Jump to content

Bennett

Basic Member
  • Posts

    1,453
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    12

Posts posted by Bennett

  1. 39 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

    Bennett you have had 3 in flight engine failures?  I misunderstood since in our discussions I was counting 2.  Yikes!  Well you win the crusty sea salty old pilot award.

    Not to mention a throttle coming off in my hand at takeoff - fortunately a long runway allowed me  to land - used every bit of it, and autopilot runaway trim (down) twice, plus a jammed up trim (mechanic left flashlight in tailcone). Over the decades of Flying I have had my share of stuff breaking, but thanks to practice and thinking ahead about “what if’s” saved the day. Very similar to the “what if’s” we practice, think about, and equip our boats for ocean racing. 

    • Like 1
  2. Ive been quiet about Erik’s turbo failure as we hsve been talking privately since the date of tge incident. He did a great job, and i csn enphatize with him as i had a similar situation some years ago starting at FL 210 over mountains in winter, and like Erik, i declared an emergny, and made a power off landing at an airport. I, too, used the commercial spiral tk descend rapidly, as i was concerned about a potential fire. I assumed it was was a turbo failure, but ultimately that proved incorrect as i had failures of both the engine driven fuel pump  and the dual electric back-up pump. Amazingly there was no panic here - just fly the airplane, and since I knew I could spiral down over an airport, I spent my time on concentrating on the commercial spiral, rather than trying a restart.  

    In another situation near the same area, I had the straight mineral oil (newly bebuilt engine in breakin) freeze and watched the oil pressure drop to the point to where I put the engine to idle and headed down from the flight levels to a nearby airport. This time at about 8000’ the oil pressure started back up, and I increased power to the point where I could make a normal landing.

    in another instance I had to dead stick  a Piper Dakota into an airport.

    I mention these situations as things break even with great maintenance, and complacency is the enemy. Recurrent training, and practice at “what if” thinking on every flight can save you, and your passengers.

    To return to the theme of this tread, after 2 231s and a 261 conversion I decided that I didn’t really need to fly in the flight levels - even out West.  Over the years I spent a great deal of money in turbo maintenance and replacement with LASAR. At every annual I had the turbo serviced to new specifications, and had many components replaced.  I always was careful about TITs, and always kept the engine cooling for 5 minutes after landing - maybe an old wife’s tale, but couldn’t hurt  I did replace the turbos at 800 hours, and when I had the engine of the 261 rebuilt.  The J I now fly in incapable of the Flight Levelx, but with careful routing I can still cross the country with reasonable speed, and without subjecting my self and the engine to the harsh conditions of the flight levels, and concerns about turbo failures. Life is full of compromises, and after decades of flying, I prefer the the simplicity of the J.  Of course your needs may differ.  

     

    • Like 4
  3. I saw your plane with that sexy Lo Presti cowl! That cowling is definitely the creme de la creme of Mooney cowls.

    More than just sexy (which I agree it is). The ram air box is beautifully done, and I gain about 1.25 to 1.5” MP in the 7000’ to 9000’ range. The LoPresti cowl is tight for the Powerflow exhaust system, but it does work. Cooling is excellent. All in all, an excellent (expensive) Mod.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    • Thanks 1
  4. Great event. I left around 1:30 and Mooneys were still arriving. What struck me was not only the friendliness of the Mooniacs, but how well the aircraft are kept up. Great paint, great panels, and pride of ownership. I was also pleased to see younger pilots and their families. As one of the oldest pilots to fly in (83), it is gratifying to see the interest level in the newer generations. General aviation is not dead, at least not in the Mooney world. Can’t wait for the next get together.

