smccray

What are you trying to achieve by putting the regulator up front? If it's just air flow control, look for a system with an inline needle valve. Turn on the at departure and the needle valve will allow you to control the O2 flow.

If you're interested in a 396 with an XM antenna let me know. I have one to sell.

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I'm conflicted here. I get that EAA collects fees to enter the event, and (from another forum) the FAA charges other entities for large events such as Nascar races and PGA tour event. However- the big difference here is that EAA Airventure is an event designed to promote aviation. If the FAA is supposed to support and encourage aviation (as opposed to car racing and golf) then it would make sense that the FAA would make a contribution to the event. We've heard accounts about how expensive its becoming to attend Airventure, and here's yet another expense to add to the event. I've heard that MAPA hasn't been to Airventure. Exactly how much expense do we want to push on the vendors, then we complain about the cost of upgrades. If the FAA wants to charge for the event, EAA should issue request proposals rather than just accepting FAAs invoice. Contract controllers would probably be more cost effective.

Add me to the list of hopeful attendees but I'm not optimistic. I have family in town and I'm going to try and get a hall pass but we'll see what happens.

At annual last year I did the gross weight increase on my plane, but up until this evening I never had the opportunity to fly it near the gross weight. I loaded up my instructor and a second instructor who wanted to ride along- three grown men, two of us aren't exactly FAA standard weight.. Taking off out of ADS was fine, but I only had 30 gallons of fuel. I topped off the tanks at North Texas Regional and went to take off. I expected a sluggish climb due to the weight. It wasn't normal, but I still had a steady 800 ft/min climb off the runway with 80 degree temps. These are just incredible airplanes. 200 HP and three grown men. I love my plane!!!!!

My airplane had a wing skin replaced in 1988 or 1989 by the Mooney factory. Not sure why that would deserve a reduction in value- the factory put the first one on then replaced it with a new wing skin. There's a gear up in its history at about the same time. The plane has flown ~4k hours since since the damage was repaired along with 20+ annual inspections. I'm certain some people wouldn't be interested in my plane on the basis of damage history, but that's their choice. I don't factor in any value reduction to the plane over the 5k hrs on the airframe. I'm not trying to sell it so it doesn't really matter, but that's not to say my plane isn't for sale...at the right price .

Thanks for the lecture on how the world works. I bill my clients on an hourly basis as well. I'll expand on my earlier comment. Market in DFW for a professional flight school instruction is in the $50-60 per hour range. Somehow I doubt (read: I have direct knowledge) that American Flyers is paying their instructors significantly more than other local employed flight instructors, so it's not as if you're getting a higher quality, cream of the crop, instructor going to AF. With that in mind, what exactly does the incremental hourly fee for AF provide me as the customer? The company obviously has more overhead than their competitors as a national player, but their overhead isn't my problem. They probably provide a one stop solution similar to ATP that takes students from nothing to commercial multi including financing which certainly has value to some, but not to me. More power to them as they've clearly found a customer willing to pay them, but there's also a free market. A nominal amount of research into alternatives could provide a significant savings depending on an individual market.

Don- Having been your hangar neighbor for a while I know what you're dealing with. The garage floor tiles would certainly be the easiest, but they're expensive and they'll conform to the uneven floor underneath the tiles. The guy down the hangar row (first or second hangar from the ramp) with the Jabaru has floor tiles down on his floor. Scott

Congrats handling a bad situation, and double congrats for posting it here for the rest of if to learn something. The only worse decision you could have made was to continue into a deteriorating situation trying to get to your destination. Next time you'll turn around sooner.

I did their weekend test prep- it was pretty good. Instructor did as good a job as possible to keep my attention for 2.5 days of ground school. I would assume that their online prep would be pretty good. If you ask them about training in your own plane- look around a bit before you go with them. They wanted $85 per hour to train in my airplane. They pay the CFI probably $10-$15 per hour and they want to charge me $85? I'm sure they're pretty good, but I found another instructor on the airport who left American Flyers for another flight school and he's pretty good. I'm paying him a more reasonable fee. Scott

