Hank

I bet those bare spots were a lot of fun . . .

Quote: fantom It's going to take deep spending cuts, higher taxes for all, and true self sacrifice to dig out of this hole we've dug for ourselves.

A friend has the 480/530 combo in a 75 F. Not sure what's behind the panel or how different it is from a J. It's a wonder to behold, and he loves it.

Reminds me of the Japanese buying the country up in the 90's, a situation that has since partially corrected itself.

It's amazing what flying a common roadtrip will do for the spouse. We took a Skyhawk to see my parents in less than a third of the driving time, and she was hooked. Then I let it be known that I was looking to buy a truck . . . The next thing I know she was encouraging me to buy the Mooney, because as she said, "she will get more use out of the plane than a truck." It helps that we can fly to her folks in 2-2½ versus 8-9 on the road . . . She is almost as ardent of a flier as I am, but much too intimidated by the studying to work on a PPL. And I'm content to keep putting around town in the old Honda, but sometimes a truck would be soooooo handy to have! Maybe in another three years . . .

I have a hard time getting the seat close enough to buckle the seatbelt around the yoke per my Owner's Manual, much less interfere.

I've flown over Iowa AND Ohio. Both are pretty flat, but Iowa has windmills to dodge if you're low; southeast Ohio has a few hills. As far as stadiums go, I can't access youtube here at work, and my dialup connection at home makes it impractical. [it's the only thing available, too.] Any pilot who willingly violates regs can expect to pay the piper sooner or later. Someone may be facing that right now, and it won't be pretty. As has been said many times in the past, the regs are written in blood. The aeronautical regulatory process is REactive rather than PROactive. Personally, I would rather be raked over the coals in someone's office than rake myself across a hilltop, an antenna or a windmill at cruise speed . . .

I had a similar event that made me more angry than scared. While working on my IFR one evening after work, it was already dark. I had called taxi to the hold short, did my runup, checked both ways and called back-taxi on the runway. Because of the winds, we were departing to the east, unusually. Once again, I called departure on 8, pushed everything forward and accelerated towards the trees beyond the reach of my landing light. As I rotated and the mains left the ground, some @#$%&* announced on the CTAF, "Cessna 123, one mile east" and I prayed he wasn't in front of me. The CFII & I spotted him at the same time, after climbing above the trees while I spoke sharply into the radio--he was at 10 o'clock and a half mile or so . . . But I couldn't look for him or even key the mike until I had the trees cleared and gear raised, 'cause there was no stopping--my choice was climbout and hope to miss him, or set her down, go off the end of the [3000'] runway, down the embankment and onto the crossing divided highway. Fortunately I had a couple of hours' hard work to purge my anger, and he wasn't around when we came back. Wrapping the towbar around his head would certainly have been therapeutic! Later in my training, when I had a total electrical failure on a VOR-A approach, I was completely calm. We were just below the deck, ATC had cleared me for the approach, told me I was off radar and report in on the miss. I crossed the VOR inbound at 90 kts with approach flaps in, dropped the gear, and everything went dark. Turned the avionics master off and on a couple of times, then left it off. I hand-cranked the gear down, only went four turns before stopping, and the floor indicator was green. Continued descent while discussing options [we were about 25-30 nm from home]. When we decided to fly her home, the foggles and plates went over my shoulder and I turned to follow the river. Straight-line was all hills, but there are some nice fields along the riverbank in case something else went wrong. We climbed back to 3000' and tried the avionics again and they booted up. Comm 1 was still set for ATC, and Com 2 for home CTAF. I made a quick report to ATC, switched to CTAF for a scratchy report that I was inbound and may lose radios again, and didn't touch anything electrical. We motored home slowly, with approach flaps in and gear down. The radio continued to work, and I politely decined ATC's vector to remain above the river until I had to veer away for pattern entry. That was when my CFII discovered just how useless the "Emergency" section of a 1970 Owner's Manual really is. I didn't remove it from the right seatback pocket until AFTER I had cranked the gear down . . . Just a gentle reminder to know your procedures.

We have a saying in the radio control community: Nose Heavy flies poorly. Tail Heavy flies once. If you're too nose-heavy, going up is difficult, and you have a one-way ride to the ground. If you're too tail heavy, you will stall; proper stall recovery is full down elevator, but you won't have enough to break the stall more than temporarily. You may stall, recover, stall, recover, repeatedly, and if you're lucky enough, a runway will be a very few feet below your lowered gear when you stall the last time. Don't bet on it! Yes, this is also a one-way ride to the ground, and can either be leaf-type fluttering or [much more likely], stall, spin followed by lawn-dart-like impact, pointy end first. And it does not matter if the too nose/tail heavy condition exists at takeoff, happens as fuel burns off, or if the load shifts in cruise from passengers moving around or turbulence tossing things around, or a big dog hopping between seats. Max gross is related to structural strength of the aircraft and thrust produced by the engine [lift is proportional to speed; more weight requires more speed to lift; more weight requires more thrust to move; more weight reduces speed, which reduces lift. As with airframe icing, it's a vicious circle.]. Flutter of aircraft controls also comes into play, as greater deflections are required to move the aircraft at higher weights, which creates higher forces on the wing tips and tail. Just like with loading, applied load = moment arm x force. Look at the size coonnections of your ailerons to the wing some time, not to mention the little bitty bolt that holds the tail to the airframe. Some J's have beefier gear than others, and can have their max gross raised. Some cannot. It is serial number specific. IIRC, there were also changes made to the steel cage around the cabin when the gear was beefed up, but take that with a grain of salt. Additional landing weight creates higher loads that must be carried somewhere, so it makes sense to me. But for myself, it doesn't matter as I don't have a J and my max gross is just 2575 lbs.

