Jeff_S

To close the loop (for now!) on this, I considered all this advice, took out the manual and (finally...I know, should have done it long ago) went through the full pre-flight routine on the ground. In addition, I spoke to our local avionics guy who suggested doing an in-flight check to see if the pre-select function worked in both climb and descent, as well as testing out the Alternate Static source to see what that did. And you've guessed by now, but the A/P performed flawlessly yesterday. One other bit of advice that was passed to me yesterday was that S-TEC says during the pre-flight routine, it's important to actually do the clutch-override process as that helps "clear the mechanism" (my term) to keep them performing better. So I don't really know the cause, but it's working now and I have steps to diagnose if it comes back. Thanks again to all. Jeff

This is all good feedback, and it gives me some things to discuss with maintenance. Thanks!

Went out for a scenic cruise with my brother last weekend and my always-trusty S-TEC 55x A/P altitude hold was on the fritz as soon as I activated it. It started porpoising pretty badly while it hunted for altitude. I did a hard reset of the A/P system and tried again, and it held altitude for a minute or so and then the oscillations started back up. When I had the same problem (and same A/P) in my J-model we discovered the static lines were cracking with age and the leaks were causing this behavior, but it was much more gentle than what I experienced last weekend. But these lines are now 14 years old, and it's been very hot here lately even in the hangar, so that's my first guess. Any other thoughts or ideas on this? I've got a request in with our field maintenance shop to take a look, but I always like to give them specific ideas so they don't spend all my money doing their OWN hunting!

I first met Bob when we were co-Chairs of the Mooney Ambassador booth for the AOPA Fly-In at St. Simon's Island. We worked together via email to help prepare, and by the time we officially shook hands it was as though we were old friends. I always admired his welcoming attitude and ability to rejoin people as though they were part of his inner circle. I will miss his presence, but his spirit lives on in all those who pursue and share the passion for flight...especially in a Mooney!

A couple of years ago I flew from Atlanta to Tucson in my Ovation, with one fuel stop somewhere in central Texas. Total flying time was ~8 hours. I should note that this was in August, so headwinds were light and I somehow managed to avoid all the heavy turbulence that is so often predicted in the afternoons. You can flight plan from Tucson to San Diego to see what the remainder would be, probably around 2 hours. So it's doable in one day, especially with two pilots and George along for the ride. But if you have the time, I support the others' notions...break it up, enjoy the flight, see some other part of the country you haven't seen yet...maybe even go out of your way to do this. Have fun!

That was really fun. It teaches you just about the value of stabilized approach, for sure. Once you get the hang of the controls, not a lot different than flying an instrument approach, except you have the added Y and Z thrust dimensions to play with. I found it easiest to get pitch/roll/yaw corrected first, because those stayed very stable. Then I used the Y and Z controls to get lined up, then the X control to thrust into the space station. Make small corrections with Y and Z using the raw data feed rather than the cross-hairs, and as you get closer slow down. For me, the Z control was the only one that continually drifted. I found myself having to adjust upward all the time. I finally docked by adjusting upward until it drifted right back in the cross hairs when we made contact. Okay, where is the SpaceX recruitment office? Sign me up!

