cliffy

Long range thinking from Asian countries? How long has Honda been working on the Honda Jet? :-) They must feel the investment is worth it. Just saw an article the other day where Mitsubishi is making a good looking commuter jet. Some more long range thinking by Asians.

Lots of folks can use a 3 seater as most of us use only two seats anyway. I wanna see performance figures and engine choice. This could be pretty good. How about 140 kts on 6 GPH.

So how can Avare give all the data and charts for free on a free app and the rest need a cash cow for updates?

In 14 years I've had 4 in my C 3 times for short flights. 99% of the time is just us 2. Taught the wife to pack light- 1 roller bag and a computer bag. Use the back seat for lunch box and drinks and maps. WOT, 2500 RPM ROP 8.5 GPH 9500 to 11500' 135 KTS up there. Down lower 130-140 KTS at 9.5 GPH. ALL speeds TAS NOT GS. Charlie Armstrong gear and flaps. The 180 HP engine is cheaper by far to overhaul as opposed to the 200 horse one. I'm 6'2" and the C fits me fine. Get one set up the way you want it. Far cheaper than trying to change things around after purchase. Make sure you get an autopilot with alt hold but don't discount the Brittain huff and puff A/Ps. They're good and they're cheap to fix for this vintage airplane. Any one you consider should have a panel mounted GPS of reasonable vintage. KLN 89B KLN 90, Garmin 155 TSO at the very least hooked up to the A/P.

You can remove any remaining "black scum" by using a soft towel and all purpose flour sprinkled on the spinner. Been doing that way for 40 years.

WOW What a cool panel layout. I'm green with envy! I'm saving a picture of it.

Let's hope all comes out fine. I got my Mooney through tom and company.

Forgot to add- I repo'd a 727 once without all the drama.

flyboy +1 I just can't watch it.

#1 Join AOPA and buy their Violation Insurance package. Talk with their lawyer about this. #2 There is a BIG difference between you having business for the company in another city and your co-workers also do, so you all fly in the same airplane as you are paid your normal wage- That verses- You have no business for the company in another city but your company will pay you your normal wages to fly your co-workers to that city so THEY can do their job. In the first you MIGHT be able to do it (get a good aviation legal opinion) in the second you will be visiting the FAA under oath for sure. A commercial license has nothing to do with it. It boils down to "offering to the public" charter flights without a 135 certificate. Just look at the recent FAA opinions on "sharing flights" and the companies that have been doing that. The FAA just hammered them .

Congrats!!!! There was a study done many years ago showing the risk of accidents to the hours flown and it went up steep until 1000 hrs topped out and started to drop after 1200 and went down slower than up after that. You're right at the hump but on your way down. Enjoy the ride. Fly safe.

Each type of battery (AGM, flooded cell, niCad, etc) has a specific charging voltage and method. It can be found on the paper work included with each battery when purchased. Batteries residing in the tail cone seem to have a longer life than those in the engine compartment (DUH, you think heat might be a problem?) Engine starting actually uses very little of the capacity of a good battery so if it won't start the engine it is really a DEAD battery and its CAPACITY when "charged" again is in doubt. The only way to really tell is to do a "Capacity Check" per the manf directions (also included with every aircraft battery when new). The more often you find your battery dead,the lower the capacity will be when recharged. If it dies in 2 weeks its time to replace it. It's a dead duck, not to be trusted, even if recharged. Think about this- You come out for a flight and the battery is "dead as a door nail" (Shakespeare) , you jump start the engine or a quick recharge to get enough to start and you go fly. What if you loose you alternator now? How long will that battery last? I've seen this many times over the years. Just thinkin'

Here is a link to the best explanation of ADS-B I've found. Several short videos by Free Flight Systems If you are still in the dark after seeing this ask away here http://adsbuniversity.com/ads-b-university

Had a friend (now gone-natural causes) that did Tucson to Columbus OH in his J in 8+20 Up high and low power.

