donkaye

Since the issue occurred on the last landing and it was a "slip to a landing" he passed his Wings Program, which qualified him for a flight review.

The tire looked almost new. We'll find out on Monday, when a new tire and tube arrive, what caused the problem.

I arrived at the airport (KSJC) today to give a Wings Program Flight Review. My student had recently gotten a hangar at the airport and by chance it was located right next to mine. It took all of 2 seconds to notice that the nose wheel tire seemed deflated down to about half full. I asked the student when he last flew and he said it had been about 6 weeks. I had previously had tires that lost air over a period of time, but never that much. Still, I thought maybe it was possible, but I still had that "feeling". It turns out I have a compressor so we moved his airplane out and moved my compressor to a place where we inflated his tire. It seemed to hold pressure so we proceeded to do the flight review. We did the air work and came back to San Jose to do the required landings. After the Tower had us circle for about 15 minutes, they informed us that there were 8 planes on final and it would be quite awhile before they could accommodate us. We decided to fly over the hill to Livermore. The Wings Program requires a long runway for some of the landings. We did 4 different kinds of landings and a simulated emergency to a full stop. We were about to take off to go back to San Jose when I asked him about fuel. We had plenty, but he was planning a long cross country over the week end and fuel at KSJC is over $11/gallon. So we went to the fuel island and loaded up. I looked at the front tire and it seemed to me that it had gone down some. Once again I was thinking that something just wasn't quite right, but the tire was nearly new and maybe it was my imagination. We flew back to San Jose and were cleared to land on 30R, the runway used for takeoff for the Commercial Airliners--and there were 3 waiting to takeoff. We touched down smoothly and within a second or 2 the nose wheel started shaking violently. Yes, I knew what had happened. The tire had failed. Luckily, we were close to a turnoff and we were able to roll onto an intersection and clear the runway. Still, the Airport ran a FOD check that delayed the Airliners a few minutes. It could have been sooo much worse if we hadn't cleared the runway, (or it had happened in Livermore away from home base and we had to deal with both a plane AOG and transportation back to San Jose). The runway would have had to have been shut down. As it was, it took about an hour for a tug from Atlantic to tow the plane from the intersection. While there were no violations involved, commercial traffic wasn't impacted more than a few minutes, and we were lucky enough to have facilities that could easily handle the situation, the fact remains that in hindsight I should have listened to that voice in the back of my head that said "something doesn't seem right" and postponed the flight review until the student had the tire checked.

Actually, in thinking about the warranty, maybe I should just replace the one that failed. OTOH, having a failure when on a long trip would not be pleasant. I think I'll continue to have them all replaced.

Thanks.

I had one of the first installations of the GFC 500 in the Bravo in June of 2019. After some initial issues, it has been rock solid and I thought I would get away with waiting the 5 years Garmin gave us before replacing the servos, some of which were defective in their early models. So it was very disappointing to turn on the avionics a couple of days ago and be alerted to a "Roll servo hardware fault". Out of curiosity has anyone had a hardware fault and been able to fix it without servo replacement?

