BorealOne

Thanks all! Flying the North is all about the stories. At $6-8/gallon for avgas and airports which are at least 100 nm apart with lots of rocks and trees and lakes in between, I'm glad to be flying a Mooney!

My instructive experience of the week: Last Friday I lost throttle authority on short final into a 3000' gravel runway at CYLK (Lutsel K'e, Northwest Territories) in my Ovation. There's nothing quite like the feeling of turning final and backing off the throttle only to have the control knob back entirely out of the firewall with no cable attached--leaving the plane at about 30% power. Fortunately, it went back in, and I was able to restore full power for the go-around. However, the throttle was now full open, and staying that way. So the next question became what to do next--especially given the fact I had my friend's 4 y/o son, Hawke, on board. Lutsel K'e is a small Dene community of about 300 people. A dead-stick landing would have been possible, but not advisable given terrain, runway length and the lack of any kind of aviation services - emergency or otherwise. Yellowknife, however, has a 7500' strip + all the amenities (firetrucks included) and was only 100 nm away - so we declared an emergency and diverted there. It was a short flight at full power, and we landed without incident; deploying speedbrakes, lowering RPM and leaning the mix to get into the gear deployment speed range, and then dead-sticking down once we had made the field. We used about 2/3 of the available runway. As to cause, it appears the vernier throttle adjustment mechanism had failed, twisting the cable and causing it to bind, abrade and ultimately fail. I had noticed some stiffness in the mechanism a few weeks back, had it checked out and lubricated, and was advised that it was airworthy but that replacement was recommended. Ironically, I was in fact on my way to Calgary for a 100h inspection at Cavalier Aviation that very day, and a further inspection/possible replacement was on my list of squawks, but Murphy clearly had other plans for me. What I learned: 1) Don't defer recommended maintenance--even for couple of weeks. 2) Maintain proficiency in emergency procedures - you never know when you will need them. 3) When taking children for 'short flights', take one of their parents with you - and advise them to pack a toothbrush...just in case ;-) And yes, we made the papers. Excerpts below: Stricken plane makes safe landing Terrence McEachern Northern News Services Published Saturday, April 9, 2011 SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Despite a few tense moments, no one was harmed after a Mooney M-20 single engine plane had to make a dramatic emergency landing on the runway near the Adlair Air hangar at the Yellowknife Airport on Friday at 1:33 p.m. This single engine airplane landed without incident despite requesting emergency assistance from the Yellowknife Airport due to engine trouble. No one was injured during the emergency landing. - Ian Vaydik/NNSL photo "The plane landed safely, there was no damage to the aircraft and everyone was fine," said Earl Blacklock, manager of public affairs and communications with the GNWT's Department of Transportation. Traffic on Highway 3 was temporarily halted while emergency crews waited for the plane to land. The plane flew into the airport from the north at an accelerated speed at 1:33 p.m. but landed without incident. For several minutes, two airport fire trucks with their lights activated followed the plane on the runway until it came to a stop near Adlair Air's hangar. Two passengers, a man and a child, exited the plane after it came to a stop, and there were no visible signs of smoke or damage to the aircraft. Blacklock said airport officials received the call from the pilot at 1:15 p.m. that the plane was having engine trouble. Besides the two airport fire trucks, an ambulance, an RCMP and a Municipal Enforcement vehicle responded to the scene, said Blacklock. Also, a helicopter from Trinity Helicopters was standing by to offer assistance. -- Mom relieved after son's harrowing adventure Four-year-old boy on plane that landed Friday with broken throttle by Terrence McEachern Northern News Service What was supposed to be an enjoyable 10-minute tour of the skies over Lutsel K'e turned into a frightful ordeal for a mother as she watched the plane carrying her young son fly past the airport's runway and off into the horizon, not to return Friday. "Finally, after about 30 minutes, (we realized) they've gone to Yellowknife. Something is wrong (and) we don't know what," said Tracey Williams, the mother of four-yearold Hawke Finn Williams Ellis. She and her husband Steve Ellis raced home and started frantically making phone calls to find out what was happening. Finally, they were able to reach the pilot who told her the plane's throttle had malfunctioned and he had to make an emergency landing 200 km away in Yellowknife with the plane's engine shut off. Emergency landing The Mooney single-engine aircraft landed safely at around 1:30 p.m. at the city's airport. Williams said the pilot is known to the family and had been in Lutsel K'e on business when he offered to take Hawke for a plane ride above the community. She said her son wasn't traumatized by the experience and enjoyed spending time with the airport's firefighters and pilots at Buffalo Airways. "It was an exciting event for him," she said. But this was only the beginning for Hawke and his family. He was quickly booked on a flight back to Lutsel K'e that afternoon; however, after circling the community's airport twice, the scheduled Air Tindi flight had to turn around and head back to Yellowknife because of poor visibility due to an unexpected snowstorm that swept into the area. "It was a comedy of errors that never seemed to end," said Williams, who then had to get back on the phone and try to find a place for her son to stay the night in Yellowknife. She managed to reach one of her friends, who picked Hawke up at the airport, and put him up for the evening. Hawke finally made it home on Saturday at around 2:30 p.m. "It was a long, seemingly never-ending weekend of worry. It was quite the time for us," she said. Although her son was in good spirits, she said he started to get tired and weary toward the end. "It was a little much," she said. "When he got home, he was pretty exhausted." Regardless, she said she was pleased with the pilot's skillful emergency landing. "Otherwise, we'd be in a whole different scenario here talking about this," she said. She was especially proud of how her son, who she describes as a "plane fanatic," behaved throughout the ordeal. "He was really good, and that's what everyone said. He kept a level head, and maybe we've got the makings for a pilot," she said with a laugh.

