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I've done 500 miles too. But the previous post stated strong headwinds. Strong headwinds can change everything in a hurry. We are dealing with apples and oranges here. Ok guys, really.

A C is not as efficient as a J. It would be very tight.

I didn't have any spare money when I was 18, and my parents had no interest in helping me with my desire to fly. Paid my way through college working offshore rigs in the summers, and sold plasma twice a week to pay for flying lessons. Not complaining, you just have to play the hand you are dealt. Like I said, I'm just envious!

I'm pretty comfortable with both the i and j equations, and can actually flip flop between both letters. When I started ee classes and learned i was NOT the square root of -1, I had to chuckle. I probably lean more toward being a mathematician than an electrical engineer. Having a good grasp of math and abstract concepts made my ee classes a lot easier, while others sometimes struggled due to lack of math. But I must confess, although I consider myself above average in math, I still struggle with, and have never really mastered the eeny meeny miny moe technique. Boy, and I thought convolving integrals was hard! When it comes to aircraft, and a lot of other things in my life for that matter, I have completely abandoned rationale and logic. I go with gut instinct. If I had done everything opposite than what "experts" advised when my gut instinct was screaming another answer, I would be so far ahead. Call me crazy, but gut instinct is your brain trying to get you to pay attention to something you haven't yet quite figured out yet, for whatever reason. At recent FIRCs, they have shown us that studies of recent accidents reveal the crew was often talking about the accident before it happened. Eg "hope we are not on the wrong course, there are mountains in this area" etc. They advise if while you are flying, you get the feeling something is wrong, you should act on it immediately without delay. Or, you could work on an equation to evaluate the probability of a real problem. Or, you could go with the eeny meeny miny moe technique. Unlike many in the FIRC, I am good to go with gut when the need arises. But how I wish I could master that darned eeny meeny miny moe system!

I have to wonder how a 17 or 18 year old has a lot of experience... I guess I'm just envious. Obviously they handled it quite well, and I hope they have a rapid recovery. Great job, and score for teens!

Aviatoreb, I was waiting for you to weigh in on this one. I think the equation is painfully simple and not realistic. There should be some differential relationships, as well as random functions to inject the unknown that will certainly arise somewhere. And thank goodness we have imaginary numbers like i and j, or Electrical Engineers would be severely limited.

Very cool! Although, it does resemble the Amityville Horror home a bit!

Mike Walker is outstanding. He is based at KWEA and is mobile. He takes care of my aircraft at 52F. Walker Aviation 817-629-3890

God's speed with your healing and recovery! So glad you are still with us.

Maxwell test flies every aircraft that goes through his shop before letting it go. I have always appreciated that. With all of his experience, he is looking, listening, and feeling things many pilots wouldn't even think of. I consider the first flight after any maintenance a test flight. Thorough pre-flight. Stay near a runway, VFR a must, and no PAX on board. I am getting to be a pretty old pilot and have seen too many things. FWIW

Yep... Buzzards. You don't want to fly under them. When they get spooked, the tend to tuck their wings and drop like a rock.

Congrats! A '64E is an awesome Mooney. Some years back, I purchased an aircraft (not Mooney) with an engine that some people reported less desirable. It flew great and ran fine, but I got convinced by a few that I should upgrade. New "better" engine went in at great expense, and I had nothing but problems thereafter. I wound up selling that otherwise awesome aircraft. Later talked to many people that convinced me there was nothing wrong with that original engine. What a mistake and bad experience. Dont fix what ain't broke! FWIW

Beautiful. Congrats!!!

Get a different instructor.

Absolutely! All of this nonsense started with the advent of GPS. In the good old days, a report was more like "report about 3 miles out", "N123XX about 5 mile north", etc. And it all worked fine. Back then, pilots spent a fair amount of time figuring out ways to make pretty good estimates of distance. Then, when GPS came around, it was "N234MM 5.3 from airport", "N456HH 3.1 north", etc. You could tell who did and who did not have GPS for some time. Now, everybody is worried about the tenth of a mile. What's next??? While I appreciate precision, we aren't building cabinets here. Kind of reminds me of a mechanical engineer or two that used to work with me, and they always wanted to spec and do everything to the maximum precision available. Excessive precision is not always a good thing. You have to know when enough is enough.

Agree, I have wondered about a simple test as well. Depending on the airport and situation, it is not practical to wait to watch the fueling of my aircraft.

I agree Hank. Apple is definitely a love/hate relationship! Don't get me started on the hate side of the equation.

Smelling would work, but my smeller (nose) does not work that great. When sumping my fuel, I always put some between my thumb and finger and rub. You can clearly tell if any Jet A has be put in. Incase there are any other challenged smellers out there, FWIW.

I am an old pilot, and change is rather difficult for me at this point in my life. I was very hesitant to let my paper charts go, but I have made the total switch to electronic, and will never go back. For a year or two, I carried and used both to get my comfort level up. Now I just carry my iPad. Oh, I also have a panel mounted GPS, as well as a Garmin 496. Compared to not that many years ago, incredible capability and backup. Regardless of what App you wind up with, let the Jepps go. I have a full size iPad with ForeFlight, and love it. However, I now am leaning toward buying a mini iPad as well. I can see the benefits of the mini, but will still want the full size iPad for some things. Sometimes, more glass is a plus, and sometimes more glass is a minus. In the near future, I will probably have both in my cockpit. FWIW

Don Maxwell can arrange a very qualified pilot, I am sure. Should be no problem. Just let him know in advance.

Don't worry, if there is still a problem out there, it will let you know... I would not want to fly that aircraft until I had a definite cause identified. Period.

Skill good enough. Luck off the chart. The pilot ought to go buy a lottery ticket. I would still bet on a string of law suits....

Now that's funny, I don't care who you are!

1. Congrats! 2. Enjoy! 3. Don't make it a high wing.

Without knowing the details of the airport, this could be off. However... Frequently at airports with towers, if you are coming in more or less perpendicular to the runway, "report 3 mile base" would indicate to me they are telling you to skip the pattern, possibly for traffic efficiency. Or for convenience. I get this all the time at certain airports I fly in to regularly. Without more information, "Report X mile base" equals "Skip normal pattern (downwind)" If in doubt, you can, of course, ask for clarification. And the "3 mile base" is the distance on base from the centerline of the final approach path.