donkaye

I'm exhausted after reading all the posts in this thread. I think I've had experience with most of what has been disussed. I have had my Bravo since August of 1992, so I'm coming up on 20 years. I'm on my second engine having taken the first one to 2295 hours. During that time I have put on nearly 3200 hours on my airplane and flew another 700 with students in the Bravo. You all are making it too complicated. From my exoerience: 1. On long cross countrys I'll fly between 15 and 18,000 feet as a good compromise between true airspeed and not having to wear an O2 mask. At those altitude my true airspeed is about 205 knot at 75% power. Of course this assumes no weather issues. The Bravo allows for this by having it 25,000 foot ceiling, an altitude I rarely use. Also, if you need to go up there for weather purposes you probably shouldn't be there anyway. 2. If you value your $65,000 for a reman engine, then you won't run it LOP. Been there tried to do it. Even if you can get it to run LOP, after a year expect at least $3,000-$7,000 in exhaust system repairs. That will kill any benefit of running LOP. No good explanations have been put forward as to why the exhaust system gets damaged, but it does in a number of Bravos including mine. 3. Lean by TIT. This is a turbocharged engine and all the exhausts combine to generate the TIT, so use that to lean. TIT should never exceed 1650 for engine longevity (forget the 1750 maximum. Go there and you won't have an engine for long). I lean to between 1600 an 1625. You will find that this is greater than 100° ROP. NEVER lean to 50° ROP unles you are operating at power settings below 60%. 4. The APS should be a requirement for a signoff. Outstanding course. I've taken both the in person and online courses. Both are good, but take the in person if able. You have the 3 most knowledgeable people on modern engine management teaching it and who know how much longer they will be available due to health issues. If you're a CFI they give a $100 discount. Ask for it. 5. Airspeed management is critical for Mooney operations. 5 knots too fast is too fast. Always know your landing weight. Approach speeds can go down to 65 knots with one person and 1 hours of fuel on board. For every 300 pounds you're under gross deduct 5 knots from the nominal speed. 6. Don't "overthink" Bravo operations. Flying this plane is like flying a Cessna 150 compared to the CJ (I have the Single Pilot type rating for that airplane). Bottom line: Givien a choice between any single engine airplane, the Bravo would be and is my airplane of choice. Enjoy yours!

I'd recommend flying back with a CFI whether it is me or someone else and NOT stopping to visit. When you're learning the airplane, learn the airplane. There will be plenty of time to visit later. A lot can be gleened from an experienced pilot that would never be had by flying back alone in an unfamiliar airplane, at least not at a reduced risk level afforded by traveling with an experienced pilot. I have done numerous cross crountry's in various models from the E to the Bravo and Acclaim, so if you want an exciting knowledge trip back give me a call. Don Kaye 408-249-7626 Home 408-499-9910 Cell

I ran my first engine to 2295 hours---without an engine monitor. Leaning was done with TIT(1625 max) with correlation with Fuel Flow. I looked at the CHT gauge, but it never went above 350° and, of course, was attached to what was thought to be the hottest cylinder. The first thing I did after taking the APS course in Woodland (I also took the online course afterwards, too) was have a JPI installed. Then on return from Oshkosh that year I stopped in ADA and had the Gamis installed. With that installation it was clear that the CHT gauge was meaningless. I am now able to monitor the cylinder operation in detail and that has led to some changes in operation, usually in the summertime. During some times at the higher altitudes where the air is less dense and warmer than standard, some CHTs may exceed the NO NO 400°F. Above that temperature metal fatigue greatly increases. So I take the action of trailing open the cowl flaps. This costs about 3 knots but immediately brings the errant cylinder down to 390°. All others are generally running between 340 on the low to 385 on the next to highest cylinder. This is running the engine at bewteen 75 and 78% power, not excessively high power settings. Maybe I'll eat my words (my total cost including labor for engine replacement including hoses checking the engine mount, alternator overhaul, etc for a reman in 2004 was $65,000), but in my opinion far too much energy is spent on worrying about how to operate the engine and not enough on how to fly the airplane.

