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You guys figure out how to get the approval and I can do the ceramic for you. I do both the shiny finish as well as the black. Black has higher heat resistance than the shiny "chrome" does. I just did a complete system for a guy with a Cozy IV. Turned out great.

With approach flaps only I was coming in about 10 kts faster on short final and 5 kts faster over the fence. I will try slowing the plane down a touch more using full flaps to see if that makes a difference. Bob - Small world. Next time you are planning on coming over give me a heads up. We had to fill up @ LWA because BEH's FBO is closed on sunday.....and the gas @ LWA is .75/gallon cheaper.

I am working on finishing my IR training this week and spent 4 hours in the plane today. There were some gusty winds today, 40 degrees off my right @ 11 gusting to 18. I brought the plane in using approach flaps only and loved the way the plane felt on short final/roundout/flare. It seemed to settle in much more smoothly with no float vs. using full flaps. Is there anything wrong with using approach flaps only on final as SOP? My CFII instructed me that when flying an approach it is best not to go full flaps in case of a missed approach. Maybe he meant until short final. He did mention however that the FAA recommends full flap landings to save on tires, brakes and the amount of runway used. I figure that I used about 250 feet less runway with my landings today using approach flaps only. I might be missing something but I fly my patterns @ 100kts on downwind, 90kts base, 80 on final, 70 over the fence. I have heard of some guys raising flaps from full to approach during the roundout/flare but never on flying the entire base/final @ approach flaps only. Thanks.

Austin, What was your fuel flow at takeoff? Im back working on my IR so we were flying all day today. Seein 28 gph on the roll I got CHT's @ 400 (with my spark plug probes so really more like 375, 1200 fpm with oil temps @ 209. OAT was 60F. The plane definately likes cool OAT's. Thanks for the update.

Quote: Jeff_S I do think the 3-blade prop costs a few knots, because I have one and I know it has made the plane more nose heavy. This means that unless you carry extra weight in the baggage compartment, the horizontal stabilizer is having to do more work in any given configuration and that creates drag. So one thing to do is simple: carry an extra 50 pounds in the back if your load is otherwise light...you will be amazed at the speed effect. (This was covered extensively in a thread about racing your Mooney.) One thing I noticed on my CC trip last week was that with the plane loaded (full mains, wife @ 110 lbs, 50 lbs in small children, 25 lbs in car seats and 25 lbs of misc. stuff in the back my trim indicator was half way between "takeoff" and full nose down. You could see the tips of the elevator sticking up higher than the horizontal stabilizer. This has to be creating a lot of drag..... You guys see the same situation in your planes?

For what its worth I am running the plug gasket sensors and they are installed on the bottom cylinders which I hear read about 20-30 degrees hotter......

Quote: AustinChurch I was wondering if my CHT probes weren't "calibrated" correctly since I'm seeing such low CHT's so I changed a couple of them and found the same temps as before. I guess they are accurate but I've had a few good mechanics tell me that the low 300's is to cool and should be around 380. Based on this, I think your temps are good and IIRC the redline is 425. To manage the oil temps, I'm not climbing as agreesively when the OAT is 90 or greater. It'd be nice if someone with an Ovation could chime in on their CHT's/oil temps (they don't have cowl flaps either).

