triple8s

I had been told that about battery minders, give you a false sense that your battery was in good shape only to get you away from home and stranded. The best way to keep a battery up ? Fly the plane often.

IIRC (on a 96 ovation) there's a teeny weeny pot in the belly about even with the wing t.e. I'd check it first. I have a manual on my computer at work that may have the resistance range I could check Monday.

I'm based at a 3499ft runway and the over run is an incline of riprap leading to the river. If you come in at the proper speed there is almost twice the length needed, come in at the wrong speed or with the wind and it could get damp.

When you get that 60-2 installed you will LOVE it I did anyhow.

Wonder if the big G has anything online for free?

I had the same think happen to me, I probably went overboard but I bought a rebuilt adapter and a rebuilt starter, not a lightweight either. I had a discussion with a rebuilder in Kentucky (don't remember) his name but he said the gear drive starters don't free wheel easy enough to let the starter adapter release fully and cause them to fail. The company I got the rebuilt adapter from will not honor the warranty unless a standard direct drive starter is used, so I did as I was told and went with a rebuilt direct drive starter. If you want to read a bit there are stories of engines trashed because of a starter adapter crapping out and sending metal chips into the engine, this is why I said screw it and bought the new starter and adapter. Also I was told oil additives can cause them to slip. My adapter came from Niagra and the starter came from a place they recommended. http://www.pprune.org/tech-log/232383-tcm-starter-adaptor-slipping.html http://www.hartzellenginetech.com/service_pdf/SL_038_M-Drive_TechDiscuss.pdf

I have a small led flashlight that is the size that holds one AAA battery and it slips under the headset, for a red filter (yes I was in a pinch) I had some cinnamon candy the kind in the red plastic wrapper, I used it for the filter with a rubber band to hold it one. I later trimmed it and put it on permenantly.

Would seem to me that if a city were to force the owner of an aircraft to use a particular maintenance company they would have to assume liability for the quality of the service provided.

Car vs Plane.......I dont really drive a clunker however I dont give a rats azz bout the car or truck I drive as long as it is dependable, I wouldnt trade the worst raggedy old Mooney for a brand new Vette if I couldnt have an airplane too. I hear it from Wifey all the time about how much I care about the plane and how little I seem to care about her car or my truck. No comparison. Sure hate to see all those birds hurt.

http://wingsovernorthgeorgia.com/attractions/general-aviation-fly-in/ Anybody going? I may, I am at my desk salivating over the BBQ

On a flight yesterday I had an odd thing happen and I hadnt noticed this before so I cant say if it is the first time or not. I had my own plane show up as traffic on my Ipad, I have to say I was kind of creeped out for awhile till I figured out what was going on. I tried slowing a bit and then a level turn and couldnt shake ghost, lol. I have a GTX 330ES and a Dual gps/adsb 170 feeding my Ipad mini so I assume the dual is picking up the return from the GTX330. Does this sound right???

If it is only for a couple of seconds on landing and on take off it is probably the same problem my C model had, I asked around and was told a few different things and then one day I was told something different so I checked and low and behold there is was. I was told to take a towbar and pull the aircraft on the yellow line with the towbar as perfectly straight as possible for 10 or 15 feet, then stop and make sure it doesnt roll forward or back and lay the towbar down carefully being sure not to let it turn. Now look at the position of the rudder....... if the rudder isnt lined up straight it isnt lined up with the nose wheel. If the two (rudder and nose wheel) are not in agreement when taking off and landing there will be a couple of seconds when they both have equal authority as the aircraft is transitioning from a wheeled control to a wing control, when you are at this transition speed where both have the same amount of authority and they dont agree the airplane will go everywhich way, it only lasts for a few seconds, but longer in a crosswind! (reminds me of two parents that cant agree on things and the kids are going wild in the meantime)

The short body is a three seater unless the zombies are on the Tarmac lol. I did have Paul Bunyan (look-a-like) in the back of my old C for an hour trip from 20GA . It truly is amazing what a strong running O-360 can deliver when on the front of a short body Mooney.

I was visiting a friend/my mechanic recently and he said there was a new regulation governing hangar use on airport property where the airport receives federal money. From what I was told if an airport receives federal money then the hangars on that airport may only be used in aviation activities and nothing can be stored in the hangars but aviation items. No cars, trucks, boats, furniture, refrigerator, no desk, or TV. I guess it really means No whatever an authority of the airport decides is non aviation equipment. Has anyone else heard this? I have been dreaming of building a hangar but the city has a horizontal tax and forgot to levy tax against the property at my airport, so if I were to build a hangar I would be saddled with a portion of the taxes from today till 2008 because I'd be required to join the hangar owners association and by doing that I assume a percentage of the tax liability. Seems like every time you turn around it's another hand going in your pocket.

