Dave Marten

Thanks guys! What a great quiz. http://www.aopa.org/apps/quizzes/ I tried to imagine the stereotypical Mooney pilot and plugged in those answers.....the quiz is spot-on! Found a way to answer with a little bit of Friday humor! This combo seriously leads to a Mooney! Have a good laugh The "Mooney Pilot" - God help us all! 1.I wanna fly before 1980! Gas is too expensive now even LOP! 2. My favorite aviator: Lindbergh- Of course the one who flew the furthest on the least gas! 3. My favorite aviation movie is: The magic of flight - The one that doesn't involve combat and mostly keeps the wings level! 4. Will buy a new car, but......the last new one I bought was nearly 20yrs ago! 5. The car I'd most like to drive is a: Porsche - speed and efficiency. Little engines can do big things too! 6. The motorcycle I'd most like to ride is a: VESPA! (smallest engine of course!) 7. I love rollercoasters! NO - remeber keep the wings level damn it! 8. I bought my first smartphone in: I STILL DON'T OWN ONE! 9. An airframe parachute is: Nice, but not necessary 10. I'm willing to pay over $50 for a fine bottle of wine because I can taste the difference and the better product is worth it. - HELL NO! 11. My dream aviation trip would take me - Distant Island - I enjoy the long range flight (lean of peak) and I have been known to be socially awkard at times. Hiking is too much work. Sports involves too many people and too much excitement. 12. I prefer driving a car with: Automatic - they invented those things for a reason. Let's keep this simple please. 13. Reducing my carbon footprint is: If you don't make me work at it I'll do it. I consider flying LOP to be my contribution to reducing my emissions. 14. If I were a U.S. military pilot, the airplane I'd most like to fly is a: Ok, an F/A-18, I have a bit of an edge, but let's not get too exicted about this. C-17 is just too big, remember I prefer the Vespa over the Harley! AND THE ANSWER IS..... MOONEY 201. Congrats YOU ARE A MOONEY PILOT! Now crack open those hangars doors and go fly 'em! Note: I put in my own answers and got a P-51, great, but I'll never be able to afford to own one. So cheers to the Mooney! Blue Skies!

Gents, Location and date will solidify soon. The Texas clinic will be discussed at Kerrville this weekend during Homecoming. Leaning toward mid-late June. North Texas Regional (KGYI) is high on my list as is Kerrville. I'm working with our B2Osh friends to assist with safety pilot support as we do not yet have enough formation qualified Mooney drivers in Texas to handle the volume on our own. Gathering a cadre of safety pilots to facilitate training will impact our choice of location. We WILL make this happen! Details will be available soon! For those of you who are saddled up with your spurs on and have no problem flying north of the Red River you're welcome to attend the Caravan clinic in Wichita, KS 16-18 May. https://sites.google.com/site/mooneycaravan/training/2014-wichita

Go knock the rust off with that BFR and then come on out and fly formation. Since you're in NorCal talk to Don Kaye if you want to get your money's worth out of the flight review. www.donkaye.com In addition to being a Master CFI and "Maestro of the Mooney" he's also a Caravan pilot.

Fantom, What are your plans for '14?

DaV8or, NorCal is right around the corner and in your area! Bonanzas are hosting. Come on out: https://www.b2osh.org/MbrPgm/Events/EventsOne.asp?R8r06=IDI There is a very active group of Mooney Caravan pilots in NorCal who'd be happy to get you in the air. PM me if you'd like direct contact info. Let's go fly! BTW, Chris Shopperly, Canadian 252 owner and Caravan Pres, was down in Phoenix on business so he spent the weekend in Yuma helping train new formation pilots! 20 Mooneys spent the weekend flying on the border. pics at www.mooneycaravan.shutterfly.com

In this example the pilot had NOT be issued an approach clearance and was under IFR control. No release granted or implied by approach control. The pilot should not intiate his own contact with the tower while still under IFR control with approach. That is the procedural foul. In this case the pilot, by initiating his own switch while under positive IFR control is wrong. In this case if the pilot initiated a descent out of his IFR assigned altitude without clearance he's wrong. Be patient, report the field, recieve your clearance for the visual and handoff to tower, and have a nice day. For the 5th time.....if you want to ship yourself over to tower and descend on your own you need to say the magic words...Cancel IFR. Study up on your instrument procedures boys! IPC's for all my friends!

