201er

I don't remember for sure, but I think I flew LOP on my instrument check ride. I don't think the examiner even noticed either way. I guess he was impressed that I could continue flying the instruments while fine tuning the engine controls. The big advantage was that I had already logged over 100 hours flying my Mooney VFR and was comfortable with the plane so the only novelty was the instrument flying. That said, if you are taking private pilot checkride, it's better to play it safe and stupid. As an unlicensed pilot you're not going to win an argument against an examiner.

Because there are loads of other planes and ATC is demanding it. Also because the effort to cancel in the air is just to click the radio. On the ground you gotta remember to call, dial, wait, etc. The original example could just as well be pop out at 1000ft, descend into class G and cancel at 650ft (where it would be illegal to be VFR at night but legal to be IFR without a flight plan). That's enough cloud clearance to make it around the pattern if necessary.

That's only in controlled airspace.

On an IFR departure in which ATC assigns a departure heading (other than runway) with no further explanation, at what point are you supposed to turn onto that heading? For example, the Philadelphia Nine Departure specifies: "Takeoff Rwy 27L: Climb heading assigned by ATC thence..." http://skyvector.com/files/tpp/1310/pdf/00320PHILADELPHIA.PDF http://skyvector.com/files/tpp/1310/pdf/00320PHILADELPHIA_C.PDF Let's say ATC assigns heading 220. Do you turn at a certain location, altitude, or other? The DP doesn't specify and nor does ATC.

"Class E airports" are just that, where class E extends to the ground. It's a dashed magenta circle. Otherwise most uncontrolled fields are class G extending to 700 or 1200ft. The ones with instrument approaches tend to be in a magenta gradient shade area with class G to 700. There are times when waiting to cancel on the ground is problematic. There may be no radio frequency available to use on the ground and you gotta remember to use the phone (I tend to forget because I'm in the habit of having a tower or cancelling in the air). Besides that, the airport may be in an extremely busy environment like the one I'm based out of, Linden. Staying IFR to the ground in Linden stops Newark departures and that makes ATC very angry. If conditions do not permit me to cancel in the air, too bad. But generally since minimums are 600/2 anyway, it's almost always possible to cancel in the air and keep them friendly for the next time I need to do an instrument approach.

Uh uh. You might wanna reacquaint yourself with 91.155. You're thinking class G in daytime, different for VFR minimum at night. And no, there are tons of airports with instrument approaches into class G.

Technically you can cancel at 700ft (or upon reaching uncontrolled airspace if different) and continue uncontrolled IFR in class G as per 91.173 which only requires a flight plan/clearance in controlled airspace only and 61.57c. Still can't find anyone who can prove or disprove this for sure, but based on the rules, IFR in class G is not prohibited and nor is it subject to IFR rules in controlled airspace. Only that the pilot is instrument rated and current.

I would think that on longer distance flights, the power used to climb is more likely to pay off with better TAS aloft.

At least it keeps the CG in the right place!

Are you saying that prop ice is considered to be a greater problem than wing ice? Or just a more easily solvable one?

May I ask a dumb question? What's the point of a heated prop if the rest of the plane isn't deiced?

You mean this? http://www.mapasafety.com/proficiency

How do you vary your cruise speed depending on winds aloft (headwind, tailwind, crosswind)? Do you cruise the same IAS regardless or slow down/speed up under certain conditions?

Yesterday I went to a different Wings presentation. I think it was called the "Weather Challenge" and is run by the AOPA ASI. It was excellent! This is the sort of event you'd expect to pay money to go to. It was a huge audience, at least 200 people. It covered an extensive array of weather topics and quizzes. And I didn't just walk away with one new thing I learned but many. This presentation is making its way around the country and I highly recommend it to any pilot.

Seems to be like the fuel savings improvement is substantial going from 2700 to 2400RPM and anywhere in between. Going below 2400RPM provides greatly diminishing returns. Lose a lot of speed, gain a little fuel economy. In theory you want to set your MP with altitude, not throttle. If you gotta pull the throttle, you're wasting potential. Go higher is winds negligible. However, the issue is cooling and LOP ops. Seems that once you get over about 8 or 10,000ft, you no longer have sufficient MP to run LOP. IAS is low so in CHTs go up. This forces you to go ROP but then you lose fuel economy. Going ROP at 13k ends up being the same or possibly less efficient than going 8k LOP in NA IO360.

Awesome use of the Mooney and congrats. I disagree with others though that now is the time to be starting instrument training. You gotta become completely familiar and comfortable with the plane, vfr navigation, communication, etc first. Fly to towered, untowered, charlie, and all sorts of airports. Get comfortable with just the concept of flying and going places before tackling instrument stuff on top of that. That said, you have to remember to accept your limitations as a VFR only pilot when taking these weekend trips in the future. You must be ready to postpone your return or take a car back and never push things if weather is questionable. In other words enjoy your Mooney's speed and efficiency but don't strictly depend on it for getting there on time.

I was disappointed by the lack of educational value of a Wings talk about VFR into IMC I attended. It wasn't interesting and I learned nothing from it. I recall many heated and interesting discussions about this and many other topics on here that have been far more memorable and influential on my decision making. So I just wanted to commend Mooneyspace and say that participation in this board is more deserving of "wings credit" than many of the sponsored courses.

"L. Conclude Inspection. 1) Discuss any pertinent safety information with the pilot(s) or operator. 2) Return any documentation. 3) Advise the pilot(s) or operator of any upcoming accident prevention or other safety meetings. 4) If no discrepancies are evident, compliment the pilot(s) or operator." Anyone ever been complimented on their ramp check?

Hey Brett, what about that ride Sunday?

I went up to altitude and tried to fly behind the power curve and do a power on stall. The pitch attitude was insanely high. I cannot fathom actually flying like this. It's actually very hard to get it to stall with the power on. Then why is it that so many accidents occur this way on departure? Or is it somehow different when lower? Or a factor of acceleration? Or is it just that I wasn't at gross weight when attempting it but the accidents often are?

The O rings on where?

And yet nothing comes out of either... Both my pitot and static had water in them but the drains did nothing. Was having problematic readings till mech disconnected everything and blew the lines out. Bad drains? Or they don't help much unless you're flooded with water?

Well... when I was coming up to a runway I was cleared to cross in my original taxi instructions, I saw an airplane on it and stopped to ask if I was still cleared to cross. Ground was pissed and said "yes there's an airplane on the runway, continue across as previously instructed!"

Guys, it's not about progressive taxi. It's not that I can't copy/draw a taxi clearance. The trouble I have is those crazy intersections where someone can tell you "take Juliet!" or even "make that squiggly right, then left on Juliet" and it still wouldn't help. Especially at night! At Springfield, ground told me to taxi Bravo to the ramp but that put me on the air carrier ramp that they recently erected a fence across from the GA ramp. Had to ask for another taxi clearance cause they didn't give it to me right the first time. Anyway, my point is that I find it more likely to get lost and have trouble taxiing at a complex airport than flying the instrument approach.

I've had the chance to fly into Philadelphia International and Boston Logan on some PALS flights I've been doing lately: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CMF61H Pretty interesting flight coming into Boston on the ILS27 approach with 1200 overcast. Anyway, is it just me or is taxiing the hardest part of going to airports like this!? Flying across the country and finding the airport in low ceilings doesn't seem to compare with trying to find obscure taxiway intersections. Seems we get more help in the air than on the ground. Who else feels this way? Any tips for getting around these kinds of airports more easily? I already have the georeferenced taxiway diagrams on ipad, without them I would never been able to keep track of where I was.