From what I understand ( I'm not an aero engineer) you are correct in that flight control surfaces all have a certain resonant frequency that is found by doing ground flutter testing. In addition any "flutter encountered with a corresponding "looseness" in the control surface linkage will exasperate the flutter as there is no dampening by the mechanism at the inception of flutter. The original flutter though ( I feel) does have to originate with the surface itself. The point of the surface CG (with respect to the hinge line) has a determinate effect on the resonant frequency and severity of the magnitude. A postulation- If balance (CG position) was not very important why is there such an import placed on surface balance on every airplane made? Why would it be required to be checked after every paint job? Bonanzas are particularly effected by a very tight balance tolerance as even one coat of paint extra while painting will throw them beyond limits. Control surface "imbalance" that effects the heavy stick forces may be caused by "aerodynamic" imbalance. Not enough area ahead of the hinge line to off set the amount of area behind the hinge line for control force or "aerodynamic" balance. Early airplanes had no surface area ahead of the hinge line and as speeds increased it was found that by extending "movable" surface area ahead of the hinge line a resultant force counter to the "heavy" stick could be achieved. Too much forward area and stick forces become non-existant- a very dangerous world indeed. Here is an abstract of a paper written for a conference on mass, vibration and flutter studies in 1999- Mass properties' engineers often are concentrating on creating and maintaining the most accurate and current weight database possible on our aircraft or system. They tend to lose sight of why accurate weight data is important. While having accurate weight data is intrinsically valuable, it can have a major impact on design decisions and even on the viability of a design. Some systems are more sensitive to changes in weight and center of gravity than others. One of the critical elements in the design of aircraft is "flutter modes". Every moving body has vibration frequencies. It is important to avoid coupling frequency modes in the airplane components. This can have catastrophic results, including loss of property and lives. Excessive vibration can result in metal fatigue, even without catastrophic failure. It is important that accurate weight and balance data be available to design engineers early in a program. Many problems can be avoided if a potential flutter situation is identified early in a program. An important way the mass properties' engineer can assist in preventing flutter is by working closely with loads and flutter engineers to optimize the control surface balance. Parametric studies are run by loads and flutter engineers to determine the optimal balance weight and location to achieve no coupling of vibration modes. The mass properties' engineer needs to assure that the mass properties' data provided for future analyses reflects this optimal value and the system balance about its hinge line is within the limits established. As can be seen, "surface balance" is concomitant with and paramount in application to avoid flutter in the surface.

Used to pull out the ol' CR-3 wiz wheel in the 757 and the F/O would say "What RU doing? Did it just to screw with him :-) After 1400 hrs in my M20D/C I'm confident in 135 kts TAS, variation due to day, weather, phase of the moon, gravitational pull of Venus, my attention span, plus or minus 4 kts at @ 8gph, usually 9500' to 12,500 MSL, FT, 2500 RPM. Now I know this is not an F BUT you guys don't have me by much. Also only 727 era steam gauges and a non-precision GPS tied to a rudimentary wing leveler. I love the two fancy panels but they're worth more than my entire airplane. But OH are they nice! Aspens remind me of the 757 panel

Folks, Flutter and flutter testing is a BIG deal! Here's a video showing flutter on a Twin Comanche. Any flight surface can flutter if not balanced correctly (balanced means the correct CG vs. the hinge line) This is why there are specialists in flutter dynamics in aviation. Mooney uses a flutter specialist on their airplanes. They start with ground flutter tests with oscillating weights to find the resonant frequencies and go from there. Flutter margins is why Mooney will not allow any repairs to a flight control surface other than complete factory designed parts being replaced. NO PATCHES. Flutter issues are why the control surfaces have to be rebalanced after ANY repaint of them. Even replacing a tail light bulb with another "FAA Approved" bulb (yes I said it has to be an FAA Approved bulb, not the original incandescent bulb but an LED one as LED bulbs are not standard parts by definition and need specific FAA approval for installation) needs a rebalance. The faster you go toward red line the closer you are to flutter. That is the purpose of the flutter margins. If the plane inadvertently exceeds Vmo you wouldn't want it to flutter apart. When doing flight testing for flutter, airspeeds are gradually increased to see if flutter is anywhere near. The mechanic is absolutely correct in requiring a rebalance check after replacing the entire tail light assembly. No honest mechanic would sign off the change without a rebalance UNLESS there was approved documentation from the manufacture specifically saying that a rebalance was not needed (as in an STC).

Well I always liked the 308 but it was a little beyond my means then. Paying to have the lobster shop open up at midnight in Bangor Maine and boiling a dozen of the critters on the way across the USA- priceless!

