carusoam

Flame suit on....check. "A lady Mooney pilot happy hour (after the seminars are over)? I am always up for some appletinis, red wine, no men, AND talking about my airplane all in one event!" - Becca You wouldn't let non-flying ladies hang with your crowd? Men are specifically disinvited? Is there an age limit for this appletini party too? Certainly nobody under the age of 21.... Insert smiley here..... Best regards, -a-

EB, I have an M20R. and like JasonW points out above, there are some great places that are covered in grass. My insurance company allows for it. I think it might be a good idea to try a lightly loaded grass take off first. Find airpoirt with both paved and grass strip. This will allow for ground level inspection, a quick taxi on the grass and a decent set of Plan Bs. Just thinking out loud without commiting to anything.... Best regards, -a-

Scott, I am coming up on my annual renewal for WingX. I use it for IFR and VFR flight. It has gotten much better over the last few months and is a completely usable tool. When I first bought it, there were missing details such as minimum enroute altitudes and published holds that were important to me. This left me purchasing charts still. (I asked WingX for my money back at the time.....) There have been significant updates about every three months. WingX has gotten ahead of their original promise in some respects...pinch zoom, poke and add a waypoint, poke and delete one too. Add way points the old fashioned way JFK02035. SIDS, STARS, IAPs, VFR, Low enroute, everything accept maybe TACs (can't seem to find them, maybe they are imbedded) What's missing: Additional subscription required for geo synched approach plates. Nice IFR tool. What's extra: no additional subscription required for geo synched airport diagrams for towered airports. I know you will like this feature. Should help keep you from turning........ I like three screens up at the same time, route and airport data (freqs), current chart, approach plate or airport diagram. Charts are always current....frequencies, always the newest.... My favorite new add to WingX - a game called "what waypoint do you think ATC said?" ATC while vectoring you around Chicago is trying to be helpful and has just cleared you to "gipper" is that an intersection or is that a VOR? type in your best guess and WingX gives back options..... As JimR pointed out, I am looking for the one box for ADS-B and AHRS. You get weather and SV that way. What is still missing is traffic. ADS-B traffic is not complete, and WingX is not importing the data either, just the weather. We need a Monroy (Jose?) box - Reliable Traffic, Weather and AHRS for our IPads... With all this stuff going on at Mooney speeds, you may want some help in the cockpit....Get the WingX, but remember GPMS is not included. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the other products. When I used them last they were truely in their infancy. Best regards, -a-

You-do-it is great. Bought a build it yourself Ham radio receiver and other science projects there back in the mid 70's... Thanks for the reminder John. Best regaahds, -a-

Fuel has such low viscosity, if it is seeping, it will be going away by the gallon. Often fuel seeps will be above the fuel level at the top of the tank. During your pre-buy, you would want to fill'er up and see what happens. The mooney maintenance manuals give guidelines on what an acceptable seep is for safety purposes. Basically if they are damp (leak) while you are looking at them, that is bad. often the leak can be attributed to a specific point, screw or rivet. Sometimes the seals for the fuel levels can give out. These leaks are not the bad ones. Leaky fuel tanks are a big pain. Just my thoughts on a tough topic.... -a-

Thoughts on Grass and long bodies.... [1] My insurance company will allow for it as long as it is an actual airport (not bryan's family ranch). [2] At full power I was still unable to taxi out of my parking space at KOSH last year. Once freed, Taxiing was quite a chore to maintain proper speed - throttle jockey. up an down small hills.... [3] I think it needs to be dry (er) and hard (er) to not get stuck. Remember your training, use power, elevator up, and keep it moving...... - throttle jockey I have not tried landing on anything that isn't paved. Maybe with enough friends available to get unstuck..... Best regards, -a-

Scott, Make sure you have downloaded your charts. Sounds goofy, but while on wifi, the charts seem to be endless. When you get away from the wifi, you find the charts might not be there.... Best regards, -a-

What precautions did you take, or do you take, in the event of impending stormy weather. Up to 50kts - we check the tie downs and insurance paperwork. For winds forecast to be hurricane or above... We flew to Gary, IN and visited Chicago for a day and a half. Best regards, -a-

Norm, We used to have an iPad app guy here. I tried to search... I think it was pie log mike? He wrote a simple app that I believe did some basic engine hour log. I think it may have calculated %hp also. Unfortunately, the search function does not seem operational tonight. Best regards, -a-

Jpusser, Additions to the thought process.... Interesting situation, did the bang happen anytime before, during or after your gumps check? I suppose you recently went from cruise rpm and light load while descending, to a high rpm setting while slowing down in the pattern. Certainly not a failure i am familiar with, but sounds like the blade angle actuator let go on one blade. No oil loss? (from the governor system) Any hub grease on the blades? (lost seal, grease runs out) Best regards, -a-

I know what is on your Xmas list....

My M20C spent it's entire life out doors. The fuel rings of older Mooney's were not made of stainless steel. The fuel ring is what the cap mounts in. What looked like constant light surface rust turned out to be a rusty crack that was a through hole. It rusted from the inside out. There was always a few drops of water to be sumped out. Then for a few weeks there was more. A lot of sumping. When it was below freezing I was falsely comfortable that free water would not enter the fuel system. This is not good flight planning.... I read about changing the fuel rings to SS. Getting ready, I bought new fuel caps from Lasar. By the time I went to get the fuel rings changed, I sold the plane. It was time to invest heavily in that one or put the money in the next one.... Best regards. -a-

Somewhere in there I crossed AH with HSI. Sorry..... Losing an HSI in IMC.... not so critical.....

