chrisk

I have an STEC-30 with altitude hold. It does 99% of what I need. The one thing I want, which my autopilot does not have, is an auto descent profile. I do see this as a safety feature. Several times a year, we see a hypoxic pilot cruising on auto pilot, until they run out of fuel and crash. It sure would be nice if the auto pilot would drop to 10,000 feet for 20 minutes after a prescribed location. --Unfortunately, I am not sure if the STEC 3100 has this feature. I do know upgrading my current STEC would cost $14K + install, and I would still have the old servos. I'm finding it difficult to justify the cost vs benefit. By comparison, I can eventually go the route of a Garmin GFC with a G5, and have all new equipment for a lower price. And I'd really like the backup AI.

I think it comes down to the type of flying you are going to do. The equipment is a bit sparse for serious IFR, and your looking at a chunk of change for the 2020 mandate (if you fly in that airspace). The engine may be questionable based on the lack of use in the last few years. --My point being: if you are going to spend money on avionics and possibly engine work, consider the total cost. In the end, you will have a G. You may be better off looking for a nicely equipped C, E, or F. On the other hand, if you fly VFR and avoid B & C airspace, this could be a good plane for you. A big question for me is who did the last few annuals? Lots of great shops in Texas (Maxwell, Dougosh, SWTA, etc) If the last few annuals were by a local unknown, I'd probably want to run it by one of the Mooney specialists. It's really easy to get an expensive annual when lots of things have been overlooked at previous annuals. Likewise, I'd be interested to know who overhauled the engine. I'm a bit curious about the sale also. 15 hours in 4 years sounds a bit like a medical issue. If the owner can't fly the plane, it can make it really difficult to get it to an independent shop. If you do go visit, I'd suggest your perform a good inspection. Take a flash light. Pull a few inspection panels and look for corrosion. Look in the tail cone. Check the nose truss for dents. Look at the landing gear pucks, and see if they are rock hard. Look for tank leaks (blue/black stains). Pull the cowling and look at the exhaust. Look for anything that looks like it was unprofessionally "fixed". Of course you should examine the logs. Let us know your thoughts after you visit.

Very nice to share your positive experience at KMNV!

I have a 231. I'd love a Encore, Bravo, or a Rocket. Buying a plane however is never simple. It's rare that you get to select between two with identical equipment. One consideration is TKS. It's quite expensive to add and slows the plane some. But if you are flying high, you will run into ice, even in the middle of summer. Worse is the winter, when there is no warm air below. That said, if you are retired and can wait for good weather, then TKS shouldn't be needed. --Oh, you might want to look at the basic med restrictions too. I believe they top out at FL180. Anyway, for me the 231 is a great airplane. It's engine operation is not difficult. As others have mentioned, its a matter of glancing at the manifold pressure a time or two during take off. --Something you should be doing anyway! And then every few 1000 feet, giving the manifold pressure a check and adjustment (on the way up and down). In my opinion, the biggest issue with the 231 is the heat the engine produces. Trailing cowl flaps can be necessary to get temps to stay below 400 (red line is 450). Unfortunately, the cowl flaps (especially when full open) seem to be reasonably effective as a speed break.

I've flown into a number of airports where light jets (and even some bigger ones) are present. KDUX, KMTJ, KDRO, KCOD, 11R, and KHDC come to mind. Generally everyone seems to work well together. I'm generally inclined to let a jet go around me, as it almost never delays me by more than 30 seconds. On the other hand, I have had to go around more than once by flight instructors that have a conversation on the runway, or a tail dragger that wants to taxi the length of the runway at 2 mph (when they could landed near the taxiway). My last experience with a jet was 2 weeks ago at KDUX. I was very appreciative of the jet pilot when he canceled IFR in the air. It let me get in without having to cancel IFR before getting the airport in sight (or get delayed with a hold). --And right after we both landed, a crop duster came in. All of it was a non-event. The jet came straight in on an instrument approach. I crossed mid field for a down wind entry. The crop duster showed up 2 minutes later.

My personal pattern etiquette pet peeve is the instructor who wants to do a "stop, chat, and then go" when there are multiple aircraft in the pattern. I've had to go around more than once. I've had this happen at both non-towered fields and towered fields. For pattern etiquette, I do see some folks getting unreasonably upset. At a local field there is a banner tow operation which uses an old crop duster. They can follow a student pilot in Cessna 172 doing a touch an go (with a 747 pattern), drop their banner, and come back around and be on short final before the 172 is even ready to turn base. Heck, half the time they are already on the taxiway before the 172 turns base. I was stunned the other day when I heard a Cessna state they were extending their downwind because of this. The crop duster was flying a tight pattern, and was clearly going to be off the runway prior to the Cessna turning base to final. --Its lots of fun to seem them pick the banner up too. We also get lots of rotor-craft traffic. Again some folks get upset when a rotor-craft doesn't follow the same pattern as the airplanes. This usually comes out as a snippy comment "The traffic pattern is left/right here". --Different rules for helicopters. Especially true for flight over congested areas.

If its that big a deal, get right side brakes installed and fly it from the right seat. Or for the 40% to 70% of the time you fly by yourself, use the right door.

