Immelman

Keep in mind that the temperature error may still be there with a digital probe fed to your favorite instrument. The error is called ram rise and is a function of airspeed. Although not significant at Mooney speeds, it is worth a few degrees. Its one reason why in a turbine airplane (and at resultant speeds), icing is considered in visible moisture below total air temperature (TAT) of +10C. I would contend that our OAT probes display something close to TAT.

Lots of things. My Mooney is great! Its also old. And the engine/prop are approaching TBO. I am not a part of a cult, sorry... Minding my operating budget: Super Decathlon (new), Citabria (new), Cirrus (new), Bonanza newer and/or updated with new engine, RV-10.. Fantasy land where operating cost is no concern: Add King Air, PC12, TBM to the list

Wind is a friend of the plains in springtime.... its just how it is. Thunderstorms? Probably will not be a huge issue in spring (i.e. long solid lines). Stay VMC, see, avoid, no big deal. Deviate early = not that big of a way around. Make that decision the day-of, not based on a theoretical forecast days out. Deviate late = more of a pain in the ass. In other words, look at the weather an hour before you takeoff and decide which way you'll point the nose to start out. Maybe its direct, maybe its north, maybe south. Pick out a refuel stop (if needed) and go from there. Have a good trip.

3 more T&Gs today, before the full-stop. 3 of the 4 landings were power off. In a nice crosswind. Two I picked a spot and tried to hit it, got pretty close. Last time flying, 2 T&Gs, 3 ldgs, a more solid x-wind, had some fun rolling one main on, then the other, then 'go' without the nosewheel ever touching.... enough wind that half-flaps were used on every one. What fun!

My daughter is 3. She has a big head. She did not care for flying too much in the youth headset I bought for her. After all the Mooney is loud. I tried my Bose X.. and surprisingly it fit her 3 year old head rather well. Guess what? She enjoys flying a lot more now, and I feel much more at ease about not screwing up her hearing. My 20 cents - get a good ANR headset on them as soon as their noggin will fit in it. When she was an infant, the "baby banz" thing they sell on Amazon seemed to do OK.

Meanwhile I am reading stories of vastly inflated prices across the piston GA market in the past year due to demand and decreased inventory. How did 2020 affect the vintage Mooney market???

Let us know what you figure out about Panamint. With the NPS' proposed closure of Stovepipe Wells, I flew out there (And to a bunch of other places in the Mojave) a couple weeks ago and was tempted - very temptet to do a touch and go on a road out there but I held off. I flew nearby on my way to Trona... part of the land at all CA airports project

As great as our airplanes are they are LOUD inside. ANR is worth it. Hearing loss is not.

Looks like a beak strike, too. There goes another one, driving up everyone's insurance rates.

PDC is not CPDLC CPDLC is great for oceanic flights where the alternative is HF going through airinc. I dont think its necessary for GA flights where you are in VHF comms.

About your dad's vaccine reaction - this is 2nd hand from a buddy of mine in his late 60s/early 70s: He volunteered to be on the astra zenica vaccine trial. He got the shots. Minimal side effects. But he suspected it was not the placebo. Later he was un-blinded, and they confirmed he was given the real vaccine.. Now for whatever reason, he decided to go get one of the other vaccines (pfizer or moderna). Shot #1: Significant reaction. In bed with fever/chills for multiple days. It sounds to me (pilot, not doctor) like the immune system in your dad is working well, as it is in my friend.

Nice! Did you request it or was it just given? I did once in a turboprop Beech going into Show Low. I think the ultimate ultimate clearance is "cruise through" for a short stop. Never managed to score that one.

