Jeff_S

Now you just get to dream about when you have a Mooney as your SECOND airplane! Good to see you last week, George. I’ve started working on my continuous turn landing patterns. It needs some work but I can see the potential benefit. I’ll keep practicing!

I’m at PDK and happy to show you how an Ovation fits. I’m 6’ 2” and have plenty of room. I’ve always thought the complaint about tight Mooney cockpits is complete malarkey. Just send me a PM and we can connect up.

Yes, myself and at least one other Mooney I heard on-freq got an impassioned plea from someone who described himself as the manager of the Tyndall Approach Control center, asking that we stagger departures so as to not put so much load on their system all at once. I think the problem was exacerbated by how quickly the weather came in after lunch...probably some that would have flown VFR chose to file IFR instead. My reply was “Roger that...I’ll pass it along. I think the weather caught everyone by surprise a little bit.” He thanked me and then passed me to Tallahassee Approach. So there...@Seth, one more thing to think about as you consider expanding for next year!

Ha! Pardon the reference to obscure old Steve Martin movies, but remember that scene in The Jerk where he is all excited because the phone books have been published and he can see his name in print? If you'll permit me a similar moment of pride, I am now a published aviation writer: https://airfactsjournal.com/2018/09/the-other-4-cs-of-aviation/ All that practice I've gotten at MooneySpace may finally start to bear fruit. Now all I need to do is figure out how to get paid for it!

Ah, yes...I wasn't factoring in the lower compression cylinders. Thanks!

Interesting numbers, although at 14.5K feet my Ovation will get 175 knots on 12.5 GPH so the performance is pretty close. Is 28/2400 really below the 65% hp recommended for LOP ops? It seems like if I’m pulling that in my NA engine I’m at a bigger HP. Admittedly, I have to be pretty low to see 28”!

I did not hesitate to take my J into soft fields if I was confident of conditions. Perhaps my concerns are unfounded, but I just feel like with all that extra weight on the nose it is much riskier to take in the Ovation. I would love to be able to...I really enjoy landing on turf. I’m actually hoping someone can give me their experience and confidence that I should give it a try.

My question would be, how did you get into the field in a long body? Not trying to be flip here, but how you got in would be a big determinant for how to get out. I have not landed my O3 on a soft field and would have to be very sure of the surface condition before I did. The extra weight up front just makes it seem very risky to me unless I knew the field was very high quality, like Triple Tree. And if the field is that smooth, then getting out isn’t going to be much different than a regular takeoff. I would be very interested to hear from any long body owners that do regularly use soft fields and what your experience is.

Kudos to O’Reilly Auto Parts for having a sense of humor. Now I better understand the sentiment behind their radio jingle (those who have heard can hum along): ”O, O, O O’Reillyyyyyyy, auto parts. Yow!”

Dare I ask what the status is here? Do we have the 15 no-deposit, no-risk PO’s into Genesys yet so we can get this scheduled?

Russ’s pic looks exactly like my engine page.

Hey Cruiser. I have the Savvy Pro package and they are constantly giving me the same alert about oil pressure. Mine is generally 68-70 in cruise with temps between 170-180. While this is high compared to the CMI guidance, it is in the middle of the green band on the G1000 gauge, and I have consulted numerous sources to determine if there’s really a problem. Everyone except Savvy says to leave it alone. My AP said it’s possible to adjust it down but requires some tweaking that really has no benefit. And Blackstone has nothing but good things to say with oil analyses ever 25-ish ours. One sure way to lower it is to just run with less oil. After a change I generally show 6 quarts and that’s when I see the pressures as above. But I generally let it run down to about 4.5 quarts before adding any more, and down at that level I will see in the mid 60s PSI in cruise. For those who care, I run Phillips 20W-50 year round.

Very interesting. Thanks Don. I had never seen it to such an extent because this is my first time flying so far out West where there are more coverage gaps. But I looked at a map of NEXRAD coverage and I see that the blank spots I was seeing yesterday correspond to gaps on that map. In fact, I see there is a small one in North Georgia/North Carolina mountains that I do fly over a lot. I remember having seen this before but it was such a small area I figured it was a momentary glitch. Learn something new...

