donkaye, MCFI

The 650 does NOT have an AHRS in it. The Flight Stream 210 does have one.

I've compared my Nonin Flight Stat that constantly has battery problems with my inexpensive Oxi-Go and they read the same.

I just hang mine on the prop control knob and check it every 15 minutes or so.

Lots of good information in this thread. One more very important thing should be mentioned, though. Hypoxia isn't the only issue with flying high. Another big issue that affects some people more than others and is a major issue with U2 pilots and can be a deadly as hypoxia is the BENDS. It is also cumulative. I've had to deal with that issue for the duration of my Mooney ownership. Initially, I didn't know what was happening to my number 2. She complained about joint pain after 3 hours aloft. It was only after a stop in Rock Springs on the way to Oshkosh one year that I knew I had to find out what was going on. Her whole chest was covered with blotches. In hindsight we should have found the nearest hyperbaric chamber, but I was oblivious to what was going on at the time. Later, calls to Brooks Air Force Hospital in San Antonio and an actual trip to the University of North Dakota brought the issue to the forefront for us. Over the past 10 years we have mitigated her problems and she has not suffered any incidences of the Bends since. There are 5 means of mitigation: 1. Pre breath O2 with a sealed mask for ½ hour before flying. (Not really practical for us). 2. Take an aspirin 1 hour before flight. 3. Hydration--drink plenty of water 4. Slow ascent rate 5. Time aloft. What I have found works best is the aspirin, water, slow ascent rate, but most important is time aloft. 3 hours is the maximum I'll fly with her. We have experienced an incident within that time frame only once many years ago. It was at 17,000 feet and a descent to 13,000 mitigated the issue. The good news for me (and her) is I don't fly in the flight levels. 18,000 feet is tops for me on extended range. Usually I'll fly 15,000 to 17,000 feet. The difference in true airspeed between those altitudes and higher just isn't that much. I will sometimes climb to 20,000 for 10 minutes when going over the Sierras, but immediately descend when the terrain risk subsides. If the weather is bad enough to required a climb to the flight levels, we land or don't go at all. We've ended up having some great experiences is places we never would have gone. So consider the Bends issue when you are flying high for an extended period of time in addition to the hypoxia issue. It can occur at a much lower altitude than you might think. Regarding O2 use for me: above 7,500 feet during the day and from engine start to engine stop at night.

Just heard from a flight instructor at the PPP that the wreckage was recovered, so maybe we'll now find out what happened if they can get the G1000 data.

Speculation--- First I don't think he should have gone at the time he did. I see he was an experienced pilot with a Commercial rating who had been flying for 40 years, so the fact that he did is surprising. I learned long ago that, at least for me, I don't much care for the flight levels in an unpressurized airplane. The body doesn't react very well. 15-18K is good enough and leaves more time of useful consciousness if O2 problems develop. On long trips where it might be necessary to go higher safely, I take along a secondary O2 tank that can quickly be used in the event of failure of the primary tank. It's really necessary to do a Chamber ride if you plan to go high. You just have to know your hypoxic signals and react quickly. This implies having several pulse oximeters at hand and using them at the first sign of hypoxia. A few years ago I was ferrying a 231 to Colorado. The plane did not have a built in oxygen system. I carried several O2 tanks and flew at 17K. I switched tanks in the middle of the flight and after a few minutes felt light headed. I checked the pulse oximeter and it said 85%. Turns out I had turned the valve the wrong direction. I quickly turned it the right direction and felt better immediately. You just have to know your symptoms. While its possible it was a heart attack, I think it more likely a hypoxia incident and most likely he would be alive today had he just not gone. Assuming the AP was in altitude hold mode, I think it would have held altitude until the stall after the plane exhausted the full in one of the tanks, and then tried hold altitude with the elevator back in the descent. Thus the low speed in the descent. I don't know if it would hold wings level in the descent (my KFC 150 won't) and I never tried it with the GFC 700, but at some point maybe the AP disconnected and with the fuel imbalance between the full tank and the empty one the airplane went into a steep spiral. That may have occurred at 13,000 feet where the descent rate dramatically increased. Of course, all just pure speculation on my part....

