M016576

Technically your best range “speed” is defined off of an angle of attack.... which means that weight actually changes the speed. As is you max endurance (longest time airborne for the fuel). it all goes back to your lift vs drag curves, which define where the most “efficient” flight profile exists. They (max range/max endurance) are defined off an angle of attack that corrisponds to the intersections of the L/DMax curves.

Yep- I’d check the pin out on the KFC150- you’ll find that there’s a pin for the director bars- those pins or the wire between are probably broken. It runs from pin-16 on the back of the KFC 150 out to pin-P on the back of the Ki-256. Good luck!

Buy 35 or 50 gallon barrels. The cost savings on bulk makes up for the shipping. If you find 1 or 2 other TKS users, you can split the barrel.

For the cost, the IFD series is a better deal than the GTN series. GTN doesn’t come standard with a WiFi gateway, and the cost to install is greater (if you have a 530/430 already installed). Also, no free apps for the Garmin- so if you use an iPad, you’ll be stuck with garmin’s app Subscription (if you want to wireless interface) on top of the Nav data subscription. The screen on the GTN is bigger. I think the interface is worse (but that’s subjective on my part). The GTN’s cost a significant amount more to buy and operate at the same level of functionality that the IFD provides. If money is no object- then a GTN is a good option.

Valid. Formation flight is the third pillar of flight of the “trifecta.” Visual flight (using the earth as your attitude reference), instrument flight (using your instruments/gyros as your attitude reference)...,. And formation flight: using another aircraft as your attitude reference. like any other skill in aviation- experience and dedication result in competency and capability. It gets to be quite fun. Although flying through hard IFR with nothing but a wing tip light to stare at and fly off of can be harrowing. After 15 or so years instructing young pilots to fly form, i can say it’s just like teaching any other facet of aviation- the best results come from realizing that the key is remaining humble, approachable, and credible. Only two things have caused more sustained stress on my life (outside of combat missions)... aerial refueling, and landing on a boat. If I ever have to do either of those things in a Mooney, I’m having a very interesting day! Edit. I have not participated in any Mooney form clinics yet, although one of my coworkers and I fly formation in our planes from time to time- he has a V35, me in the missile. It’s hard to fly off such a slow airplane... I recommend staying Mooney/Mooney

Easiest way to avoid a prop strike is to not be fast on your approach. easiest way to not be fast on your approach is to fly on-speed AoA, and a disciplined pattern (small corrections early on will save you from large corrections later) If you don’t have an AoA indicator- calculate your actual approach speed for every flight and be honest with yourself on short final. If you’ve got a loooonnnnggg runway, you may be able to afford to float in ground effect, or above it, until your speed is under control. If not, go around early and try again, but this time be disciplined and fly the proper speeds. its easy to get complacent- but complacency kills when it comes to aviation (or costs you lots of money).

Not to get too far off track- but has anyone (other than the OP) noticed just how tight the Mooney market is right now? Not a whole lot out there available- even fewer that I’d want in my hangar!

At first I saw 162...and said to myself- that seems fast to me! Then I noticed... 16.2! Which! What, were you guys taxiing?! a gauge is only as good as it’s calibration, or the information it’s receiving! What’s up with that 430?

Where I live, light turbulence, and at times moderate turbulence are a part of flying during certain parts of the year- due to winds and the mountains that surround the local area. I am quite familiar with the products available for forecasting and predicting possible turbulence, and the weather patterns that tend to bring it. I’m also familiar enough to know that if forecasted severe turbulence is out there, or an active convective sigmet, I shouldn’t be going flying. So you’re right: it’s not difficult to know when to not go from a planning standpoint. The reason I ask the question, is not to go traipsing through known convective buildups, but more due to unforecast, or changing conditions creating a more serious situation than was forecast during preflight planning and identifying that situation correctly. And I’m curious what other pilots use as their benchmark. This is the way I took your response, but using icing as the subject, vice turbulence, to illustrate the way your response reads to me. if this is not what you intended please let me know: Think of my question as being more like “how can I tell if the icing is more serious than moderate as I’m punching through a layer in my FIKI TKS Bravo”, and your response being “don’t go flying if there is any chance of icing.” I would say that your advice is conservative in nature (don’t go flying if their is a chance of turbulence), but not all that practical, or realistic. Or did you just mean a chance of moderate turbulence (an airmet issued, maybe?). Still, that seems a bit conservative. edit: I read your paper on your experience in the ovation on turbulence. How does putting the gear down and deploying the spoilers aerodynamically “help” with the turbulence? Is the ride markedly different than just flying the aircraft below gear deployment speed (125ish knots? So just below maneuvering speed). I’ve never heard of this technique before, is this a common thing in light GA planes? it seems inefficient, but if it helps the ride dampened out maybe worth it?

