flight2000

Here's the recording - skip to roughly the 22:08 minute mark for the first call from the Arrow. http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kb...2019-1500Z.mp3 The Arrow pilot seemed to be in complete control to me. A simple event turned into a show for our "hero" instructor. *Edited to add: I never did hear the Arrow pilot ask for the unsolicited help he got. Brian

I had about the same performance as Bob started this thread with in my 67E. I spent about 16 months flying in and around Reno (4,415' field elevation) and had no problems. If flying IFR, ask for a block altitude and ride the up and down drafts. I found the airspeed swings a little to concerning sometimes between Salt Lake City and Reno to try and maintain assigned altitudes. ATC generally didn't have any issues giving me a 2,000' block with me sandwiched in the middle. I've found the Appalachian chain to be more foothills than true mountains after flying out west for just over two years.... I mean come on, Mt Mitchell in NC is only 6,685' and that's the tallest point east of the Mississippi......Donner Pass on I-80 crosses at 7,000 feet, in a car.... Having said that, the wave action and weather can be just as treacherous in eaither place if you're not watching out for it. Best time to fly is generally in the morning before 1100. I stayed on the ground if wind speeds got above 30 knots across the ridge lines. Also, don't forget to adjust the mixture before take off at the higher elevations. I generally pulled the red knob out about 1 knuckle's worth on my index finger when taking off from Reno. If density Altitude is really high, pull it out a smidge further and listen to the engine, it'll tell you if you're too rich or too lean. Each engine will be different, so that is just general guidance. Going to Sedona is a fairly easy trip with great scenery. The route I used along the northern parts of the Rockies followed V6 for the most part. Didn't have to go above 12,000 except to cross into Salt Lake City near Ogden, UT. You could fly west comfortably at 8,000' from there following I-80 or lower in some places. Mostly open desert out that way with few trees. Couple of posts I did going both directions: Cheers, Brian

Pilot officially identified. https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/05/31/officials-identify-pilot-lawrence-klimek-cape-may-plane-crash/ Brian

...and at the fuel pump, I think the E model is the best... Cheers, Brian

Where are you located? All American Aircraft near San Antonio, TX is a great place to start: http://www.allamericanaircraft.com/brokerage.htm Strategic Aircraft up in Minnesota: http://strategicaircraft.com/ Then there is Air-Mods in New Jersey that is an MSC and sells Mooney's on occasion: https://www.airmodsflightcenter.com/adverts Delta Aviation in Utah: http://deltaaviation.com/ No affiliation, just throwing out some resources to start with although I've pestered Jimmy Garrison enough at All American, that I really do need to buy an aircraft from them at some point as payback for all of his patience. Cheers, Brian

After living with my M20E in Reno for about 18 months before selling it for a bigger plane, my personal preference would be something with a turbo and possibly FIKI or inadvertent deice capability (thinking M20K or TLS/Bravo). Winter is brutal for icing and clouds seem to hang out just above the mountains. I'd want the turbo to be able to get higher faster, especially in the higher elevations with heat issues in the summer. It can all be manageable with a NA bird if your schedules are flexible and you have the time to wait for good weather, but those two added features above would make it so much easier (and comfortable) to find the "go" days. There are plenty of passes to get you through the Rockies and Sierra Nevada's safely though. Those routes are just not as plentiful. Just depends on what you want to spend. Cheers, Brian

Not this Grumman.....oh, you were talking about his little brothers.... Cheers, Brian

Shoot, you've also got some really sketchy pilots there that like to land on taxiways instead of the runway... Cheers, Brian

Have you seen some of the winds aloft over the last couple months? I've seen 80-90 kts as low as 7000' in the Virginia area. Catch one of those as a tail wind and you can easily hit 200 kts GS in a Cherokee, all the while showing about 115 KIAS. Has nothing to do with the prop, engine, or airframe - it's all about moving with the air mass. A Mooney or my Travel Air will be moving even faster than that since we are capable of higher indicated airspeeds which is how Shadrach got to 246 knots GS (which is totally amazing by the way....). Going the other direction, well, he may run out of gas before getting home and the cars on the highway below will be passing him.... Brian

That is a big issue that really scares me the most when leaving the plane somewhere overnight or when leaving it with maintenance shops. Damage to the airplane that was not caused by the owner. In the last few months I've seen a rash of these: - Lineman plowed into a Cherokee with a tug, bending the prop and wrinkling the firewall - Aircraft falling off jacks during retract testing - Mechanic falling of the wing walk and damaging the flap and piercing the wing with a screwdriver - Over steering when towing, bending the nose truss (it's not just Mooney's either) It goes on and on....I get it, accidents happen, but I just hope I'm covered and the shop/person doing the damage makes it right. Great article Parker. Looking forward to the rest. Brian

I had to dig a little deeper but see that there was further clarification and you are correct. I'd still be concerned about any of the California (pick one) FSDO's making up their own interpretation and making life miserable. They've never done that before have they... https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/practice_areas/regulations/interpretations/data/interps/2015/greenwood-fly by knight - (2015) legal interpretation.pdf So, no 100-hour inspection required for just renting. Cheers, Brian