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 1
    • Haha 1
  5. Many people, when doing panel make-overs, are taking the MidContinent Lifesaver Gyros with a battery backups out of their panels because they are mesmerized with having all glass, even the backup.
    These were close to $5000 new and have a Mean Time Between Failure rating of 7500 hours. I bought one used from Beechtalk that had been recently overhauled at MidContinent for $750 and replaced my turn coordinator with it. Look for one of these on the used market. They are very well made and could do as their name implies, save your life. They also serve as approved backups for Aspen and Garmin glass panels down the road.
    5aac702ea1a76_MidContinentLifeSaver.jpg.129aa2831eb73b03bf5695e298352442.jpg
     
     
     
     

    I very much concur. I’ve had the LifeSaver for several years now, and it works flawlessly. The back up battery is expensive, but well worth it. I had the inclinometer add in fail last year, and it was replaced at no cost to me, nor any hassle. Good company -good product.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    • Like 1
  6. I thought you guys did this on purpose? My first instructor pretended to have a panic attack and opened the door and acted like he was trying to climb out of the airplane as I was about to do my first solo in an Arrow. When we landed I basically asked him “what is your malfunction?” and he replied that he just wanted to make sure I didn’t get distracted and forget to put the gear down. He didn’t like the idea of someone doing their first solo in a complex airplane so he wanted to make sure I didn’t get distracted and forget the gear (in retrospect, he had some other issues as well).
    I’ve had a couple of instructors pull the gear circuit breaker to see if I noticed and I just assumed that all the talking was intended to distract me to see how well I managed things. It seems like the only plausible explanation since my needles are always perfectly centered! 

    My dear friend and CFII is diabolical in his efforts to distract me on takeoff, cruise, and especially landing. Circuit breaker pulls while he directs me to look at something outside on the left are normal. In fact when I just get to land normally, I wonder why, or suspect there is something I may have missed. When I fly alone, which is most of the time, I mentally see him in the right seat giving me grief. Keeps me sharp and focused. In my J I tend to drop my gear a little early (just as I get to gear speed) as it helps to slow down to flap speed. At my home field terrain and complex airspace keeps you high to close to the airport. It may be heresy but I also use speed brakes to help out on the “slam dunks” that are sometimes necessary.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  7. That's just my estimate based on my previous life in Los Angeles--West LA to Glendale, 12 miles = 90 minutes :blink:

    Fortunately, the - 101 is generally not that bad between San Carlos and Palo Alto. I do that drive fairly frequently and most of the time it is at speed limit (or higher). Also there are a few work arounds that parallel the 101 for most of those 10 miles or so. The 101 is a mess as you get close to San Francisco-especially on the approaches to the Bay Bridge at commute times, and further south in the Sunnyvale/ San Jose sections. The middle sections, south of the 92 interchange (including San Carlos to Palo Alto) are usually the bright spots. I flew out of KSQL this morning to Watsonville and back, and road traffic was tolerable from my home In the San Bruno hills (19 miles) to my hangar in San Carlos, and then later to my office in South San Francisco. I think the LA freeways are far worse for traffic.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  8. I was there about 4 months ago. Couldn't get a signal on my cellphone (T-mobile) to try and get Uber, so rented a beat up car at Air Galore and drove into Mendocino for the day. 

    The last time I was there I couldn’t get a cell signal on AT&T. But, I am glad that Air Galore rents cars - any car is better than waking to Mendocino.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  9. Thanks again, all!  I'm hoping the weather cooperates, the weather over the Siskiyou's looks like there may be a lot of icing potential :wacko:
    SQL may only be 10 miles north, but that could be an hour's worth of traffic in the Bay area :huh:

    I’ve never spent an hour on the 101 between KSQL and KPAO.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  10. [mention=7730]Bennett[/mention] There is a good team of GA friendly people at KLLR.  Look up Galore Aviation (http://air-galore.com/).  They have a small fleet of rental cars, and bicycles and are overall helpful GA people.  Call in advance and make your arrangements.  KLLR can fog over on short notice.  If so, you can pre-arrange an alternate airport, like Boonville, which is what we did.  

    That’s great news. I am familiar with the fog potential at Little River, and I have landed a number of times in Boonville - always walked to town.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  11. We fly to little river a lot prob would stop in if during a weekend...