On January 29, 1992 the Mooney Salesman for Northern California asked me if I wanted to accompany him to Kerrville in a TLS. We would come back in a J Demo. What fun that would be I thought, so I said yes. I asked him to make sure he topped off the O2. I flew up to Auburn, where he had his office and we took off late in the afternoon. The plane did not have a stormscope and ADS-B wouldn't come along for many years. I didn't do the flight planning and I had very little true cross country time. I think our navigation consisted of a KLN 88 Loran or maybe a KLN90B. Based on my logged time I think we went direct over the Sierras. I cringe as I think about it now. He also didn't top off the O2, so I think we had maybe 400 lb if even that much. I think we started off VFR, maybe IFR, but somewhere about an hour into the flight we came upon some weather and I think picked up a popup clearance and got news of thunderstorms along the route. That got my attention. Soon we were in the clouds and shortly thereafter I started seeing flashes of electrical charges dancing across the windshield (St. Elmos Fire). That was the first time I had ever seen that. A few minutes later the sky lit up all around us and Mike asked me why I wasn't holding altitude. We were obviously in a thunderstorm and Mike said to climb. Since we were low on O2 and I was flying the plane, Mike said I should use it. We kept climbing and I kept looking up hoping to see stars, letting me know we where on top. I personally thought we might be done for--and it was a Customer's plane. I asked myself how could I have gotten myself in such a situation? To my utter relief we broke out at 21,000 feet. We must have shared the O2 at that point, I don't remember. We did an approach into Tucson, at which time I told Mike that because we didn't have any O2 I'd stay there and he could on to Kerrvile. Between you an me, there was no way I was going on after that. I found a hotel and called Shirley to tell her what happened. Later, I found out that Mike had to shoot an approach to minimums into Kerrville at 3:00 in the morning. There's more to the story, but the memory still sends chills down my spine. The reason for the story is that the TLS had full static wicks, our comms were not interfered with, and we still got St. Elmos Fire on the windshield.

32 Years and never a regret.

Yes, which is why I asked Tom in the first place.

No. Any and all flaps only below the white arc. I just said that you may not harm the flaps if you accidentally had approach flaps below gear speed. It's not something you should deliberately do. I just gave a little background. A number of high performance airplanes and jets permit approach flaps above gear speed. Mooney doesn't permit it until below the white arc.

Alsolutely---NOT! ANY flap extension should be below the White Arc. A number of years ago I had the same question so had a long discussion with Tom Bowen, Chief Engineer at the time. While I can't remember everything he told me, the basic issue was torsion and loads throughout the CG range of the plane. They did do tests showing that approach flaps could be extended below gear speed in the long body, but never got it approved. So, if you forget to retract the flaps on takeoff you are not likely to do damage to the flaps if you're below gear speed, but they are not approved for extension above the white arc, notwithstanding apparently some J models.

1. Went into Annual with a working normal and hot starting engine. 2. Came out of Annual with an engine that would not hot start. Found out some parts that had been changed on the 500 hour left mag overhaul last year, while legal PMA's parts, were not Slick parts. Changed to Slick parts. Changed the ignition switch. Got a nice new key. Helped, but still didn't hot start reliably. Gave up on the old mag and ordered a new one. After it was put on, but before it was started, we discussed the SureFly SIM. Had them halt everything and replaced the new unused mag with a SureFly and sent the new mag back. I think some parts on the original mag that should have been changed were not last year. 3. The SureFly SIM is unbelievable. The plane has never started better, either hot or cold. In fact, it seems to start like a turbine; turn the key and it just starts. As I have a turbo, there is no advance. I don't care. Attended MooneyMax 2024 this year and the salesman from Electroair said the SureFly was just a mag replacement. I thought, "well, that's what I want". The Electroair was much more expensive and with an experienced installer, 3 days to install. The SureFly installs just like a mag with the exception of needing a wire to the battery and a different resistor to the ignition switch for the MVP-50 engine monitor. Add 6 hours. 4. The cost of the Surefly is a little less than the cost of a new "regular" mag. 5. Bottom line, one of the best things I have done for my airplane this year.

At least on the Bravo the glare fence is effective in preventing light from getting through to the pilot. In fact there is a small space where the fence connects to the wing where a sliver of light gets through and I can confirm that the light is working. It definitely doesn't interfere with my flying. Melting of the wing tip plastic is gone with this LED addition, installation is under an hour for both lights, and the cost is reasonable. I highly recommend them. Edit: Yes, the inboard 2 lights are hidden by the wing, but the other 4 are still brighter than the old single light that would melt the plastic if left on by mistake.

I have been flying Mooneys since 1990 and teaching in them since 1994 when I got my CFI. I've had my Bravo for 32 years. I've flown the E, M, R, TN, V across the US, with the M, R, being flown across more times than I can remember. I mean across being from Florida to California. The longest day with weather cooperating was a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Colorado Springs. It took over 10 hours in the Bravo. Of my nearly 13,000 hours, nearly 11,000 have been in Mooneys. So you can see I really love Mooneys. I say the above because, although I love the Mooney, it is NOT the right airplane for what you want to do. If you were to base it in Columbia and use it to fly around South America, maybe. A once in a lifetime trip? OK, but even then I would have considerations. In my opinion you really need a mid sized jet.