We broke the engine in my Missile in (has approx. 15 hours on it now) using Aeroshell 100 straight 50W mineral oil. Changed the oil after 1 hour on the test stand then after 4 hours of flying. We now have 10 more on this oil change and will change it this next week. Run at high power settings for an hour or better. Watch your fuel flows and CHT's. Equally important is the oil temp/pressure. If you climb too aggressively in moderately warm weather the oil temp will spike and the pressure will drop as the oil thins. Oil consumption during the first break in interval was about 1 quart after 2 hours of flying and is now less than 1/2 a quart after 6 hours. Don't trust what the Continental manual says for fuel flows for the IO-550A. 24.6-25.5 gph is not enough. We really had to work to get mine up to 28.5 and it is happy there. Rocket will tell you that 27 is the minimum. 30 would be ideal. Like I said, I get 28.5 @ 625' field elevation and everything is fine. Have your overhaul shop (or whoever sets the fuel system) contact Rocket directly for advice. If you trust the Continental book you are going to have oil temp/pressure/cht issues. The fuel pump on this engine is goofy and takes some time (or someone with firsthand knowledge if this unit) to get it dialed in. The autolean feature is pretty slick. I would say that it takes care of 75-80% of the leaning for you and youll only need to make small adjustments to the mixture to keep it set as you climb and descend. Good luck. Brandon

Allsmiles - How does a Missile or Rocket negatively effect the value of an airplane? Do you mean in terms of re-sale or aquisition or a reduction in "efficiency" because of the larger engine? I paid more for my Missile than any comparable J was listed at. In terms of performance, it is equal or better than an Ovation and is ~35-50AMU's less. Nothing against the Ovations, I would have loved to landed in one but the Missile was in my price range whereas the O was at the top and would have left me with little reserve for any upgrades. I think for the money, a Rocket or Missile will give you more bang/buck when compared to an Acclaim/Ovation if you are talking about speed/efficiency.

Quote: Seth Brandon and Austin- Thank you for all of the valuable information on the Missile - Be ready, becasue I'll be PMing both of you a lot in the future regarding the Missile - I should finally go up and get it toward the end of September - the newly overhauled engine should be installed mid next week. Take care, -Seth

Mine was set around 2550 but I turned mine up to 2700 after having a similar conversation with Rocket. Austin - I do see the same thing you do in regards to oil temps. In my last few longer trips the oil gets up to 205 at climb and runs about 190-195 in cruise with OAT's in the low 60's. My CHT spread is close to yours, maybe a little wider @ 20 degrees across all 6 but on around 380-400. My baffling appears to be OK. All of the people that no nothing about the conversion say "this plane needs cowl flaps." Those comments get me hotter than my cylinder heads. Any thoughts? Fuel flows are verified to be correct, the baffling isn't torn or ripped at all.

Austin - We chatted last year about the fuel flow issues I had. We tried getting the fuel flows up to 30 on takeoff but couldn't get more than 28.5 without throwing all of the low/mid out of whack. There are 3 adjustments on our fuel pump and the main one requires you to remove the oil filter each time. We will live with 28.5 gph at takeoff. Our field elevation is 600 feet. With OAT's in the 80's the plane doesn't like any less than 120kts or the CHT's go 425 in a hurry. What power setting do you use on your long haul trips? I like the quietness of 2500 rpm but don't like feeding it another gph over 2350. Thanks. Brandon

Corrected!

How much speed will I lose if I go LOP? I have GAMI's on the engine. I'm assuming that LOP is for cruise only? Leave it ROP on the way up and down? 15 GPH is thirsty but nets me the same MPG as my Tiger did......

If you have a legitimate business purpose and/or are wanting to limit liability then yes. I formed my LLC using legalzoom.com. What started off as a liability shelter has turned itself into a standalone business with my plane being the primary asset.

My family did the same thing in our Missile yesterday. It was our first long-ish trip in the new plane. Flew up, hung out for 4 hours and flew home. 16 hours of driving vs. 3 hours of flying.

Thanks for the link. We set my takeoff fuel at 28.5 gph. When I got it last year it was only 25 ish. When the engine was overhauled 2 heads had cracks. The broker I bought it from said "when you get to 400 feet you need to turn on the boost pump"..........

