Becca

Quote: Ksaunders 2 sets of clubs, 2 suitcases and 20 Gal in each

Quote: allsmiles

Jetdriven's hyperbole aside, I am personally disgusted by the litinany of fat jokes on this board. You have no idea if this person is 6'6", for instance, which is a lot different than someone who is 5'1" weighing the same. You don't know if this person's weight is because he's "fat" or because he's a gym nut (I have a girlfriend who can do one armed pullups on a door frame but always qualifies as "overweight" because of her muscle mass). You don't know if this person just lost 50 lbs and this is as skinny as he's ever been in their whole life. You don't know if this person has medical problems. You don't know if this person has fought eating disorders and yo yo dieted all his life. You may have never have even had a challenge losing weight yourself - yet you are fast to decry someone else's lack of "personal responsibility". Some people can have two slices of cake and a mcdonalds every day and stay skinny, but no one is talking about their lack of "personal responsibility". Whereas some people run marathons (I know some of these people) and will always qualify as obese on a BMI index. Yes, there is an element of personal responsibility toward weight - there is also an element of genetics, environment, and a myriad of other things. You just resorted straight to fat jokes. Byron may have used some extreme language, but everyone who made a joke before him should be ashamed of themselves. Just call me the PC police. Just because you take someone flying doesn't give you the right to dig into his medical and personal life or to "punish" them for lack of personal responsibility. It is ok, as many people pointed out, to ask how much someone weighs and politely explain to him that you need it to do the weight and balance on the airplane. When I take a married couple flying, I usually asked them for their "combined" weight, which allows them saving a little embarrassment. Everyone understands when I say I can only take two people instead of three with full tanks and no one questions it. There is nothing wrong with any of this. What's wrong is saying "Geesh, 275 lbs, before you come in my airplane, I am going to have to put you on a diet". if the math doesn't work out, you might say "Look, I just can't take any more than 250 lbs (or whatever the number is), its just a limitation of my type of airplane. If you ever lose weight, I'd be happy to take you, just let me know. If you are really interested in flying, though, there are some other types of planes I can help you find..." The question here isn't whether fat people should be made fun of (and they shouldn't), its whether you can safely fly a Mooney with 275 lbs of cargo in the passenger seat. The secondary question is what are some coping issues for the small amount of volume in the Mooney cockpit (I, for instance, have short legs and because of where I have to sit in the pilots seat, I have to use a pvc pipe with a notch cut in it to reach the fuel selector, because I can't lean over to reach it without my head hitting the yoke). And I checked my plane's weight and balance, and the answer is yes, I can safely fly 275 lbs in the right seat - I might make some concessions, like leaving the left tank a little more full than the right or if I have a back seat passenger, balancing the weight a little by placing them in the left rear seat. However, I wouldn't want to be trapped in a small cockpit with someone who has that little respect for human dignity that they'd try to teach someone a lesson by refusing to fly them until they lose weight just because they feel like passing judgment, regardless of if that person is skinny or fat... By the way, you all should check out this photo project: http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/

Oh as for wing don't worry about it. Isn't there a picture from mooney factory of a dozen people standing on wing? It holds lift force of a 2000' airplane, it's ribs aren't going to bend under 300 lb man. Haven't you ever had two people climb onto wi g at same time.

I can't imagine if it's just two people you are going to have weight and balance issues with 300 lbs in your right seat, from a lateral cg perspective it's not different from having to skinny right seat pax in front and back. Check your forward cg but any problems there you can probably fix with either human or cargo ballast in back and still not over gross your plane. I wouldn't be shy asking him about his weight - just tell him you need it to do some preflight calculations, after that I don't think you need to discuss it again. As for getting in and out - yes it's hard, old skinny people have a hard time too. Bring a stool and be patient. If your attitude is "can't" that's what will happen, if your attitude is "can do" you willbe fine. People with wheel chairs go flying. People with broken arms and legs go flying. Share your love of flight it will work.