Those were sold long ago. The experimental plane was the one used in the certification of the Acclaim ultra. Jonny is a very "UP" kind of person. I did not sense that this time.

Definitely not true. We saw it all and there were no airplanes on the line except for the experimental Acclaim in the Service Center that they are getting certified and readying to sell.

Your vision should be normal after 1 day. Your eye was dilated by drops that, unlike simple dilation usually done when a doctor examines your eyes that lasts for a couple of hours, this one lasts a day. You might as well throw your old glasses away after the first eye. The brain seems to adjust with one eye done and the other not. In fact some people permanently have one eye implanted with a far vision iol and one with a close vision iol. The eyes take around a month to settle down according to the Opthamologist, so they don't do prescriptions until 4 weeks after the last eye is done. Knowing what each of the eye drops did, I religiously adhered to the protocol, particularly those for the 1st week, one of which was an antibiotic. When I asked the Doctor when I could fly, he said I could fly when I could meet the requirements of a medical. They did a quick exam right after the 2nd surgery and my sight was so good I started flying a week after the 2nd eye was done.

I've attached the article I wrote for the Mooney Flyer a couple of months ago. For me I wanted to get off a Special Issuance and get my 2nd Class Medical back. I got a Special Issuance 2nd class after a Medical Flight Test the 1st year that I had 20/20 in one eye corrected but only 20/25 in the 2nd eye corrected. The next year both eyes were 20/25 corrected and not only did the FAA refuse the second class, but they issued the 3rd class requiring a yearly Opthomology exam and said I couldn't get a medical through my AME, but only through the FAA. That did it. They basically bullied me into having Cataract Surgery. After the fact I'm glad they did. A month after the surgery I had an eye exam showing both eyes 20/20 corrected and I was immediately issued a 2nd Class Medical and taken off Special Issuance. I read too many places where the multifocal lenses were not satisfactory, especially for pilots. They took time and many appointments over a period of a month for adjustment before they were locked in. I chose the monofocal Toric far distance lens due to astigmatism. I did one eye at a time. The surgery was easy taking only about 15 minutes for each eye. The eye drop requirement required a spreadsheet to keep track of drop times, especially after the 2nd surgery, where each eye was on a different schedule. The eye drops were needed for 5 weeks. I've worn glasses since I was 10 or 11. I don't need glasses for far vision now. I love it! I definitely need them for medium and close vision, but with the astigmatism corrected, the close vision is better than ever. Although I got Progressive glasses from the Doctor, the best medium and close vision I get is from a $35 pair of Foster Grant multi focus glasses 2.5 strength. Medicare won't pay for anything other than standard lenses. The Toric lens at my location was $2,000 each. Although I didn't notice the mild cataract, as others have said, the vision difference now is amazing. I have to thank the FAA for their bullying. I should have done it immediately and not gone through the hassle of the Special Issuance. Special Issuance and the Long Road Back.pdf

From the POH landing speed at gross weight for short field, take off 5 knots for each 300 pounds that you are under gross.

We started going to Oshkosh in 1999. Since then we've missed 2; One in 2020 AirVenture cancelled due to Covid and another in 2023. During the early years there were some AirVentures where the weather was hot and humid. For some lucky reason for the last 5 years that we have attended the weather has been dry and cool for the most part. This year, after a lot of arm twisting, I was finally able to convince Shirley to rent a scooter for $80/day. I walked, she rode. After the fact she really liked it. I figured I walked about 5 or 6 miles per day. I tried to get the exact mileage but the app I was using took so much battery that after 3 hours and 3.5 miles my phone was down to 22%. Being a life member of EAA allows you to use the Oasis where everything is free; drinks, candy, chips, etc. Even better is being a donor where you can use the PHP house. We had invitations there to a very good breakfast and late afternoon get togethers where a lot of food is served. Also, the AOPA dinner at the Waters is one of the highlights of AirVenture (see photo)

