Hank

Some of us prefer sweep hands and pointers to non-moving arrays of digits. I can recognize hand position and understand it immediately, while it takes a second or two staring at a digital display. I have this clock in my yoke, and love it. It times my flights, and every time the hands overlap, I switch tanks. I'm not worried about it's accuracy over more than 4-1/2 hours. At the top of my Pre-Talkeoff Checklist is Wind and Set Clock, a task i usually don't after priming and before engine start. Yes, it's on there twice . . .

It's much easier to decide the weather is unfriendly and not fly, than to decide the weather is unfriendly and not land. Yes, we all check the forecast before departure, but you don't always get the forecast--you get what you get. I've not had winds blow up unexpectedly, but I've had forecasts of scattered cirrus @ 25K, unrestricted visibility at my destination turn out to be 400 Overcast, 2 miles in mist.

I dunno. A third of 32 is almost 11, so two thirds is almost 22; I need a calculator to find 3/4 of 32. (Half is 16; half again is 8; 32 less eight is 24. While holding course, managing descent and talking to Tower on the radio in IMC. Too much for me.) I'm firmly in the camp of "close enough," and find written test questions whose answers must be calculated to two decimal points to be silly wastes of time. What's the real difference between 22 knots crosswind component and 24 knots? Both are higher than the "demonstrated crosswind" in my Owners Manual, and the actual real value is 22.63 knots by my calculator for a 45° wind. Besides, aren't we approximating wind angle anyway? Wind angle may be reported accurately on ASOS, but runway headings are in 10° increments. So i lump the wind into big categories and get close enough. Less than 20° = zero 20-40° = half 40-60° = two thirds >60° = reported windspeed Quick, easy, simple. No calculator needed, no decimal points to used, easily done in my head. And it eliminates the 5° variability in runway heading, too. Half, two thirds, all works for me, and is easy to remember. And for lighter winds like 17 knots, unless it's close to direct cross, I don't bother figuring the components. If it IS close to direct cross, I just think the whole reported winds are crosswind.

I dunno. But Rosen visors have an STC..Never understood how a replacement sunvisor requires a change to the Type Certificate . . . It mounts in the same holes. Just get Don's. No fuss, no muss.

No STC required for Dandy Don's visors!!

I took the mystery out of cold and hot and warm starts by flying a C model. The O-360 is stupid simple to crank, the difference between cold and hot is running the fuel pump before or not. The important part is to turn the key and push!

@midlifeflyer, why do you use 45° = 3/4 of wind speed? sin 45 = cos 45 = 0.7017 2/3 = 0.6666 (= 0.04044 low) 3/4 = 0.75 (= 0.04289 high) So we're both correct. I find it easier to approximate a third less, than to halve it twice and take that off the wind speed. But whatever works for you. Guess I'm too muchnof an engineer to nit get out my calculator and figure thos out!

Wow. I've been asked by ATC ti "say intensions" but never thought to ask them.

There's a story that Al parked an M20 overnight while visiting Piper Field (I forget why), and a slew of engineers crawled all over it seeing how things were done. He may have been taken out to dinner, and put up for the night. Then the Comanche was introduced. I was surprised that the overhead shot of a "Mooney" taking off from a grass field had such a long ground run, and was still on the ground when the scene changed; then was further surprised on two other shots taking off from a paved runway where the gear stayed down for a long time before moving up s-l-o-o-o-w-l-l-y-y-y, but it was apparently a groundhog of a Comanche with that awful, fragile hydraulic gear transmission. Other than that, everything else was true, except for his comment abiut the Comanche tail being "the right way around," which we all know is facing the wrong direction . . . . I haven't seen much of Bryan-with-a-Y since the muttonheads on POA ran me off. I'll have to start looking for him on YouTube.

You will taxi and park in the grass. Bring your own tie downs. I bought a set of screw-ins made by EAA to replace my dog screws, and they held when the tornadoes hit. Many claw-types pulled loose. I arrived right as the airport was opening after the airshow, didn't even have to hold over the lake. Not sure how long it took--look at your EFB, measure the route and calculate time at 90 knots. Study and highlight the Procedure. Fly it accurately, and expect craziness around you. Eyes outside, head on a swivel. I was following a flight of two RVs, they didn't turn until after I had passed the landmarks . . . Oh, and have fun!!

Go, Don! That's the difference between a craftsman and a "maker."

It all depends on the weather. High temps or low pressure, my C suffers in the climb (doesn't everyone?). I did go to 15K one warm summer afternoon, step climbing the last three or four thousand feet, but the next day I did some searching and calculated that DA had been 18,800, which made me feel much better.

I thought that was about the price of a NEW prop!

My annuals come in around 20 hours. I'll have tincheck the papers where I just picked it up, but had to do some extra work, too.

You'll be pleased. I get 6-7 years on my Concordes here in Sweet Home Alabama, just a Mooney Hour from KECP, Panama City. No Minder used, and you fly much more often than I ever have.

Medicare will often pay for some level of lens replacement, but not premium lenses. It was always a Big Deal when a new lens model was finally approved by Medicare, as that made demand rise significantly. New models sold for 10-15X what our oldest model lenses did, so there was significant attention on new model launches at the plant, but other folks at HQ pushed paper with the government (our plant pushed paperwork for FDA launch approval). As everywhere, innovation is what kept the company going, and as you can read here, that same innovation leads to happy(ier) customers and improved quality of life. I enjoyed my time making lens implants, right up until the company was sold to another Fortune 100 company and everything (along with many people) began to change . . .

There ya go! Just add a seat belt, and your plane will be wifeproof!

@Ragsf15e, my third.Concorde is.now 3 or 4 years old, and none have ever been on a Minder because I don't own one. I generally get 7-8 years before replacing, although I've never had an IA tell me it has failed capacity testing (they just start cranking slowly and requiring charging).

I always enquire with my IA a couple of months before I want the annual finished up. Usually works well.

When I bought my Mooney in '07, USAA just told me they didn't insure personal aircraft, so I stayed with the previous owner's local broker. Then I moved out of his area and went to Falcon. Now I'm happily with Airspeed / @Parker_Woodruff

The nose jacking point apparently began with the TLS, as the above Mooney Service Bulletin applies for all models up through the L. My C used a heavy tail tiedown for several decades before this Bulletin was issued . . .

@Rick Junkin, i changed from Falcon to Airspeed for much the same reason. Parker has been great to work with, and is very competitive on pricing. Hes even goven me good advice on adjusting insured value.

@patriot3300, Mooney says to lift the nose using engine lift points. Lycoming says to NOT use the engine lift points to raise the nose of the plane. So what is left is simply to levitate the nose while working on the nose wheel, swinging gear, etc.

Except Mooney has said this century to not use a tail tie down; McCauley and Hartzell have said to not use a prop jack; Lycoming and Continental have said to not lift the nose using an engine hoist. So when we jack our planes, the nose is supposed to levitate itself to stay level while we jack under the wings . . . .

FTFY!! At least, this is sometimes my experience