Bennett

I generally see fuel flows at about 11.8 to 12.2 depending on outside air temp and altitude. My "sweet spot" is between 8,000' and 10,000'. The LoPresti ram air provides about 1 to 1.4" increases in MP. Well designed ram air mechanism. I keep CHT temps below 370 degrees (hottest cylinder) if I crack the cowl flaps a bit I can keep CHTs under 350 degrees.

I generally run my Top Prop J at 2550, ram air open (LoPresti cowl), full throttle, and about 75% HP at 7,500'. I've had the prop dynamically balanced twice- as good as the gauges will show, and there is no noticeable vibration.

Keeps me young (sort of - I'm 80 now, but I don't feel it.) Just lucky -hardly tame living. LASAR maintains my Mooney, and they do a great job of keeping everything at optimism levels. I just pay the bills. They have managed to keep the rigging as good as I haver ever seen - even better than my prior 261 conversion. I keep a whole lot of stuff in the baggage compartment to keep the trim aft, and while I do run LOP for longer flights, I fly ROP for shorter flights - I fly Mooneys for speed, not so much for economy.

I had mine installed on the left wing inboard of the ASI probe on an inspection plate. No good reason why left and not right side.

I have the LoPresti cowl on my J, and at 8,000' I can gain a bit over 1"" in MP with it open. There is a good video on the LoPresti website that shows how their ram air works.

That should reduce the cost of installing the new Bendix/King/Honeywell electric AI. I wonder if the LifeSaver would qualify? Good trend.

Great discussions. I'm 80 this year, and in good health in mind and body, but I no longer fly above 15,000', and mostly in the 8-10,000' range in my J. I find that in spite of my good health, I can feel a bit lightheaded and a bit hypoxic at altitudes above 10,000', and I will use supplemental oxygen. This was not always the case, and 10-20 years ago I felt quite well at much higher altitudes. Some years ago, I, and two pilot friends, (who are members of this forum), climbed Kilimanjaro together. We did a six day climb and each day we climbed to our next planned camp, and then half way back down to acclimatize ourselves to the ever higher altitudes. We were all fine until about 18,000' when we started taking Diamox. Quite trippy, literally, and figuratively, and we made it to both Gillman and Uruhu peaks. Quite a few other climbers in different groups (we were alone, except for a guide), suffered edemas - cerebral or pulmonary, and had to descend immediately.Speaking for myself, at the peak, I had tunnel vision of sorts, color "confusion", and I wouldn't have wanted to have taken an IQ test at that time. Back down to sea level, and even well before, we were all as normal as a couple of Mooney plots can be. Daiamox helped, I'm sure, but a portable tank of O2 would have been much better, although I would not have wanted to carry the tank. In reflection, perhaps a small portable aluminum tank would have been great for the last 1000' feet or so of the ascent.

Reading through all this commentary (which I find truly informative) I now realize the sort of Russian Roulette I was inadvertently playing in my many FL 250 to F 270 flights across the country. Sure I always kept a back up (to the built in bottle), portable O2 bottle hooked up with its own regulator and masks, and a pulse oximeter that I looked at occasionally, but I see that I was truly lucky. As I mentioned earlier in this thread I now fly a J, and I won't be up to those flight levels in my current airplane. As to the long winded IFR clearances, we have been trying for years to just say: Clearance Alfa for 30 and Clearance Bravo for 12. The wording never seems to change: For runway 30 departures: "After take off, maintain runway heading, climb to 2000', within 2 miles of the airport turn right to a heading of 120, maintain 2000" until crossing the Oakland 165 radial (see, we still have use for the VORs), climb to 4000', expect 9000' five minutes after departure, squawk xxxx, contact Nor Cal at 135.65"

We are really fortunate at San Carlos airport. The San Carlos Flight Center arranges Wings seminars every Wednesday night, and discussion meetings on most Saturday's. The subjects vary sufficiently to cover advanced topics for us crusty old timers, as well as new pilots. I am (pleasantly) surprised how well attended these seminars are. The meeting room is generally filled, with SCFC members able to monitor the seminars from home, via streaming video, and to send in questions for the presenters. The presenters are normally CFIIs, with others called in for their specialized knowledge and experience. We have had several sessions related to hypoxia and O2 gear. Sort of: "if they put on the seminars, they will come". It is great to have so many meaningful questions, and comments by the many truly experienced pilots who attend - quite a few retired military and airline pilots. H

I keep one in the back of the co-pilot seat back container. Feels as though it is empty because O2 is so light. There is no gauge so you don't know how many more "puffs" are available. I've used it a few times, and it does work, helping with fatigue, but I am going to buy the Mountain High emergency unit that has a gauge and a regulator, and has the potential of hooking up an Oxsaver cannula. Expensive relative to the Boost units, but it is a serious emergency O2 system, and it makes much more sense for the type of flying I do nowadays.

Great catch for the portable O2 unit. I will order one in the next few days and keep it in the backseat area where I can easily reach it. I have two "standard" O2 bottles, but I only take them when I plan to go high. This little portable unit will be perfect for those times when I feel a bit fatigued, or when I have to climb for terrain or a set of clouds where I know I will be descending shortly thereafter. I also have a panel (console) mounted Guardian O2 unit, with a panel mounted annunciator.

