aviatoreb

Quote: Wistarmo To answer your question, for aviation statistics for general aviation go to the Nall report with AOPA: http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/09nall.pdf. The fatality rate is 12 per million passenger miles for general aviation and 5 for commercial aviation. For driving, try http://trafficsafety.org/. The fatality rate is 1.2 per million passenger miles for driving and 42 for motorcycles. Like DaV8or, I had always heard general aviation and motorcycles were equivalent, but motorcycles are about 3X worse than general aviation. For airlines, go to http://www.airlines.org. The fatality rate is 0.01 per 100 million passenger miles for airlines.

Quote: flight2000 Brian

Quote: Mazerbase Oh, definitely, the QT headset is the best. I bought one for my wife and promptly stole it. Had to get another for her to use. Now I'm planning on getting a 3rd set. I can wear any hat I want and they are much more comfortable for me than the other headsets I've used. If I had hair, I would also like the fact that it doesn't mess up your hair. The owner flies an M20B.

Quote: allsmiles Due to its size and design the iPad is too cumbersome in the cockpit. There are a lot of concerns and rightly so, on how and where to mount it. Where do you put this thing? It takes up a lot of space! In addition complicating positioning you have angle it a certain way to minimize glare. Functionally, the iPad is only an average navigator. Think about it. Should we really be playing with an iPad while flying ?! No software that I've seen, no Wing X, no Foreflight or anyone else, have any worthwhile navigational detail anyway. Synthetic vision or not! I hope I'm wrong and God forbid this never happens but someone somewhere is going to get bitten by this synthetic vision stuff on an iPad! And its GPS is marginally dependable. As for weather it can't compete with near real time as XM, even on a handheld. The only real justification I can see for lugging an iPad around in the cockpit is as an inexpensive pdf plate reader and not as a GPS. But of course my iPhone with Goodreader and pdf plates is my free backup plate reader. For a handheld GPS an Aera is an excellent choice. Of course I have plates on my 750 so i don't really use my iPhone either. But they are there.

Quote: Mazerbase I changed the bulb before I had a failure. I did so for two reasons. First, I wanted to try it out with the incadecent bulb as backup. Second, I now leave my LED landing light on all the time for increased visibility. I think of it as cheap insurance.

Quote: scottfromiowa Check the MOA website. In the "back issues" there is an extensive article on gear warning. This is the radar "ground proximity" type that gives a voice through the headset...

Yeah - seems like a good idea to go LED from the standpoint of lowering the load on your poor alternator not to mention cooler and longer lasting. I will definitely go LED as soon as my first bulb blows. They are working for now.

Quote: Hank PAR46 LED lights are now approved!! Mooneys are listed on page 7 of 12 pages worth of approved aircraft: M22; M20, M20A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, K, M, R, S & TN. NOTE #1: Installation is limited to previously approved landing/taxi light lamp size and location. Here's their link: http://www.whelen.com/pb/Aviation/STC/Parmetheus%20STC%20SA02212AK.pdf

Quote: Mazerbase Erik? What kind of name is Erik? Mad biker or Killer prof sound so much better! Name withheld to protect me.

Quote: scottfromiowa O.K, Am I missing something? On the Idaho thread Dave made the Dr. reference...and gets called a derogatory word for using the reference? Then we are talking about people on internet being civil? The Beech V-tail had an alarming rate of mid-air break-ups prior to strenghening. Aviation Consumer high-lighted and Beech denied. The Beech was and is a beautiful Expensive aircraft that was considered "the best" and many Dr.s bought them. A Mooney is also a beautiful "best" aircraft that has recently been crashing in numbers/frequency that is alarming...I believe that Dave's reference didn't warrant the reply in this link. I don't know how someone can call someone something used to clean a vagina and NOT be HIT by the moderator. NOT GOOD! That's just me...

Quote: sleepingsquirrel

Quote: DaV8or I find that public comment on news sites, youtube and other high traffic sites brings out the worst of humanity and are rarely of any value or worth reading. There are some really terrible people with computers out there.

Quote: RJBrown The part I had the problem with was easily adjustable on the ground without pulling the cowl. I carried a small pair of pliers to bend this part back to the proper shape. But in a pinch it can be done without tools. The cowl is 2 position only. "Closed" is not fully closed it is what Rocket calls "in trail". Open is fully open and there is no in between. As you pull it open the mechanism goes slightly over center. The cowl opens fully and then closes just a fraction. This is why it gets hard to push against high airspeed. As you close it you push it open against the airflow slightly before closing. The amount of "overcenter" is important none and it wont stay open. Too much and it is hard to close. Way too much and it can't close. In operation I would push the cowl knob just before leveling off when the airspeed is lowest. Once closed and up to speed it is impossible to reopen. The in-trail position is fine for short or slow climbs. At 200+ knots you can trade airspeed for altitude and "zoom" climb in 1000'+ steps quickly and easily. Closing below 100 knots makes it easier to push and puts less pressure on the part that bends. Kind of a cheep solution by Rocket. I considered machining a replacement out of aluminum block but never did. I was always worried that the part that keeps bending would eventually fatigue and break.

