Hank

I like my quadrant, too, but it has problems of its own. It's not bitten me around the pattern, but in cruise things have changes on their own. The friction lock is on the right side, where it's oh-so-easy to remember to check [by feel, there are no markings even if you lean way over to look for it]. Mine has once or twice been loose enough to allow throttle & prop to drift during cruise. Yes, I pull my throttle back enough to move the needle, hoping to achieve better fuel atomization going through the carburetor by inducing a little turbulence. So every now and again I check it and often snug it up a tiny bit. But not too tight or all three levers become difficult to move.

What, don't they smile in Florida anymore???

"Gee, Gomer, I ain't never heerd of nothin lack tha-yat." The last motorcycle I rode much had a separate oil tank that I just kept full; it would mix it with fuel all by itself [obviously 2-stroke]. That's not how I run my car or my Mooney. I always check the oil in my car [every one I've ever owned] by fully seating the dipstick; the same for every airplane I've ever flown. While sitting on as level of a surface as I can find, which means not my driveway at home. Counter-challenge: can you provide any documentation from any airframe or aircraft engine manufacturer recommending not seating the dipstick when checking oil level? Or is it just the one motorcycle manual? In general, I would expect exceptions to general practice to be documented, which sounds like the one motorcycle did, but that does not mean that the rest of the engine world will suddenly start documenting what is standard practice. Especially for our planes, many of which probably predate that particular bike.

I have an Excel spreadsheet that Google helped me find. Then I modified it with my own empty weight & CG. Works well. I made a whole page of various loading schemes and saved it for quick reference [including some that are overweight and/or out of CG just so I would know that it's possible]; anything close to gross or CG limits gets quickly re-figured.

Both wingtips hit me in the same place when I walk around the plane. Must be level, right? Most often, it's still parked in the hangar.

Yep.

Jeff, I change my oil every 50 hours, and consumption increases as I go along. I get 12-15 hours before needing the first quart, decreasing to 5-6 or so on the last one. I refill with 7 quarts, just above 6 on the dipstick, and try to not let it reach 5. Any more and it auto-corrects down to 6/6-1/2 pretty quickly (like one flight). KLEX isn't too far from here. Isn't there a good restaurant near the field? I may need to come eat . . . P.S.--my A&P here looks after several Mooneys, from my C to a J.

Per my Owners Manual: Flaps--TAKEOFF or as desired. My desire fluctuates with runway surface, condition, obstacles, load and winds; DA is not often a concern where I fly. See the Flap Retraction poll for my philosophy on Takeoff Flaps, I saw that one first. Either way, The Book says to rotate at 65-75 mph, so I usually compromise on 70 mph.

I use TO flaps at short fields for my weight on that departure. Home is 3000' long, normally no flaps unless near gross. A nearby grass strip is 2000', I always use flaps and don't go in or out anywhere near gross--2 people and half tanks is my limit. Positive rate, gear up; clear of obstacles, flaps up is in my Owners Manual. Both are judged looking out the window, with a glance at the IVSI if I'm near gross, hot, windy, worried about DA, etc. Clear of obstacles usually means the trees have gone behind the leading edge and I'm happy with the vertical space betwixt me and them. Positive rate, flaps up could hurt you . . . Not good if you're heavy, high DA or gusty winds . . .

All of it but the wheels . . . Hope they changed that part and added some suspension!

I did make some notes that I left in the plane. I would like to compare with other C owners to see if there really is an effect from my 3-blade and 201-windshield & wingtips. E/F/J owners can read them and laugh, we're all a little slower. Something to do with them having 20 extra ponies under the cowling. But I do always back the throttle off; cocking the throttle body may not actually improve fuel atomization, but it might, too.

I've been twice, first time a month after finishing my insurance dual with a goal of "learning the right way to fly my Mooney." My assigned instructor was Jerry Johnson, who also has a C with about 20 years' time in it compared to my 2 months. He accommodated my ability, showed me what I was not doing right and how it should be done. We skipped the IFR parts for additional VFR work. Really boosted my ability and my confidence. Went back to Niagara last fall. It was a nice escape with my wife. Seems that I haven't picked up too many bad habits--all that time with a CFII getting my Instrument Rating must still be paying off. The weather rearranged the ground school / flight time schedules and I ended up missing some of the maintenance discussions, but it was still time and money well spent. All day Friday, class work [8 hours]. Expect two 2-hour flight sessions on Saturday and Sunday, along with twelve hours in the classroom. Topics range from Weight & Balance to Weather Interpretation to Owner Maintenance to many other things. You will leave with a notebook or two full of good reference material, much of which has been covered with you. You will have logbook signoffs for Flight Review, FAA Wings and IPC [if appropriate]. You will have flown your plane in attitudes you may not have experienced lately [MCA, stall horn buzzing, for several minutes, with turns in both directions; accelerated departure-type stalls; I even had a tower-requested "immediate right turn and hold over the college" when controller(s) cleared two Mooneys to land on intersecting runways . . . I can only suppose that few controllers are used to handling six or eight Mooneys at the same time.]. Even my simulated engine out landing on a 2400 x 40 strip of pavement went well, even though it was my first one in a couple of years. [Oops! Need to practice those more often.] Good times, good instruction, a good banquet on Saturday to chat with the other pilots/spouses. I recommend going at least once every few years. The much-vaunted Training Certificate did get me almost 20% rate reduction at renewal last month, too.

