Jerry 5TJ

Also suggest you get training in an AATD aka “simulator” as you can log up to 20 hours dual towards the rating in a sim It is a great learning environment compared to the cockpit. it’s cheaper You can simulate events and conditions I hesitate to do in actual flight I try to get my instrument students into a decent AATD for 10+ hours. Several local schools have decent sims and they are nearly always available. (Perhaps because the younger CFI time-builders can’t log any flight time teaching in the sim so they don’t care to use it).

Sheppard SW is great for reviewing the material and preparing you to do well on the knowledge test. I like their courses and have used Sheppard for my own knowledge tests. Many of my students have benefited from the Sheppard preparation. But it is NOT a stand-alone study package. The King or Sportys or other video courses (usually 20-25 hours long) are good for learning the basics.

We installed the system using the Aloha Systems interface module to take inputs on gear and flap positions. So, yes, the AoA computer knows which of the four configurations to use in calculating the display The pilot sees a display of AoA appropriate for the current configuration.

I had a fair amount of trouble with calibration of the system. Ultimately it took 5 test flights. Alpha Systems was very supportive. They lent me a test set to confirm all the wiring and pneumatic connections were good. That helped greatly as I then knew that getting the vane angle set was the remaining issue. Once the proper vane angle is found the calibration took us (definitely take a second pilot along!) perhaps 30 minutes. I chose to have the system use 4 configurations: Flaps up, gear up Flaps up, gear down Half flaps, gear down Full flaps, gear down That means eight configuration entries (plus 4 more for the optional Vs x 1.1 settings) for calibration.

With ForeFlight and a cellular data connection the display of traffic and weather is visible on the ground. Once a good ADS-B signal is available the display switches to that source. I find it is a nearly seamless transition.

The PT6A-35 has a 15:1 propeller gearbox. With the prop at 2170 RPM the power turbine is … spinning real fast. TBO is “only” 3,600 hours.

Thanks for the update. Cessna keeps trying to get me to pre-order my new Denali and it’s not even been certified yet.

Well, we were quick to snap up German Rocket specialists and all the unfired V2 hardware we could find in 1945, but we ignored the Junkers Diesel Aero engine technology, which was equally available to the victors. The Soviet AЧ-30 aviation diesel engine series also seems to have been quietly abandoned just after WWII. What about the DA62, tho? It sports a pair of production aero diesels. Nice plane, and you can have a new one right now for around $1.2M. Mandatory engine overhauls and inspections at specific hour limits are required, last I checked, but $75 reserve per engine per hour should cover all those. Like you, I await the fabulous Aero diesel powered Mooney of the future. For now, I’ll put my faith in Pratt & Whitney.

Maybe it is because people have been trying for at least 90 years to develop a good aviation diesel and none have been successful.

Fly what you can get now. Dream whatever you wish.

One reason I sold my E model in 2000 was I expected the supply of 100LL to be interrupted soon. The EPA was clear in its intent to reduce airborne lead, the state (California) was looking at exercising its own considerable authority over air pollution, there was only a single volume supplier of TEL in the world and the possibility of legal class action against some part of the chain seemed likely. Taken all together it felt like a risky gamble to assume leaded avgas would be available for very long. I was wrong. Or, at least, my estimate of the timeline was way off. The signs that 100LL will be phased out have been clear enough for three decades.

Yes, the POH or AFM specifies the approved fuel type(s). An STC may add another fuel type.

Perhaps he used a Dremel tool.

I think the A stands for “approximate.”

As a CFI providing transition training in Mooney airplanes I’ve encountered several interpretations of the “make and model” clauses. Some insurers / brokers differentiate the series strictly and require me, for example, to have “at least X hours in a M20E” and don’t accept any other alphabetic versions. Other underwriters have accepted the argument that my 1,700 in various Mooneys is good enough for them to accept me for most M20 models.

Maybe blown flaps a la F-104 using bleed air from the compressor stages.

We recently took a trip to NM and AR from here in Maryland to visit friends and family. Originally we booked seats on Southwest but the airline canceled the non-stop flights and then rerouted us several more times. So we showed them; we flew our own plane.

In theory, theory and practice are the same....

I elected to go with the glare shield mounted "Eagle" display.

Category II and III ILS approaches often require a radar altimeter to determine the minimum descent height. The FAA is saying that these approaches may be NOTAMed out of service due to the adjacent band RF interference from the 5G sites. It is technically true that a radar altimeter with sufficient filtering can operate near a C band 5G site. But many legacy radar altimeters were designed when 3.7-4.2 GHz was a satellite downlink band with only weak signals near the ground (the satellite transmitters were 22,000 miles overhead). Few if any Mooney aircraft or pilots have the special crew and airframe approval needed to use those Cat II and III approaches so it’s not a problem for our flying.

The Bravo pilot climbed into the flight levels. Hypoxia could have been a cause or factor in his crash. New-to-him O2 system, perhaps.

It was a tall step up. Too tall, as it turned out. But with 50+ hours of dual in the same airplane he had a solid introduction, I’d suggest. A Meridian is generally easier to fly than a Mooney, but the PA46 isn’t quite as friendly on the runway. If you don’t center the rudder before de-rotating, the moment the nose wheel contacts pavement can become very exciting.

Probably cheaper to buy a working used KN53.

Looks fine for backup and it has independent HW & SW compared to my otherwise all-G suite, a comforting fact.

A turbocharger is a good adjunct to FIKI as a strong climb rate in ice can be a good thing. Regularly flying Purdue to Toronto probably calls for FIKI, as you have decided. Purdue is not listed an airport of entry, alas, so although you may fly to Canada your return may be via an AOE.