Hank

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.]

I also wondered about shoulder belts in this accident. My big question looking at the pictures is the gear. Both mains popped up through the wing. The way the ground is rolling in this area, would leaving the gear up have helped any? It looked like the ground scar was pretty short, but he could have impacted on the previous hill and skipped over to the next one. Gear down would certainly help reduce airspeed, though. Events like this make me wonder what would be the best preparation. Gear up for water or trees; gear down on roads and pastures. What about the other half of potential forced landing situations? Seeing the lack of cabin damage just points to the great design of the steel structure that protects us all. But my, the panel is close, and in events like this the plane stops quite fast throwing you forward.

What's a good route for a C-model? I'm guessing south to TX and along the coast, with a fuel stop somewhere in Mexico? At least, for those of us east of the Rockies and north of Florida.

Check them all. Brittain fixed a tear in my left wing servo last December for $124 + shipping. May as well make one shipment just in case more need to be fixed.

Read the forums. Cases crack, pistons seize, rods break, seals blow, etc. Rings crack, case bolts break, sometimes cylinders break in flight. Other assorted bad events. Valves burn or break. I read about one poor soul who had two cylinders break in half in flight, not good for the pistons, rods, cam or the pilot's blood pressure. The good news is that these uncommon events can happen to any of us at any time and are not necessarily time-driven events. :-)

Sorry, but the only "zero tolerance" I have is for people who suggest zero tolerance rules to replace judgement. Like suspending first graders for "violent behavior" because they drew a picture of a gun. A 2½" knife isn't a weapon; locking blades are not allowed; you're only going to anger your opponent and hurt yourself tyring to fight with a small, folding, non-locking blade. P.S.--I use the other 7 implements on my Swiss Army knife more often than the large blade. I've even used the screwdriver blade to remove my cowling side panels.

Tom-- It's good to see you still hanging out and looking for a new ride. Hope everything goes well for you up on the Lake. I'm saddened that the Indy Airshow was canceled this year.

My home field is short with trees at both ends. As soon as possible, I raise the gear. She climbs over the trees accelerating from Vx to Vy much better. I use ~1000' to get in the air, then there's no getting back down and stopping on the remaining 2000'.

I read glowing reviews of RC Aircraft fly-ins at Triple Tree every year. Been trying to get down there, may have to pack up and go this year. The current Model Aviation has another writeup about the field itself. You name it, they've got it. "Build it and they will come" works if you build it right. [Granite counters in the campground showers??? I'm coming, even the wife will approve!]

Woo-hooo! Have a good flight! Rest up on Friday evening, and don't even think about airplanes . . . if you can.

Here is more proof for checking your POH. The excerpt below is from my Owner's Manual [there was no "POH" in 1970]. Gear up when airborne and in good control; flaps up when obstacles are cleared.

Holy cow!! The most I've seen in my C is 183 knots in 500+ hours . . . But I've also seen 68 knots groundspeed in level cruise, indicating 133 mph at 10,000 msl.

There certainly are times that our vintage birds benefit from speed brakes, but I still don't have any. I'm not familiar with KMRN, but being just east of Mt. Mitchell can't be any fun. Going back and forth to AVL or Mom & Dad's new nearest airport 33A [with Rutherfordton, Hendersonville, Greenville and AVL available as alternates], I prefer staying off to the west. I generally drop Approach flaps on downwind, unless I need the assistance to get down the last few hundred feet. But ATC sometimes keeps my at 4000/4500 until I cross the approach end of their runway 4nm from my home field. Speedbrakes would be nice then. The J guys have all the fun, with nice heigh gear speed and extra doors to create drag when needed, even without speedbrakes. Guess I should be grateful that I don't have the 100 mph or less limit. Good luck to Jeff! That bird strike is really bad timing. At least it was out on the wing and not in the windshield . . . .

My 201 windshield has an avionics access panel on both sides. Guess it depends on whose STC you get [or which are still available]. Good luck with your mods. You'll love the belly at your first annual, especially if you get the Bill Wheat model with dzus fasteners. I didn't like removing the 52 screws in my belly until I both saw an original with 100+ screws, and removed/reinstalled mine twice using a ratcheting screwdriver powered only by my arm, replacing any screws with messed up heads or threads. Now they all go in and out nicely.

I hate it when ATC hold me at 4000' until I'm only 4 miles from home, field elevation 567 msl. It generally takes two standard rate 360's to get down and slow down to pattern speed, even when I've already reduced speed at 4000'. Still don't think speed brakes would be enough. Flap speed is 125 mph [109 knots], gear speed is 120 mph [104 knots]. I generally allow 3-4 miles to bleed off speed after descending at 500 fpm.

True, the 3-blade prop is the same diameter as the 2-blade with the pricey exception of the MT composite. Apparently the 201-windshield offsets the 3-blade, as I have both and make book speed. 1300+ nm west at 127 knots; return trip east at 152 knots; book is ~140. Vibration is a sometimes affair, seems to be airframe-specific [i don't have any] and may be reduced through dynamic balancing. There should be a good market if you want to sell it, both to other Mooneys and to experimentals.

Many people disparage the 3-blade prop, just like many say Mooneys are too small. My C with a 3-blade, 201 windshield and wingtips makes book speed, has no vibration, clears the trees at both ends of our 3000' runway, and still won't drop like a rock. Going full prop after descending, leveling off and reducing power does help slow down, though, on those occasions when I need to not run over someone in front of me.

I have never heard of this happening. Ever.