Seth

Great updates. I hope to get to Oshkosh for 2016. -Seth

I smell a poll topic brewing. For slow flight 3,000 For intentional stalls, 5,000 -Seth

I have had four people in the plane on less than 10 occasions, three times in my M20F and the rest in the current M20J Missile 300. In all cases, yes, there wasn't a ton of room but I would not call it uncomfortable. The trips were all about 1.5-3 hours in length and both aircraft performed as they should. The aircraft was heavier than 1 or 2 aboard, but the interior space was adequate. The only time I felt the Mooney is small "pang" was when I had to rent a 182 to make a flight when I had a mag issue, and my girlfriend at the time mentioned how large the cabin was compared to my F model. I would say for occasional use the mid length and long bodies are fine for four people. Do it often and get a six seater. The short bodies? I'm not sure how they'd do with four, but I know three is doable from conversations on the board. -Seth

It has been drilled into my head that if I am ever in a bad situation, do not pull up. If going too fast that can break your airplane. If going too slow, that can cause a stall. I've been told, in many situations, push forward - it unloads the wing, and allows for you to figure out what's going on, even in an instant, maybe buy you a few seconds. Spin. - Stick forward is part of the recovery Stall - stick forward is part of the recovery Engine loss after takeoff - stick forward is part of the immediate reaction to avoid a stall/spin Unusual attitude / Upset training - stick forward unloads the wings, even in a very fast dive, until you know what way is up and how to gently pull out of the dive. When at a high angle of attack climb or bank, stick forward unloads the wings and gives you a little more time before the stall to resume level flight or adding power before the stall. Times where stick forward is not a good idea: -When buzzing a house, on a low approach, or flying illegally low (or near the surface of water with no ships around). -During the flare for landing -Pushing too many negative G's. In an emergency try not to instinctively pull back, but instead, if you have to have an instantaneous reaction prior to figuring out what is going on, unload the wing - stick forward (best to observe first and do nothing, then act!). -Seth

Can you PM me his email or share his email with the group? You can even write it so that only people reading can see what his email actually is, like: Example: BossMark at skyvector dot com. - This is not actually his email (well it may be). Thanks, -Seth

Yeah - I wasn't happy either. I noticed it this morning. I used it often and it's much more cumbersome now. I may create an account but it was such an easy program to use to figure out flights I may take at some point or for the first step of planning a flight. Hope it's easy to use with a pw. -Seth

Send Jet Driven a message - Bryon has a lot of good experience with dehumidifiers. -Seth

I hate to say this, but with a tree house, are you looking for a prop on the front or a pointy nose? The reason I ask is a Cessna 310 has a larger cabin for the interior space of the tree house. There's even a guy who mounted one on a minivan and races it: Obviously the Mooney will use less fuel!! Search "Spirit of LeMons" http://speedycop.com/spirit-of-lemons.html https://www.yahoo.com/autos/bp/junkyard-genius-builds-world-first-racing-airplane-endurance-210755927.html -Seth

I've been to both, ADS is much more GA friendly as Don pointed out. However, Love was closer to my meetings (as in a 3 minute car ride) so I went there more often. If I had to decide, I'd figure out prices and go from there. If equidistant, ADS is probably your best bet from an ease standpoint but again, if you are used to flying into busy airports, no need to avoid DAL. Also, Dallas Executive, RBD, is much lower priced when it comes to fuel. It's further south but if time is on your side, it's a much more inexpensive field to stay at. I have stayed there are few times as well. One of the FBOs is significantly less expensive if I recall. Last but not least, there is a field north of Dallas, Sherman KSWI, with self serve fuel of $3.91. It's 41 nm north of Addison. So you can always stop their first, tank up, and head over or get the minimum fuel from ADS or DAL, and then stop at SWI on your way home. Just an idea. -Seth

Last Year Aircraft Spruce had on site deals only noted on their website. I called up and made a deal to get the in person price though I was at home. The idea was "get the sale". These are normally negotiable if you talk to the right people since you could get the deal there if you were there and usual greater sales are wanted. -Seth

My IO-550A has a larger sump capacity and I'm supposed to keep mine above 10qts. The 10-12 is what it should be at when I start it. Anything over 10.5 ends up on the belly, so I fill it to 11 at oil changes and then put a half quart in once it returns to 10. By the time I'm putting that second half quart it its oil change time. I think the sump on the IO-550N has a max capacity of 8 quarts. -Seth

The Missile burns more gas than a J, especially when you want to go fast! But it can easily sustain 180-185 knots + and depending on the bird touch 190 kts. I fly mine at 170-175 most of the time to keep my fuel flow down. Think of the Missile as a baby ovation for a lot less - 300HP engine in a mid length body. It will outrun a 231 until O2 levels. The 231 is a turbo and keeps more power high. I flew my Missile and former F model across the country. In the Missile, you have better power hot and high but not as much as a turbo. A J would be fine in most situations but struggle when you need it. With two people, it should be fine. The K would be better if most of your flying is out west. If most of your flying is east coast, get the J or Missile. There is a missile with a garmin 750 for sale on controller for $109k after lowering the price. May be worth a look. -Seth