We are having a great time here - this is our first mapa convention and we didn't know what to expect and everything has been friendly and welcoming with lots of advice shared and good times. Don Maxwell's presentation on strange things he has seen in money's was amazing and hilarious - I hope no one here is one of his example pilots - but there was some pretty scary stuff people flew into him. This morning's Bill Wheat presentation was also a wonderful slice of history... Thoug he couldn't give me a good answer on how to get 201 mph in my next air race. Tthe official event didn't include a tour of the factory which ws disappointing to us. Trey (mapa president) said in his opening words that they purposely decided not to include a tour because all the shutdown darkened factory would depress us. Of course that decision depressed me a little . Jolie, I am going to have to ask you about where you saw elevators being made - we have been asking and they have mentioned new skins but we were under the impression they hadn't gotten the tooling up and running to make the corrugated shape of the elevators yet. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about the future of the factory but I don't anyone has any real idea of what the future holds, and that uncertainty worries me, but I am glad that they are starting to make more parts. Overall my impression has been positive but many of the folks here have mentioned the turnout isn't the same as yesteryear and there haven't been as many exhibitors as the past. Things that would've made the event better for me might have included a wider variety in presentations (maybe some with FAA wings credit) and less time at the hotel and more time at the airport with our planes (with this perfect hill country weather we could have totally had these seminars in a great big hanger like Eaa uses or something and maybe saved mapa some money too). Mitch and Jolie got me thinking during their presentation too we could've also had a mooney event for the local community while everyone is here, maybe giving some kids plane rides. Too late for this year, but still.. Its been a great event and this definitely a great pilot community - though I really hope in the future we will see growing involvement rather than what seems to be a decline. Hope all you folks who didn't make it put it on your calendars for next year. To me the main point is meeting all the other mooney folks and swapping stories, the location and seminars is just a bonus.

Its ok, I'm a yankee. Until I moved to Texas, I thought BBQ was another word for grilling outside. Byron and I will likely be going to David's Cowboy Steak House on Friday night, if anyone would like to join us, just email (or PM and I'll give you my mobile), we'll have a couple seats in our car. Also, would like to know if that discount is only on expensive bottles of wine or if we buy mulitple cheap bottles of wine totalling $100 can we still get the discount? Cause honestly, I am not that refined

Quote: jetdriven have a good flight!

Quote: smccray I think its worth dispelling some of the notions about the SARL races. This is not Reno So here's the way it works. They are a 5-ish leg, 150 nmi-ish cross country flight. Before the race, everyone gives their approximate speeds and they start the planes in speed order, fastest first, this minimizes to eliminates passing (no one passed in the first air race I did, there were a couple of passes in the second one). You take off anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes after the plane in front of you depending on how organized you are getting started. You fly the course - generally people fly at a fairly low altitude (e.g. 1000' or so AGL - I did most of this last race at around 1300' AGL), depending on the winds, so it is a bit bumpy, you turn around each point (a steep turn is definitely better but not required), finish (some people do descend into the finish to pick up speed, at this race, the finish was right down the runway) and then follow instructions to re-enter pattern and land. I suspect given some of the Bonanza times, not everyone even flies with wide open throttle but just at their normal cruise speeds. Any private pilot should be able to do this race without being intimidated - its VERY beginnier friendly (nearly half the racers at both races I went to were "first time"). That said, I'll keep you in mind if I need a navigator - it seems like its been a struggle to find someone these last couple races!

Quote: smccray That was me. Forum logged me in incorrectly.

