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HRM

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Everything posted by HRM

  1. HRM
    I would rather have the ability to convert my E from certified to experimental with me as the A&P...as much as I love the hangar elves, there is a geas where they are unable to open a logbook.
  2. HRM
    Not to change the subject (much), but is there a tutorial or a website that explains how one obtains an STC? Can you get an STC for anything? Like an in panel piece of avionics?
  3. HRM
    We used my GPSMAP 295 to swing the PAI-700 in my E. To do it right you need to have everything "on"—radios, xpndr, engine, etc. We took the plane over to the rose at KBPT, which is so faded that you need to know it is there, and then I just ran the plane back and forth with the 295 telling us track. We should have asked the tower to make a video, would have looked like one of those where a bee is telling the rest of the hive where the fresh flowers are! My vertical card aligned perfectly, now it is just a magnetic DG for me. Let us know how yours went.
  4. HRM
    I think mine did, but one never really knows about these things. I also think (they are magic after all) that they did it at my house. Left a mess in my shop and a huge can of kerosene.
  5. HRM
    Yeah, I caught some of that my last trip to Amsterdam. The doc gave me some salve.
  6. HRM
    It can also energize it. To quote Al Stewart (Almost Lucy): She says it sharpens your perception; When your back's against the wall...
  7. HRM
    My life depends on a 50 year-old Mooney...but it flies much better than I do.
  8. HRM
    I think that's a fair analysis and we all know that we will never know what was going on in the PICs head. We are thinking alike on this one and I like the phraseology: no gyro approach to anywhere. The ego here may have started with low fuel and the fear of being accused later of allowing the emergency to happen and consequently getting sanctioned. At some point the little voice inside your head that says better to fight it out on the ground and potentially fly another day rather than keep the stiff upper lip as you go down needs to be listened to. All the CFII cognoscenti have implied in PilotWorshops.com audio conversations that when the outcome is a safe landing the FAA is happier and less punishing than if the outcome is because of failure to act. There is a mentality that declaring an emergency is a bad thing. Of course, there is a threshold, but I think it is clear that erring on the side of caution tends to win the day. It is also useful to be knowledgeable about the NASA ASRS.
  9. HRM
    I look at everything, the important point being the weights that are applied to the choices in the decision making process. This is not a binary exercise. Given the choices in the BITER6 constellation, KAUS, depending on the weather, which is the operative rv in this process, may not be the optimal alternate. Also keep in mind that when things get hairy, there can be a third alternate. What's nice about this scenario is that KAUS is there if needed. I am convinced that the pilot that passed up the military landing did so out of ego. Number one on your personal minimums checklist should be: zero out ego. I frankly don't give a FF what people think when it comes to the safety of my PAX, myself and my aircraft.
  10. HRM
    T74 that threw me off for a bit. As the cobwebs clear I am seeing IFR flight less like a puzzle to be solved and more, as you put it, sorting choices, which sounds like the same thing but really isn't. Again, it is the random elements that drive these choices and whenever randomness is involved, the more data you have the better. Also, the earlier you clear out what isn't possible the better. For example, @chrisk said "as long as you have a VOR and DME." I don't have a DME and one of my takeaways from all of this has been that you do not play with the alternate, accident discussions notwithstanding. You can file for the main knowing that the only conditions that would allow you to land are VMC and just hope for the best, but you have to be certain of the alternate. The latter would be a personal minimum and I am betting that many of the accidents in the NTSB DB lead to a less than certain alternate plan. KEDC, KAUS, and T74 are all within the BITER6 STAR constellation, with KAUS being the best choice for a guaranteed approach but also the worst for traffic and cost efficiency.
  11. HRM
    So here's an exercise appropriate to this thread and where it has gone. I want to fly (IFR) from KBPT to KEDC. KEDC has only RNAV(GPS) approaches and my E does not have approach certified GPS. KAUS has any approach you can imagine (Charlie) and my E has ILS so I can get down to 692/18. Should I file KEDC regardless of weather, with KAUS as my alternate as long as KAUS has the minimums I need? The reasoning is that if KEDC is not VFR on arrival, then KAUS will accommodate a fairly low approach.
  12. HRM
    Yes, it does. As for @par, my wife says that although my physical age exceeds six decades, my maturity level stopped at 12.