I replaced my first engine at 2295 hours running it as discussed above.

I reviewed the Lycoming Manual. As I said, John is running at a low power setting of 65%. That amounts to 175.5 HP. The book does say that at the lean limit he should be burning 80lb or 13.7 gal/hr. At that rate he is getting 175 knots. One of the reasons I bought my airplane is to go FAST. So I run higher power settings, usually 78-81%, but TIT no greater than 1610. At 81% power (219 HP) the manual says that I should be burning 100 lb or 17.1 gal/hr. That is best economy and unacceptable to me. I want closer to best power, so I will gladly burn an extra gallon or two per hour. I usually fly at between 15 and 18 thousand feet and at 17,000 true out at 205 knots; perfect for me.

I also have had the iPad for about a year now. It has its place, but for me, at least, it is not primary in the cockpit. I actually bought it as a backup for approach plates to the 696 and it still remains as such with the 796. I rarely open it in flight anymore, but it is nice to know that it is there for charts and plates if I need it. I use the Flight Guide app for unfamiliar airports in conjunction with the AOPA guide on the 796. While I have foreflight and Jepp's MobileFD I rarely find that I use them either. Size, placement, ease of and speed of access make the 796 much more useable for me in the cockpit. OTOH without the backup of the iPad I would not be paperless in the cockpit, as I now am.

Finally, with the System update to 2.5 I can finally enthusiastially endorse the Garmin 796. The long list of software issues that I had sent to them were apparently read and all but a few were addressed and fixed. The ones that have not been fixed are minor and most people would not even notice them. For example the audio alert for airspace will only work when Keytones are enabled. The System 2.5 notes say this was fixed, but it wasn't. So, if you want to hear the alerts, you have to also listen to a tone every time you touch the screen. I just keep Keytones OFF. Also, the track log records one long multi-flight track and doesn't separate out each individual flight when uploaded, as the 696 does. You can't measure a distance between two separate points and there is no "rubber banding for flight plan entry as on the 696. Also, when my unit is exposed to the sun, it gets hot, but the other benefits outweight my going back to the 696, so I will just have to turn down the intensity on a hot day. On the plus side, the touch screen is a dream. I can get to anything I want at least five times faster than any other GPS I've had from Garmin. Garmin added back the user determined data tapes to the top of the screen, and added a couple of really nice additional pieces of selectable data fields; climb gradient and climb percent that can be very useful to instrument pilots. To the 3D vision page they've added vertical speed and glidepath tapes along with a carrot and bug to nail pre programmed VNAV. In conjunction with the glidepath indicator one should be able to nail a glidepath by capturing the glidepath bug and flying the VNAV VS bug. Its pretty slick. In split screen mode they have added "field of view" lines like the G1000 has for synthetic vision. Although not obvious, an approach chart the same size as displayed on the 696 can be displayed on the 796. It requires just a couple of extra button pushes. Email me if you want to know how to do it. It's not written up. I have determined that I now like the Portraint mode best. It's a little disorienting to switch from one to the other. I now have nearly 100 hours using it, and like its predecessor the 696, I wouldn't want to fly without it.

