Hank

In addition to a small travel tool kit, chocks, ropes, umbrella, etc., the only "parts" I carry around are extras of the screws/nuts/washers that I remove every annual, some safety wire, a spare headset of two (never know when someone will need a ride, or my wife's gel seals will bust open) and a quart of oil with disposable funnels. Air sick bags, anyone? Got some right here, in the seatback pocket where I can reach them when needed. Many fun tools, nothing really special; cleaners, rags, a lightweight 12-ga extension cord for engine heat in winter . . .

He's reporting IAS at altitude, not True. Where were all these pilots from the pointy part of Ohio when I lived there??? I only knew one other, and he bought his'n after I got mine, kept it a while and sold it. I'm still flying mine . . .

Vet(eran) or vet(erinarian)? Sorry, I couldn't resist!

Someone here with lots of free time and excess energy polished his firewall while the engine was out . . . If you're bored and just looking for something to do,math at should kill an evening or two!

I didn't have a problem with it. Much longer than all other grass strips I've gone to--the next longest has been 3500 at 40 msl, never a problem even with the displaced threshold to clear the feeder lines into a power substation at my most frequent approach end, loaded for a week's vacation.

Never tried to file with any EFB. Always do that on the phone after finishing the weather briefing.

Says the man who lives on a grass field . . .

This is what I've found. But my 1st Gen wifi Galaxy 7" tablet shows position well with Avare. Unlike midlifeflyer, I don't trust ANY app running on a tablet for IFR navigation. They are ALL for situational awareness only. If you've got to use a tablet to navigate in IMC, please don't do it near me . . .

All Samsung Galaxy tablets are GPS equipped, even those that are not cellular. This will save a lot in Step 1. What about the various free apps? This will save a lot in Step 2. then Step 3 becomes buying a traffic system compatible with the free software from Step 2. Initial buy in just fell several hindered, and recurring costs fell by another $150-200/year. Buy last year's Galaxy, go with free apps and total costs will be Stratus/whatever plus about $200, recurring costs will be zero. Can't help it, I'm a CB with no traffic reporting.

Woo-hooo! Step 1, Sell old plane-Check. Congratulations!

Check foremost gear biscuit upgrade. Old ones have four, new ones have three.mcheck for biscuit wear and age, too. The manufacture date is molded in to the outer edge of each biscuit; if they're over 10 years, think about replacing them soon. I misread the dates on mine because they were upside down--I thought they said "09-96" but they were really "06-69"! It rides, taxis and lands much better now.

A double arm would be great! Mount it to the center post. Run the arm to the corner, out in a hinge, run another arm section with the shade back to the center and clip it in. Flip,it up and down, fine. If the sun goes off to the side, up clip in the center and fold the shade back along the side. When the sun is further back than our little shades will block, I'm just SOL. You, however, can rotate the other arm and extend the shade backwards along the side. Even better, leave it in the "normal" side position and rotate both arms on the other shade over behind yours! If needed, I can sketch something up in the morning and try to attach it. Who says brainstorms don't work?

I thought it was, "Who's on first?" Nyuk! Nyuk!

Watch the video on one of the news sites, it shows the touchdown and almost simultaneous impact with opposite direction car that tears the wing off. Huge gush of fuel onto the road, making the larger puddle. This pulled the plane into an arc to the right. The left wing hit several parked cars. Then the pilot got out and walked around checking on things, headed back toward the moving car that he had hit. Pilot was uninjured. Looks like the arc bent the left main gear, too. I'd love to hear from the pilot and see what belts he had in the plane!

Avare shows my little plane on the sectional. Don't recall if it does on approach plates, too--not sure I've remembered to use it when practicing.