Based on the latest training IFR scenario scenario on https://pilotworkshop.com/products/ifr-mastery/, I mapped out a flight around north Florida to try to use VORs exclusively for navigation and refresh those skills. I spent about an hour laying out a nice route that would use radials and cross radials off the SSI, AYS, TAY and CRG VORs, with a little AMG thrown in for fun as purely a crossing radial. All those VORs still show up with frequencies and seem fully operational on the Low IFR charts. But the briefing showed that TAY is fully decommissioned (probably for MON purposes), & AYS was out for a couple of months. So I kept my original flight path but decided to use it as an opportunity to practice blending GPS and VOR navigation. Cross radials are hard in the G1000 because you don't have two CDIs. This means you have to use the HSI for the primary path and then a Bearing Pointer for the cross radial. Since I had the GPS flight plan loaded in, I could see that this works, but does take some practice. So, something to consider as the FAA further decommissions VORs, it become interesting to figure out how to navigate. For example, there are no radials I could use to go from AYS to TAY...none. I just used GPS and then tried to identify TAY with the cross radial from GEF. I guess the lesson is that if GPS ever does go out, better hope you can get radar help from ATC or use the old fashioned pilotage if the remaining VORs don't easily point where you're going. This was probably hard to follow, so here's a link to the FlightAware path: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N1034S/history/20200606/1315Z/KFHB/KFHB But the other item of note on today's flight concerns ADS-B Wx. ForeFlight was showing fully connected to the GTX-345 and traffic was coming in fine. And XMWX was painting some minor rain showers (correctly) in my path. But NEXRAD never showed up in ForeFlight, so I finally went to the Devices page and dug deeper to see a menu item for "Outages" which I had never found before. Sure enough, going to that page showed outages for both NEXRAD and Lightning for much of the country. So that's another reason to keep the old reliable XM/Sirius service around. I guess the theme is that what's old can still be good, when it works!

I call mine my personal time machine.

To answer @M20Doc's question, I have practiced controlled flight using the backup indicators on the far right. It is doable, although if those were really all I had I'm with Paul K that my first reaction would be to declare an emergency and seek help getting out of the clag and to an airport with a visual approach if at all possible. However, if I do go with the GI-275 as @GeeBee has done, it would make that a lot more comfortable.

I have used AvBlend for both my Mooneys, first the J and now the Ovation. This was based on the Jerry Matheny's (sp?) advice at one of the Mooney Maintenance seminars. I had also used the Aviation Consumer article as guidance. While I have always had good oil sample analyses (on both engines) and usually try to fly often enough to avoid rust, I realize that by itself doesn't mean much...there's no control group to compare against. I guess what it does prove is that AvBlend hasn't hurt me any. So even if it's just piece of mind, that may be worth it.

Very nice...looks good, and very bright! So by saying you can't get rid of the A/S and Altimeter, do I understand that those are plumbed in as well and showing accurate data? Or do you just see the indicator but with no data?

@GeeBee I'd like to see a pic when you get it done. I've been thinking of replacing my backup AI with the GI-275 in my continued effort to completely rid myself of spinning gyros. Unfortunately, with S-TEC's decision to forego the Mooney on the 3100, I am still stuck with a gyro running my S-TEC 55x. But all in good time...

Actually, it's quite easy to do in ForeFlight with the new "breadcrumbs" feature in the map view. It dynamically traces a breadcrumb of your route and so you could pretty easily just make turns based on watching the breadcrumbs. Methinks perhaps a bit of research was warranted prior to dismissing his effort so easily. https://blog.foreflight.com/2019/01/28/foreflight-goes-to-11/

I ran across this story today...what a remarkable way to practice social distancing! Makes me want to get a smoke generator for the Ovation! Enjoy. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atlanta-pilots-skywriting-message-of-hope

I routinely switch batteries before every flight, but because I had heard long ago that switching batteries after engine start could result in increase wear and potential failure, I haven't switched them during the startup procedure. I supposed I could try Steve's process one time to see what happens while on the ground. Also, earlier in its life (and with the original owner) this plane did have a battery short during climb out which created a great electrical fire smell and prompted the owner to turn off all electrical and eventually do an emergency gear-up landing just to get on the ground as fast as possible. The shop that had maintained the plane and did the repair after the gear-up said that the only thing really necessary was to just switch the batteries in-flight and everything would have proceeded as normal, but I have to admit, if I smell an electrical fire while in flight I'm going to take extraordinary measures to get on the ground as well.

Yes! That was definitely the sound I made after totally failing at my second steep spiral!

Yes, I remember you taxiing by. Glad to "virtually" meet another Spacer!