What cuts the prop life ? The service conditions or the way it's built? Just curious. Also the heat tape on the exhaust pipes will keep the air(exhaust) hotter and therefore thinner less dense so the exhaust being less dense will let more gas move with less friction through the plumbing. I was also told the exhaust tubing will be much more likely to develop cracks if taped up because it will get much hotter. I wanted to put heat tape on the exhaust tubing of an experimental I was working on but was told it would cause cracks.

If you call S-Tec I can tell you from experience what they are going to convey. All S-Tec autopilots must be installed by dealers if they are installed in certified aircraft, all S-Tec autopilots are stc'd specifically to each aircraft by serial number. If they have or you can provide proof the unit was installed by a dealer into a particular aircraft by serial number of aircraft then they will sell you any paperwork you need. If it was not installed by an authorized dealer, then you must buy an install kit from Cobham, they cost 1500$ and then you have to pay an authorized dealer to sign off the install. The dealer I dealt with wouldn't sign it off until he inspected and tested the unit. Was a big PITA, but I figured it was worthless unless I jumped through their hoops. I was also told it was illegal to use the unit and it must be labeled "INOP" unless the unit had the appropriate paperwork. That was my experience dealing with Cobham, I guess if all the "I's" aren't dotted and "T's" crossed Cobham is liable so they're covering their a$$es, I guess I can't blame them for that. It's the world we live in now.

I respectfully disagree that the FAA should be stripped if it doesn't meet it's deadline for one reason, if it were to be stripped I am very sure the Executive branch would break out "The Pen & The Phone", create a New authority answerable to the all powerful and mighty Wiz, and we the greedy rich that own our own planes would go the route of the coal companies and get our genitals taxed off. No I think doing nothing is MUCH better than anything this bunch would have in store for us.

There is no doubt a touch and go is a vital skill set and a pilot needs to be able to perform it quickly and perfectly. One thing I believe gets one into trouble is being hesitant to decide to execute a go around. Think about a small fire getting started and you don't admit it's out of hand, you wait a minute or seconds and in those few seconds your in action or lack of proper action the situation develops into something that cannot be saved. I wonder how many times a pilot has had the gut feeling " ok this is a sloppy a$$ approach but I can still make the landing" when he really ought to just go around and pride leads to a crash or damagd airplane. I fly off of a 3499 ft runway, it's my home base, if the speeds aren't right we all know what happens in a Mooney. I think pride probably suckers some pilots farther into an attempt to pull a landing out of the hat when the go around could have been executed a few seconds earlier making the go around (touch and go) MUCH easier. Oh and when the tower asks "what are your intentions? ? " just say I need vectors to try it again. Humbling......yes, but much less embarrassing and definitely safer than what can happen, if you wait too long to go around.

Yes......32 yr ago I had a 1973 Pontiac T/A with a SD-455 I traded in on a 1978 Camaro, seen one or two of them at auction and it is sickening to see what they bring now. I think I got about 3500$ trade in value on the Camaro. When the transmission went out of the T/A my parents goated me into trading it off, they HATED that car. " And I've been fortunate that I've been able to trade all my airplanes so far for... other airplanes". Joe? Do you still miss the planes you trade in??????

The purpose of POH, W&B and tables, like ground roll and landing distance tables are to keep pilots out of trouble. If you have owned and flown your bird for years you probably know what to expect (probably). That being said what's gonna happen when your sell your plane or someone other than you has to get in and fly it and they want to do things the right way and break out the W&B and YOU have forged them? If you want to fly over gross go for it but altering aircraft logbooks is absolutely not cool, because in doing so you are setting up a scenario for others to exceed limitations unknowingly. Get the bird weighed, know what's in the tables and fly it how you want to fly it, fly over gross, push the envelop on T.O and landing distances, that may be you but don't set up others that do go by the book. NOT COOL

Why not have an agreement to have owners of late model Mooneys just get paid for appearances at events or demos. They might even trade for expenses plus goodies.

When should one expect to hear the "chattering" early warning signs? Maybe while on jacks testing the emerg gear operation and the spring is winding the pull cable in?

The hole may be obscured by a clamp. The C I owned had a tiny hole that was very close to an adel that helped support the line as it made its way back towards the firewall.

A friend needed one and paid over a hundred bucks for it. I KNOW I could've made that piece out of misc plastic......of course only if it were experimental.