M016576

That seems to be the key to maximizing one’s earning (and time) in the Majors.

I am well aware of the pay scales, I can assure you- I live them. And I’m in the process of figuring out what I’m going to do after I finish my first career as a military pilot (after 20 years). How much do the loans cost to “get to the majors” should one choose the civilian route? What does one get paid as an O-1->O-3 in the military? how long does it take to accrue enough time to get to the majors? What’s the first year FO pay? How about second year? Yes, *IF* you get hired by a major.... *if* you make it to the left seat... you can make about 250 a year. (That’s ~10 years into your career in the majors). Some pay better than others. how about family needs? and retirement savings? And time availability? I’ve been very fortunate and lucky that a few of my investments have worked out... but on my current pay alone there is no way I could afford a GA airplane as a military officer alone... not because of the acquisition cost... but because of the random 5K-10K annuals. Because gps databases cost $500. Because avgas is 4.50 a gallon.... it adds up. quickly. some of the guys on this board seem to shrug off these costs like they are nothing. But it is a sizable cost commitment. even as a left seat captain at a major (nominally you’d be about 45-50 depending on your path), let’s break it down- Let’s say you pay 15K a year in expenses- which is on the low side in my experience... and your airline pays you about 300K. After tax you’re at 230. Your yearly costs are about ~7% of you total income. what about if you’re in the right seat after 5 years? You’re making 180. After tax that’s more like 140. Now that 15K is ~10% of your yearly income. again- most professional pilots and military officers can not afford that... because they don’t even make that much. I think you might be looking at this from only an airline major captain perspective- you’re not factoring in the commuters, the years of hours building, or the 10-20 years in the military that get you to the doorstep of a major... or the first 5-10 years in the majors. again, I repeat my comments, and state that the OP is probably better asking this question on a board that is dedicated to Airline Pilots trying/making a career out of it- like airline pilot central. We are lucky to have the means to afford a GA airplane, but we are not the norm in the industry (and most of us on this board are not in the industry).

I think the OP is better served asking this question on the airline pilot central forums- from guys that mostly are working in the industry. Or on Baseops.net forums if his son is interested in military flying. Or both. while mooneyspace is a fantastic resource for GA, and some of the members are indeed “in the industry”, most professional pilots can not afford a GA plane... so getting advice on the “best” way to become a pro pilot here may be a bit misleading. That “best” way is kind of subjective, too and based on background, resources available and overall goal.... I remember speaking to an elder fellow back when I was in flight school (I was flying a T-45 at the time- a high performance jet). This guy kept going on and on about his Cirrus, and how cool it was. I was so bored! All I wanted from flying at the time was afterburners, missile’s and guns. Now that I’m (quite) a bit older- I certainly enjoy a different facet of aviation... GA. But, I think I’d still be bored if that guy tried to talk to me about his cirrus again... now... if he’d said “my mooney”... that’s a whole different story!

I think you’re doing a prudent thing- apply for the ferry permit- it will only be good for a single flight. They may ask you for a date range for which it’s valid, too.... really- the thing is more CYA for the FAA than anything- you aren’t actually required to submit it or phone in or anything... just carry it with you in the plane. timeline from submission to FSDO inspection to issuance of the letter was about a week. That was back in 2011... not sure if it will take longer now- suppose it depends on the region. Good luck!

Or structural issue... how much of a drop would it take to bounce a 30lb battery through 1/16” aluminum pop riveted to a light frame?

I have had similar experiences, at MSC’s and other shops... why become an A&P, or A&P IA when you can make a similar paycheck as an auto mechanic.... apparently it’s not just young pilots that the GA world is having problems recruiting... its mechanics, too. Economies in both quality maintenance and cost efficiency could be found through scale, I think.... but that’s a different thread. ^totally subjective, I know...

Yeah.... but ....does lightening ever strike three times?

The GPS constellation is in a continuous state of flux. In order to aid in acquisition time, modern gps units maintain an “almanac” of ephemeris data... basically the coarse positions of all the satellites. As you use your GPS, this data is also downloaded into the receiver and updated. If you haven’t used your GPS in a while, it’s almanac will be out of date, and it won’t be able to compute your position without re-downloading the entire almanac first. The almanac is re-broadcast every 12.5 minutes... thus...it shouldn’t take more than 25 minutes to re-load the almanac. My guess on your issue: either your antenna has failed, the wiring between the antenna and the unit has failed, or the unit itself has failed. If you had a clear view of the sky, though, and flew for 90 minutes... then you most certainly gave the system enough time to download a new almanac. oh, if GPS was being jammed in your area- you also wouldn’t get an almanac... but that should have been NOTAM’d.

