Jerry 5TJ

Well, I haven’t yet and it’s been 15 years.

Group the early entries by N number and then make one FF log entry. Per my FF logbook I, for example, logged 877 hours in an E model on 1/1/99. The next day I logged 266 hours in a T210. It was a busy week.

The VFR flight training at MAPASF PPP events includes slow flight, stall training and spin-avoidance techniques.

The KFC225 when used with a GTN750 (and IFD540) requires an extra step to capture the GS on an RNAV GPS coupled approach, as Max Clark described. The extra step is annunciated on the GTN750 screen and requires a soft button press before engaging APR mode on the KFC225. The procedure is detailed in the Garmin pilot reference manual for the GTN750. There is no mention of this requirement in the KFC225 manual or in the AFM supplement.

I had the privilege of flying with a pilot in his Mooney starting when he was about 70 and continuing for over a decade. He was a charismatic, lively man and a good pilot who had been flying since WW2. We flew together several times each year for proficiency and breakfast runs. His skills did not appear to decline steadily. Instead they seemed to occur all at once, in a step-like manner. The steps happened several times over a decade. Outside the cockpit he was the same warm, intelligent and articulate man as always. From the right seat, though, the steps were glaringly apparent. His stick and rudder skills seemed unaffected; so long as he was in VMC he always flew well. The deficits were cognitive. In one “step” he seemed to lose flows and checklists; the checklist was still in the side pocket but he no longer remembered them, and he no longer realized that he should use them. Another step was a large reduction in situational awareness. Flying in the area where he had lived his entire life, except for his war years in the Pacific, he had no idea where the airport was. Not only had he lost SA, he appeared to have lost the very concept of SA. In none of those “steps” was he aware that he had lost anything. I know that one example doesn’t make a proof. I also know that my own body is neither as strong nor as flexible as it was ten or twenty years ago. I would prefer to think that my mind is not similarly weaker, but there’s little reason to think so. I suspect that the actuarial data for driving a car are relevant to the more complex tasks of flying. The more limited data from aviation suggests that is true; older drivers and pilots have more incidents and accidents.

Have you looked into getting a ferry permit? That can be tricky even if your A&P/IA is ready to sign off on the permit it needs the FSDO to approve it as well.

This is a good option for a wiring upgrade. I used it when I upgraded the Avionics in my C model. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/edmogrndingblock1.php?clickkey=12633352

The KFC225 has two lines on the display. The top line indicates the present mode, the lower line shows upcoming mode(s) that are armed. The simplest way to use the APR mode is probably to use autopilot in HDG to intercept the localizer and then to switch to the APR mode when the localizer begins to move. The GS Arm message should appear on the lower line of the KFC225 display. When the glideslope is intercepted and the needle centers the KFC225 display should show GS on the upper line indicating the AP has captured the GS. If your 430W is in GPS tracking and you switch it to VLOC to fly an ILS the KFC225 cancels the active mode and reverts to ROL function. Select VLOC on the 430W first and then set the KFC225. If the approach is RNAV GPS then you leave the 430W set to GPS for the entire approach. if you have a Garmin 650/750 instead of the 430//530 then there is an extra step: A message prompt will appear on the navigator, and you must open the message page and then press the “activate approach guidance” soft key before you can set the KFC225 to APR mode. I’m not sure if the KFC225 can be in VS mode to a preset altitude below the GS intercept altitude and simultaneously be armed in APR mode. I suspect not. in any case—If you don’t see the “GS Arm” message on the lower line line of the KFC225 then it will not capture the GS.

If the belly is non-conducive fiberglass then you could install the transporter antenna on the aluminum airframe under the belly skin.

Yesterday I began instructing a new Mooney owner in his 67 C model. The plane has an externally mounted “thing” on the left cowl about 3’ aft of the propeller. I don’t recognize it. Any idea what it is?

Speaking of myself in the instructor role, your quote is truncated. I say “it’s is the insurance company’s plane if the engine quits: Don’t try to save the aluminum, just protect the people.”

I’ve done this test with my Sporty’s handheld and a bottom mounted vhf com whip, and the 2.5 watt handheld is generally ranked by the ground station as “about the same” as the GTN750. In theory it is 6dB down but in practice the range is terrain limited more than by free-space losses.

A handheld radio will work nearly as well as a panel mounted com — if you have it connected to a regular externally-mounted com antenna. You may still have a second viable VHF com antenna on your Mooney. Get it connected to a BNC connector or whatever mates to your handheld radio.

flying above FL180

Nice flights in a J yesterday between Baltimore and Long Island. Good thing we departed Republic VFR as there were 25 IFR departures in the sequence because of the Ryder Cup. We “only” waited 35 minutes.