Ned Gravel

Ah..... Ottawa to Atlanta in 3 hops (one to clear customs). See http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CFSWR/history/20120821/1316Z/ART030035/KSYR And http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CFSWR/history/20120821/1527Z/KSYR/KMGW And http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CFSWR/history/20120821/1840Z/KMGW/KFFC 6 hours and 5 minutes into the log books. Life is good. And this trip is for business too.....

On the migration front - it looks like the site will only be down for about 3 to 5 hours. We are going to test all the migration offline with a test copy of the site and then execute it on the live data when we know it works. I have been messing around with the new site platform and I am glad we raised a bunch of funds because the site will need some more custom devlopment before I am happy with it. While it has an amazing forum system I really want to see a consolodated home page with all the most recent content, etc. This is possible of course, but I will need to pay the developer to write mods and such. Thanks again all!

Quote: carusoam Ned, Nice point about the phone connection. My IFR flights start at an uncontrolled field carrying my cell phone against my ear. I need a solution like you described... Best regards, -a-

Quote: danb35 I have a PS 7000B in '48Q. It's been there for the last 4+ years, and I've been very happy with it. Audio quality is good, the VOX works perfectly, and it handles everything I need it to do (and then some).

Ray:

Ray: No option for my choice. Neither.

Done. I hope it is enough.

Craig: I'm in.

I was in a partnership for close to a year. That went south and taught me a lot about partnerships. I like owning my own.

So now I owe David an apology. I will not be able to make the Caravan this year. Too much work and not enough time to prep and then participate in an activity that demands respect and attention to detail. Not being sufficiently ready is not an option. Lesson for next year -> Book no work for at least two weeks prior to the Caravan. Will also give me the time to participate in one of the clinics next Spring. My apologies David for giving you such a hard time and then bailing at the last minute. I am not concerned about the registration fee. Put it to good use or save it for my registration next year. I will be back.

The reason to rotate them is to take them out of the slipstream when the gear is retracted. Mine have not been rotated and when my gear is retracted, they protrude below the wing skin.

I am with Parker on this one. I have an STEC autopilot but manual trim. The autopilot tells me if it needs any help so I do not feel the need for another motor. I like the manual trim.

Erik: I am based at Rockcliffe and my email address is egravel03 at Rogers.com. The procedures are fairly simple. Class B and C around Ottawa. Descend to 1500 to stay below their floors, or do flight following or IFR till clear of that airspace. Approach the airfield from the south, requesting an advisory on 123.5 (Rockcliffe Unicom) as soon as you can. That will tell you which runway is active (09 or 27). All this at 1200'. Announce over midfield to turn for the mid downwind (north of the field with a 90 deg entry) and then announce turning downwind. Be careful over midfield to spot any traffic in the circuit (y'all call it the pattern). Lots of training in Rockcliffe. Turn downwind without crossing the opposite shore of the river, if possible. Causes noise complaints. The rest is standard and the club (FBO) is on the north side of the field. The reason for this complexity is our proximity to the class C, a class D/E just north of us and the national capital region paranoia. When are you flying in? I am in Bangladesh until 29 June and would welcome another Mooney driver to field. Email me if you have any questions.

Maropers: I like yours better than the one I have already. Other than the location of the fire extinguisher and you do not mention the emergency survival kit, ours are nearly identical in content. Yours is way ahead of mine in terms of organisation and layout. I will modify mine based on this one. Thank you for providing it.

I like my roof vent as well. Clarence had to do some surgery on it a two years ago when the thing siezed up, but it works fine now. I have had to replace the knob and I now carry the small allan key that fits into the machine screw for it. Clarence's own modified E model has a NACA vent in the dorsal extension that replaces his roof vent and he says he likes that better. I have never experienced it, but I think it is quite a job to replace the dorsal with the fiberglass one just so you can hide the ELT antenna and put a NACA vent in.

Quote: DrBill I went to the hangar yesterday and for the first time it really stunk in there. There were these small "turds" all over the floor. About 3/8 in in diameter and 1.5 in long. There must have been 50 scatterd around the floor. Anyone else had these and have a way to keep them out ? Bill

I too have been a "test pilot" for strong crosswinds and I can tell you that our Mooneys, especially the short body ones from what I hear, are superbly suited to the role. 20G25 at 90 degrees to the runway. Don Kaye and others recommend no flaps and I agree.

Quote: Mw2307 yes you can cancel in the air with ATC but towers no longer automatically cancel when you land so you have to call in if you have not already cancelled with ATC in the air.

My experience is Canadian, so it may not be all that applicable. I had 160 hours when I bought my E model. 16 of them were in an Arrow (that never survived a ground loop while I was PIC) and 8 were in another E model from about 9 years previous. The insurance company said 10 hours and I never winced. The ground loop incident was something I had to get over and this requirement was way less than the 25 hours I expected. The aircraft was still coming out of its post-purchase work where the pre-purchase airworthiness work paid by the seller and my extras had been done (at Tri City MSC in Waterloo, Ontario). So I picked a local flight school in Waterloo and flew out their to get down to business. Took two days and we followed their regimen of things to check off. All told, it took 10.3 hours. I flew it home on the third day. 300 nm cross country. Overtop of Oshawa, ATC warned me of traffic, "....9 o'clock, closing...... Aw never mind. He won't catch you at that speed..." That was 500 hours ago. Enjoy your E model.

The only thing this poll proves is that we think Bo drivers are full of whooey. Well 61% of us do anyway....

Quote: BluSky Takes me about a hour, drain oil, pull screen, clean and replace gasket.

David: Thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency. I had already planned to be in Madison on the Friday for just such a contingency. We will arrive loaded to the gunwales with camping gear (but well under gross) and I will plan for a Caravan safety pilot to fly in my aircraft during the proficiency check. I am really looking forward to this.

Looks like I missed the fuel smell thing in my response. I agree with carusoam - get it checked first. If it is a fuel sender or the gasket, it is easy. Mine was not and I needed a complete reseal done by the MSC that did my pre-purchase inspection. I should have twigged to that one.

Steve: Good work by Chandler. Nothing I see that should cause you grief. Most of these items are "relatively" easy to deal with. I did not do the arithmatic however. Looks like quite a few pennies to add up and headed towards AMUs of work.

Quote: SkyPilot Have you got a phone number? No idea where tri-city is. I'm from the boonies