Levels of Learning per the Instructor's Handbook from lowest to highest: Rote, Understanding, Application, Correlation. Rote: Read the operator's manual several times. Understanding: Watch Youtube videos of the products you are interested in learning about. Application: Watch Youtube videos of the products you are interested in learning about with examples, read postings on forums such as this or Beechtalk, practice with Apps if there is one, and practice in your airplane. Correlation: Practice in your airplane in the real world with ATC throwing the inevitable curve balls at you. It happened to me today on a student's Instrument Cross Country. Except for the multimillion dollar simulators like operators such as Flight Safety have, I never thought much of inexpensive sims. If you're going to spend in excess of $100,000 for a modern panel upgrade, you need to spend the time and read the manuals from cover to cover--several times. While it may seem boring to some, most of the information needed to competently use the equipment is in the manual. And each of the manufacturers has their own design philosophy. Once you understand the philosophy, I've found that you can usually pretty quickly find a solution to a problem by going to the right menu. Finding the menu quickly is philosophy dependent. I do find it is challenging to learn many philosophies. I feel like I'm an expert in the Garmin world. Not so much in the Avidyne world, although I find I can get around pretty well even there, since the most used actions are fairly obvious. The more complicated actions in any of the worlds such as VNAV as an example, or loading Airways, which is device dependent, require a YouTube video, or an instructor who has "been there, done that". I have found that there is no substitute for practicing with your own avionics. If something doesn't go as planned, it's back to the manual for guidance, then back to the plane to try it out. Unfortunately, company support is usually worthless from my experience. These people seem to be trained to a level that is barely Rote. So set aside some time sit down in a cosy chair, and start your "Adventures Through the Manuals". You'll be surprised how much you can learn.

See 2 posts that Bob Krommer made to the Mooney List in December 2005: https://donkaye.com/useful-aviation-articles Needing to slip the Mooney on final usually indicates failure to have established a stabilized approach. There are times where a slip to final may be useful. I've had ATC ask if I could do a short approach when on downwind with no time to widen the downwind. A turning full slip (NOT SKID) in the landing configuration to final at 85 knots (no less per Bob Krommer) worked great. Don't do it with passengers. Or sometimes I've had a student misjudge the slope for the base turn and a slipping turn slightly above 85 knots solved the problem. I'm not advocating doing slipping turns in the normal course of events; just that its another item in your bag of alternatives.

Each to his own, but the short cross controlled stall practice I did with 5 students in the mid 1990s was a non aggressive skidding left turn with right aileron smoothly added until the the left wing would start to drop. Recovery for the first 4 was unremarkable. The cross controlled stall that convinced me to stop that training was when the stall was carried to the "break" with the last student in his 231. The plane didn't "snap" into a spin, it just rolled over and entered it before I said "I have the airplane". Luckily were were, I think, at 6,000 feet. Applying normal spin recovery technique, the rotation didn't stop for several rotations. We lost several thousand feet and there was a moment before the rotation stopped when I thought recovery may not be assured.

Regarding basic flying skills, I think one of the most important skills that should be practiced would be soft field takeoffs. Perfecting this skill would help prevent many go around accidents and get the pilot comfortable with operating in the critical low speed portion of the aircraft's envelope. It would also help in getting rid of "locked and frozen right leg" when it comes to rudder control (or lack thereof). From experience I'd say 100% of the people I ask to do a soft field takeoff can't do one properly in a Mooney. Another area that should be practiced would be precision flight control. I find that most people don't really understand the relationship between pitch and power and which should be primary in any given situation. And then there is landing practice. While most people I fly with can make "safe" landings, nearly 100% don't fly them with any observed structure (at any rate the way I want them to be flown). Avionics training needs to be individually tailored to each aircraft configuration and none are the same nowadays.