RescueMunchkin

I was also unable to get METAR data using my stratux/EFB when I flew last Thursday.

I agree with you. Part of it was I took it as a pop up IFR and that is something they could have declined but still granted me, so I wanted to minimize their workload caused by me. This thread has helped open my eyes a little more, especially now being aware I could ask if I could possibly gain some altitude first to slow down and dump the gear for a much faster rate of descent immediately following.

Having just taken my FOI test about 2 weeks ago, I know what you're referring to. However, there is an even stronger motivator for me in the true cost of engine damage. I assume that most would agree that an easier engine letdown is "nicer" on the engine and there are no negatives to the engine longevity by performing the easy letdown vs making larger power reductions. I am curious how quickly a full closing of the throttle would actually have allowed me to reduce the speed into the green arc while maintaining a 700-1000fpm descent at that point of my flight though.

The reason why isn't really relevant to the hypothetical scenario. Of course the answer would always be "don't get yourself into a bad situation you could easily anticipate" In my case, I was on flight following at 10.5k ft. There was an overcast layer below me that was predicted to be scattered. I had to get a pop up IFR clearance in the vicinity of class B airspace and of course at that point you follow their instructions unless it compromises safety. I was told to descend to 7000. Then told to descent to 5000 and expedite it.

I wasnt in the cloud yet but wanted to get back in the green arc before entering it. At this point I was around 6500ft and already had been pulling power for my descent and 30 seconds away from entering the cloud. My cruise and descent is 2400 rpm.

Being told by ATC to expedite descent while already in yellow arc and >500fpm and about to enter a cloud

I'm very comfortable with slipping my plane. Use it all the time for short approach landings, but it's not something that I ever thought of doing to slow down outside of approaches from TPA.

Isn't reducing rpm effectively similar to the engine temps as reducing MP? and isn't the smaller pitch on the prop (higher RPM) better for drag purposes?

I guess the main thing was that I was already in a 500fpm descent and in the yellow arc at the point I was told to expedite it. To slow down at that point, I would have to level off or gain altitude, which I thought could get me a phone number to call. What I did was to ask ATC for a 360 while IFR :facepalm, asked why, told him I'm going too fast to go into the clouds right in front of me, then got a heading vector instead.

Yes - going into potentially turbulent conditions (cloud) while in the yellow arc. Couldn't slow because I was told to expedite my descent. Is a slip safe while in the yellow arc? And my gear down speed is 120mph, yellow arc is 175mph-200VNE so I was in the mid 180mph IAS at this point.

I fly an F model and had a flight where I was about to start my descent from 10.5k and OAT was around 0C at the altitude, guessing my MP was around 19.5". Had to get a pop up IFR because of a broken to overcast layer at approx 6k ft, but was also told to expedite my descent at the point where I'm trying to keep MP at 18" for an easy let down and already halfway into the yellow speed arc. What's the best procedure in this case? I assume we don't want to go into a cloud while the IAS is in the yellow arc, but pulling power quickly could also cause engine damage? I know the board is split about shock cooling being a myth, but this is how I learned complex planes and I would rather do an easy letdown than be faced with a $60k engine overhaul and be grounded during it.

I don't have any experience with a door opening on a low wing plane, but the passenger side door opened the first time I flew a Cessna 172 (solo, very shortly after I got my PPL) because I came from the 150/152 and didn't realize we needed to push forward on the 172's handle to lock the door. I was a little bit freaked out that my flight backpack would fall out, but after I was at cruise altitudes and verified everything seemed secure, tried and failed miserably several times to slam the door shut. I decided it wasn't worth being concerned about and completed the 45 min long flight to my destination and didn't really feel like there was anything different about the flight characteristics. I had a door pop on takeoff roll in a C150 with my instructor on board once before too when I was a student and it was just a simple aborted takeoff. I do miss how much better the brakes are on those Cessnas compared to the Mooney.

