sleepingsquirrel

Woo Hoo! I've got 8,108 hours left on this airframe

The ad says "2092 TT SINCE NEW ! " just failed to mention "NEW IN 1961"! Seller was not motivated to to help me with my math, just motivated to sell !

You have such a lovely family, obviously a lot to live for . It's not too late to cancel those IFR classes you know! Just because you get your rating you are not obligated to ever fly IFR again. Just because I might use plasti dip on a contol yoke, its not my paint shop scam !

I would just claim that it was thick paint. That I put it on to keep the horn from falling off in my hand when I pulled back to take off!

I've been looking around and suddenly it dawned on me, COULD I BE FLYING THE OLDEST MOONEY on this site at 50 years old?1961 from 2011= 50. What was I thinking buying a 50 year old aiplane? I know there are older Mooneys flying so I'm not feeling too insecure. It may be fifty but it acts like a teenager. Thank God for a great paint job that could be the only thing holding the rivet heads on!

Hi, I believe in progress, and the new stuff is wonderful but still secondary/non -existent in my stage of evolution. I work with medical equipment and since 1993 have been observing intermittent RFI/EMI problems from intentional as well as unintentional transmitters. Over the last decade medical equipment manufacturers have become more aware and hardened their devices. The lesson for me was that it's not the obvious reboot or lock up that gets you in trouble. It is the subtle misinformation due to some slight momentary alignment of the planets when your cell phone jumps to high power and interacts with other electronic equipment without it being obvious. I had to force myself to read senate hearings discussing these effects concerning PEDs. I haven't flown commercial airliners for a while. I bet they still demand all PED (personal electronic devices) be turned off for flight below certian levels and certian phases of flight. It struck me that the rolling reboots you guys mentioned could be caused by EMI/RFI from other electronics. As much as we try to make science of of these interactions there is still a little VooDoo going on which sometimes defies explaination. Even hardened equipment has sweet spots for EMI/RFI. Personally if I was IFR and using glass for an approach I would first turn off my cell phone, laptops. I pods ,game boys, mp3 players, and back up GPS/glass cockpit would be put in a farady cage (with an external antenna) it would still be available for use. Maybe if one were to cleanse the cockpit of all portable electronic devices the reboots/unexplained glitches might stop. Then add the items one at a time to see if statistically anything changes . Keep in mind that the problem may not manifest itself until a combination of two items set up a beat frequency which is the problem. Airliners kill hundreds of people at a time making big news, someone demands action. General aviation kills one to six at a time, medicine kills one at a time , just doesn't grab headlines . You just don't want to be in those numbers ,however small,if it can be avoided, When the Saint Go Marching In. Please forgive me if I'm saying something already obvious to the trained, experienced, glass cockpit users. I have felt your pain for the last decade+ in medical electronics.

Well ,it's true that cat landed on it's feet and due to a little known law of physics, survived . (seems that terminal velocity for objects below a certian mass is will not result in a fatal blow) . HE WAS HOWEVER STARTLED! He took off running and was hit by a passing car.

I loved that cat.

It may be that everyone involved in this interstate flight could benefit by some gradual conditioning. Get the cat accustomed to the visual cues by letting him sit on your shoulder while you fly Microsoft flight simulation at home. Have your wife gently swing the office chair back and forth ( no spins). Next take him to the airport and let him approach the plane in non-threatening increments. I don't have any suggestions as how to do this but you can't simply open the door and throw him in if you value your upolstery. Once the animal is ok sitting in the plane, simulate engine noises by pursing your lips together and blowing like playing the trumpet. Do it softly at first then increase the volume. Have your wife or the lineman stand outside and shake the wing for added realism. Have them both shake as hard as they can to simulate CAT (clear air turbulence). Be sure to move the controls in a realistic manner otherwise the cat may assume you don't know anything about flying and never get in the plane with you again. This is going to take several hours so bring plenty of paper towels to clean the inside of the wind screen. Once kitty is convinced and approves, you may start the engine for real. Did I mention tranquilizers and a catchers face mask for this step? You might want to wear that chest & groin protector as well ! Don't worry about how you look to everyone else at this point. It's already too late. I guess if the cat has no outstanding warrants it is Ok to travel across state lines. If I think of anything else I'll send PM. Good luck, the cat may have 9 lives and not really care if you take off in marginal conditions so be careful!

You would be in like Flint if you had to make a CATIII landing. OK, you need two more cats for that!

Roscoe Turner used to fly with a lion. Technically it can be done.

A cat loose in a Mooney could re-write the definition of the "Mooney Wave"!

Hi, I think it is the same thing as "BOAT" in boating circles ,Break Out Another Thousand. "AMU" Another Mooney Unit ? ..............

No, but I tried to give a squirrel a bath once.

