FlyTester

@WillyG.206 Private Message sent.

As our numbers have grown in the Pacific and Mountain Northwest, I'm pleased to announce that the NW Mooney Caravan will host two formation clinics this year in Pendleton, Oregon (KPDT). May 14 - 17, 2020 : Beginner 2-Ship / Mooney Caravan Qualification Our first ever basic clinic for beginners and 2020 Mooney Caravan Qualification will be May 14 - 17, 2020. This clinic is intended for qualifying pilots who are new to formation flying to fly in the 2020 Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh. This is also the Northwest recurrent training event for previous Mooney Caravan participants who plan to attend again in 2020. Registration is now open for this clinic: https://bit.ly/NW-Mooney-Caravan-2020 September 10 - 13, 2020: Advanced Clinic Our Third Annual Advanced Formation Clinic will be held September 10 - 13, 2020. The advanced clinic is for those pilots who have attended at least one basic clinic who wish to learn more additional maneuvers 2-ship maneuvers necessary to progress into more advanced formation flying. No beginner instruction will be offered at the advanced clinic. Registration is now open for this clinic: https://bit.ly/NW-Formation-2020 Aircraft of similar configuration and performance such as Cirrus, Bonanzas, Arrows, Tigers, RVs, etc are welcome to attend either clinic. Andrew "Sausage" Soleimany NW Mooney Caravan Squadron Lead 4321as@gmail.com

A bit late to the punch, but I've got an M20C with a VAL-INS 429 that was installed 7 years ago as a minor alteration. The avionics shop we used at the time, didn't even flinch.

https://youtu.be/gfLHySYns3Q

The very day I plan to depart for OSH, Jeppesen is splitting the North America database for these units into separate East/West Downloads. Go Figure the western US stops at the Wisconsin state line, so I need a second data card. Willing to pay for a used card (Jeppesen wants $125...ouch...especially since we're upgrading soon to a Garmin 650).

I used the MSC at Troutdale (KTTD) for my pre-buy. They did a good job, and I referred Wombat to them for his pre-buy. Troutdale, however, is a long way to go from Seattle for regular Mooney maintenance. I now service my Mooney at Vertex Aviation at Skagit County (KBVS). While not yet an MSC, they have applied for the designation and are very familiar and competent with Mooneys. Our C-model is being annualed there as I type.

Most of the world seems unaware that Seattle only has "Seattle Weather" from November through March.

Hi Ernie, I'll email you. I just registered for the Caravan and the B2OSH clinic in Bremerton. (I see you on the registration for both.) I'll be flying my C-model to Oshkosh. I fully expect to have my own co-pilot, but it might be nice to head out in trail. Andrew

I just registered. Will be my first time at Oshkosh.

I think might be able to swing this.

Our C is just a few airframes older than yours. The engine is the original O-360-A1D, with 2500 TTSN but 200 SMOH (Penn Yan). We have a remote spin-on filter and for us, 8 Quarts indicates 7 Qts on the dipstick. At 200 SMOH, we burn 1 Qt every 20 hrs. We do 25-30 hr changes ourselves, service with 8 qt of Aeroshell 15W50 and have analysis done by Blackstone. Your quoted oil consumption made a few hairs stand up on my neck. This is an O-360 not a P&W radial. I would have that checked out. Do you do oil analysis? I had the misfortune once of flying a C-310 that (I later found out) was burning 1 Qt every 2 hrs in the left engine (granted, not an O-360). We limped into PDX 2 hrs later with a piston rod protruding from the top of the Left engine cowling. That kind of consumption isn't right. Please let me know when you fly next so I can hide in my basement!

Going into our recent annual almost 3/4 of a ball width of right rudder was required in cruise. Our local MSC took care of it, not by adjusting rudder nor by bending any tabs nor by an expensive rerig of the ailerons, but by simply lowering our right flap 1/2 degree. Surprised no one has mentioned this option yet.

I could fill a few paragraphs echoing many of the sentiments expressed above, but I want to touch on something no one else has mentioned. Our Cs are Carbureted. Even a slow Mooney rams moist air a lot faster through the carb than say a 172. I've had more carb icing in the C I've owned for the past year than in the previous 22 total years of GA flying in 30 other aircraft types. It's insidious because you're not trained to use carb heat at high power settings, but I've had carb icing here in the damp Pacific Northwest at 75% cruise as well as Full Throttle climbs. I've ammended my operating procedure accordingly: IMC/Rain Checklist Pitot Heat - ON Carb Heat - FULL HOT Lean as necessary (the now hotter air means your mixture is enrichened until you re-lean it). The minor decrement in performance far outweighs the pucker factor of a sputtering engine in IMC (or rain).

