bigmo

I recall filling out my personal minimums sheet when I got my instrument. And I do the same if teaching a newly minted instrument pilot - but it's really as a reminder for them to always be thinking about managing risk. IMO there are far too many overlapping factors to just apply a quantitative risk assessment to dispatch. It's really a qualitative process and takes years to find the right solution. I have one rule - always have an out. That can manifest in a number of ways (ie - never taking off at an airport I cannot land at). I'm ok pushing an approach down to mins if I know I have several options 30-45 mins away.

It was lovely weather today and I had no honey do's - so I did some local flying. This thread made me really take note of my settings. I did two RNAV approaches today - ran the full approach with PT. I stuck with my standard two miles pre-FAF get configured routine (gear down and 1/2 flaps). Today, I left the AP's altitude hold on beyond the FAF and waited for the vertical guidance to come to me. When that happened, I chopped power to 14", trimmed for 90-95. Perfectly steady 500fpm descent and it put me right on the 1K footers and I was essentially hands off. Winds were 5-10 knots on my nose.. I always land 1/2 flaps, so as I got to mins, I just chopped the power and bled my speed closer to 80 for two greaser landings. These are seriously easily airplanes to land if you do what it wants.

Good golly this is crazy cool. Agree this could rescue all the light twins rotting away as noone wants to feed those beasts. Jet-A is in the $3's here (I saw $3.55 today). Jeeeze this would be nice.

13 year bump might set a Mooneyspace record...

This was a bit more than a bad taxi. Cat A's could have gone either way and that SWA crew could have easily not seen them during their approach (I mean they have a plane to land). Had they selected thrust reversers,, they'd have met that Challenger at 100 knots. I'm not God's gift to flying by any means. I am a pilot by trade and treat every airfield as if it's the first time I'm there no matter how familiar. Likening this to a bad lane change is a bit of a silly argument as a lane change won't result in the deaths of 200 people. These guys were confused from the start. Time to stop, clarify, and focus on the task at hand. At least look at the darn signage - all those words and numbers have meaning. Not sure if their ticket should be pulled - but I'd sure not fly with them. Ever. We (as a community) have been very lucky for far too long. Last year, the FedEx-SWA near miss was just as bad. If I recall that was controller error. I'm a big fan of a technology mitigation solution for 121. Fund it through a buck or two per pax.

They must have decided that it's ok for experimental versions but not certified - or certified is several iterations behind. I recall that build update in 2024, so maybe it's coming to certified soon-ish. I did find it pretty distracting trying to turn my head to read things lol.

@Pinecone assuming you are talking G3X Touch? My old plane had twin G3X and I could do enroute (IFR or sectional) track up…but it’s kind of hard to mentally process (and I’m a track up kind of guy). The experimental G3X might be a few updates ahead of certified, however. I tried it once and was like, nope! FWIW I love my iPad Mini on my yoke. It makes my somewhat dated panel feel very capable. I also like the yoke as I’m not swinging my head around all over. I owned a full size iPad when I bought the Mooney and it was just too big no matter west I tried. The Mini really is a great device and is the perfect size for the yoke. I only have to zoom in when I’m briefing myself an approach. Other than that, portrait mode has all the detail I need and it never gets I’m the way.

Yours (OP) and the others are all pretty great starting points to learn how your a/ c behaves. I generally fly RNAVs vice ILS. I keep speeds up and stay clean through the procedure turn. Once inbound, and 2 miles from the FAF, I go full prop and 17” MP, at a mile before, drop my gear, 1/2 flaps, and MP about 15” and trim for 90. At the FAF, I nose over, another inch off MP and it follows vertical guidance in a nice predictable manner about 85+. When I’m 5ish feet off the runway, I chop the power, hold the nose up a bit and just let it settle down on its own. I usually am a few hundred feet long, but can put it down if runways length is a concern (rarely is). This works to the point I never get off my vertical guidance and the plane feels stable at 85ish all the way in. Ive made it a habit to check my gear light and floor indicator three more times inside the FAF. It’s just habbit.

That's a killer deal. I would not be surprised if that brings in offers over asking.

I’d be glad to help out, but it only takes me an hour if you have everything organized in a Word doc and I’d be glad to build you one.

I have a concentrator that doesn't get used (permanent loan from my mom). My Mooney does have built-in O2, but like the OP posted, filling it is becoming a royal PITA and my local FBO has a $75 fill fee as they are catering to the "money no object" crowd. My primary doc is a pilot and has a Cirrus (of course). He was like, let me give you a script for O2. I carried that into my local home health store. They gave me an M9 tank, regulator and nose plugs for nothing. Refills are $6 and change. I have a splitter that feeds my wife and I and this has been a no brainer solution that's borderline free to use. I loved the idea of the concentrator; it was easy to power off the cigarette adapter, but above 14K it was not keeping up. I rarely cruise above 12K, but if the winds are good, or we're heading over the Rockies, I need the room to go up high. One thing that does not get talked about a ton is Boost cans. We did use them a few times to supplement the concentrator and 3-4 quick hits gets the O2 saturation WAY up. If I were using the concetrator as my sole source of O2, I'd add some Boost cans as a quick fix. My wife stole my cans of Boost as she likes to use them when she writes...like a super power.

I understand a sense of sarcasm, but that video will most certainly become a training video.

After watching that excellent video, I have to suspect the right gear collapsed. Based upon the winds, the approach looked pretty appropriate from the perspective of that camera. If the right gear collapsed, what we know occurred seems pretty plausible/likeky. Nonetheless, incredible design and even more amazing job by the crew to get 80 people hanging from the ceiling out in under 2 mins.