You’ve come to the right place, then!

I think their is a reason why military pilots are in high demand right now in the Majors. thats my conversation grenade for the day!

My guess, and it’s just that, a guess.... he’d like the A&P IA he trusts and has a relationship with to check the work of the shop that put up the motor. Makes sense to me.... Personally- some of the “scariest” maintenance I’ve come across on my bird has been conducted at big shops. One shop only hand tightened the spark plugs- “forgot” to torque them. Another only hand tightened the oil sump (luckily they safety wired it). I should have know they were suspect- they didn’t even bother to ask about the quick drain- which I left the adapter sotting on the front seat- figured that was obvious enough... I was wrong. Those guys could have killed me. a very popular MSC forgot to connect power to my gear motor. Found that one out after I took off. I swung back around and landed....at least they fixed the issue while I waited. They ceased to get my business after that. Im sure we all have stories about this kind of stuff... I don’t blame the OP if he wants a trusted mechanic to do his annual after such invasive surgery. After I found a local A&P IA, and watched him work, his meticulous nature, and established a mutual trust with him... I wouldn’t trade that for a million faceless “big shop” annuals. to the OP- getting a ferry permit is easy. But make sure your paperwork is all in order in the event a FSDO inspector wants to look over your plane. Oh, and I’d have that shop leave the cowl off for you, so you can take a look before they button it up. Reference those couple things above.

The boom travels behind the aircraft- think of it like the wake on a boat... except that the “boom” is a cone in shape.

You’ve made some excellent points too, though- one thing that your posts got me pondering: why? Why would their be a higher instance of rocket structural failures (real or perceived). my speculation: the rocket cruises sooooo close to the yellow arc on the airframe... any descent practically requires either a 10nm “coast” to a lower airspeed or speed brakes. The Missile is the same way (cruising up against the yellow arc). I cant speak for the rocket.. but the missile- the KIAS limits for the yellow arc drop down even further due to the 3200lbs max gross... so if you’re heavy, you’re really up against it. if the rocket is the same way- then any descent would put you up into the yellow. Add a little turbulence, a “slam dunk approach” and a pilot that’s behind the airplane... and there you have it.... they are fast airplanes with some amazing features, but I can see how it could get away from a pilot. just a couple thoughts- totally speculative

I found two in flight breakups of M20K models. One is a rocket. The rocket first departed controlled flight in icing conditions near bakersfield- then was assessed to break up (probably due to departing controlled flight and exceeding its placarded speeds). The tail number is N231BY... it’s definitely worth a read just for the ADM discussion. Totally applicable to some of the icing threads I’ve been reading lately. the second is attached below- it’s a stock K. Looks like the autopilot failed in some way that also caused its speed to exceed placarded limits, and the tail ripped off. I cannot find any evidence of inflight breakups of missiles (the J based rocket product), or in flight breakups that were not attributed to a Mooney airframe exceeding its placarded speed limits. if you have- I’d love to read the report- but to claim rocket engineering didn’t do their due diligence in their design process is a bit misleading, I believe.

<shrug> some people don’t mind SaaS and subscription charges. I do. It’s hard wired into my CB DNA. if I want “new features”, then I want the option to pay for them individually- not be required to “subscribe”... and then not know what those “new features” will be. To me, that’s like being forced to rent a drill, with the promise that new bits will be coming soon... but you don’t know what those new bits will be, or if they will be useful to me. No thanks- just sell me the drill I need for my application. One time cost. Done. CB rant complete.

I would contend that physics is far more important than “what’s legal” when it comes to useful load.... if you violate the legal useful load, the feds might catch you. If you violate the absolute useful load (plus the safety buffer)... well... physics is less lenient than even the FAA. so quibbling over 10-50lbs of inaccurately calculated useful load becomes more of a exercise in either willful ignorance... or is mainly a bargaining chip when it comes time to sell. Even the most diligent amongst us are somewhat “cutting butter with a chainsaw” when it comes to precise W&B calculation... and those that haven’t had their aircraft weighed and balanced (on scales) recently- even more so... either too heavy, or too light. has anyone here had their aircraft re-weighed and found that the old numbers that had been added and subtracted to over the years were actually accurate (let’s say.. within 6-9lbs of the “calculated” number?). Very curious- but highly doubtful. and I contend that reweighing, on certified scales, by someone that knows what they are doing, is more accurate than the addition/subtraction method. It accounts for intangibles (grease, mud nests, rats nests, extra wiring, leather yoke coverings, etc, etc).

