Jeff_S

Mooney J is your bird. I've got one for you! Check it out: http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=1329640&pcid=1300876

Was that the wing of a Mooney I saw in the attached picture? Does it have some type of winglet on the end? Interesting...

It certainly sounds conservative, in that you would probably have lots of money in your repair fund if the engine makes it to TBO. You've said this is your first airplane to own, so what you'll learn is that in the first year of ownership you'll come to know all its little quirks and idiosyncrasies, and after the first annual you'll have a sense for what the standard things cost vs. the extras that always creep up. Then you may be able to lower your hourly contribution with some comfort.

I think all else being equal, some of the Mooneys will be more stable on final approach, especially the heavier ones. The higher wing loading will stabilize some of the bumps. This may not be true of the lighter-weight short body Mooneys. And hey Yetti...if you want a J model, I've got one to sell! Check out my listing in the For Sale section.

My wife tends to sleep as well, although in part because of the Dramamine she takes to prevent motion sickness. The truth is she hasn't ever been sick in my airplane, but she takes it anyway "just in case."

I've never owned a boat. One reason is my wife has always had a motion sickness issue and her idea of fun is definitely not riding around on a boat. Of course, her idea of fun didn't include riding around in a little airplane, either, until she realized how quickly it gets her to the beach. And now I own 2 airplanes (which is hopefully a temporary condition!). Hmm...hope that doesn't mean I have to pay for a boat sometime in my future. Oh well, boys gots to have toys.

I'm not real sure where you would put it. There's not a ton of panel space left over. I think the more obvious solution, if ADS-B is the real goal, is to adapt the GDL-88 to integrate into the system, since there is a version of that which has the WAAS GPS receiver and it is designed to work totally in the background. But this doesn't solve the problem of the auto pilot and LPV approaches, which is what the pilots really want.

Thanks! I did find that already when Googling "IO 550 Hot Starts" so I've been going over it. Seems like it was written before he found the gospel on LOP operations in cruise, but otherwise a solid piece of work. I used his hot start technique just the other day for my first-ever attempt at it. Aside from learning that you do have to crack the throttle a bit and not leave it all the way out, the engine started up just fine. Weird as it sounds, with everything I've heard about the difficulty hot-starting these engines, that has been one of my biggest anxieties. But now I know the technique...knock on wood!

I'm curious, are they really called "nose breeders" or is that just the way you pronounce them when they're stuck up in your nose and you sound like you have a cold?!

Thanks Guys. I'm having fun getting to know the new bird...its especially interesting how much difference in energy there is with the extra weight and power compared to my J. While the target airspeed numbers are pretty much the same, getting to those numbers is the learning experience. I'll use these data points when I fly some practice approaches this weekend. Even just getting around on the ground takes some getting used-to. I find I have to be more active on/off the throttle while taxiing to get started moving but then to keep it down to manageable speeds. Lots to learn again, but that's the fun part.

As I work to get more intuitive on flying the O3, I'd appreciate others' feedback on the power settings for different regimes of flight. I did a search and there's plenty of threads on climb and cruise. I'm more interested in the power settings people use for approaches, both instrument approaches and regular VFR landing patterns. I didn't find any discussions on those. Thanks in advance for your advice! Jeff

Augusta is two miles from the farm on which I grew up. I used to ride horses down there all the time and watch planes. This was back in the heyday when Wichita truly was the Air Capitol of the World. It's gotten a lot more developed in that area since I left but it's good to see that airport doing well. Sorry, I don't have much to add about facilities since I haven't lived there in decades, but this thread brought back some great memories. Good luck with your travels.

Thanks all. Yes, the J is back on the ramp and if I were to personify an airplane (and who among us doesn't do that?!) I would say she's a bit pissed off, especially with the "For Sale" banner sleeved onto two prop blades. But it's for a good cause...I'm hoping a new owner will come along quickly and treat her with the same respect I have. There are a few people taking a look now so we shall see.

Hey all, I've dropped subtle hints lately about my move from the J to an Ovation. Last weekend was the closing, and since a couple of folks have asked, here's the big reveal. I brought the plane home from Florida on Friday, and of course we had a crappy weather weekend in Atlanta so there it has stayed but I'm looking forward to getting it out this week some more. Details are that it's an Ovation 3 GX...with a bit of a history! Anybody who was patrolling Controller undoubtedly saw her sitting there forlornly but in full splendor, waiting for somebody to come along who could accept that her prior owner never really got the hang of flying her. After two prop dings and a gear-up he called it quits. But the damage repair has been fully vetted and is rock solid, and with only 390 hours she's practically brand new. And at a price that couldn't be beat. So, now I REALLY have to sell the J...any takers!?

