FlyDave

I finally got an oil sample from the Bravo off to Blackstone and got the report back last week. Very interesting comment on the state of the engine.

Beautiful and poignant post Sven! Not to be flippant but, in reference to your last line, you should be playing the lottery every week!

In my old Cherokee I had put a couple of Gill's in in the 5 years I owned it. I put a Concord sealed lead acid in my J a 3-4 years ago and it seemed fine when I sold it. Previous owner of my Bravo replaced both batteries with Gill Sealed Lead Acid batteries (pn: G243S) in February of 2013. Hopefully they'll last longer than the previous non-sealed versions that were installed (I switch from one battery to the other every time I start - not sure the previous owner did this). Does anyone have experience with the Gill sealed lead acid batteries or just the unsealed product?

I can't see the plane because your "Mooney grin" is hiding it - Congratulations! Nice looking airplane. The GTN will make your life much easier - great upgrade. As a low time pilot don't be afraid to fly more than the required15 hours with your instructor. This "ain't no 172" - especially with the BIG Continental and prop up front. Take your time with your instructor and learn how to fly the airplane and be safe. They named it the Rocket for a reason!

Hmmm...if you haven't done so, search this web site for Jerry Pressley. I would make the purchase contingent on a THOROUGH pre-purchase inspection by a qualified shop that YOU contract with. That being said, it looks like a nice airplane and, as someone that moved from a J to a Bravo in December of last year, the Bravo is a great airplane. Two weeks ago I flew a 600 NM trip at FL210 doing 200 KTAS on 16.5 GPH. The extra room in the long body is very nice as is the extra room in the panel. It just takes some time to "accept" the fuel burn. PM me if you want to talk about the Bravo.

I second Ward's recommendation on these books. I bought both of them on Ebay (less than $6 each) and just started Weather Flying. Weather Flying was written in the 70's and revised in the 80's which makes it even more fun to read because Buck talks about how to get weather information LONG before the internet. Our ability to get a huge amount of info at any time, any where makes our flight planning sooooooo much easier than "back then". I think it was one of Ward's posts that prompted me to get these books - Thanks Ward!

Holy Cow! This time he flew so far LOP that Flight Aware did't even register GS for part of the flight. Mike - How many pee-bags does a flight that long take (age dependent, of course!)?

I just looked at the sectional for leadville - Holly Cow!! I don't think I'd go there in the J that I had. Those valleys look treacherous! Any considerable wind out of the west or east and it could be curtains, or as Curly Howard put it "Coitens!" without the Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk....

I'd get it repaired and keep it. As Jerry said, if you have XM it'll show lightning strikes (albeit +/- 10 minutes old) but if you're using ADS-B, lightning strikes are not one of the products offered (currently). Having real time info on something like lightning is invaluable - even if you use it once in 5 years. If it saves you're bacon once then it will have been money well spent.

Last weekend I flew from my home airport (o69) to Payson, AZ (KPAN) at 21,000' (pic attached). I brought an unopened bottle of Ron Zacapa rum (If you like rum you'll love Ron Zacapa!). I had no issues with this bottle of rum and it tasted as good in Payson, AZ as it does Novato, CA. http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/35721-n1085g-o69-to-kpan/

Ward, You're absolutely correct! Thanks for the clarification. Dave

I file IFR on fltplan.com and my clearance as well as updates get sent directly into Garmin Pilot. This is not your actual clearance. That has to be read to you and your confirm it by read back. Fltplan.com calls it a PDC - Pre Departure Clearance. It's nice to be able to do any required research on the clearance and have your avionics set up and ready to go right after read back. Just make sure the PDC is the same as what the controller gives you.

I use LogTen Pro as well. The app is fairly easy to use and but takes some getting used to the way Coradine has set it up. I only have an iPad - no Mac. So I can only use the app on the iPad. For a backup you can email a file that contains all the data you've input. You need to contact Coradine if you want to do a restore as I think they have to modify the file and email it to you before it gets restored. Also, if you want a PDF of your logbook, again, you are dependent on the Coradine (manufacturer) website to produce it. You email the file to Coradine and (I think) they send you a link to download the PDF. I don't care for relying on the manufacturer so much. If Coradine goes out of business you don't have the facility to do a restore or print a PDF of your log book (unless you have a mac with their app installed on it). Had I know that I probably wouldn't have gone with LogTen pro. But by the same token, if you go with one of the on-line products you're dependent on them staying in business as well. Using a spreadsheet or database of sorts could get messy an would not be as feature rich as something like LogTen Pro. Edit: Just as DaV8or states above, I keep all sign off's on paper log books as well.

