Hank

The new Sec. Transportation thinks pilots who blow taxi instructions like this should lose their license . . . Kind of like revoking taxi and truck driver's licenses for making a bad lane change . . . Sometimes the ground layout is confusing, sometimes the taxi instructions are unclear. If a bad taxi means loss of license, what will happen if a pilot flies off of his clearance? Bust Bravo, turn right instead of left, climb through cleared altitude, fly through localized, etc.?

@201er flies his J up to 11-12 hours LOP with 102 gallon tanks (I think). An Ovation can be had with larger tanks (130 gal), but I'm not sure how the fuel flow would compare.

As a hobby woodturner and pen maker, I have lots of wood scraps laying around! Some are even useful sizes . . . . .

Oak grain is too large for a small piece like this. Maple or cherry would be my choice, or go whole hog with cocobolo or mahogany for the win. Scraps aren't hard to come by.

As I learned early in my engineering career, this is a "case by case" decision, Best thought through in advance, on the ground. But the summation "halfway between Vx and Vy works out to Best Glide" is not always accurate. For my C: Vx = 85 mph Vy = 100 mph - Altitude Vbg = 105 mph Halfway between Vx and Vy ~ 92 mph, a much steeper climb than Best Glide would produce. So I routinely climb at Vx to clear obstacles then lower the nose to Vy to altitude. But Vbg is always there in the back of my head if something happens. Many people here recommend a Cruise Climb around 120 mph for engine cooling.

The storm window in my C is placards "do not open above 150 mph".

Finally! A real example, with numbers, of "glides like a sewer lid"!

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. "The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."--Albert Einstein

That's where it is in my 1970 C, too. Probably because it's just above the Emergency Gear Release crank on that wall.

Glad it's over! Enjoy the recovery process, and don't skimp on physical therapy. It's not fun, but not doing it will result in years of not fun.

His clearance was to Cross runway 34 then take the next taxiway and Hold Short. Instead he taxied onto runway 34 instead of crossing it, so no "installed system" would have been able to stop him.

Frequent professional maintenance, dispatchers, etc. Also Part 135 regs vs. Part 91.

@wombat, you forgot the biggest, most important difference between bugsmasher and turbine pilots: Most bugsmashers are flown by their owners, who have jobs outside of aviation; while most twin-turbines are flown by full-time professional pilots.

What kind of Mooney do you fly where Vx is only Stall + 6??? For my C, Vx = 80 mph; Vy = 100 mph - Altitude. Here are my stall speeds: So yes, Vy in a climb is near stall speed in a 60° bank while holding altitude, which won't happen after engine failure. I've had my engine cut out in cruise when the tank ran dry, with no burble. I was fat, dumb and happy, watching the clock and fuel pressure. It suddenly got pretty quiet, my wife jumped up and the plane rapidly pitched down to maintain IAS. This should also happen in climb, if you've got the trim set and aren't pulling back on the yoke. Don't you trim yoke forces away in all phases of flight, or do you hold the yoke back for a 10-15 minute climb? (Oh, my aching arms!) Anyway, with a dead engine and turning to your landing spot, are you really going to a) hold level altitude, and b) bank 60 freaking degrees? I hope to fly with a dead engine the same way I do with an operating engine, except at 100-105 mph and descending; all turns near standard rate but certainly below 30° bank. Down low, the landing spot better be out the windshield before any turns start! So realistically, my stall speed will be in the low 70s in all turns and I'm climbing 95+ IAS before transitioning to 105 mph. How am I going to stall and die by climbing at Vy??? Even if it takes me several seconds to lower the nose to 105 if the engine craps out? Regardless, it would be "exciting" if it happened down low, say < 1000 agl.

These have been outlawed in many places. Multiple studies showed that after installation, yellow light timers were reduced to artificially inflate the number of red light tickets issued, to say nothing of the high percentage of fees collected that went to the private companies operating the cameras instead of to the local governments. There is yet no technology developed to prevent vehicles from running a red light, nor to prevent an aircraft from incorrect taxiing. See my quotes above. Wish I could remember where I found the second one back when I worked in Division HQ writing work instructions and product specifications.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that there are no limits to stupidity."--Albert Einstein "Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool."

I bought an aircraft spark plug socket from Spruce, sized to fit my Harbor Freight torque wrench. It cost more than the wrench . . . Watch for HF sales, I rarely pay full price there unless I need something immediately.

Surely your POHs have something like this from my little Owners Manual. There are speeds and glide ratios for both windmilling and stopped props; unsurprisingly, stopped props create less drag, with improved glide characteristics. What surprised me just now is the slightly lower Vbg for stopped prop. It's right before the Performance Tables, same section

I check the gear handle & light on base, and the floor indicator on final. Raising flaps on rollout is simple, while holding the throttle to idle, just reach out one finger to the flap switch and bring them up

I fly because it's something that I always wanted to do, and discovered time, money and talent in middle age. So I'm making up for lost time!

Hope it goes well, and recovery is smooth. My own shoulder surgery was pre-PPL, and not as invasive as yours. Take the pills when they say, set alarms on your phone. You will heal better and faster when you aren't in pain. See you afterwards!

I have. Also been snow skiing. I much prefer water skiing, which requires liquid water rather than either form of frozen water, and a boat.

And the airstream impacting the bottom of the wing pushes it upwards, according to Sir Isaac Newton. Oncoming air is split--some goes upward, moving without physical limitations and creates low pressure due to increased flow speed; some is pushed downwards, and because air is compressible, it creates an area of high pressure as flow velocity is reduced by the change in direction. But air from the top surface is also deflected downwards simply because the flow direction on top of the wing is downwards for most of its length.

No, we don't fly at 0° angle of attack. The angle is measured from the center of curvature on the leading edges to the pointy tip on the trailing edge. There is probably a single weight and a single speed that will approach 0°, but my plane rarely weighs the same for very long, or on very many flights. Lift also depends on temperature and air density, both also highly variable. So angle of attack is different for each flight, and for each moment of each flight. We do maintain level flight when the weight of the airplane is balanced by the lift the wing is producing. Some flights start heavier, and require more lift, so more angle of attack; some are in thinner air (due to higher temp or lower barometric pressure, or both) and require more angle of attack; some are at higher speed, and require lower angle of attack, because lift is proportional to speed. To laymen like us, "downwash" is the body of air that the wing forces down. To an aerodynamicist, it's the much smaller portion of air that spills off the wingtip. The former creates lift. As the wing moves through air, air molecules must move out of the way--some accelerate upwards, creating a low pressure area that lifts the wing; some accelerate downward, creating a high pressure area that lifts the wing. Some spill off the wingtip, creating drag, which slows the airplane (and lower speed creates less lift, requiring higher angle of attack; round and round the mulberry bush we go!). So part of the issue is simply terminology--there are two different concepts both called "downwash" by two different groups of people, with different effects. Sadly, both are correct . . . .

Even with Right Pattern, I'd still sidestep to the right. Only need to move far enough to see the runway, should be well inside pattern distance. Then climb out and away, re-enter and try again.