I'm doing 1200 mile non-stop legs pretty regularly in my Ovation with IFR reserves - single pilot w/ long range tanks, above 14,000 and with fuel burn dialed back to 11.7 gph.

Maritime flying? You'll want TKS. The way I figure it, a 5-6 kt TAS airspeed hit is minimal, compared to the 185 kt TAS hit you take by being forced to stay on the ground when there is icing in the forecast.

If you haven't already, check out the images that are now coming in from Japan. Sendai airport was pretty much erased by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis , ie: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01237/web_quake_bf_17_1237946cl-f.jpg Terrifying to see, and my prayers are with the people of Japan.

Hey Vasco - 180 at altitude is pretty typical.

I've picked up ice at temps in -35C OAT climbing through stratus layers near the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay. If the atmospheric conditions are right, icing is a possibility. Temperature + cloud type is likely to be a better indicator of icing risk than temperature alone.

Over the past month or so I've been doing pretty regular 1100-1200 nm legs in my 1996 Ovation, usu between 8-14,000' burning between 14.5-12 GPH (lower, slower and more fuel going west; higher, faster and less fuel going east). Last week I also did one 1425 nm leg which saw me departing CYTH to CYYR with 112 gallons onboard, setting out in beautiful VFR conditions at 11500, but then climbing up to FL19 as things went IFR on the east side of James Bay (and the load of fuel got lighter, making it possible to get there in the first place). Burn was down to 10 gph at 50ROP, and I had a 35 gallons reserve on landing. 6-7h - that's about as long as I'd reasonably want to spend in the plane in one go - your mileage may vary.

Grr...i'm getting a 'HDG' flag now about 50% of the time. I'm taking this as a sign from the gods that the KG102A gyro in the tail is going down. You don't know how much you rely on the autopilot, esp in IFR flight, until it becomes a glorified wing-leveller.

Had the privilege of spending a couple of days with Bruce Jaeger in Willmar, MN this week learning how to fly my new-to-me Ovation. http://www.jaegeraviation.com/training Sure, I'd done some training for insurance purposes, and now have about 70h in my new bird, but the time spent with Bruce took things to a whole new level. I now understand my plane better - from the firewall forward as well as back. We spent a lot of time on engine management theory, systems, cold weather operations, and had a little fun doing a little upper airwork, maneuvers, emergency procedures, and IFR recurrency. I'd highly recommend Bruce to any Mooney owner looking to take their understanding of our aircraft to the next level.

On the topic of batteries - just back from Nakina (Northern Ontario) in -40. Batteries froze on the ramp in Nakina - both of 'em. It's amazing how quickly you can get batteries out of an Ovation when properly motivated by low temperatures, cold tools and bare hands...

well, it wasn't the first flight ever for my Ovation, which has been on the go since 1996 under various N-registrations, or even my first flight under Canadian registration (10h in the circuit, etc to complete my transition training) but yesterday was my first solo cross-country: 860 nm from Muskoka, Ontario to Goose Bay, Labrador - 860 nm in 4h:17 at FL013. I could get used to this :-)

Alright - I landed a lovely 1996 Ovation with TKS + the long-range Monroy tanks. We closed the deal today. It'll be a week (or three) before it gets put on the Canadian registry, but I'm already looking forward to getting there fast...wherever 'there' happens to be. If anyone knows of a good CFI with Ovation experience in the Toronto - Ottawa area, please give a shout. I did 5h transition with the previous owner, but I'll be looking for a little more instruction to become fully familiar with this amazing aircraft.

Lol - thanks Piloto - I know that FBO. Looks like you were at YYR on one of our rare frosty mornings :-) Much appreciate the welcomes and the links from others - this is a most welcoming forum! Cheers! Larry

Hey all - I've got the Mooney bug. Most of my PIC time has been 'low and slow' bush flying in a Lake amphib, but mission requirements are now moving into what Mooneys excel at...mostly solo or 2 person 800 nm cross-country trips where I need to get there fast... So...I'm currently trying to best match my needs to the right plane. Trying to decide between a 252 or a Bravo. TKS is a must, FIKI a plus. Currently leaning towards a 252 on the grounds of fuel efficiency, but I have a few questions for folks on the forum - - gravel strips. I know, not traditional places to land a Mooney, but some of my destinations are well-maintained gravel, instead of tarmac. Any experiences or advice to share? How essential are the inner gear doors - can they be removed? - long-range tanks - how much to install in a 252? - ADF quality. IFR alternate rules in Canada require 'non-GPS' approaches to be legal, and in most places I fly, the only non-GPS alternate is an NDB. My experiences with ADFs suggest that their reliability varies considerably by aircraft. Any known issues with the ADF installations in 252s? Any other helpful advice? Thanks, eh!