garytex

Yes mags are something that we treat now like we treat modern ignitions, but they are not. Even on Bendix mags if you're more than 500 hrs passed a good Iran it's time. All us old farts can remember how much maintenance the old points and condenser ignitions used to take. That's what a magneto contains plus it's own little generator they just don't go past 500 very well

Cwalsh, another way to look at this is that no matter what your power setting is, the lowest brake mean specific fuel consumption for the I/O 360 is going to be 20° lean of peak. So you'll get the most propulsive power out of each unit of fuel there. It's measured in pounds of fuel per horsepower per hour. The curve is fairly flat so you can be close and still get the benefits. 65% of power lean of peak assuming 14.7 hp per gallon of our calculates out to 8.8 gallons an hour. So if you're burning less than 8.8 gallons an hour and you are lean of peak you're less than 65% which is a really safe place to run your engine for detonation margin. My engine is typically at peak or slightly rich of peak at 8.8 gallons an hour at cruise at altitude, but that's what the numbers say. In warmer summer temperatures and at altitude my F with an I/O 360 typically is very slightly less than 8 gallons an hour at 20° LOP. Winter gets up in the 8.4 8.5 gallon an hour range. 165 - 170 mph true. On trips near maximum range it's faster to slow down to about 140 indicated Burning in the low sevens and skip a 45 minute or hour long fuel stop with the attendant descent and climb. In my normal cruise,I may be 5 to 8 miles an hour slower than at a 10 1/2 gallon an hour ROP cruise. But that's really not a material difference when you're doing 170 miles an hour instead of 176. The other side of the coin is that this power setting makes me happy, which is what it's all about. I have my prejudices and predelictions which I try to satisfy, yours may really be different. The great thing is, there's the information out there and many of the airplanes have the instrumentation to afford you lots of choice.

The magic number for EGT lead scavenging is 1200 df. Below 1200 the scavenger in hundred low lead does not work. So that's you target for ground ops, try to keep EGT's above 1200. Something is up that your cowl flaps don't make any difference. I have the same cowl that you do, Southwest Texas aviation and my flaps are good for about 10°. It does however take a few minutes for the effect to be seen. And I wrapped the bottoms of my cylinder bases, yours may be unwrapped. Gary

Yes, next scheduled hundred hours is probably fine. However I wouldn't push mags too far. I'm really an "on condition" sort of guy, but my experience is that with mags, hours count. They start wearing out at about 500, and 700 would be way too long for my comfort level

Taking the CFI is the right thing to do. You'll be flying around behind the airplane for about 20 hours. it took me about 50 but you are young and have the strength of 10 because your heart is pure so you'll be done in 20. :-) I land on a lot of rough strips so resealing tanks would be insane for me because the jiggling would be breaking the seals all the time. I have bladders that are 20 something years old they never give me a lick of problem I love them.

Thanks again for responding guys, Gary

Thats the audio matching one, isn't it?

Just wondering if anybody had used the auditory or the strobe RPM apps for smart phone? Is one any better than the other? Do they work? Are they accurate? Thanks, Gary

For me the higher gross weight and room makes an F win over an E. The angle valve 200 hp injected engine in the E and F is maybe the most efficient engine in aviation. So you run 10 to 15 miles an hour faster burning one to 1 1/2 gallons an hour less than the C. It adds up if you fly a lot as I do. That extra power allows me to get in and out of my 1600 foot strip at the ranch, and carry my son and enough firearms and ammunition to go hunting 800 miles away in Colorado with no stops on 54 gal tanks. I really like my F Gary