JetD, I'm glad we had this exchange. I need to reprogram to be at TPA further out. I have been using three miles and being uncomfortably fast, dropping wheels, entering the pattern and getting down to target speed. 4 is probably right on the money. Thanks, -a-

EB, Erik, nice to meet you. My Garmin 196 is what I am using for vertical situational awareness. Waas GPSs were the invention required to allow for vertical guidance. I would expect any waas gps system from Garmin should have this capability. Since my Garmin was the first waas system several years ago. See above exchange with Ross. TPA-traffic pattern altitude. It is a standard acronym from somewhere....? The Garmin guys at the time were very forward thinking and always gave the most functionality that could be used by pilots. The 196 is feature rich, but easy enough to find all the features and decide how best to use them. Since the 430W is built for IFR approaches with vertical guidance, I would expect more functionality, but it is up to the good people at Garmin to allow for it in their programming. It is probably in there somewhere. Since I am an amateur flyer with a single engine, it is my preference to stay as high as I can (without supplemental oxygen) until it is time to come down. When it is time to come down, I want my stored energy back to somewhat balance my fuel usage in the climb. The last thing I want to avoid is arrive over the airport too high or too fast or be too far out down low. VNAV, as Garmin calls it, is additional awareness to help optimize the situation. The nice thing is it can be adjusted to meet you requirements. For the guys who like 700fpm, no problem. Standard training picks 500fpm, this works too. 400fpm works for me. I see high IAS, without going over VNE. Some throttle adjustment is required for the NA crowd. The VS is jus a setting on the setup page. The M20R sneaks up on VNE without much warning. My M20C gave obvious signals she was going fast. Best regards, -a- (Anthony)

EB, Interesting question. I do not use any fuel additives. I mainly fly the NE region. My tanks do not allow moisture in. My M20C could not keep moisture out. I have not had any moisture or ice issues with fuel. On the other hand, I have cancelled two flights for having ice in the spinner. Where was the prop pastie then??? -a-

Ross, Garmin 196. For some reason Garmin still supports this one. Where newer, more costly versions have fallen away. I won't be getting weather or Synthetic Vision on it anytime soon, but it is a waas quality GPS back-up with vertical guidance. It is also my preferred device for "nearest" ( airport, vor, atc, weather broadcast, etc.) This device is also a great source for log book details. Best regards, -a-

Check to see if you AH also has an indicator for power failure. As Dan pointed out, your battery will supply power for quite some time. However, if you don't notice the generator failure until the lights flicker, it would be good to know when the AH no longer has usable electricity. Some mooneys have dual batteries. Consider checking the health of your various generator failure warnings. This is IFR critical since your backup is an electric powered turn coordinator. Best regards, -a-

EB, My simple Garmin portable can be programmed for height above airport and distance away. No inflight calculations required. I think my set points are 400fpm, 1,000ft above, 3 miles out. My retro IFR GPS can set a descent angle (requires inflight calculation, I can't find a usefulness for this feature). Garmin allows me to arrive at TPA a few miles out, in order to slow to proper speeds. There are two other details that are helpful in this department. There is a vertical timer that tells how much time is left before the nose over. There is also a glide slope line that indicates if you are ahead or behind schedule. Like JL points out above, variations in density, power output and speed will make it near impossible to set a vertical velocity and keep it there. In VMC, you want to be looking outside, and not overly focused on the vertical speed. In the past I did the calculations for 3 miles per minute and tried to maintain VV. Conservative alt adjustments for engine failure. The end result was excessive speed in the traffic pattern. Gps vertical guidance is an excellent aid to balance safety and efficiency while descending with maximum forward velocity. Best regards, -a-

JetD, I see your point... A descent in the NE is planned differently than one in TX. Very interesting. In the NE, an AP has more value than AC. In TX, it is probably the other way around? How many days over 100dF have you seen this summer? My slow 400fpm descents from 11,500 down to near SL start way out and barely gets me slowed down for pattern entry. Air blowing through the cabin is still very comfortable. Temp rise after touch down is quick and GPMS automatically actuates the door. Best regards, -a-

EB, Sort the reviews by most recent. Review 1 is mine, review 8 is a complaint about SV. Review 10 is a complaint of crashing because of SV. Unfortunately I am unable to copy the reviews, or i would share them here. Both have SV or synthetic vision mentioned in the review title. Best regards, -a-

Austin, I too have Version 6.0 (SV version) but did not purchase the SV. Have you purchased the SV subscription or do you just have the SV version? Have you updated your iOS for the iPad? Best regards, -a-

EB, the reviews are at the App store (iTunes). See if you can find my review there. My first review of an older version was not very nice. Best regards, -a-

Austin, People are saying the synthetic vision is causing crashing. I am not using the SV.... I am not experiencing any crashes. I have latest update of iOS and v6.0 for wingX. I had some iPad malfunctions previously that went away by turning it off and then back on again. I don't usually shut mine down. What versions are you running? Best regards, -a-

201er, That is why the DC is directly on the instrument face. To test your theory, or demonstrate to your flight instructor, you should be able to erect the gyro solely by electric power without the engine generating a vacuum. My AH is marked AIR. Of course this information should be readily available in your POH. If you have an AP, it might be all collected in one place (ah, hsi, AP, slaving etc.) Best regards, -a-