Thanks all. I seem to spend more time in turbulence in the Mooney than in the jet- and it also tends to feel more “intense”- might be the wing shape, or the seatbelt vs a four piece harness, or maybe it’s just in my mind. It’s nice to have some more objective metrics to help sanity check a good course of action. ive seen that chart before- but I’ve found it of little use operationally. The static system lags so much that you can’t really tell what sort of burst you just hit (50fps? 75? 25?). I like the idea of “if you’re iPad hits the ceiling...”. And of course it’s one thing to ride a wave up and down (which is basically no additional loading), it’s another thing entirely to be in the continuous bumps. Thanks!

The one piece of info that has been left out is what the seller is asking... lots of assumptions so far that the airplane is priced “to the max.” but if the seller is asking 125, I’d say that’s fair for a ‘99 ovation with 600smoh, and if a buyer tried to Negotiate lower due to the motor, I’d tell him/her to pack sand. Now if he’s asking 200.... that’s a different story. of course, avionics are a big part too... but if it’s only flown 600hrs in 20 years, I’d imagine it’s pretty stock on the inside and in need of a WAAS gps, and an ADS-B solution. remember- a fair transaction has occurred when both the seller and the buyer walk away disappointed.

A has a pretty good description above- but here’s a slightly different one... The wing (airfoil) stalls at the same angle of attack regardless of weight of the aircraft. If the gauge is calibrated for full flaps, or no flaps (two different airfoils, essentially, due to different cords), then it will automatically account for whatever weight your aircraft is flying at.... because weight alone only changes the angle of attack required to maintain flight- not the angle of attack where the stall occurs. thats why “on speed” angle of attack is always the same for a given airfoil, regardless of weight... but if your aircraft is heavier or lighter, you’ll have more or less angle of attack for level, balanced flight. As weight changes, though, and as angle of bank changes, you will have a different indicated airspeed in order to maintain that same angle of attack. The critical angle of attack point where the stall occurs, measured in degrees (or units of degrees in some aircraft), doesn’t change, but the indicated airspeed at the critical AoA point does.

After a sustained bumpy (continuous mod) flight for about an hour on Friday, I started to ask myself... how much turbulence is too much for a Mooney? The obvious answer being “well, when the wings buckle And the tail breaks off.” but is there some other method, less subjective than “this feels to be about moderate” that one uses to determine if it’s “too much?” and one needs to then slow to maneuvering speed?

In a skid or a slip, you still have to stall the wing first for it to be a problem. The AoA indicator shows you how close you are to a stall... where in a skid or wrapped up turn your indicated airspeed at stall is higher than wings level- so without an idea of what your AoA is, or an in-depth understanding of stall vs angle of bank vs weight of your aircraft, you’re flying blind. but you’re right- no amount of money spent is a valid substitute for proper training. But on that note... Can I shoot an approach to minimums in hard imc with just an OBS and ILS, and a steam powered 6 pack? Yes. Would I rather use my Aspen and IFD440? Yes....

Oh the good old days! You just brought a single tear to my eye..... CATC: “301TV, three quarters of a mile, on and on, call the ball” me: “301TV, Mooney, Ball, .5, auto.” LSO: ”Roger ball, auto!” technically that picture is an IFOLS, the older OLS only had 5 cells on it... and was much harder to fly (for me, anyway...some guys made it look easy!)

I’m not sure about that first part (about priority and certificate action) and here’s why- if you’re off your altitude by more than 300’ on an IFR flightplan, ATC could, theoretically, violate you- regardless of whether there is a traffic conflict or not. Perhaps the quote you remember means that if they have to give you priority, and they didn’t expect to... like if you turn the wrong direction, causing a traffic alert, which in turn requires an immediate turn out of both your aircraft and the other. That’s more speculation on my part, but I’d imagine that would drive a letter from the FAA/certificate action. I have received priority vectors from ATC several times (again, in the jet, not in my Mooney) and have yet to have any FAA action. I have filed 3 NASA reports (ASRS forms) over the years- you can do them online now. Not a get out of jail free card, but an honest accounting of the situation you found yourself in and your actions can help improve the whole aviation safety complex. You can fill them out for ground operations, too. So if you see something that is unsafe, or just doesn’t make sense- it’s a great, anonymous way to provide inputs to “the system.” Some people think of them as only for use in case you have “done something wrong.” But they are important, if you see a better way to “do something right” too.

