Bolter

I went down an internet rabbit hole, and was reading about the Medicine Bow mail airport from the 1930's. There was a history written by a woman who's father was the caretaker for many years, and lived at the airport. This story of a an early passenger/mail combo flight that was forced down due to extreme winter weather caught my attention (my underline): The temperatures were below zero, and the pilot was afraid that the oil would become too thick if left in the plane on the field overnight, and that the plane could not be started once the weather cleared and the "ship" was permitted to continue the flight. The oil was drained from the motor into one of Mother's galvanized wash tubs, which was placed on her kitchen stove for the night to keep warm.. The following morning, the weather cleared and the pilot was permitted to take off. The oil was poured back into the engine, the passengers were picked up from the hotel, and the plane continued its trip. Makes me appreciate my multi-weight oil and Reiff heaters much more! https://www.airmailaviator.com/blog/preserving-our-heritage-an-update-on-the-airport-weather-house#comments https://www.atchistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MedicineBowHistory_all.pdf https://bigfoot99.com/bigfoot99-news/colorado-pilot-raising-money-for-a-carbon-county-airport/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=colorado-pilot-raising-money-for-a-carbon-county-airport

Enjoy the adventure. I have great memories of planning (and often modifying) and completing long cross country trips to new places. Like so many things, others will have done more, and some others done less, so just value what it meant for you.

I like the Bolt. It is well priced, great range for the price point, and honestly practical car. They are a bargain on the Hertz used car site, right now. Whereas the Tesla's and most other EV's are competing in a space where they emphasize the acceleration potential and luxury or high-tech features, the Bolt is what EV's should be for the average person. If I had the parking space at home, I was going to get a Bolt for a daily driver over my 3/4 ton diesel. It would pay for itself in a few years.

I suddenly feel so decadent with a 2007 Chevy pickup!

How far do you plan to go, and starting from where? There are several shops, often near the coast, that support ferry tank installation. This global flight started with a Turtle-Pac installed by Air Mods in NJ: https://www.pieternel.net/rtw/the-round-the-world-aircraft-n5810t/ - makes the reference on this page Some others get tanks installed in KSMX Santa Maria, CA before launching over the Pacific. Not sure the vendor there. Skyview Aviation at Tracy Municipal Airport installs ferry tanks, and may give advice, too.

Regardless of the words used, I see this as double billing when your plane is in the hangar of the private business that is already paying for that work space.

There are cable lube tools. I used one like this on my motorcycle cables. It can fit over the cable without disconnecting the end. Not sure there is enough room in your photo, but maybe. When it makes a good seal, it will shoot stuff out the other end with great vigor. Have a rag in place to catch it all. https://www.amazon.com/HAOWUJIN-Motorcycle-Bicycle-Scooter-Off-white/dp/B0CX93HGKR/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1NGTXVXDPU0IY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-qEdP13eKy3IwIKrtRdmzv_8AkayO4l_w9kVXMVBVHBu--dwE2yuLiNpM3phN6cItfQhiYuUHM_bbrL3WmMPc847MbE7IB1nTIEpUA0rCh9SEauqoHcR7ujQPZkJPrO62KJaq4UHNBnKPlubeJlhedICfif5j235QdPDMOwJmTvdfSwzBpo-NFVS398PD7I4lLjsT7iiGA8hR5qm3VOYY0_1Xnelnn4uCt38SsexquWgozhGh5Q0lhSoS6cMr2a-jMYgz6ZbLOI4-pVkaUD52CEmOsRM_NfI0fAOcmaCr0w.8ohdR_cooty35MuX0HTSAAFSMrxTX-6C7nUn5GQb3mQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=motorcycle+cable+lube+tool&qid=1736967885&sprefix=cable+lube%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

They do make a non-floatplane version that they promoted on MS when it came out. It was similar, but different. Soemthing about Lidar not working on water, or the other way around.

These are the instructions for removal: ram air removal M20-93.pdf And a video of my former J, before and after opening the ram air (barely moves the needle): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0tnwmhsjppo96pf5hfg80/M20J-Ram-Air-Demo.3gp?rlkey=prlkdyd9g2f3d80fshqklsqzu&dl=0

I thought we were not supposed to clean and re-gap fine wire plugs. The wire is fragile and prone to breakage, plus they tend not to wear within their lifetime. Not sure how well they handle traditional blasting like the massives do. The shop may have messed up your plugs. You did not mention removing and inspecting them. Mag checks at runup may not detect all possible plug issues. -dan

Among other things, get a good CO detector before a major cross country flight with a new-to-you plane that just had major exhaust work. It is worth having in the long term, so might as well get it now.

Tri-Flow is recommended for some of the Mooney lube points, so something worth having on hand. It also includes Teflon, and probably works well for the Bendix gear. Again, that is a patch, and eventually you will get tired of climbing out and lubing the starter, and one day it may not work anymore.

Good to know.

During a longer flight, in and out of cold clouds for the last 1.5 to 2 hours, I had run the TKS a fair amount. Proactively, or it worked as a protective coating, as I never picked up ice. Regardless, it was run for more fluid than any previous flight. When parking the plane, I noticed smoke coming from the cowling. Not a burning oil or fuel smell, and no particular color, like it was steam. Today I opened up the cowlings and found no visible problems, burn marks, smoke stains, etc. Could not recreate the smoke with ground running, either. One possiblity is that it was TKS fluid blowing back into the engine and accumulated enough that it was boiling off when I parked. Are more experienced TKS users seeing that after longer flights? @CAV Ice might also have some practical comments on this, so adding him here.

I have this experience with more than one Lycoming. Shooting lube into the bendix gear works, but is quickly a patch and not a repair. Generally, I think that confirm the problem is the Bendix gear and not truly the starter itself. You can choose to remove the starter and rebuild the Bendix gear portion. If your labor is low cost (owner assist options) this is a viable option. If you are paying full cost for labor, then it is probably penny wise and pound foolish to just rebuild the Bendix Gear. Example of the repair: