exM20K

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

Neighbors said a propeller knocked out a car window. https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/volusia-county-couple-identified-as-two-people-killed-in-bartow-plane-crash

speculation over on BT and 2nd hand reports that the prop came off. Pics don't show any prop evident. https://www.theledger.com/photogallery/LK/20200213/NEWS/213009975/PH/1 very sad, and a horrifying scenario to imagine. -dan

"Everybody Knows" what keeps an aircraft aloft is Money.... Lots of money. -dan

@Nick Pilotte for sure no offense taken by me. I've dealt with this G1000 Garmin vs OEM stuff for years with Diamond, and I don't think it is a show stopper. Only in one case (a handful of IAP's were suppressed) has an update been required, and that instance has been fixed. The G1000/GFC700 is an excellent, reliable combination, and while it may not be upgraded to include new functionality, it is very capable as-is, and I am not concerned about support/upgrades. Naper Aero is a very nice place to live - PM me if you'd like a tour sometime. -dan

JGG; Thanks for the concluding thoughts. This paragraph resonated with me: I was close-ish to selling the Acclaim S and buying an R-STOL 340 last year. Now I have another validating datapoint supporting my decision, and one can never have too many of those! Enjoy retirement and low-stress flying as you spoil the granddaughter. dan

Why would you think that? If you can find an owner who must sell, you could probably get a lot of airplane for not a lot of money. I suspect, but do not know, that the used, late-model Mooney market is not great for sellers at the moment. -dan

dupe.

Yowza! I elected to hop on the germ tube for a Chi->DFW three-day meet this past monday. The PAX I was to pick up nearby had the flu, the weather mid-week looked challenging, and I *had* to be back Thursday. That's an easy three strikes. One of the biggest go/no go challenges I find is mid-range icing forecasts (2-3 days). I wound up looking the soundings model forecasts on Windy.com. I'd probably benefit from the live seminar in this area. Will you be doing any live seminars again? Or is there one of the for-sale webinars on your site that would cover this? -dan

When my 231 got to that level of oil consumption, oil was very evident on the belly and the tail tie down ring. It is a lot of oil. So if it is getting burned up, I’d check the turbo seals and get a good look at the cylinder walls. While it’s unlikely that the walls are glazed at 1200 hours, there could be one or more that have surface corrosion, which would account for the oily plugs and consumption. -dan

This is an excellent idea. I usually align heading bug with runway heading and hit the Go Around button so that the command bars give me Vx pitch on climb out. I guess it would be a 2 button push for me... FLCH & AP. -dan

Not that I’m aware of. I do have the most recent software, I believe. Will try to update this post with software version number later this weekend. -dan

Not sure, but that’s the word I’ve gotten from Super-AME Dr. Bruce Chien

Just got my crisp, new 3rd class today. Yay! surrendering the old one which has been in my wallet for two years got me thinking: It was in really bad shape. The Feds don't want them laminated, and the certificate just gets all beat up in my wallet. So... why not just keep it in the plane? I really don't fly any other planes currently, so is there really any downside to leaving it (and maybe my pilot's certificate) in the document folder in the plane? I can't think of any obvious reason not to. -dan

On my 231, I lost a copper nozzle. One thing to be alert for is letting the tether for cowl plugs slip between the back of the spinner and the front of the cowling. It can get hung up on the nozzle. -dan

I flew some in this plane when @MooneyMurph owned it (Hi, Jim. Still here?) The new paint and panel look great. My distant recollection aligns with most power increase mods: most evident benefit is in T/O and climb, especially when high/hot/heavy. -dan

Not when operated LOP ;-) Bravo and acclaim guzzle tons of fuel in the climb, and there is plenty of leftover, unburnt fuel to make CO in that flight regimen. Both my Mooney’s have shown 30 ish levels of CO in taxi and climb. No biggy for me. -dan

A 120 KIAS climb in a 310HP Acclaim will get 12-1500 fpm climb all the was to the flight levels, which means that for the entire climb and for some distance after, a return to the departure field is easy-peasy. Very nice capability to have for sure. Even the stock Acclaim covers 42 nm in a cruise climb from SL to FL240. Glide is > 2NM / 1000 feet of altitude, so there you are... -dan

Someone considering using this fluid may want to check Ph and specific gravity against the spec. Those, I believe would indicate if it’s ok to use. Spec is on DW Davies site somewhere. -dan