When I got my new iPhone 7 last year I had to change the settings to take jpg format photos instead of the newer default HEIC (High Efficiency) that Apple has gone to. Not many photo editors support the newer HEIC format yet. https://imazing.com/guides/how-to-convert-heic-to-jpeg Cheers, Brian

Hate to throw this out there, but hopefully you're already familiar with the FAA's definition of "for hire" and are in compliance with the applicable regs (i.e. 100 hour inspections, must have a working landing light for nighttime ops, life vests available if over extended water, etc..). Not as easy as just saying come rent my plane if you want. Not overly taxiing, but it is different than normal part 91 flights that you as the owner can make. Cheers, Brian

Just need to know when and where. Brian

Any chance a former Mooney driver can get added to the fly-in list? @201er Cheers, Brian

Clarence, you may need a timeout just for posting those electrons...oh the humanity..... Please don't encourage him.... Brian

He left. Can't remember which post, but said he was done and moving on... Cheers, Brian

Did they move or did you mean Willmar, Minnesota? Brian

I hate dropping off my airplane for that reason, but have little choice unless I take off a week of work or just work on the weekends which usually means a month of down time for an owner assisted annual. When I hear the excuse from the shop highlighted above, I just remind them that the insurance claim after they kill someone for poor maintenance (if proven) will more than likely put them out of business, not to mention wreck the lives of a least one or more families along the way. They are responsible for training and supervising their new hires, period. I fail to believe they can't hire newly trained A&P's at a decent wage either. Is the overhead for a shop charging $85-$100 an hour really that high? Pay better and you'll get better help. Treat them well and they won't leave for greener pastures at the first opportunity. The military trains 18 year olds how to maintain everything from nuclear reactors (scary, I know...) to helicopters, but they have adult supervision looking over their shoulder every step of the way before cutting them loose on their own. It's not that hard to say here's the manual, you know and understand the basics, go replace/troubleshoot XYZ on N12345 and come get me when you: a. run into something you don't understand or b. finish the task and I can come check your work before continuing. That's how I became very proficient at maintaining Apache's for the Army as a 19 year old. My NCO's and Maintenance Warrant's were there to teach, guide, and inspect. Same should hold true in any maintenance shop in the civilian sector. Another area of emphasis - the seats. I picked up my Travel Air from it's annual and found both front seats were not installed correctly. Mine aren't as bad as a Mooney, meaning I can still reach everything in the full back position and the seats won't come off the rails with the way they were designed. I've gone through 10 annuals now as an owner and had the seats installed incorrectly twice in the Mooney, once in the Bonanza, and now once in the Travel Air. Not a great average and this does nothing for my confidence with those shops, which I've never used again. My current shop in Richmond is much, much better, but I'm paying for that with higher rates. In the end, I'm actually okay with that because they've earned my confidence. I still check on them though... Sometimes we, the owners, are our own worst enemy because we tend to be really CSOB's sometimes... I also loved walking up to my Mooney and seeing the top cowling totally installed wrong with DZUS fasteners missing and/or not secured...apparently it takes some type of rocket science to get that sucker installed correctly....how hard is it to take a step back and say "that don't look right"...... Cheers, Brian

You can do that? Brian

FlyQ only runs the lifetime subscription offer once per year after Thanksgiving. Last year, Steve said they were getting close to the ceiling that they set for the number of those available, so who knows how the FF->Boeing marriage will change their thought process. Cheers, Brian

Oh, that's an interesting thought/problem set. Haven't had any back seaters in the "new" plane yet, so this could be a problem with the GMA340. Never had that issue with the PS audio panels I've had in the past, so I may be doing some swapping around if mine acts that way as well. Will know more once I test out that in the near future. Thanks for the info! Brian

Just curious, what was the issue and how old are the radios? I was having an issues where I'd almost have to yell into the mic to get the audio panel to pick up my voice before dummy me realized the squelch switch on the GMA340 was set to high. Once I adjusted that, all is good. It was irritating until I figured it out though. The GMA340 is "new" to me, so I'm having some growing pains after using PS Engineering stuff for a really long time.... Cheers, Brian

I only get one oil change per case as well.....but I am changing two engines... Thanks for the info on PSC, just added them to my favorites and ordered two cases. Cheers, Brian

I agree as well and I'm glad others don't share his opinion on reporting. Pilot's on the East Coast driving everything report everything which gives a great picture of what's going on up there. This is just from Charlotte yesterday, but I see it all the time when I pick up my reports for the D.C. and Richmond areas. I had a very senior, crusty old (and I mean that affectionately ) CFII/MEI tell me a long time ago that forecast icing is just that - a forecast. It changes to known icing when someone actually picks it up and reports it. It changes that fast and even within a few miles left or right of your course. If this had been a weekend, you'd see more singles reporting.