    Just a bit off topic. But has Little River any facilities for rental cars, or Uber Service? Years ago I regularly flew up to Little River to spend time in Mendocino and Fort Bragg, but when Coastal FBO left there were no rental cars available. The old Mendocino Stage went out of business, and the gentleman who ran the fuel business, and who lent out a few old cars, also left. I had cabs come down from Fort Bragg to pick me up (and bring me back) at outrageous cost, but even they stopped doing so. The Little River Inn used to pick you up at the airport if you were staying there, but they are not in downtown Mendocino. I really like the 5280’ runway, but without transportation, I gave up going there.



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  12. If parking is an issue ,SAN Carlos has a longer strip,better approach and a larger ramp for transient right in front of skykitchen restaurant with good uber access

    San Carlos is only about 10 miles north of Palo Alto. A slightly longer runway with plenty of parking near the coffee shop. The Aircraft supply store in the terminal/restaurant building has rental cars and taxi service, and UBER pickups at the terminal building are common. Personally I much prefer San Carlos to Palo Alto. The Tower staff is very helpful and Rabbit Aviation has fuel trucks at “reasonable” pricing. Welcome to Nor Cal, Silicon Valley, and the home of Biotech.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  13. Sorry, I was being a bit snarky with the response...I'm a FlyQ person myself, so no need for FF....   
    Never liked FF much, but that's just my personal feelings, nothing more, nothing less. 

    I’ve tried most of the mapping programs, but in my opinion (not shared by everyone) ForeFlight does just about everything I want, and thanks to Garmin, traffic and weather appear on the Mini 4, along with flight plans imputed via the GTN 750. The relatively new glide range presentation is quite impressive, and I think it is one of the best features of FF.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  14. What's ForeFlight.....??  :lol:
    Used to live in Reno, so know all about the western mountains,  I do miss flying out there.... 

    ForeFlight. An excellent aviation program (iPad/iPhone app) that includes numerous data bases, mapping, weather, and much more. I run ForeFlight on an iPad Mini 4, yoke mounted, as a supplement to my GTNs.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  15. Nah, I just use a trick my Bo transition CFI taught me.  Imaginary ring around the airplane - an arc that goes from wing tip to nose to wing tip.  Anything within that circle is within gliding distance.  Tried it a few times from different altitudes and it works.  Did the simulated engine failure from 6,000 agl and 12 miles from an airport for my commercial ticket and landed it right on the numbers. I almost always have an airport or suitable field within that imaginary circle.  
    Only thing that messes that up is flying IMC or above a layer, then I plan my routes a little more carefully.  
    Brian

    ForeFlight has a great presentation of glide range that takes in consideration of altitude, topography, and Best Glide Speed. There are times when I alter my course a bit to keep airports in their “ring”, which is usually odd shaped here out in the West.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  16. My team and I are thinking about sponsoring a Fly In here in Lakeport, CA.  We are thinking about having a few static displays to play with to include Garmin products, Avidyne products, Aspen, Artex, Speed Mod items, etc.  Would anyone be interested in attending and if so, what would you like to see?  We are wanting to show everyone what is out there and available and to give everyone an opportunity to play with the new toys here on the ground also.  What are your thoughts?
     
    Greg Baker
    Lasar, Inc.

    I’ll be there. Anything you want to display and discuss would be great.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  17. That's a very good practice to do and doesn't take a lot of time for something so important. Unfortunately, the accident report left important questions unanswered about whether it was the high pressure line or the low pressure line that had a loose fitting:

    "An oxygen tank was located aft of the aft bulkhead. An elbow fitting that was connected to the oxygen regulator assembly, which connected an oxygen line to the tank, was found loose. The fitting could be moved in both directions by hand without resistance."

    I would guess it was the low pressure line with the loose fitting, only because since it had been 2 years since servicing the tank and regulator per the report. A high pressure line leak will leak out while the system is off thus allowing ample time for the pilot to notice loosing all the air while sitting on the ground and not just going through the air faster than normal. But a low pressure leak will only leak out air when the regulator valve is opened in the cockpit (or fails to shut off). This is obviously the more insidious failure since its only leaking in the delivery line while the valve is open and the pilot is less likely to notice his O2 is draining at faster rate than normal. However, such a leak , which is limited by the regulator, is still going to take hours to drain the tank. Plus as pilots we still have two devices to protect us, the O2 tank pressure meter which shows us the remaining tank capacity as well as an O2 Pulse oximeter. One was found in the cockpit in this accident. 

