flight2000

Do newer Mooney's have a low fuel warning light? I've never seen one, but would certainly be something that is handy. We have them in new cars, but something simple like this would take years to get through our FAA certification process... Kelty, great job getting it down and sharing the experience with us. With 10 gallons in the tank and not being able to go 30 miles, wonder if you had an unknown tank leak somewhere that robbed more fuel than you were burning through the engine. That should have been plenty of gas to make that short of a trip. Cheers, Brian

Sounds to me like you need a new muffler....the Clarity Alofts were just letting you know... Cheers, Brian P.S. I will NEVER go back to the head clamps....coming from a happy Halo user....

Go to the upper right and click on your name. The ignored users will be in the drop down menu. Click on that and then add the name. Cheers, Brian

Cool, thanks Seth. Target date to move the plane is June 30, arriving July 1st at KFCI where I'll be based. We start the drive across the country from Reno on July 14th. Not looking forward to that 5 day adventure.... Cheers, Brian

Astra, Have you ever flown out this way before in a GA plane? Don't be afraid of the Sierras in the winter months. Just pick the days you cross based on the weather and winds aloft (anything above 35 knots at 11,000 and above is setting yourself up for a bad day). I prefer the I-80/Donner Pass corridor because there are airports along the way (TRK, BLU, GOO, E35, AUN, etc). Cross anywhere else in the area and nothing but rocks, trees, and lakes. I use 10,500 westbound and 11,500 eastbound unless there is no wind, then I'll cross westbound at 9,500. I fly this route almost every weekend and never been surprised with a pop up storm during the winter months. I've found Reno and the northern NV area to be a lot more bumpy in the summer than the winter, I can tell you that from experience.... I flew the valley from Hawthorne, NV to Bishop, CA to China Lake (Inyokern Airport) at 10,500' last week and these are the Mountains between Bishop and the San Fernando Valley. Almost like the mountains to the east of Salt Lake City.....very tall and pointy... Cheers, Brian

Flew 129.6 hours in 2016 Hope for 150+ hours in 2017 Passed the ASEL Commercial check ride in December. Sold the Mooney at the end of August... Bought the cough...Bo...cough...4 days later. Will move the plane from Reno, NV to Richmond, VA at the end of June. Moving again... Cheers, Brian

Mid-air collision at T31 near McKinnely, TX today. Looks like an Arrow hit a Luscombe and cut the tail off while in the pattern. RIP to the pilots and prayers for the families of those involved. Stay safe out there. This is one of my worst nightmares around uncontrolled airports... http://www.dallasnews.com/news/collin-county/2016/12/31/least-one-likely-dead-small-plane-collision-mckinney Brian

Okay, fine.... I was paying $597 a month for this one at Reno before one of the smaller ones opened up. Could have parked a King Air in there... Cheers, Brian

Of all those airports you listed, I'd bet a fair number have hangars that have stuff other than aviation related items stored in them. I flew into Cable a few months ago to drop of the Mooney to the new owner and the airport looked more like an RV storage lot and junk yard than an airport. It was really sad.... Brian

This is the kind of crap that typically gets me upset (and that's pretty hard to do for the most part...). The airports need to take better control of this and make hangars available for those that actually HAVE planes. It's cool that you found him and it's worked out in your case, but folks that are new to the area or are patiently waiting get punished by homesteaders that don't have aircraft. WTH.... Cheers, Brian

$426 a month at KRNO and that includes electricity. No property taxes associated with the hangar rental. Lot's of services in the Class C and fuel is cheaper as a tenant ($1.60 off the advertised price). Already dreading the move to VA this coming summer and their wonderful 2% tax that is waiting for me even though I won't be a VA resident... Brian

I get to move back to the zoo in July. Heading to Richmond, VA (Fort Lee) for my next job so will get to be immersed in the craziness again. I'll probably end up filing IFR a lot more and still fly high (> 9K). I forgot to mention in my last post that when I brought the plane back to Reno from Saint Louis on an IFR flight plan, I had to call Salt Lake Center twice to make sure they still had me while coming across Wyoming on V6 between Cheyenne and Fort Bridger. I went a solid 30 minutes with nothing. No airliners, no other traffic...nothing but silence. Kind of freaky....but radio traffic did pick up as I got closer to SLC though. Never hear anything like that in the midwest or east. Cheers, Brian

As many have already said, it all depends on location and your area. Out here in the wild, wild west I rarely see any traffic and sometimes can go for an hour or more without seeing a house or gasp...a car...once I'm out of Reno. If I'm heading to the NoCal or SoCal area, that's a different story. I'll normally pick up radar advisories out of Reno and stay with ATC until I get to my destination on the coast or in the San Fernando Valley. If I'm heading east, north, or south of Reno, I lose radar coverage with OAK Center because I'm below the bigger rocks in those areas and radio communication usually gets dropped as well, but it's not really a big deal with the amount of traffic (or lack there of...) out here. So for me, it all depends on where I'm at, where I'm heading, and if I really need that extra set of eyes watching me. Even then, you have to keep the Mark IV eyeballs outside as ATC services are still provided by a human sitting at a computer and prone to make mistakes as we have seen in the past.... Cheers, Brian

