aschardt

This Acclaim Type S showed up at our pancake breakfast this morning. The tail says it's number one. the pilot was the mechanic who said it is the plane that holds the speed records for the type S. Also said it rarely flys, the owner has a TBM as well and this plays seconds to the TBM. I offered to trade for my 67F and even toss in a pair of headsets but sadly was turned down :-) It's one nice bird.

MIne did the exact same thing, previous weld and all. The resulting vibration ended up breaking the band clamp attaching the exhaust to the turbo dumping hot exhaust directly into the engine area. Didn't have an emergency but defiantly could have been a major problem. I had a new one fabricated from beefier material, was cheaper than $1500 though!

I wil be flying from longview to kfmz saturday afternoon, kc would be an easy detour. let me know if you can go with. -aaron

When I purchased my Mooney, it had sheepskin covers on the seats making them wider than normal. I unlatched mine and the passenger seatbelt 70-80 percent of the time putting the gear down. Very distracting in the pattern. When I redid the seats i actually had them narrowed up an inch right where the seatbelt comes around them. Now there is plenty of room. Haven't had a problem since. -Aaron

OK, much as I love FAR's being floated around the internet with my name on them, I figure I better chime in here. The pics were taken with calm, cool air, at a very quiet airport, with several measures of safety, including a a written plan regarding aircraft configuration, airspeed and safety, and a third party acting as air boss surveying the situation. I may, read that was, exagerating when I wrote 15 feet, hence the smiley face at the end of my post. I think of many of the stories on this great board are similar to stories one tells after hours at Osh, so put it into perspective. It's amazing what can be accomplished with a really quality zoom lens and digital photo enhancement. The part about her ducking was true, but mostly due to the sound, not the imminent fear of being hit. Sorry guys, it makes a better story the way I told it! Ok, now that I've got that addressed, a lot of folks are curious as to the windshield. It is a 201 intstalled in '93 and the logs show Laser as the manufacturer. You can still get to the back of the panel, just with smaller access panels. Also for you guys who are curious as to the twisted wing, one can see it very clearly on the front shot, the outboard four feet or so are clearly twisted downward. Gary, not too many prarie dogs around Bruning, mainly out west. I can probably hook you up with some good folks out that way if you want to make a trip out of it, be a lot of fun with an AR and lots of ammo! As to the pictures, I am really pleased with how they turned out. The head on one was originally a marketing shot from Mooney that I saw and wanted to replicate. It is hands down my favorite. The others were just shots that we thought would make for good photography. The buildings in the background are WWII hangers that used to house B17's, now they store grain in them. As to the wife, I'm very blessed to have her support of my flying habit. She's not enthusiastic by any means, but tolerates it well and even enjoys it once in a while. She enjoyed taking the pictures and has a healthy amount of fear, two good legs, and brains in her head. Had she felt she was in any danger at all, trust me she would have walked away! :-) -Aaron

I have young kids and they always struggle to see over the dash or out the windows. Thought you guys might like my solution. I recently had the seats re-upholstered and used the extra fire treated fabric to have these 6" cushions made. The velcro strap simply goes around the seatback to secure them. Works great for young eagles flights too!

Hey these responses made my day! I'll pull some plastic down and pray for a couple of threaded holes. That would be soooo nice! Thanks! -Aaron

I have had several passengers lately who are into thier late sixties and seem to have a great deal of trouble getting in and out of the Mooney. They try to grab the open door, the doorframe, the shoulder harness, center post, etc. but what they really need is a handle attached to the upper interior part of the door frame like many cars and trucks have. Just something to hoist themselves up and out with or at least steady themselves. Someone is eventually going to bend or break something if this continues. I belive there is a steel tube behind the interior plastic there. Has anyone installed one and if so how did you do it? I'm not a big fan of drilling a bolt hole in the frame, perhaps a couple of adel clamps around the frame, through the interior panel and bolted to a handle? The shoulder harness mod must be attached to the frame somehow, could a similar arrangement work? Looking for ideas here. Thanks in advance. -Aaron

I'll throw a vote for the need for a JPI when running the turbo normalizer. For someone who was new to turbo's I was very uneducated on how much heat can build up and how fast. There is a delicate balance between power, fuel flows, and temps given that you have a manual wastegate. A good engine monitor is neccessary to stay out of trouble here. Best $2k you'll spend.

I'll throw a vote for the need for a JPI when running the turbo normalizer. For someone who was new to turbo's I was very uneducated on how much heat can build up and how fast. There is a delicate balance between power, fuel flows, and temps given that you have a manual wastegate. A good engine monitor is neccessary to stay out of trouble here. Best $2k you'll spend.

You've got something not working right if you're only seeing 140kts at 12,000 with the turbo normalizer. I'll typically see 160-165kts running 26.5/25 and 13-14 gal fuel flow at 12-14k altitudes. I'll admit I've never pulled the power back while running the turbo, not really sure why you would. The goal is to go high / go fast. Floor it and watch the temps!

Sorry to hear it Seth, nothing worse than having an engine problem recur and not be absolutely sure what the issue is. For what it's worth, after the second episode my mechanic put a filter on the upper deck reference air lines and I havn't had an issue since (knock on wood). $25 in parts, he kind of made it up as he went. If you want PM me and i'll get you his name and he can maybe talk you through what he did. I figure it couldnt hurt. Good luck. -Aaron

Valueable lesson learned. I had a similar expirence in my turbo normalized F model. I had the plane inspected by an A&P just prior (1 flight hour) to a 1200 mile trip to KDVT. I had another maintainance issue on the way and had to have the generator replaced while there. During that maintainance, the A&P at KDVT noticed that the v-band clamp attaching the turbo to the exhaust had failed and the the bracket holding the turbo on had cracked leaking hot exhaust into the engine compartment. Not sure which failed first, but my guess is the clamp and the subsequent vibration cracked the backet. I didn't notice a reduction in power and would not have found it if that generator had not failed. Not a great feeling

Causeway tickets are avaliable from reputable ticket brokers but you'll pay dearly for them. We just bought four for STS 133 and it cost several tanks of fuel! Also watch out for fakes, I'm told many of the ebay ones are not legit. -Aaron

Thanks Ray, The windshield is a 201 style, but i'm not sure where it came from. It was on when I bought it. I'll dig out the paperwork and try to get you an answer on that. If you ever need an excuse to fly, come on up and take a look, it's probably less than an hour to get here. -Aaron