Hank

I have poor options at either end, but halfway between here and Asheville, NC there are no options . . . Since that's where Mom & Dad live, not ever flying there is not a realistic option, but I have driven 6 hours instead of flying 1:15 more than once. The instrument rating has reduced cancellations in favor of early/late departures, though. Eastern Kentucky is DARK at night! and the terrain is unfriendly if you can't see it--descending into clouds whose base is 500 agl will definitely put the hilltops above the bases--pick your spot and hope! Risk reduction is therefore: 1) good maintenance; 2) situational awareness during flight [where am I? where are the hilltops?], including on the paper sectional in case of electrical failure [again]; 3) weather forecasting and monitoring before flight/updating 122.0 during flight. If preflight looks poor, risk mitigation is to drive through the unfriendly terrain with a well-maintained car where a breakdown will only strand me in the middle of nowhere and hope for either a cell signal [not everywhere!] or passerby . . .

Frank-- I'm no A&P, but prior to measuring from the datum, the plane needs to be leveled as it does not sit on the ground in the correct attitude. Second, the distances to the various instruments should be measured to the CG of each instrument, which is neither the panel face nor the lengthwise center of the instrument, and will not be the same for any of them. My Owner's Manual says the Datum Point [station zero] is the nose gear attaching bolt center line, 33 inches forward of the wing leading edge at wing station 59.25. I can't readily find documentation of the panel position. See below for what I have on leveling and W&B of the whole plane, paying attention to 2.10 for leveling and 2.11.8 for finding the zero point. Good luck!

A quick statistics question for the Math Prof, from a lowly engineer who did not enjoy taking statistics but has learned to use them in his job. Removing the poor-behavior accidents [buzzing, VFR into IMC, etc.] will reduce the total number n of accidents. This will also increase the percentage p of accidents caused by mechanical failure. But what we are concerned with here is not p, but rather the percentage of flights p' that have mechanical failure. I care about my odds of having a mechanical failure on this flight, right? Or am I concerned that an accident that I may have at some undefined future point will have a mechanical cause? I care about THIS FLIGHT right now, so p' is my point of statistical interest. This p' does not change when removing 'stupid' accidents [hey, ya'll, watch this!] from the accident pool. Dig through the Nall Report and find the total estimated flight hours, or calculate it from the accident rate per 100,000 hours, and divide it by the number of flights that had mechanical failure. THAT is your risk on every flight, day or night, VFR or IMC. The likelihood of a positive outcome depends on where you are when it happens. Departing Rwy 8 at FXE and you may go swimming, day or night, sunny, cloudy or in-between; depart 26 at HTW and you'll need a chainsaw to salvage your plane; other places you'll be heading towards a hill, over a cliff or into a residential area. Mountains, swamps, oceans, deserts, the Dakota Badlands, or low IMC all lower the chances for a good outcome, but due to the random nature of the failure, these odds cannot be calculated in advance--for any given flight, large fluctuations in survivability are likely to be encountered as you pass over various terrain, and are all height-over-ground dependent. Flying at 8500 msl around here is quite high, but at 8500 msl between Billings and Cody, the ground is very close and the hills to both sides are much higher. Or have I completely misunderstood statistics?

My home field is 3001', and I only use TO flaps in my C if I'm loaded heavy in warm weather. When I visit a nearby 2000' grass strip, I usually have TO flaps, but flying solo it makes little difference. It all comes down to: how does your plane perform, and how comfortable are you with the given circumstance? There is nothing wrong with using them all the time.

My 70 model came with an Owner's Manual [actually, two of them]. I later acquired a Parts Manual and a Service Manual. Is there an Aircraft Flight Manual with the updated C numbers? 200 Vne; 125/120 Vfe/Vge; etc. It's great fun to read, and apparently the only emergencies that can happen are alternator failure [two long paragraphs], gear failure [a short checklist], PC failure [two short paragraphs] and oh yeah, engine fire ["In case of engine fire, turn cabin heater off." Nothing else to do but shut off the heater.] Quite the mindset, back in the day.

Quote: xftrplt a comment from a 40-year friend--he won't fly his 201 over wide areas of low ceilings, even DVFR. YMMV.

Tom-- A couple of Octobers ago, about to start an evening IFR-training flight, I pushed that little button and thought I caught a brief whiff of smoke. The lights didn't come on, the radios didn't buzz, and the OBS needles didn't flicker. So I scrubbed the flight and had the mechanics check it out. The Push-to-Test button is attached to a small circuit board, along with all of your indicator lights and whatever panel lights you have since the panel light switch/dimmer goes there, too. They found a smoked component, but were not able to find a schematic; at great length I found a replacement board. Made two flights while waiting, the second flight with no panel lights I had a total electrical failure while shooting a VOR-A below the clouds after completing an ILS in the clouds. Flew home slowly with approach flaps and gear hand-cranked the rest of the way down. Don't mess with this, find out what's wrong. Someone earlier this year posted that they had found a schematic and were able to repair their board. Try the Search button, talk to folks, pull the board from your panel. Maybe it's just a loose connection.