Early in this thread I mentioned that I often flew in the flight levels crossing the country, and that some of the times it was at FL270 eastbound. The only reason I went so high was for the tailwinds, and once or twice I caught the lower edge of the jet stream. I hated the way the airplane flew, and the discomfort, but I was generally in a hurry, and being younger and more more foolish, I thought I was immortal. Now that I am older (maybe a bit wiser) I realize the risk factors. So now I fly a J which I have never had above 15,000'. I do use oxygen starting at about 12000', and I can cross the country staying under 12000 by using the southern routes, with good terrain clearances. Slower, and sometimes I am blocked by weather I previously would have flown over, but more comfortable and enjoyable. My J seems to run best between 7000' and 10,000', and I can avoid hypoxia concerns, but if I start feeling fatigued, I will use oxygen, even at 7000'.

One last post to this hijacked series. It bothered me all night that my avionics installed didn't provide separate CBs for the GTNs. They did. I just missed the CB markings on my CB sub panel. I can turn either or both off via the CBs. What I haven't found yet is the CB for the ADS-B (GDL 88). When the GTN. 750 is disabled by pulling its CB, the 650 "Transponder" box continues to show ADS-B, and will not toggle to Transponder. Interesting! If the Audio (remote) fails, the GTN 750 still has control over the Transponder.

I pulled both the GTN 750 Com and Nav CBs, and the Remote Audio CBs, and the 750 stayed on with Xs for the frequency boxes, and Xs where the audio panel allows frequency selection. The Transponder box stayed lit, and allowed me to change codes. If I pulled the Transponder CB I got Xs in that box. I don't know how to kill the GTN 750 itself with switches or CBs. Perhaps it is wired strangely, but the installation was made by a first class shop specializing in jets and turboprops. I can kill the GTN 750 by pulling it out of the tray, but I really don't want to do that until I am with an avionics tech. Too easy to bend a pin in the fittings.

As I said, I don't know if he piggybacked another CB, and I will talk to the installer about it.

Yep, we've had topic creep here, but questions were posted, and I will try and answer them. The way my GTNs are wired, each has a separate circuit breaker for the Com and a separate circuit breaker for the Nav components, and one for the remote audio panel, and another for the remote Transponder. I went down to my hangar and activating the electrical bus, I pulled each of the breakers, one at a time, to see what happens. If the audio panel CB is pulled, I cannot monitor two frequencies (com), but I can use Com 2 (GTN 650) as a normal flip flop radio. The volume control works just fine, and at most, the loss of the remote audio panel would be an inconvenience. I still had full control of the remote Transponder on the GTN 750. I had mentioned that the Transponder window on the GTN 650 showed: ADS-B. alt, and I tried to see if it would toggle to Transponder. It does not Touching that box just brings up my N number and if GPS signals are not acquired, a failure message. So far as I can tell, the GDL 88 is wired to the bus, as I cannot find a dedicated CB for it. I will contact the installer, as the only way I can turn ADS-B out is to pull the Transponder CB. I can turn off ADS-B in via GTN settings.

I pulled up a photo of my GTN 650, and the transponder field shows ADS-B alt. I have a GDL 88. My Pilots Guide doesn't address changing from Transponder to ADS-B. I'll try tapping that area and see if it flip flops between them.

Thank you. I will try that on my next flight.

All good comments re: Com 1 / Com 2. I worried about this, and the aircraft was wired so that in the event the GTN 750 remote failed, the GTN. 650 would be primary. There was a time or two when the remote audio panel did not come up. A flip of the avionics master on and off "fixed" that. I believe that the remote transponder can be controlled by the GTN 650, but I don't know that for sure. Never thought about it. I'll find out.

My old Mooney 261 conversion had a ceiling of 28,000'. I flew her high on most my flights across the U.S.; often at FL 270 eastbound. Hostile environment, with my feet burning from the heater, and my face "freezing" cold. I used to wear a fur lined leather jacket. Flying westbound at FL 260 (only time with mild headwinds westbound at that altitude) with a CFII friend we decided to experiment. First he took off his O2 mask, and then I observed him. He lasted about 3 minutes before he was giggling and acting strange. Took just a minute or two after he put his mask back on (I had to help him). Then it was my turn. I didn't last as long as he did. I just went sleep, I always had a potable O2 bottle already hooked up, with its own masks, in addition to the built in tank. I also used Oxsavers and the regulator that had a red ball in a tube to monitor the O2 flow, and this tube was routed to be in sight. When it came time to buy another Mooney, I chose a J model, which will never get to the flight levels. Different use for this airplane.

When I set up my current panel, I had the 830 flush mounted, and the unit is great. Having said that, I would have chosen the 900 with the potential of eliminating some duplicate instruments. But, I had MP,Tach, etc installed at the immediate right side of the panel, and this yields redundancy and a cross check. I'm actually glad I did it this way. Still the 900 is primary, and the 830 is not. Note: since these photos were taken, the 430 was replaced with a GTN 650, and the AERA 696 was replaced with a 796. Both in the same positions.

Left wing inspection plate. Indicator next to compass.

Sounds like a first generation Garmin product. I went through three new GTN 750s before I received a well working unit. Since then, it has been flawless. Glad you are the pioneer, Don.

Don, Who did your Flight Stream installation? Are the units available now? I have the GDL 88 and a panel mounted AERA 796. I want the Flight Stream unit to use with Foreflight on a Mini iPad to act as a back up back up AI. I had not thought about using the 796 as an AI

Not that you would want to spend much time reading the gauge, but the Dynon D-2. Portable EFIS had a G meter (page 2) that reads up to +6 Gs, and - 4 Gs.