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Everything posted by Amelia
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How do you know you married the right woman?
Amelia replied to Paul_Havelka's topic in Miscellaneous Aviation Talk
Rob knew he’d married the right woman when he suggested she learn to fly, (he had no time for it) and she did. The progression up the performance ladder of aircraft ownership was easy, just like boiling a frog. It helps that she’s in charge of paying the bills. -
VERY nice!! So glad you posted it, and so happy I read it!
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When we’ve flown tethered dogs, (being a mistrustful sort) I’ve spread a heavy vinyl flannel-backed tablecloth over the seat back, over the seat, and onto the floor. I cut slits for seatbelt access. If cleanup had been required, it would’ve been easy. May do the same for my grandkids. My first PnP passenger was a beautiful German Wirehair Pointer, nicely trained and totally chill. When we landed, he strained far forward and licked the back of my copilot’s neck in appreciation. The startled and appalled expression was worth the cost of the gas.
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I fly for Angelflight Soars, based at PDK, and less frequently for Angelflight MidAtlantic, based in Virginia Beach. TheY are both well-run and responsive to pilots. They understand GA concerns, back us up, and are wonderfully flexible whenever they can be. The passengers are enthusiastic about GA, and are touchingly grateful. Stories? Every flight is a story, most of them heartwarming, stories of optimism in the face of poor long-term odds. There was the blind man who capably climbed up the Mooney’s wing without help. A former mechanic, he plumbed the shallow depths of my engine knowledge., and seemed to listen intently to every stroke of that TSIO-360. His old face was creased with smile lines. There was the 16-year-old boy with runaway cancer eating away at the right side of his face. He was sure this next last-ditch treatment was going to turn the miserable prognosis around, and he would, thanks to me and my fellow AF pilots, pursue an aeronautical engineering degree. He marveled at the beauty of our evening flight. Last month I flew two women fighting metastatic breast cancer. Separate trips, but near-identical levels of optimism, enthusiasm and gratitude. Truly lessons to us all. Sometimes the pax don’t think weight limits apply to them. One family showed up for their evening transfer with a desperately ill baby with genetic awfulness, an airsick dad, a midsized duffel as advised, AND a metric s-ton of ventilator, batteries, suction device, car seat, etc. Yikes! The Bo pilot who brought them here had texted me that a Mooney might have a weight problem.The poor folk hadn’t understood that “weight” meant ALL the weight. Yes, vital medical gear included, everything those wings would have to lift. It being late, and poor papa still finding lunch to lose, I brought them home for the night, we stopped by UPS the next morning to ship their duffle, and completed the mission. I could have asked Angelflight to find them a ticket each from ORF, or at least paid for a hotel for the night while we sorted them out, but it wasn’t necessary. Empty-nesters, we had room to share. I sometimes fly for Veterans Airlift Command and for Pilots and Paws, but Angelflight Soars is my favorite because they’re pros. And because I’m more likely to find a route that fits my geographic preferences. I think you will find it’s the best use of avgas that doesn’t involve a beach or beloved relatives at the other end.
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I had a 231 for many years and liked it very much. Leapt tall mountains and tall clouds in a single bound, made crossing the Canadian Rockies a pure joy, in the low flight levels. Summer buildups here in the southeast were easy to circumnavigate, the built-in air conditioning worked well above 8000, and it got there in a hurry, with throttle to spare. So, yes, a 231 is a grand airplane! I now have a N/A Screaming Eagle, which is very powerful (and thirsty) and simple to fly. No cowl flaps, no babying the CHT, no watching for overboost on takeoff. Love it, and its speed, rarely miss leveling off at 16000. The book says it’ll get there, but it might take a while. The beautiful 201 I got some right-seat time in was a joy, too. So my advice, cheap at twice the price, is to go find the best Mooney you can afford, remembering that nice avionics are cheaper if they are already in the panel, that turbocharging is fine if you will be crossing the continent or wanting very good climb power for some reason, (unexpected ice in the tops, for example.) but rarely needed in Florida, where 8500’ is high. Happy shopping! I know of a 201 here with nearly new engine and prop, turned out to be more airplane than its owner really wanted. Very good to fly now, but could probably use some updated interior eventually, and snazzy avionics. Also needs adsb.