I don't remember the identifier, but last summer I went to my family reunion near Athens. The FBO at Monroe Regional recommended refueling at Jefferson, GA, on the NE edge of Atlanta airspace. I was #2 at the pump, and two more arrived while I was fueling. None of us were based there. Prices were good, there was an air-conditioned trailer with a kitchenette, bathroom and lounge. Not 'primitive' by any means, but very deserted. My wife napped inside while I dealt with avgas, heat and humidity; this time of year it should be quite pleasant, especially for someone from Michigan. Anything 9000 and up should work nicely; if the winds are strong out of the west, go higher to avoid turbulence over E. Tenn/W. NC mountains.

I've been flying single-engine piston at night since I was a student pilot. My non-pilot wife even rode in the backseat of the Slowhawk on my student dual night cross-country as her first flight with me. I am careful about weather and avoid convective activity, which is much easier when flying above the layer--I often find that 10,000 msl works nicely. So far, no night IFR, but I've made evening descents through the crud that made the landing light nice to have for arrival.

I've been flying single-engine piston at night since I was a student pilot. My non-pilot wife even rode in the backseat of the Slowhawk on my student dual night cross-country as her first flight with me. I am careful

I've been flying single-engine piston at night since I was a student pilot. My non-pilot wife even rode in the backseat of the Slowhawk on my student dual night cross-country as her first flight with me. I am

I've been flying single-engine piston at night since I was a student pilot. My non-pilot wife even rode in the backseat of the Slowhawk on my student dual night cross-country as her first flight with me. I

I've been flying single-engine piston at night since I was a student pilot. My non-pilot wife even rode in the backseat of the Slowhawk on my student dual night cross-country as her first flight with me.

Flying at night is great! The air is usually smoother, there's less traffic, the radio is quieter, and with even scattered lights below it can be beautiful. Flying near a large airport you can see the airliners coming and going in steady lines. Gorgeous! Your plane will develop auto-rough anytime you fly at night, and over "hostile" ground [the definition is yours; when it matches the view, the engine will go rough]. I had auto-rough when heading over substantial swamps once, turned out to be Com2 was set for my destination ATIS, with the volume turned down, and 'all-the-way-down' is not quite the same as 'Off.' Turned off Com2 on the intercom, rough sound went away . . . Like anything else, the only way to get comfortable flying at night is to do it. Take someone with you a few times, then go it alone a little bit. It's so much easier to get night hours at this time of year. Fly somewhere in the evening to eat, then the trip home will be familiar and at night, and you get two rewards [dinner, and comfortable night flying].

I haven't been to many uncontrolled fields with more than one runway! And enough taxiways to label! Oh, the luxury!! But I did land once at an uncontrolled field, single runway with parallel taxiway, and as I was navigating my way back and trying to decide which FBO to give my business to, I looked up and saw a Delta 737 parked on the ramp. Yellowstone Regional, Cody, WY [KCOD I think]. Quite an eye-opener. When we left, a United jet was at the hold short waiting on his clearance, so I taxiied out one intersection before him and took off VFR. Not your "normal" uncontrolled field! [yes, I talked to him several times on CTAF first! I'm not suicidal!!]

Because I've already said "26" in the downwind, base, final and back-taxi calls . . . Because other pilots are free to use 8; I've seen consecutive planes land in both directions. When winds are calm, it's easiest to do pattern work by alternating directions--land on 26, roll to the end, turn around and depart 8. It's all up to the PIC, each operation, every airplane. So when I'm "clear of 26" I am, by definition, also "clear of 8," either of which may become "active" for the next aircraft. If someone is close enough behind me that they need to hear the runway number when I'm clear, they are also close enough behind me to have heard the runway number on one of the previous four calls around the pattern. But conditions change, and each pilot is free to choose his own runway, and each pilot should evaluate conditions before following someone else in. There are times when it's difficult to land on 26 due to a low sun, and the next one may choose a downwind landing on 8 simply for improved visibility, or because they can make a straight-in. "The active" can mean a different runway at any time, you don't have to use 26 just because I did. Wouldn't you feel bad if you used 8 just because the guy in front of you did, and he knowingly landed downwind because the sun was low, his old windshield was crazed and he had knocked his sunglasses off? How good are your downwind landings, with 3000' of runway, when you have to come down a slot in the trees to reach it? Bet you'd stay over the trees instead of between them, and then the runway gets really short. Oh, yeah, there's about 20' of grass past the end, then a 30' dropoff to a 4-lane divided highway if you overrun when landing on 8 . . . The picture below cut off the approach end of 8, though.

