Bennett

The tiles are designed for automotive garages (commercial and personal) and at least mine have a web like understructure. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I used aluminum plates as place markers for the Mooney's wheels. I suppose that similar plates could be used under jacks, but I doubt if they would needed. If you want to pursue this idea, you could contact any of the tile sellers for their compression and point loading specifications. There are plenty of sellers that can be found on the web. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One of my hangar neighbors spent $6000 for a beautiful white expoxy painted floor. He told me the prep work was intensive, and expensive. KSQL is barely above sea level - the hangars and runways being protected by an earthen beam. I was told that while there is no obvious seepage up into the hangar floors, any crack has the potential for moisture. The tiles block any moisture, and dampness does not harm them. Beyond that, tiles gave me the option of multiple colors, and I could lay them as though they were a runway of sorts for the main wheels. The perimeter edging was done in red as a warning that a difference in height is in existence. The costs were reasonable, in my opinion - under $2000, and I could lay them myself with a friend in a day. The tiles do not require notification to the county landlord, or their permission, since the tiles are "portable", and can be removed without any harm to the hangar floor itself. Finally, if I were to move to another hangar, I could actually disassemble the floor tile setup, and set them up again in a new location. Certainly a bit of a pain to do so, but the snap in construction technique snaps out with a bit of persuasion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The flooring is plastic, about 3/8th of an inch thick. Each tile is about 12" x 12", and they are made by several manufacturers, and distributed by even more folk and retailers. They come in various surface finishes and patterns. Mine are like the steel tool boxes you see on pick-up trucks. The "raised coin" is also popular. The tiles "snap" together (with a rubber mallet), and they come in rights and lefts. I chose to add an edging to make a none "stub your toe" transition between the tiled floor and the concrete hangar floor. While they were designed for garages, I know that quite a few hangars use this system. The nice thing is that they clean so easily. After a year and a half, I did a "Pinesol" wash that made them look brand new. You can replace tiles even after they are fully laid down. I stupidly ruined (mechanically-not a normal problem) a couple of tiles, and with the help of a friend, was able to raise the section enough to take out the old tiles, and snap in replacements. I once carpeted another hangar, but this is a far better solution. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You are right about not having to pay for a separate storage facility. About half the boxes are filled with aviation stuff, and the other half is for business records. Before I set up the hangar this way I was paying about $750 per month for my business records storage in an off premises storage facility. I also keep an extra set of tools, drill press, workbench, and many sets of nuts, bolts, screws,etc in the hangar. A desk, computer, printer, and more (refrigerator, coffee maker) lets me use the hangar as a remote office before and after flights, or when I am in the vicinity of the hangar. I also set up six cabinets to hold aviation stuff, and changes of clothes, and all sorts of backpacks and emergency gear. So for me the high costs are mitigated by function and multi purposes for the hangar. This hangar is about 15 minutes from my office or home by different routes. Over the decades I have had a number of hangars at San Carlos, Rio Vista and South County Airport, and this one is the best yet. A friend and I laid the floor in one day. Works out well, and the aluminum plates are not there to protect the floor, which easily can hold the weight of the Mooney, but are for positioning. When the wheels are all on the plates, I can walk around without any clearance problem.