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Pilot/ Aircraft Needed To Transport Ailing 92 Year Old
Amelia replied to RonM's topic in General Mooney Talk
I was thinking the same thing. A Mooney is the best of all aviation worlds, of course, unless you happen to be a 92-year-old stroke victim. A call to Angel Flight might be in order, as they have access to a variety of sizes and configurations. -
Aspen Legacy Displays- Factory Newly Overhauled Available
Amelia replied to Andy Smith's topic in Avionics/Panel Discussion
Ooof, Andy. You have just added another page to my book, Exciting Women Are Expensive. So, it’s $6K to add an MFD to go with my current older PFD, $2-4K to upgrade one or both to the max display, and roughly $4K labor? Surely the Beast and I are worth it. How about I make the winning bid to the Mooney Summit silent auction right now, and save us time? (Shh, Mike!) -
What a good idea! I would find the thought processes interesting. I have to wonder, though, if respondents should admit their age...just how many grains of salt should we take with this old bat’s advice?. I’ve been flying a Mooney, sometimes in very hard IFR, for most of 35 years, The thing is, the more experience I get, the more timid I seem to get. My personal minima seem to have crept up, along with my age, and mortality becomes a concept more real. Or maybe I’m just getting too lazy to want to work that hard.
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Cat-tastic! How to Fly with Feline Friends?
Amelia replied to irishpilot's topic in General Mooney Talk
Have flown cats several times. First one moved with me and the Mooney, in her crate in the back seat. She yowled piteously for three solid hours, except when she was vomiting. Poor baby, but driving that far would have been worse, without the benefit of dear David Clark. Second one was annoyed for a little while, then just glowered for the rest of her relocation. Third one was a fine large marmalade rescue boy who would have spent his ride curled up purring in my lap if I’d let him. Fourth desperately wanted out of his crate, I think mostly out of curiosity. He loves being on our boat with us, wants to be able to see out, to rule the waves. So, it depends on the cat. Some cats are good travelers, some aren’t. I have a hard rule: In my Mooney, all cats are crated. Period. Short final is no time to deal with psycho cat, all fangs and claws. I don’t feed them the night before a trip, or have water in the crate. Paper medical bed pad makes a decent disposable crate liner. I kind of wondered how a kitty stoned on catnip would behave, but not inclined to experiment. Good luck! -
CO monitors vs the "paper dot" readings
Amelia replied to pkofman's topic in Modern Mooney Discussion
After hearing DanB’s harrowing tale and near-miraculous survival, I went and invested in the most basic Sensorcon CO detector. Replaced my silly paper dot with an instrument that detects minute amounts.. On start-up and taxi, with the window open, I see low CO levels, which reassures me the thing is working, but zero in cruise. Apparently if things got serious, it’d set up an unholy racket. Sensorcon just sent me a spring sale notice, if anybody is in the market. -
Amazon seems to be out of toilet-seat bidets, too. Glad I got mine!
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Gets pretty hot all summer n this swamp, so I found a Ram mount with a spring-clip x-back for my yoke-mounted iPad mini, and haven’t had a heat-related shutdown since. Easy to aim a vent at the thing. My Screaming Eagle came with upgraded avionics.. I like my GNS650 and associated gimcrackery, and I very much like the Aspen Pro, but confess that the iPad Mini with FlyQ is my real go-to when things get bumpy, along with the old-style round gauges.
