danb35

Well, 337s based on STCs aren't even supposed to go to the FSDO; they go directly to OKC. That said, you're required by law (statute, not just FAA regulation) to have the STC holder's permission to install an STC on your aircraft.

N201MKTurbo, whoever you are, you also posted very negative remarks about Weep No More in this thread: . Neither in that thread nor in this one did you respond to requests for additional information regarding your experience. I'm considering using Weep No More for fuel tank work in the near future, and yours are the only negative comments I've seen about this shop. What happened, and why are you unwilling to share in public?

No surprise, really; the three have very different fuel systems. I don't think any Mooney will be OK with <100 octane fuel, though.

Paul Beck, the owner of Weep No More, has posted here that his warranty includes his travel to your location to fix any issues. Was he unable to do this in your case?

The chemical that Weep No More uses to strip old sealant is commercially available, but I believe the equipment they use to apply/recirculate that chemical is unique to them. There's nothing stoping another shop from doing something similar, but I don't know of any others that do. Sabremech, if you're a practicing A&P, you know perfectly well that not all A&Ps are equal--some are better than others, and/or are better at certain things than others. This is, of course, true of any trade or profession. When it comes to the fuel tanks on Mooneys, there are lots of bad stories out there regarding lots of mechanics trying to fix them, and failing. Don Maxwell, one of the better-respected Mooney mechanics out there, doesn't do tanks beyond patches. It would seem, given these facts, that there may be more to successful fuel tank work than just reading the manual and doing what it says. I'd suspect that list would include small hands and long, skinny arms (neither of which I have). Of course, there's also the fact that some mechanics just don't follow (perhaps don't read, or maybe even don't have) the manual. That's why, for example, we have AD 85-24-3, requiring inspection of the sealant because some boneheaded mechanics sealed over the drain holes in wing ribs. Certainly there's nothing magic about a Mooney's fuel tanks. However, it appears that some skill is needed to repair them effectively, and that skill is something that at least some A&Ps don't have. I'm sorry it offends you that many aircraft owners/pilots (not just Mooney, BTW; I see the same sentiment expressed for Bonanzas, twin Cessnas, and other types) feel more comfortable seeing a specialist when their aircraft have problems, but that seems a perfectly sensible approach IMO.

It's hard to say what "most" do, but I suspect it's to treat SBs on a case-by-case basis. SB 208, for example, is generally treated as important; some others not so much.

I'm always learning here--hadn't known that an ophthalmologist could also be a DO, rather than just an MD. I guess it makes sense, though. What is the difference between an MD and a DO?

If you're wanting an eye doctor, it's probably an ophthalmologist, which would be an MD. An optometrist would be an OD. A DO is an osteopath. My wife is an OD, and I could run your question by her if you like.

Bob Bramble, www.aerolabaviation.com.

It will be difficult to get that guide, since its creator/publisher is dead. Fortunately, however, there are many other excellent sources of information, including this web site, MAPA, the mooney and mooney-tech e-mail lists, and others.

Are you entirely sure of this? I ask because it is completely inconsistent with what I know of how a Hobbs meter works. As I understand it, a Hobbs is a simple hour meter. All it does is record how long it's been turned on to the nearest tenth of an hour, and it has no way of knowing how fast the engine is turning. What you describe is how a mechanical recording tach works (electronic tachs generally record time 1:1 above a certain threshold engine speed). Of course, the Hobbs can be activated by anything. The most common is probably an oil pressure switch, but it could run directly from the master bus, or the avionics bus, or a squat switch, or an airspeed switch. I've seen them installed in combustion heaters and electric standby vacuum systems, obviously to measure the operating time of those devices. But in any case, it will measure 1:1--60 minutes of the Hobbs being activated will record 1.0 hours. The only variable is how it is activated.

I agree with the consensus here--"oversquare" operations are just fine. However, reduced EGTs are meaningless.

There are speed mods that will allow an E to get closer to J speeds, the biggest being the windshield and cowling. Don't buy an E planning to install them, though--you'll be much better off to just buy a J.

The E and the J are very different animals. An E will give you close to J speed on the same fuel burn, but you have less range, less payload, and less interior room (specifically in the back seat). It will also be older. OTOH, it will also be considerably less expensive, and operating costs should be about a wash. If you're planning on only flying solo, or having only one passenger, the interior room may not be an issue. Even the E's range exceeds most people's bladders, so that may not be an issue either. But they're things to consider. What mission do you have in mind for the plane?