I just picked up my new O3 from Florida on Friday and flew it home to Atlanta. Had the A/C on the whole way and it worked fine. We had it on the "low" setting which kept us plenty cool. You do see a "low amps" warning when you're running it on the ground at low RPMs but as long as you know that's the cause it's not a bother. It goes away as soon as you rev up the engine. Can't vouch for air speed or fuel flow. I can't imagine it would impact either since it's totally electric. All it's doing is placing a load on your alternator. But I've had it all of three days now so I won't claim to be an expert there.

Ha, you're not wrong about that. It only gets worse from here on out, my friend. Not because your plane will necessarily need a lot of maintenance or chew into your wallet too much. You'll spend a bit more than you budgeted for in the first year, getting things to work just right, but then if you maintain it properly and don't let the squawks aggregate there shouldn't be too much of an issue. The money comes in because you'll always be trying to add more things, improve the panel, give it a nicer paint job, etc etc etc. But it's a labor of love and from my experience you'll enjoy spending every penny. If the time comes when you don't enjoy spending it, then you should get out, because that's when you might be tempted to skimp on something that could compromise safety. Have fun! And if your wife/partner every wonders how much you're spending, just announce everything in terms of an "aviation unit" which is a cool $1000. Seems like anything you do to an airplane costs at least $1AU, so it lessens the blow of thinking about it.

Here's a general rule of thumb I read from Mike Busch which seems to hold true. Trouble cold starting: not enough fuel. Trouble hot starting: too much fuel. It seems to me the video in the OP was a hot start...the behavior of that plane was more consistent with a hot start. I do just like everyone else in the J and it generally fires up in just a second or two. I'll have to relearn how all this works with a big-bore Continental...subtle announcement about a new piece of rolling stock in my inventory!

The more common vernacular in French, when crying for help, is "au secour!" The English word, although seldom used, is similar: succor. But nobody wants to yell "Sucker Sucker Sucker" on the radio waves...that could be open to MUCH misinterpretation!

Talk about being cooperative...on Saturday I was making my way through local buildups all throughout central and north Florida, trying to get home to PDK. With both XMWX and Stratus ADS-B NEXRAD, I was able to stay in the clear and I think experienced less than 30 seconds of actual precipitation, but there were some great diversions. At one point ATC simply said "divert as necessary and just let us know when you're back on course." I had free reign to go where I needed to to be safe. My hats off to the entire ATC crew on that day.

I don't see much downside in the outcome of this. It raised publicity for sure, with the money going to a good cause. And it may have helped established a market value for the fastest single-engine piston airplane...sorry, fastest "certificated" single engine piston airplane. I'm sure there are some experimentals out there who can beat it. Call the winning bid $650K, that's less than 10% off their list price for a new Acclaim. Now, I've never bought a factory new airplane, but I can't imagine that they go at full retail, unless of course the buyer is a Catholic. (Hey, I grew up Catholic so I can make the joke!) I'm sure these things always get negotiated, especially if there is an entity buying more than one unit (possibly some Chinese corporations?). So in my book, I think the auction came off pretty darn well for Mooney and for the overall valuation of these aircraft. I've been talking to some of the factory folk at length lately, and everyone I've spoken with says they have more confidence in Mr. Chen and his business model than they have seen in years. It will be fun to see how it plays out.

Park Rapids Avionics did all the work on my current panel (done by the prior owner) and the did a stellar job. I don't know anyone personally there since I didn't pay for this work, but the panel looks great and works great too. http://www.parkrapidsavionics.com

I updated this morning to both my iPhone and iPad. The iPhone worked fine, but the iPad did crash. So I did the re-install and then it worked fine. Lucikly I've got a pretty fast internet connection at home so even having to download all the charts again was not a big deal.

Not to be too pessimistic or anything, but if they can't raise $699K in a charity auction for this airplane, how many are they going to be able to sell at that price? Believe me, I want them to sell a lot, but if there is a ready market for the plane I would think this auction should get at least close to the normal asking price. Perhaps the final bidders are there lurking with their fingers on the "send" button, waiting for the deadline.

Someone else already said the magic word: "unable." The PIC has the last authority on the safety of the flight and the aircraft. Like everyone else, I have never NOT been granted leeway to avoid buildups, and you definitely want to avoid one that's towering to 18,000' because even with no electrical activity there will be strong convection (that is, after all, why it's building up). So I can't imagine a scenario in which ATC will disallow your request, nor can I imagine a scenario where you would want to fly into that sucker.

Does this metric still hold true when talking about a Continental big-bore such as the IO-550, or is it specific to the IO-360 in the J? As I inch closer to my move into an Ovation I'm boning up on the metrics I need to use as rule-of-thumb for that engine. I have them down pat in the J so just trying to quickly get to the same level of comfort with the bigger engine.