FloridaMan

Glad I didn't sell it with the engine like that.

So what happened to the airframe? I mean, was it scrapped or returned to service?

6% in Florida if you have it in the state for more than a few days in the first six months. I was happy to pay it. It amounted to a tiny fraction of the income tax I would be paying in some other state.

When winds are high, I try to stay on the windward side of the hills by a fair margin. You pick up a little speed and I imagine the air does water does when it goes over a boulder, so I figure the swirlyness isn't as pronounced on the windward side. I've experienced turbulence in the appalachians that I regarded as kindof fun, where I'd get pushed around at maybe 2-3G, but it was smooth and I could maintain control of the airplane. The worst turbulence I've ever experienced, which was not fun, was on my way to Las Vegas. I'd been pushing a 50kt headwind at 11,000ft just west of ABQ early in the afternoon in October. The ride was pretty smooth and the skies were clear. Suddenly and without warning, it was like a little kid grabbed my airplane and did what kids do when they play with toy airplanes. I was along for the ride. I remember thinking I was done with flying and that I wanted to land immediately and just walk away. I've gotten caught in a buildup at night in Florida where I thought I was penetrating a haze layer at 1500ft. I came out of the side at 9500ft, after what I considered fighting for my life to keep wings level and airspeed at 120, and to put as much distance between myself and the ground as possible. That buildup required full control deflection and I barely remember most of the experience because of the workload. However, it did not compare to what I experienced on a clear day in New Mexico.

To anybody who has seen my comments, please keep in mind that I absolutely LOVE my LoPresti cowling and Mike's is beautiful, but there were a handful of issues that I wish I had been attentive to that cost me more in the long run.

Keep an eye on where the arrow is pointing. I didn't catch it on mine until it was too late. Also note the screws and nuts on the ram air box. I suspect that one of those worked its way into my intake and caused my engine failure on takeoff.

When your spinner bulkhead cracks, buy the new one from LASAR. Also, watch for fretting from underneath the intake.

All well and good until you factor in a prop reseal, a bad jug, new alternator, radio, HSI overhaul, et cetera. Your dry hourly rate takes a while to stabilize, just like the cost of owning a house seems low until the AC needs to be replaced.

Yes, new Lycoming cylinders, new lifters and new camshaft. Supposedly it eliminates the spalling issue. The engines are also known to be a little smoother, but I've also heard that they feel like they make slightly less power with the new camshaft profile.

Aero of Winchester is 23,500+800 for shipping and a 2-3 week lead time. Factory is just a hair under $29,000 and around $800 for shipping with an estimated lead time of 5-6 weeks, but they're doing their annual factory closing at the beginning of July. If the factory was a true overhaul exchange to where they could send me an engine and I could have it in a few days, I would have gone that route, but from what I'm seeing, the 6 week lead time might be closer to three months.

I have parsed and subscribe to the raw aviation databases and have all of the airport information already available. I could easily throw something like this together in an afternoon for reporting this, or I can provide an API or data dump to anyone else who might wish to do so.

I work with a flight department that operates a number of aircraft including a G550 and a G650. FBO line training 101 should include that the guy who shows up in the old airplane may make the decision on where to take on 40,000lbs of fuel in the jet. In nearly 1000 hours of flying my Mooney, I have pulled the asshole card only once and that was at Landmark at KRDU. They were incredibly rude to myself and my passenger and damaged my nose truss slightly on top of that. I called our flight department and they instructed me to inform them that we also operate G550 (the 650 hadn't been delivered yet), the tail and serial number, and that we will no longer be using their services, which I did. I have noticed that the professionalism of the FBOs varies. I was astonished at how incredible the folks were at Signature at KMIA when I flew into there; I had prepared myself to keep cool. While there were some fees, as you would expect, they treated me as well in my 50 year old Mooney as I have been treated on any cabin class business jet arrival. The psychological aspects of fees are weird too. I try to keep some $10 bills around so I can tip the line guy on arrival. I figure the extra few bucks influences them to care a bit more for your bird, but the charging of a fee by the FBO, even though it's usually about the same, is an annoyance in principle.

So it looks like I'm going with the folks of Aero Engines of Winchester. I lose my factory overhauled core by doing so it'll have to get exchanged for a reman next time, but I've heard such good things about the Winchester guys and even six weeks of lead time for the factory is a bit excessive. Whichever one of you decides to buy my airplane when I go to sell it will just have to live with a low time overhaul and you won't get roller lifters. Had I decided to just go ahead and do it last year, I would've been within the 20 year window and would've saved a couple thousand on a factory overhaul on top of it.

I was at PBI some time before the elections and the conversation of Trump came up while I was down there. There was a story about him getting incredibly pissed off at the FBOs for charging the ramp fee for his 757 and not wanting to offer a fuel discount on their significantly overpriced fuel. I would not be surprised in the least if the FBOs aren't on his backlog to enter his crosshairs.

The owner of a public use airport may elect to provide any or all of the aeronautical services needed by the public at the airport. The airport sponsor may exercise, but not grant, an exclusive right to provide aeronautical services to the public. If the airport sponsor opts to provide an aeronautical service exclusively, it must use its own employees and resources. Thus, an airport owner or sponsor cannot exercise a proprietary exclusive right through a management contract. https://www.faa.gov/airports/resources/publications/orders/compliance_5190_6/media/5190_6b_chap8.pdf

This is who I am looking towards now after some of the feedback I've gotten from other owners regarding factory overhauls. Still waiting for the quote, but it seemed to be better than most of the shops and the people I know who use them are savvy owners and have had many, many engines overhauled by them.

It's supposed to be an overhaul exchange, so I'd end up with somebody else's overhauled core.

You never know. I might still just go with a top or a good mid-time used engine if the right Rocket came along. ...or sell her needing an engine and let the next buyer decide if my next airplane shows up on the market.

As a matter of fact, it is that time of summer where they shut down. This time though it's only one week at the beginning of July. Who'd you buy yours through?

I'm being quoted 5-6 weeks lead time for a factory Lycoming overhauled engine. For those of you who have gone this route, how honest are these times? How have your experiences been with the factory?

Excellent MSPaint.