231flyer

One of the AOPA-Legal Services attorneys spoke specifically about carrying logs at an Oskosh seminar. His counsel is to NEVER carry your a/c logs or pilot logs in the plane. As noted above, you are not required to carry them and there is always the chance of losing them in an accident or theft. However his main consideration is unnecessary enforcement action initiated due to incomplete/inproper logs. Essentially produce only the records specifically requested and contact an aviation attorney if you feel it involves a violation of any kind. I keep my logs in a lockbox and have scanned copies on my office computer.

Years ago I lost my vaccum pump over Paducah KY. The cockpit got smoky in a hurry as fumes from the air/oil seperator streamed into the cabin through the AI outlet (reverse flow as I learned from the mechanic). Once I determined the engine was fine and I had lost the vac, I pull back the throttle to 120 Knots and opened all the cabin vents and the pilot window. The cabin cleared out quickly and the landing at Paducah was uneventful although the pucker factor was definitely high. I think opening all the air nozzles and pulling the cabin vent open was key to clearing the cabin in that case.

I believe CBP(Customs and Border Patrol) policy requires 100% inspection for flights entering the US from the southern border (includes the Carribean). As most of you know, the eAPIS process is very specific and you should absolutely expect to comply by entering through a designated port of entry. I am not current on entry from Canada. Ramp checks are obviously not entry inpections although they may involve similar documents. You are not required to allow the FAA access to your baggage etc during a ramp check. The CBP can require you to unload all your luggage and have free access to your aircraft and belongings. According to my attorney, you should consider your a/c impounded once you roll onto the customs ramp. They have complete control of the a/c till they are satisfied with the inspection and release it back to you. That said, I had a very pleasant experience on our return from the Bahamas over Thanksgiving. The CBP agent met our Malibu on the ramp. He peered inside the cabin and then asked us to come into the customs building with just our passports.....no unloading or inspecting our luggage. The CBP agent inspecting our passports was not interested in AROW or my pilot license/medical. The entire process at Ft Pierce took less than 5 minutes.

Thanks AllSmiles. I have been flying since 1992 so I should be due my next ramp check within the next couple of years.......just smile and be friendly!

Your hotspot would fare as well as your cell phone in the air. Spotty coverage (ok reception over population areas) at best.

Twice, once in 2000 at KBJC and again in 2006 at KFTW. AT BJC the FAA guy walked up after I had landed from TX and asked to see my registration. I had recently re-registered the A/C and he said it raised an alarm in their system when I filed an IFR flight plan. I had had my pink copy and that was the end of the conversation. Very pleasant even apologetic guy ....maybe because I had my family in the 231. I detected a RPM fluctuation(dirty spark plug after an annual) on takeoff from KDTO and decided to make a precautionary landing at Ft Worth Meecham. FAA guys were waiting for me as I taxied to the mechanic. Asked for AROW, License, and medical. I had a photocopy of my medical and they asked me to Fax them the original (did not understand the difference but did not argue). Guys were pleasant but seemed they were trying to fill their quota of monthly ramp checks

LightSquared is DOA.......RIP! http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/LightSquared-Claims-Government-GPS-Interference-Tests-were-Unfair-398806/

Spot Communications has a great product to get you internet/email/txt msg while you are in the air. Cheap solution compared to the Wolfsberg sat-comm stuff out there but its does involve a monthly subscription. I have owned one for the last year and love the portability although it is used mainly by my daughters to text their friends. IMHO a must have EPRB if you are flying over open water with limited radio coverage. http://www.findmespot.com

Teflon hoses should be good for life according to Mike Busch. He has a whole series on unnecessary MX. Please find a link below; http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=991383595001

