RJBrown

I restore MGAs and follows forums for them. One had a topic called "Flame Wars" for a while. It was fun but got too divisive. All up it is better off gone. Things got less than civil at times. I do have strong opinions at times and try not to get personal. Discussing some topics without allowing political opinion can truly be "ignoring the 500# gorilla". Many of the things that affect flying are politically driven. Treating these as taboo topics is silly but remaining respectful is important. I would not recommend an area specifically for these type of topics as it will give permission to some to be too offencive. The first three are off to other owners but the garage shot shows the 2 running examples of the 4 I have now.

This country was founded on the premise that governments receive their JUST power from the governed. The change from "rights" to "privileges" and the sheepishly compliant attitudes seen here illustrate the perversion of our society. Governments have NO rights, people have rights. Governments don't have the authority to grant "privileges". The twisted belief that the government can give anything is destroying our country.

Problem with replacement is your clock does not have a standard round hole. I had a round Analog clock standard in my 1990 MSE. The time adjust knob was broken. I replaced it with a Electronics International SC-5 clock. Changed it myself and had it signed off. Not hard to get to at all. Be careful about what you buy there is very little depth behind the panel in that area. Check dimentions first before you buy. Lines to the back of my AI had to be changed by Arapahoe Aero before I could complete the install. Do you know what brand the clock is? The information you seek would come from the clock supplier. Any bulb would most likly be 24 volts and that makes it harder to find. Pull the glareshield and take a look. That alone might answer your questions.

Carusoam is correct you have a plugged vent. This could create a dangerous situation. My brother in law had a boat with a non vented cap where a vented one should have been. The boat would run fine for an hour or so then start to loose power as the vacuum in the tank increased. After he changed the fuel pump 3 or so times without correcting the problem I went for a ride with him. When the symptoms appeared I removed the cap and power was restored. In our airplanes there in a seperate tank vent for each side. (Adding long range tanks does not affect this area) Insects can enter and plug the vents or a careless reseal can cause it. An (good) open vent can dribble fuel on a hot day if the tanks are overfilled.

Using mineral as the shop recommended will not cause glazing of the other 3. That statement is absurd and indicates that whoever repeated it to you has NO understanding of what those words even mean. When rings are installed in an engine the cylinder walls are honed with a "glaze breaker" of some sort. This process leaves a crosshatched pattern inside the bore. This "roughness" wears into the ring face and wall surface so the rings and the bore mate together. Some oils lubricate so well that they interfere with this process. This is why "break in" oil of some sort is used. The other 3 cylinders are already broken in. Using mineral oil will not affect them.

Quote: Becca Flying is a privledge, not a right, as many many court decisions uphold, so security or obstacles at an airport isn't violating any of our "constitutional" rights.

Western Skyways http://www.westernskyways.com/

Quote: rbridges I have to respectfully disagree. What you're saying makes great financial sense, but I bought my plane for emotional reasons, too. I can comfortably afford my payments and unexpected hiccups that come with ownership. I put 20% down and financed instead of taking a larger chunk out of my savings. I did think practically and bought a C model which runs the price of a nice car but well below the 6 digit costs of the newer planes.

When I painted my old plane years ago I got blank drawings of the plane. Like below. I made 50 copies and kept drawing till I got what I wanted. I did look at as many other planes for ideas but in the end did a one off design of my own. When I got close I would color it using felt pens and hang it in my office to see what I thought. I had dozens of Mooney drawings hanging around till I finalized the design. There are lots of pictures out there, use them for inspiration and find your own. I have a side view on my desk at work. Thinking about the grey plane getting color.

I have owned a 1980 231. Now own a 1990 J. The 231 had about 1100 hour when bought at 1200 hours major engine work became neccesary and the plane was converted to a Rocket. There are examples of TSIO360 engines making TBO, you have heard a few here. While searching for my second airplane I planned on buying a 231. Over the 6+ years I was without a plane I followed the market quite closely. I found that most 231s had an engine OH around the 1200 hour number or were topped. On Controller now: 3 appear to be on second engine, 57638 got 1350 1163D got 1150 1172K got 900 These 3 are on 2nd or 3rd you would have to see logs but I would bet they were at least topped. 233JB got 1610 231EU got 1700 231RU got 1900 4 more appear to have a 3rd engine 1041G 2100 average 1150 231PP 2500 average 1250 C-GROV 2640 average 1320 231HN first 2 got 2000? and it now has a runout at 1700. When I was calling and checking logs for every one that got over 1600 there were 2 that did not make 1000 and most got something about 1200. Knowing what I know I would consider any GB/LB runout at 1200 for purchase consideration.

FNL is a flatland airport. Far enough from the mountains that they are not a factor. 8500' runway, nice FBO, not a lot of traffic ILS if needed. As others have advised use the SAME indicated air speeds you use at home. In doing so your true air speeds will be higher. Watch your numbers you will feel too fast. This is why the runways are longer up here. If you want some mountain experience arrange ahead of time for a "mountain checkout" most flight schools around here require them before allowing their rentals to go into the mountains. Lake county airport in Leadville at 9930' was one of the stops on my check out years ago. Great learning experiance.