I was out working on some commercial maneuvers today...no restrictions on flying here in Florida. After doing some steep turns, Lazy 8s and steep spirals, I turned back to Herlong (KHEG) for cheap fuel at $2.82/gallon. But my friend @Mooney_Allegro suggested that on Flight Aware it looked like I was creating a monster, and he's right: Godzilla shows up very well! I would never be able to do that on purpose. Happy Easter everyone! Jeff

Okay, I'll play. Our Yorkie Rocket is small in stature but huge in heart, and loves to fly. Here is guarding the hangar: He's also made for Instagram. Here he is photobombing us on a trip over Thanksgiving! To close, I'll only paraphrase this: everyone thinks their dog is the cutest on the planet. None of them are wrong!

Hey, sorry I missed this...haven't been to MS in the last few days. I hope you got the ACE file that you need but if not I can send you mine as well. Thanks!

Last year they changed the GA day parking to a new spot very close-in to the exhibits and hangars...it was a welcome change. No more taxiing forever after landing and then still having to walk a mile to get to the event. I hope they keep it that way for this year as well, but I was just at KLAL in February for the MAPA Clinic and the construction made things very confusing. I hope they have good routing for folks during the show.

The OP's buying target sounds like a nicely equipped Ovation...just like mine except I still have the S-TEC 55x A/P. Regarding tires and brakes, that does sound like a pilot technique issue. One question regarding brakes is whether or not the engine is set to idle correctly. I've heard tales of some engines that wouldn't idle well, so they were taxied and landed at too-high power settings and the brakes were used excessively. That's something you can check out. Also, weirdly, big feet can play a role. I have size 14s, and I find myself having to consciously keep my toes off the brakes while taxiing. Who'd a thunk? My real-world fuel use echos that shown above. I flight plan at 175 KTAS and 13.5 GPH, LOP. That's about right between 8-10K'. Lower than that I'll burn a bit more, higher than that a bit less. But for kick-ass racing speed I burn 22 GPH down low and have seen 197 KTAS over a closed course at 1000' AGL. Alas, I still got smoked by a Lancair IV with the same engine but clocking 225 KTAS over the circuit. Now I frequently check the back pages of Trade-a-Plane...

@Mooney_Allegro Hey "DL", they are talking about you! If you want to see how an Acclaim pilot gets routine regular use out of his plane in the flight levels, track this plane on FlightAware. "DL" is a good friend of mine and he flies that thing all over. And to update the world, he's no longer an FO on the 777 but is now a captain on the 737NG. His MS call sign is because prior to the Acclaim he had a tricked-out Allegro, which still shows up here on MS as well.

I have flown many Pet Rescue missions and since those weren't my dogs, I didn't (really, couldn't) provide any sort of ear protection. What I've been told is that if they have floppy ears, this by itself does a pretty good job of blocking noise and so for one or two flights it wouldn't be a problem. For my own dogs, we had a yorkie that I used to take up for occasional fun flights and the odd trip, and by the end of his life he was deafer than a doornail. This could be totally unrelated to flying of course, but I decided when his replacement arrived I would invest in a pair of Mutt Muffs to help. I don't know if it makes HIM feel any better, but I sure do. And since he's so small, I found that a short width of panty hose placed around the outside of the muffs helps keep them on during the flight. He's pretty good about leaving them on for the whole duration, but senses when we've landed and then pulls them off himself. Perhaps he doesn't mind them so much! Here's our little Rocket in full flying glory:

It's amazing how engine set-ups can vary. If I'm at those cruise altitudes flying WOT, 14-15 GPH would put me probably right at Peak EGT. If you're able to burn that much more fuel at LOP then that may explain the speed difference. One has to assume the airframe drag would not differ significantly. One thing to note about the built-in A/C is that it also adds about 60 pounds (going from memory) of weight in the tail area. The benefit of this is that you get lower induced drag from the horizontal stabilizer without having to add weight to the cargo area. Still, when I'm racing I make sure to have at least another 20-30 pounds back there for even greater effect.