I just flew the "tough" part of your trip in early July....a 7-day long flying vacation from Seattle to Montana and back. In addition to some "long haul" flying in our C, I wanted to share with my Calcutta born/raised wife a slice or two of the real USA (what she calls Flyover America). http://skyvector.com/?ll=48.02814167486452,-116.20349121326781&chart=301&zoom=5&plan=A.K1.KRNT:A.K1.KGPI:A.K1.KGGW:G.47.83491468798021,-110.43566894784476:A.K1.KBZN:A.K1.KLWS:A.K1.KRNT I've crossed the Rockies hundreds of times in the flight levels but this was my first time doing so in a light aircraft. I had CAVU weather on the outbound legs. Working our way home we picked our way around some localized convective systems. Flying 12.5 to 13.5 kft, I found the rocks much less daunting than they looked on the map. Of course I had excellent (yet hot) weather and gave the storms a wide berth. I flight planned IFR, but ultimately flew VFR with flight following for all but the final leg from KLWS to KRNT. Our first stop was Kalispell. Glacier Jet Center was amazing. I merely mentioned on the phone that I had a car reservation at National. On their own accord they picked up the car had it alongside the plane the moment the prop stopped. We had planned to go to Glacier NP for the remainder of the day, but I wasn't feeling well so we explore downtown Kalispell instead. Next stop was Glasgow. Again another great FBO experience. With the possibility of hail later in the week, Choice Aviation put our girl in a huge hangar for the several days we spent there for approx $20 night. Self Serve/Full Serve was the same price, yet still cheaper than anything in the Seattle metro area. Our plan was to explore the prairies and badlands the next few days and then go on to Townsend, MT to fly in the Big Sky Air Race before heading home to Seattle. Unfortunately the heat that week was actually worse in Montana than Calcutta...101 in Glasgow (and no monsoon to cool things down!). The last thing I felt like doing was bouncing around at low altitude in the mountains, so I pulled out of the race and decided that moment to go to someplace cooler. After enjoying a small-town rodeo and 4th of July celebrations in Missouri River country, we re-planned the rest of our tip. My wife and I like to explore off the beaten path, away from tourist traps and huge crowds so never in a million years did I ever imagine I would visit Yellowstone NP, let alone at the peak of summer. We managed to find a pet-friendly motel in Bozeman. I briefly considered flying into West Yellowstone, but the decided it would be easier to get a car/lodging in Bozeman. Also, the 8000ft density altitude at West Yellowstone was less than inviting. I used Arlin's Air Service in Bozeman. No problems there. The National rental counter at the airport was too busy to deliver a car to the FBO so I spent some time at the terminal. Arriving the next morning at the west entrance to Yellowstone, we found ourselves stuck in the first traffic jam of the day. After entering the park we repeatedly played that game of pulling off the road briefly so the guy behind us would be stuck with the obscure-all, in-your-face-view of the RV in front of us. Five minutes later, we found our next traffic jam. We spent a half hour inching forward in this one before figuring out what it was about. One of the few cars traveling in the opposite direction yelled "Bear!" out the window as they drove past. Eventually we inched forward to a clearing and traffic stopped again. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out expecting to see a brown speck in the distance. Instead I almost wet my pants to find a mama bear Grizzly AND two cubs foraging along the shoulder of the opposite lane. At one point she paused and looked me straight in the eye and then thankfully decided she'd rather teach her cubs to pry grubs from a log than me from my car. THAT, made the trip to Yellowstone totally worth it. My wife was extremely impressed with the sheer number of geothermal features at every turn. We made a loop of the park that day and other than than sprawling metropolis of Old Faithful, endured very little vehicular traffic the remainder of the day. We flew home the next day with a rest stop in Lewistown, ID. Again another good FBO experience there too. A couple of notes: Crew consisted of two adults and one giant (20 lb) chihuahua. At our heaviest (return trip), we were 125 lbs less than MTOW. Our "C" bulks out before it grosses out, but I wanted some weight margin too. Forget the regs, I know my hypoxia symptoms start around 10K so I acquired an E-sized (685 l / 24 cu ft) portable O2 system in advance of the trip. The humans used oxymizer canulas while the dog used an oxygen hood from 4-paws aviation. [We don't have kids, so blowing $150 on an O2 hood for the dog didn't seem like an outrageous idea]. While no stranger to dealing with high density altitude in the western US, it was my first time operating our Power-Flow equipped M20C in these conditions. At 5000 - 6000 ft DA, takeoffs were never a concern, but acceleration out of ground effect with the gear still down was almost nil. Gear Up initial climb rates were 500 - 700 fpm, decreasing to <200 fpm at 13,000 ft. (pretty much half of what I see in cooler weather). Landing distance was never a factor with 5000+ ft runways. The most surprising density altitude effect was how abruptly the wing would stop flying in ground effect. My normal sea level gentle touchdown technique resulted in some very firm touchdowns. Carrying a little power into the touchdown helped - sometimes. I measured true air speed/economy on several legs. Best was 138 KTAS, at 13,500 ft and 8.27 GPH. My partner and I recently aquired a Clarity SV ADS-B receiver and this was really the first opportunity to test it out. Unfortunately, the FAA's network of FIS-B transmitters preclude reception any further eastward than extreme western edge of MT. Naturally most of the weather I encountered was over central and eastern MT out of the reception area. Salt Lake Center radar coverage over eastern and central Montana is typically only available above 9000 ft (- if at all in some places). Not that you'll need it for much more than an emergency precaution. Radio reception along my routes with Center and Flightwatch was always available with the exception of one dead spot 20 - 40 NE of Bozeman. BTW, I think HANK is mistaken. Great Falls is on a bluff over looking the city. Bozeman and Kalispell are in flat, wide valleys. This was our longest airplane adventure to date. Both the wife and dog were troopers throughout and my wife has even indicated that she'd like to do something like this again.

I wanted to wait a bit before following up. It's been nearly 70hrs since the reseal and things are fine.