exM20K

@aviatoreb thanks. So just to be clear... your drove the screws through the Velcro strap that mountain higho2 provided? Had not considered that, and it would work very well with the long body ports being right there. now... where did I leave that Velcro strap??? -dan

Agreed, but don't "under-tighten" it. I had mine loose with the tank full to the top. The filler isn't much higher than the top of the tank, and the combination of pitch angle and the awesome acceleration of the 310HP acclaim made quite a mess in the avionics bay. The fill neck isn't much higher than the top of the tank. The vented cap has a "flapper" type valve on it which prevents fluid from escaping, but if the dummy in the left seat fails to tighten the cap. it can make a mess. And a little goes a long way with TKS fluid. =dan

That's going to be a tough sell for the major manufacturers. Logistics / demo planes / people / housing / trade show displays etc will be very hard to pull together at another time, and if I were asked, I'd not give it serious consideration as there is no guarantee that things will be any different one month later. The Diamond display at OSH used to have four or five of my planes, and it was not a trivial exercise to get them in one place at the same time. I'd sit tight till OSH (as a vendor). -dan

@Mooney_Allegro how do you have the tubes routed for the O2D2, and have you found a good place to mount it? I haven't found a really great place for the unit, so it usually sits in PAX lap with usual tangle of tubes from the ceiling to the box and thence to the people. -dan

Almost every time we flew this plane: -dan

Same owner for 13 years is a good endorsement of the type. -dan

You said much better what I was going to post.... the denominator is much more certain for flu than CV. And almost certainly understated for CV. Supply chain, travel, and school disruptions will be real, though. -dan

Wilco. I have a Louisville-based software vendor to visit this spring..... if anyone is still doing F2F meetings with the current panic. -dan

If you’re an iPhone user, settings->Notifications and scroll to the bottom for Emergency alerts. It’s a little alarmist with warnings, but during tornado season, I have it enabled to wake me up overnight. we had an Oregon Scientific NWS WX Radio with alerts, but sadly, it’s dead... -de

I haven’t looked at this in over a decade, but my recollection is that CMI wouldn’t sell a GB OH Kit... only LB. -dan

Paul's 100% right IMHO. I had a largely problem-free 1500+ hours with a Merlyn-equipped LB. Lots of good planes out there, and buying from a reputable dealer/broker whose business depends on reputation well past this sale is wise.

It is my understanding that FIKI requires a 24V system as well. What I recall is that the 12V systems did not generate enough pressure for the required flow. ...which is strange, because I recall also that my 231 has the same tank size and duration as my Acclaim. In the mooney installations, I believe the panels and plumbing are the same FIKI or no. This is not the case for all airframes: The "No Hazard" SR22 system is useless, with small panels, no vertical stab coverage, and tiny tanks. All reports are that the FIKI SR22 systems function well. I was very glad to have the No Hazard system in my 231, but it sure didn't cost $60,000. In 1997 when I had it installed, i believe it was ~$17,000. Maybe the Bureau of Labor Statistics can collaborate with the FAA and create an Aviation Price Index to track alongside the Consumer Price Index. -dan

@FlyBoyM20J my 231 had an electric prop. Perhaps same is available for the 201.

FF calibration and K-Factor can be unreliable, but off by only a little. In my experience, TIT gauges, when they fail, they fail dead or erratic. Running LOP or ROP, assuming TIT is not dead, you would want to note FF delta from peak and compare it to the POH/engine manual, but you can be pretty confident that you are truly 100* or whatever ROP. Peak can take a few seconds to find - i'm not in such a hurry to find it, and by observing the rate of change in TIT with turns of the red knob, I can tell when I have to re-lean a bit or enrichen a bit to get peak-peak. It can be 20-30* cooler transiting the peak reading quickly. I hope this makes sense; I'm not articulating it very well. -dan

Correct tail number is N43368.

I think I saw your plane at Flightline First when we were at KNEW last weekend. Really sorry for your loss. KJWN looks like a mess, but stuff can be replaced, and I hope your last trip in49Q was as great as ours. -dan

On our way to pick up son in Terre Haute and on to New Orleans. WW2 Museum is amazing, weather and food was top notch, and the wonderful restoration of the Lakefront Airport terminal (plus a great restaurant) was a welcome success story for general aviation. 3.5 down and 3.5 back in the awesome Acclaim. -dan

I’d guess the oil pressure lapse is related to outside air pressure. If SL is 14psi and 25,000 is 5.5, the oil pump is raising the pressure from a lower static pressure in the sump. same reasoning explains the lower IAS limit for FIKI TKS at altitude. There’s only so much work the pump can do. Guess on the tks ice? There was some water in the panels or tubes. It can happen if the plane is outside in the rain. -dan

Always look at the end-points of this sort of analysis: Why 34 years? Answer: 1980 was very near the end of the 70's malaise years. DJIA finished the year at ~2800. DJIA finished 2014 at ~19,000. Of course higher net worth individuals have more at risk in financial assets. Certainly the real estate picture is similar though I can't lay my hands on the data so easily. Unearned income that is the result of exponential growth of the underlying asset classes will naturally favor total income growth of those who have such investments. Duh. Thanks, NYT. Pick endpoints that correspond to a massive bear market, and you'll see the mirror of the NYT chart. -dan

Another impediment to youth participation: ADHD medicine is a prohibitor. I don’t know how widespread use of these medications is, but I know of at least one young man, who appeared to me to be smart and capable, who is limited to Sport pilot because of this. I have no experience with these medications, but I suspect their use is fairly widespread. -dan

Check the temperature if you can see it. Very cold today... more typically 185+ at lower fuel flow.