Quote: gsengle

Don't forget the 5-10% "kerosine"! People who can't spell what they are compounding with further damage their credibility beyond making undocumentable claims.

Ya'll have fun! I'll catch you next time. P.S.--the only "freezing fog" I've ever heard broadcast on AWOS, and actually flew by to look at before heading home still hungry, was at Portsmouth, OH [KPMH]. At pattern altitude, the ridgeline was visible, the airport was not, and you could see the ice crystals shining in the fog bank. 15 minutes out, 5 minutes to admire the danger, 15 minutes home, drive to Bob Evans. At least I got my flying in for the day. After we ate, PMH was advising "skies clear." Sometimes my timing is just not very good!

Quote: Jimhamilton 1. My airspeed indicator glass lens is fogged over a bit. Day flying is not a problem, however night time is a bear. Is this something I can fix as an owner or do I need to bring it to the shop? I've seen planes with some instruments that are apparently older than others. The "new" ones have nice, clear lenses, but some the lens will be a little hazy, somewhat yellow and difficult to read through. At some point, acrylic and plexi are either "old" or "UV-damaged" and will need to be replaced in order to improve the visibility. If you have a headlight restoration kit and a drill, you can try it and see if the results are satisfactory before having your A&P pull the instrument and send it off to a certified repair station. It will probably be simpler, easier and cheaper to exchange it, and that will DEFINITELY be quicker! It all depends on what you mean by "fogged over." If it's actually moisture inside the unit, then you have two jobs--fix the ASI, then find & fix where the moisture is getting in.

George-- CLT does that to everyone, VFR and IFR alike. I filed from Barnwell, SC [near Savannah] back to WV at 10,000 to clear the hills in western NC; Greenville kept me at 7000, in the soup, updrafts, downpours, etc; my eventual block clearance carried me to 8600 where intermittent blue was visible. I asked for my filed 10K, and they responded if I went above 7000 [despite my 7-9 block] they would have to vector me around CLT. But it was smooth and clear the rest of the way home, and I don't think the vector was more than 10º. Below me was cloudy and dark, with visible buildups, and I was happy to be in smooth air and no longer asking for frequent weather updates ahead of me. Why it's a big deal, I dunno, maybe CLT just has a big head? Clear, smooth and 10º is much better than dark, alternating rain/heavy rain, turbulence and updrafts . . . Nothing like summer weather! Why Greenville didn't give me an option, and then tried to talk me out of clear weather, I also don't understand. Do controllers think we LIKE being bounced around in the dark while rain drums on the plane around us? Some folks were VFR down low, and everybody was asking for precipitation updates and vectors, even the VFR guys, and ATC was keeping them below the 8500-9000' tops from fear of Charlotte. It just doesn't make sense. I'll never forget that trip home, it was my wife's first trip in the clouds! And my first post-checkride IFR trip . . . And yes, she still rides with me. :-)

The usual case when I am asked to ident is during initial call up, and it comes along with altimeter setting. I push the button and respond with something like "4DJ, 30.11, squawking 1234, ident." I rarely ask for flight following or advisories or anything; I just dial up the nearby tower as I'm departing the pattern, "Huntington, 4DJ is just off of Lawrence County, heading to Portsmouth at 3000" and they come back with with a code and altimeter setting; sometimes they will ask me to stay out of Class D if they're working somebody in until after radar identification, but rarely after that. Often they will ask to verify altitude, especially if they have me 1 or 1½ miles out at 2200'. That's almost as good as a request to slow down for traffic when I'm shooting an approach! Then the next plane headed to eat will call in at about the same place and 1500 - 1600 msl and I feel good again. It's soooo nice to fly a Mooney!

My bird came with a 3-blade so I can't make any comparisons. But I like it! Quick, efficient and vibration-free. Just have to turn it often to hook up the towbar [top balde vertical] or when traveling and parking outdoors [bottom blade vertical for water drainage after removing towbar]. Every time I check, I seem to be making book speed, so I have nothing to complain about.

Quote: N4352H We need some WV hospitality... we should do Elkins sometime.

I'd love to come, but I'm picking up the plane from tank reseal on the 18th, and once I get home we're off to see the inlaws for Thanksgiving Week. Can we do this again? The weather usually sucks pretty bad between here and MD in Jan and Feb, although I did make the Gatlinburg trip in Feb of this year. You just never can tell.