And over your head

Ryoder: Wow,2500 hrs, that's great. You must be doing something right. On condition ops past tbo requires monitoring of the condition of the engine. So you pay attention to all that you can. It would follow that you would do oil analysis, cut open the filter, monitor spark plugs condition and type of fouling, track oil use, maybe wobble test valves. An engine monitor will speak volumes and, downloaded and checked for the incipient valve burning plateau/drop/plateau trace warn you before the lip cracks off. Bore scopes do the same. The other aspect is assuming a questioning & pensive attitude. What's this stain of oil/exhaust/gas on the windshield/inside cowl/belly or anywhereon the engine. Has the vibration of the engine changed? How it starts, and how the prop stops. Know the reason for anything anomalous, especially concerning the cylinders, as they and the accessories will go first. Sadly I haven always understood what an engine is saying till after it broke. I just didn't understand the failure modes well enough to put 2 & 2 together. More knowledge is always better. (And saves money at the mechanics' shop) And mags are never on condition, service every 500 hrs. Or prepare to get to know the trees better than you would care to. Speaking of trees, a smart old fart taught me to avoid flying over hostile ground, and it's not that hard or that much further to do so. IFR can also mean 'I follow roads' thru desserts, mountains, and continuous swamps or trees. Gary

Bob Cabe is stunning good 210-493-7223 210-289-5375 Mooney's factory transition trainer

I had my bleed screw adjusted where the flaps came up very slowly. Then occasionally they wouldn't come up at all until you had lifted the flap lever a couple three times. My mechanic then open the bleed screw one half turn and the flaps roar up,and never stick down. On the other side of the coin now they very slowly bleed up from the extended position and I suspect I may have to go into the pump or slave cylinder itself. Damn the bad luck.

Steve65E is right about being able to clean the contacts. He's also right about there be lots of little spring-loaded parts and you have to watch your peas and cues to do it. Scotch-Brite works great

Cliffy knows the drill. I learned to fly on a dirt and gravel strip and I remember waiting to take off behind I think it was a Champ which means the prop was probably pretty high off the ground. Everything that flew out of Kitty Hill pretty much was a Taildragger. As I was watching the run up there was a little vortex that formed immediately in front of the prop and all kinds of dirt and leaves and even little rocks and stuff got picked up and went through the prop during the run up. It took a little while, a few seconds, for the vortex to form. So if you are flying off of a surface that has rocks, do your run up while you're taxiing and when beginning the takeoff run don't open the throttle rapidly from a full stop. Wait till you have a little forward motion so there is not so much low pressue generated in front of the prop while it is stationary and there is not enough dwel time for the little vortex to form. I occasionally fly off of caliche runway which is about a quarter small sharp little rocks. I never get any dings using this methodology.

My F shows the bob weight all the time. Which means that the elevator is generating lift. So if I load Aft CG does that mean that I need more downward elevator deflection and go slower? That doesn't seem to be the case because the amount of bob weight showing seems to be really consistent no matter what the loading is. I suspect that the whole tail moves to balance the CG loading and the elevator retains its relative position to the tail. So the big question remains: is the plane faster with an AFT CG?

I sent off some oil samples in water bottles that still had a little bit of water in them and they came back with zero water in the readings

Bob, I understand the FAA's concern. You can't use polaroids in all aircraft. I went up in a pressurized twin to scout for fish before some tournament back in the '80s with my trusty polaroids, and I think the windows were laminated, and i couldn't see diddley. There was some kind of purple splotchy interference pattern that also looked like a stress map of the window. I have a couple of pair that I use in the plane, one is very dark grey, one kind of a brown color. Both extend vision, especially details at distance through lots of air, with the brown ones the best for cutting haze in humid air.

My dogs took theirs off once each, figured out what the muffs were for and accepted them. Standard poodles, they are pretty smart. 2000 rpm is also much quieter, and not too much slower.

Prescription bifocal Polaroids. I don't leave home without them

Yeah, they did the same to diesel a few years back. Price took a little dip and they raised fuel taxes. They are pretty sorry weaseling kleptocrats.

I Had same issue when I put so gasket sender on bottom plug. Per Jpi put SP gasket on 3 on upper plug. It will then approximate the bayonet. Work fine lasta longtime.

I like the pump while cranking scheme, less raw gas in the lower cowl on carbed engines.