Sun-N-Fun is scheduled for March 27-April 1st this year (www.sun-n-fun.org). Its probably a little too early for deals but we should start seeing emails by the middle of Feb (make sure your EAA profile if upto-date). I have been many a time and its always been "fun". I was there last year when the storms came through and destroyed many a beautiful airplane (my 231 escaped with not a scratch). I would highly encourage you all to go and enjoy being surrounded by all things airplane. Its a truly unique expereince (other than Oshkosh but easier to get in) and quite comfortable for low time pilots. My first time there was in 1993, no more than 25 hrs after I got my ticket. The approach Notam is well written and traffic tends to be well behaved. The smoke stacks at Lake Parker are well lit and easy to indentify as is the lake especially with a GPS and precise coordinates for the entry point as defined in the Notam. Landing is a standard pattern (left or right depending on the the winds ofcourse) and the only deviation being asked to land on a green or orange dot on taxiway alpha (used as the landing runway for the fly-in). The landing area is 8500'X50' so its plenty long and they usually ask you to land on either dot (actually a very large 20' colored circle) so as to stack in more than one plane at a time. You will be asked to either land long or short, but still have over 3000' for roll out. If you are concerned about the pattern being too busy plan to arrive early in the morning (before 9 AM) either the day before the show begins (26th) or the middle of the show on Thursday. They always have plenty of parking and I would recommend camping to get the full fly-in expereince. Lots of hotels nearby too if camping is not your thing. Try it.......you will come back for more!!!

I have seen noticable paint erosion on the leading edge of my 231 after flying through rain over a period of time.....nothing immediate though. I have also seen some paint erosion on the prop blades in my Mirage (composite prop). Early in my career, I used to program robots to assemble and paint class c trucks. Paint erosion tests (including salt sprays, road chips, etc) were part of the normal test suite for accepting new coatings. We also used solid CO2 pellets to bead blast paint for rework. I can see how flying thru a crystalized cloud could have a similar effect on your wings etc.

"MOONEYs dont like ICE. I fly my Malibu Mirage if ice is even a possibility."

Occasionally forecast conditions don't match actual. When that happens (a down-slope in my case above) evasive action is indicated. Else we would be waiting for perfect blue sky days (fortunately 300+/yr in Colorado). I defintely had the get-there-itis; it was my daughter's first xmas eve and I was desperately trying to get home from a skiing trip with my college buddies. In any case it is best to evade icing conditions even in a FIKI equipped a/c like my Malibu Mirage.

I haven't noticed much of a diference with rain. Its a spam-can so it can get loud but I agree with earlier posts of ~5Knots max effect. I flew gliders as a kid and we were specifically prohibited from flying in the rain (old metal Schweitzers not the sleek modern stuff). Unfortunately I have a lot of expereince with icing in a non-FIKI 231 and can attest to the absolute aweful flying qualities. At 1/4" on the wings the elevator will show almost 1" build up, the Mooney will shed 15 knots easy. At 1" on the wings the elevator control authority is greatly compromised and maintaining 120 knots is a challenge. I have had to declare an emergency over Springfield CO and land on the snow covered runway. Ice was not forecast at the altitude but things started going bad as I left BJC. I managed to accumulate more than 11/2" on the wings and nothing I did (climb/decend etc) would get me out and ATC was equally clueless. The airplane lteterally started to sing and I could barely muster 90 knots when I declared. Springfield was 5 miles futher than Trinidad (CO) but in the plains and both were MVFR so I elected the former. The runway was covered but GPS and my charts confirmed it was parallel to the road so I lined up and spotted the hangars at 100 ft. I kept full power to touchdown and it wasn't pretty. The elevators were so loaded that large chunks broke off from the jarred landing. MOONEYs dont like ICE. I fly my Malibu Mirage if ice is even a possibility.

The KHYI (San Marcos) airport diagram is the little icon left of the Header in the airport section. Touch the icon to get a bigger pic. HYI does not publish a taxi layout in the NCAA format so one is not included in Foreflight. Some airports like KGNB dont even get an airport icon (no instrument approach)

I had a great trip to Treasure Cay - Abaco Island over Thanksgiving and researched the requirements for flight to/from Bahamas. According to the latest Bahamas guide and the Bahamas official web site for pilots, a radio license is not required. They have also waived the requirement for a 406 khz ELT. Its real pilot friendly in and out of the Bahamas (please see my post for details). Mexico is a whole different story (including overflight restrictions etc). I haven't flow into Canada in quite a while but they did require a radio license (circa 1998).

