Hank

My old Sportys radio [200? Had horizontal Nav] died, now I have a little black one with no Nav. I keep a headset adapter plugged in for easy swap-out. Haven't needed to use it in the air yet; the one time I needed the old Sportys unit on a local flight, it was in the hangar because I only carried it for trips. My procedures have since changed . . . .

But not if he buys another one . . . . .

In cold northern winters, cranking in teens and twenties with a warm oil pan and frigid fuel, I always pumped the throttle 4-6 times, then dawdled as long as I could to let it begin evaporating. Starting up was longer than in summer, and additional throttle pumping began at about 15 seconds or the second cough. Anyone know of a carbureted Mooney fire due to pumping the throttle before cold starts? None here. Cranking up after fueling was simply advance throttle and start; after lunch, 1-2 pumps, advance throttle and start. The longer it sat, the colder it was, the more times I'd pump the throttle. Because a warm engine will make cold fuel vaporize, but a cold engine won't . . . . and we all know that gas vapors are what ignite, not the liquid. Cold fuel vaporizes slowly, so use more of it.

Ask yourself why would Mooney put a dangerous procedure into their Owners Manuals for twenty years.

Actually, Dan was more of a "pilot out." His engine would have continued to run had he remained conscious. Actually, his planned flight was shorter than his actual, one-tank-duration flight. He has since become quite the evangelist for CO monitors, and convinced me and several hundred others to take advantage of manufacturer's discounts that he sought out for CO detectors.

Strange how everyone except Mooney says that . . . Seven years on the OH / WV line, many winter flights with only oil pan heat when at home in an unheated hangar, nary a problem . . . . Don't know of any C owners who have had this problem . . . . Not saying it applies to all O-360-equipped aircraft, but it doesn't appear to cause problems for the carbed Mooney fleet. It's specifically what our Owners Manuals instruct us to do (all but the "wait a minute for cold fuel to slowly vaporize" part).

What causes grief for many people calculating in Standard units is that lbm =/= lbf. That's where slugs come in. It was all very confusing in college during the Reagan years, but Wikipedia sure makes it seem easy now! But then again, I'm reading quietly at home for pleasure, not struggling with homework or final exams any more. Memory, not wiki, says something like 32.2 ft•lbff/lbm•sec2, although I may have pound-mass and -force backwards.

I have time off to spare. What's Ark weather like that time of year? I'm allergic to airframe icing, and have a lifelong aversion to crystaline H2O outside of my glass; fifteen years in the midwest have intensified that feeling . . . .

Definitely old school, prop goes in the middle . . . Colors are black, black, red. In addition to higher gear speed (120 mph), the electric flaps also deploy faster (125 mph). So I fly approaches at 105-120 mph with Takeoff flaps, and drop gear to begin descent. None of which affects the parking brake . . . . Although it may all be tangential to the root cause of Richard's prematurely flat tires (ouch!).

Negative cowl flaps, they are fixed on my C. Not sure about Richard's converted D. Neither of us have Ram Air, either. The 75 F I have 10 or so hours in, the Cowl Flaps are on the right side of the quadrant.

This is what I do: Master on Fuel pump on til pressure peaks, then off Pump throttle 4-5 times Set throttle at about 1/2" above Idle/Cutoff Put on headset, clip cord to jacket Wind and set yoke clock Set nonmoving red hands on clock Check passenger (if applicable) Turn key and push; pump throttle if needed (after several revs, or a cough or two that doesn't catch) Preheat helps. An hour in a heated hangar helps. May need to rest and repeat. How well does she crank in Fall temps (50-60°)?

I suspect his is like yours, based on his comments. Apparently more than the instruments were reconfigured when Mooney got rid of the shotgun panel (68? 69?). Here's mine. Heat and Vent are close together, but far from the parking brake, with the whole throttle quadrant and left yoke separating them. I just stand on the brakes for runup, even at WOT when checking my dynamic prop balance (still .01 after 14 years).

