201er

Question, when you share halos with random passengers, do you change the ear pieces? Are they cheap/disposable? Or do you have to wash them out after someone else uses them?

Since the air is thinner at higher altitude, does prop efficiency and performance change? For exmaple I've always been taught to avoid cruise at highest RPM (above 2500). But at higher altitude you may have to choose between low power or highest RPM. Is it "less bad" to fly 2600/2700RPM at 8000+ feet than it is down at 2000' cause the air is thinner? Or is it just that you don't have much choice?

Besides price what's the disadvantage? I had guys telling me that the fine wire could be the same or worse in some cases. Also is it really better to have fine wire rather than to replace normal ones more frequently?

My Mooney came to me with fine wire but other guys and mechanics have beens suggesting not to go with them in the future. I don't know about this kind of stuff at all so I was hoping you guys could let me know the differences, merits, and values of fine wire vs not spark plugs and how that works out in your Mooney.

Maybe it's cause I've flown planes with just one fuel tank or none at all that it doesn't seem like such a big deal to concentrate it all in one place for the final amount of fuel. Actually, it's kinda funny that by the time I'm down to a single tank in my Mooney, it is holding more gas than the entire single tank in the Piper Cub I trained in could hold.

Quote: N4352H The logic of all this is flawed beyond reason. You guys are suggesting that if you run one tank dry, you'll know the exact quantity (or even close) in the other or that you'll be less prone to a tank switching error at a lower altitude.

Quote: N4352H Who is going to fly a Mooney 201 with 4 passengers and 15 or fewer gallons of fuel? Have a safe flight!!

Quote: N4352H No. Having it all in one tank would be less preferable.

Does no one here fly with 4 people onboard? Perhaps some baggage? That kinda stuff can easily restrict you to be starting out with less than 50 gallons. 3 hour flight, no biggie. 30-35 gallons of fuel used. That leaves 15-20 gallons. It's not bad until you realize it's split between two tanks and who is going to rely on the last 5 gallons in a tank down in the pattern?

I really don't understand how some people think it is safer to have a little in each tank and risk having to do a tank swap low to the ground (say on a go around) than to have more in one tank and nothing in the other? I would much rather run a tank dry in cruise and leave 2 hours in the remaining tank than to have some arbitrary amount of roughly half in each. Think about it, if you have 1 hour in each side... you run one of those sides down to what 30 minutes? 20 minutes? Now you get nervous about going dry, perhaps you're in a go around so you swap to the 1 hour tank. Before you know it you have 20 in one tank and 20 in the other. That's not a situation I want to be in. Now I'd like to ask the guys who run a tank dry in flight. How high and/or in what condition of flight do you want to be in when you do it? Do you have to be over an airport? Do you have to be over a certain height AGL that you will feel comfortable doing it? Or would you run a tank dry during a low cruise at 2000ft?

How do you get it out from behind all the tubing and stuff back there without disconnecting everything? Any suggestions?

Quote: fantom Yes, and be concise. Listen up, look outside rather than at your GPS, don't ask "any other traffic, please advise". If there's a dumber request, I haven't heard it.

If you can get him to spin it too, I think there is a certain someone on this forum that would pay him for you to do it

Yeah, I can't go anywhere. Stuck with the local part time mechanic on the field. At this point even hand propping wouldn't necessarily start it because it is beyond a starter issue. The busted starter was the symtom and not the cause. The mechanic replaced one plug but said the others seem ok so what else could it be besides a mag problem? Well actually once started it runs fine so it really seems to point to impulse coupling.

Mechanic put a new skytec starter on it. Spins great but still doesn't start. Between mechanic and I trying to start it, we've only gotten it to start only 2 out of 5 attempts. He suspects the impulse coupling. Looks like the reason I burned out the old starter wasn't being completely nuts, just required a lot of turns till it would fire. Mechanic says he's going to have to take the engine off to get to the mags. Anyone know any other way? It's really deep in there!!!!

So the POH recommends locking it but locking it prevents it from being an emergency exit...?

Quote: jetdriven

Quote: jetdriven So does the guy on downwind or the guy on a 4 mile final have the right of way? or a better question, who has right of way of someone is on the 45 and someone is making a crosswind entry?

Thanks for the link. What I get from the article and what I've felt all along is that students are best taught a single way of entering the pattern to keep it uniform and give them time to get established. For experienced pilots there is nothing wrong with joining the pattern elsewhere assuming it is not causing conflict to others. Another reason it's good that the beginners in the skyhawk are always flying their 45 downwind approaches is cause the rest of us can just sneak in on the crosswind/straight in and have our plane safely parked before they touch down.

Flying isn't dangerous, crashing is!

That's why I switch based on gallons used (fuel totalizer) and not time. I make the first switch after 10 gallons used but subsequent switches are every 20 gallons. It's kind of a big deal to keep track of this with 100 gallons. When I'm at a point where running on a certain tank will leave anything less than 10 gallons, I prefer to run it dry in flight and then work on a single tank for landing and go around if need be. I much rather have 20 gallons left in one tank than to have 10 in each not knowing when exactly it will cut out. The low fuel indicator light is nice but I can usually run a good 30-60 minutes before the engine quits so I almost forget about it and by the time it does quit I'm a little surprised at first. All it takes is switching the tanks though to keep it going. If not, first instinct would be to throw the fuel pump on.

Rbridges, it's a space restriction. Mooney is like that. FlyDave, wouldn't hurt to hear your perspective. From the manual and my discussion with mech, I am starting it right. He admits its a tough engine to start. Tell me, how much cranking does it take to get a start on a flooded IO360? Not enough to burn out the starter I hope.

Ok, never mind. I found out that no other starter will fit the Mooney anyway so I ordered the same one again. I'd delete this topic if I could find how.

I burnt out my Skytec 149NL starter. I gotta decide by tomorrow if I replace it with the same thing or something else (possibly B&C BC315-100-2). I welcome all suggestions and feedback. I'm still a mooney newb and lousy at starting it so I need something that will live with my handicap. Suggestions?

Gas, gas, gas.... the more you pull the blue knob back the less money you're blowing out the exhaust. Mooney's are just as fuel efficient as they are fast. Local sightseeing, logging flight time, holding patterns, etc.... no need to hurry to go nowhere so you may as well reduce rpm (and possibly throttle but not necessarily at higher altitude) to reduce power and fuel flow. Don't forget to properly set the mixture.