I'll try to monitor this site more often. If anyone has questions about the Bravo, more than likely I can answer them. I have owned mine for 19 years, am on my second engine, and have 3,157 hours one it. Of my 4,814 logged flights 2,362 for them have been in the Bravo for a total of 3,891 Bravo hours. The difference between the two numbers is teaching hours in them. I have read some of the post, but not all of them so I'll make a few comments that may have been covered before. John was talking about flying at 2200/28. Since the Key number for 75% power is 53 on the Bravo, and any combination of 3" of MP or 300 RPM is 10% power, that means that he typically flies at 65% power. At that low power setting and a much higher TIT (1650) than I like to run (1600) he runs approximately 13 gallon per hour. He seems knowledgeable so maybe he knows whether all his instruments are correctly calibrated, but that still seems like a very low fuel flow for the speeds he is getting. It's possible he has a "magic" Bravo. Like most Bravo owners I run at 29-30" and 2400 RPM (75-78 percent power) and for the TIT that I feel comfortable with I get 19 gal/hour the first hour and 18 gal/hour thereafter. George Braly couldn't explain why the difference. (Yes, I did take the APS course and couldn't agree more that it was one of the best aviation course I have taken in my flying career). After the course I put on the GAMIs and successfully ran LOP for a few months until a mag was changed at Annual. I never could get it to run LOP after that. Others have reported having signifiant exhust repars after attempting the LOP experiment. My advice, don't run LOP with this engine. Regarding flying the pattern (after between 24,000-26,000 landings in over 5,000 hours of instruction): I like 90 on downwind (gear down and approach flaps), when at the 3° slope point to your aim point reduce power to 15" nominally, turn base and simultaneously apply full flaps and hold the electric trim up (DO NOT LET THE NOSE DROP BELOW THE 3° APPROACH ANGLE). The addition of full flaps (added drag) and maintenance of the same approach angle will allow the airplane to slow to 80 on base. Continue to slow to NO GREATER than 75 on final (no gusts and take off 5 knots from there for each 300 pounds that you are under gross weight. I have landed my airplane at 65 knots with only me and 20 gallons on board). Maintain the 3° slope to the flare at the aim point. If you are exactly on the correct speed and you want to move the aim point closer to you, appropriately reduce power and simultaineously LOWER THE NOSE (there is never a time on final when speed is right on and power is reduced to move the aim point closer to you that the nose should not also be lowered to maintain the same speed). When on final, elevator controls the airspeed and power controls the rate of descent, working in conjuction with each other of course. The flare should begin at about 5 feet and the power should smoothly be withdrawn TO IDLE and the nose simultaneously raised to the landing attitude. The final attitude of the nose should allow you to still see at least 2 center line stripes on the runway if the runway has them. That's enough for now. But I will say one more thing: having had my airplane for nearly 20 years now, there is not another single engine piston airplane I would EVER want to own.

The Ovation or any long body Mooney from my experience (Approx 7,250 Mooney hours and 24,000 landings as a Mooney CFI) should be flown in the pattern in a no or low wind condition as follows: Downwind is configured gear down and approach flaps at 90 knots (MP to maintain 90 knots; about 18-20"). When you're at a 3° angle to your aim point reduce throttle to about 14" MP, begin your base turn while adding full flaps and simultaneously trimming up to maintain your 3° glide path. Due to the added drag of the flaps your speed will be reducing. Maintain 80 knots on base and after turning final reduce speed to 75 knots (or less based on landing weight). Maintain 75 knots using the elevator to control your speed and the power to control your rate of descent. At about 8' simultaneously reduce power to idle while flaring at the same rate as you are reducing the throttle to idle. The plane should touch down on the mains with the stall warning going off. The nose attitude at touchdown should be such that you can still see at least 2 runway center line strips ahead of you. For every 300 pounds that you are under gross reduce you final approach speed by 5 knots. With one person and 1 hours of fuel remaining, the minimum speed will be about 65 knots. So with full flaps you should be going into the flare at between 75 and 65 knots depending on weight. For no flaps add 10 knots. Speed brakes are somewhat effective initially if deployed at touchdown. I deploy them at touchdown. If nothing else it looks "cool". I've made a landing video for those interested. Go to my website www.donkaye.com

Reread my post. You will see I specifically said NOT to use them in gusty crosswinds.