I don’t know anything about the computer version- never used it. The original foreflight *app* was for iPhone- I am 100% confident in this information, as I bought the *app* (that cost me ~$60... which was a TON for an app back then, as the AppStore was so new and no garauntees that the whole premise of the AppStore would last for any period of time) and was using it to help with flight planning for my day job. The foreflight *app* was not limited to just airports and weather either at least not when I purchased it in the 2.0-ish versions- it included maps (sectionals, ifr high and low charts and plates), and it was definitely *not* subscription based: it was marketed as a 1 time purchase.... until all the folks that purchased the app (like myself) received an e-mail with the news that their app would no longer work at the next revision (that revision was version 3.0). I just looked back in the version history- and noticed that it was mid-late 2009 that this occurred, not 2008. you are right about one thing- foreflight was not as good back then as most free apps are today. after foreflight’s e-mail explaining their decision to move to a subscription model and the way they forced that subscription model on their users- I stopped using foreflight and refused to go back. the original free FlyQ app was actually the free AOPA app and was for the iPhone... until aopa stopped their contract with Seattle avionics... that’s when FlyQ EFB and FlyQ for the phone were born. I used the aopa app (FlyQ phone app) for a couple years.. but it was just airports and weather, although you could view approach plates on it too (no maps though). Edit - found this in my inbox from 2009... I guess I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to emails... it does say they would continue to support v2.4... which lasted until iOS 5, when 2.4 was orphaned.

FF used to be a “buy the app” once for 59.99 and you get it for good.... well... at least until 2008, when all of a sudden they stated that it would be 100.00 a year, and that those that purchased the app previously, would get “6 months free.” No grandfathering in, no capability to not “update” to the subscription version. Just “oh yeah, remember how we said you had this app for life? We changed our minds.” They were the first to go to the subscription model. Garmin didn’t even have an app yet. But smelling the blood (money?) in the air- they soon developed their own subscription based product- what we know now as garmin pilot. Basically an iOS version of their handhelds and panel type interface. Yuck. I’m happy their is a company out there like Seattle Avionics. GA and customer focused. Happy to have a lifetime subscription to FlyQ. One of the best decisions I’ve made in regards to avionics/flying “stuff.”

Excellent. I paid what they quoted me, the quotes were reasonable, the work was completed on time, and I’ve had no issues with the installs. ive had the following installed by chief- gma-340, aspen 1000 pro PFD and EI CGR-30P. went back later for software unlocks to the Aspen and the axp340 install. would go back again to install my new ads-b in receiver and second aspen display, but now I’m down in Phoenix. Sadly I have yet to find a shop that seems to be as reasonable / trustworthy as chief.

Sorry to hear that... it’s hard in GA... so much money on the line- and such limited options... I feel like pricing is opaque at best at times. for reference- when I had my aspen installed by Chief Aircraft at grants pass- they said it took 25 hours. I believe that. That’s a fairly involved install. But 40 hours for a transponder... wow.

15 hours?!?!? Thats insane! What were they doing for 10 hours of that time???? I hope you got all new connectors and wire harnesses? Even then- how much time does it take to build an 8 pin wire harness? My axp340 install, which included riveting in a new tray, was only 3 hours (it replaced a king kt76A) (it was installed while I waited at the shop), The axp340 is pretty much the same xponder as the KT74 (both based on the trig design). All it needed was one wire from the avidyne ifd440 and the new tray.

Yes- currently that is all you need to enter prior to actually planning a flight. once you make a flight plan- you enter your desired cruise altitude- or just hit the “wind” option on the flight plan... when you press “wind” you’ll see every available altitude (in thousands of feet), and how much fuel it will take to fly your currently planned route. It’s slick and simple.

That’s a big hope! Sadly, I think it might go the other way.

They have the non-fiki system on the 14V mooney’s. The pump is rated for operation on both.. not sure what the actual voltage operating range is though

The mooney fiki system does not run both pumps simultaneously- just one at a time. the mooney non-fiki and Fiki system are different in a few ways- 1) the fiki system has heated stall warning, and fuel vents 2) the fiki system has a second main pump (backup pump). 3) the fiki systems uses fewer panels to cover the same area as the non-fiki. The panels also use a thicker grade of titanium. things that are the same between the fiki and non-fiki mooney installs, according to CAV (the factory): -the fluid reservoir (6.6 gallons) -the pumps themselves (although the fiki has 2) -the flow rate in both de-ice (high) and anti-ice (low) (both have the same “endurance” as well). -the coverage. Both systems cover the entire airplane, as well as a spray bar and a prop slinger. From an engineering perspective- the two systems are nearly identical, with the exception of redundancy in the fiki system (2 main pumps instead of one).