More Bonanza times: 453 Grace Flight 2009 10/4/09 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 173.17 199.28 154 BCAF 150, 2008 5/4/08 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 172.98 199.06 261 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 172.86 198.92 844 Texoma 100, 2011 4/16/11 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 172.87 198.86 13 Taylor 100 2007 5/20/07 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 172.69 198.72 123 Rocket 100, 2007 11/18/07 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 172.21 198.18 880 Lone Star Air Rally 5/14/11 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 171.92 197.84 162 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 169.47 195.02 503 Taylor 150 4/11/10 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 168.64 194.06 84 West Texas 100, 2007 10/7/07 FAC2RG Bonanza P35 Berg, Mike 164.60 189.40 946 2011 West Tesas 100 6/18/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 193.49 222.67 517 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 189.71 218.16 751 Tennessee Valley Air Race 2010 10/30/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 189.42 218.02 784 Rocket 100, 2010 11/20/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 188.73 217.19 835 Texoma 100, 2011 4/16/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 187.75 215.98 256 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 186.87 215.04 903 Memorial 130, Terrell, TX 5/28/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 186.61 214.75 904 Memorial 130, Terrell, TX 5/28/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 186.55 214.68 874 Lone Star Air Rally 5/14/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 186.10 214.16 1027 Indy Air Race 8/13/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 185.67 213.67 333 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 185.25 213.19 969 Big Sky Air Race 7/9/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 185.01 212.91 234 AirCap 200 8/24/08 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 184.21 211.99 590 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 183.39 211.04 921 Big Muddy, Carbondale, IL 6/4/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 183.08 210.68 719 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 183.07 210.66 520 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 183.15 210.62 521 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Gallaway, Mike 182.13 209.45 246 AirCap 200 8/25/08 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 181.42 208.78 299 Rocket 100 2008 11/23/08 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 180.66 207.91 338 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 179.93 207.06 592 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 179.39 206.43 723 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 179.07 206.06 449 Grace Flight 2009 10/4/09 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 178.99 205.98 498 Taylor 150 4/11/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 178.37 205.26 593 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Gallaway, Mike 178.35 205.24 1062 Pagosa Springs 100 9/24/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 177.98 204.81 157 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 177.84 204.65 842 Texoma 100, 2011 4/16/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Gallaway, Mike 177.89 204.64 813 Taylor 150, 2011 4/2/11 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 177.58 204.36 540 West Texas 100 6/6/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 177.34 204.08 485 Rocket 100 2009 11/22/09 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 176.35 202.94 791 Rocket 100, 2010 11/20/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 175.68 202.17 142 Texoma 100, 2008 4/20/08 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Jurskis, Chester 174.43 200.77 452 Grace Flight 2009 10/4/09 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 173.59 199.76 501 Taylor 150 4/11/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 172.28 198.26 454 Grace Flight 2009 10/4/09 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Gallaway, Mike 172.08 198.03 552 West Texas 100 6/6/10 FAC1RG Bonanza S35 Bennett, Bobby 132.21 152.14 516 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 190.88 219.52 255 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 188.15 216.52 135 Texoma 100, 2008 4/20/08 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 186.49 214.65 838 Texoma 100, 2011 4/16/11 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 184.61 212.36 875 Lone Star Air Rally 5/14/11 FAC1RG-T Bonanza V35 Polan, Don 184.44 212.25 297 Rocket 100 2008 11/23/08 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 184.29 212.08 721 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 180.43 207.63 156 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 178.39 205.29 120 Rocket 100, 2007 11/18/07 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 175.89 202.41 698 Pagosa Springs 2010 9/26/10 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 175.29 201.59 595 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Mitchell, Bill 174.39 200.68 345 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC1RG Bonanza V35 Burgdorf, Dale 162.30 186.77 519 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza V35B Goss, Bob 184.80 212.51 335 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC1RG Bonanza V35B Goss, Bob 182.45 209.97 160 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC1RG Bonanza V35B Haile, Frank 172.32 198.30 14 Taylor 100 2007 5/20/07 FAC1RG Bonanza V35B Albury, John 170.60 196.32 163 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC2RG Bonanza V35B Albury, John 169.25 194.77 263 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC1RG Bonanza V35B Albury, John 165.60 190.57 83 West Texas 100, 2007 10/7/07 FAC1RG Bonanza V35B Drake, Mark 165.10 190.00

