Hank

Did you tell them to BUZZ OFF?

My home field does not have a parallel taxiway, just a single runway entrance off-center towards the most common end. So I back-taxi for every departure and every landing. I noticed my plane turns right better than left; full right rudder will turn me around using about 60' of runway width [based on pavement seams where it was widened on both sides from 50' to 75' at some point in the past], but full left rudder will put one tire in the grass. A friend's F does better turning left. No, I do not use differential braking unless necessary, just throttle to idle, brake to slow and full rudder. Makes me wonder if it has to do with the hand building process used on our planes instead of more modern manufacturing techniques. BUT if he had the left brake worked on and now has trouble turning right, the first place I would look is the left brake, the left wheel and the left main gear. Something is probably rubbing that shouldn't be.

Bob-- I dunno about VAC, but GAC has a little hut at the gate, same place I bought my admission ticket/armband. They give you a form to fill out and attach to your prop. Sometime when I wasn't watching, the fuel truck came by and topped me off. Put it out the day before; you'll probably see them on other planes. Ya'll have a good time down there for those of us experiencing SNF vicariously this year. Fly Safe!!

Record Bar never gave away toasters . . . maybe that's why they closed? I did get a free dop kit from a bank one time, way back in high school. Used it regularly through college before the vinyl got too torn up.

Austin-- This is so sad, just when you were getting ready for your checkride. I've been cheering you on for a while now. Personally, I follow Marauder's plan above. I always touch the lever twice after lowering [on base and on final], and double-check the floor indicator [on final]. That is also where my Approach Plate book lives if I am or think I will use it; there's enough room to slide it back and see the green. I've also made my wife aware of the floor indicator. My plane was bellied in a couple of years before I bought it. With any luck, you'll just need a prop and a couple of antennas, plus the engine inspection. Is your one-piece belly reusable? I've heard of some that have runners on the bottom to minimize damage in this circumstance, but mine is smooth except for one large antenna near the back. Good luck with this, and don't let it get you down. Especially if there was mechanical damage prior to landing!

You've got a leak, you just can't see it. For proof, you lose more in cold weather when everything contracts and less in warm weather when the sealant and metal parts expand. It's less visible when it evaporates fast in higher temperature, too. Sorry to bear bad tidings. . . .

Jerry is great. He was my PPP instructor when I first bought my C. Very knowledgeable, and will teach what you need to be safe. Proficiency is up to you--practice, practice, practice.

Only if it has zero angle of incidence. In other words, practically never.

I started into the injection molding business in 1989, and learned to set injection parameters using knobs and set screws; pressures were read on individual dials while you were holding the button down. The new computerized machines with the whole thing available on a single 6" screen are wonderful! Flying began for real in 2006, after an abortive attempt in 1993 [instructor moved up, I moved away], and I obtained the coveted "IA" in 2010. Airplanes with T-panels permit developing a functional, useful instrument scan. There is no such standard arrangement for molding machines . . . The fundamentals of melting plastic haven't changed, it's still time, temperature and pressure. RPM only figures in during charge, and is a single set value. My plane, old and simple as she is, has more readouts and controls than our molding machines here. The fanciest one is all electric, 2009 model with options out the wazoo, but 98% of them are set once and left alone, rather like the gear preload value. Virtually nothing transferred from work to flying other than the mindset and attention to detail. Oh, the ability to multi-task and track several things at once does help, too.

Be careful looking out the windshield. In-and-out is very tempting to watch, since it gives you a feel for your speed. I just collected 15 whole minutes of actual on a 2.9 hr flight dragging through bottoms and climbing through one cloud to get on top. Total of seven recorded instances [1-4 minutes each; you never know how long you'll be when you enter a cloud], plus a few others that were too brief to bother with. It can be fun [and calming] to look around when you pop out, especially when you know you'll be going back in soon. It's even nicer when you can see the ground beneath you for a few seconds. I generally watch the cloud get close and go on the gauges just before or at penetration unless I know it will be just a couple of seconds.