Flew to Springfield today at Ovation-friendly altitudes in the acclaim. The attached photos of the (dusty) panel tell the tale: at 70ish percent power, TN I going faster on quite a bit more fuel. That’s the penalty for low compression cylinders. The attached photos will probably be upside down...I just can’t help it. -dan

My W&B shows the removable step as installed, but I could never get it off the plane. Asked DMAX to pull it at the last annual. He did what I asked, but the step was not the removable one. Oh well. There was no perceptible speed gain, and my wife hated not having the step missing, so back on it went. I’d discourage anyone from removing their step, kit or no kit. -dan

Mine won’t. TKS costs 8-10 KTAS. But even a clean-wing Acclaim would require the right temperature and some time to accelerate. The only valid measurement for bragging rights is the 3 or 4 leg gps test. IAS -> CAS -> TAS has so much error and adjustment, though in the type S POH, Mooney did get some add-backs in airspeed included. It is a very fast airplane, and especially with the 310 HP STC, one that can reach the flight levels in a reasonable time. In this respect, it has no peers. But would I ever fly it at the power settings required for max speed at any altitude? Nope. -dan

Rather than contribute to the thread drift in some other threads, i thought I'd share my thoughts on CAPS. Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place for this post. Short version: I don't like the way the SR22 flies, so I don't own one. The CAPS has nothing to do with it. I have lived in a fly-in community of approx 100 homes and 65-ish based planes for 16 years. Living this way exposes me to a lot of pilots in a closer way than just hanging out at the airport, so maybe my perspective is a little different. When 100LL went exponential in price (2007-8) and before the economy went pear-shaped late 2008, there were some 5+ Barons based on the field. IIRC, 100LL was as high as $8 / gallon, and feeding a Baron $240/hour in fuel alone just didn't work for most of these owners. One bought a turbine, and the others bought SR2x's. In discussing this poor choice (I sold Diamonds, after all :-) ) they each said simply - after flying a twin, I don't want a single w/o the parachute. It's an emotional, snake-brain thing that probably drove the decision to buy the twin in the first place. I don't believe it's either right or wrong - it's just how they chose their aircraft. LIkewise, after having datalink and de-ice, I wouldn't want to be without... stepping down in capability is difficult. I'm a glider pilot, too. Do I feel invincible in the event of an engine out in my Mooney? Of course not. But on a good VFR day, I think the likelihood of getting hurt or dead after an engine failure is pretty low. IMC raises the risk level, of course, but I train for that, too. During my last PPP, I did much simulated engine-out work with Parvez, including the ILS. It can be done - just manage the energy state of your plane carefully (which includes flying as high as practical). If you haven't read @Buster1's book on engine out survival tactics, I highly recommend it. Widespread IMC and night also raise the risk level, but I'm confident that if I execute a forced landing wings-level and under control, my PAX and I will survive. I fly in the Midwest, where most of the world is an emergency landing field. If I flew over wilderness/mountains/water frequently, I might feel differently. What injures and kills more pilots than anything else is something the pilot does wrong. the Nall report tallies something like 75% of mishaps as pilot-caused. 73/76% non-fatal / fatal. Mechanical causes are 18% / 10%. Focus on the stuff that *does* hurt and kill pilots - stay current, brief your flights carefully, and take the whole ADM thing seriously. So... regarding CAPS: Just how frequently is it a factor? I cringe at the mention of "CAPS Saves" as though the helpless aviator would be dead but for the CAPS. However, I rejoice in a life saved that was otherwise at risk. Now, consider some numbers: Approximate GA fatal mishap rate: 0.54 / 1000 hours. Cirrus' rate is broadly similar to the GA fleet. Approximate GA mishap rate: 3.45 / 1000 hours. The Cirrus fleet has approx 12 Million (my extrapolation from a 2 year old number) hours on it. The Chute has been pulled 114 times, IIRC Dividing it out, the CAPS pull rate is .01 / 1000 hours, which means the GA fatal mishap rate is more than 5x the CAPS pull rate CAPS just doesn't get pulled very often - even as compared to rare fatal mishaps and much more so as compared to all mishaps. The Cirrus community has done an excellent job of instilling a culture of safety among new and used owners. This emphasis on training has brought the fatal rate for SR2x aircraft in line with its peers. But the CAPS seems to have little to do with overall safety-of-flight outcomes. Pilots of Cirrus and other brands continue to be injured or killed by things they did, CAPS or no CAPS. I conclude that the CAPS has a very small impact on reducing fatal mishaps. By training and making sure that my decisions and actions are not a link in a chain of events leading up to a mishap, I can have a much more meaningful influence on the safety of flight. If BRS were available for the Mooney, I'd consider it, but I wouldn't put a very high value on its likelihood to keep me unhurt or un-dead. -dan