Ned Gravel

+1 for Ron. Meticulous as all get out.

Ah... The Mooney Factory. Was part of our SW US trip in 2015. Did the tour at the end of March on our way back to Ottawa from Lost Vegas (). I like having evidence of bringing her home to her birthplace. Did the same thing with the girl in the picture in 1982, but that is another story. Factory was moving things along when we visited. 2 hour tour.

Bob: You bringing Nancy with you? Will she agree to go that long without a stop?

Yves and I have always done our training together here in Ottawa without a clinic and then demonstrated proficiency in Madison to the satisfaction of the Ops Director (Dave Marten, Cowboy). Done that about four times now. The advanced clinic is/was just an opportunity to push the limits of precision to improve my Lead performance from two years ago when we got split into two-ship formations because of weather. So that part has been done. However, I have just been told by Lee that the advanced clinic is not happening. So I am going to try and join the MAG Mooney Caravan Clinic scheduled for 22-24 June at Danville, VA (KDAN). Should be listed on http://www.mooneycaravan.com/training but I do not see it there. It looks like I will be back from Hong Kong the week before so I should be OK to go. I look forward to seeing Jim and Sled there. And for those who know anything about military traditions, that'l be one beer I am owed. When citing the rank, it should be the correct one.

Do I have to call the tower?

I am not certain. I thought it was MAG, but it may be something else.

You will have to e-mail Lee Fox.

Signed up. Registration paid. BBQ tickets purchased. Now looking forward to the Advanced Formation Clinic. YAY!!!!

In an environment that delivers significant vibration to the iPad and its long-arm holder?

You flying with us this year Mimi?

Thanks Chrixxer: Very good point and makes sense to me. I have actually had only one or two instances where the DA check in the pre-descent checklist caused me to modify that setting for my mixture knob - one into Springbank, Alberta (Elev 3,940' MSL), one into Sedona, AZ (Elev 4,830' MSL) and one into Albuquerque (Elev 5,354' MSL) the last two during our trip west in 2015. During these descents I take quick glances over to my JPI and the EGT readings, occasionally unscrewing the mixture knob to keep them up over 1300 or so throughout. At low power settings I am no longer worried about the "red box" but I do need the mixture to be lean enough to work. If you have a quicker way to ensure sufficient leaning at higher DA, I am all ears. BTW: I am not really keen on the "richen it up until it stumbles and then pull it back a little" method. Like you, that scares me.

When we accredit labs, they are required to demonstrate adherence to confidentiality and conflict of interest guidelines. It appears that the recipients of their reports do not all feel the same obligation. Very sad indeed.

I carry a Remington 870 with an 18.5" rifled slug barrel and folding stock with a 6 round extended magazine whenever I travel over terrain that houses the white bear and the brown bear (polar bears and grizzlies) for just such circumstances. If I had known before hand, I might have acquired a Mare's Leg in .44 Magnum. Those loads are supposed to be good for bear as well and it fits better in the Mooney than my Remington. There is a Mooney driver who travels (traveled?) in a Bravo between Gander to Edmonton and he also has something similar. Most of his flight segments are over polar bear country. One caveat, carrying in Canada requires a permit.

OK. If we are talking about trying stay out of the left column (those that have) for as long as possible, my wife saw the possibility of changing my status six years ago and made a suggestion that I have used ever since. I think her suggestion was for her own peace of mind, but it works for me too. As soon as the gear comes down, I do a GUMPS check and touch all the appropriate switches/knobs/bars as I say each one aloud and finish with "GUMPS Check Number 1 Complete." Left hand turns on the fuel pump, then right hand pushes on the bar to confirm it is locked in the block, the mixture knob is pushed to full rich, the prop knob is pushed to full fine, and my seatbelt is checked as being latched. All this nearly autonomous motion has become cockpit muscle memory and is as much physiological as it is psychological. Then, either between the IAF and the FAF or on the downwind, I do it all over again - out loud and finish with "GUMPS Check Number 2 Complete." Then on final or just after the FAF, I do it again - also out loud and finish with "GUMPS Check Number 3 Complete." At this point the aircraft is in the landing configuration with me just waiting to have to go round for some reason or other. If my girl does not hear them, she tells me about it. She normally hears every time. Even on the occasions I have not said it out loud, the cockpit muscle memory had kicked in and I was moving fingers and arms over switches, knobs and levers as I confirmed all in their correct place. Pretty silly talking to yourself when you fly alone I know, but I am working to stay out of the left column.

OK. I still have 1700 hours to go then. Whew!!!

The knob pulls a wire that moves a valve that shuts your (now dead) vacuum pump out of the system and allows your vacuum system to draw its vacuum from another source. See the diagram.

+1. Quick get outa Dodge manoeuvre. But no good for much beyond the end of the runway.

With astigmatism, it might be difficult to get the correct Rx for that eye. They did my left eye twice. But all good now. “lenses no longer required.”

Signal Corps actually, but during my time as an infantry battalion SigO I do recall sitting next to my battalion 2i/c and being handed two from the brigade TACP, then picking them up from their IP, lining them up on the Lawfield Road and letting them go after anything that moved north of Northing 08. They were our friends and went downtown for us!!!

Mike: I am not 100% certain, but I believe the rules are a little different here in Canada. Min T/O vis is 2600' (even for IFR departures) unless some exceptional requirements have been met - for authorised operators only (ie: not Private Pilots). Again - not an instructor and I could be wrong. Just checked the CAP-Gen.

Clarence: Did Ron do the overhaul?

Amen brother.

HRM: That is true, but her words regarding clouds can be as poignant and striking as those uttered by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, US citizen flying Spitfires in the service of the RCAF. Hers is an utterance of despair, and his of splendour. For those at 9000’ in the middle of a squall line, it may be fear. For the little one laying on the grass looking up at gathering cumulus, it will be some wonder, and perhaps some joy. Perspective shapes our perspective, does it not?

Ask Clarence. He is in Kitchener.

PPP course is all about stalls.