  13. HRM
    Since I am the student here ( ), I'll share my take-away from the scenario and the total discussion. I will add that Collins is whispering in one ear and Taylor in the other. Weather, at the end of the day, is the most critical random variable in IFR flight followed closely by equipment. Some might argue that IFR skill is an rv, but I will counter that the pilot should have a good handle on that and if he doesn't then mother nature may have something nasty planned for him. With equipment, there are partial panel skills and redundancy, not to mention aggressive PM. My E has a manifold vacuum secondary (Precise Flight) and a coax loop on my panel that I can disconnect and plug the external antenna of my Vertex into so that my HH radio can access the antenna on the roof. Additionally, the radio has a VOR built into it! Between my iPhone, my iPad and my GPSMAP 295 I think I would have fairly good "situational awareness" across all events. So now we are back at weather. This pilot did not know where VFR was, did not have a workable alternate (and that probably should have been his clue to delay the flight), and for what I will chalk up to physician arrogance, failed to declare an emergency. The consequences of a severe ego bruise and possible FAA trifling should never outweigh the alternative. So: know the weather, know the approaches, know the personal minimums.
  14. HRM
    As usual, MooneySpace comes through...I feel much better now. To summarize: A pilot plans an IFR flight from KXXX to KYYY and prudently† (see #3) makes sure that there are approaches at KYYY that his aircraft can make. To make sure that KYYY has approaches he can make, he must check all the approaches at KYYY, there is no automatic; i.e., computer app††, that will do this for him although most EFBs will call up all the approach plates for an airport. If the airport the pilot wants to fly to does not have an approach he can do, he can still go and 1) hope for VFR when he gets there, or 2) go to his alternate, or 3) employ a clever plan that most likely will involve help from ATC. The wise pilot keeps track of where VFR is at all times. The rules for alternates are stricter since it is the alternate. The airspace is moving to GPS and ultimately a WAAS approach certified GPS will get you into anywhere, including DD†††. If anything unexpected approach-wise happens ATC will most likely bail you out assuming you have radio contact. Barring that, NORDO rules apply so you can k*ss your *ss goodbye if in deep soup. †not required to do by FAR. ††an app that you would put the approaches you can do in and it would show airports supporting those approaches in an area where you wanted to go. ††Sometimes deep dookey, but in this case deep debt.
  15. HRM
    Methinks you trifled with Don and he is not to be trifled with. If there was a "Mount Mooney" with heads on it, Don's would be next to Al's and Bill's.
  16. HRM
    My god, the depth of MooneySpace is unfathomable. I am such a noob...
  17. HRM
    Don't you mean how heavy your landing is?
  18. HRM
    I garnered so much good stuff from my earlier thread "IFR question" that I thought I would open up a new one. I am over halfway through Collins, Taylor and Machado and now have what on it's face may look like a stupid question. That said, keep in mind that the dumbest question is the one that wasn't asked, so here goes: So, you have an instrument rating and you decide you want to fly from KXXX to KYYY and the weather is IFR at KYYY. What if there is no approach at KYYY that you have the equipment for? For example, in my E I have dual VOR CDI's and one of them has a GS. That's it other than a mode C transponder and a GPSMAP 295. The 295 is WAAS and has approaches of all sorts built into it, but it is HH and thus for "situational awareness" only. So, I can only fly (IFR) to airports with VOR, LOC, ILS and "RADAR ONLY" approaches? What if the ILS is out at KYYY? What if the ILS goes out while I am enroute? Is there any easy way to quickly determine whether or not I am eligible to land somewhere? Is there a database that only lists, for example, airports with ILS approaches? Or VOR? Or LOC? ...but not DME, GPS or ADF/NDB? This really has me perplexed and I think I am missing some fundamental flight planning element.
  19. HRM
    Damn!!! I thought it was Norm. Thanks for confirming!
  20. HRM
    Sorry, but I think mine are original. The Mistress (N5976Q) was airworthied in October 1965. My IA said that this year is the year--50 years.
  21. HRM
    I bought a BM aircraft charger and left it on a Concorde 24/7 under the foolish assumption that it would "maintain it." I am convinced that it was the reason that the battery died 3 months after the end of the warranty. I have a new Concorde and a NOCO Genius that I will use only if it needs it.
  22. HRM
    Is that automatic (vacuum) or pilot-powered?
  23. HRM
    I can tell you that The Mistress (N5976Q) is absolutely and unequivocally one of a kind.
  24. HRM
    I believe it is a piece of metal that makes the fixed step more aerodynamic. I have heard of it coming off, corroding off, breaking off, etc.
  25. HRM
    I think you need a Don Maxwell. That spring is tricky.
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