Jerry 5TJ

Ah, a fond old topic….from 13 years ago. Shooting from the hip here: Perhaps at high load the regulator’s over-current coil is engaged (disconnecting the generator) and you see the battery discharge voltage. A solid state regulator will calm down the generator voltage swings and reduce abuse of the battery.

The only case of insurance denying a claim due to pilot false representation (claiming to hold a valid medical, claiming to have completed policy-mandated annual recurrent training) that I personally know of (and I know only because I knew both the pilot and the lawyer representing the insurer) was due to the pilot’s pattern of willful misconduct and not simple neglect or innocent errors. With two fatalities and total loss of a nice Citation the potential claims were not small, either. Generally speaking, insurance companies do pay regularly for the dumb pilot stuff we keep doing.

I’m teaching at a community college aviation school in Redbird AATD sims. My instrument students are reporting that their CFII at the flight schools frequently cancel flights due to IMC, even if it is 2000’ overcast and no ice aloft. Most of the students have zero actual IMC prior to their practical test. Of course, many of the younger flight school CFII have little to no actual IMC themselves, so I can appreciate their reluctance to take a student into the clouds. On the plus side, all our private pilot students do get 4+ hours of simulator training on instruments in addition to the FAA mandated 3 hours of instrument training in the airplane.

I’ve flown all three of my Mooney planes coast to coast and over the Rockies. Suggestions don't fly over the Rockies in IMC use oxygen and keep your O2 sat > 95% follow the major highways as a guide for lower terrain and more airports mornings tend to be smoother if the wind at ridge levels is > 30 knots, reconsider enjoy the spectacular views

Most single engine turboprops don’t have a key switch either.

I’ve started to see the “make and model” phrase more frequently in my clients’ insurance requirements in the past year. I took it to mean X hours in a specific model such as C or E or K. I had one new owner required to work with an instructor with “hours in a Mooney M20K Rocket Conversion.”

I hear it is the Hampton Inn 39 Southampton Rd, Westfield, MA 413-564-6900

Might be better described as “abrupt termination of IFR flight.”

In a few years a few of us geezers will tell the youngsters “I recall when you had to carry your laptop out to the airplane and manually update the data…”

The next MAPASF PPP is in Westfield Massachusetts in a month, on September 8-10. Registration is open.

Maybe you could attach a parachute to the oxygen tank so when it blows itself out the fuselage it drags out the chute. I hear that a chute is popular.

Q. “How much cash does it take to own an airplane?” A. ”All of it.” But it is a great privilege to fly yourself around the country in your own airplane. Or, to paraphrase my financial planner (W. C. Fields) — “I spent half my money on booze, women and airplanes. The other half I wasted.”

TJ Neff Aircraft had a Wing Derringer listed for sale about a decade ago. I looked at it as I’d been interested in the type for many years. It seemed like a good personal transportation plane. But getting repair parts was going to be a problem: I looked into the wing and admired the chemically milled panels.

Yes, or perhaps a Mirage. Theorem: “If n is the number of seats in the plane, n-2 is the number of people who can comfortably fly in it.”

“Pitch. Power. Positive Rate.” That’s all he had to do on departure and if that’s all he had done it would have been fine. As @kortopates said, easy enough for a competent, calm instrument pilot to do that departure. Not so clear how prudent it was to depart into 300 foot overcast.

Works for me. Well, the tail number isn’t tattooed on my, er, aft fuselage.

There should not be, no. That said, the mechanism is not beefy and most of us prefer to demonstrate the procedure only with the plane up on jacks.

Time for Revision 2 — after a good 5 year run, that mechanic now has got a job flying with NetJets. I’m looking for a new candidate.

Some of the 22 Mooneys gathered at KLEX this weekend.

Signature is the host FBO for the PPP in Lexington, KY. There will be a flock of Mooney airplanes there this weekend.

Attendees flying in should plan on arriving Thursday afternoon at KLEX. There is transportation to the hotel most of Thursday.

Always watch your airspeed. Even when parked at the gate.

Plus: If you buy the plane while there you can save the fare for the return flight on the airlines.

You can do this on a smaller scale — My aviation partner and I pay an A&P a monthly retainer equal to several hours of his time. That gives him a steady if supplemental cash flow and we get prompt attention to minor items. There’s always something for him to work on, it’s an airplane….