You are correct. I was always thinking of flying to some of these events . It's really intimidating to see the number of planes they land and depart. Some how seeing it from your video took some of the "I couldn't possibly do that " To let me see.

Hi, Great , keep us posted on your progress. I remember investing pretty much all I had when I was younger in flying time. I could never get quite to the ownership stage. It always seemed so far away. I think I was paying $13 an hour wet for a 150. A 172 I think was only $19 an hour wet. My total start to finish for a Private was $800. A used 172 could be had for $7500. I knew of Mooneys but I f I couldn't afford a Cessna I surely couldn't get into a Mooney. So I had to save for 40 years to get mine. You picked a plane with great value. I'm enjoying mine.

I figured you were OK after 200 hours with no fatalities. My guess is that these are time weighted average numbers as well. 200ppm for eight minutes might give the same effect as 50 to 75ppm for four hours? Everbody is different.

I was very interested in this topic now that I actually have an aircraft that doesn't take all day to get to service ceiling. I figured I needed to be educated in use of O2 at least . These numbers in the article are for sea level . I'm going to crawl out on a limb (squirrels are good at that) and say at 18,000 ft the mixture of air is the same percentages as at sea level just about half as much volume of each. A little further research and verification might allow us to reasonably reduce the allowable carbon monoxide levels in this article by half if the O2 is cut by half. Pulse oximetry does not help when hemoglobin is bound to carbon monoxide. It could be showing proper O2 levels when in fact it ignores hemoglobin bound to Carbon Monoxide (Carboxyhemoglobin) Disclaimer: One often finds that certian relationships may not be linear if one has a government grant with unlimited funding to do the studies. I'm sure that the tables exist somewhere. At what level does carbon monoxide become toxic? For healthy adults, CO becomes toxic when it reaches a level higher than 50 ppm (parts per million) with continuous exposure over an eight hour period.. When the level of CO becomes higher than that, a person will suffer from symptoms of exposure. Mild exposure over a few hours (a CO level between 70 ppm and 100 ppm) include flu-like symptoms such as headaches, sore eyes and a runny nose. Medium exposure (a CO level between 150 ppm to 300 ppm) will produce dizziness, drowsiness and vomiting. Extreme exposure (a CO level of 400 ppm and higher) will result in unconsciousness, brain damage and death.

Yep, I heard the bleet, squeak right on the green dot.

So cleared to land on the green dot in a Mooney means make everyone think you heard , cleared to land on the red dot? What a great practical demonstration of the Mooneys anti-gravity module I've read so much about.

I've been thinking about High Plains ' delimma. You know how kids are, right? They simply repeat anything they hear Daddy say. (even the electric blue stuff) All High Plains has to do while checking the oil , is say "This plane isn't safe to fly any more". True if he needs to add a quart of oil. and only BEFORE he adds the oil. While checking the flight surfaces he casually remarks,"This plane is not safe to fly anymore, just look how wiggley these things are" (outright lie) but pretty scary. How about , "This plane uses so much gas it's not safe to fly". True, it uses so much gas I can't believe it can get off the ground without running out myself. A statement like , "Mooneys have the best safety record, now there is a safe airplane". True, just ask any Mooney owner(living). Before long Mommy will be demanding a safer airplane , something like a Mooney. No amount of arguing could change her mind. Look at the innocent face of High Plains' co pilot. Who wouldn't believe anything that child told them? If that kid told me he saw a rooster dipping snuff, I'd have to run that bird down to look for a snuff box under it's wing! High Plains , let your co conspirator,..... I mean co pilot pull the trigger. You're just not using all your resources. Besides how much trouble can a five year old get into? They also look much more natural executing Plan B!

Hi there, You didn't bring that TLS Mooney to our field, did you? It's longer than a stretch limo and has a gold fleur de lis on the tail. My wife was all talking about it yesterday. You don't know my wife,.... do you?? I smell something cooking............smells like.........SQUIRREL !

Hi, I used something called Spot tracker during a 64 hour crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. I would watch that product to become FAA certified. It is a subscription service for $99 a year. I was so impressed with it that I bought one for my boat instead of a 406 ELT. The device only cost me $55 after rebate at West Marine. The Spot tracker google mapped our progress and it also had a 911 feature. West Marine also sells the 406 Elt, Iwas so interested in it I don't remember the price. Sailing like Aviation has a price tag which is incredibly inflated. It only takes someone to say "there ought to be a law" . link to SPOT messenger http://www.amazon.com/SPOT-Inc-SPOT-1-Personal-Tracker/dp/B000YTZV74

According to Amelia, if there is going to be trouble either way, it may as well be for buying the P51 Mustang. Skip the Mooney step! Be sure to get plenty of tail dragger time first. Thanks for confirming the stats on the 182 it just helps my case.

I have posted an update under: Hey High Planes I like the "low-wing" photo...