Tony Armour

Yes, it took me three times to do a low pass over the runway :-) I had no idea how hard it would be....but that little air speed dial-ometer kept wanting to get in the red. Also was somewhat of a rush for someone that for 20 years has only used a runway for takeoffs and landings. Why ?? I don't know......maybe folks dive at the finish ? haha Steep turns "at speed" around a point didn't seem too bad though. My flight track looks like I was lost......AND drunk !

But a J and K or exactly the same except for the engine. You wouldn't separate an Ovation and Bravo. It's a nice easy progression from model to model....that's good for all of us. I think body length is a good way to separate. What would that be: short/mid/long and wood ? Maybe I should have said, what wood that be :-)

OK, Tony............................... put up or SHUT UP :-)

I disagree and am surprised that you feel that way being TN. I would say: a turbo gives you so many more options, it covers any mission :-) I have around seven years of J ownership and now eight years owning a Bravo.

http://www.funplacestofly.com/aviation-event-details.asp?EventID=20529

Turbine.

I went to my first there at M54 just east of Nashville a few months back. One of the better breakfasts I have ever been to. Attendance was comparable to Winchester Tn. and it's one of the best attended around these parts. Heck, there were probably eight or so V-tails alone. It would be great to see more Mooney's ! I think end of the season, Holloween, it will be a good one. Fancy vittles too. Remember, we EST'ers gain an hour so it makes for a better start too.

Two Mooney's so far. I'm thinking about it. I'll be a first timer and just out to learn. Anyone else interested ? http://sportairrace.org/sarl/node/1955 Course: http://sportairrace.org/sarl/node/2202

Tricycle gear welcome too ! Last year there were 30+ transient aircraft.

You can remove the panel without removing the screw under the arm rest. Don't ask how I know ;-) Haha, what about placards ? All this work and do we just tape them up to paint or is there a good source for new ?

Take a tube of silicone in a caulk gun and seal every place you can find, from the back of the alternator to the oil cooler, both sides. Every little hole, every little crack. For some of them you may need to put hard plastic tubing over the end of the silicone to get into tight locations. 32/2400, yikes. And at that TiT what WAS your fuel burn ? :-) Who is it that started the rule of ..... Ah is it 53 ? 24(00) rpm plus 32mp = 56 (RPM+MP = 53) I usually run 28 or 29mp at 2400, burning 19.5+/- @ 1600-1615 TiT nothing ever over 380 degrees with the flaps closed.

I am frequenting KFME now. Seems like a great airport. I counted six or seven Mooney's tied down there as I taxied out Sunday.

All good stuff, keep it coming !

I think I'll oil it up to check for bubbles and inspect it with my lighter :-)

Robert, take a few minutes and pull the access panel on the pilots side and let someone operate the handle while you watch the movement at the valve. I wish I had seen it before.

Mountainous terrain below and clouds at 12k but probably no icing. Minimum altitudes 6-7,500' IMO, knowing something is going on: no oxygen and constantly watching (at 14k) is way different than it sneaking up on you. Any higher then yes I would have went ahead and done something. I REALLY didn't want to leave blue skies to get beat up :-) Plus, I had been reading this thread LOL

Yesterday I got to play at 14,000' Seems my O2 must have developed a leak because we went from 700psi to 100 in a hurry. First thing I did was turn the wife's O2 off. Seeing we were going to be out soon and I didn't want to descend into the clouds just below while still 300+ miles from home I decided to tough it out. Normal breathing and I was in the high 70's, I could concentrate and continue deep deep breathing and bring it back to 90 O2 sat. For a while it was uncomfortable but got better....euphoric maybe ? I know I sure felt better at 90+ just after a few hits of O2 than I did while deep breathing. All while thinking I should have the portable with me instead of in the hanger ! A leak will be tough to track down.

Actually it was a tip of what not to do. On mine, it's about 1/3 of a turn. It broke at the handle. On the handle mechanism there is a metal dowel and the cable makes a couple loops around the dowel. Mine now has one loop. The valve arm itself moves very little and you can hear gas venting when opening and to a lesser degree when closing. That leads me to think the pressure is helping the valve (internally) For sure its not "just" a ball type valve. There are a LOT more teeth on that big gear than it actually uses. Maybe the same is used on another model but with a bigger swing.

Which product for panel repair ? Spruce has plasti fix and poly fix. The poly talks about a chemical reaction, heating up etc. anyone with personal experience? http://www.aircraftspruce.com/categories/building_materials/bm/menus/cm/repairkits_polyfix.html After pulling my drivers side panel last week, I'm shocked at just how thin it is. No wonder thay crack !!

Possible tip if you aren't aware. Not sure what other Mooney's are like my bravo in regards to the on/off handle and the bottle valve. In my ignorance and I guess because I have done lots of plumbing in my life: I thought I was always working a ball valve. The spongy feeling of the on/off when turning off I now understand is due to the cable length etc. I would crank it, then again and then again. What we are operating is a solid cable inside a sheathing just like a lawn mower uses for the throttle or choke. Now that I have broken my cable at the handle end and have had a chance to play with it, it seems like the bottle valve does not need to move much and it's either off or on....no in between. Someone else can chime in too but it almost seems as the pressure helps it open/close when it gets to a certain point. No need to crank the handle, just a smooth turn and gentle pressure until it stops. Here is a picture of a Bravo, the gauge is next to the arm rest and then the black valve handle is to the right of that.

And ?? also interested in the performance increase of the four blade...what are they and what's the price ? $10k for 10knts and 200' sounds great.

Well, that's nuts ! So there is one TLS that never had the Bravo mod. If they get any cheaper it may work to buy one for a parts airplane :-)

I agree. Using TiT was just simplifying my statement. EGT's make up the TiT, don't you agree that they are kinda the same. Move one or the other up or down and they move together. The TiT redline on mine is 1750 !! No wonder so many cylinders were burnt up before the Bravo mod.....and........probably why many cylinders were burnt up afterwards too :-) Oh yea, and 500 CHT :-O If someone asks me how hot I run mine, I'm not going to quote each EGT. I'll just say 1615 TiT. And that's what I use to set the mixture while watching the EGT's and cylinder temps as well as the oil temp. Knowing that if all else is good then I'm fine with dialing in on a TiT number. For that not to work something has to be wrong. I would never own an airplane, at least an injected airplane without an engine analyzer. On the back of my kneeboard I have my "normal" EGT's, CHT's, and corresponding TiT laminated and taped. So if I ever question that there is an issue I have quick access to good data to use for comparison. I forget exactly where mine peaks but it is above 1650 and it will actually run LOP quite smooth but I don't do that except to play with it every few years (briefly)

980 lbs Probably what was meant was payload. 89+ gallons full and a fuel burn of 27gph in climb and 19-20gph in cruise. And remember, those numbers (if not dialed back for, say tooling around local) stay the same no matter if you are at 3,000' or 23,000'. No discount for altitude because you are still making the same power but that equals speed too. Figure the numbers and it still sounds worse then it really is. The speed difference in my Bravo vs the 83' J I owned for seven years offsets at least some of the fuel used. Edit, my above statement got me curious and is probably good for its own thread. On the flight I just did, North Ga. to Baltimore (still here) My TLS compared to my J flight planning. I burned 17 more gallons and saved thirty minutes. 53g vs 36g and 2:34 vs 3:01, 14,000' vs 8,000' (used even altitudes for comparison) So when talking weights and comparing, I needed 100 pounds more fuel for the same trip. I will say..so I have been TOLD, the Bravo (and probably an Ovation) will carry an extra 100lbs much better than a 201. If I messed anything up, well, it's 3AM :-)

I did mine at the Air Force base in Columbus MS. Nice central location. Somewhere around age 46, now at 53 I can pretty much guarantee that even being in better physical shape I don't think I would do as well in the chamber.