Here is the League Statistics page for SARL: http://www.sportairrace.org/id379.html I apparently am now the record holder for FAC3RG after the Cleveland Air Race (which a lot of our Mooneys fall into), mainly due to lack of competition , at 184.93 mph. Please come beat me! But the reason I created a separate forum is that I thought everyone here would be interested in the history of Mooneys in this race. Here are all the Mooney times flown since the League started - though they haven't been updated with this weekend's Cleveland Air Race (I had a corrected time for the Lone Star air rally, so I typed it in, they will have to update their spreadsheet - I appear in this as "Team Chaos"): 352 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC3RG-T Mooney Mitchell, Thomas 147.37 169.58 889 Lone Star Air Rally 5/14/11 FAC3RG Mooney 201 Team Chaos 184.23 435 Pagosa Springs 100 2009 9/27/09 FAC1RG Mooney 201 Missile Yarbrough, Bob 177.13 203.70 731 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC3RG-T Mooney 231 Pohly, Mark 150.38 173.04 849 Texoma 100, 2011 4/16/11 FAC3RG-T Mooney 231 Hines, Terry 144.65 166.40 865 BCAF 2011 4/30/11 FAC3RG-T Mooney 231 Hines, Terry 124.82 143.64 134 Texoma 100, 2008 4/20/08 FAC1RG-T Mooney Accclaim Rydzewski, Patrick 187.27 215.55 265 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 157.57 181.33 155 BCAF 150, 2008 5/4/08 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 154.20 177.45 145 Texoma 100, 2008 4/20/08 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 153.58 176.77 457 Grace Flight 2009 10/4/09 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 151.75 174.63 125 Rocket 100, 2007 11/18/07 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 149.60 172.15 732 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 149.29 171.79 168 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 146.21 168.26 288 Memphis 100 2008 10/19/08 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 142.44 163.92 26 Wichita 300 7/17/07 FAC4RG Mooney M20C Punzi, Henry 142.21 163.65 346 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC3RG Mooney M20J Mutlu, Ali 159.32 183.34 430 Pagosa Springs 100 2009 9/27/09 FAC2RG-T Mooney M20M Peck, Jack 192.95 221.90 693 Pagosa Springs 2010 9/26/10 FAC2RG-T Mooney M20M Peck, Jack 192.09 220.91 368 Tennessee Valley Air Race 2009 6/14/09 FAC4RG Mooney Statesman Hines, Terry 146.70 168.82 527 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC4RG Mooney Statesman Hines, Terry 146.44 168.41 507 Taylor 150 4/11/10 FAC4RG Mooney Statesman Hines, Terry 139.05 160.01 600 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC3RG Mooney Kuhnel, Walter 144.32 166.08 795 Rocket 100, 2010 11/20/10 FAC3RG Mooney Kuhnel, Walter 143.75 165.42 Here's the FAC3RG ratings 346 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC3RG Mooney M20J Mutlu, Ali 159.32 183.34 730 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC3RG Bonanza BE33 Smith, Glenn 157.57 181.32 938 Great Northwest Air Race II 6/18/11 FAC3RG Beech C33 Rowe, Daniel 155.36 178.78 981 Big Sky Air Race 7/9/11 FAC3RG Globe Swift H, Harley 148.37 170.74 325 West Texas 100 2009 4/12/09 FAC3RG Viking Akin, Kent 148.21 170.56 600 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC3RG Mooney Kuhnel, Walter 144.32 166.08 795 Rocket 100, 2010 11/20/10 FAC3RG Mooney Kuhnel, Walter 143.75 165.42 370 Tennessee Valley Air Race 2009 6/14/09 FAC3RG Beech Sierra Dawson, John 139.80 160.88 889 Lone Star Air Rally 5/14/11 FAC3RG Mooney 201 Team Chaos 184.23 604 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC3RG Cessna Cardinal 177RG Hoofard, Richard 131.33 151.14 And to throw a little fuel in the fire, here's the Bonanza times: 161 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC2RG Bonanza Shulman, Dave 171.73 197.62 548 West Texas 100 6/6/10 FAC1RG Bonanza Speck 163.56 188.22 542 West Texas 100 6/6/10 FAC1RG Bonanza 35 Johnson, Jeff 171.27 197.09 596 Sulphur Springs 130 7/18/10 FAC1RG Bonanza 35 Johnson, Jeff 170.98 196.76 518 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza A36 Slocum, Scott 185.49 213.32 483 Rocket 100 2009 11/22/09 FAC1RG Bonanza A36 Slocum, Scott 178.86 205.82 523 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC1RG Bonanza A36 Richmond, Curt 178.89 205.72 728 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC1RG Bonanza A36 Wade, Skip 171.00 196.77 341 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC1RG Bonanza A36/G David Lavine 169.93 195.55 1063 Pagosa Springs 100 9/24/11 FAC1RG-T Bonanza A36TC Lane, Jim 176.74 203.38 437 Pagosa Springs 100 2009 9/27/09 FAC1RG-T Bonanza A36TC Lane, Jim 174.98 201.22 752 Tennessee Valley Air Race 2010 10/30/10 FAC1RG Bonanza BE33 Staufer, Arlen 189.04 217.58 724 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC1RG Bonanza BE33 Staufer, Arlen 178.51 205.41 730 Grace Flight 2010 10/2/10 FAC3RG Bonanza BE33 Smith, Glenn 157.57 181.32 260 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC1RG Bonanza C33 Jones, Jack 174.93 201.30 266 Grace Flight 2008 10/5/08 FAC4RG Bonanza C35 Hurlbut, Howard 155.69 179.17 349 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC4RG Bonanza C35 Hurlbut, Howard 153.82 177.02 167 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC4RG Bonanza C35 Hurlbut, Howard 152.05 174.98 846 Texoma 100, 2011 4/16/11 FAC4RG Bonanza D35 Tips, Dan 163.66 188.27 819 Taylor 150, 2011 4/2/11 FAC4RG Bonanza D35 Tips, Dan 162.51 187.01 754 Tennessee Valley Air Race 2010 10/30/10 FAC1RG Bonanza F33A Guthrie, Marvin 184.26 212.09 236 AirCap 200 8/24/08 FAC1RG Bonanza F33A Guthrie, Marvin 181.59 208.97 364 Tennessee Valley Air Race 2009 6/14/09 FAC1RG Bonanza F33A Guthrie, Marvin 177.47 204.22 248 AirCap 200 8/25/08 FAC1RG Bonanza F33A Guthrie, Marvin 177.06 203.76 238 AirCap 200 8/24/08 FAC1RG-T Bonanza F33A Sanders, Jim 175.98 202.51 455 Grace Flight 2009 10/4/09 FAC2RG Bonanza K35 St. John, Sandy 169.10 194.60 164 Denton 100 2008 6/15/08 FAC2RG Bonanza K35 Larson, Nate 168.61 194.03 183 Colorado 150, 2008 6/29/08 FAC2RG Bonanza K35 Larson, Nate 165.81 190.81 141 Texoma 100, 2008 4/20/08 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 180.29 207.51 339 Texoma 100 2009 5/31/09 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 178.12 204.98 300 Rocket 100 2008 11/23/08 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 178.11 204.96 524 Texoma 100 4/25/10 FAC2RG Bonanza N35 Huff, Jim 176.39 202.85 817 Taylor 150, 2011

