carusoam

The chemical dot CO detector is great… your next of kin will know immediately what happened to you… That cold outside… getting started… requires the entire engine to be pre-heated long enough to warm the oil, cylinders, and case… don’t forget to warm the oil cooler… if cold enough the cooler will be by-passed automatically… recovery of oil flow and temp control in flight may never happen… warming just the cylinders can get it started, but without normal oil flow…. You risk serious engine damage… in flight… too much surface area open in front of the oil cooler will show low oil temperature, that you can’t get up into the green zone… write yourself a check list… What engine are you flying behind? Some continental engines have an oil cooler blocking kit… specific to winter ops… comes with some ops details… as far as getting heat in the cabin really depends on the engine you have… turbos usually don’t get heater muffs… and operating in the flight levels can get pretty cold… Get a lot of practice flights in before launching in -40 air… be sure to have many layers of clothing… be ready to find all the leaky seals your cabin has to offer… on the coldest days…. My M20C could not generate enough heat in the cabin… cold soaking in the cabin for a two hour flight was a bad idea…. Best regards, -a-

Starter and alternator or generator… are the only simple automotive style add on things under the hood… if you have changed out these devices on a car… (60s and 70s auto technology…) these are quite similar… if it takes all day to get right… call it good! if you end up bending/cutting sheet metal, riveting in place… replacing felt seal with a silicone seal… it will definitely take extra time… in the end… you are going to love the high speed starter, compared to the original… Best regards, -a-

Easy job when… plane is in for annual… everything is decowled already… all the bolts are made this century… while you are in there… bring generator up to modern specs with modern voltage regulator… make sure the new starter is properly sealed to the lower cowl/dog house… any oversized holes will interrupt your engine cooling’s pressure/airflow characteristics… PP thoughts only… (old M20C experience) best regards,, -a-

Looks like somebody is baking their oil pressure sensor… by design. the sensor itself costs about 1amu… Best regards, -a-

The nose always deserves plugs… people know how tough it is to get grass out from between the cylinder fins…. the tail gets ignored most often… it is only the spring months that have the persistent risk… bubble wrap is an interesting idea… it won’t have any inherent UV resistance… that would cost extra. back in the day… I made biodegradable bubble wrap… Best regards, -a-

My 65C lived outside… in spring, the birds can fill the tail cone in about a Tuesday afternoon… I had a simple left over piece of carpet from an interior project… that lasted about a decade of use… it was a simple T shape that was easy to stuff in the hole and leave enough hanging out to be ultra tacky and visible at the same time… the top of the T got stuffed into the hole. The bottom of the T, hung outside slightly oversized, to stay in place… the birds hated it… it was soft enough to not interfere with the controls when forgotten… it would be cool if @Gee Bee Aeroproducts had T (or a better shape) dimensions to price making the tool… nice to see you Guy! (Guy is a skilled builder of foam and silicone rubber parts) best regards, -a-

This thread is pretty much what you are asking about… @jlunseth is my favorite author on the subject matter… All the participants in the thread are very knowledgeable.., best regards, -a-

We have a few really excellent threads for turbo ops regarding LOP… I’ll see if I can point this thread in that direction.., as far as TIT and EGT go… know that the POH often points to operating in flaming dragon mode…. Great for speed, but not so good for economy… I have a favorite author on this topic around here somewhere… know that all Mooneys can operate LOP, some are much easier than others. All depending on the intake system, and available instrumentation… best regards, -a-

On the topic of leaving the gear up as long as possible… my M20C experience included a lot of what if the engine dies here… Which lead to leaving the gear up as late as possible… With the Ovation… gear down and T/O flaps occurs before getting into the traffic pattern… The weight and speed and momentum of the slightly bigger bird, takes longer to react to changes… brain off loading while looking for traffic… and multitasking at the highest level of the flight… Still not a CFI… Best regards, -a-

Great video Oscar! little Oscar junior isn’t so little anymore! great conversation starter…. 1) practicing go arounds is important… 2) every Mooney trimmed for landing, with flaps deployed… 3) WILL try to kill the pilot… 4) when full power is added…( without preparation, or practice, or good arm strength…) 5) Reason… the deployed flaps have moved the center of lift a bit forwards. 6) Full power makes the nose rise sharply… 7) be ready to hold the nose in place, while trimming, and cleaning up… 8) all Mooneys can climb with gear down, and flaps deployed, at MGTW… 9) electric gear is nice… 10) electric flaps better stop in the T/O position… 11) hydraulic flaps better be using the slow retract feature, not snapping into the full up position… 12) 310hp makes it more fun… If you use full flaps, full up trim, and push in 100% bhp… you can probably complete the first loop prior to getting the gear up… Failed Mooney go around was the first accident study I read, before flying a Mooney… the victim was a CFI. This is where Mooney specific transition training really shines! there isn’t a check list short enough to read while this is going on… Full power isn’t always the best answer for go arounds… PP thoughts only, not a CFI… Best regards, -a-

Avoiding landing down wind… the @Piloto method… I’m pretty sure I go this technique from José (?) Part of that Gumps check… Ground Speed… 1) if your ground speed isn’t a smaller number than your Air Speed… on final. or… 2) Ground speed on downwind, should be higher than your airspeed… Anyone with a GPS is able to verify this important detail… this is a handy piece of information that didn’t come from primary training, and took years of being an MSer for including it in my flight bag of knowledge… PP thoughts only not a CFI. best regards, -a-

Nothing like landing down-wind without warning… it will happen one day. So many flags, smoke, or water surfaces around… but, if you remember all those… you will also be looking for the windsock that you may have not been able to find…. (My experience, not Oscar’s) new rule of thumb… when expecting to land on the numbers, and you are now whizzing past the halfway point… this is the sign to go around. when you opt to land… you will be touching down long while going really fast… some pilots try to apply brakes… not really effective at 75ias. the runway starts getting much shorter… then the decision resurfaces… try to take off, or fall off the end of the runway…? I know of two Mooneys that left the ground, yet failed to fly… one a rented J, the other a Bravo… we got the full story from the Bravo pilot… the J driver isn’t talking to anyone… from experience… I went out for a short flight to nowhere, came back to the same airport after a cold front came through… wind swapped directions… I had a great touch down… the windsock was pointing my way… I used up 2k’ of runway without touching down… and had another 2k’ to go to get the binders on and slow down… Simple error, I used all 4k’ that day… do not repeat…! remember… there is a simple way to avoid this… see my next post… Best regards, -a-

In modern Mooneys… the hull specific POH has a few key things… That the general POH won’t be able to have… 1) all of the added instruments, avionics, and gear… 2) all the WnB updates that go with that… 3) the POH inserts that go with that… Since the POHs got many updates over time… Get the POH that meets the year of your plans for legality… and get a copy of the most recent POH for your model of Mooney… POHs got updated with a lot of performance data over the years…

It’s been a long strange trip… Best regards, -a-

Welcome aboard RGD… and @LooneyMooney you can also contact your favorite MSC to get many key documents like POH and service manuals… many of them are electronic. Best regards, -a-