actuator was overhauled last year). So, after some discussion with mechanics, on advice and statistics, this year I asked them to send it to a repair shop (West Coast Governor) for overhaul. Plane is about 1600 hrs and no log evidence of prior governor work. Heard back last week the governor "was in bad shape" and the estimate had increased. Currently trying to work the dance of parts shipment, timeline management, etc ("hey I need the plane, LMK if I can expedite things"). Don't have a full post-mortem or additional details. I figure it's parts going round-and-round and the macerator finally contacted the interferor and ground up some soft bits. Of course, these are just PP thoughts (hat tip @carusoam) . The local mechanic said they tend to prophylactically overhaul flight school/line service planes' governors sooner. Just a PIREP in case it helps. I know you had yours done a few years ago but who knows. There are apparently ways to bench-test these though I'm not sure everyone can. HTH David

As Bob Stevens penned, "If you read me, rock the tower". I'm considering it (satellite audio), and I'm on an aviation spending diet right now . It is pretty cool to have such a wide selection and they are often running promotions, about $4/month. On another note: Do you find the SXM wx data product to be significantly better than the XM weather product? One or two comments made me think this, and you have a good suite of comparison sources. I have the older "XM only" rather than "Sirius XM" built in GDL (69A I think).

I am currently using the iPad Mini (cellular-enabled) Wi-Fi only. Occasionally I do tether to my phone's hotspot. Have gone back and forth on adding cellular service. I can add it as an extra device on one of my lines (Patriot Mobile, a multi-network MVNO), but then have to be very careful with data usage. Do any of you have any pro tips on cellular service? I seem to remember buying simple low-cost tablet lines, or pre-pay cards, but it seems harder to do in a simple way when I looked a few months ago. Used to use Project Fi, but found the service and value/money went down a lot once they became regular Google Fi. At least outside areas of very heavy continual WiFi coverage. T-Mobile? It seemed one of the better choices last time I looked. Thx for any tips, D

Is there an airplane somewhere in that picture? Asking for a friend

Those screenshots convey a lot. I've been trying to use the G1000 more heavily as a "best practice" after reading some other PIREPs here on Mooneyspace. IMHO it is a more robust device, being actual TSO avionics and all, and the more proficient I am with it, the better. If I ever leave the G1000 outside the aircraft I will have bigger problems. I also use the left depiction preferentially for exactly the reason you mention (backed by an external plate or pre-briefing on the right-hand view). I believe the right is geo-referenced but I use it so rarely I can't recall. Currently I'm also using an iPad mini that moves between a yoke mount, a passenger if I have one, or tucked behind my flight bag which is in the copilot seat if I don't have a passenger. I might try a side mount at some point just to see, but have steered away for all the reasons mentioned above. If stowed, I pull it out periodically to brief plates, assess glide ring, or explore traffic ("what's that target?") as the touch is faster than slewing the G1000 pointer. On the list is trying out the Steelie to be able to rapidly move it around. D

Well, that's discouraging. The MMOPA-FRAT tool basically told me I should get used to walking. Which, to be fair, I do think is good health advice. On a more serious note, it does bring up some thoughtful aspects to consider. Also the weightings of answers are interesting food for thought (e.g. night, convection). It made me think about some regular flights I make, with hazards that might be more of an issue if I did it less often (I think). Specifically, terrain overall and darkness on arrival (where there is less terrain). Familiarity with the geography mitigates some risk, whereas flying into an area for the first time really makes me cautious (e.g. Missoula). A mental model I used when I was training more intensively and a bit younger about 20 yrs ago (I was busy in general but it was very regimented, I was training more regularly, and rarely flew under schedule pressure) was: 1. zone of competence/proficiency 2. zone of comfort 3. zone of operation. Trying to think explicitly about each and keep #3 inside of #2 which was inside of #1 (think of concentric circles). For things like approach minima it meant a lot more training to really do this. I'm not really finding the concept quite as explicitly useful these days, but it helps to frame my choices of what to focus on practicing, and what to attempt operationally. As a lower-time pilot now flying for commuting, outside of specific more obvious things (lots of convective wx, prolonged icing exposure w/o out, unusually big winds), it tends to be more of a gestalt. A gestalt dominated practically by the *number* of separate things to worry about, or things that will "chain together" to magnify effect. E.g. terrain prevents getting out of icing, widespread low ceilings increase terrain/alternate hazard. Tired, end of day, or feeling "off" will make my spider-sense tingle about any of the above. But a smooth day-into-night flight with high ceilings over terrain to a less-challenging airport (my homeward leg) I might still do at the end of the day if everything else is good, even though that would flag caution on most GA ORM/FRAT tools. OTOH I constantly brief this route, read the area forecasts like the torrid romance novels they are, and am constantly looking at alternates. Really appreciating all the view points here, BTW... David

Have not changed one myself yet, but I know it gets pretreated with oil. Perhaps that causes expansion or softening? Maybe @Brandtor @kortopatesknow?

I specifically traded an iPad Air which I otherwise loved in terms of speed, price, etc, because it was functionally too big. IMHO the Mooney cockpit is too tight for a full size. If you have panel space or don't mind blocking a window, it might be different, but it wasn't an option for me. HTH