Immelman

I experienced no issues just kicking out the crab. Works great. Very little need for any roll input unless it was near limits. Given that its been nearly a year since I've flown Fifi I have trouble remembering exactly where I'd kick it out, but I seem to recall it was after the round-out began... quite late, so I must have been in the flare pitch law, or whatever they call it.... but I am an FO with 2500hrs on the bus, sounds impressive to GA pilots but as you know that is not all that much time in line flying, so take my comments with a grain of salt Some folks liked to use a little sidestick input to help grease their landings.... one MLG down, delaying full ground spoilers, and all that. Cheaters

Wants vs needs. How much utility do you need? If you can fly direct fix /G and shoot an ILS you are more than well enough equipped for training. If your home field, or a frequent destination, has low IFR frequently and an approach where WAAS gets you in, but no ILS or other suitable approach with low minimums, then there utility. Will you be flying in conditions like that often? Wants vs needs. What would that money do invested? How much is each approach worth??? Get your training done, get some real IFR flying, in see how much you'll really do, and then decide. How about this equation: Panel upgrade cost / # of approaches flown with new equipment that you could not do with your existing equipment / year. Is it $100 per approach? $1000? $10,000? I am going to take a wild ass guess that it is somewhere north of $1000 per approach. You can decide if its worth it to you. And I think the optimal sequence would probably be avionics, interior, paint. Avionics will require removing interior. Avionics may require antenna replacement.

Dan I should have clarified - the liability insurance still seems somewhat reasonable. I was questioning what determines someone's resistance point to dropping hull coverage and going liability only.

Check this out: https://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com/ They have detailed PDF files showing the dimensions of the fasteners they sell. Very useful for identifying parts.

It raises the question again...how much is too much? When does one choose to self-insure and drop hull? How many hours a year... How many $ / hr for that hull coverage...

To #1, yes a few times over.

Another variable.. how does the fatality rate vary with flying experience? See "the killing zone" book See the FARs and how much time is required for 135 IFR PIC, for an ATP, etc..

I'd like to finish -- or get close to finishing -- my goal of landing at all public airports in California. I figure I've already done more than half (and most of the fun ones, but a few cool ones remain), why not collect them all? 4 trips ought to do it, but there is a seasonal element to it. We'll see how it works out with this covid situation for this winter. 138 down, 110 to go....maybe more than 4 trips.

I have hiked near where he went in. I have flown around there, too, taking photos of some of my favorite alpine lakes and mountain terrain. On a nice calm day with sufficient altitude one could glide to a number of safe landing sites. Then that gear might come in handy. But around the rocks, next to them, with some wind, and you are like a leaf getting tossed where ever, which is what sounds like what happened to Steve.

I don't understand the fixation on IFR flying over the mountains in a piston single..... unless its the I Follow Roads variety. I40 from ABQ, hang a left around the meteor crater, or Show Low., or Flagstaff (hey, Sedona area looks really cool from the air). But there are lots of ways to do it. Philosophically I am with @KLRDMD... VFR is better. If IFR is used as a traffic avoidance technique, then file from some fix near PHX and pickup in the air after most of your trip is behind you...

About the only good thing (These days) about a vacuum AI is that the R&R is pretty easy and should not be time consuming. If you do keep it, it might be wise to consider replacing the vacuum system's filters as well, if they weren't done recently. Those were more effort to change because of the other junk nearby back there. Also have a good look at your hoses... one vacuum line to my gauge was turning itself into rubber swiss cheese a number of years ago.... who knows, maybe that would solve your problem?

Nice work, I wish you many years of enjoyable flying without that kind of trouble ever again!

I am 6'3" 34" length pants and fit well in my E. I would take a look at the seat rails in the airplanes you are looking at.... apparently Mooney produced some with more seat travel than others. With that said the extra room of an F would be nice.

It could be a rainy day computer project to recreate the card in the correct dimensions in a word processor or power point.

Yup. Depends on the airplane. And the reasons for using partial flaps in the Airbus are much the same as in the Mooney: Heavy, gusty winds, windshear, high crosswind, and runway to spare. Also saves a bit of fuel, and some operators have advocated for that in the past when every drop or kerosene was being carefully counted. It is another tool in the toolbox. With that said, its maybe 1 landing in 10 done that way.

My parts manual calls that an "arm and shaft assembly" (26) and contains a valve. Looks like it controls another duct (27) that enters/exits that plenum on the top of it. I replaced the ducting in my 66E and cannot remember that part, or a duct on top. Can look later. Unfortunately I'm having issues marking up a PDF of the parts diagram. The "top" duct in the manual goes to a radio cooling thing (28) which resembles a small radiator or air discharge vent located forward of the radio stack. My plane has that cooling thing, but I don't recall if its still connected to fresh air because of prior avionics work that included a cooling fan back there. Perhaps this was optionally opened or closed depending on how the aircraft was originally equipped??

Have you had a look at AC 43-13, in the electrical section? It is... a bit time consuming to understand all the graphs, but I think worthwhile to select the correct conductor. Factors include... ...current ...maximum altitude ...length ...# of wires in the bundle

I would do the MEI as it is an easy add-on, and then self-study, or hire a CFI (well, one that isn't threatened by competition) to get you back up to speed on the rest. Apparently the FAA has this newfangled "ACS" to pay attention to now-a-days. With that said I do not have first-hand knowledge of a reinstatement, I've kept mine alive with a FIRC.

AOA was cheaper last time I looked (and they still are, $10 cheaper, postage included with the sample kit). But they don't write you a nice little story, only boring numbers and historical graphs to see trends. Boo hoo.

I carry patches for my bike inner tubes. They work! Even at higher pressures, 70psi, 120psi road bike... Then I bought a newer mountain bike, things have moved on, now its tubeless with some goop inside that seals punctures. Too bad aviation doesn't move on easily.

- Stay out of airline work on leave through the summer, so we can - Fly to Oshkosh (After we get our shots) - Take the kid airplane camping more (shots or not). - Install a new engine monitor certified as primary and get rid of the old stuff - Have a job and company to return to - Have my domicile to return to

FYI - I was told (and surprised to learn) that some vintage (short body, specifically E models) had more seat holes and thus travel than others. Mine has more than 3 holes. So the limited seat movement the OP experienced might have been particularly acute in the airplane he tried. It would be worth looking into whether the longer bodies had similar variations.

As someone who just recently had their governor ovehauled.... It could also be the high RPM set-screw on the governor that limits control cable travel. That one's pretty easy to investigate. +1 to get a second instrument (my IA loaned an optical tach) to verify how close the ship's tachometer is to reality.

Looking forward to your pirep takair... This annual (a month ago): Re-installing MLG wheel dust cap after after wheel R&R: Whooooooosh. That was from a nice Michelin leak guard tube. Stem cracked at the base. At least it had a decent service life. I wish had had the forethought you had to investigate alternatives as you are now.

The straight stem on the mains also seems wrong to me. The last couple flats I've had have been the stem getting torqued and failing where the stem meets the tube. And the tires were not underinflated!! I am very interested in what you figure out takair.