Hank

I never had a problem living in the Ohio Valley, but my coldest departure was only 8°F, a mild spring afternoon for ND.

I signed up for lessons and bought a Gleim "You Can Be a Pilot" kit to go home and start reading. My instructor and I moved one lesson at a time against a printed syllabus, so I knew what to read from which book when. When we both thought I was ready, I took the written test (not too long before my checkride). Reading up on a concept then seeing it in the air (or making it happen!) really helped with comprehension, and that helped with the test. General consensus is that the more often you fly, the quicker you will finish up because there will be less repitition of each previous lesson. I flew as many weekends as possible, at least once and sometimes twice. "Impossible" means low clouds, snowfall, icing conditions, hard rain or stupid high winds. But you want some exposure to less-than-ideal conditions; my CFI was determined to not allow me to become a "fair weather only" pilot, and she was successful. Congratulations! Hope everything goes well for you.

@Candy man: Both should be good units. Sensorcon is portable, many mount with velcro or clip to their coat or shoulder strap. Use anywhere, including other planes, home, work, car, etc. There are 3 models with various features Guardian is installed in your plane. Get whichever one fits your needs best! (I have the Sensorcon.)

Spend a little now to save a lot later!

I really like a good, rare steak, but these need a couple minutes by the fire!

@DanM20C--I cross-posted a link to this thread on POA this morning, and it sounds like several more units were sold. A couple of people said to pass on a Thank You for the information and discount. The more awareness that can be created, the better; the more units sold and mounted, the fewer of these incidents there should be.

Sorry to hear about your dad, David. Hope everything works out well, soon. Glad to hear that you are getting away from the hospital. Ken's idea of flying with an instructor is a good one. I did that in Alaska, by prearrangement. It will relax you and clear your mind like nothing else.

I just saw another fly today . . . RIP.

Trim is your friend! Every power adjustment is a trim adjustment. Every elevator adjustment is a trim adjustment. In my C, I generally land with Takeoff flaps unless I'm high on final or the winds are close to calm, then I lower more flaps. Change flaps, change trim . . . In an F, my experience is limited to about 10-12 hours but landings are much better with Landing flaps. I like to have Takeoff flaps by pattern entry, and drop gear abeam my intended point of landing. Then reduce power and play with trim. Turn base, maintain descent, turn final and play with throttle, elevator and trim to stay on glideslope. In the F, this is where I put in the rest of the flaps and spin the trim some more. When I know the field is made, throttle to idle, watch airspeed, come over the numbers and land. Lots of trim. Every time you change something, trim the plane to fly hands off. I descend from altitude to the pattern at 500 fpm, with cruise power, and every now and then nudge the throttle back, mixture forward and adjust the trim to hold 500 fpm "hands off the yoke." Then when I need to do something with the elevator, it's not a huge change. Except a go around--that's a huge change in power, which requires a huge push forward and alternating flaps up some, trim down some, flaps up some, trim down some, until climbing hands off again. Somewhere in there add in "positive rate, gear up," the climb is much better that way! Been there, forgot that . . . .

Are the Mooney Ambassadors still going? The website appears to be down . . . Figured I woukd check before mentioning them for future events.

If I'm just making a lunch run, there's often plenty of fuel, just pump the throttle and go. But if it's been several days or longer, the fuel pressure needle is resting on the peg, so I run the pump until fuel pressure stabilizes and turn it off. Pump the throttle a couple of times and start her up; in cold weather I will pause to wind and set the clock to give the cold fuel time to vaporize.

Mine will run for hours around my 2 acres . . . .

I do not use the fuel pump when switching tanks in my C. I simply bend down, grab the switch in the middle and turn it 180°. There may or may not be a momentary pause at the OFF detent halfway there. Except the couple of times I have purposely run the tank dry first, there has not been even a gurgle, burp or wiggle of the FP needle. My switch is high and to the right, next to the radio stack and is a circuit breaker switch, just like the rest of the row. I use it mainly to build fuel pressure for starting the engine when cold.

Way to go, raged! Owner assisted annuals are the best. You learn a lot about your plane, how it's made, what condition everything is in, what will need attention soon, etc. And you learn how to take care of it.

I don't get any "goo" from my 48-year-old trim wheel here in Alabama summers or winters. As far as I know, it's all original. I'll grab a picture . . . . .