DrBill

Makes that investment well worth it, doesn't it ? Bill

I had to use my 8 year old Concorde to start my Ranger Pickup yesterday !!. Took it off the generator and used jumpers to start my truck.. Put it on a batteryminder when I was done and it was fully charged this morning. Bill

The new AD: everyone has to upgrade to a NEW MOONEY !

I have an O2 welding tank at the hangar and I fill my smaller bottle from it. When it's 1/2 full, I get a full one for like $20. That makes the refills cost about $4-5. BILL

Nice to see they are advertising again. Nice attractive ad too. Not cluttered. BILL

Picture taken BEFORE change to LED bulbs.... BILL

Dan, I just went thru this with my A&P on a Cessna he had in annual. Same symptoms as you. He asked me to assist in diagnosis (EE my speciality). I showed him how it was SUPPOSED to work and why it failed. We replaced the regulator with Plane Power. END OF PROBLEM. As a professional engineer I find it apalling that they would misuse the purpose of a circuit breaker. The field wire is not protected. No surprise they are out of business. BILL

A few weeks ago I was going to the SC Breakfast club (see video in other post). Was in IMC at 3000 and ATC asked if I was OK flying through some rain showers. I responded that rain was OK but nothing convective please..The clouds ahead did NOT look that dark. . I continued on course and we went through some VERY light rain. Once on the approach, ATC asked how was the ride.. "No Problem" i replied. and we landed. Right behind me were the 3 other planes coming to the breakfast and I'm sure the controller wanted some pireps of the approach. to pass on to them. This took place near the "V" in dashed blue line : https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5612Q/history/20140608/1200Z/8A6/KUZA I have found ATC most cooperative in deviations and keeping me clear of convective activity. BILL

VERY NICE Bob... I wish my wife and I could do that but she will not get within 20 yards of the plane. You are a lucky man to have a wife like that. We're going to Philly later this year to celebrate our 41st. We've never been there and we'll drive up (yuk). BILL

WOW... given all the technical data, I would have NEVER suspected battery failure. However, I have noticed over the past few years that the new technolgy wet cell batteries had very unusual failure modes. This story is a great one to add to my experience base... Thanks Bob for all the detail. BILL

I had a Beech Sundowner and went through 3 Gill batteries in 7 years. That was about right and expected. I've had my Mooney for 3 years and the battery in it at time of purchase (a Concorde) was 5 years old. I flew it for 2 years before having a battery issue so I changed the 7 year old Battery (with another Concorde of course). Upon detailed failure analysis of the removed battery, I found a stripped battery post. The copper post internal threads were stripped making intermittant contact. I repaired the post and now use that 7 year old battery (now 8 years old) on my generator for my home. Works great. There is no better battery to buy. BILL

RIGHT... I bring up pressure because during canning we KNOW the jars were good for that much and the question was regarding pressure change. BILL

i've been here 65 years and visited hundreds of other countries in my life. There is no place like the USA. I am so thankful my grandparents came here near the turn of the 19th century. They were both in their teens... Can you imagine your 14 year old daughter leaving home to go live in another country for a better life ? GUTS. BILL

I created an Excel spreadsheet to exactly match my logbook (paper) format. It really helps when computing flying hours per year for insurance reporting. I also use it to record numbers of landings and approaches (helps with currency). I recently compleyted my first logbook so I bought a new book and created a spreadsheet that matched it. This works great for keeping the various totals. Easy to do too. The number of lines above the subtotals match the paper book. BILL logpage.pdf

The difference between sea level and 15000 ft is about 6.4 PSI... Normal canning (pressure method) relies on a 10 psi outside pressure. So this indicates that the jar is aok for at least a 10psi difference. Now canning at higher altitude is recommended at 15PSI so the jars and seals should be AOK when done at 10PSI and taken up to 15000 ft or even higher. 20,000 ft is about an 8 PSI difference. Like PM said,, should be no problem. Bill

My son got me this book for Fathers Day and I just finished it. What an education about the Mooney Airplane company. This is a great way to learn about the history of the company and the planes. Highly recommended for those of us working as Ambassadors for the AOPA fly-ins. I'll bet Jolie, Mitch, Trey and Lela can quote the book from cover to cover !! BILL

I dont think overspeed had anything to do with the issue. BILL

In the last year I logged 62.4 hrs. 7.8 of that was Actual IMC, 8.9 of that was simulated (practice). 20 approaches flown of those I think (from memory) 4 of those were actual (2 of those last week). I am based at an airport w/o an instrument approach so I only take off when I know I can get back or am not coming back same day.. When the ceiling is below 2500 and I'm coming on on top, I fly the approach to the nearest airport, once below the layer, I cancel and continue VFR the 10 miles to my home field. With a ceiling of 1500- 2000, it's an easy flight. if I breakout and it's too low, I just land. They are very good about letting me stay overnight for free and I get a ride. Last year I did not have to take that option. Most of my practice approaches are hand flown. All of my IMC ones so far have been under autopilot. My last one I had to reprogram the fix and I was already by it when I got it loaded. ATC directed a right 360 and I completed the apporach, got under the layer, cancelled and flew home. Hope this helps. BILL

Your regulator does not sense alternator output current. It monitors the field current and the output voltage. "The Plane Power R1224 Voltage Regulator is a solid-state voltage regulator with over-voltage protection, field short (over current) protection, and reverse battery protection. " So, it could have sensed a high field current condition but I still suspect a bad connection of the field circuit. Corrosion in a connection could give same symptoms. The symptoms are that the regulator simply turned off for a while and then turned back on. if you restart and there is no charging, measure the field voltage at the regulator terminal. When I had the problem, it EVENTUALLY quit- broken wire at atlernator terminal. BILL

That's some great data.. Being a specialist in that area, is sure sounds to me like an intermittant field connection which I have had on a previous plane. BILL

two years ago I had same decision. I saved the money and went with 54. I'd do the same now. My trip to OSH needed a fuel stop regardless. Purchase for your intended mission. If you want to fly LONG legs, get the bigger bladders. I don't make investments in MY plane for the NEXT owner. They are all for ME ! What to I want. ADSB coming soon !! BILL

My kinsurance company specified 10 hr of dual and 10 solo prio to passengers and the instructor had to have 100 hrs in Mooney. Was the best 20 hr of time I've spent in the plane yet. The 10 solo hrs I flew to 10 different airports I had not been to before and did a pair of landings at each one. I also got to play with the GPSS and autopilot which I needed. BILL

I copied the url to a new tab and it is working fine. BILL

My step hangs up sometimes and I find the step itserf binds on the rubber gasket between the strep and the bottom panel BILL

During my prebuy 3 years ago (wow time flies) my A&P took out ALL the side panels (actually his helper did) , (LOTS of LITTLE SCREWS) and all the floor pans. I had given him a copy of SB208 and he followed it to the letter. Was not cheap but I had peace of mind afterward. BILL