Ned Gravel

I asked them at Oshkosh last year if they had an STC for Mooney's and they said no. If they did, I would install them. Other than an STC with an AML, I cannot install them. We do not have the equivalent of the FAA 337 system in Canada.

ICOM A6 attached to the coax that used to go to the marker beacon and that replaced with a Comant VHF antenna on the belly. Clarence calls them "eye-pokers."

Payment made and message sent.

You might wish to join us this year in Hickory, NC for the east coast formation clinic. Lots of good practice of an enjoyable skill. Good group too.

Mimi: Would be good to see you again this year in Madison for the Caravan. Ute and I are going to be in Hickory for the Caravan Clinic followed by a week in Gaithersburg, MD. Schedule will not permit us time to come and see you and Rob before or between these two, but perhaps when all the toing and froing is done......

David: I am in for a set as well, please. I will pay and if you send them to Clarence, he can install them.

Casey: they may prefer that you are more invested than “when things come up.” I have found that relationship to one of the most important ones for Mooney ownership. Just sayin’.

I didn’t until two years ago.

Two other advantages for the one I accepted. Open pilot was dropped by my previous underwriter and my MAPA PPP course instructors are now fully covered without my asking (and paying) for them to be “named” pilots. Automatically covered now.

Only eight years younger than that.

Got the emoji's from reactions to this post. ( and ) I also chose the $300 more expensive option with an open pilot clause and some other things my renewal had taken out of their policy. Still good with it.

Quote came in today. $1,900 US, versus $1,100 US last year. I can live with that.

My mechanic....

My quote is still due in from my broker. My numbers are $65K hull, 1200 hours in type, and $1M smooth. Your circumstance gives me hope, Alan.

Seems like an arbitrary time lag. Obviously not for a real emergency as perceived by the crew, just for a light going on that would otherwise not do so. As my Senior NCO's used to tell me: "Take the time to suck back and reload instead of jumping into action."

I'll take that. I accept mine is a passion. I would not be very good at that job.

Had dinner with two couples yesterday. In both cases, he is the pilot and she is the right seater. One of them flies an Arrow and the other just got his PPC on a King Air C-90 (with a Garmin G-XXXX (XXX) in the panel. Our dinner conversation was a real eye-opener. My friend who recently passed his checkrides on the C-90 has about 7,000 hours, mostly in GA and is one of the absolute best instructors I have ever met. Not so hot on Mooney's, but one of the best for ab-initio, commercial, instructor and instrument training. He is currently a DE (designated examiner) in Canada and works for a Federal Government agency that wanted him to qualify on the C-90 as part of his job. So he does it all on the simulator (ok so far) and then he passes two checkrides in the simulator, one as PF and the other as PM (??? = Pilot Monitoring - New designations to me). His training has emphasised the following (autopilot engaged and flying from 400' on takeoff and disengaged at 200' on the approach). Huh? OK, got the idea that there is very little room to do other than to follow the procedures - and there are a ton of those. When one of the warning lights in the warning light panel goes off, they are told to do nothing for 30 seconds and determine what it may mean. Out comes the checklist. PF tells PM to go through the checklist and PIC decides what needs to be done - include telling PM what to do if the PF is busy flying the airplane (aviate, navigate, communicate). Their training goes so far as to sound like a knuckle gets rapped if something is touched without significant (my emphasis) purpose and outside of a checklist. During his PIC (PF) ride, he had to demonstrate, amongst other things, his ability to monitor the systems, react appropriately to situations (including system warnings), call for the PM to initiate checklists, and decide on appropriate actions from options provided in the checklists. There were three in the simulator. Him, the instructor playing PM and the DE. When he finished (and passed) that ride, he did his PM ride. Same people, but now he is in the right seat and his instructor let nothing go without calling for the examination of a checklist whenever an issue came up - here it was him selecting, reading and recommending the options. He passed obviously, but it seemed kind of sad to me. I am not bemoaning our adherence to checklists, or following the magenta line because we now have the ability to do that, or letting George do a lot of the work (because George is reasonably good at that), or not immediately reacting when an issue arises, or adhering to procedures that ostensibly call for pilots to trust their systems to do the flying job for them. What saddens me is the apparent impediment to "fiddle" with things when we want to do something better, faster, higher, stronger, etc. I am a "fiddler." Lean of Peak, CHTs, EGTs, trim to help my STEC 50, RPM and power to set for 65%, or 70% when considering the "Red Box." Flying is a technical activity, wrapped up in an artistic package of just plain loving the feeling of being airborne. I fly a Mooney and I already have bragging rights because of that. Having to sit on my hands in the cockpit to keep from touching things because the procedures call for me to do that - seems sad to me. Just not me. My Mooney deserves to be tweaked while flying. That activity enhances the enjoyment of the motion transmitted from the wings to my backside. I may not be "flying," with the same hands-on approach we use in formation training, but it is still flying. Oh well. Now if the weather can just clear enough for me to shovel the snow from in front of it, and get it airborne for an hour or two.

+1 on the ear moulds and got a set for my girl who flies with me too. Mine are ugly yellow. Hers are cute pink.

Or.... "How to stall a Mooney in 20 different and exciting ways." Every time I take one of these MAPA safety clinics they find one more way to scare the living daylights out of me.

Allen: You are not going to make her drive it all the way to Oshkosh are you?

Looks like I was wrong. Learn something every day.

Minot and Rapid City should be ok. They are both Class D airspace and they are not under a Mode C veil. Not so for Fargo though. Says TRSA on the IFR enroute chart. Probably means Class B and/or C. Means it is Rule airspace for which ADSB Out will probably be required. Sorry....

Mufflerbearing: Thank you for the kind words and I wish you success in living up to your own expectations. I can tell that you are probably the kind of person you wish to be. I will also tell you that those of us who served will not (mostly) judge our own citizens as being worthy or not of the individual and collective effort of our folks in uniform. All are worthy - and we tend to not differentiate. In a democracy we trust you to elect the civilians that provide our leadership and oversight. We serve whomever you elected and we will not ever attempt to change that. If we did, it would no longer be a democracy. I have seen all sides of this proposition in service around the world - in uniform and out of it. I like how we do it better than the way it is done using other approaches. If I were to have one request for you - it would be to help maintain that approach from within. We look to the outside and face those challenges. That is what we signed up for. But we look to you to keep the democratic process alive from within. We cannot get involved, other than to cast our vote (a small percentage of the overall electorate) because the use of military force ("extension of government policy by other means") does not bode well for the maintenance of a democracy. We have all seen the stories of how it goes in other nations and I have seen some of that first hand. I will not attempt to influence how you vote or for whom to vote. I served, so I remain apolitical, and I will not get involved in politics. But if you are committed to the maintenance of the democracies (I am from Canada) we serve, then I am sure you will do whatever is best for you, for your family and for your nation. In paraphrasing an old saw "they also serve who stand and wait" (in reference to the loved ones we left behind at home), I will say to you "they also serve who stand and vote." Thank you for your service.

Cyril How did you get them to generate the report? My paperwork is in the computer just behind yours. Guess who is in the shop today.

Or lengthened the nose gear?