Quote: RJBrown

Quote: allsmiles 1. $60-$70K is way underpriced precisely because it doesn't exist new, and 2. you are lucky to have a $350K airplane for only 60-70K! Combining these two views you win! Keep the airplane in top shape and enjoy it !!

Quote: Parker_Woodruff True... The sad part is an M20F is one of the least expensive "complex" airplanes to keep running...I'd take one over a Piper Arrow from the same model year any day...

Some scattered thoughts: The only fatal accident in this area for as long as memory can serve was someone near and dear to many of us, actually. The senior aviator really as he was a 14,000hr pilot, CFI to many of us, and the DPE who signed off on my private and my IFR ticket. He was also just a great great guy. He had every possible rating including unusual airplanes such as the DC3. Anyway, he died in the mountains in what seems to be a "common" VFR into IMC event in a Cherokee 140 seemingly trying to get home from a long drawn flight exam to his hockey league. The strange thing is he always told us to go around the mountains as it only takes maybe 5 min out of your day to do so. My point here is that yes, flying is a serious business and it can happen to anyone. I had an interesting discussion with a fellow faculty member at my University where I teach. I fly and he does ice climbing. I think he is crazy and he thinks I am crazy. I also bicycle race btw. Really, I bet statistically we are both way better off than many many of our peers who live unhealthy lifestyles of smoking, drinking and over eating and sitting on the couch a lot. And we enjoy our lives with gusto. I approach my flying with a great deal of seriousness and I enjoy the process tremendously. It engages me completely. As to the bingo warning - the difference between the dangers of dying while playing bingo and dying while flying, or ice climbing, or bike racing - a death while playing bingo is just a matter mostly of a person will die eventually and it happened to come while playing bingo. Whereas when doing an activity, the activity can bring to pass a premature passing if not careful. I am a firm believer that the media are whores for covering certain kind of stories, such as plane crashes, in a manner that is entirely unrelated to where it fits in the broader mosaic of news. Otherwise we would see the news filled with daily car carnage.

Quote: HopePilot A Rolls Royce takes 450 hours to build by hand. How many hours did a Mooney 201 (or other model) take?

Quote: Mitch How many times have I said this to myself for the past 25 years? Well, I can look in my log book and find out exactly I suppose. I can't think of one time I've ever thought................oh well, I guess I'll go for a flight today. Point is, I get excited each time a flight is near for me in the Mooney. So, off I go today for another great flying experience! Aren't we all fortunate to be able to do this? You bet we are!! Have a great day everyone.

Quote: donshapansky The turbo has 2 turbine wheels, one is driven by exhaust the other is the compressor for engine intake air supply. The exhaust driven wheel is the the area of the housing that the TIT (turbine inlet temp) measurement is tanken, if this turbine wheel expands too much it can hit the inside of the turbo housing. The first step you need to complete is to download the chart at the GAMI website and follow the instructions on a long flight where you can complete the form in .2 gph increments to see what the GAMI spread looks like on your Rocket. This data is faxed to GAMI and they will determine how many if any injectors need to be modified.

Quote: donshapansky The TAS is of course related to altitude, last week at 10,500 with 15.2 gph 32.5 " MP @2450 rpm the EDM 930 showed 70% power with 194 KTAS the TIT was 1565 F or 95 F below recommended max. GAMI says that the temp is not the concern but the exhaust side of the turbine can expand and strike the turbo housing, this is from the engineers at the turbo end of the business.

Quote: donshapansky My Rocket has 100% power to FL240, otherwise known as critical altitude. Still climbs at 1000'/min at FL250. I have 800 hrs now in the left seat in 36 months, been everywhere in summer and winter, what a great combo of power plant and airframe. Finally got it fly LOP 15.5 gph and 70% power, all cylinders below 370F even in Texas on a summer day. The deal with LOP difficulty was excessive blowby even though the leak downs were all in the 70's/80, the TIT would blow through 1650 - 1700 during the leaning process. We found 2 stuck rings on 2 cylinders, after overhaul max TIT is 1625 F during the leaning process with 1550 F being the norm with all cylinders at least 50 F LOP. Range is incredible, recently non stop Granbury, TX to St Cloud, MN (828NM) 4:35 hrs with 30 gals remaining. Return 2 days later from Fond du Lac, WI nonstop to Granbury, TX in 4:45 hrs with 18 gals remaining due to greater climb time and more climbing due to weather enroute. But it looks like the mission is changing with greater payload needs and deice more needed going into IN in the winter and fall so I'm probably going to the 'dark side' as Don Maxwell puts with an Aerostar 700. So the Rocket will be for sale in a couple of weeks or less.

Quote: Barry Is there an STC to put dual batteries in "lesser" Mooney's ?? I had a failure in IMC on my trip to Boulder, Co the other week. A 2nd battery would be worth the weight in any aircraft. If so, who would hold the STC ??

Quote: Piloto BTW the dual battery configuration found on the Rocket and the long body Mooney is not that much for backup but for ballast. The addition of the heavier Continental 520 and Lyc 540 required the added ballast to keep the CG within range. Instead of adding dead weight Mooney and Rocket decided on some useful ballast. José

Quote: Mazerbase You aren't filthy rich? I have to get a new crowd to run in!