In my case, there isn't a separate switch for the alternator, so I'd have to pull the field breaker to turn it off. I don't see any reason to do that.

Just saw your earlier post. I'm based at Elizabethtown during the week, and would be glad to have you check out my F if you're interested. PM me if interested.

What is fact (just look at the MSDS for AvBlend) is that AvBlend is a mixture of mineral oil, dye, and perfume. That's it. It contains no antiwear additives, no anticorrosion additives, no detergent additives, no proprietary ingredients, nothing. I suspect it's pretty much the same as Marvel Mystery Oil (which a lot of people also swear by), but I could be wrong on that... bd32322, Camguard is $25 for a 16 oz. bottle, and that's about the amount for one oil change (they recommend a 5% concentration, so it depends on how much oil you add at a change). I use 7 quarts at an oil change, and usually add two quarts before the next change, and that collectively uses almost exactly a pint of Camguard. If you compare the cost of Phillips XC 20W-50 + Camguard to Exxon Elite w/o Camguard, it's about a wash.

VIP TFRs, which were the subject of this thread, have nothing to do with pilots' safety, nor with the safety of families on the ground. You brought up 9/11 as justification, but as I pointed out, 9/11 had nothing to do with GA--it was accomplished with airliners, which aren't affected by the TFRs. VIP TFRs could potentially have something to do with the safety of some world leaders--if there were some credible threat to them that was specific to GA. But there isn't. Ryder trucks, loaded with explosives, have been used for terrorist attacks on public buildings and officials, but we don't restrict where they can drive, or block them from a city when the President is in town. Airliners were used in the largest terrorist attack in U.S. history, but we don't ground them when the VP is around. GA has never been used for a terrorist attack in the U.S., but we ground them for 20 miles, and restrict them for 60.

...and what kind of aircraft were used in those attacks? And are they affected by TFRs? Try again.

What's "close"? Willmar is an easy trip away, and Paul's warranty (according to some of his posts here) includes travel to your location to fix any problems. Yes, it means either a week's vacation in MN or round-trip commercial airfare. I'd think it would be worth the trip (and am planning to do it myself, from KY).

Well, 30 gal ~= 180 lb., or about the same as one pax. The cost difference is ~$30 (at $1/gal), which at today's fuel prices works out to ~5 gal. At my cruise power settings, 5 gal. lasts a bit over a half hour. Will 180 lb of extra weight slow you down enough to make your trip take 30 minutes longer? For me, that's about the same as a 25-kt headwind. Yes, the weight will slow you down, but nowhere near that much. The situation gets more complicated when you're making an extra stop for cheap gas, but when you'd be stopping there anyway, buying at the cheaper place is the obvious answer.

Weep No More was formerly the fuel tank shop from Willmar Air Service. AFAIK, WAS doesn't do tank work any more.

Absolute EGT values, including differences between them from cylinder to cylinder, are all but meaningless. They do not represent anything relevant to your operation of the engine. As long as they peak at nearly the same fuel flow (which is where the GAMIs come in), and your TIT isn't too high, nothing to worry about.

I just bought an ACK E-04, and will be having it installed next week. At ~$600, it's the least expensive 406 MHz unit on the market, and it will interface with your GPS to broadcast your position when it activates. My avionics shop is estimating 3-4 hours to install, but I had the wiring run to the instrument panel at annual a few years ago. Or, if you want the cheapest way possible, my old Narco ELT10 will be available. The battery's expiring this month (which is why I'm installing the new ELT), but the unit still works fine.

No, it says it was weighed with 15 pounds of unusable fuel. He's right that the weight is the weight, and it really doesn't matter what the prior paperwork says--at the same time, that much of a discrepancy should give rise to some concern, and maybe to double- and triple-check the process (make sure it's actually 15 lb, rather than 15 gal., of fuel on board, make sure the plane is otherwise empty, maybe rotate the scales around, etc.). There's a place that advertises in Trade-a-Plane for aircraft scales with a 2000-lb capacity for ~$400. It's kind of tempting. If you built two platforms the same height as the scale deck, you could get away with weighing a plane with only one scale (though it'd obviously be a lot more hassle than having 3). Or, as someone else here suggested, you could see about borrowing scales from your local EAA chapter. Edit: The new W&B is also showing over a 5-inch shift in CG. That's a lot. Something is pretty seriously wrong, either with the previous records or with the weighing procedure this time.