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Posts
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Everything posted by Hank
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My current IA found that my 2-year-old ignition harness was about to fall apart at annual. So he checked other local planes and found two more. Kelly is close, so they sent people over to check them, and we all got new harnesses; they made some changes in their production operations, too. A year later, he had to replace one of the new plug leads. Absolutely not Mooney specific, but it could have been exciting if my ignition harness had come apart in IMC. The one bad lead cost me a long weekend at the beach, because the plane just wouldn't climb.
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Under Contract on 1970 M20F! Kudos to Jimmy @ Gmax!
Hank replied to bigmo's topic in Vintage Mooneys (pre-J models)
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Buy your hours with integral firesleeves. It's less expensive than adding separate firesleeves at install. That's what I did. I called a hose shop, then LASAR--turned out I had called LASAR's shop, but a friend gave me the number. Looks like it's listed above.
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I've known people to remove one lens from their glasses so they can see out of both eyes between surgeries. So you can look a little funny for a few days, or you can throw them away and see funny for a few days.
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Would new paint increase my cruise speed?
Hank replied to mooneyflyfast's topic in Modern Mooney Discussion
My takeoff are much shorter than your videos that I've seen. Guess I need to upload one somewhere for comparison . . . -
Would new paint increase my cruise speed?
Hank replied to mooneyflyfast's topic in Modern Mooney Discussion
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Would new paint increase my cruise speed?
Hank replied to mooneyflyfast's topic in Modern Mooney Discussion
That's why I've never owned one. Burgundy isn't red, right? I've had three of those . . . . -
Would new paint increase my cruise speed?
Hank replied to mooneyflyfast's topic in Modern Mooney Discussion
My C has been a little slow lately, but nothing has changed. It was especially noticeable on descent--500 fpm used to push me right to 165 mph, but the last year or so it has been below 160 mph, sometimes just 155. Well, I had the plane washed, waxed, polished and buffed . . . . Today, a simple 500 fpm descent from 3000 msl in bumpy air was 165-170 mph! (My yellow is 175-200 mph.) I even cruised at 23" / 2300 at 3000 msl at 150 mph. Lately I've mostly just done the leading edges of both wings and tail, and the cowling back to the pillars by the windshield. Paint will add weight, may affect CG, and requires rebalancing control surfaces. A good clean, wax and polish doesn't. My Mooney is slippery again! Shoulda hear the air whistling by. My lesson: clean the whole plane more often, not just the leading edges . . . . It's the best speed mod around. -
Test fit a replacement doghouse cover
Hank replied to phxcobraz's topic in Vintage Mooneys (pre-J models)
But it sure is hard to find someone to rebuild one or make new pieces!! -
Halos and other visual phenomena sometimes occur with IOLs. The key is to ignore them, as concentrating on the illusions will make your brain perceive them forever. I've been out of IOL manufacturing for a decade now, so am not up to speed on the different makes and models, just know that new versions are introduced frequently. Avoid getting a lens on the bleeding edge of technology. I worked for Alcon, and back then the progressive lenses had up to 13 different zones. Check with your surgeon, as there were two classes of people that were generally not good matches with progressive lenses: pilots and engineers (I'm both!). This is due to high expectations, but like with an airplane, there are tradeoffs--multifocal lenses do not produce as crisp of an image as monofocal lenses. But I've yet to talk to anyone who does not enjoy the tremendous improvement to their sight, which happens instantaneously when the new lens is put in.
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I see them now, with something in between. Should be very visible right in front of you!
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Depends on what us being used to town, and the length of the towbar. The longer the towbar, the more torque it creates when turning, and the easier it is to cause damage. Like what @N201MKTurbo posted above, likely done with a large tractor and a long towbar.
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No one needs data anymore, that only comes from useless, overpriced studies that no one understands except maybe the authors. Avgas contains lead, and that's bad for the children, so it must go away! Lead, plastic bags, (functional) plastic straws, even cars that burn gasoline--all must go away, so that everyone suffers the same inconveniences. If it's pleasant, fun or useful, it must be replaced with "stuff" that will only be invented under pressure, and brought hurriedly to market without useless studies that shows that the new alternatives work at all, or that they are any better for the environment, the children or the economy.
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No, our carbureted Mooneys do not have primers. So I run the pump to maximize fuel pressure, and every pump of the throttle fuel pressure drops some, and the pause lets the fuel vaporize. Colder temp requires longer time to vaporize. This is how I learned. Maybe keeping the fuel pump running while starting would increase likelihood of flooding? Now you're gonna make me read the Owners Manual.
