Mooneymite

Hmmmmm. Perhaps you're starting the flare (rounding out) too high?

Current CFI in the Atlanta area, but generally limit my activities to "friends and neighbors".

Actually, those of us with the electric gear in the 'C' and 'E' models should pay attention to this discussion since the airspeed loads and lubrication/rigging are just as pertinent even if an electric motor is doing the work. I believe that a lot of the gear-wear problems that have turned up in the electrical gear systems (hence the AD) are attributable to excessive loads caused by poor lubrication, poor rigging, high retraction speeds, or a combination of the three. I think the electrics will last a long time if we just minimize the stress on the drive gears. At least I hope so!

Yes, I can probably find one in the PMA section of Lowe's if I know what diameter. I do know fine threads are required.

Great idea! Every time I sump fuel, I wonder, "What if this thing continues to drain?" Since I don't have a spare quick-drain, maybe just a proper sized bolt to keep the fuel from leaking while I go find a part.....? Does anyone know what a "proper sized bolt" would be? Even if I never use it, it would yield peace of mind when I sump the tanks.

In my earlier post, I mentioned partial flaps for transitioning newbies until they get the hang of squeekers. Obviously, a proficient pilot can properly land the aircraft at any appropriate flap setting. Full flaps causes a more rapid deceleration which necessitates a more aggressive elevator input; partial flaps mitigates this and allows the new pilot to "get the picture". I am not advocating partial flaps as a panacea....it has been a successful tool in transitioning new pilots. However the transition is not complete until the pilot is a master at all flap settings. Use whatever flap setting is appropriate for conditions.

Dup

I've transitioned several guys to my C model, though I don't pretend to be a Mooney guru. What I've found helps after they have the basics of proper airspeed control are: 1. Begin by using less than full flaps. 2. Make sure they've got enough back trim on final....usually a tad more than the "takeoff" trim. 3. Make sure they get a chirp (or two...) out of the stall warning horn prior to settling onto the runway. 4. Make sure they keep plenty of back pressure on the elevator during roll-out. 5. Don't do touch and goes. #3 and 4 may have to be modified a bit if it's gusty/windy.

Just wanted to mention that Bendix has a rebuild kit for the L/R/Both/push-to-start switches. Much cheaper than a new switch and an easy one hour job. There is an AD against these switches to check for faults. Mine failed the test; the repair kit was all I needed. I think I still have pictures of the new guts being installed.

Congratulations. The C is hard to beat in terms of bang for the buck. Where in VA are you based? Do you have a hangar for your new baby?

Before exploring the tough stuff....just make sure the nose wheel is perfectly centered.

I've had bladders for years (installed 1992, I think)....completely problem free. However, about a year after I bought the airplane when the bladders were about seven years old, I did get some evidence of a fuel leak. I did as suggested and removed the access panels and found that all the screws for the bladder access panels had become loose as the seals had compressed over the years. About twenty minutes with a philips screw driver and the problem was gone. Never had another issue. I've talked to other bladder owners who have had exactly this issue at about the same number of years. Simple cause, simple fix. I love those bladders.

I have an EBC-502 you might be interested in. It works fine, but the battery is out of date.

Wow! What a bunch of scofflaws. Every time I ride an airliner, I'm told that FAR's do not permit operation of anything with a battery and an on/off switch because it will cause an immediate crash and mass carnage. I certainly hope none of this outlandish, dangerous behavior takes place below 10,000'. If you persist in this habit, I hope you don't carry flight attendants with you. They'll tell on you.

Really? I thought it was dependent on the country. I'm sure I've heard VFR aircraft running all about in foreign lands at night. News to me.

Here's an old approach plate, but look at the MSA's.......Beautiful in the daytime, but it can be challenging night, or IMC. .

Not necessarily true. 1850 hours was a tough sell because it was "close to TBO". Pricing a plane with a few hours left is problematic because the seller sees value in those few hours, whereas buyers mentally compute "run-out". I know several people who like planes with run-outs because they want to choose the replacement engine. The problem always comes that the seller and prospective buyers can't agree on price. Most sellers are unwilling to discount their planes enough to cover the cost of the run-out. An additional benefit to buying a "run-out" is that often it is not truly run-out, it's just at/beyond TBO. Very often there are many "free" hours left in a high time engine if the plane can be bought at the full run-out discount and then flown beyond TBO. However, I generally agree with the "don't buy a project" adage.

Actually, I'd feel safer if everyone was required to carry an assault weapon when travelling on the airlines. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) worked for the entire cold war and some of the participants were a lot more dangerous than the typical airline passenger! "Ma'am, I'm sorry but you can't board until you have your ammo clip completely filled. We want everyone to be equally dangerous."

Here's a picture I took during installation of the EI FP-5L transducer. I have several others if anyone needs installation pics. http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33953-fuel-flow-transducer/ Incidentally, my installation fitted best if I used a "45" on one end and a straight connector on the other end of the transducer. I called EI and they said it was "okay", but it is preferable to have the same type fitting on both ends. My display will sometimes jump a few tenths, but the overall accuracy for fuel burned is very accurate. I never had to adjust the K factor at all. The technical support was great.

Low wing aircraft tend to have issues with vapor-lock. Flying your Mooney inverted will avoid this issue. :-)

So, would it be more economical still to set RPM even lower than 1900? What about 1500RPM X 15" of MAP....would that yield better economy? I've never explored the world of low RPM ops.... I know that "generally speaking" lower prop speeds can be better, but is there a point where it is too low? Obviously MAP has to drop as well to prevent an over-boost situation. Personally, I don't think that 80KTS in a 'C' is on the "backside". For economy, best speed would be closer to best L/D, right? But what is the "practical" best speed given the required maneuvering in the hold? .

(I did a quick search of the forum for this, but couldn't find that it had been discussed. If it has, can someone send me the links?) I recently flew to the Jacksonville area. I knew that the coast would be fogged in and planned my arrival for when the weather was supposed to break up. Surprise: it didn't....so I had to hold. In 14 years, I have very rarely ever had to hold in my Mooney because I try not to fly into "hard IFR" and I don't usually fly into airports where congestion is a problem. When I got into holding, I realized I really had never read much discussion about the best speed/power settings for holding. Seems like all we talk about is going fast. Flying a 'C' model, I pulled the prop back to 1900 and set MAP where I would get about 80 Kts, and leaned aggressively....I had to keep moving the power because of the turns in holding, but it seemed like it was pretty close to 15" most of the time....fuel flow showed about 4.2-5.0 GPH. (I held for about 20 minutes and then successfully got in on an LPV approach to about 300') What do you do when you just want to stay airborne at a typical holding altitude, burn the least amount of gas going nowhere? Techniques? Any Mooney guidance?