Declaring an emergency to ATC gets you two things- priority handling and priority assistance. If you have some sort of a malfunction, major or not, and you choose not to declare, know that you’re essentially accepting that ATC will handle your aircraft just like any other, fully functioning aircraft- they would be under no obligation to provide any priority to you. Once you say the word “emergency,” all that changes. It costs a pilot nothing to declare an emergency and the priority handling you receive may save your life, or the lives of other people/pilots. Some people assume that they will be investigated automatically if they declare, that’s not the case. Subjectively, it’s appearing to me that pilots that haven’t spent time in a professional training environment tend not to understand what declaring an emergency does for you, or are hesitant to do so in situations where it would clearly be in their best interest. It seems like it’s not a very well understood process (which is a good thing, I guess- as it means we aren’t having too many emergencies), or maybe guys are afraid of the perceived ramifications? I’ve never declared an emergency in the Mooney as I’ve yet to have a major system failure (power plant, fuel, flight controls, gear) that would warrant it. I have on multiple occasions in the jet (maybe 10 times) declared emergencies. From a paperwork perspective- other than internal safety reports our pilots write for my organization, I’ve only been asked to provide further information to the FAA once, and it was just a phone call to center to fill in some details. Of course, mileage may vary when dealing with the FAA- but in my 20 or so years flying (knock on wood) I have yet to see any of these “investigation horror stories” first hand. Maybe I’m just lucky. Just a few thoughts on safety and declaring emergencies to ATC based on my experiences.

You’re going to be hard pressed to find a newer Mooney that will haul more than your J. The “best” useful loads are about 1100lbs- and none of the turbo options come in up there AFAIK, except maybe the Rocket. The Ovation, the S and the Missile all give you a nice useful load, but no turbo. There was that one K that Parker modded- I think he got a pretty nice useful out of it after the STC if I remember correctly. really- for what you want, it sounds like you would do well with an Aerostar, or a P-Baron. Both of those will run you 4-5x the cost of operating your J. The question to ask, is the extra cost (and training for a light twin) palatable? If not, keep the J and use the extra money to buy airline tickets for those big trips! ive been going through this same issue in my mind, too..... and can’t find a good answer!

Nice setup- that’s pretty darned sweet!

You know what really bugs me... Garmin’s extra cost associated to wirelessly transfer flight plans... not only do you have to have buy a $800-$1500 flight stream, you also have to pay recurring flight book costs- whether that be the crappy Garmin EFB, or the slightly less crappy Foreflight. (I know, I know, some of you guys love paying 180 bucks a year for those two efb’s). Avidyne does a solid with its IFD gps’s: the IFD100 app is free- so if you don’t have a subscription to an EFB (or a lifetime with FlyQ), you still get functionality out of your WiFi gateway. Would be nice to have a free, pared down app out of Garmin- so you don’t have to buy the (way overpriced) gateway, and then buy an (overpriced) subscription to get any use out of it.

Light twins... 3-5 times the cost to “build your hours quicker” (go slower), and haul an effective extra couple hundred pounds. man- seeing these acclaims and their hull cost vs performance vs useful just reinforces the idea in my mind that the best long body value is a bravo right now.

For what it’s worth, we wear our g-suits when on alert- which is 24-7.

by that rational, though, you could have an ovation and a vacation home in FLA... or a J/K and an apartment complex in Boise.

I had the same initial reaction when I read Niko’s post the first time- then I re-read it. I think you guys are actually kind of saying the same thing. I think Niko’s point was that if the OP isn’t going above 12K, he’d probably be better off with a little “less” of an airplane- ie an ovation or a missile (as a missile owner, I’d agree with that statement). I do agree with you though too- flying characteristics wise, they all fly pretty similarly, and at similar speeds: of course they’d have to- since they are certified airframes. It’s all relative though- if you’re not used to flying 200 knots, it can seem pretty fast... whereas if your day job has you regularly climbing at 25000fpm and flying at 600kts... an acclaim, bravo, ovation and missile all feel equally slow! Still fun though... and you can fit 4 people in a Mooney

Hah! I hear he’s a fellow rocket engineeering alum, as well Slightly off topic, but your discussion of the golden ratio reminded me... I loved the book “archimedes revenge”... interesting chapter about the golden ratio! hmm, maybe I need to get the Missile painted now...