Hank

Not sure if my C was done by the PO before or after the gear up, or even by the owner before him . . . . but I'm very thankful every year at the (owner assisted) annual.

Regardless of aircraft type or age. Also applies to non-aircraft machines, vehicles and equipment. Expecting perfect results will end in disappointment sooner or later, and may well be due to operator error as much as equipment failure.

It got you again. It's "spatial" with a "t". Glad you feel so "spacial." I won't inquire . . .

What kind of disorientation is required to be "special"? I avoid all of them, with the worst type in an airplane being spatial. Couple of questions/comments: When changing tanks, I look at the floor, bend down and find the switch by feel. I can't watch my hand all the way there. Why do you descend at reduced power? Keeping cruise MP / EGT all the way down makes up for the slow climb. I reduce power 2-3nm from the pattern to slow to flap speed then 90mph downwind. I also don't switch tanks in the pattern because I'm busy, eyes outside and it's an awkward position.

and make it nigh onto impossible to release!

I came along too late for Yuri. But I've certainly heard of his Viking Route to Europe in an unmodified C. Last I recall, his family was prepping the story for publication, then stopped. It's been a whole lot of silence for a long time now.

You may want to take this opportunity to upgrade to an alternator instead . . . . PO did mine, not sure how complex it is.

Measure with a micrometer. Mark with chalk. Cut with an axe. I've heard this in many contexts, but today is the first time for aviating . . . . But the concept still applies. I don't recall doing very much special when visiting non-flat airports, although significant downhill landings can be strange, floating along with the runway falling away just about the same rate that I'm descending . . . Makes for longer landings. Taking off uphill can also take longer. Just don't go anywhere that makes you worry about getting in or out.

Wow! Even with some labor added in, that's an amazing CB engine repair! Hope that's all it takes.

Here's mine, ropped from a panel shot. While there is a large enough temperature span, the unstrument itself is pretty small. It should be doable, it just wasn't a "thing" that far back . . . . It's pointing at 1450°F, a common place for me to run.

Inadvertent activation of tractor beam?

Wheels down, good directional control. Reach out a finger and raise the flaps, then lean the mixture--I generally go about 2/3 to Idle / Cut Off. But you need to have the Idle Adjustment checked.

For many of us flying NA Mooneys, there is no blue box on our EGT gage, thus the need to find, record and remember the Target EGT number . . . . .

Aero Cosmetics Wash n Wax, Red degreaser formula in a spray bottle. Quick, easy, non-flammable, non-caustic, breathable, leaves a nice slick surface behind that's easy to clean. Blue does the rest of the plane except windows (Plexxus) and polished spinner (California Gold purple polish). All use cheap, white terry cloth hand towels sold by the dozen. And yes, exhaust residue is light gray when everything works and you lean correctly. It shows up well on most colors . . . . .

Why do you fly so low??? Altitude is good for performance, and it reduces summer heating of the pilot.

With a mixture lever on the quadrant, it's a very inexact process . . . . But I still need a good Target value to aim for.

Search here for Target EGT. That's what I do when I remember: Takeoff on a standard day, as xlose to 29.92" and 59°F as you can get, and record your EGT as soon after rotation as you have brain power to do. Then shoot for that same EGT on every takeoff, leaning as needed ti maintain that value all the way from runway to cruise, when you will set power and lean anyway. Approximately. Best I can remember. YMMV.

Maybe it means that Kerrville isn't as windy as Wichita?

But @Bob - S50, you're forgetting that @DXB and I fly carbureted C models, and LOP is really dicey and often not practical for us. Thus my preference for the MAPA Key Number approach. So far, so good . . . . since 2007.

Hey, ladies are now up to 7%!! Woo-hooo! That includes both my Primary CFI from '07 and my CFII from '10. Nope, just 6.6%. Stupid me divided women by men rather than Women ÷ (Women + Men) . . . . .

I follow the MAPA recommendation of MP + RPM = 46, so at 5-6K I'm usually at 22"/2400. Speed is usually pretty good, I'm often indicating ~145 mph [160 mph / 139 KTAS]. Higher is faster.

Isn't "Demonstrated crosswind" just what was encountered during certification flights? It is certainly not supposed to be any sort of limit. I've not been able to find anything on crosswinds in my 1970 M20-C Owners Manual other than to take off at slightly higher airspeed than normal, and to approach at higher airspeeds in gusty or crosswind conditions--no numerical guidance is provided, and there is certainly nothing in the Limitations section.

I don't want every flight in my spreadsheet, only my first visit to each airport, to track where I've been. Don't want flight time, either, just date and runway length, and when I remember, my hiurs when I went there first. It's just a small slice of my giant spreadsheet. I'm hangared in only my 5th airport in two states, but am living in Residence #42 in Town #22 scattered across 8 U.S. states and 2 Japanese prefectures. Each is tracked by location and time, and broken down by area, summarized by region and state, and marked where I've lived longest single duration, longest total time and most times. Etc., etc. I try to track Instrument and Night Currency too, but it's troublesome and on a separate sheet. But it's not on my phone, don't want multiple versions laying around getting different pages updated . . . . .

While it's a very manual process, I do keep track of every airport that I visit [ID, name, location, date of 1st visit, runway length, any notes] on a separate tab in my master spreadsheet. Other tabs exist for tracking states visited by mode [drive through, airline to, pilot to, personal vs. business, etc.] [so far, 47 of 'em], tracking airplane insurance hours using their breakdown fields, trips outside the country, First Flights, places I've lived, etc., etc. Sorry . . . but us engineers just seem to live by spreadsheets . . . .

It's all part of learning. That's why we hangar fly, to share and to learn.