Mooneymite

When I had problems with my Bendix shower of sparks box, it turned out to be a (very inexpensive) capacitor that was bad and kept causing the points to burn. It was a headache to track down, but the fix was simple/easy/cheap. Additional info here: http://www.donmaxwell.com/publications/MAPA_TEXT/Shower%20of%20Sparks/Shower%20of%20Sparks.htm

Generally, one does not tip a professional. Tipping a mechanic would be appropriate if he did you a personal favor, but not for professional services rendered (and billed for).

My POH is prerty clear. Barring any exciting new scientific information, that's what I do. Has anyone seen the video on "shock-cleaning" a fouled plug? Apparently the technique has been around for a long time, but it was news to me. -

One ramp check in 42 years of aviating.....Harrisburg, PA. KMDT. Inspector checked documents and Jepp currency. A non-event.

Since the stain is at the wing root, chances are good it is not a tank sealant issue.

Hmmmm. While I agree that there is "some" weight sharing, the downward force on the tail must be significant at rotation and the empenage is engineered for this. I find it hard to believe that Al Mooney didn't "over-engineer" the Mooney empenage for this since there haven't been many metal Mooney tails flying off. I can agree that tying the tail down will put stress on the empenage, but I have a hard time believing that such will damage a short-body Mooney. As has been suggested before, I'd like to see the "history of damage" from tying the tail down and find out if such damage might not have had "other factors" involved. Anyone know of documented damage on a short-body specifically attributed to tying the tail during jacking?

Question.... When you rotate your Mooney for a short field takeoff, doesn't the downward force on the tail approximate the same load as jacking the plane with the tail tied down? Maybe we should have canards that lift the nose at rotation? Just wondering since I would never tie the tail down using that "frail-tail". .

When it comes to Mooney prices, the devil is in the details. The details are: hours on the engine, avionics, general condition (paint and interior) and history. After that, there's other equipment installed and how well a particular airplane suits you. It's not uncommon to see the same basic model priced many thousands of dollars apart...and for good reason. In my opinion, money-wise, you're best off to wait and find exactly the plane you want than to buy one and then up-date/modify to suit. However, some folk would rather customize an aircraft to their taste. Generally Controller's prices are "on the high end". I suspect actual selling prices are significantly less, but there's no way to know and track that sort of info. Personally, I like to follow the listings on Barnstormers.com.

Question for the OSH campers....what do you do for meals?

. . After watching two intentional gear-up landings, I think the single most important factor for a minimal damage gear-up-landing is to fly the airplane carefully through the touchdown. In the two cases I've seen (both C-177 RG's coincidentally), there was a huge difference in the actual touch-down and subsequent damage. In the recent one (between the runways), the guy apparently was thrown off by the loss of thrust when he cut the engine and, it appeared to me, he really "plopped it on" with no gear to absorb the shock. I'm just guessing the aircraft will be totaled-out by the insurance company. In the earlier case (on grass) the guy entered the flare with plenty of speed and held it off, held it off, held it off and "milked it on to the ground. We had that plane back up on it's gear in less than 15 minutes and he taxied the plane to his hangar for repairs. "Fly the plane". Sound familiar? .

. AOPA may/may not be a great organization, but it's about the only representative that little-airplane people have. Sure, we could all quit and save our $45, but who else will fight user fees? As I see it, it costs me nothing to ignore all the member marketing/junk mail, but if that keeps the cost of membership down and AOPA's coffers full, so be it. .

. I agree with you, the statistics are what they are. I own both a Mooney and an experimental and live on "both sides". To me it is humorous that the Ford alternator on my Mooney with PMA tag costs $800+ while the Ford alternator on my RV cost only $40....same exact alternator except for the tag. Which one is "safer"? $600 to rebuild a 1950's design Dukes electric fuel pump on my Mooney, or $85 for a new state-of-the-art electric fuel pump for the experimental. Which is "safer"? No doubt about it, the experimental world does not have so many safety nets as the certified world, but that's what we're complaining about, right? Each of those nets adds cost and confusion. I think the intent of the OP was to question the value of those certification "safety" nets. -

Sure, we can be mad, but it's wasted energy. There are a lot of reasons the system will never change significantly. I think we are all aware of the money forces at work. The simple solution is to go to the dark side. Dump that Mooney and get an experimental. I have friends and neighbors that fly the same airways I do with that "dangerous" experimental stuff! While a C-150 is "legal" to fly IFR with a 50 year old nav/com, that same C-150 equipped with state of the art portable WAAS GPS, iPad display of ADS-B weather and traffic is "illegal". Rules is rules! When it comes time to replace my certified aircraft with something else...it will not be a certified something else.