I finally got my Missile running like it should. The family has gone on 2 cross country round-trips this week. First one from KBEH to KTVC for dinner with friends (and a quick customer call) and another one today from KBEH to KESC. With the exception of splattering a bug on my windshield @ 10,500 feet and scaring the you know what out of me everything was perfect. How does this look: 20" / 2350 RPM / 15gph (Running CHT's @ 380 and EGT's @ 1375, ROP) = TAS 176 KTS. I hate to admit it but I haven't had the opportunities to "stretch her legs" since I bought the plane last year. I'd consider running LOP but I need to learn more about how to do it. I have a brand new engine and am trying to take as good of care of it as I can. I'm trying to target the EGT and CHT temps but don't know how many degrees ROP I am running. Do these numbers sound about right for a Missile/Ovation? I tried running @ 2500 RPM and noticed a 3 kt increase at the expense of an additional 1 gph of fuel. The plane quiets down a bit... One thing I find misleading is that Rocket's website shows performance data for the Missile making 24" @ 7500 and 20" @ 12,500. I don't see how this is possible being that all I could get was 20" @ 10,500. On my trip today I climbed out @ 120 KTS which got me approx. 700-800 fpm while keeping the CHT's around 380. Fuel burn was around 20 all the way up to 10,500. At altitude it was burning 15 gph. I wanted to see how "efficient" I could be so I nosed it over into a 500 fpm descent @ 18"/2350 RPM and saw a TAS of 185 KTS @ 12gph. I fueled up on the ground and pumped 21 gallons of fuel into it. The total time in the plane was 1:25 and total distance traveled was 230 miles. I probably could have saved 10 minutes by expediting my descent and arrival but still saved 25 minutes in travel time over my old Tiger. I can't wait to take fly down to Florida this fall. These Mooney's are unbelievable machines.....

I finally got to go on a long-ish cross country earlier in the week with the new engine/prop and noticed a wierd sound coming through in my headset (Bose X) between 2325-2375 RPM. It almost sounded like valvetrain chatter but as soon as I took my headset off the sound went away. I feel comfortable with my cruise power setting @ 23"/2350 RPM. If I go 23"/2500 the prop makes much less sound and is smoother overall but at a 1gph premium. It seems wierd that I would be pickup up some harmonics right in the middle of the "sweet spot" of the RPM range. Maybe it has something to do with the ANR of my headset? Brandon

Just a random thought, but my EDM 830 has datalogging capabilities. All you need to do is insert your thumbdrive and all of the data is there. Something like that will keep everyone honest. I'm not in a partnership but I let one of my good friends fly my plane whenever he wants. He is also my mechanic. We agreed to certain operating procedures. Neither of us worry about spending an extra 10-15 bucks an hour and haven't had formal LOP training so we agree to run ROP and keep the CHT's under 400 on climbout and EGT's less than 1400 at cruise. My situation is a bit different because I cover all of the fixed costs. It all works out in the end. My plane stays in a nice heated hangar and is cared for as good as my children. Did I mention that my buddy also paints planes for a living? Another perk..... One thing that I can think of that should be obvious is that the plane should always be returned with FULL FUEL. If I were to ever sell shares in my plane (which I can't ever see myself doing) I would have a hard time paying back an "hourly rate" after I used the plane. I figure that if 3 people own the plane, split everything 3 ways except for oil and fuel. If someone complains that they aren't using the plane as much as the other guy perhaps they should consider flying more..... I would think ahead and put down in writing your contingency plan for what to do if/when it comes time for the high ticket expenditures such as engine overhaul. No matter how late the time comes it is always to soon from a financial standpoint.

The FAA cracked down and required people who wanted their tail numbers blocked to have a Certified Security Concern. In reading the rhetoric on the NBAA site it is easy to see why nothing gets done in Washington. As soon as someone stops something, someone else comes up with a way around it....

Quote: M20E4ME I am composing a letter for our a/c. Can you guys verify what you wrote for the ASDI block? I see on FAA site that they say to request prior to releasing the info, but wouldn't it already be released?....I don't get this. Is this if you just bought it? or are the 3rd parties updated daily/weekly/monthy?? Also, how can my wife track the flight if they grant the block? Thanks guys