Back when cars had carburetors the idle mix was set with a method called lean idle drop. Most cars were set between 50 and 75 RPM lean of peak. I use this same method each time I set the mixture at idle. I am at 5880' on the ground and if I don't lean this way I will drop a plug. Once taking the runway I enrich the mixture but I do not push the knob all the way in. I leave it out about 1/4" to compensate for altitude. At a mountain airport such as Leadville elevation 9930' leaning to best power at high RPM may be needed to safely take off.

Quote: allsmiles This was exactly what I was trying to say earlier which you very well identified John. Reliability. What price do we put on this notion of reliability? If the Avidyne 540 comes in at >13K installed from scratch and the GTN750 comes in at ~15K or even at 16K worst case what is the differential? We are talking a couple grand in the worst case scenario. How much is this reliability and piece of mind worth? Personally it's priceless but ymmv! It's a no brainer! Advantage: Garmin And to the people who say Garmin made the connectors different on purpose, etc. etc., between the GNS and the GTN that's not the case. The GTN is light years different than the GNS and incompatible. There are solid engineering reasons. The only similarity between the two is, frankly, the Garmin name!

Quote: Lionudakis It does raise eyebrows at the idea of redundancy, if these new signals are going to kill everything gps based at once. Next we'll need to back up the gps with rnav or IRS system if these other signals are allowed to interfere. A 180 I restored has been having issues with his dropping off at once, but it's been doing it for 2 years, before theses signals were introduce, all components were swapped out, so next is some sort of static charges as it usually happens at the best times (real ifr)

Quote: fantom Byron is giving you facts and Randy, who knows what he is, is correct. Develop poor flying habits now, and they will be hard to reverse in the future. Please take their advice.

Overcooling is as bad as over heatingin its own way. I don't drop the cowl flaps until I see oil temp. On a "cold" day in Kerville things may be different but if you need preheat you need to keep the flaps closed initially. The longer an engine is below temp the more wear you get. A good preheat and closed flaps are best. Leaning aggressivly during warm up is good advice.

Quote: orangemtl Not sure I can agree with 90 being too fast, with a single notch of flaps. Yes; one can use full flaps, but do I really want to float to the end of the runway? Similarly, I can use the brakes with vigor. Which I don't care to do. Short fields are, of course an entirely different story. One can use short field techniques on a longer runway: speed at 80-85, and full flaps. Given plenty of room, I just don't see the utility in doing so. I prefer more control, at my relatively early stage in aviation, rather than allowing for any mushiness with slower speeds. Someone with 1000 hours---or 3000, for that matter---may find that unnecessary, as they have a finely tuned sense of feel for the controls in their plane, in all circumstances of weather and approaches. Mazel tov. I don't. I like control. One day, several hundred hours from now, I'll have a diffferent relationship to the aircraft, as we all do. Call it a crutch if you like. I call it a tool. One may call me a 'tool' as well, for insisting upon my position. So be it. The plane will either approach stall speeds on final, or over the runway. I prefer 'B'. Apologies for my rant.

Quote: DaV8or No kidding. This is a little insight into Garmin and their business model. Changing the connectors and trays just because they can. I can think of no reason to change these things because the systems they interface with are the same. Avidyne has the right idea. A plug and play unit that slips into the old Garmin trays, with all the features of the 750, should really give them a significant advantage. They should then work a deal with Fore Flight for the data subscription. If they can make it real and solid, they could sell like wild fire.

I was considering a 32g Ipad 2 when I was offered a 16g 3g Ipad 1 for $200. Would not have only got 16g if I were buying new but 16 works for foreflight. It was hard for me to justify buying new as all I wanted it for was as an EFB. For $200 it was a no brainer. The difference to get 3g and 32 gig would be worth it in my opinion.

I always set flaps to takeoff position on my J. When I had the Rocket it just did not care. Acceleration was so quick that the flaps went from helping to hurting in no time at all. At Cenntennial I would have the gear up 100KT+ and 1000+ FPM before I was off the airport.

I have a 1990 M20J based Centennial (APA)

Finally drank the Kool-Aid. One of my employees offered me a 3G 16gig Ipad 1 for $200. I could not resist. Foreflight and an Ipad are amazing. It is crazy to think that every sectional, every low enroute, every approach plate, every airports information and my daughters wedding pictures are all on the Ipad.

My Father in Law is retired Air Force. Flew B-52s most of his career. He would haul Nukes around the world on a typical mission. They would take off from N Carolina cross the Atlantic fly around waiting for orders that never came then fly home. Multiple refueling were required to make the flights. Later flying missions over N Vietnam. He and men like him are and were the point of the spear. I respect and honor him along with the young men assuming those responsibilities today. Thank God there are those that risk all to defend this great country. Freedom isn't FREE.

I don't have any hard fast numbers for personal minimums. Each flight has it's own set of conditions. A 300' ceiling at CRQ caused by a morning marine layer is not the same as a 300' ceiling tops to 10,000' on a cold January morning at APA. Morning fog, a temperature inversion or a marine layer can all create low ceiling accompanied by severe clear less than 1000' up. To me those are non issues. I can be above the murk before I leave the boundaries of the airport. Conversely there are times that are legally VRF and I stay grounded. Oct of 2010 I was in St George UT. Tops to the east were about 20,000 and no way was I launching. I drove home and back because of the weather. Each situation has it's own hazards that must be addressed individually.

Quote: fantom