Congratulations, Doc! I bought my Mooney at 62 hours. Use the dual hours to learn the plane, how it handles, how to slow down, and land at many airports. All runways are different, so visit lots of them. I recommend taking 50 hours or so to get comfortable with the plane before starting your Instrument training. Don't wait two years like I did. :-) Welcome to the club. Enjoy your new ride. Fly it now like you plan to fly it later. The speed just means you can go more places, and farther places. Climb to 6000-9000 msl where our wing is most efficient. Fly safe! Fly fast. Fly Mooney!

Unlikely, as that would require the DPE to be PIC since you won't be qualified to fly in IMC until after the checkride. Anything goes bad and it's his certificate on the line. I would not want to take that chance, but I'm neither CFI nor DPE.

Here is a timely writeup: http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/proficiency/flight-training/expand-your-iceberg.html I have not read this one, just thought it might make good pre-sign-up reading. And there's this at AOPA Forum: http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=86562 [look in Left Seat/Right Seat forum, there are three parts: Instrument Training Part I, II and III]. A nicely detailed writeup of one person's experience going through an accelerated program. Whatever route you take, your first flight afterwards will be very similar to your initial solo--there's no one to help you if you botch it, there's no safety net to catch you, and you can't just pull off the magic glasses and resume VFR flight. Once you go into a cloud, you are there for the duration, be it three seconds or three hours [i've had both], and the only easy out is to stay on the ground instead. Sometimes I really wish the big red "EASY" button actually worked!

I have six more pages to go in my original Gleim kit logbook. Now that I've finished my Instrument training [when a page would run about two weeks], they seem to be averaging 6 weeks in the summer and 3 months in the winter. So I've got the rest of this year to go . . .

Not having forward impact does not mean "safe." The key is acceleration--how fast was he moving forward and down when he hit? How far did the plane go forward/into the ground before each motion stopped? Note the cowling is deflected down, too. Long distance and slow speed = low acceleration, reduced occupant injuries As stopping distance decreases, acceleration increases; as speed increases for the same stopping distance, acceleration increases. Note both wheels punctured through the top of the wings, nice big holes. There were some significant forces there. Measure distance from first contact to stop. Momentum = mass * velocity squared Acceleration = speed change/time, which can be approximated using distance [longer distance = longer time to stop]. 60-to-0 in sixty feet hurts; 60-to-0 in forty feet hurts a lot; 100-to-0 in 40 feet kills. The presence/absence of shoulder belts also affects outcome, but some acceleration rates are not survivable anyway.

Yves, I always crank on the fullest tank, it's right there on the Pre-Start checklist as Item #1: Fuel Selector Handle--SET for fuller tank. It also shows up on the Before Takeoff Check right after checking flight controls for proper motion, and as a quick check again immediately before takeoff. I've read NTSB reports of C-models reaching 100-200' agl then the engine quits, usually with poor results; some have happened at fields I fly to, where the only option is which tree to hit. There's a reason everyone says "don't change tanks right before takeoff." If I reach the hold short line to do my runup, I'm taking off on the tank that got me there. Sometimes I realize that I should have switched, but I wait to level off first; I rarely go far with a nearly-empty tank so the climb will be short. I think we have a greater risk than the injected engines. I've been told that our engine will run 30-60 seconds on the ground after switching the fuel to OFF. This may be something to test once spring temperatures arrive and it won't be difficult to re-start. Crank up, taxi out of the way, Fuel OFF, start timer and see when she burps then quits. Fuel back on, run the pump to re-establish fuel pressure, crank back up.

There are metal straps that hold the seat bottom in place. Take the back(s) off first to access them. CAUTION: back seats are much simpler and faster to remove than to re-install, based on my single experience. About ten minutes to get out, more than one sweaty hour getting put back in as a brand new owner. [The left side panel had to come out to run new coax when updating 430 to 430W.] Great intro to owner-approved maintenance . . . . .

