Shadrach

I have muddled through XCs at <100kts. Once when headed from Central MD to Troy, MI I saw speeds dip below 90GS. That 300nm trip took around 3.5 with weather deviations and wind. As @SantosDumont mentioned, it would be much worse in a C172 struggling to maintain 50kts. On the up side, I have seen nearly 100kts on the tail on a few occasions.

Indeed it is! I have mentioned the anecdote before but it bares repeating. I keep my control cables very well lubricated. After an approach to a short strip on a windy day (lots of throttle jockeying due to weird ind patterns), I neglected to tighten the friction on my throttle vernier after landing. The plane performed beautifully right up until I grabbed the Johnson bar to raise the gear and retrim for climb. I noticed as the gear came up my climb rate fell of drastically. Hand back on throttle only to discover it had backed out half way in just a few seconds. Hand on throttle in climb. Friction lock is now part of my pre-departure check list.

It should go without saying that this is the best course of action in almost all circumstances and almost any airplane. I mean if you're practicing go arounds in a C150...in August...then yes by all means firewall it. In my experience, most Mooney pilots carry enough energy on final to get them more than a third of the way down the runway before the thing will stop flying, it does not take a lot of added energy to transition from an approach to a go around and then to a departure.

I think a walk around flow is ideal and should begin and end in the cockpit. Start by putting key on glare shield and turning master and all of the accessories on. Move to the nose and treat every item is part of a station. The Nose (oil level, prop, spinner, cowl, baffle seal, LL, Ram Air, oil cooler), The Left wing (wing root, Fuel sump, stall horn, pitot, leading edge, NAV light, Aileron, flap operation). The Tail etc...The Right wing etc ...back to cockpit accessories off, master off, verify controls free and correct, leave key on glare shield. I think it's fine to go through a check list at the completion of each station or at the end of the walk around. I personally don't like checking boxes when I am supposed to be examining something. One of the things that makes me most uncomfortable with the unfamiliar is using instructions on the go. Whether it is a new to me airplane or new recipe in the kitchen, combining the doing with the reading is not my favored approach.

Aw-shucks guys!

Was this repair logged and do you have a pic? It seems to me there is a better solution than fuel hose.

What do deeper LOP ops have to do with fuel savings? Either the engine will run smoothly in the best BSFC range or it won’t. Most well maintained, stock 4 cyl Lycomingd will run well lean of any practical mixture setting. Perhaps there’s good reason to run a low compression turbo engine at high MP and 80 to 100 LOP. There is no reason to do that with any N/A aircraft engine. The Ram data I read used a setting of 100ROP. The test was done on multiple flights. There 2.4% savings could be caused by any number of variables. It would convincing if done on a dyno under controlled and repeatable circumstances. Or perhaps flight testing a twin with massives on one engine and FWs on the other. Show me a 2.4% reduction on one engine with the ball centered and your feet flat on the floor and I’ll be less skeptical.

My stock F will do 150kts or better at <2500ft DAs on the lean side of peak. I have seen better than 150kts into a light headwind under certain conditions. Low alt LOP is a useful tool when westbound and the winds at altitude are strong. Do keep in mind a 200hp IO360 can easily and safely be operated at ~80%hp or more at low altitude in the winter months. Especially with ram air. I get 1-1.25” down low. Under those conditions, opening the ram air will yield a 30-50° EGT drop when on the lean side peak. I’m happy to take any skeptics for a ride.

That’s odd. Lightly loaded I’m typically still ~ 500fpm at 10K sometimes better save for the doggiest days of summer. I’ve always thought the biggest performance advantage of the 200hp Mooney is its climb/high altitude performance. Nothing else in its class really compares.

Many thanks for the kind words Skip. This server is loaded with LOP comments from yours truly on how I operate my own engine but I’ll try and give a concise summary. I set mixture based on my power needs/wants. I do not have “cookbook numbers”. I think it’s better to understand that all other things being equal, CHT is a proxy for internal cylinder pressure (ICP) as well as detonation margin. The number doesn’t tell you much unless you know what’s behind it. The <380° CHT that so many quote as their target is fine in July with an OAT of 60-90°F. I would find it concerning in February when the OAT is 10°-sub zero. Better to take into consideration what is driving the temp and what it means regarding ICP. No matter the regime I am always thinking about what the ideal CHT would be during that operation. My numbers for summer time are typically 335 to 375°. In the winter I’m leaning to keep CHT’s above 300° but below 345°. I use these ranges because I think they are conservative and give plenty of margin. I am not suggesting they are ideal for everyone. I use peak EGT (richest cylinder) a lot in cruise when at altitude. It’s a great mixture setting that many don’t consider. It provides an excellent mix of economy and power combined with good detonation margins and clean combustion. In the case of my engine it’s a cooler setting than 100° ROP. It burns less gas and the speed loss is barely noticeable. I run ROP if I must fly into strong winds at cruise altitude or for those rare occasions when I’m operating above 12,500. If I'm operating at a DA below 3000, I’m either full rich or far enough LOP to keep CHTs at a comfortable place with consideration to the OAT. I live in Maryland and in the dead of winter my 701’ field often has DAs as low as -3000 feet. That puts a lot of gas through the engine at full rich. LOP at low DA is a better option in almost every way. Cooler, cleaner, more efficient and little speed loss. I use the target EGT method to lean in climb (use mixture to maintain leanest take off EGT until curse altitude is attained). For cruise I set mixture to yield a CHT that I deem appropriate to OAT.. My engine very much likes high power LOP at low altitude. 25LOP is typically plenty lean to keep CHTs comfortable at most MP settings. On the coldest, high pressure days I start at 40 LOP and fine tune to keep CHTs where I want them. If there are headwinds up high I am happy to fly between 2000-3000’ with the throttle wide open and ram air open at 2500rpm LOP. That’s my quick but not so organized summary of the way I run the NA Lyc IO360. Posted from iPhone so bare with me.

I get things like this at my home drome. “cleared to land #3 behind caravan on 5 mile final” ”no contact, 39Q” ”39Q extend your downwind I will call your base” So if tower is now calling my downwind to base turn are they not taking responsibility for separation?

Everything fails given enough time and nothing is perfect. I’ll still take Bendix over Slick on reliability, longevity and serviceability. The biggest problems with Bendix is that 1) people tend to neglect them because they will run reliably well past 500 hours and 2) it’s hard to find a local mechanic under 60 years old that will service them.

If I bought a plane with Slicks I would replace them with Bendix at 500hrs.

This is interesting to me. My mags have been overhauled at least 4 times in 3200hrs and 52 years in service. As far as I know they still have the original distributor gears.