Why would you waste your time and energy? Reminds me of an ad I saw years ago that said "if you keep your nose to the grindstone then all you'll get is a ground down nose".

Is anyone going to Top Gun's 25th Anniversary celebration this Saturday, 6/21/14? It should be a great way/time to partake in all things Mooney!

Anyone know where to get a "smoke machine" and how much they cost? During annual we hooked up a vacuum cleaner pressure end to the exhaust pipe. Then we sprayed soapy water on all slip joints, wastegate valve, etc. and looked for bubbles. But I think a smoke machine would make it much easier to spot a leak. Thanks, Dave

My only comment is to get comfortable flying the E before you start instrument training. Instrument training is stressful enough on it's own. But if the avionics, airplane management (hand knows exactly when and where to go for what) and power settings don't happen fairly automatically your instrument training will be much more difficult. I had ~600 hour in my Cherokee 140 and was instrument rated when I bought my J in 2010. After flying the J for 17 hours I went under the hood with my instructor and a guy in the back. NEVER (before or since) have I been so embarrassed by my flying! I didn't know the 430 and I wasn't comfortable flying the plane. It takes time to really know an airplane. If you're still learning the airplane while you're trying to learn instrument flying you will be behind the curve. Just my $0.02

Anything placed on the glareshield will get hot as it's in direct sunlight under the windshield and on top of a black surface. I found this even in the cooler months. But as the days warm up the temperature on the gdl-39 gets too hot to handle. The temp specs on the non-D model are as follows: Charge Temperature: 0 to +40º C (32º F to +104º F) Operating Temperature: -20º to +60º C (-4º F to +140º F) I did have issues a couple of times before I put the cloth over it so I assume it was a temp issue. One note on the Garmin Pilot app: After doing an app upgrade check to see if your Chart "Binders" are still there. Twice, after doing an app upgrade, I was flying and looked for approach plates in my Binders only to find that my binders weren't there. If I wanted to use a plate I had to either re-set up the binder or go to the "Airport Info" tab, find the airport I needed the approach plate for and then select "Procedures". If you check your binders on the ground after doing an upgrade, you'll save yourself a lot of time in the air.

Erik, I put mine on the glareshield with the antenna parallel to the unit (not 90 degrees to the unit). Reception is fine with the antenna in that orientation. But I have had what I think are overheating issues so I now have a black cloth over it to keep it from direct sunlight (black so it doesn't reflect off of the windshield). I haven't had the heat issues since putting the cloth over it. Dave

Hank, A friend of mine told me that, at least for flying IFR, you will still need an approach certified GPS (Garmin, etc) to use with the Dynon units as the Dynon units GPS are not certified. I looked around the internet and found this on the Dynon web site clarifying this: http://dynonavionics.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1322435967/0 Dave

I went from a J to a Bravo last December. Differences from the mid to long body I really like: The instrument panel has room for 3 rows of 3.125" instruments. This provides an abundance of panel space - Excellent! I love the extra room in the baggage area except when I forget to grab the hood for IFR practice. I keep it on the hat shelf and there is almost no way I can get to it if I've forgotten it. Back seat passengers have more leg room - something like 6 inches if I remember correctly Additional differences: The Rocket engine has a TBO of 1,600 hours. The Bravo has a TBO of 2,000 hours and most make TBO if you don't run it hot. The long body Bravo is a bit better in turbulence. Bravo standard fuel is 89 gallons but you can put ~100 gallons if you fill it up to the top of the filler neck. If a rocket doesn't have long range tanks you will only have 76 gallons. Built in oxygen - some of the older 231's that were converted didn't have built in oxygen There are differences between the 231 and 252 airframes - investigate these if considering a 231 converted rocket The rocket can be flown faster at all altitudes (I think as much as 20 KTAS). The rocket engine can be flown LOP so you can save considerable money on fuel. Dave

One of my hangar neighbors has a Glasair III. It will do 220 KTAS at 10K' but I think the FF is more like 17 GPH. There were a lot of people who died when these airplanes were first being built. After a couple of years they started doing training and the accident rate went down dramatically. This is a handful of airplane and unforgiving of pilots that don't control airspeed and fly by the numbers. You better not get slow on final or you will auger in before you know it. My friend crosses the fence at around 95 KIAS.

Wow - he actually said this to you? I'd go to his boss and file a complaint. How can he return an airplane to an owner when he believes there is an issue with potential to cause a fire?