Thanks for the info! I'll try for absolute aero at KHWD when I'm next in the bay area unless you have similar recommendations in the PDX area

Just put a new 2 blade scimitar on my plane about 30 tach hours ago to terminate the ECI AD. Don't really know what an unbalanced prop feels like vs a balanced one to tell whether it'd be worth it for me.

Is this service recommended for a brand new prop or better for a prop that's been used a bit?

Also if yours randomly comes on, a possibility is that the switch has been tightened too far downwards to the floor (because of the amount of play in the adjustment track) and the throttle plunger isn't actuating the switch enough. This happened to me while i was making adjustments to mine and I had to wiggle the throttle control up and down to get the gear up alarm to turn off even at full throttle. With the plane off, you can easily pull the throttle full closed, then slowly push it in until about halfway and you should be able to hear a very distinct "click" when the switch activates. It'll click again when you pull the plunger out. If you don't hear clicks during those then that's a sign it isn't engaging the switch correctly all the time.

Agreed - adjust it to your liking so that you don't gear up while coming in to land and does not come on during your normal non landing operations.

What info are you looking for on it? It's a little switch that's clamped to the throttle cable plunger housing behind the cluster on the non quadrant planes. I found mine a big pita to adjust because of getting the angle of screwdriver and socket behind the gaps for access. I believe the switch is open when the throttle plunger is pulled back past a certain point to break the circuit and activate the alarm.

I use a yoke mounted Samsung android 10.9" tablet on all my flights. I have a 6 pack and have to lean to see my heading indicator but don't really use the heading indicator much. I'd prefer to use my iPad mini 6 but it overheated and shut off on me once on a long XC so I switched to the Android. I use the free fltplan go software and mainly have it for ads-b traffic and weather visualization as well as sectional/ifr chart quick reference and chart supplements. Georeferenced plates and airport diagrams are also free with fltplan go.

Since my plane has the hydraulic flaps and takeoff setting is at half, I would just do my TNG landings at half flaps and not have to worry at all about dumping the flaps after touchdown. Especially at night when it's near impossible to see the flap position indicator....

My first flight in a Mooney was with a local CFI that I found in the Mooney Flyer list and in his plane. He was adamant that the plane was full stop only. It was also my first time in a complex plane and I was looking for him to eventually give me the endorsement. I took that to heart and planned never to do TNGs after I got my plane. After all, my goal is for time building and full stop taxi backs build more logbook time without adding tach time. But then during my commercial training, I was doing my 10 solo night towered landings at a class C airport that had plenty of traffic landing at the time. I asked for full stop taxi backs for all 10 landings but during my 4th or 5th, there was a controller change and I guess he wasn't told about my taxi back landings and only cleared me for a TNG. Not wanting to inconvenience him and given the 17kt headwinds, i figured I could easily just land at half flaps which is the same as takeoff setting on my plane. So i completed the last 6 landings as TNGs and felt rather comfortable doing them. Just a few weeks ago, I got my HP endorsement in a V35 Bonanza and discovered the gear control and flap controls are very near each other and also hidden from my view behind the yoke crossbar. I could see TNGs in that plane being very risky for someone since it's so easy to accidentally raise the gear instead of flaps.

I use skyvector which isn't always accurate for prices, but is a decent gauge for relative prices among airports in an area. It does show KSQL and KPAO with 100LL, with KPAO being a lot cheaper right now.

The medical cert that @1980Mooney posted a screen shot of shows it was a special issuance from what I googled about the limitation. I had never seen one like that before.

This is very sad given the pilot performed a lot of charity work using his plane. I just looked at his FB posts in the Mooney Pilots group. He posted on Oct 10 this year a set of pictures showing his new plane. On October 11, he posted asking for recommendations for a CFI for Mooney transition training. He never followed up in that post about whether he found anyone or did any transition training. Looks like at least a recent plane of his was a Grumman AA-5

My last flight at 12k MSL, -8C, my F did 115 KIAS (135 KTAS) at my cruise setting of 2400 rpm and WOT, leaned to 9 gph. I don't have the J windshield but almost all other speed mods.