74657

Well said George. Freedom doesn't come free and once you give it away there are few options left to get it back.

Nice singing Mitch! I can't carry a tune to save my life but when I open the hangar this tune is sung in my head:

If anyone can add me that would be great. I cant get it to work. Im at KBEH. Thanks!

I don't know much about your age/lifestyle/cash flow but here is something not many people have touched on..... The fun factor. My dad ran a successful business and paid for everything in cash from the time he was 40. He died with a good pile of money in the bank at 53. I know looking back he may not approve of me having a "mortgage" on an airplane but the way I see it, he died too young. None of us know how long we will be around - might as well have as much fun as we can while we are here. I don't mind telling people that I have a loan on my plane. No shame. All it takes is good credit and decent cash flow. In my opinion, whoever is telling you that having a loan on a plane is not a good idea has a different perspective on life in general. Perhaps they should tell their wives to buy them an XXL casket when it's their time so they can pack that baby full of every last dollar bill sitting in the checking account, 401K and stock market....... I'm a young guy (29 almost 30) and unless I was spoiled, living off of a trust, or extremely lucky, there is NO WAY that I could afford my home, family and pay cash for a 150K airplane. To pay for the plane, I set up a business that is paying for it. I have had 888DF for over a year now and have not dug into my own pockets yet (that includes paying for an engine OH when my gear collapsed). It would be nice to pay cash for an airplane. I did that with my Tiger. Having a loan on my Mooney isn't a big deal to me. If I had to wait 5-6 years to pay for 888DF in CASH before buying I would consider it a huge waste of time. Thats 5-6 good years that you can't get back.

I put down 30% on mine and have it on a 15 year. With interest rates as low as they are it doesn't hurt to keep a note on the plane. I prefer to build cash in reserve for needed/unexpected repairs, like an engine overhaul. Then, instead of refinancing to pull equity back out of the plane you have the money handy. I hold ~5-10% (depends on time of year) of the value of the plane in CASH reserve, not including the loan payment (which I pay every 2 weeks). Just my .02.

Congrats! Welcome to the club!

I would think that pdf's of the logs would suffice in this instance. It's already known that the people who have taken care of it are one of the best in the business. The logs will show you all you need to know........ Sounds like you might have lucked out!

Thanks for the help guys!

I've been eyeing an article written on the Missile conversion that was published in Aviation Consumer back in 2003. I'm back and forth on dropping the coin for a subscription to gain access to it. Funny how many AMU's I've spent on 888DF this year but I have spent the last several months debating the expenditure of .036 AMU's on a subscription for a magazine........ Any PIREPS on aviation consumer? Here is what I wouldn't mind reading..... http://www.aviationconsumer.com/issues/33_3/misc/5231-1.html

So as you go leaner and leaner does the engine start running rougher and rougher? What are we targeting at the proper LOP setting? CHT or fuel flow?

Quote: aviatoreb You poor poor man you. All you have is a missile. {;-) Chin up.

Thanks for the help. Testwest - I fly a Missile. Call it a poor mans Ovation.

Does anyone have a good article for me to reference on running LOP? I'm ready to give it a try. My plane is equipped with an EDM-830 and I have read enough to understand the basics but am foggy on a few issues: 1. When leaning I go X degrees (40?) leaner than the LAST cylinder to peak? How many degrees LOP is optimal/best? 2. Transitioning from Cruise to Descent - how do you guys go about this? The Youtube videos I searched for the operation of the 830 isn't crystal clear. Perhaps I am over thinking this, I just don't want to mess up a perfectly running freshly overhauled engine. My current operation of ROP involves keeping the EGT's under/at 1400 and the CHT's under 400 on my EDM (My engine has tanis heaters in the cylinder head bungs so I have to use spark plug probes which read ~ 40 degrees hotter than "normal" sensors). On my recent flights to and back from FL I ran ~ 20-21" 8K/9K ft, 2350 RPM, 15.3 gph/ 175-180 kts TAS running ROP. I still had more power left in the engine but wanted to keep the fuel flows at/under 15 gph. I also read an article (Mike Busch maybe) that explained the benefits of running lower rpm's in cruise, thats my reason for 2350. The plane is actually quieter at 2500 though. Thanks guys. Brandon

