Ron McBride

I have an F, and departed yesterday at 8500 Density altitude. Climb was sloooow. I did find some thermals to ride to help climb out. I climbed to 15,500 to go over the sierra's. If I was based that high, I would have a turbo. This is just my humble opinion. Ron

I chose the F for myself. I do fly most of the time by myself, the extra room did not matter much. What did matter is the 64 gallons of gas. I make a trip a once a year to eastern Oklahoma from central CA. I can make it in one stop with an F, An C or E would take 2 stops. This would make it a 2 day trip instead of a long day. I have approx. a 1040# useful load. Check out whatever plane that you are going to buy. Also the C and G are Carburated, the E, F and J are fuel injected. Most of my experience is with fuel injected, so I prefer fuel injection. Buy the most that you can get. A panel mounted GPS with was will be a must soon. An autopilot on the long trips really helps. Ron

When mine did this, the Altimeter went out within 2 hours. Ron

Laser in Lakeport, or Top Gun in Stockton. If either did the last annual, have the other do the prebuy. Ron

Mariposa KMPI is have there Air Faire today also. Mariposa is about 20 to 30 minutes SE. Weather looks great also. Ron

I did a top overhaul on mine a couple of years age. I had cylinders that were .010 oversized and going thru oil, quart every 2 or 3 hours, black within 10 hours. My mechanic kept saying, you are ok, it is not worth the money. All compressions were in the 70's. The cylinders were shot, the choke was gone. I bought used first run from Lycon for about $1,200.00 each and installed them under supervision. I had my mechanic inspect the cam and lifter while I had it apart. They were great, if bad I probably would have done a field overhaul. Now oil use is a quart every 10 hours plus. I am very happy with this, and a lot less cleaning of the belly. Ron

We had a light sport experimental plane crash at out local airport last weekend. I do not know why? Possible contributing factors may be. This was a project plane that sat for a long time, Small Continental engine, The plane was in pieces when purchased, was it reassembled correctly? Fabric cover, plane was painted with latex paint and a paint brush. Or none of the above. Did he have a real good condition report done? Pilot was a real good guy, but maybe 75, current??. This plane should stall at 30 MPH approx. an off field landing in an open field, should have been ok?? I will be waiting for the final NTSB for the conclusion on this. What ever the cause, he is not be with us any longer. Ron

Clay I am thinking about selling my 69F. GNS 430W, GPSS, KX 155 with glideslope also. PM8000B intercom, Garmin 327 transponder mode c, 406 elt, Fuel scan 450, (connected to the 430) EDM 700 engine monitor, oil pressure, and voltage. Stec 30, gpss, heading, altitude hold, recent interior, glass. less the a 100 hrs on a top overhaul, ECI prop, Fuel controller overhauled, Alternator overhauled. 40:1 gear in the gear, elec flaps, modern 6 pac layout in the panel. I have not decided on a price yet. Ron

Hanger yes I have tools for small maintenance, Protection from all weather, for the plane and me. Probably less maintenance expense, less cleaning and waxing. Protection for my car etc. when I am flying. Do you garage your cars? It only takes and extra 5 minutes to open the hanger or close it. ron

I am a border line diabetic. My Dr. is threatening medication soon. I have been testing my blood like crazy, and some of the time it makes no sense at all. My Dr. told me to walk for 10 minutes after eating, especially when I eat to much. I have started to walk about a5 to 30 minutes after every meal and it looks like that I will have the sugars under control. I take a bunch of supplements, including fish oil, I do not know if these help. Hopefully these changes will help reduce some weight also. Ron

The other thing that they used to do, is put the stolen radios into another plane that they stole the radios from. The owner of the 2nd plane would not know that they were stolen until sending to the manufacturer. He could sell the radios from the 2nd plane, if you checked the serial numbers, they would come back clean. Watch out. Ron

Thank You for sharing the information. I have been interested in how to use a turbo. I am dreaming of having one. I learned a lot. Ron

There are some plastic pieces out there, they are extremely hard to find. Laser had 1 for a C, I was going to buy it and rework it, I never did. My original carpet had the opening stitched and looked good. My new carpet came without it, I cut a square carefully and it looks OK. I do not use the floor indicator very often, so it does not bother me. Someday, I will take it to an upholstery shop and have it stitched. Ron

Are the passengers getting the door closed all the way? Ron

I am planning on Chino also. Ron

I live in Oakhurst, approx . 2500 MSL, the southern entrance to Yosemite. We get some snow about 4 or 5 times a year. I only shovel snow maybe once every other year and I use a scoop on my garden tracter to most of it. It snowed 6 inches here on the 7th. I shoveled this year alrready. We still have some snow and Ice in the shady spots. This is unusaual that it stays this long. All of the old timers can't remember when it stayed this long. Snow level was predicted to be between 500 and a 1000'. Columbia, Pine Mountian and Mariposa all have instrument approaches. Some are more uesfull than others. Jackson might be another choice for you also. Ron

I understand that hangers at Columbia are hard to get. There is a waiting list. Check out Calaveras KCPU about 25 NW, or Pine Mountain E45 20 miles SE a private aviation community, taxi down the street to your home and hanger. You should contact other local airports as well. The big advantage to airports in the western Sierra's are that you are above the FOG in the valley. Watch density altitudes, they will approach 5000. But when its IFR. leave the plane in the hanger. I am based at KMPI, 20 minutes by air, or 2 hours by car to the south. Ron

I was lucky, they only had to pop me open, no stints or other work. After 6 months of waiting, (NOT 1 day earlier) you will need a full work up from your personal Doctor, your cardioligist, blood work, a stress test, mine is on a treadmill, hospital records of what was done and reports, letters and copies of everything and then send to OKC and wait. A good AME will also help. When you get your new medical, it will be good for a year. it will come with a letter explaining what to do next year. It is everything except the hospital records and will explain when to do these reports, and then wait again. At least this will make you go to the DR. for check ups and tests once a year. Hope all turns out well. Ron

My IA did the inspection, about an hour at the most. I did the insulation myself with supervision. No big deal. I just cut the material, put in place. If 2 pieces fit, I did that also, maybe??? quiter??? Do it, it is not hard. Ron

I have them in my 69F. They are handy when you need them. I think that there is a lot of changeing that would need to be done for this. Check out Mooneyspace in the old topics, I think that Piper Painter did this with his, he kept the full seat, but did something so that the back could lay down. Might be worth the effort. Ron

I was in a manual gear Mooney, with another Pilot flying. I ran a gump check at about 25 feet, the gear was not fully locked down. This is the closest I have come. Ron

Shadrach What happened to your RV pictures? Ron

We were doing the gear swin on my F and we set off the ELT, it took us about 10 minutes to find out what was making the noise. Also double check the Gear switch. Ron

My 69 F does not have a lens cover either. Did they melt the bulb itself? Laser has a landing light lens cover available. Ron

I am like Hank, We have the throttle quadrant with the flap switch next to the mixture. I can operate the flaps and never move my hand from the throttle. I usually retact them after leaving the runway, but on occasion while on rollout at 25 mph or less. Ron