So, another successful race. Between the Bonanzas and Extra 300L, I didn't have a fighting chance for a production award (I think 3rd place was ~198 mph). However, I did win the Mooney class (FAC3RG) by default again and took home a nice little trophy. There was a Mooney 231 also racing (different class because he was turbocharged) but that was it for our planes. Let's see, as for preparing for the race. Well, first of all, this time I had my partner along, which was awesome and totally lowered both the stress level and work load in the airplane. I was the PIC, and was responsible for precise heading, turns, and altitude. We shared responsibility for looking out the window for our waypoints and other traffic. He made all the radio calls and briefed me with each turn a few miles out about the size of turn, new heading and what to look for. He flew us up to Cleveland, I flew the race, and then he flew us back. It was about as picture perfect as a Texas fall day gets here, dry, clear, though hot in the midafternoon, so weather was not an issue. There was very little discernable tailwind or headwind as well. Our groundspeed varied between 154-166 kts depending on the leg of the race. We did do some climbing and mostly descending strategically at points during the race. I think that my minimum altitude is a little more conservative than a lot of the experimentals in the air race, but I wasn't all that conservative. My set up was like last time, minimum fuel, some ballast in the aft cargo area. This time jetdriven wanted me to tape the plane like here: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/archive/index.php?t-64372.html We quickly discovered that the tape was prone to peeling off paint around chipped areas (our paint is about 10 years old and there's some chipping at most of the "seems", which, of course, is exactly where you want to tape). We did succeed in taping up some of the baggage door and the vents though without risking further damage to the paint. The last race I did, like this one, I was WOT and had to be full rich mixture to keep the CHTs below 380, leading to fuel burns of 18.5 gph+. However, we've made some adjustments to the baffling since then, and when I was full rich, the max CHT was 330, so I was able to lean just a little (didn't want to lose speed), and brought it back to about 17 gph with CHTs in the 340s. Still a big difference from our normal 8.5 gph cruise - all for the extra 10-15 kts required to really make it a race! End result: 184.93 mph. Just slightly faster than last time. There are two more races this season and we're thinking of going to the one in Tyler in November. We'll see. The whole thing was tons of fun, I highly recommend it, even if you don't want to run WOT, the commraderie is great, and the effort is really an exercise in navigation.