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I second the advice to try them. All the major players will give you a month free.. very much a personal choice, and keep in mind that the latest update of any of them might be a game-changer. If you cut your teeth on paper charts and E6B whiz wheel, any, even the free ones, will blow your mind. While the big gorilla, ForeFlight, is very capable, with more bells and whistles and detailed pictorial briefings than you can process in one sitting, it has lengthy drill-down menus and multiple ways to skin any given cat, which I, in my dotage, found convoluted. Amendment to my routing? Gah. Ummm...Stand by. And third, didja want fries with that? All the extras add up in a hurry. If you want the whole thing, you’re looking at an outlay of $200+ per year. Number two in the popularity hit parade is probably Garmin Pilot. I use this one for preflight planning and updating my G650 nav system data.. The latest update is a nice improvement. Garmin has never played nicely with anything but Garmin, though. If you have any portable ADSB in that starts with anything other than the letter G, you’re SOL. There is an android version, unlike most others. My personal favorite overall is FlyQ. I got a lifetime subscription some years ago, so I’m good until I’m 147 years old or so. FlyQ plays fine with any ADSB that doesn’t begin with G. I find its user interface to be fast, reliable, intuitive, uncluttered, full-featured and frequently updated, which I find fun. Like early Christmas.. Amendment to my clearance? Sure. (No problem) Ready to copy. The latest update, now in beta, has some really nice adsb weather products. And the app comes in just two sizes, vfr and IFR.. Fries included. For about half the annual price of FF. I haven’t tried the others in years, shouldn’t comment.. But play your cards right, you can put off the decision for a long time! Try them all, free, a month at a time. You’ll find some may fit your needs and budget better than others. And they’re all fun to learn, especially coming from the Stone Age as I did.
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My mechanic claims the “tik-tik-tik” I have begun hearing in my headset is likely a capacitor going bad in my 1999 Mooney Eagle’s wingtip strobes. Could you weigh in on that, and tell me about LEDs, or other options? He hasn’t seen it yet, but hazarding a guess. I’m hoping for a much cheaper second opinion! Thanks!
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The Caravan, both the terrifying crack-the-whip gaggle of yore and the superbly run new and improved Caravan formation of several years ago, were great fun and very informative. Good folk held my hand, things went surprisingly well and we survived, I’m proud to say. I would love to attend Bob’s formation clinic if the time works and there’s room for me. But not sure OSH is on the cards this year. Promises to be a busy summer.
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Bless you for your kind words, but I’m trying to put those embarrassments way behind me, thank you very much!!:D
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Tell me more?
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Apparently I replied to an out of date topic. I love MooneySpace. I do not love PayPal, and will have no dealings with them, the bums. Figure out how to run a credit card without them, publish a mailing address, or set up Zelle, and I’d be delighted to sweeten the pot. mimi
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Mooneyspace.com Donation Drive - That Time Again!
Amelia replied to mooniac58's topic in General Mooney Talk
Mooney Space is great! PayPal is NOT. Sorry, I have sworn off those bums.And at them. If you want to set up Zelle, or better yet, some nonPP way to run a credit card, I’ll play, for sure. Thanks!! -
Hi, Erin, do you have a hankering to move to a beautiful little town in coastal NC? I have a lovely 1999 Screaming Eagle hangared in Edenton, NC, and it would like to be flown more than the 100 or so hours a year it gets from me. I’ve been in two partnerships that worked very well for me, very good, responsible people, careful and current, willing to spend whatever it took to keep it in good shape. I’d consider doing it again, but having at long last discovered the Promised Land, the Beastie and I are staying put!
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Fun though it has been on many occasions,, I don’t know that we have any plans to attend Oshkosh. And absolutely none to use PayPal. What obnoxious folk! Zelle? Would that work?
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I got away from MAPA some years ago because the bad grammar and poor spelling just didn’t pass my fourth-grade filter. I wondered how a publication urging professionalism, accuracy and attention to details could sound so ignorant.This was before the joys of autocorrect, and my teeth were being worn down by the sloppy editing. I even volunteered free proofreading, understanding that English isn’t everybody’s strong suit, but there was no reply. Well, all righty , then. Never mind. i look forward to hearing of improvements. Meanwhile, there’s mooneyspace.com. And when I find an alternative to PayPal, I’ll send a token of my appreciation!
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Oof. Bad memories, except in my case, it was ALL the trim inop, (stuck full-nose-up) due to a totally jammed jack screw. Apparently a known issue with 231s, for which a fix actually existed. Surprise! Thanks to a very knowledgeable CFI and friend, I learned how to manage it better than I did the last time.