Banjo, We really enjoyed meeting you at Oshkosh and loved your banjo playing each evening! Please join us if you find yourself in the States this summer. Thanks for the video!

You should not switch to tower on your own when under IFR control...period. So dump the IFR! For the fourth time.....if VMC key the mic, CANCEL IFR, squawk 1200.....THEN proceed inbound VFR. Establish your two way comm prior to entering the class D and land. Don't hand yourself off to the next controlling agency. Nothing will piss off ATC more then a pilot trying to do their job for them. There may be a damn good reason why they aren't talking to you at the moment. So either be patient or cancel your IFR services.

If you are VMC and able to maintain VMC to the field your best answer is to CANCEL IFR. State your cancellation, squawk 1200, and contact tower outside their Class D. The busy controller will hear your cancellation and/or SEE your VFR sqwauk. Proceed with a VFR arrival. Gotta state that IFR cancellation! If you are not able to maintain VMC then your stuck waiting on the controller. If on that IFR clearance you must maintain your last assigned altitude (3000MSL in your case) until reaching your clearance limit (FDK) if still unable to get a word in you need to hold at the clearance limit AIM: "If the requested clearance is not received prior to reaching the clearance limit fix, the pilot will be expected to enter into a standard holding pattern on the radial or course to the fix unless a holding pattern for the clearance limit fix is depicted on a U.S. Government or commercially produced (meeting FAA requirements) low or high altitude enroute, area or STAR chart. In this case the pilot will hold according to the depicted pattern." For your example: Best Answer in VMC - State your IFR cancellation, squawk 1200, contact tower outside the Class D, and proceed with a VFR arrival. Do not descend for the field on your own while still under on an IFR clearance - cancellation is key (3rd reminder).

NO. This is NOT a lost comm situation. Lost comm procedures are not a solution for busy radios.

Yes.

Amen brother! Your first love is always the sweetest. This one's for you Fantom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrNiA-_gF1A Cheers!

Only mentioned the P-39 for the driveshaft/engine configuration. Remote-mounted engines in aircraft, while a challenge, has been successful. Just to be clear the little Airacobra is not on my top beauty or performance list. But in all fairness she found her niche and did her job.

Extended driveshafts in aircraft were solved 70 years ago with the P-39 Airacobra and P-63 King Cobra. The P-63 was powered by mid fuselage mounted 1800hp V-12 and ran the driveshaft forward under the pilot. They didn't have a problem. Incidentally more of these quirky little P-39s and P-63s were built then the total production of run of all Mooney aircraft to date. The Bugatti guys do have two articulated shafts to deal with. I eagerly look forward to their success! To me the most beautiful airplane is the XB-70 Valkyrie. Of course I'm biased toward such types.

You probably do most of your flying in areas of benign terrain within radar coverage and are normally afforded radar vectors from fields where diverse departures are authorized (no obstacles penetrating the 40:1 obstacle identifcation surface) hence standard climb gradients (no trouble "T"). When rocks get in the way then you may well find yourself on the SID. Remeber from the AIM: Standard Instrument Departures are air traffic control (ATC) procedures printed for pilot/controller use in graphic form to provide obstruction clearance and a transition from the terminal area to the appropriate en route structure. SIDs are primarily designed for system enhancement and to reduce pilot/controller workload. ATC clearance must be received prior to flying a SID. BL: if there is a published SID review it to determine why its there. If there is a non-standard climb gradient then the procedure is published to help keep you outta the dirt. Sure, if the radar coverage is good you may still get that friendly radar vector departure.

VetRepp, Just to be clear - There is no purpose to tapping the brakes on your M20R. Just fly the plane. If your main wheel tires are contacting anything in the wheel well you have a rigging problem. You're flying an Ovation 2, flush your old habit.

Multiple Mooneys congregating at a given location means only one thing - there was a discount/sale going on somewhere!