That's an intriguing question about the barometric or GPS altitude on the traffic display. If the GPS altitude is what's reported then I would assume there would be a big problem. However, it's the relative altitude, meanting the target's GPS altitude versus your GPS altitude, then I wouldn't think the variation between GPS and baro altitude would be that significant. I would assume the ADSB system compares GPS altitude to GPS altitude to compute the relative altitude of the traffic. I don't have a clue what the right answer is, but I really hope I'm right. If I'm wrong then I need to rethink my plan to add a GDL39 and an ADSB transponder for traffic. Scott

+1 to Don's suggestion- RBD would be my first stop in Dallas. Reasonably close to Love Field for your southwest flight, and Ambassador Jet Center always took good care of me when I was hangared there until last summer. Fuel prices are reasonable and the line staff are familiar with Mooneys- when I left there were at least 4 in their T hangars. I think they may have started to charge a nominal fee for overnights in their hangar, but it's not enough to worry about given why you're leaving New Orleans. If you end up at Addison let me know you're coming and I may be able to help you out.

Did my IFR long cross country today. First two approaches went well... last one into ADS was a complete bust- partial panel ILS and I messed up royally being vectored to the localizer. The bumps didn't help at all. I'm getting close, but an approach like that really zaps anything resemlbling confidence.

Sounds like a fun trip. I should be around Dallas this week, but we have plans with my inlaws who are in town visiting for an event. If you run into any problems in town send me an email- my username "at" gmail.com. I'll be at Addison on Friday mid day. If you're looking for alternatives in Dallas let me know. If it were me I would look at stopping at KSWI and buy some $4.50 fuel instead of $7.50 fuel at KDAL. Not sure what ramp fees are at DAL vs. Addison, but Addison isn't inconvenient, even for someone who lives near love field. Alternatively, I'd look at Ambassador at KRBD- better fuel price and zero ramp fees, but not as convenient. Scott

I'm surprised that no one has said it- the biggest disadvantage of the Mooney is getting in the plane. I love my airplane, but getting in it isn't a cake walk. As a frequent flyer in the Mooney I don't have any difficulty anymore, but bringing a new passenger along begins with a primer on how to get it. Once inside it's adequately comfortable, but climbing in certainly isn't like climbing into a 182. The trade off is efficiency which is a good tradeoff as far as I'm concerned, but it's a pilot's airplane- not for passenger comfort.

Thanks for your interest. I'm working through the details right now and I anticipate launching a website in mid June as my real job has me very busy between now and then. The transfilling system I'm going to sell is very similar to solutions offered by other aviation retailers. Essentially it's a system that allows you to use one or more large O2 cylinders to fill smaller portable or on board systems. Mike Caban has done a great write-up of a transfilling system and how it works here: http://csobeech.com/Oxygen-Fill-System.html. I'm sorry to say it's not an inexpensive solution to filling up your own cylinders, but compared to buying fills at the FBO it's cheap. If you're not using a lot of oxygen, you may be better off getting fills at a welding supply house. I keep one tank in the plane full and when it's empty, I rotate a new cylinder into the plane. However, if I'm going to start selling the transfiller I'll have that setup in my hanger. If you stop by I'll fill your portable tank . I don't have a price to share at this point on the transfilling system, but I'll give you a good example of what I found. I work in healthcare finance and I couldn't believe the prices the aviation retailers were charging for cylinders. I wanted a 22CF oxygen cylinder for my own personal use. Instead of paying ~$180+ for that cylinder, I'll be selling that same tank ~$90. The key here is that is has the same valve that tank from "aviation" retailers and it's compatible with aviation regulators. I use my tank from my supplier with a regulator purchased from Mountain High. If you don't want the gauge (if, for example, your regulator has a gauge), then I can sell the same tank for ~$70. There are certainly cheaper options with used cylinders, but for a new cylinder the pricing is very competitive. I'll definately be in touch with my fellow pilots with details. We all have to save as much $ as possible for avgas! Scott

I wish I could join you! I'm spending all my flying time finishing up my instrument rating. 5 flights scheduled in the next 7 days.