I've had a similar problem on both my DOVA LSA, and my J. For the DOVA I drained the fuel tank (messy job) before replacing the drain. I played with the J drain for a while, and finally the leak stopped. I flew up to LASAR as I really didn't want to drain the much larger Mooney tank. I was amazed how easy it was for them to replace the drain. They removed the filler cap, and used a vacuum cleaner hose and seal to allow them to remove and replace the drain without spilling fuel from either the drain hole or the filler cap hole. I'd be afraid to try that myself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've previously mentioned the high costs of hangars in the Bay Area. I pay $741 a month (plus county property tax that works out to be about $100 per month. (This doesn't include the annual Personal Property tax that is about 1% of the aircraft's value). On the other hand I have a relatively new hangar at a towered airport about 7 miles south of SFO. AV gas is about $4.00 per gallon, delivered by truck. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Presents from others or bought for yourself? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LASAR replaces mine every year as part of the annual. The airplane is hangared, and the tanks filled after every flight, and in three years I have never seen any trace of water when I sump the tanks as part of my preflight. Just good preventive maintenance at relatively little cost. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey, I'm an old timer. I flew across the country many times, throughout the Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico without GPS (or Loran, in the early days), using VORs and NDBs. Not to mention pilotage with paper charts and timers. In offshore sailing, I used Omega, very early versions of Loran, and even navigated by sextant and various sight reduction tables. My point is that many VORs will soon be decommissioned, (limiting DME usefulness) and NDBs are mostly gone, as is Loran. Could I still fly without GPS - sure, but with less alternatives. I personally think that the FAA is wrong in "putting all our eggs in the GPS basket". And I do believe that ADS-B in/out has the potential of making us all safer pilots. I like GPS -WAAS, but soon we will only have one viable system of electronic navigation. GPS approaches beat the hell out NDB approaches, and many two dimensional VOR approaches. All in all great progress, but if GPS is hacked - whether widespread or local, I believe that people (pilots especially) could be hurt or killed before things are sorted out. Cross checking one GPS box against another would not be helpful unless one could selectively choose which satellite system they were using. For what it is worth, I still use my GTN 650 exclusively for VORs for flight plans with a dedicated indicator head, TIS-B screen, and back-up radio. The GTN 750 is my moving map screen (along with the 796 for XM weather), and the yoke mounted Mini 4 for a sectional display using ForeFlight. As it is has been said: "Trust, but verify". Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for correcting my spelling of Glonass. My spell checker does funny things - actually funny things. I think you are probably right about the suspension of Part 91 operations in the event of a widespread or general GPS failure. I am more concerned about a localized hack to change timing so that the in aircraft receiver calculates an erroneous position. At one point in my military career I was involved with electronic countermeasures and spoofing by various methodologies. Personally I don't think it would be very difficult to override the comparatively weak GPS signals with a mildly modified signal of greater strength that could/would cause chaos on a local system. Perhaps just modifying the WASS signal alone would be sufficient. I can't imagine that there are not teams or engineers in a number of countries who have not only the capability, but systems already in place to disrupt our ever increasing dependency on GPS. Just my opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have to laugh at myself for all the GPS units I have in the panel, yoke, seat next to me, and in my pocket. Now with Garmin's FlightStream 210 just about everything shows traffic TIS-B and weather. Too easy! But seeing all that traffic is sobering - far more than I can "eyeball" without the data from TIS-B. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think we are placing too much reliance on GPS. With the proposal to shut down many VORs in the near future, we don't really have a good electronic backup system in place. Not the place for a full blown discussion of how GPS signals can be hacked or spoofed, but it can be done (and probably has been). Perhaps the additional capacity to use Gnosis and Galileo will help. Quite a few GPS units use Gnosis in addition to the US GPS, and I would expect the next generation of GPS receivers to pick up and use the new European Galileo constellation as well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pilots who follow this forum know I am a LASAR enthusiast. I've taken both of my Mooneys to them for PPIs and annual inspections as well as interim maintenance. This now spans about 35 years, and I am still taking my current Mooney to them. I don't know Top Gun, but I do know the folk at LASAR, and I find them highly competent and easy to work with. Not cheap, but good workmanship is worth every Penney - at least to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You guys make me glad I live in California. Yeah, I know we do get some icing in winter, but nothing like the rest of the country. I once picked up an amazing amount of ice in just a few minutes over the Sierras, and when ATC told me "stand by" when I asked for higher, I just said "unable" and climbed - 1000' was all that was needed, and I just knew I couldn't stay at my current altitude. I did tell ATC what I was doing, and if they wouldn't approve, I would declare an emergency. Yes, this is a bit of an aggressive attitude on my part, but better than crashing. I didn't get to be an old pilot by being meek in the cockpit. PIC means just that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not on Facebook, nor religious, but I'm sure that prayers are always appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the heads up. I spoke to the folks at LASAR. Paul had triple bypass heart surgery, and is said to be doing well. Sherry is with him. I wish him well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The pins were, as I understand it, developed originally for Bonanzas. The doors were being sucked outwards at high speed. I saw these pins a long time ago at Oshkosh, and again, as I understand it, the STC was expanded to Mooneys. I will take a couple of photos the next time I am in my hangar. I know other Mooney pilots who have added the pin with the same success. You might check with Dan or Paul at LASAR for more details.

Suggestion: On the J and the 261 I had LASAR install a passive pin for the upper section / front of the door. When adjusted properly, the door is held tightly against the door frame. This keeps a tight seal to eliminate wind noise and drafts from that area. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like the Robotow. I,too, added wheels via long cable ties. I have no difficulty crossing elevated hangar tracks and a mild incline. I usually tow my J about 50-75 feet out of the hangar to align with the area between the hangar rows. I've never run out of power. When not in use, the battery sits in its charger in a cabinet near where I keep the Robotow. My hangar is large enough that I can leave the Robotow in place and still close the hangar doors. I check the nose wheel to make sure the weight of the unit isn't causing a depression on the tire, but I see no evidence that that is the case. Sure saves the back leaving the unit in place while she is in the hangar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another thing. My combinations as described above show ADS-B weather on the two GTNs, and the Mini 4. But I have an XM subscription (Weather and music) and while the 796 gets Flight Plan coupling from the GTNs, I see XM Weather (which I really prefer) on the 796. I didn't instruct the avionics shop to do this, but it's great. I've asked them if there is a simple way to display XM weather on the GTNs and/or the Mini, but they make no suggestions along that line. Does anyone on the forum have a suggestion? Thank you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another thing. My combinations as described above show ADS-B weather on he two GTNs, and the Mini 4. But I have an XM subscription (Weather and music) and while the 796 gets Flight Plan coupling from the GTNs, I see XM Weather (which I really prefer) on the 796. I don't instruct the avionics shop to do this, but it's great. I've asked them if there is a simple way to display XM weather on the GTNs and/or the Mini, but they make no suggestions along that line. Does anyone on the forum have a suggestion? Thank you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn! Then bring photos. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do have some photos which I can scan next week (I think they are in my hangar), and provided I can find them, I will post a few. The panel looked like the Silver Crown catalog, and at a Homecoming at Kerrville, Coy, as presenter, ran a slide of that panel, quipping that there wasn't any space left to even mount a one inch vacuum gauge-I already had a two inch gauge. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Me too, looking forward meeting you, and seeing your sister ship. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's funny. I have a GTN 750 and a GTN 650, a GDL 88, and a Flightstream 210. I use a Mini 4 in a yoke mount running ForeFlight. I have so much data, cross feeding, that the redundancy is ridiculous. My passengers can amuse themselves playing with an AERA 796 in an Airgizmo panel mount that also is coupled to the GTNs. (Also a MidContinent Life Saver back-up electric AI, and a back-up electric vacuum pump in the tail one). Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself, but then I remember that over the years I have lost vacuum pumps in IMC. In both instances the back-ups made the situation an annoyance, rather than a serious problem. With an Icarus Sam GPSS steering unit, and a KAP 150, using Flightstream and ForeFlight I have programmed 600 mile+ flights with multiple waypoints. And then at about 1500'. Coupled the autopilot to fly the route. I've mentioned it before, I almost always hand fly the return flight but I sure appreciate the new avionics. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk