Wildhorsesracing

Welcome! Have they shown you the secret handshake yet? :-)

Taxiing today to take off and 1/2 down the taxiway the rudder pedals started shaking violently. We got out and found a flat tire on the nose wheel. The discussion became how lucky we were to have it happen before take off and not on a landing. Has anyone landed with a flat tire? Is it even possible to safely land with minimal damage on a flat tire?

While you are waiting for your plane you can plan your hangar parking. My hangar is 48ft wide by 26ft deep, the two areas in the back are 12ft by 7ft. The lines make it real easy to put them away.

It is an easier to fly plane than a taildragger - my Hatz needs deliberate rudder inputs on landing and when I do that in the Mooney she starts skidding towards the edge of the runway - be gentle with rudder inputs.

That's what I did as well - and once I got everything to fit smoothly I painted lines on the ground extending out from each plane's wheels so I can quickly and easily roll them back in. I'll take a pic of the lines next time I am at the airport, I even have a note - "tail clears" written on the nose wheel paint line when the Mooney tail is clear of the wall and I can start the turn.

Sorry, those are my A&P's cars, I have a similar collection of high performance cars though. Money wasn't the issue as much as the time it was going to take just to be a mediocre IFR pilot, I have been self employed for most of my adult life so I always feel the need to justify spending money vs return on the investment. I have realized that I can fly almost anywhere as a VFR pilot and I figure since I am 55 that I have 10-15 yrs of long cross countries left. I am not a big fan of doing something half way and I just couldn't see myself as an IFR pilot. I was hoping someone would come up with a compelling reason to to it. If it makes any sense, I was teetering between an IFR rating or Helicopter rating and I am going to start taking Helicopter lessons soon. I had a software business, and raced Mustangs (hence WildHorsesRacing), turns out I was pretty good at driving and started a high performance driver's education business. Sold the software biz in 2008 and semi-retired, living off of investments. The performance driver's school is a niche business that I enjoy doing more than the income it produces, so it has really become a "dream job" that someone would only do for the fun of it.

I realized today that I could easily leave the Mooney home when the weather is nasty and take one of my other vehicles...

You can always tell the C model pilots, their right arm is bigger from the johnson bar exercises. Welcome to the C model club!

You're right, I guess being retired has made me lazy, but it's a lifestyle I have learned to live with, it's tough sometimes, trying to decide when it's a sunny day where to fly to. Just got back from a trip to KPGD for a week, my wife wanted some Florida oranges, we were both tired of the cold weather so we packed up and went. We left on a Wednesday and wanted to come back on Sunday, but the weather was ugly at my home airport(snow+ice), and we wanted some more FL sunshine, so we stayed until the weather cleared. If we hadn't stayed we would've missed these gorgeous Punta Gorda sunsets... Don't worry about me joining the exclusive ranks of IFR pilotdom, like someone said earlier, I'd rather be a live VFR pilot in clear weather than a borderline rusty IFR pilot headed into IMC...

It cost less that $2 AMUs to learn tailwheel and aerobatics (which were both fun to do). My '62 M20C isn't equipped for IFR, although it did have a Loran in it, but my A&P convinced me years ago to take it out, especially since it was a tube radio.

This reminds me of the Mexican fisherman story... An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?” The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.” “But what then?” Asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!” “Millions – then what?” The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.” ------------------------ Suffice it to say I am mid 50's, retired from my 1st business at 46 and am trying not to work so hard on my current business. My current "job / businesses" is saturated at one weekend a month, we tried years ago to expand but it just degraded the quality. I did the whole story above, made the money but now prefer to sleep late, fly a little, play with my kids and sip wine in the evenings. So far I have heard many good reasons to get an IFR rating, but since I am older it is a tough decision especially since I prefer to fly low and slow and smell the aroma of the fields and villages. If I was 10 yrs younger, I'd have it done in a week!