The airplane -- structurally -- doesn't know its attitude. It knows angle of attack, airspeed, load factor. So with that in mind you can do things without hurting an airplane that is defined as aerobatic by the FAR. Tex Johnson demonstrated this famously in the 707 back in the day. I would have serious reservations about whether a mooney could do a vertical maneuver (loop/split s/cuban) without damaging it. But consider the consequences. A small screw up can easily put the airplane into a state where the AoA, airspeed, load factor, are easily exceeded. We fly slick airplanes. It will not take much of a vertical deviation to exceed limits. We also fly airplanes that don't spin well. Do yourself a favor, if interested, and get some instruction in an aerobatic aircraft from a good instructor. You'll take away a lot from it. Without fucking up your plane or killing yourself. I would hope you'd come away realizing that there is nothing magical about bank angle. About how to recover from upsets. About how quickly things can change, and how you should not be doing this in a Mooney. CFI/ATP/did a bunch of basic aerobatics many years ago in Citabrias

I can't help but just wanted to chime in to jump on and say the FAA sucks and is wrong with this one (when they changed how slow slow flight should be). Done the right way, stall horn blaring, an occasional buffet, right on the edge, the induced drag is sufficient to avoid the red RPM arc. And I agree about the 99 knots thing. I mean a vintage mooney cruises in the yellow if you want to. What is "slow". Sorry. Ranting!

Can't help you on the proper lengths (but sometimes the parts catalog offers a clue). If its qty 2 of the same part.... they should be equal length. What I can tell you is that people do screw it up replacing parts. I just changed my hoses between engine and oil cooler. It was a good thing I went with the numbers in the parts catalog and what precision hose had on file... the prior (replaced) hoses had one that was 3" off, and the installer routed it strangely to accomodate, creating rub and wear and other issues.

I used pick to remove the sealant that fills the little channel between wing skin and top of access panel. Then a putty knife. Its not that hard to remove. But I say that after having done it a few times. Go slow. Patience is a virtue. The panel under the wing walk is a lot more difficult due to fuel tank sealant holding it in (Because it is stepped on) vs access panel sealant. The cleaning and prep work to re-install the panel properly is substantial. It is easy to have the knife go too far and nick some sealant in the tank, past the edge of the panel. be careful of that.

Ok interesting thanks. Late last year both my governor and oil hoses started leaking, and those were creating a big mess like you describe. The sump gasket - FOR NOW - makes enough to have some oil on the bottom of the sump after 2-4 hours flying, without much of that beginning to drip down to the bottom of the cowl. It sounds like its a lot less than you are dealing with. Of course it won't get better...

Vance - my engine has 17 yrs/almost 1800 hours. Same situation, bottom end good, cylinders look good, but soft seals giving out. This year I've chased down a bunch of oil leaks. But I've got one pesky leak in the same area (sump gasket). Have already done: Rocker covers done a long time ago, induction, oil drainback, prop governor OH recently, oil hoses to the cooler.... We haven't touched the oil pan yet. That seems like the last one. Just curious, have you tried anything? Re-torquing, exterior sealants (I'm assuming nothing along that gasket is pressurized)??

OK with me, but to be fair, gotta call that 1918 pandemic the Kansas flu. ... As for me: Sign me up for the shot! But at age 40, it will be a while. "Essential" (transportation) job.... sounds like that stuff may be brushed aside in favor of going by age, which is probably better.

Have your buddy make sure the tapes are pulled/saved. Based on the information provided, the controller screwed up. Now if the clearance was, say, cleared xyz approach runway 9, circle runway 18, that would be different....

I can think of one airline captain I've worked with who was an IA, and further had a side-hustle doing pitot-static inspections. As for me.... ATP, no A&P, no IA - but looking down the road, I am thinking building an RV is likely. Enough has been done to the 'vintage' Mooney to make me comfortable taking that step, and it would be a multi-year project but would end with a new airframe and the ability to legally sign for my own work, not to mention the better / lower cost avionics.

3m strip caulk... dirty hands... no leaks.

Welcome! M20E was my first airplane. Still have it, 13+ years later. Old machines and not getting any younger. They are a lot of fun, but time consuming. gsxr.... I respectfully disagree about the Arrow in one key aspect: Altitude performance. The normally aspirated arrow is an absolute dog at any significant density altitude. Our Mooneys have wonderful wings for flying high...

They're in the QRH under "unreliable airspeed indication"... and a good training program will go through scenarios that have you use that and practice, as well as giving some easy pitch/power/altitude #s to use as a starting point. I am newer to the bus and did not touch it until well after AF went into the drink, so I cannot comment on how the manuals were prior to that incident... but it is there now.

Boy that reminds me of another option... the MD80 magnetic compass. In back of the cockpit, seen with a rear view mirror. If its good enough for Douglas why not for us mounted in the hat rack?