    Per the accident report, the pilot took off about 12:00, read back an altitude assignment clearance to FL250 at 12:16 and then was non-responsive to ATC query 23 min later  at 12:39. Its really hard to imagine a circumstance by which the pilot could have just taken off with a near full tank of O2 and seen it drain in half an hour even if it did just happen to have the high pressure line become loose at take off - which is highly unlikely and still too fast to drain a tank. More likely the tank, which had been serviced with O2 3 months prior at annual was already getting low and the pilot figured he had a enough for the 2-3 hr flight yet didn't notice the tank meter draining while in his climb to FL250. I wonder if he even got a chance to use his pulse oximeter or look at the flow meter attached to his mask before he succumbed to hypoxia.

    Very sad. But it underlines the diligence pilots flying alone in the flight level must exercise in monitoring their O2 supply, O2 flow level, saturation level and be alert for any symptoms. In my personal history it has always been the awareness of the symptoms of O2 saturation dropping below the 90's that got me to look at my flow meter and realize something was wrong and fix it. The pulse oximeter has enabled me to set my flow to achieve a desired % saturation level but has never saved me to so speak. The flow meter does that easily and if that can't be fixed, the backup emergency O2 cartridges are in the back pocket.  Which luckily I have never had to use.

     

    I totally agree. When I had my 261 conversion I generally flew her in the low to mid Fl20s. I always had a secondary oxygen bottle hooked up with attached masks strapped to the passenger seatback. I had the red/green ball flowneters in all the oxygen lines, and I religiously checked to to see that oxygen was flowing about every 10 minutes. In retrospect that was not often enough. On a flight across the country with a friend who was also a CFII /ATP, we decided to take turns taking off our masks at Fl270. I didn’t last very long - about 2 minutes before breaking into laughter and then becoming totally incoherent. I put the mask back on (these were the really high quality expensive masks with built lt in microphones), and took a good 5 minutes before I felt normal (but probably wasn’t). We repeated the test with my friend who simply dozed off, and his recovery time was a bit better than mine after we got his mask back on. Thereafter I tried to fly no higher than FL230, and mostly less than FL210. Now with my J I use oxygen above 9500’ as I feel sharper in my thinking than without oxygen. If I am on a long flight in less than ideal conditions, I’ll use oxygen at 8,000-8500’. I can feel my age (82) being a factor now, but I have no trouble breathing in non-Flying situation. Hypoxia can sneak up on you. (As can CO).

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

     

    • Like 4
  18. I had a complete panel rework done at Executive Aircraft Maintenance at Scottsdale Airport. Quite a way from San Carlos, CA, but well worth the flight. Absolutely outstanding workmanship and everything worked as represented. When a GTN 750 failed through no fault of their installation, they flew out an avionics specialist to San Carlos to swap out the bad unit for a new one. No charge to me for that service work. All in all the price was reasonable, and they gave me a fair price for trading in older avionics. If you call them ask for Bill Forbes- a great guy to talk to, and easy to work with his staff who picked me up and took me back to Phoenix Airport.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

     

  19. Hello,
     
    Has anyone done the folding rear seat mod as Piperpainter proposed about 8 yrs ago?
     
    tks

    Many years ago LASAR made up articulating hinges that let my rear seat fold flat to match the baggage compartment floor for my K model. Worked perfectly. I would take out the seats, fold the seatback down (with matching carpet to the baggage compartment)and form a long flat floor for my survival gear, life raft, etc.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    • Like 1
  20. Richard [mention=15119]Skates97[/mention] et al,
    April 14th would work for me.... I may be able to make the 7th work depending on kids sports schedules. Looping in Paul [mention=7862]kortopates[/mention] and Karson [mention=11041]kmyfm20s[/mention]. The 14th may work for me even with weather, as I could make it my long cross-country IFR flight, if my CFII is down.

    I will do my best to make any of the dates suggested.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.