Hank

It's not just the sun, it's the sun and humidity . . . . After all, it's the beach!

We walked. Call it 15 minutes. In July when I was there, we called it Hot!! Don't walk to DQ, it's even further . . . . But AOPA has an air conditioned flight planning room at the airport.

Richard, you got the right haircut to visit the hot, humid South! It's a far cry from Utah or S. Calif. Glad to see that you're having a good time.

Before replacing it, just open it up and remove all of the old grease. It's probably hard and chunky. Refill with fresh grease. There should be a thread here somewhere about doing this, and maybe something on Maxwell's site, too. If your A&P is unsure, visit an MSC.

@Janat83, that sounds like a good plan. In my C, flying 7500-10,000 with WOT-/2500, I've gone 4:45 twice, landing with 11-12 gal. One flight was low due to high winds and three sides of the rectangle to avoid icing: KFAY-KGSP-KTYS-KLEX-KHTW. The other one was a couple of legs, with malfunctioning pump at my fuel stop: KECP-41A (no fuel)-KALX (even FBO couldn't make the fuel pump work)-KHTW. Ran one tank dry just a couple of minutes before beginning descent, and only added 41 gal after landing, leaving me with 1:15 fuel in the tank. Total time was over 4-1/2 hours, including a couple days on the ground at my no-fuel base and flying to KALX at 3000 msl in search of fuel. The weather was beautiful headed north to WV, and fuel stops abounded. I had even discussed two possibilities with my wife, but they were not needed. I change tanks every hour; having flown home from the beach on L, I went to ALX on R, then continued on for an hour total on R, switched back to L for 90 minutes, then started watching closely. Being only my second dry tank, I was surprised when there was no cough or surge, just sudden quiet and pitch down. Changing to R brought it right back, and I began descent about 5 minutes later. As I said before, distance doesn't matter to your plane, only time. Winds aloft can greatly stretch or shrink the distance you can cover on your fuel. But I don't routinely plan legs over 4 hours simply due to my own physical comfort--it's nice to stand up and walk around more often than that. Also, watch your fluid intake before a flight of long duration . . . . And for God's sake, discuss the possibility / planning for brief engine out with your passenger(s) first! Mynwife didn't appreciate the airborne mag check to confirm a dead magneto without warning!

Call / chat with Whelen. They'll know. Should be PAR46 size. I like my Parmetheus.

That would be this one: Click Downloads at the top, then on tne right click Pilot Operating Handbooks and scroll. It's not very far down the list.

My Go-Slow power is 2300 and whatever MP gives the desired slowness. ~17" yields 90 KIAS (105mph) clean, if hanging back with Skyhawks.

There's one in the Downloads section, under Pilot Operating Handbooks.

B-b-b-b-but but but--what happened to the little bear in a flight jacket, leather helmet and scarf???? The sock monkey doesn't look piloty at all, manual or automatic . . . . .

I left my door open once after taxiing out holding it open. Runup blew it closed and off I went. Real quick noticed it open an inch or two, and noisy. Tried to pull it closed, decided not to. Climbed out at 100 MPHI. At about 3000msl, decided I was several mistakes high and could try it one time. Leaned over, made sure to move the handle and pull real hard after releasing the yoke with my left hand. It closed, and i reached over and moved the handle with my left hand. Had it not closed, I'd have made the flight with it open. But it was worth one try.

My C is good for 4:45 with an hour's fuel left over, but I'm well ready to get out and stand up. I generally travel 7500-10,000 msl, WOT-/2500. Don't think of distance, just time. I've had cruising speeds from 68-186 knots. So distance always depends on the wind. So be prepared to stop, and glad if you don't have to.

Just about all auto parts stores carry an assortment of clips.

I've put a case of oil on the horizontal stab, bound approach plates and a wrench roll on the other stab, then added misc stuff from the shelves until it balanced. The electric gear can be moved from outside, reaching in the storm window.

My A&P screwed wheels onto a galvanized tub, then bent a piece of all-thread so it would stand up with the end higher than the sides. Fill with concrete, let harden. Attach turnbuckle to the allthread, then eyebolt. Use rope / chain of your choice up to the airplane.

If the belt fits . . . . I've only used an extender in my Mooney one time. But I've had guys and gals beside me that outweigh me, easily 225 or more. I'm just under 200 myself. Trim is your friend! Took the wife's cousins up the Outer Banks to Kitty Hawk one summer; with the four of us in the plane, I was limited to 34 gal of fuel. Folks in back didn't complain much, flight time wasn't but an hour and a half.

I don't remember, it's been a while. Seems there's a screw through the big round pieces in the corners where the swivel joint is, and maybe more screws in the center?

Many bank angles are not prudent in the pattern, especially on base-to-final. Say, any bank angle > 30°. That was pounded into my heqd by my primary CFI in a mighty Skyhawk, and by my regional airline CFII in my Mooney. I generally aim for less angle. If I'm wide turning final, I hold the bank and fly back to the right course; if I can't get there, I go around and try again. I rarely miss twice. For pattern width, downwind for 26 used to be over downtown (still is, I'm just not based there anymore), and I noticed that I flew the Mooney 3-4 small city blocks wider than the Skyhawk. Lately, though, I've slipped into a longer final leg--googlemaps shows me at about a mile-long final, but closer in on downwind. It's easy at your home field, set it for Satellite view, find a landmark you're used to seeing and measure distance to the runway. I use a church that's often under me as I turn base . . . . . Lots of them here in Alabama, the Buckle of the Bible Belt.

Instrument arrival does zip-po for separation when you arrive at an untowered field. I'm busy moving to my 5th base, all untowered, and did my Instrument training at one that didn't even have an approach. On VFR days, even on an Instrument Approach, the PIC is responsible for separation, and for making position calls on CTAF that even student pilots can understand.

The pilots here flew their Mooneys from where they live, well west of you, to where the animals are, then flew the meat home. I really can't tell in the picture above just what the "swamp donkey" is. They apparently don't live this far South or this far down the mountain . . . .

NNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"ie" vs. "ey" can make quite a difference!

AGL is good, so is Joey Cole at Cole Aviation in Dalton, GA, KDNN.

I'll third Joey Cole (www.coleaviation.com) at KDNN. He's working on my plane now . . . . .

It's not sale price, it's remaining equity after sale, fees, inspections, realtor commissions and setting aside for the next place to live. Those take significant amounts off the table.