Shadrach

Makes one wonder if it was properly tied down.

Unlikely that a DER is going to approve a one off Mogas application in a Mooney given that Peterson Aviation has documented why both the M20 and PA-24 airframes failed to meet the STC requirements due to fuel delivery issues.

My apologies for my snark, Mike. It was not meant to be mean spirited. I fly with all types of operators with various experience levels. I have grown wary of any statement that starts with "I have 10,000 hours in...and I...", because often the information that follows such a statement is purely an appeal to authority (logical fallacy) with very little in the way of supporting technical information. It's the dialectic equivalent of saying "In case you didn't know, I am superior to you and therefore, so are my opinions." When I was a greenhorn more than 25 years ago, I was more receptive to the "I'm the Ace of the base" commentary, but over the years I have heard some pretty ignorant statements follow those kinds of proclamations, especially on the subject of leaning.

The 150hp decathlons came with both fixed and CS props. Not sure if it was an option or a model year change. The thing about leaning a fixed pitch, injected Lycoming is that leaning to near cut off represents a 300-500rpm drop (depending on where you start) before it gets rough. I had never had this experience before, as all previous fixed pitch time was in carbureted aircraft.

Years ago, I had a friend that bought a Rendezvous (the Buick version). I’m pretty sure they offered huge dealer incentives to move them. It was not mechanically robust. As I recall it required an expensive, mandatory transmission service or it reverted to two wheel drive. He sort of disliked that I alway referred to it by name, but it was too “unique” to call it anything else. It was a real head turner in burgundy and grey.

There is an air cam on our field. One day I hope to bum my way into a ride. It’s open cockpit and I’ve alway wondered if there is an initial discomfort with being so exposed. Like flying a twin engine canoe with a windshield. Would love to fly one but they look like a death trap.

How could you omit tail draggers? I love my Mooney, but a tandem seat, high wing, tail dragger is like the motorcycle of the sky. I have no desire to spend 3 hours in it but every second of 30-45 minutes of pattern work is a blast.

I’m not overthinking it all. What you describe is how I have operated every fix pitched carbureted engine I’ve ever flown. The question being posed is, why bother reducing the throttle on an injected engine if you can just lean to the desired rpm. One less step. Same HP, less fuel.

Color me appropriately impressed… Isn’t he a dreamboat guys! Perhaps you should RTFP. I’m not talking about upside down ops, nor am I talking about pattern ops. I’m talking about low and slow with your elbow hanging out the window taking in the sights and smells of the countryside. Forget it’s a Decathlon and imagine that it’s a Champ, but with a much stronger(relatively speaking) injected engine. This engine does not get rough, RPMs just smoothly drop until the fire goes out around 1900 RPM. The point of the post was that since I don’t fly around with everything firewalled, wouldn’t it be cleaner and cooler to just lean to 2300 RPM rather than pull the throttle back to 2300 RPM at full rich.

There wouldn’t be unless you were running a CS prop.

With a carbed engine, probably so at least on some of the cylinders. My point was that this particular set up allows me to smoothly lean to any RPM between 2000 and 2600 with the throttle wide open.

Right. But that is for a given throttle setting. We usually set throttle at 2300, full rich at 1800msl. My point was I can just lean to 2300rpm at full throttle with very smooth operation.

why wouldn’t you? I’ve done several 1hr + XCs. There is no means by which to accurately lean it ROP and it’s an injected Lycoming so LOP is the only mixture setting for which the pilot receives feedback. There is no “lean to rough and enrichen” with this engine. There is only lean to rpm reduction.

I have had unlimited access to a Decathlon for the last week and have enjoyed taking in the countryside low and slow. It is powered by an AEIO320 with a fixed pitch prop. The owner normally operates the plane full rich because he is either in the pattern or below 2000'. I have no recollection of previously flying an injected engine with a fixed pitch prop. It has minimal engine instrumentation with no EGT nor CHT gauge. It's his engine so I pretty much fly it as he does. However, last week I found myself bumping along at a DA well over 5K and I decided to lean to rough and enrichen to smooth. I was surprised to how smooth this engine remained. Despite not having the tuned induction, when leaning, power and RPM just steadily drop off until the fire goes out completely. There is no point of roughness. There is little to no hint of cycle to cycle variations in power pulses. It is noticeably smoother than my IO360. Max RPM with the current prop is about 2600RPM and it will easily operate smoothly between 2000 and 2600 at WOT just by manipulating the mixture. I theorize that this situation is mainly due to the fixed pitch prop allowing piston speed (RPM) and combustion event speed to sort of harmonize through out the RPM range as power (fuel) is reduced. If the mixture control were not so crude, it would be hard to tell the difference between mixture and throttle inputs between 2000 and 2600rpm. Has anyone else encountered this?

I am pretty sure that all M20s are the same for the left seater. Leg length is more the issue than height. With peddle extensions, the cockpit an work for a wide spectrum of leg lengths. The airframe is not ideally suited for tall folks whose height is in their torso, but that to can be mitigated to a degree with the articulating seats.

I'm not particularly tall at 5'10", I have an inseam of 32" and I am perfectly comfortable with the seat on the first notch back from full forward. The airframe suits long legged people just fine. My dad is 5'4" and has a 29" inseam and he can fly comfortably from the most forward seat notch without extensions, but I think he would do better with them.

Agree that it is most often human failure. However, it does seem that there have been a number of threads centering on electric gear issues lately.

How many were mechanical failures?

I’ve toured the facility at ECP and have seen the process first hand. Even in today’s economy, 4K is ridiculous.

Who’s quoting you 4K? That is ridiculous. I think I paid <$2,000 in 2019.

Yes, East Cosst Propellor has some inconsistent policies. They refused to do a reseal on a prop for me because it was nearing calendar TBO, insisting on an overhaul. I have used a mobile NDT service out of Martinsburg, WV in the past. I will look up their info when I am at the drome later today. Are you located in PA?

I opened the clamp pretty wide to fish it through. It was not easy by any means but was easier after aggressively opening the clamp.

I’m not suggesting that I’m a better mechanic than you. I am suggesting that having recently refreshed the interior, likely made it easier. Pilot side was a pain in the ass but it was not an all day affair. I will also add that I did the job in freezing weather, which was a bad idea and is the reason there is a 2” stop drilled crack at the front of the left passenger side window.

I think it’s gone a bit beyond pointing out the irony. I’m not judging anyone for their comments; I’m just suggesting that they come off as extreme to the casual observer.

Almost all of the Gryder content that I’ve seen has been through collaboration with other YouTubers. The first was with Flight Chops and the second was actually with Juan Brown. I now understand why he’s so disliked in the community but as someone who’s not personally invested, it’s jarring to see people wishing bodily harm and/or death on someone over their words, no matter how reprehensible they might be.