TangoTango

Here's another option with some good listings. I like the map format to this one: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1ESeubCk9sDWafBt8iQ4dzXu97tftJBQ&hl=en&usp=sharing I also use this site to plan stops with courtesy cars. That expands your options a little more: https://airportcourtesycars.com/locations/

I had to wait until Monday to call Hartzell, but I got their answer: The phone number @PT20J gave above is good, and according to Hartzell the latest part # that fits the Prestolite ALU series alternators is the ALU-3045BS. They also said the older ALU-2045BS brush assembly would work as well, but the 3045 has been redesigned with longer brushes. @N201MKTurbo per your advise I asked about brushes while I had Hartzell on the phone, and they said the ALU-3045BS assembly comes with new brushes so I should be good to order the one part number and replace everything with new. Thanks for the help!

In my state there are no regulatory requirements for home insurance - it's just a requirement of the loanholder. Most people these days get conforming loans, and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac both have specific requirements on the type and amount of insurance or they won't buy the loan. Find a local bank that will hold the loan on their own books and you can negotiate whatever kind of requirements you want.

I have a Prestolite ALU-6421 alternator on my IO360-A3B6D, and while investigating a loose field wire I managed to break the F1 field stud. This stud is riveted to the brush holder assembly so now I'm looking for a whole new brush holder assembly. Since Prestolite has been bought by Hartzell, I'm having trouble finding any paperwork indicating the correct part number for this assembly. It looks like Hartzell sells a brush holder assembly that replaces "any aircraft utilizing ALE, ALH, ALT, ALU, ALX, ALY, and ALZ series alternators": Hartzell Engine Tech Brush Holder Assembly Alu-3045Bs | Aircraft Spruce ® Can anyone provide any paperwork or personal experience confirming this is the correct assembly for the old Prestolite units before I order it? Thanks!

When you bought the airplane, didn't it have both seat backs installed? Why would they be with the previous owner? At this point personally I would not trust any shipments, I'd be driving there myself. 15 months is a long time. Most people stop by every so often to check on how the work is going.

I voted no, but I guess I should be in the yes column now: On Saturday as I turned on the landing light on a visual approach, the annunciator started flashing and the ammeter pegged to the discharge. Turns out the field wire worked its way loose. Luckily an easy fix.

Isn't the engine in the Mustang pretty rare? I'd hate to prop strike one

I wouldn't leave anything that isn't conforming to the type certificate on the vent in flight, drag or no drag. I think the takeaway is that plugs can be designed to fail safe rather than fail dangerous if you forget them (i.e. use a design that isn't 100% air tight) and that you should develop (and use!) a walkaround procedure to ensure you remove all ground covers from the aircraft before flight. Cowl plugs and tailcone covers are similarly dangerous if left on, but they are widely used with similar care.

When I first transitioned to my J, I spent a lot of time with the POH and made notes for training purposes. Those notes ended up becoming a small spreadsheet containing all the V speeds adjusted for weight and power setting charts that I printed out and keep in the airplane for quick reference because I'm just wired that way. At this point most of it (or at least close approximations) is committed to memory, but I do make a mental note of my expected landing weight and adjust my over the fence speed to target 1.3 Vs0 at that weight. On my J, that's a difference of 13 KIAS between 2300# and 2900#. I used this page from the POH as my starting point:

I wondered the same thing. In fact, it sounded plausible enough that I made some fuel vent covers in response with "Remove Before Flight" tags to use next dirt dauber season.

Aerospace Reports has a great title and escrow service, but if @jordanschooler is just trying to evaluate options they can order the report directly from the FAA here: Aircraft Registration | Federal Aviation Administration. I ordered the $10 CD for a couple aircraft before I decided on one I liked the history of, then I got Aerospace Reports involved once an offer was accepted and we were ready to go into escrow.

I am missing several as well and have been unsuccessful finding them. Good luck, and if you find them please update us

I believe Jet Aviation on the east ramp is your only option. Nice people and good service, but not cheap.

I treat all li-ion batteries in the cabin (including Apple products) as worthy of consideration before flight. Fortunately, most battery fires I've seen were predictable well in advance - batteries swelling until the case bulges, obvious damage (as the case posted above), extreme heat when charging, etc. If you don't bring the predictable fire hazard on board you probably won't have to deal with its inevitable conflagration.

I suspect you value engine time at $30/hour unless you have a budget overhaul shop to recommend

Our T hangars are actually slightly cheaper than that, utilities included. Of course, for the money all you get is a gravel floor with an asphalt parking pad and a light bulb on the ceiling, but it does its job of keeping the weather out. Suffice it to say we are in quite a rural area. I have very little experience with central LA, but if it's like ours, the anemic local economy is only part of the story. We basically maintain the city's hangars for them and in return the city basically leaves us alone to maintain and fly our airplanes as we wish. I read stories about airports banning maintenance in the hangar or washing airplanes with a hose and it just boggles my mind...

I don't think it's unusual to read 0 in cruise flight when there's plenty of airflow to dilute and carry away the exhaust. Mine is 0 in cruise flight, perhaps 1 or 2 in climb (I assume I could fix that with a door seal), and as high as 40 if I taxi with the door open (I have to mute the Sensorcon AV8 because it sets off the "low" alarm). If I taxi with the door closed, it's single digits. On another note, the card type "spot" detectors aren't great, but I still keep an up to date one stuck to the panel as a backup to confirm the Sensorcon is working.

I don't think it matters whether it is set to continental or regional radar (other than speculation that the lower resolution continental radar may load quicker since it presumably requires less bandwidth). I've seen the same artifact many times on my 650xi at low altitude despite normally keeping mine set to regional, and once I climb out and get ADS-B reception the data always fills in. Interestingly, I noticed on a recent trip across Wyoming on V6 at the MEA (10k MSL, but only 2-3k AGL) when I had poor reception the FIS-B seemed to be smart enough to load a smaller than normal ring of radar data around my location first, then expand as I continued down the airway toward an area of better reception. I thought that was neat, as it's the first time I'd spent a significant period of time with marginal FIS-B reception at altitude.

When I read the term "true cost" I immediately jumped to misallocation of fixed costs. Mooney surely has a lot of fixed overhead at that big facility that would be much lower per unit if they could just spread it out across some volume... and with volume decreasing now that the fleet is shrinking, there probably is some reckoning that's long overdue. I could see that hiding on a P&L for a while with a big healthy dose of "next month/quarter/year will be better, and we can spread those costs out at our current price levels". The real problem is that Mooney has a facility sized and equipped to build airplanes out of, and they're trying to support it by building parts. That has probably never been a solid long term business plan.

I make use of GOES imagery when I'm checking weather on the ground. Admittedly, it's more useful for VFR flight planning, but it does assist in visualizing the big picture for weather that doesn't paint on NEXRAD, such as fog/smoke/growing cumulus. I've had a couple times on long cross country trips it would've been useful to get an updated image along my route. GOES Imagery Viewer - NOAA / NESDIS / STAR

Texas is a bit unique in that they tax inventory as personal property, which makes Mooney carrying inventory as you describe particularly punitive. I don't know what the rate is in Kerrville, but since airplane parts are relatively high value and Mooney is relatively cash strapped, I'm sure they don't want to carry any more inventory at that location than they have to. I wonder if Lasar can order Mooney parts in enough volume to produce some economies of scale, then carry the inventory on their books back in Oregon (where inventory is not taxed)?

I just sent you a PM

The new 61.316 states "you may act as pilot in command of an aircraft that, since its original certification, meets the following requirements..." (emphasis mine) "Since its original certification" as it affects VS1 is explained on page 244 and specifically excludes modifications, so any airplane that was 2900# from the factory is out. However, I can't find anywhere that addresses the question of aircraft that were originally eligible, then modified to a non-eligible state, then reverted back. Unless I'm missing something, it seems whether those aircraft satisfy the "since its original certification" verbiage is still up for interpretation?

I find it hard to believe any aging PPL/CPL/ATP would choose Sport Pilot over Basic Med. The real truth is that Basic Med is already a pretty permissive standard: Basic Med doesn't go through MedXpress and denials aren't reported to the FAA. If a doctor won't sign you off, you can simply keep trying until you find one that will. The new Sport Pilot privileges are more useful to new pilots, because unlike Basic Med it doesn't require you to have ever held a medical. This allows people who didn't want to face denial or the Special Issuance process a pathway to some much more capable airframes. I predict an incoming wave of Sport Pilots with a childhood history of ADHD or other conditions that the FAA has frankly made unnecessarily difficult to get through the regular medical process. They won't have a pathway to ever fly for hire, so it's really only going to attract those that have a passion to fly for fun. I suspect that population is safer than average.

I'm going to revive this thread instead of starting a new one, as I'm currently ordering parts to build a hangar setup and I'm a little confused by the transfill kits for sale. Since I'm NA, I use a portable Aerox bottle with a CGA-540 fitting, and I recently leased a 300cuft tank of oxygen with a GCA-540 fitting on it. It seems like I should be able to just buy a clean hose with CGA-540 fittings on each end, attach the two bottles, and modulate the flow with the supply bottle's valve to keep things from getting too hot until the two tanks have equalized. However, I notice the aviation oxygen equipment suppliers (Aerox, MHoxygen, etc) sell FBO transfilling kits with bleed valves, pressure gauges, and even regulators. Is any of this necessary? A bleed valve seems like it would be useful, but an additional pressure gauge seems redundant when the small tank already has one, and I don't understand what would necessitate a regulator on the transfill line since all we are doing is equalizing two tanks, and the speed with which this happens can be regulated with the valve. Can somebody more experienced enlighten me on what is really necessary for those of us that are filling tanks for personal use?