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Oops! This is why we use checklists instead of memory. I added it in above.
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I would suspect that there is significant crop dusting and other aerial crop & farming work in Kalifornia . . . Some will be burning kerosene, but likely not all. Will be interesting to see how this plays out between the State, and the Federal Government which claims overriding authority on all matters aviation.
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When the weather cools off, my starting procedure changes to this: Master On Boost Pump On until fuel pressure stabilizes, then Off Pump throttle 3-5 times, leave open ~1/2" Mixture Rich Wind and set yoke clock Turn key and push If no fire after first revolution, begin pumping throttle again while cranking Let go of key when engine catches, or after ~15 seconds The colder it is, the more times I pre-pump the throttle, and the longer it takes to fire and catch. Yes, I do this even after having the engine preheat turned on overnight. It worked in WV with single-digit morning temperatures, and it works here in Alabama with much friendlier low temps.
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Where are the Gear Safe / Gear Unsafe lights? They are usually above and below the switch.
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I've had good experiences fishing on tribal lands, both Cherokee in NC and Nez Perce in MT; used a guide in a boat in MT, waded the creeks on foot in the Appalachians. Good fishing, nice folks in both places.
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Maybe nit, but replacing one lead from magneto to one plug corrected the situation. Guess then other problems just fixed themselves?
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When I was a student pilot, we went 10 minutes down the river so I could learn ti land with open approaches; our field was obstructed at both ends, one with a displaced threshold. But I was warned, and noticed myself, that pilots at the other field frequently didn't talk on the radio. Then on my solo, there was a Kitfox at our field. Taildraggers often landed in the grass beside our 3000' runway with no taxiway. Made a few dual landings before solo, with the Kitfox in the pattern. He never spoke on the radio, and never did anything to indicate that he heard our radio calls. First landing, then backtaxi. The Kitfox is on short final, so I dodged into the grass so he could land. Then returned to the runway to complete backtaxi. Second landing, I called "backtaxiing in the grass" to get out of his way. So he lined up to land in the grass, and I had to dodge back onto the pavement. The FBO owner went to talk to them, because there was still no response when he said "please fly a standard pattern, we're about to solo a student" on the radio. But it did get me an audience! So I've had intermittent communication problems since very early in my flying career. Most recently I was the problem. I made all of the announcements beginning 10nm south if the field, practice GPS approach, miss to VFR pattern and land. Someone approached me at the gas pump and said they didn't hear me on the radio; I had also not heard any of their calls. When I cranked up to leave the pump, CTAF was in the lower position on the Garmin--did I forget to press the flip flop? Did it not change? Did it change when I pressed it, then change again when I let go? I've had all of these happen. So it depends, it can affect us at any time, and it can be us at any time. P.S.--I can't change my vote, from #1 to #1, 2 & 4.
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ATC called out opposite direction traffic once, about 5 seconds after I watched a white Mooney with a red tail go directly under me in the opposite direction. Based on altitude, he was IFR because I was at 8500 outside AVL, heading back to WV. To keep my eyes on him, I had to lean my head against the window . . . But it wasn't scary. My wife spotted him first.
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Yes, that sounds quite possible. I'm pretty sure that i didn't get much above 1000 agl in 3-4 minutes before giving up and going back. After an hour's troubleshooting and identifying the cylwith the problem, we unloaded the plane back into the truck, pushed back into the hangar and called family while driving home that we wouldn't be there. Making a 10-hour each way drive just wouldn't work on a 4-day weekend. The A&P diagnosed the problem and ordered the repair kit; since his field is a 45-minute drive, it all took two or three weeks to complete. It's been. Three years now, and no trouble since. So I can see how the accident plane may have had trouble with initial climb with a single bad plug / ignition incident. Losing that much to a single plug surprised me, and apparently other readers here, but it's what happened.
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I didn't run for 2 minutes on the ground with the cowling removed, just long enough to see if the marks burned off on all four exhausts. It remained visible on one, but a long run would have burned it off, too. Regardless of your opinion, replacing a single lead from magneto to plug resolved the issue, and normal climb rate returned on the first test flight afterwards. Surely you aren't saying that the other plug in that cylinder quit out of sympathy? We surely did nothing to it except clean it, then swap top to bottom, then swapped with the other cylinder on the right side; regardless of what we did, the same exhaust tube was noticeably cooler than the other three, with 250-300 RPM drop on one magneto.
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No, but it's inside the 30nm veil for Tampa, which is "ADS-B required airspace." Except I'll be there too, with no installed ADS-B. So please don't look at your tablet, not see me, and run me over.