In this case I don't know. IMHO it was clearly a no go for a Mooney, even an Acclaim. Had he called and asked me I'd have said, "It looks like the front is moving rather quickly, wait and go later or in the morning. Think of your family--and yourself. Do you really need to get there today?"

And as is often the case, the routing is just about clear now.

It doesn't only risk it, it is just about a certainty if your are descending into cloud in below zero conditions.. I made that mistake once many years ago. Never again. They froze in the UP position.

Speed brakes would be totally inappropriate with OAT -17°C. They would freeze up. Gear down, prop back to bottom of the green arc, throttle slowly brought back to about 20" then 15". 1600 ft/min would normally not be a problem, but with convection the speed restriction to Va would demand a much lower descent rate. From our weather and risk discussion yesterday, that flight was a no go from the start. The weather looked pretty bad....

Nowadays it is pretty easy to make go no go decisions. Freezing levels below 6,000 feet with no TKS and convective activity greater than isolated and the briefing is over. No go for me. Convective activity and 3,000 pound airplanes don't mix well. With some exceptions flying in the morning between 6 and 12 is most likely to produce the best results. The AOPA weather has been satisfactory for me for the past 5 years or so. First I'll check US Satellite for cloud cover and lightning. If lightning along the route and no short deviations around it then the briefing is over--a no go. Next I check the Nexrad Chart. Anything greater than dark green along my path with no extensive deviations around it and it's a no go. Then I'll look at the winds aloft from the ground to 18,000 feet. The latter shows the the direction of movement of any systems. By now i have a pretty good idea of the type of flight it will be. Next I'll look at the Prog charts, then the Sigmets, Airmets, and Convective Outlook. From the above it's pretty easy to make the decision. I won't fly in heavy precipitation. Been there, done that, don't like it. It destroys the paint, and heavy precip usually means some type of frontal activity, turbulence and an uncomfortable ride for passengers. I'm not going there anymore. Regarding minimums; flying to them is fine as long as you make sure the altimeter is properly set and there is an above minimum alternate within regulation distance from your destination airport. Regarding Nexrad colors; I've tried yellow a couple of times--no more. Dark green is my maximum fly through and that for only short periods of time. After reviewing all the above, if I still am unsure about going, the decision is made--don't go. Having said all the above, I won't go without XM and/or FIS-B and Stormscope if any anticipated weather could present an issue.

There is a significant difference between having a certified WAAS GPS and a non WAAS GPS as relates to doing approaches. In the olden days it was "Dive and Drive" on step-down non precision approaches. You needed to be especially careful with multiple step-downs. Today almost all GPS approaches with WAAS have some form of Glidepath associated them. This is a HUGE benefit of having a certified WAAS receiver and provides much greater safety in doing approaches. Of course lower minimums associated with LPV approaches is another major benefit. In my area here in California 200 foot lower minimums than before make all the difference in being able to get into airports like Watsonville or Tracy or other Valley airports during foggy conditions.

Yes, I do have XM through the GDL 69A to Flight Stream 210 interface.

Well, as is par for the course, all is not well with the Flight Stream 210 Aera 796 interface. On flight test today, there was no ADS-B Weather or TIS-B Traffic. Also, on the 796 AI 3D page, the slip indicator did not work. Has anyone else tested out the interface who could also confirm my findings?

Peter Cazares, (925) 455-5657, at J & R Electronics in Livermore. The Flight Stream 210 is available now.

If you have the Flight Stream 210 and the GDL 88, you should now have ADS-B Weather and Traffic on the 796 along with Attitude on the 3D Page without the need for the GDL 39. I'm headed out to the airport to try it out.

I see. So the Stratus works with Wifi and the Flight Stream works with Bluetooth. The only question would be which GPS source takes precedence. For you the only reason to buy the Flight Stream would be to transfer flight plans, and with the GTN that isn't so important. Currently the flight plan transfer aspect of the flight stream isn't implemented. Unless you bought either the GDL 84 or GDL 88, I wouldn't spend the money on the Fight Stream 210 in your current situation, since there is so little value in it.