In the right seat back pocket, I keep the following items: Owner's Manual Autopilot supplement Alternate vacuum supplement G430W quick reference booklet G430W fat book airsickness bags plotter most recent Weight and Balance Us vintage drivers don't have anything fancy like a POH or AFM, just the little bitty, thin Owner's Manual. Mine is less than 100 pages, and virtually useless as far as the Emergency section goes.

Well, the next time I'm out, I'll try running both and set to 'Hi.' Maybe we can achieve a consensus on G-430 operation: with or without the heading bug for crosswind drift.

I have the Accu Flite and Accu Trak both, but fly most of the time with the heading bug. Reading the above, do I need to use the 'bug when using the auto pilot also? I thought it was either/or. "Heading bug off; AP on; Sensitivity Low; NAV 1" is not the correct setup??? I can never remember which name goes with which--one is just the heading bug, one is the autopilot. Apparently the bug is Accu Flite, and the one that will fly the approach if I want it to [the "auto pilot"] is Accu Trak? And when is the proper time to select "High Sensitivity"??

Wash & Wax All is definitely the way to go. Quick and easy, but there's enough sheet metal to equal several cars. Renew whenever it looks bad, no longer feels slick, or it's hard to get bugs off the leading edges. I use wipes called "mirafiber" for my post-flight bug elimination. Uses only water, and will last for at least two years of my use. Rinse it out occasionally. It travels well in a sandwich bag when you're on the road so you can keep her clean. No chemicals to buy . . .

Gee, the Acclaim's got 90 extra horses plus a turbo--he'd better be faster! I'm surprised, though, that it's only 30 knots faster than the C. Mine doesn't usually run quite as fast as Henry's, though. What are the two columns of numbers? Presumably speeds, but what/how? AND, at least the FAI puts the fuel-injected planes in a different category from us'n's with carbs. There may be hope yet.

Don't fuss at me--go back a page and talk to the 300-knot club.

Quote: GeorgePerry Fellow Mooniacs...I though it might be fun to post pictures of your fastest recorded ground speed. Here are the rules, honor code of course: 1. Must be Straight and level (decents just don't seem sporting)

True, flying at the Carson number is the cheapest way to go. But 138 mph = 120 knots less wind, and I've recently spent enough time flying at Skyhawk groundspeed into the wind . . . A quick math check: 318 nm to my brother's for Christmas. Base travel time at 165 mph = 2:16, 9 gph => 20.25 gallons. At Carson cruise, 138 mph = 2:38, ~7.5 gph => 19.75 gallons. So is 20 minutes worth ½ gallon or ~$2.00-$2.50? Along with not-so-crisp handling? What about a 20-knot headwind? That takes either 2:38 or 3:10, using 23.7 or 23.75 gallons, so at Carson cruise I use more fuel . . . Methinks Carson's calculations were in the pre-Mooney days, and would probably work much better for a 182 or a Piper or some other gas-hog . . . . . .

For a quick answer, Vg varies slightly across the vintage fleet. In my C, Vg = 105 mph indicated. Max Endurance = Vg/1.316 = 80 mph indicated, way, way too slow to even think about. My charts show 1950/20" as the longest range at 10,000 msl and below [speeds are 128 sea level to 149 at 10K, still too slow . . . ] Vopt. cruise = Vg x 1.316 = 138 mph, which is around 1950/20" in the 7-10K range. Personally, I'll burn the extra gas and run WOT-½" or so, and 2500, for speeds in the 160-165 range. I usually descend around 20" and cruise RPM. Why buy a Mooney if you want to fly slow????

Quote: carusoam I was in town with some friends who flew in commercial.....we compared notes [1] I carried as many bags as I wanted and didn't pay extra. (none of it would fit in a "normal" overhead compartment) [3] I brought a few bottles of water with me from home. I didn't have to share it with anyone. [4] We ate as many snacks as we wanted, whenever we felt like it. [9] Nobody X-rayed me or my stuff, there was no inquisition or uninvited fondling of me or my wife. PS, on the following day, I flew commercial to Mexico City. TSA took my can of shaving cream......

I still get a thrill going where I want to go, and not whichever way the roads go. BTDT, had no fun. From western WV to central and western NC, you have to drive around 3 sides of the block, but my Mooney goes straight. There's always something interesting to see, too, even if its just the changing weather. Now armed with IA, when there's nothing to see out the window, there is the challenge of getting through. I've only been flying for 4 years, but I'm still amazed and thrilled that I have the opportunity and ability to climb into an airplane and go whereever it is that I want to go. It's like the freedom of first getting your driver's license, but so much, much more!

My gear light decided to not stay on, resetting itself periodically one night. Twice it reset my COM@ King radio to 120.00 when it went out, and then on base to land, it reset my 430! Turned out to be cracked insulation on the landing light wire intermittently grounding out on the cowl, a quick and cheap fix.

Quote: fantom A drop or two of Tri-Flow works every time. I haven't heard on "dry" Tri-Flow.

I hate to sound like a smartass, but I'm starting to dig into my own PC issues that I originally thought were from my Brittain heading bug. Found some good information in the Service Manual, Section 6, complete with locations of servos, valves, hoses, etc., and a diagram of the whole mess. Hopefully it will help. Do you have access to the Service Manual for your aircraft?

Frank-- This is one of the best threads about things to look for in a vintage Mooney: http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&forumid=2&threadid=9 Lots of good information there! I really enjoy my '70 C, which is the same body but a little less engine than an E. If you're ever down towards Huntington, WV, feel free to stop in, we are on the Ohio bank of the river. I only need half an excuse to fly!

A friend just took her PPL checkride last week. When she returned to the field [the DE isn't based there], her husband and friends were waiting for her with cake and champagne! Me, I just waited a while then took my wife on a ride. [she had a once-a-quarter Board Meeting that day . . . ]