I've had my C for 11-1/2 years. I have no idea if the parking brake works or not. But I have looked, and there's a knob at the bottom of the panel labeled "Parking Brake." It's by the left yoke, Cabin Heat is by the right yoke. Hope you get this figured out!

I'm sorry you had to go to Tuscaloosa, but at least you left quickly!! WAR EAGLE !!

Ooohhh!! That's beautiful!! I'm jealous. Can you share who did the work and where? Might get some more business. Personally, I've yet to find a sheet metal guy not scared of airplane work

Hey! I'm 6' and sit on a 2" gel cushjon to see the nose. It really helps with my landings. I figured if 6'9" Yetti Monster fit, most anyone would . . . .

I bought a knockoff from www.wish.com for $14, and a heap of mounts. Now if I could only remember what the prop filter material is . . . . Aha! I need a Neutral Density filter, preferably one I can cut up.

My shoulder didn't make it to age 40 . . . . Very thankful for electric gear; bought the plane six years later.

I've never doubted it in my electric gear C either. Just in case I can't see the green light on the panel, as during my total electrical failure, there's that nifty mechanical indicator in the floor. Also, I keep drinks, lunch, sectionals, plates, etc., between the seats and on the floor below the throttle quadrant.

My right arm is fine, but my right shoulder really appreciates the electric gear! The coupler only comes into play if you don't stow the emergency crank properly. So far (11 years into ownership), no gear issues. For J bars, there are worn up blocks that let them collapse; "sticky" grips that don't slide well; bent bars that are difficult to lock into one position or the other; worn boots that prevent locking into the panel to land; carpet that scrunches up and prevents locking into the panel to land; unbuckled seatbelts in the pattern from swinging the gear; bloody knuckles from whacking seatbelt buckles while swinging the gear; the "Mooney dip" on departure, trying to get the gear up; and whatever was wrong with steingar's gear that took several visits to the A&P to fix. In the end, there is no "best" gear retraction method, only personal preference. I've never even sat in a manual gear Mooney, the faults above have all been experienced vicariously here. Along with mbdiag's injury and shoulder surgery forcing the sale of hus J-bar C and purchase of an electric F. My shoulder understands and sympathisizes, but fortunately my own troubles predate pilothood.

Take some sandwich-size ziploc bags and a marker. Bag screws and label by location: left wing, right wing, tail, cowl, spinner, belly, etc. Makes it much easier to put back together. If it's at the mechanic's hangar, add your tail number to each bag. Stop by Lowes on your way to the airport and get a Kobalt double-ratcheting screwdriver for taking out all of those screws . . . . The wing panels that I remove all have unpainted stainless screws, which makes them easy to spot. It's not all of them, just the ones with things behind them. I don't remove them, I leave one screw on the inner edge in place but loose and swivel the panel out of the way. There are two small round panels under the tail, and seems like a rectangular panel on either side, in addition to the pivot panels. Find somewhere out of the way but secure to put the spinner, cowl top, both cheek panels, the tapered tail joint pieces and the avio ics bay panel. The cowl top I generally stand up, and if safe from wind I lean the cheek pieces against it. The other pieces I lay down somewhere I won't be tempted to set something down in top of them . . . And don't stack them on top of each other unless you like scratches. Don't pull the plugs until the IA is there, as some are required to check compression. Each year that you do this, your IA should allow you to do more. It's a relationship-building exercise, where he shares knowledge and you share ability to do things his way. He will have equipment to clean, gap and test spark plugs, the first thing I was shown how to do eleven annuals ago.

Looks like @bonal's second career is about to takeoff! Hope that's what you were looking for . . . . .

What does your Owners Manual say about pushing your flaps by hand? Mine are electric, and only appear in Section 3, Preflight as "Flap and Attach Point--CHECK". But I've been pushing on both during preflight forever, and rarely get 1/2" of motion. Maybe it's something I picked up at a MAPA PPP.

Don't tell that to Bruce Jaeger!

Industrial Velcro will go faster . . .