I guess my question would be: Why even use the Stratus when using the Flight Stream 210? See the "Feature Compatibilities" at this link: FlightStream 110 210 | Garmin

I never gave it much thought, but should have. While I have most of the iPad flight apps, I mostly use Garmin Pilot. I have both Wifi and Bluetooth enabled on my iPad. When on the ground at home I get all the Garmin weather apparently though the Wifi connection. In the air before I select otherwise a screen overlay dims the display and displays "Garmin weather not available". I then select either FIS-B or SXM, the screen lights up, and the weather shows up. Since FIS-B or SXM is coming through the Flight Stream 210, the app is apparently smart enough to know to use Bluetooth and not Wifi. Accurate GPS location must be coming through the Bluetooth, too, from the GTN 750. For Foreflight, since it is using the Flight Stream 210, all activity must be coming through Bluetooth including position from either a GNS or GTN. It would be wise to contact Garmin to find out if a Stratus and Flight Stream 210 can be used at the same time, and if so, which takes preference for GPS location.

I think it is time for a new battery. I think I replaced mine once when I had the 696. If the XM is connected, then I remember the battery depletes in about 2.5 hours. With it disconnected you should be getting 5-6 hours, if I remember correctly. When I would fly commercially I would dim the display to increase the battery life. It also might be time to upgrade to the 796 if you have or intend to put in the Flight Stream 210. Within the next month it should be able, through bluetooth, to get ADS-B traffic and weather from the GDL 88, and attitude from the Flight Stream. If you have a GDL 69 or 68A and an XM subscription for the 796 and don't flight instruct like I do where you need the XM separately from your airplane, then you could cancel your 796 XM subscription and get it through bluetooth from the GDL 69 or 69A.

More about buying a Bravo than a C, but you asked, so in abbreviated fashion--- I never really thought about my life being that unusual. I did almost go into music as a profession. I had thought about trying to get into Juliard, but in the end chose UC Berkeley and engineering instead. I still do play the Clarinet. From a financial point of view, the best thing I ever did was to start buying real estate at the age of 26. This gave many years to allow for compounding of the investments. The last time I worked for a company was in 1975. I am very good at managing property after all of these years, so it doesn't take a lot of my time. This allows me to devote the majority of my time to flying, teaching flying, and my music. Regarding the Rock Band Tours, they came about as the result of my interest in Mooneys. I met Bryan when I helped him bring his newly purchased Ovation home from San Antonio, where he had Flight Safety training. He did many ratings with me and I flew with him on a number of early tours before he got the CJ. When another pilot training seat was available to do the CJ type rating, he asked me if I would like to do it, too. So I got my single pilot C525S type rating with his airplane. Yes, I am very fortunate.

30 gal/hr in climb so I took a worst case average of 20 gal/hr. Cruise is 18 gal/hr.

If you have Garmin Charts on the 750 card and try to update them and are using System 5.13, it is a known problem that you will crash and burn the cards. Garmin has a method for update the cards with the Charts. Since I don't have Garmin Charts on my 750 I haven't been concerned about the problem. BeechTalk has a number of threads on this topic and Trek Lawler from Garmin monitors the forums daily.

Yes, I do bounced landing practice by deliberately bouncing the plane and having the student recover. I do not do it from the slow side, as that is not easily controllable; only from the fast side where most of the bounced landing problems occur. The recovery procedures are well pre-briefed.

Nice writeup. I think emergency gear extension should be done on the ground during your annual. I used to do them until at one PPP, the plastic covering on the emergency gear extension wire of my student's 231 unknowingly frayed and jammed the gear mechanism. I tried everything to unjam it with no success. The gear was in the half down position and although there were Mooney mechanic gurus there no one had any good suggestions that worked so I thought it was going to be a gear up landing at Palm Springs. As a last resort we put back the emergency gear extension lever and tried the gear with its motor. It worked and the gear came down. The plane was finished for the PPP, but at least there was no incident. I do simulated engine failures during training at unexpected times and do expect the student to successfully land the plane on the runway. I have had a 231 unexpectedly spin out of a cross controlled stall when practicing them with students many years ago. I have written about that on my website. I haven't done, won't do, and don't recommend practicing cross controlled stalls in a Mooney. Nobody has to come out here to train with me. There are a number of good Mooney instructors around the country. Check the Mooney Flyer for one near you.