robert7467

I still have the visibility too see other aircraft, but no horizon. Luckily I have dealt with so much haze, it's becoming second nature like flying in perfect visibility. I did a BFR in IFR and it was IMC the entire trip. This was my first experience in IMC and I managed to hand fly, stay within 50' and stay on heading without getting fatigued. I guess Haze does have its benefits.

Why isnt haze considered IFR? Yesterdays flight was basically IMC, absolutely no horizon, but yet the area was all VFR. I could have climed out of it or descended below it, but for my local flight, 2000-2500 was the perfect altitude. In a way, I kind of like it because I get to practice my instrument scan and if I start to fatigue there is a way out, so I feel real comfortable in haze. I can see traffic, out the sides, but just no horizon.

Yesterday I drilled on these forever and nothing. New regular bits, a reverse easy out bit, nothing... I can cut them off with a dremel, but my hangar does now have power. The pain is peeling enough to where I can pick it off with my fingernails. I am just going to paint it on the plane and mask it off. Thank you guys!

I will sell you my C model for $120k!

The paint on my wing root fairing is toast. There are some number 6 screws that were painted over and stripped. I tried a 1/8th drill bit. I tried an 1/8th easy out with reverse drilling and I cant get through them. Nothing works! Any suggestions? The paint is peeling, so I can get most of it off with a razor blade and follow up with a 3m wheel, but seriously, I need to learn how to get these basterds out. These are just as bad as cherry rivets. Any suggestions?

I think the avionics guy and I might have this figured out. We are going to vacuum test it tomorrow. Thank you guys for your help!

The top and bottom nipple. Where do these go? Thanks!

Actually it helps a little, there are still 2 hose nipples on the TC. Also the permanently capped nipple I believe is where my PC adjustment knob went that's mounted on the center of the yoke. I will take some pics of the items in question.

I saw those, but it's not the full diagram. Really need to know about the hoses that go into the little valve and how it connects to thing that sits at the 45 degree angle and how it all ties in together to the vacuum source. The guy that was assisting my with my panel upgrade basically disabled it and pulled all the hoses from those 2 components. I can figure out the yoke hoses from the diagram in downloads, but how does it all tie in together. Luckily all the servo lines on the bottom of the 45 degree thingy are still in tact. It's just source and tieing those two components together.

Does anyone have a diagram for the wing leveler? Thanks!

My wing leveler was disabled because it was veering to the left a little. I am willing to deal with that a little and it was probably a vacuum leak. Does anyone have the parts to make this an autopilot? The grim Reeper has the servos (Alan), but it sure would be nice to track a heading, ALT hold would be wonderful as well. Someone please help me!

Most modern aircraft dont have shock mounts. If you remove the bottom shock mounts when you cut a new panel, it will sit flush at zero degrees. I am not too worried, my AI is certified for heavy vibration (helicopters) and my DG for my HSI is mounted in the back but maybe if you have older gyros they could be affected. Check install manuals or consult with your avionics shop.

Just add a Lone Star 14/28V DC converter.

Tanks were fine when I sumped them, I then went back the next morning just in case I got contaminated fuel and everything checked out okay. I guess I will know more when he pulls that carb off. I am going to go out there to pull the cowling and get everything ready for him today.

No, I never had a Merlin but I have around 2 hrs in one. It was twin turbo prop.

Its the 4300 313 I believe. Now, it does not give rate of turn, but the literature says it's a direct replacement of a turn coordinator. I guess for rate of turn you will just have to do the math. On my old TC, I would only look at the ball anyways, so I am not missing it.

On mine years ago I chased an oil leak to the back of the oil pan closest to firewall. The bolts were finger tight. I got a couple of those flexible extensions and torqued them right up. Oil leak resolved!

Yes, I only have about 5 hrs in a from 2004, 2 hours in a Merlin and 2.5 in a Bonanza. Also I updated my profile.

Yeah there is a little rust to be knocked off for sure. I was at a point to where I felt as comfortable flying the Mooney as driving a car. I feel like some of the rust went away during my last 2 flights, or I wouldn't have able to get the plane down. My Mooney is a very nice, well maintained plane. The sad part is, the mechanic at the shop told me on the last go around that they were trying to avoid "putting that $300" seal on that my engine called for (I guess new tolerances or something) and it put my life at risk. Now I am finally out of financial hot water and I can do what I love again. I think IFR is a good starting point. I get to learn a whole new set of procedures from scratch. I am going into a flight school environment where the instructors might not have a lot of time, but they have a syllabus and they drill down on procedures, then occasionally, I can supplement my lessons with that super pilot I was talking about.

Thank you guys for all of the advice. I thought this might have turned into a bashing post, but I still wanted to throw it out there in case anyone else could learn from my experiences. On the first experience, all it took was 1 event to start a whole chain of events. The remaining events were beyond my control and I think I handled them well. However I learned a lot from those in idecidents such as such as planning for an engine failure at every phase of takeoff while I am still on the ground. I also learned not to fully trust instructors, no matter how good they look on paper. I see many high time pilots get complacent not doing a pre flight, not doing a post flight, not dipping or sumping their tanks or even getting a weather briefing. They just jump in the plane and go as if they were driving a car. Stay safe! I hope someone can get something off of this post. You never know when the little piece of information, that you learned somewhere, can save your life!

Thank you guys for all of the advice and thoughts! Reading through these post definitely provokes thought which might help me prevent or manage the next disaster (knock on wood) and keep me out of the killing zone!

My new instructor (he is not doing my IFR, just helping me with advanced techniques) also does aerobatics and glider. I am going to go on some aerobatic lessons. I am thinking some aerobatic time and some time in a glider will go a long way.

When I get this carb issue resolved, I am going to do some high speed taxis to put some takeoff stress on the engine, get used to the plane again with a high time instructor and jump straight into IFR. Luckily I am starting fresh again so I can develop new, better habits. Surving the above situations, proves that I am competent in flying the aircraft itself, but I still have a lot to learn and a lot to think about. I was watching a video the other day where a group of flight instructors were taking turns flying a DC3. The instructor threw a curve ball on each flight by activating the gear up lights, even though the gear was down. Each time, the CFI would start focusing on the gear problem and lost altitude, heading, airspeed. Basically it takes 1 event to set off an entire chain, which boils down to aviating first. The same thing happened with the prop strike. First it was the Sandel going out, 2nd it was the ball busting on carb heat and when to lower the gear, then the distraction of power settings on approach. In a way, I think reflecting on that situation, prepared me for the rest of the situations. The lesson I learned was to aviate first above all else. When I did my recent BFR, I briefed the instructor on procedures on the ground and made sure we were both on the same page prior to departure.

2 years for panel upgrade, then the plane was in the shop for a prop strike, then 2018-2019 were bad years for me (almost went out of business) and didn't have funds for ADSB, also half of the avionics that were sold to me were inop it took additional time and money to get everything resolved. The guy who sold me this stuff had legal issues and is now on a 6 year leave of absence. Now she is compliant and I am doing better financially, so it's time to get back in the saddle and start working on my IFR.

I have a a really good mechanic, it was this reputable engine shop that I had issues with. As far as that instructor goes, that was the first and last flight with him. When I did my BFR, I briefed procedures on the ground.