My Mooney eats all kinds of things. Finally found my flashlight after a couple of months. Little things roll backwards because the floor isn't level on the ground, the plane sits nose high. Anything on the floor will also migrate backwards every time you push the throttle forward to take off, climb, etc. There is a difference between "level flight" and "level aircraft." Good luck getting your window put back on. If you have to fly it in the meantime, I'd put the remaining screw in the front hole, latch it closed, cross your fingers and obey the placard "Do not open above 150 mph" by keeping the window closed and airspeed below 150 mph [or whatever your plane is placarded for]. Lee's answer sounds like a good fix, too.

The max range settings shown in my Book is 20"/1950. When loitering with a pack of 172's [Young Eagles, Airport Plane Ride day, etc.], I generally run 2300 and whatever MP keeps me from running through them, generally somewhere in the 16" range. Flew 7 rides last fall, 4.6 hours on the clock, 2.7 on the tach, used about 14 gallons. But I have a Red Zone 2000-2250 on my tach. Start with your IAP power settings for 90 knots and adjust from there. If loitering, why keep MP high? Lower RPM is less power & fuel, back off on the fuel lever, too. Pay attention to any MP restrictions--I have a placard about less than 15" at some RPM range that I don't recall right now. Gotta love digital photos! Found one with the placard readable when zoomed in: Avoid continuous operation below 15" between 1950 and 2350 RPM. I am rarely below 15" except when in the pattern to land; sometimes I pull back to slow down after descent, but am generally still running cruise RPM [mostly 2500].

My plane does well with one hour's worth on the sump. More than that is just for convenience of plugging in. With a cell switch now, it is so much easier to turn it on in advance.

Old mounts let the engine sag, so the new mount will require more Down trim to balance the more-upwardly-pointing engine. Just be very careful bending the rudder--fingers only! Don't use pliers, and don't bend the trailing edge a half inch! If you can see the bend, it's too much. Better yet, let your experienced A&P do it. My rudder doesn't have a trim tab, you have to bend the trailing edge. But then again, it's not a v-tail either, and doesn't use ruddervators. :-)

I went the traditional route, with an experienced CFII/airline pilot. Because my plan was to increase utilization of the plane, techniques and procedures were drilled to become second nature. I was already comfortable flying "in the system" with a couple hundred hours XC (ranging from my typical 300nm to 1300 nm each way). It takes time and practice to develop a good scan and learn which instrument to look at when. Rote memorization of which one is primary and secondary in which situation is not enough. Most of the accelerated courses I've seen advertise themselves as "finish up" courses, and I think that may be a better, safer use than trying to knock out the whole thing from scratch in a couple of weeks.

I've got a sump heater, it works well. The switchboxes that Philip is selling are the cat's meow; otherwise you have to drive to the airport the night before to plug in, or arrive an hour or more before pulling out of the hangar. I think the OH/WV border is at least as cold as Delaware, so you shouldn't have much trouble.

I just did. :-) Logged 2.0, HTW --> FAY. Speed was ~170 knots at 9000, dropped to 152 at 7000. Flight time ~1:45 for 270 nm. Pretty good for a 140-knot plane. Was it bumpy everywhere today? Very smooth 7500 and up, rough as a cob below that, smoothing some at pattern altitude. The transition was abrupt and weird, IAS held steady, VSI dropped to 100-200 fpm, lots of bumping and rocking for 30 seconds or so, then VSI came alive and the ride became smoother than my car.

Nah, I'm not talking airbags, I'm talking aircraft preparation for a forced landing. Obviously full flaps and pitch for airspeed like landing on a runway, but maintaining correct pitch and vertical speed over rolling terrain will be difficult, and the first impact will probably be the end of control. Is it best in conditions like this to have "first impact" be the gear or the belly? Some situations are obvious--corn/beans, snowy field, water are gear up; level/hard terrain, gear down; undulating terrain, gullys, arroyos, rocky fields? What do you think would work best and why? These are the things we should think about in advance and be ready for, because when it happens we will be task-saturated and not capable of additional thought. That is what I am thinking about now, as I prepare for Easter Weekend travel across the Appalachians. Weather is beautiful today, will be less so coming home Sunday. "Fly as far into the crash as possible" is always the goal, but sometimes details can make a difference. "Hit the softest thing around" is good advice, but there's not much soft in Arizona or WV [although we have more trees here and no cacti.]