FloridaMan

I had scheduled a prepurchase on a plane that got "sold" out from under me. The MSC I had scheduled the prebuy with knew the owner of my plane was planning on selling and had not advertised it. I bought it. The original plane ended up not getting sold because the quick purchaser could not get financing.

http://laist.com/2013/03/25/guy_who_aimed_laser_pointer_at_poli.php

Nice panel!

nevermind. I won't assist in further derailment.

Has anyone mentioned the $500M we're sending Palestine or the F16s we're giving to Egypt?

Were you parked near a bunch of other Mooneys? I think your plane may have been a couple rows up from me and you left before me. Yesterday's arrival was easy. I've come in on a Friday before and it's nuts. They had me in a long line of planes circling the lake a couple years ago and we were landing two at a time on the taxiway.

I managed to get in without getting charged for parking or admission. I don't know how it happened. I spent a good 15-20 minutes with my plane tying it down and cleaning the bugs off. Then I walk through a gate that had a tram going through it and I thought ticket sales were on the other side of the gate. After a little more walking I realized that I was completely inside the show.

In regards to the left of centerline issue, I have experienced that, while if you only apply slight back pressure to the yoke on a takeoff roll, the plane tracks true and seems to need almost no right rudder in the climb. If you are aggressive with the yoke, the plane will sidestep to the left very aggressively. There's a 3100x100ft grass strip that I go to for cheap fuel. My first takeoff (and my first takeoff from grass), I went back to my PPL training and started with the yoke in my lap. As soon as I entered ground effect, I held the plane there while building up airspeed. I felt the plane drifting hard to the left, and while I never left the bounds of the runway (I would have if it were any narrower), I had the sensation that I was tracking aggressively towards the hangars on the side of the runway. Speed increased and I more control authority, recovered the centerline and climbed out.

Well, I flew in and am parked near a whole bunch of Mooneys. I'm probably the only F with a lopresti cowling near Lance Aviation

It was 4.98 at 48X (grass strip) and KFMY (self serve) the last time I fueled up at either of those airports. I remember I paid $4.23 a couple months back at KFMY, but it's gone back up.

I will vouch for the guys at Willmar as well.

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/k-state-confirms-development-director-chris-gruber-aboard-plane-that-crashed-in-collinsville That's the second crash in a year's time involving someone affiliated with Kansas State University. The Pilatus PC12 that went down in FL last year also was somehow affiliated.

I think the one piece helps with the appearance. Here's my M20F:

From that picture of the belly, it sure looks like you greased it in.

Previous owner of my plane said he chose the RPM that minimized vibrations and he'd look at the bubbles at the top of the compass to find it. I've had the vacuum pump and the manifold pressure line break since I got the airplane and I would have to think that both of those could have been aggravated by vibration.

I had an "oh shit! My gear!" moment landing at KABQ after a full day of flying from FL, stopping twice in Texas and coming in at night. The approach, coming in at 11,000ft over the mountains and then diving for the airport kept me busy. The DA was much higher than I'm used to in FL and the tower gave me a mild quartering tailwind. I floated forever with higher-than-I'm-used-to ground speed. I had my hand on the throttle continuing to think it wasn't at idle instead of verifying gear down like I normally touch. As it settled on to what I thought was to be the belly, it landed smoothly on the gear, which I had dropped as the very first thing before I started my fast descent.

I'm still not sure if this is helpful at all or if your issue has anything at all to do with spark plugs, but while people are on the topic of plugs, I had a rough running mag and a set of REM37BY took care of the issue for far less money than fine wires.

http://www.news-record.com/news/1020637-91/pilot-escapes-injury-in-pti#.UWGUm_2LI60.email They always report that the pilot's certificate was issued on such-and-such a date in these things. I think this information is always factually incorrect as it shows the date of the latest issuance of a certificate, regardless of whether it was a check ride, or if the pilot just had a change of address. Also, I wouldn't consider the pilot as "escaping injury" in this one. Gear ups rarely end in injury, except to one's pride and wallet. And this doesn't seem like a "crash landing" either, as was reported.

Also make sure the keyring drain in the floor is fully seated. I've come out to my plane and spotted mine dripping every so often. There was a story at a local airport where a number of people seemed to notice their planes weren't completely full. Turns out there was an employee at a paint shop on the field stealing fuel from planes.

My first sun-n-fun was three years ago, shortly after getting my certificate. I rented an airplane and was told to make sure I check the NOTAMs, which I did. I noted a couple tower lights out, et cetera. Either I was not introduced to it, or I had forgotten about published NOTAMs. I was in for a surprise when I tuned in the ATIS heading into LAL and got the five minute instruction. I made it in. The guy who parked next to me I immediately became good friends with; I'm going to Germany to visit him later this month. Apparently somebody cut him off on short final without talking to anyone and the controller sent my friend around. An A&P I met in north FL had spent a significant amount of time rebuilding a Navion. A guy landed an Extra 300 on top of him and totaled his plane. Be safe and vigilant out there. I'm likely going to drive in unless I'm feeling exceptionally adventurous.

When the coil went out in my mag, it would idle, but the engine quit at run-up RPM when we cycled to that mag. Different, I know, but just thought I'd mention it. Did you notice anything weird with your EGTs? Also, one thing that helped before I put in new plugs with the run-up was to lean at run-up RPM until the EGTs increased by 75 degrees before doing the mag check.

What's the best airport and FBO to use in San Antonio? I'm coming from Tampa. Isn't there an FBO in MS or AL somewhere that everyone likes to stop at for cheap fuel and food too?

There was a time in this country, not much more than a decade ago, that all the cars in rural high school parking lots had semi-automatic rifles, some of them "military style" hanging up in gun racks on campus.

I think it was in response to JimR's post, but I don't remember.

I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that it's a CG thing. And if Al Mooney was really trying to reduce drag, why didn't he opt for the ruddervator like the Bonanzas of the time? (I kid, I kid)