Next time you're in the back yard, shake the money tree a little harder for those of us that are still slummin it in gyro land... Someday, I'll bump up to glass and not have to worry about it. Today is not that day though.... Cheers, Brian

Here's a good article from Mike Bush on why pre-heating your engine is a really good thing for longevity. http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182846-1.html Anything below 40 Fahrenheit and I'm flipping on the Reiff Pre-Heater on the engine before heading to the airport. All of the cylinder heads and the oil is up to about 70F after about 3 hours. I have a Switchbox which allows me to turn on the system with my iPhone and the Switchbox App from home. Cheers, Brian

Remember that starting the instrument gyros in your cold soaked cabin is just as bad as starting the engine without preheat. I always throw a small space heater on the pilots side to get some warm air forced up behind the panel while I preflight the plane. Even a short 15-20 minutes will help. Just some food for thought.... Cheers, Brian

Heater has been sold!. Thanks! Cheers, Brian

Best answer I can give is call the FAA FSDO that is closest to your current location and talk to them about what may qualify and how to document that experience. They are the best resource. Their are certain MOS's that will apply, but not sure if the maintenance warrants fall into that category. In the mean time, here's a good place to start. It will make your head hurt.... http://fsims.faa.gov/wdocs/8900.1/v05 airman cert/chapter 05/05_005_002rev1.htm B. Evaluating Military Experience. With exception to the JSAMTCC A&P certification program experience gained from the military, work as an airframe or powerplant mechanic, or work on an experimental, amateur-built aircraft will receive evaluations on its own merits to determine whether it fulfills the experience requirements. When evaluating military experience, ASIs and ASTs are not to accept MOSs, AFSCs, or NECs “carte blanche” as qualifications to experience as per § 65.77. Even if the MOS suggests authorization for the airframe, powerplant, or both A&P certificates, the inspector will only endorse FAA Form 8610-2, Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application, after ensuring, by a thorough interview and detailed review of records, that the person qualifies under § 65.77. Cheers and good luck! Brian P.S. I'm a former 67R (now 15R) that didn't know better and failed to apply for an A&P before getting a Green-to-Gold Scholarship.....

Hmmm, nope. I keep getting the "Meet Russian Woman" ad on mine. Not nearly as distracting as that photo though..... Cheers, Brian

The guys (2 of them) that run Skywagons are very straight up and are easy to work with. I've been there several times (especially when I was looking to upgrade this past summer) and they are very accurate with their listings from what I saw. They sell a lot of airplanes and two disappeared from under me....good folks to work with. The day I was there, they had a company detailing and waxing that M20F. I only took a cursory look at it from a distance though since I was looking for something a little bigger. The owner of Skywagons (Mark P.) has a very nice M20J hangared at Placerville, so he has good taste. Cheers, Brian

1967 M20E - 914 lbs useful - w/Full Fuel useful = 602 lbs (52 gallons) Comparison from J/K/R models I looked at this summer (still have my notes): 1984 M20K 231 - 883 lbs useful; w/Full Fuel = 433 lbs (75 gallons) 1987 M20K 252TSE - 806 lbs useful; w/Full Fuel = 356 lbs (75 gallons) 1985 M20J - 876 lbs useful; w/Full Fuel = 492 lbs (64 gallons) 1998 M20R - 1037 lbs useful; w/Full Fuel = 503 lbs (89 gallons) Cheers, Brian

Agreed. What is it with some folks thinking they "own" the airport. Only really see this in the rural areas, but still amazes me.... Brian

Hmm, would have the thought the extra weight of the IO550 on the nose would have helped the CG a little. Have to rethink my strategy when it comes time for overhaul in a few years. I have an excel spreadsheet that calculates the full CG range from full fuel to empty and the associated CG graph, so that helps make planning much easier. Had the same type of W&B spreadsheet for the E and the fuel burn did go the opposite direction and never had to worry about. Cheers, Brian

Oh, for those that might care (or not...), I'm not playing one side versus the other. I do the same thing over on BeechTalk when they start getting stupid about Mooney's. There are a few members here that are also members over there (and they know who they are.... ). There's a lot of bias out there and someone has to keep the facts straight.... lol! Cheers, Brian

What year model was that? Just the like the newer J models (around '85 on), the F33A became flying pigs as they got fatter and useful load went down. At least that is what I saw when I was shopping for a J this summer. Some of the late model J's I looked at were sub-880 useful load. My current ride is 1174, which is 260 pounds more than my 67E. I have not seen a CG issue in my '68 E33A except when I stick four 200+ pounders in the seats and try to carry more than 50 gallons of gas (74 useable). Trade off is no room for baggage. However, stick my family of four plus 150 pounds of crap in there and I've never even sniffed the back of the CG envelope, even with full fuel. Bottom line, I choose my friends wisely.... Cheers, Brian