Hank

I was right there with you last week, Eastbound from Houston in my C! It was noticeable on climbout, passing through 6000 msl at 100 mph, groundspeed was 120 knots. The further east I went, the higher groundspeed was. But my level cruise record is 183 knots across NC a few years ago (no hurricane involved!).

You have to watch the AMUs per departure! My little Mooney has done pretty well by that score--I think I'm over 1000 departures now.

Halos are on sale, too. With or without Bluetooth. I bought a set for my wife, who did not want an in-ear set--she liked her David Clark's and gel ear pieces. It only took one short local flight to change her mind! https://www.quiettechnologies.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=66_59

I'll have to check the mouser part. My right side button is fine, but I need new wiring for it, the insulation is cracking and peeling off. But some of us just have little buttons to begin with . . . The pilot side is bigger.

I have a Hartzell 3-blade, will have to check logs for model number. Runs well, smooth, and generally get book speeds.

Winner winner, chicken dinner! (I'm currently eating dinner at Chick-fil-A)

The engine starting when you release the key is a signal of a failing left magneto. During engine start, the right mag is grounded, as only the left mag has a set of retarded points used at startup; letting go of the key activates the right magneto and the engine may start then. My left mag died in the air, and after landing neither love nor money would make it start again; not even my enhanced vocabulary made it run.

In my 1970 C, the row of rocker switches above the VORs does it. Here's the list from my Owners Manual: The Landing Light is in the nose; the Nav Lights are on the wingtips (red & green); the Anti-Collision Light is on the belly. My anti-collision light may have begun as a rotating beacon, but was a high-voltage flasher when I bought the plane. That since went intermittent and is now an LED flasher. Enjoy learning your plane. I hope you have half as much fun as I've been having with mine!

Just remember--ADSB isn't required outside of Bravo airspace or below 10,000 msl. Not sure how Bravos handle Cubs, Champs, etc., that have no electrical system to power ADSB. But even radios aren't required. Not seeing traffic on your display doesn't mean no airplanes are in the area. For example, my Mooney has had ADSB out for almost a whole month, to facilitate multiple trips inside the same Bravo space.

Mine did that too, winter gets cold in WV. The gear alarm would sound continuously, very annoying after a few minutes. Replaced all eleven pucks, haven't had a recurrence in several years. Taxiing is also nicer! The floor indicator actually showed a red-and-white barber pole, indicating that the gear were partially up.

For yhose of us whose existing rubber pieces are dry and cracking: What's the best way to.get all of the old stuff off? How do we install your replacements?

That's likely. But depending on the surface you land on, bad things can happen--spinning, digging in the front, etc. Also, gear up on a road gives up all directional control, like when your car slides on black ice--it's going where it goes, and you're along for the ride, holding on and hoping real hard. He did well with control, until the wingtip clipped the first pole.

Well, my flight below the rotation was nice. I was abive everything at 7000, with a nice tailwind--I usually don't get this speed even in descent! But alas, the forecast at home was wrong--last night it was for 25K scattered; when I got here, it was 400 overcast, visibility 2 miles in most. The approach to the runway is 1214 and 1-3/4. Tops were just under 3000 msl, so I diverted to 900 overcast and 10 miles. Now I'm cooling my heels in a stationary chair, waiting for my wife . . . . And we will drive to NC tomorrow, probably in rain and yuck the whole 6 hours. Would have been an easy 2 hour flight this afternoon.

Just use a cheap rubber stamp, and don't align the letters & numbers very well.

I'll be on the southern side of that, coastal Texas to 'Bama. Tailwind are forecast to be 20-31 knots between 6000 & 9000. Woo-hooo!! It will partially make up for the 4 reroute I was given last time that added almost an hour to the trip.

Just as cool as a cucumber! Excellent write up, and a hangar-flying tale for life. "Yeah, I just deadsticked her down from FL210, through icy IMC, and broke out with just enough time to land on a road the size of a taxiway. Couple hours later, the Sheriff made sure the road was clear so I could takeoff and fly home." Great job!!

Sometimes it's best to enjoy the extra day off. When I lived in far western WV, I took my Mooney straight-line to NC and Georgia many times. At 7500 msl, I had well over 2000' clearance over the hills of southern WV, no problem. But I haven't looked at your route. Just watch ceilings and weather, they're calling for storms up that way this weekend. But severe cold will make your Mooney climb like a homesick angel!

You mean other than a general worry / fear about liability and lawsuits? I can't sue myself . . . .

LOTS of right rudder for that takeoff!

My Mooney has two lights: orange / red for Gear Unsafe [UP], and green for Gear Safe [DOWN]. Both are shown in the Owners Manual, just beside the honking big gear switch.

I would love a SkyView, and was sad to see the Dynon did not, and now will not, pursue the Vintage Mooneys for AP . . . . But the AccuTrak continues on a little longer.

When it's that dark, the wing doesn't show up well. At least, not at 9000 feet.

If it all falls through, I'm interested in the Aero Cruze, since Avidyne seems uninterested in approving their nice AP for the pre-J market. My Brittain is barely hanging in there . . . . Assuming, of course, that the installation is compatible with a 1970 C.

@DCarlton, @sdmideas, see above. I sent a PM already for a full set.

Go old school like Jimmy Doolittle and draw a curtain over all of your windows . . . . .