Woo-hooo!! Common sense is breaking out. I'm fed up with the "social politics" abounding in this country, where the tail wags the dog by yelling the loudest. Seems we have a rational consensus here. Sorry, Mike--you just can't not offend everyone.

Yer bringing Mike!!

Nobody, and certainly no forum, is or ever will be perfect. Overall, this site has policed itself much better than the moderators are able to do at Pilots of America, and that is much better than AOPA Forums! Some people get excited sometimes. After reading the linked articles in the GG thread and not seeing the connection, I just ignored the thread after that and missed the namecalling. Hopefully mine wasn't mentioned. Whenever I read repeated assertions that LOP/ROP is the only good, safe way to fly; or that night flying is too dangerous to attempt in a single-engine piston aircraft; or that flight in IMC is too dangerous to attempt in a single-engine piston aircraft; or that an occasional touch-and-go will lead to a gear up incident; or some other hooey that I disagree with, I skip those responses and look to see if the thread recovered its original topic. If not, or if that WAS the original topic, I just ignore that thread and move on. Usually. But sometimes I just have to post what I try to make a reasonable, thought-out reply. If that is ignored in favor of dogma, then I ignore the thread and move on. Every now and then someone will make a too-abrupt reply to someone else's post/question. So what? Sometimes I have a bad day, too. I'm not perfect, I don't expect my friends to be, either. I heard a good outlook on friends somewhere: you have to allow your friends to have one serious flaw. So some of my friends are liberals, some won't touch a firearm of any kind, some are vegetarians. I just don't invite them over to watch FOX News, go hunting or grill steaks on the deck. Those are for my other friends! Every now and then someone will push my buttons. Depending on the day I've had, I'll either fire back or ignore them. Life is better when I ignore them, as it keeps my blood pressure down. No, we don't need no stinking moderators! We all just need a little self control. Like the ancient Chinese emperors taught their sons: never answer a letter when you are angry; never make any promises after receiving good news. We're adults, and we do a pretty good job here of acting like that, most of the time. Visit AOPA Forums if you want to see childish behavior, and I'm thankful that we aren't like that! Let's all go fly our Mooneys! [except me, the weather sucks right now!

I hope to be at Triple Tree that weekend. www.tripletreeaerodrome.com looks like the place to be! There's a thread on it around here somewhere . . .

I hope the weather holds up. It's looking ugly over this way . . .

Yes, there is automatic fuel enrichment at WOT. That's why I always reduce throttle enough to make the MP needle move before leaning. I only have the factory single-point probes, though, and have been unsuccessful attempting LOP smoothly with varying amounts of carb heat at this slightly reduced throttle setting. At 20"/2500 at 10,000 msl, I am 5-7 mph Indicated slower at peak EGT than at 50ºF rich.

Hey! I resemble that remark!! I also fondly recall my 57% female college in the SEC.

I dunno--Am Ex annual fees are too high for me . . . .

David, I rarely use the PC override button any more, unless practicing maneuvers (and not all the time then). The extra resistance reminds me to not overbank in the pattern. From my initial training, I do not use full flaps as SOP; Takeoff flaps on downwind, adjust as necessary on final. With wind like you had, full flaps would be a bad idea. Welcome to the family! Have fun learning your new plane. It should be much simpler than a PC-12. Where are you based?

We all like a good hangar wench. But I've found that while they have many skills, pushing an airplane up-slope is not one of them. At least, not the hangar wenches that I prefer.

Fly it a lot this year. My C ran $3100 in 2007 with 62 hours, -0- complex and a temporary certificate, along with several refusals to insure. With 100 Mooney hours at renewal, it dropped to $1600; now with IR and 500+ Mooney hours, I just renewed with Phoenix for $1000 with participation in FAA Wings and a recent MAPA PPP. First year required 15 or 20 dual including 5 instrument because I used a Mooney-experienced instructor whom they approved, otherwise it would have been 25 dual plus 10 solo. Be glad that rates have come down the last two or three years. Make good use of your dual time. Travel around, visit places you've never heard of. Land on runways that slope up, slope down, have humps or look like ski jumps while you have that CFI beside you. This will prepare you for traveling on your own. Learn the procedures, study the performance charts, and fly the numbers ±20 feet and ±1-2 knots. When you can make good landings at strange airports with unusual runways and unfamiliar ground references, then you will be ready to roam the country.

Oh, come on. I joined MAPA in 2007 and I'm #1712; have 11,598 Mooneys been built, or are they re-issuing old numbers now? My AOPA is 584XXXX, and EAA is 107XXXX [both seven digits!]. Guess that makes me a latecomer to the parties.

I've been trying to make the annual RC event at Triple Tree. I'm going to try harder to make this event! Who's up for lots and lots of smooth rolled grass? <me! me!>