For anyone who flies with a G1000, have you ever noticed an anomaly on the main moving map if NEXRAD data is missing. Flying the southwest route over El Paso into Arizona, I saw some big areas where it looked NEXRAD data was missing. But this seemed to take out the underlying topo of the base map. A picture is below. If I deselected NEXRAD from showing on the map, then the topo data reappeared. But if there was no NEXRAD then it blanked out the whole map for that section. Very weird. Anybody else ever see this?

So, I ended having to dodge weather all the way across Texas so my route didn’t allow me to try any of these places. Good thing I packed a couple of sandwiches. Although I will give props to Gainesville, TX (KGLE) for a friendly FBO and cheap gas. It was a bit bumpy in West Texas and into Arizona but tolerable. Fun descent down into Tucson valley.

Hey folks. Thanks for the tips...I'll definitely consider them all! I did spend some time at the factory last year when I was in San Antonio for a conference, so I've checked that one off my list.

This is the Gold edition of MS Flight Simulator for Windows computers. It is new in the original wrapping, and includes the Acceleration Expansion Pack. Since I'm a 100% Mac guy (don't boo me!) I never had a use for it. eBay has one listed for $79.99, but I'll offer it up here for $50 plus shipping. Let me know!

This is a first generation SPOT satellite tracker, in the original box with instructions, packaging. It was only used on Sundays by a little old lady in her Piper Cub...! But seriously, it spent its life nestled in my flight bag so it is in good condition, and was tested monthly right up until I took it out of service a few months ago. You can get a subscription for it through SPOT. I've seen them on eBay for $20 and up, but I'll offer it here for $15 plus shipping. Let me know!

Hey all, My trip from Atlanta to Tucson is coming up in just a week and a half (Aug 10-ish) and I’ve been looking at places I may want to stop for an afternoon or night, depending on WX or just a general desire to see something new. Abilene is just off my route, looks to have good gas prices and seems like an interesting town on TripAdvisor. Any “gotta have” BBQ or TexMex recommendations? Other cool things to do that would make it a worthwhile stop? Would love to hear all opinions, or recommendations for another stop in the general vicinity. Thx!

Thanks all. I am waiting to clear payment from the first interested buyer...if that doesn't come through I'll reach back out via PM. Cheers, Jeff

I have an ICOM IC-A6 portable transceiver for sale. This was a lightly-used unit I got off a friend who stopped taking lessons when his first kid was born. It works but does need a new battery, which is still easily purchasable for around $30. Asking $45 plus shipping. Let me know! Jeff

I have a 12-volt BatteryMINDer model 12248-AA-S1 for sale. This was used on a daily basis to keep the batter in my J model charged and it works great. Comes with the original box and accessories as shown in the picture. I saw one on eBay that was asking $130, new they are over $200. I'm asking $50 plus shipping for fellow MSpacers. Thanks! Jeff

Just bumping this thread. @Barry LeBlanc, do we have any news on this?

I didn’t find a link in Deb’s post.

Final race results were posted in the last few days. I was happy to see that over the course of the three races I've done, I've been able to increase my overall speed quite a bit. Obviously each race day is different, but all three were short course races in the Georgia/SC area so race altitudes were no more than 1500' MSL. The first two races were in very calm air, while this year's race was in much bumpier conditions. But each time I've modified my tactics with higher RPMs, better turn technique, etc. to see how much I can eke out of a production plane in stock condition. I still have a few more things I can try so I can't wait for the next one. I think I could pretty easily hit the max book speed for an Ovation at 197 KTS. Remember, these are timed speeds over a course so the overall number also factors in turns, wind speeds, etc. On any straight leg I was undoubtedly closing in on 200 KTAS (at 26 GPH!). For reference purposes, here are my times over the three races: 2015, Palmetto 100, 207.53 MPH/180.34 KTS (conservative RPM and poor turning technique...my first race) 2016, Southern Nationals, 219.19 MPH/190.47 KTS (better turn technique and bumped the RPM) 2018, Sunrise Air Race, 224.77 MPH/195.33 KTS (bumped the RPM even more, slightly sloppy turn technique that I know cost me 30 seconds)