I’d look strongly at a Cherokee 6. Yea, they drink like a sailor, but you’ve got the capacity to bring the whole family on some great adventures. Relatively cheap to acquire and maintain. I love my Mooney. It’s a fabulous plane for my wife & I (we’re empty nesters), or the occasional kid or grandkid. It’s kind of like driving a Honda Prelude… If I still was raising kids, I’d own a minivan. And without a doubt, the Cherokee 6 is the Town & Country of the sky.

I have the GDL69 (dated - XM only). I actually had heard about folks subscribing to a cheap marine plan since all I was really getting was the radar. Not sure if it’s just they don’t offer it any longer, but they pushed me to the option of the Aviator LT (if I recall) as a legacy plan. Still $30. I can say that I found the XM far superior in every way. But my free ADS-B / cellular solution is a close second place. For those on the fence, Ive not encountered a scenario where I wished I’d have not switched. If it were half the price, I’d probably had kept it…but it’s not and I don’t give it a second thought.

I would have taken that deal ($79 for 6). But I kind of get tired of the games and I’ll forget to call and cancel. If they can afford to retain me at that rate, just offer that rate for goodness sake. I feel thats about what I’d pay for the service.

I had XM displayed on my panel (older GMX200). My a/c does not have ADS-B in, besides my Sentry, so the weather was in isolation from other situational awareness. Now I have an iPad Mini on my yoke and find it far preferable for my single source of info. My Mini is the cellular version and I was able to add an unlimited data line for like $10 a month. With the Sentry providing traffic, enroute weather, and the cell updates the weather on the ground, I have the very best solution (for me at least). I will say that having the cell option is pretty important as it really helps provide a complete picture. Having good quality weather on the ground is really important to me. I have also found that for normal cruise altitudes for me 7k-10k, I pick up partial signals enough that the cell weather stay pretty current. When it doesn't, the ADS-B is good enough for enroute. I don't know this for a fact, but it appears the iPad's cellular receiver is better than my phone as I frequently have a LTE signal quite a bit on the iPad and my phone has 'no signal', When I canceled with XM, I assumed they'd offer me some kind of deal to stay. I was pretty polite and just offered that I can get pretty much the same thing for free and it's not worth $40 a month. I'm not sure where I see the value...but probably like $10-15 a month and I'd stay. I guess they prefer my $0 lol.

I hope that plane is free.

I hate to admit I kind of do the same thing. If I follow my 930's advice precisely, I can control things a hair bit more...but the big pull, stumble, and touch of rich get's me a 98% solution. @DC_Brasil I just wanted to point out that 141 ktas on 7.6gph is flipping amazing! I know Mooney owners can get zealous about economy, but I mean - come on - that's unreal.

My wife likes to fly up for shows in Chicago. I use KLOT. The uber is only 15 extra mins vice KMDW and it’s really easy logistics. That being said, I’d file IFR and just cancel if you start getting dorked around.

I can never get my #1 & #4 to 300F in cruise during the winter. Oil temps are totally fine. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Lycoming specs 150F-400F as the range for continued operations??? I've not been at all concerned with CHTs around 250F (especially when it's -10C out - or colder).

I also have the A1A and almost always cruise between 6K - 10K. Your numbers look pretty close to mine (your ROP are a hair higher, but nothing weird). I do not have GAMI injectors, but have a pretty tight spread. I tend to run 50 LOP as it seems to yield the best bang for the buck. I have notes scribbled down, but think at 6K I was right at 9 even. For each 1K higher in altitude, that number drops about .1 gph. I know that at 12K, I'm right at 8.5 gph. I honestly don't obsess to much now as I know what the plane likes. I get settled in a cruise, then pull back to a bit above what I know the numbers will be, watch my 'icicles' and lock in around 50.

Plane is FIXED. And the winner is? Culprit # 3 - left mag! We replaced the switch with a new one. No dice. At least I have a new switch now. Next least invasive was pulling the mag, I talked to the owner at Shrike Aero (stellar guy) and he promised me he'd have me turned around in 3 days. Fun fact, getting the left mag off takes a bit of patience (and removing the oil filter and a few other parts). Mag was overhauled 4 years ago and only had 100 hours on it. Shrike called, said the internal timing was way off and the retard points had some kind of film on them preventing firing. No rebuild needed. VERY affordable repair and 1 day shipping. Mounted it up today (faster than removing). Triple checked timing. I turned the key pretty much expecting no joy and it kicked on the 4th or 5th blade. Did a nice thorough runup and drove around the ground movement area since I could touch the cloud bases. Let it sit for 15 mins while we wrapped up some loose ends and then tried the dreaded "refuel start". Again, 4th or 5th blade and purring. Amen. FWIW, he mentioned the egap being way off is pretty common. I'm going off memory, but the internal timing is set to 10 degrees +/- 4 degrees. Mine was more like 6 degrees off. He said he always gets them to +/- 1. My educated guess is that they were not even firing and I was only getting starts after releasing my key and catching a start on the right mag as it ungrounded.

By FAR the worst condition I can recall was bringing my F back from Seattle. We got a late start, and made the trip mostly at night. New Moon (that's no moon for the rest of us), a thin cirrus layer enough to block the stars. Somewhere over Idaho and into western Montana, we lost literally every sense of orientation. It was literally like barreling through space. I routinely fly in some pretty legit IMC and this was the worst I've had - the constant motion with no sense of any reference was extremely nauseating. It's hard to describe, but it was "darkroom dark".

The Aircraft Spruce list looks to be really inaccurate. Both the states I regularly ship to are except from state sales tax on aviation parts - and both are on their list. Normally, I'd just eat the incompetency or lack of effort to know state tax rules. But when you're buying a $8K or $14K piece of equipment, it makes a big difference.