Vacation is over and we are safely home. We spent Sunday-Friday at Marco and took off this morning. After a refuel/potty stop for the kids @ KGVL we were back at it. Total flight time from KMKY-KGVL-KBEH was 5:15. Not bad for a 1000 mile trip! My brother in-law/sister in-law and nephew met us in Marco for the week and left this morning out of Ft. Lauderdale at NOON via Southwest. We took off from Marco at 10am. They landed in Milwaukee the same time we touched down. They left @ 7:30 this morning to get to the airport. We left for the airport at 9:30.

Got to log some actual today on the trip down to MKY from ISM. Looks like we will try to do some fishing later this week Tuesday/Wednesday. We will go to EYW one of the other days. If anyone has time and avgas to burn let me know! I logged 3 full days @ Disney so my vacation can begin......

Carusoam logged in as 74657. iPad iOS 5.

I think we will do the coastline to Marathon then 1 down the rest of the way. I've been to KW a bunch of times via commercial flights and drove down 1 but this will be my first time flying myself. Hogfish on Stock Island is a great local hangout. Its right next to the shrimp docks / Fishbusters and is a 5 minute drive from the airport. I will fly back a few lbs. of Key West pinks for boiling Old Bay style for dinner..... Thanks for the tips.

I'd like to take a trip this coming week to Key West while we are staying in Marco Island. Does anyone have any experience flying to KEYW from central Florida? Looking to take my brother-in-law to Stock Island for $100.00 hogfish sandwiches..... Thanks!

I think we are about a 6 pack deep of the $3.50 water.... Leaving tomorrow for Marco.

Thanks for the insight M20D. I made sure that everyone had their vents open at least 1/3 of the way. Here is a good read, especially with the cold weather flying season upon us. http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/186016-1.html

My wife did but she always has a headache ..... The kids were fine. I think it was probably dehydration PLUS the fact that my wife, son and the rest of my extended family had the 24 hour flu earlier in the week. My wife worrying about the smell at first, her turning the damn cabin light on every 30 seconds checking on the kids, 4 hours of flying and the rapid atmospheric pressure change prolly had something to do with it too. I bought a pulse oximeter for the trip from Sportys and my O2 level never dropped below 96%. Would carbon monoxide show up on the oximeter as registering a low 02 percentage? I'm sure glad I don't live in Florida. 3 days here at Disney with expenses is going to set me back 3AMU's! So far I am 2 sets of $13 mickey ears and 3 Christmas ornaments deep. Don't know how much those were but if they deliver them to our room for free I can bet they weren't on sale. I have a brand new CO detector that I can try opening once in flight for the trip home.

We flew down last night. Total time was 4.5 hours. Awesome flight. I flew @ 9K ft, 20" (could have had 21) and 2350 RPM. Fuel flow was 15 GPH. TAS 180 KTS. Ground speed didn't go under 205 kts. until we crossed into Florida. I need to fly with someone who knows LOP because I would have gladly ran with full MP if I could get a lower fuel burn. 21" burned an extra gallon and a half an hour and 3KTS. I need to have my heater looked when we get back as I had a nasty headache when we got down. I don't know if it was 4.5 hours in the air or what but I barely cracked the heater and kept the vents open the entire time. I'm scared to death of carbon monoxide. We changed the oil before we left and I think some got into the heater box, we flew the plane for 30 minutes earlier this week buy maybe didn't burn it all out? I think I need to invest in a better CO detector because the one I have (sporty's) turns black within 30 seconds of starting the plane. My kids were PERFECT flyers. Nothing better than having your almost 3 year old stand up in the back and give you a kiss and say "I love you" at 9K ft!. Disney world today. Kissimmee Jet Center is awesome, I landed 15 minutes after closing and our car was sitting on the ramp ready for us. They booked my hotel for me and helped get our gear out of the plane and into the car. Highly recommend this place!