Movable flight surfaces are very sensitive to weight as far as their specified balance goes. The actual removal and replacement of your rudder is not too difficult or time consuming. There is a certain part of the Maintenance Manual for your airplane that shows the specific procedure for checking its balance. It must be followed to the letter. This is something you do not want to short cut. I had a talk with Bill Wheat this summer and he noted that when he did flight testing for flutter, when he hit a spot where flutter started it was sudden and dramatic. On some airplanes even one extra coat of paint can put the surface out of balance. A quarter pound of weight at the far end of the rudder arm is a LOT of weight out there. The difference between what is removed and what is installed will determine if you can stay in balance. It must be checked and not just calculated.

Balogna Italy to Van Nuys CA 1 stop/1 day 22hrs duty time Pt 91 B727 w/ 9.5 hrs range :-) KLAS to KMKC 1 stop 1 day M20D/C longest leg 5.3 hrs. Longest Mooney day 9.5 hrs in 1 day 3 legs. Longest flight ever KATL to JNB South Africa 17 hrs nonstop as passenger only :-) :-)

GSX- How come you weren't on the runway center line when you touched down? :-) :-) :-)

Were you in altitude hold on autopilot when this happened? If so you could have been in a down draft and the nose was pulled up to maintain altitude losing airspeed. Not knowing all your conditions at the time makes diagnosis difficult.

Most FBOs order their refill tanks from the same gas plants that the welding shops do, no difference in the order. The trouble comes when you want the gas plant to fill a medical or aviation cylinder. So do, some don't for liability reasons. If you empty a gas cylinder to "0" pressure you have the chance of inducing water vapor into the cylinder. That is why you never should drain one completely. In the airline business if a cylinder comes out completely empty it gets pulled and sent to the shop to be baked making sure it is dry inside. I can see no way that acetylene would ever get into an O2 cylinder. Acetylene cylinders have a filler inside with acetone impregnated into it to avoid explosion when filled to high pressure. Acetylene is never put in large O2 cylinders. That is why they look different and are made different than O2 cylinders. They are also filled to a much lower pressure than O2 cylinders. Setting up to refill your a/c O2 tanks is not too difficult but requires the correct equipment and a little training. Rule # 1- Never have any oil products (petroleum) in, around or near your oxygen set up. Oil and grease will spontaneously catch fire in the presence of O2. All of your tools for servicing need to be dedicated to only that job and no other. Never lubricate anything that near to or uses oxygen, even your dedicated tools. Rule #2- NO SMOKING while refilling O2. Should be self explanatory but it does happen. Rule #3- Fill slowly so as to not build up high temperatures in the filling tank. Fill fast the tank warms up giving a higher reading than when cold. As soon as it cools you have a lower pressure than you thought for use. Rule #4- Keep your O2 cylinders chained to the wall and not standing loose or build a rack to lay them down on their sides. You don't want them to fall over an knock the valve off! In reality you will need at least 2 big cylinders of O2. One to bring the a/c tank up to say 1500 psi and the second to top it off. They usually come filled to about 2000-2200 psi. Your a/c tank uses 1800 psi. So after about 2 fills the first tank will be below 1800 and not able to top off the a/c tank. This is where the second tank comes in. Use the lower pressure tank for the initial filling and the second high pressure one for the top off to 1800-1850 psi. You have to have a pressure gauge to measure the filling cylinder pressure. Never just fill from a big tank to an a/c cylinder without a pressure gauge. Get a little training on how tight to secure the various fittings. A small fill "B" nut can be broker off or stripped very easily by tightening too tight. The bigger nuts can leak if not tightened correctly. When you are done- ALWAYS-ALWAYS-ALWAYS- turn off the big tank valve before you try to disconnect any lines. I've seen it tried otherwise and it ain't pretty. Hope this helps.

Having flown an iFly 700 for a couple of years I tend to like it and it does what I need. With the data base up for renewal (subscription $109/yr for all the charts) I'm torn between it and getting a Nexus7 with Avare (my wife has that and it works just as good a the iFly). Avare is a free app and no charge for charts and updates (contributions are accepted) Hmmm, I'm still debating.

How did Lindberg ever do it without all the gadgets we have today? OH he had 1 flashlight