Sorry, for the small print, but I couldn't make it any bigger. Is there some trick to doing that? Thanks, Don Kaye

Well, as you can see I decided to do another writeup on speed brakes. Probably I timed out while writing the first one one. This time I wrote it separately and pasted it in. While I was at the Lasar 35th Anniverary fly-in yesterday Mitch Latting came up to me and asked if I would share some of my experience using speed brakes in the Mooney. Speed brakes are just one of many tools that are available in that tool box of items that can be used for aircraft control. Too often I find that pilots use them without giving much thought about when they are best used. The Mooney is a very efficient airplane and improper use of the speed brakes will just detract from that efficiency. From my experience speed brakes may best be used in the following circumstances: 1. Slam dunks given by ATC. 2. When asked by ATC to “keep your speed up”, no sooner nor later than 5 miles from the airport. 3. For a steep approach to an airport with an obstacle for better slope control without speed increase. 4. To make a quick correction to an approach that has become unstabilized for any reason. 5. To slow down to gear speed in choppy conditions before lowering the gear which is to be used as a rudder to smooth the ride. 6. To assist in slowing down the plane when necessary at other times 7. On a “dive and drive” instrument non precision approach when not in icing conditions. For the TLS the configuration for descent is 15” MP, Speed Brakes and Gear for a performance of 105 knots and 1000 ft/ min on the descent 8. Immediately AFTER touchdown on an normal landing, but only if the switch is located on the yoke. If it is not on the yoke it could be a distraction at a critical time. Although subjective, I have noticed their effectiveness in the first 10 knots of speed reduction after touchdown. When should they not be used: Any other time. I have observed many pilots use them in any descent or just way too early on an approach to an airport. This is really inefficient because no sooner are they at the lower altitude than they have to add power to maintain it. That's just a waste of fuel. When possible, I like to establish a descent of a comfortable 500 ft/min at the top of the green arc. In smooth conditions I'll go to the middle of the yellow arc, keeping my forefinger on the speed brake switch in order to be prepared to deploy them upon encounter of any turbulence in the descent. The speed will quickly be bled off to below the yellow arc. Others have said they would use them in gusty crosswind landings for stability. I decided to go out and try it. On approach with a crosswind and gusty conditions one day at Tracy Airport I deployed them. A significant downdraft was experienced at about 100 feet AGL. At approach speed deploying the speed brakes will immediately add an additional 200 ft/min rate to the descent. Even with prompt gradual application of full power applied to my TLS, the additional drag associated with the speed brakes could have created a problem had I not retracted them. Lesson learned: don't use the speed brakes in gusty crosswind conditions. I didn't give Mitch the correct information yesterday. Don't use them to try to “save” a landing when below 100 feet. The immediate 200 ft/min descent rate increase could cause the unwary pilot to damage the gear or worse when the plane slams into the ground. A go around would be the prudent thing to do from an obviously too fast approach. Don't use them in making a normal approach. You're just using extra power and fuel and could have a problem in a significant downdraft, as I discussed above. On an instrument approach to a busy airport serving jets, Approach will often ask that the speed be kept up. I'll run the approach gear up to the 5 mile marker at 160 knot speed, “pop” the speed brakes and within a couple of seconds I'll be slowed to gear speed of 140 knots. Additional speed will quickly be bled off to flaps speed of 110 knots. From there I'll apply full flaps, and be slowed to touchdown speed by the large 1,000 foot marker. Regarding shock cooling of the engine, Lycoming says that the cylinders should not be cooled faster than 50°F/min. One can easily remove 5” of MP smoothly at a time and not have that be an issue. I have my JPI alert for the fastest cooling cylinder set at that and rarely have it alert. While a non known ice TKS airplane should never be flown in icing conditions never, never extend the speed brakes if any ice is encountered. They WILL freeze in the up position. Always be thinking ahead of the airplane, and don't be too fast to deploy the speed brakes if they really aren't necessary. Incidentally, if I have a passenger on board, I will always tell them when I am going to add speed brakes so as not to alarm them with the disturbance that accompanies their deployment. If anyone has any additional questions just let me know. Don Kaye, MCFI

I can't tell you how angry I am with this list. I just spent over two hours writing a response to the use of speed brakes only to have the posting disappear when I tried to preview. So long Mooneyspace!!!