Cleveland Air Race Revival. I'm still the only Mooney registered http://clevelandairracerevival.blogspot.com/

Quote: jetdriven I was thinking Laika or Muttnik, but that got kabashed. Rudder sounds too much like "cylinder" "crankshaft" or some other machine part. Who is Michelle? Sounds too much like an ex-girlfriend name. I read somewhere you should not name and airport dog "Clear" !

Quote: skyking It is with a heavy heart that i have come to the realization I need a bigger plane. With all the grandkids now living within a ten minute drive we are spending a lot of time travelling with the kids now. I have 3 grandkids and as we all know Mooney does not build a 6 seater! (Wish they did) I am now facing the possibility that Miss Mooney may have to be sold to finance a purchase of a A36 or similar. Is it possible to strech a Mooney??? LOL Seriously though, if you had no choice and were looking for a 6 place aircraft what would you be looking at? If i can find something reasonable I will be keeping Miss Mooney. ( Just dont tell the wife!!!)

Quote: fantom

Quote: fantom This weekend not good.... http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=AMX&product=NCR

Quote: RJBrown I shall now rant. As if that's not what I always do. Someone metioned ethanol. ETHANOL SUBSIDIES suck Bad for cars, bad for environment, bad for economy but good for the ag lobby. There are no redeeming graces for ethanol in motor fuel, none what so ever. The way our government works we are stuck with a crappy motor fuel that we can't use in airplanes. Ruins our cars, makes our food cost more and has a net negative impact on the ecology. All because some lobby bought off someone in government.

Quote: alex Your favorite news source forgot to include GE which paid nothing in taxes. But really, If Obama doesn't mind it why should you?. After all isn't Jeff Immelt GE's CEO, and isn't he some kind of jobs guru, advisor or czar for the current capable administration? I go back to my past observation. You seem to give very loud lip service to the poor but it seems to me you are hoarding your wealth. Give up the races, the Mooney and the money and then you will have everyones attention. By the way I am only 38 and bought my first plane 10 years ago, without a government subsidy!