I'm preparing to launch an aviation oxygen company using medical suppliers (and priced accordingly- no aviation premium). I'm sorry to say I don't have an oxymizer solution coming any time soon, but it's on my list down the road. I believe the products are available from wholesalers- I just don't have a source yet. I'm assuming you have on board oxygen on your rocket. Based on the research I've done, both the pendant and the mustashe solutions work- it's all personal preference. Whoever you order from, make sure whatever they send you is plug and play with your on board system. The MH EDS system is a more challenging question due primarilly to cost. I have a mountain high EDS system and I really like it. The MH system makes things very easy in that the system auto adjusts for altitude changes- it's idiot proof (so perfect for me). I have the EDS attached to the ceiling interior of my plane giving easy access to O2 at all times which is why I added the EDS. I found a used unit and bought it for ~half price, but they don't show up very often. The EDS is definately a luxury solution and only you can evalute whether it's worth the cost. If you decide to go the EDS route give them a call- they'll walk you through everything you need. In addition to the box, you'll also need a step down regulator to drop the EDS input puressure to 25 PSI. Most oxygen systems operate at 50 PSI. If I were in your shoes, the solution would come down to how much I was flying. If you're flying at oxygen altitudes very little, then it doesn't really matter and you wouldn't have posted here. If you're flying a lot, then go with the EDS- the MH unit will save you a lot of oxygen and you're unlikley to need costly FBO fill-ups. If you're somewhere in the middle go with an oximizer unless you want the luxury of the EDS solution. I suspect you've already made this decision. Shameless sales pitch- regardless of which camp you're in, if you're looking into an oxygen transfilling system (for your on board or portable system) or a portable backup for the built in system we should talk. Scott

It's my understanding that sunlight does cause damage over time to the windows. It would then follow logically that the reflective side of the shades that reflects the sunlight back out of the airplane would cause some incremental damage to the plane versus the black side that absorbes more of the rays. I'll buy that, but it seems a little myopic. My plane spends most of its time in a dark hangar. If it spends a few days in direct sunlight with a sunshade at double the exposure, it's still less than thousands of airplanes that live outside. I'll live with a moderately shorter lifespan of the windshield versus the heat of the plane sitting outside in the Texas sun when I come back to my plane. There's no free lunch- putting the silver side out keeps the interior cooler. The operating temperature of a GNS430W is only up to ~130 degrees F; how hot would the plane get inside without any sun shades? A cover would bet better for the windows, but it introudces the opportunity for scratches on the windows and paint, however unlikely. The cover is significantly more expensive than sunshades, and it's more difficult to install than using sunshades. There's no free lunch- it's all tradeoffs.

I bought a piece of what is essentially bubble wrap with silver foil on both sides. $20 and an hour of work and I had a complete set of sun shades and enough extra material sitting in my hangar to make a second set. Works like a charm. I folded the front shade accordion style and it lives between the rear seats in the summer. After shutdown, I open a couple flaps of the shade and insert the shade onto the dash on the pilot side. Then I reach around the roll cage on the copilot side and grab the right side of the shade and unfold the accordion while covering the windshield. When putting it away, I refold the accordion while the shade is still on the dash to work it around the roll cage. It gets a little messed up on the edges, but I haven't gone to the trouble of putting any type of seem tape on the shade and it hasn't seemed to mess up the shade. If anyone wants to use my shade as a template let me know. I may even have material for you... and the siccors... and the beer .

The ball mount on the EZ Roller wasn't exactly centered. There were also two options of where to mount the ball centered on the X axis and Y axis, and off center on the other axis. I mounted the ball centered on the X axis but it off center on the Y axis. When viewed right side up (with the home button on the bottom), the mount connects to the back of the mount on the bottom half. Because I'm using it up side down the ball connector is very close to the yoke mount. Not sure if that makes any sense. It's a little difficult to describe. Scott

No photos, but I just mounted my iPad mini on the yoke with the the Ram ez roller mount: http://www.rammount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045072079076045065080049052085/Default.aspx It's mounted up side down with the home button at the top. I also had to swap the arm piece out for a shorter one so the iPad would sit closer to the yoke and the yoke mount wouldn't interfere with the movement of the controls. I tried to put velcro on a yoke desk but the screen was too flat for me to look at it comfortably. It was so uncomfortable it wasn't a usable option for me. The yoke mount makes the screen more verticle and much more usable.

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I think it requires a field approval. I've looked for that STC before and I couldn't find one. Good luck with the sale- looks like a nice airplane.