. When my airplane was about 5 years old it was owned by three doctors. Doctor #1 was flying with doctor #2 who was having trouble getting the landing picture. They "smote-the-earth" on one attempt, went around and retracted the gear. On the next attempt, the gear would only partially extend....something had been bent; no amount of "backup procedures" would extend it. They landed gear-up on pavement and except for the normal collateral items, the damage was minimal. It can happen, even in a Mooney. As to grass vs pavement, I know conventional wisdom says pavement, but not all grass fields are created equal. We had an intentional gear-up here on our grass home-drome by a C-177 RG, the belly was barely scratched except for a couple of antennae. .

. Last weekend I witnessed a C-177 RG make a gear-up landing due to a gear malfunction. The pilot, the tower, the crash crew, everyone knew the gear up landing was coming. The guy didn't get hurt, so I guess it could be called a "successful gear-up landing". The pilot elected to land in the grass between runways despite the tower instructing him to land on the runway and that got a lot of the on-lookers arguing about the best way to land gear-up. Sounds kind of funny since most of the time we try to avoid landing in that configuration, but what do you think? How would you make an intentional gear-up landing in your Mooney? 1. Land on grass, asphalt, concrete, or "other"? 2. Flaps up to minimize damage to the flaps, flaps down to touch down slower, or use partial flaps? 3. Engine running, or shut down on short final? 4. Prop pulled back, or not? 5. Land where there are Mooney repair facilities, land where there's a fire/rescue crew assuming both can't be had at the same airport? Home airport regardless? 6. If the gear will come down partially, but not lock down, will you land with the gear fully retracted, or partially down? 7. Other considerations? Ideas? Experience? Let's all hope we never have to perform this maneuver, but maybe it's something to think about.

Of interest.... http://www.examiner.com/article/national-releases-facts-prior-to-boeing-747-crash-afghanistan

I cheat.... I use a weighted magenta string from my pitot cover over the top of the wing past the trailing edge. If I miss that on pre flight, I've got bigger issues than a blocked pitot! So far....I haven't forgotten it. For those who don't use pitot covers, if you fly in the south, watch out for those mud-daubers!

I have a 74 C model with electric gear. Green light/green stripe aligned: gear down. Amber light: gear up. However, in one of the C POH's I downloaded, it specifies a red light as an "in-transit" (unsafe) indication. My electric gear installation has no red light at all, so I presume there are different indication iterations depending on your year, model, serial number. What's your POH say?

. Operating on/off grass is fun; really no issues as long as the grass isn't too long. About the only time I almost got into trouble was when I landed on a grass airport not knowing the grass was "very wet". Watch out! The braking coefficient of wet grass is less than ice! If you don't know that the grass is dry, assume it is wet and make appropriate allowances for landing distance. /

Spruce-East is indeed at FFC. Great little airport with lots of GA activity on the SW side of Atlanta. Pull up to the FBO and park. Then you have to decide to walk about 10 minutes to the Spruce location which is just off the airport property, or call for the van. Say, Hello" to Tim, Patrick, or whoever happens to be behind the counter. They're all great and will really work hard at finding your obscure parts/pieces and try to save you money. Spruce is a great company with great people. I can't say enough good about them. (No. I have no connection other than a pleased customer.) The ATL class B airspace has recently been modified. No problem getting in/out of FFC, but be aware.

Live with your plane..... http://www.airnav.com/airport/FD38

Well, the overvoltage light only comes on once in a blue, blue moon, so it is very hard to track down. I bought the Zeftronic regulator from Spruce, but it is sitting in its box in my baggage compartment since the problem seemed to have "gone away". Yesterday, right over top of ATL at 4500', the darn overvoltage light came on again. I thought I'd just cycle the CB for the alternator and be able to keep my avionics on for the controller, but I see that the CB is one of those that can be re-set if it pops, but can't be pulled and re-set. I had to wait until I was clear of the Class-B, then cycle the master switch. The over-voltage light went out and the alternator has continued to work just fine. I know I should just install the new VR.....but. Question: if the over-voltage light comes on, does the alternator stop charging until re-set? I thought this was the case, but the ammeter did not show any discharge even though I was running the normal load. Strange.

Before you invest in a non-WAAS box, you might want to ask Garmin for the support of this item. Word I'm hearing is that if your non-WAAS box breaks, you have to up-grade it to get it repaired..... Just a rumor. Maybe someone knows for sure. The WAAS 430/540 gives you some great IFR advantages.

This reminds me of an old Marine aviation saying: "A smoking hole is a small price to pay for a $hit-hot approach!". A graceful go-around can make it look like that was the pilot's intention all along!

Big difference if your airplane is locked in its own hangar, or if it is in a common hangar. IMHO, if it's locked in a hangar only you have access to, you can do 90% of your preflight the night before. In a common hangar, I wouldn't leave anything to chance....nothing.