What has changed now is increased insurance requirements and the introduction of the Complex Endorsement. Guess too many people were pranging their Mooneys, and the insurance co's got tired of paying for propellers, engines, belly skins, etc. I bought half of my Mooney in 2007, because with 62 hours total and a damp certificate, I was not insurable as a sole owner (five weeks and 10 hours post-checkride). They required 15 hours dual from their instructor, including 5 hours real/simulated IMC because Mooneys are traveling machines. If using another instructor, they would have added 10 hours solo, too. The instructor commented that I was ready to go well before the 15 hours ended, but we'd have both been in trouble with the insurance company had I done so and anything at all happened. So we just flew to every airport within about a hundred nm, landed, and went home, turning avgas into noise all around Huntington, WV. At least it was pretty, although quite warm on the ground in July and August. Learned about flying high then, too. The air conditioning was worth the (short) climb!

Oh no!! Duck and run for cover--I'm through with this thread!

The whole baggage door opening won't leave a whole lot of waste from a 12' piece.

Love my iPad, but don't use it to fly. Avare on an ancient Galaxy Tablet 1 keeps generally 5 sectionals, 3-4 low enroutes and approach plates for half a dozen states. Not sure of the memory, but it's old and not much. Its a wonderful planning tool, can scroll all around then zoom in to read what disappears in the larger views. I've tried writing on various scratch pads on my Galaxy, two cell phones and my iPad mini retina. While sitting in a chair with all four legs firmly on the ground, my writing looks worse than with a pen in heavy turbulence. Can't imagine trying to write meaningful notes on a scratch pad in the air, much less trying to read the resulting mess. What I've sen people post here from their pads looks abysmal too. Not for me--sometimes paper is good. As for situational awareness with the GPS overlay, that's what the certified panel-mounted GPS is for. Despite some strange buttonology, the G430W does this pretty well, and I also keep up with my position on the sectional "just in case." But I also like having the sectional to review with topo information, so there's usually one or two rattling around the cockpit. Since I grew up on the interstates, I've been reading and folding maps my whole life.

"Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool."

It all depends on how comfortable you are dropping the purchase price without inspection by someone who knows the particular foibles of the thing you are buying, be it airplane, car, artwork, coins . . . .

For a B-J, maybe a K, I kind of agree with atn. But I was sinking 200 big ones into a personal airliner to fly hard IFR all over the country, then that three-state trip to an MSC for a pre-buy disappears into the noise. it provides peace of mind, and is the airplane equivalent of the home inspection when buying a house. I lucked into my plane as a total noob, but the FBO owner had a lot on the line selling it to me. It was the plane he had been fixing up for his retirement before finding the proverbial estate sale A36 that was too good to pass up. Guess we were both lucky . . . Then I found MooneySpace a year or so later. Even so, my advice above does not change.

The only airway routing ive ever been assigned was from just outside Daytona down to FXE and back; north of whatever that VOR is [Ormond Beach?], I was direct. I do lose direct going from AL to NC because ATL approach ignores the T-routes; last time I asked, they stumbled a bit, mumbled about checking, and repeated "stay out of the Bravo." So I hugged it nice and close down the east side at 8500 msl. When IFR on the same route, they send me to CINCA, but when VFR I stay inside it and follow the Bravo circle. So how does that fancy $5000 ES transponder get me better routing? Even with it, ATL will tell me to "stay outside the Bravo." In the meantime, that will buy a lot of fuel and a couple of annuals.

The ipad mini is a sweet machine, if you can handle the typical Apple product frustration--you can't load anything onto it without going through apple, you can't get anything out of it without going through apple, there are no memory cards, no card slots, no USB ports, no nothing without going through apple. Within those limits, the ipad mini is great. I still have an ancient Galaxy 7" tablet, and I keep [free!] Avare on it and on my Samsung phone. Every now and then I will update plates, sectionals, enroutes, WACs, whatever I need. Although the [also free!] FlightPlanGO! looks quite tempting. Avare is great for planning long flights, but it will not file the flight plan for you, which is fine because I still call the 800 number for a last minute weather briefing and my flights are almost always direct [except I've learned the two routes around ATL since Approach is allergic to through-traffic using the approved T-routes. Play with the free ones and see if you like it. I still buy bound NOAA plates and paper sectionals, I like to be able to look ahead more than 3-4", no zooming in and out required.

Sorry, man. My wife likes Top Gun, and she used to watch Flying Wild Alaska with me every week, with reruns in between.