Be careful when holding the switch itself waiting for te gear to go down. Over time this can cause the gear switch to come off in your hand. When I put my gear down I then hold the glare shield above the gear switch until I look at the floor and see the gear is indicated down. Slight variation of yours as I don't want to have the gear knob in my hand off the panel and have to get out needle nose plyers (or a leatherman) or ,ami ally extend the gear. I have heard of it here on the board but have never seen this in real life. -Seth

Wow! That is fantastic. I actually am going to be in Florida for work sometime between October 1st and the 4th. I will register and see if I can schedule around this. I was planning to fly myself to Florida for the other work event anyway. I will be one of the standbys. -Seth

I haven't. I've seen them from $750 to $850. about $50 to $150 less than a new one. As the 2S starts delivering, the 2 prices will go down. For that amount, I'd buy new instead of used. As they drop, well, that's another story.

PM Sent! Also, the announcement of Foreflight communicating to the Garmin Flight Stream does change things. I was going to have to make the hard decision to switch to Garmin Pilot or keep my Foreflight and simply not get the integrated communication between my avionics boxes. I almost thought about Garmining out (a new verb) my panel and getting the Stratus for my ipad. However, now instead of spending the money on a brand new Stratus 2S, I am more enticed to purchase a pre-cherished Stratus 2 and then add FlightStream to my eventual ADSB upgrade which will fill in traffic, weather, and synthenic vision on the iPad through ForeFlight. I say a pre-cherished Stratus 2 not a used Stratus 2, just like I own a pre-cherished car, not a used car, and a pre-cherised Mooney, not a used Mooney. For $899, I get the new Stratus 2S, with new bells and whistles over the 2: -Pressure Altitude Sensor -USB type C connector -Improved thermal performance and fan -Enhanced ADS-B reception -Security WIFI settings The Enhanced ADS-B reception, improved cooling, and pressure altitude sensor are nice additions I want, but I'll settle for: -Traffic -Weather -AHRS so I can get synthetic vision on Foreflight My credit card doubles the manufacturers warranty on purchases, so I'd also get a two year warranty if something were to malfunction or break. With a new child I'm not flying as much, probably won't pull the trigger on my ADSB aircraft upgrade late 2016 or 2017, so a pre-cherished Stratus 2 at about half the price of a new 2S makes sense. You can get on on Ebay for $750 to $850 - only $50 to $150 less than a new 2S, but the prices may drop once the 2S really starts getting out there. For a $100 or $150 difference? I'd buy new. For $450 difference? I'll purchase someone's Stratus 2 so then can move up to the 2S or over to FlightStream. Thank you for the PMs! -Seth

Wow! This changes everything! I can keep Foreflight and work with Garmin equipment already in my panel and future panel changes. I may have to seriously consider flightstream now. -Seth

Well, stratus launched the 1S and 2S. Anyone looking to sell their 2 for the 2S let me know! -Seth

Sorry I missed it fellows. Baby Claire is now 5 weeks old and I've flown 1.9 hours during that period on two days and three flights. Best reason to not fly as much! I was not free this weekend. Will try to get up at some point this week or next weekend. -Seth

120 is what we practiced at the Martinsburg Formation Clinic here on the East Coast. I've only flown formation those hours at Martinsburg and I'm hooked. Go participate in a formation clinic if you have not yet! -Seth

I check multiple times: In the pattern: -GUMPS downwind (as I put the gear down and make sure it is down by the indicator on the floor - In my old Mooney, make sure the Johnson bar is engaged by tugging) -GUMPS on BASE - (ensure the gear is down buy doing as second GUMPS Check - again in my old Mooney double check the Johnson bar is in place) -Green light over the fence - double check that light is lit the way it is supposed to be on short final to ensure the gear is down. Straight in approach - GUMPS twice and green light over the fence. GUMPS when slowing to gear speed. GUMPS 1-2 miles out. Green light over the fence. Instrument - Gear comes down before I start my intercept with the glide slop - check GUMPS AGAIN while on the approach - when I break out of the clouds - green light over the fence. I probably check more than that. When I do "forget" one of the checks, which has occurred, I'm glad I check multiple times. If anything feels wrong, I go around. Hasn't happened often, but I can count more than 5 times where something wasn't feeling right, and I went around for no known reason. Gear was down all 5 times too. -Seth

The Mooneyland article in response by Zef (now deceased) does make some very good points. -Seth

That aircraft was at KGAI in Maryland just outside DC on Monday. My buddy took a picture of it and sent it to me. Glad they had a safe trip! -Seth

If anything, modern stealth technology may cause dogfighting to become very relevant again as the only way to fight may be with guns as missiles won't lock (both Radar and IR stealth). It'll be tbe ACM and getting a good guns shot - or drones doing the same. -Seth

This was an issue for me in the Missile. An IO-550. It was taken care of through adjusting fuel flow one time and when in started occurring again the idle level. Have your mechanic call Tommy at Freeway Aviation (an MSC) - 301-262-6544. Also, until I had it fixed I just leaned for landing as I would in cruise. I just knew in a go around to push the mixture in as well (all levers forward!). -Seth