AustinChurch

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I regularly fly formation with a Cessna 210 and Comanche 250. Since the 210 is the slowest of the three aircraft, he takes point and the Comanche and I fly off of each of his wings. We just set our speed to his. Prior to take off, we establish the altitude, climb rate, and speed at which the 210 is going to fly at. We take off in a stagard formation and once off the ground we move into our positions. When it comes time to land, we move back into a staggard formation, the 210 first on the left, the Comanche second on the right and me back on the left. Pretty easy to do and a lot of fun!

I have noticed that I get a little higher MP than I thought I should have so I had the MP guage checked during my pitot static checks and it is reading accurately. I'm not sure why it breathes so well since I do not have the Ram Air feature. Maybe you should have your throttle linkage checked to ensure it is opening the throttle intake valve all the way.

Yesterday I flew to Kerrville to drop off 211ZN at Dugosh for her annual. I climbed out at 500 fpm, 2500 rpm, wot to 14,500 msl with the starting OAT 85 df. She maintained the climb easily as I averaged around 140 tas. My hottest CHT was 328 and my oil temp was stable at 216. Once enroute, I ran her at 2450 rpm, wot (18" mp), and leaned to best power (12.3 gph) for a TAS of 180 kts.

Quote: Seth Thanks Brandon. That would have bothered me all morning. Is that the same setup as yours Austin? My F Model had the oil filler on the right side of the aircraft - the right seat / co-pilot side. Do any factory Mooney aircraft have the oil filler on the left side? What about the Rocket? -Seth

I have speed brakes as well and use them for decent only and stow them when I put the gear down at 130 kias. I set my MP at 16" and fly 100 kias down wind by adding a 3 second count on flaps, 90 on base by adding 3 more seconds count on flaps, 80 on final by adding the rest of the flaps and 75 across the numbers by reducing MP a little. On each of the legs of the pattern, I'm triming for said speeds. I also use trim to aid in the pull back for the round out/flare. Once flared, I slowly reduce the power to idle and she settles on the runway very softly. With this technique, I makes it very smooth, stable and easy to control the speeds in all segments. If I adhere to these techniques, it's easy to squeek it on without speed brakes. My Missile speeds/weights are similar to the Ovation so they should work for you.

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My fuel flow is 26 GPH @ WOT, SL, 2700 RPM. I hear ya on the cool OAT! My CHT's are fine but I need to climb at 120 KIAS to keep oil around 210-215. No biggie because by myself (90% of my flying) and 75 gallons of 100LL, I'm seeing 1000 fpm at that speed!

My famliy andd I flew to Destin, FL to eat at McGuires (awesome hickory smoked prime rib!!!) and walk around the Harbor walk. We waited until the sun set to fly back (west bound) and it was beautiful, cool and uncrowded in the air.

Brandon, I flew over to Destin, Fl today and the ground temps were 87df. I climbed to 5500msl at 100KIAS, WOT and 2700 rpm for 1000 fpm (I was about 165 lbs under gross) and the highest CHT I was 337df on cylinder #5. My oil temp rose to 230df. I hope this helps you for comparison. Austin

I have been trying to decide whether to go ice or the "real a/c". The ice is definitely more cost effective ($4100 dollars cheeper) and I like the idea of firing it up during the pre-flight. I just wasn't sure it would work well enough here in the deep south, but based Dale's PIREP, it sounds like it works very well. Thanks everyone for the PIREPS!!!

I'm considering purchasing the "real a/c" from Arctic Air for the Mooney (12V 200CFM model). Does anyone have experience with these units? I fly a lot for business and I'm tired of smelling/looking like I ran to my appointment...Plus the Mrs. complains of the heat whenever we fly and you know what they say, "if momma ain't happy, nobody's happy"!!!

Quote: carusoam Austin, Ovation1 cruises with CHTs in the 280 - 320F range. Measured with the JPI700. Climbs are slightly higher. Best regards, -a-

Quote: 74657 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......

Come to think of it, you're right on the 450 so I really think you're in good shape. I'm going to fly on Friday (we're 90+ right now) so I'll check the CHT's again and re-report what I find. I have the JPI 700 so no % to power funtion here!

Quote: allsmiles It's not a matter of faith in quality. It's strictly a matter of value.

Quote: 74657 Bring it! It took us about 15 hours of testing/adjusting/flying and repeating to get the new engine "dialed in" like we wanted. The IO-550A has its quirks. The auto-lean fuel pump being the main one. Did you pop for the ECI nickel cylinders? I like their 5 year warranty so went ahead and spent the extra money on them. My red tagged crank was a 6AMU expenditure that I wasnt prepared for. During the wait I installed the new JPI and LOVE IT. PM me your email address!

Quote: 74657 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.

I'm spinning mine at 2700. The original certification was for 2650 so I called Rocket Enginering to ask why. Their response was that the FAA would not allow more than 300hp on the conversion and they found that 550's turing 2700 produced 305-310. I don't know if I buy that explanation, but I set my prop gov for 2700 a year ago and haven't looked back!

If I want to really move, I spin 2550 and WOT for 24.5"mp, 100 degrees ROP, 17.5 gph for a TAS of 188kts at 8500 MSL but most of the time I run the LOP settings I mentioned above. I'm surprised your CHT's are running that high. Mine runs around 325 with only a 14 degree spread between the hottest/coolest on a hard climb and around 290 in cruise. What I have to watch is the oil temp. If the OAT is above 90 and I climb at 90 IAS the oil temp will rise to 230 so, like you, I climb out at 120 IAS for similar climb performance that you're seeing and oil temp doesn't rise above 195.

Quote: 74657 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......

Are you still looking to trade towards a 180kt Mooney?

Quote: donshapansky The comment about the exhaust failing because of LOP operations makes no sense. If you fly it 50 ROP the EGT's will be higher than 50 LOP will result in.

Quote: M016576

Congrats Seth!!! I'm glad you finally sealed the deal. You'll love the performance and economy you get from her. I consistantly get 186kts TAS at 8000-9000 msl on 16.5-17 gph. A little tip I learned from Rocket Engineering. They do not recomend running them LOP. The exhaust is so tighly packed that it will become to hot and will prematurely fail. The gentleman I purchased mine from flew it LOP and becuase of that I just had to have Rocket Engeneering rebuild my entire exhaust sytstem. It had only 938 hours on it!