All of these reasons are great, and so far almost everything, except for cloud surfing, I have done as a VFR pilot w/flight following. My Mooney has a VOR/NAV radio w/o glideslope. Talking with my CFI and the local A&P they both suggested I upgrade to an ADS-B GPS while I am at it - hence the $8-10k figure. I understand I can get the IFR with just a VOR/NAV but my plane would be limited as to which airports I can land at. I am based just outside a Class B and flown "over the top" via VFR flight following a few times with no major issues (although I won't be able to do it after 2020 until I get ADS-B). My business is such that I only work one weekend a month, so when I do travel by Mooney I usually have a few weeks to get back home. I have also purchased refundable/changeable airline tickets before when time was critical as an insurance policy should the weather look dicey. An IFR rating is more of a luxury for me, and for $14k I can fly on a lot of commercial flights with a cold adult beverage and let the pros get me there... Keep'em coming though, I am truly trying to convince myself it's worth it.

I have been flying VFR for a few years(8) now and usually have plenty of time whenever I travel in my Mooney. I spent last summer learning to fly tailwheel and aerobatics in a biplane. Fellow pilots at the airport and my CFI have been hounding me for a year or so to get my IFR rating. I am having a hard time justifying the cost of the IFR rating just to be able to fly on a cloudy day. Here's what I calculated: Using my Mooney - needs an IFR Upgrade: ~$8-10k (8-10 AMUs?) -or- Renting an IFR equipped plane: ~$8-10k plus IFR Training: ~$2-4k Total for an IFR Rating: $10-14k Right now I always plan extra days when I fly cross country and wait for good weather. I have heard horror stories of pilots who fly IFR infrequently (like I would) and end up spiralling in (JFK Jr?). I am trying to justify paying $10-14k or more just for the privilege of flying in and above the clouds. So far I have been able to fly anywhere I want as long as I have patience with the weather. Tell me why I should spend the money for the IFR rating.* *and please go into more detail than "it'll make you a better pilot" 'cause nothing hones your precision piloting skills like tailwheels and aerobatics.

I understand it takes many AMU's to pay for those bolt-on enhancements.

Neither worked - going to try Acetone or MEK next.

Mine is due in January, I'll do the same on my '62 C

I usually "pressure bleed" from the calipers to the master cylinder - you can buy a pressure bleeder or easily make a pressure bleeder from a garden sprayer.

Has anyone cleaned the green "goo" (glue?) that is above the insulation above the headliner? I wanted to clean mine before installing new but not sure what to use as a solvent.

I had the same problem with mine, I bought 04-03000 from Aircraft Spruce and keep it handy every time I am looking my plane over and spot a problem.

Definitely, we actually did a "surprise visit" last month to one just to meet folks not in the sales department. Met some of the nicest folks but realized that the airpark was more of a shared community - in that everyone gets a day to mow part of the runway, common areas, etc. But have heard horror stories where the runway was sold after all the houses were built and the owner wanted more $$$.

My wife and I visited a friend at Mount Royal Airpark (3FL0) last year and her exact words were "Ok, I can live here, I was worried that we'd be living in the hangar above the plane". We have been looking at airparks ever since to retire to someday.

Fly my plane as-is, no upgrades, the old girl has flown find the way she was for 50 years - she didn't need the upgrades to fly. Gone to OSH years ago to see all the many options in aircraft*. *and realize that my '62 'C was the best option for me.

I was practicing in the pattern this morning in my Biplane with an Aeronca Champ, we both had handheld radios and reported position, etc. A Cirrus 22T decided to fly straight in and avoid the pattern altogether. I was on crosswind, but the Champ has to extend his downwind to avoid the Cirrus. I asked the Champ pilot later if he could hear me, 'cause I could hear him clearly. He said that he could hear and understand me, even above the wind noise. It was a non-event, but it was pretty obvious that the high tech plane was busy in the cockpit and not looking out the window. My instructor years ago beat into my head that "airports attract planes like flies to dog poop" and that anytime you get near an airport you need to be always looking out the window.

I flew down wednesday with a friend in his Carbon SuperCub (see pic) and was amazed with the golf course like turf runway, it was simply gorgeous. They had everything from twins to J-3's flying in and we all lined up over the Walmart distribution center and landed accordingly. I wish I could go back today, I hear the food festival they have this evening is phenomenal.

No joy! I am flying down & back tomorrow with someone else but may go back down Thursday or Friday.