I am really sorry you are experiencing such a hard time finding a competent mechanic to fix your 231; especially since you are less than an hour from Kerrville. I would strongly advise against flying with any kludged fix. Since the mechanic at Stinson seems at a loss I would call Cutter Aviation at SAT. I had a tach issue while visiting SAT in 2007 and the mechanics at Cutter were very helpful and knowledgeable. Else offer to drive one of the guys down from Dugosh or call Don Maxwell in Longview. I had an alternator MX issue in AUS and ended up flying in my mechanic from DTO to fix the problem since the guys on field were similarly clueless about Mooney systems.

Amazon has ipad car chargers with two USB outlets that work 12-30V. I think I paid $5 (free shipping with premium). Works great......will charge the iPad and the iphone at the same time. No heat issues at all.

Takeoff at full rich, full RPM, and 42". Reduce to 2500 RPM and 35" after 500' and flaps retracted. Fuel flow is set at 14 gph and temps are comfortably in the green.

We used TacAir at Centennial (APA) over the Xmas break. They were great and had the best fuel prices (got the SS rate for a w/e full service top off). I also discovered 470 around the south side of Denver to I-70 west is 11 minutes shorter than I-25/I-70 to the mountains. With this new route, it takes the same time to my house in Granby from either airport.

There should be an in-line fuse (10A) on the same circuit. Since the resistor blew and not the fuse you probably had a higher rated fuse. Please check if you can still prime or run the high-boost setting ( I am assuming they are both in-op). You need to install the correct fuse, replace the resistor, and then find the source of the short. Mine turned out to be a chafffed wire from the primer switch (Btw the low boost and primer activate the same circuit). You need this circuit in working order for a safe flight. Besides priming the engine the low-boost is your primary safety standby pump. The high boost switch by-passes the resistor thus running the standby pump at the "higher" flow rate.

Thanks Lahso. My wife did all the planning and I am happy to share when you are ready. We stayed at the Bahamas Beach Club and really enjoyed the "low season". I think there were max 20 tourists in Treasure Cay this past week and 7 were in our party. The weather was great and we are already thinking of next Thanksgiving. Mike: I would love to visit Stella and CSM. Btw anyone here done the Cuba hop from Great Inagua (30 miles ?). My brother-in-law and I were trying to figure out the logistics. Looking to do something after Ski season (April).

The flight home was great. Got Miami center right off MYAT and easy approach to Fort Pierce. The customs and immigration folks were great. Friendly and efficient. On pulling onto the customs ramp one of the agents came over and looked inside the plane. Satisfied he asked us not to offload our bags and bring them to the customs bldg. The immigration process took less than 5 minutes and we were sitting down to lunch within 15 minutes of landing. Both the entry and exit process at MYAT were a breeze too. Highly recommend the flight.

Great flight in. We got cleared Fort Pierce-ANGEE-Freeport-Treasure Cay at 11000 ft. Flight time was a tad over an hr and had Miaimi Center all the way till we decended below 3000 ft. Very easy approach into MYAT even though we had cross-winds of 15 knots +. Long runway in good shape and easy parking/ processing. NEWS!!! as of last week Treasure Cay now has Avgas as well as Jet A. They have a small trailer tanker they can drag upto your plane if required....no need to fly into Marsh Harbor just for gas. Will update with pics on our return. Still enjoying the great Bahamian beaches/diving/fishing/eating etc.......hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.....Longhorns won so all is well with the world!!!!!

I am sure the correct nomenclature and phraseology is covered in an official ATC publication. I found an easy two pager that seems to cover most for new pilots. Not comprehensive but adequate to keep the controllers happy that your are trying to be intelligible. http://www.flyjohn.com/atc_phraseology.pdf