I suspect they use COSPAS-SARSAT satellites. The McMurdo Fast Find 220 plb sold in the US indicates COSPAS. https://www.hodgesmarine.com/Mcmurdo-Fast-Find-220-Personal-Locator-Beacon-P-p/mcm91-001-220a.htm?gclid=CjwKCAjwyIHPBRAIEiwAHPS-GN7_I7LCGPcfrSrT5ls6ilZvGiUY037_ki6VAo30D3mBA7mmsHWHehoCZuQQAvD_BwE&ppcstrkid=1565162769&click=19&ppcsclkid=SnZsYrR8G2sl&ppcsu=xhg7f5djqeniramsegdoh

I put a kit together a few years ago. The major items were: knife, fire starter, cigarette lighters, Mylar blankets, bandages with quick clot, signaling device (strong green laser), a "life straw" water filter, para cord, and pistol with 10 rounds. I put all of this in a camel back bag. Weighs in around 5 lbs or 6lbs. If flying over the mountains, I make sure I have adequate clothing/coats in the plane for cold temperatures. I also typically have some sort of water in the plane, but who knows if it would survive a crash. I have a ELT with GPS, as well as a PLB. The PLB is in my pilot bag and goes everywhere with me (including hiking). The pistol also goes hiking with me, when in bear country. I went with a laser signaling device (and charge the battery prior to my big trips). I figure it will actually get the attention of a relatively high flying aircraft and at least generate a police report. As I recall, the relative order for survival is: 1) first aid, 2) shelter, 3) water, and 4) food. In my mind, that means stop bleeding, be able to get out of the elements and make a fire, and find water if you can. Food is very far down on the list. I can easily live without eating for a week.

Here are the winds history. The night before was worse. It claims 21 gusting to 41 mph. Again, I'm not sure I believe it. I've never been in wind before where I thought it might topple me. It had to be stronger. --That was easy, the plane was staying tied to the ground.

It's why I was wheels up at 10am, why I largely stayed mostly east of the mountains, and why I flew at 15,000 feet. Surface winds were at my personal limits. Unfortunately, there is not a strong black and white line for surface winds. It's gray. Different for all of us and every type of aircraft and location. Its a good place for discussion and learning. It made for a very high work load and not something I would have wanted to do at night or in IMC. --As for the winds out of Cody, I'd estimate 20kts, gusts to 25kts. The AWOS reported less and seemed suspect.

I'm just curious if anyone else was flying in North Western Wyoming / South Western Montana. I left from Cody WY for a trip back to Texas. Strong surface winds made me think more than twice about taking off. Lots of turbulence. And once of the strongest mountain waves I've been in.

I'd love to have one of these. But I'm not sure I am ready to take the hit for the install and purchase just yet. --Maybe it is just me, but I want things done properly on my plane. I've found to many mechanics that do sloppy work. I'll have to consider it when my plane goes back to Maxwell's.

I happen to be vacationing in Bonaire this week. I've never seen the local airport so crowded. I think all of the northern Caribbean decided the ABC islands were the place to go for riding out the storm.

The economic impact is going to be huge and will impact folks in un-expected ways. For example, Austin had no damage from the storm. However we now have a "temporary" gas shortage, which brings back memories from the 1970s. I must pass at least 15 gas stations on the way to work. All but two were out of fuel. Attached is a picture from 7am this morning at the local Sam's club, where the line was at least 15 deep to get to the pumps. --So, who wants to vacation in Austin this holiday weekend? Any guess about the economic impact? This part of the worlds economy runs on fuel. When it stops flowing, the economy stops.

Congrats.

I have multiple Honda's . I love them, but I've had a few small issues. The most irritating was the power steering pump was sucking air past an "O" ring. After a bit of searching I found a service bulletin for it and it listed the labor at 0.25 hours and the part required. I forget why I was at the dealer, but I inquired about the cost to fix it, as my car was out of warranty. They wanted over $200, I pointed out the service bulletin labor estimate, and they didn't care. I bought the $1.50 part and installed it in about 5 minutes. I have not been back to that dealer...

My guess is the engine has 2010 hours on it, which would put it at TBO. A factory overhaul is about $59K without the labor.

This whole discussion brings back memories from my childhood. I went to high school in Virginia Beach. I remember the road to the naval air station in Norfolk had stop lights for air traffic. Then they built an underpass for the cars. To give some idea of how close it was: http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/i564.asp

It is beyond me how anyone could think getting jet blasted on a beach is fun. In the best case, there has to be sand everywhere. As unfortunate as this accident is, its also one of the things I love about the Dutch Caribbean. They expect folks to be responsible for themselves. They expect folks to exercise common sense. They take the minimally intrusive steps. They stopped auto traffic. --Where the hazard might not be obvious and a tumbling car really could hurt someone else. They put a warning sign up. In the US, the whole beach would have been closed for a 1/4 mile on each side of the runway.

I was guessing the second in command was the one who hit the breaks. I was half tempted to chat with the pilots, and buy them a beer if they were done for the day, but I didn't want to interrupt anything and I had places to be.

I'm wondering how often commercial air carriers have runway incursions? What prompts the question is an experience yesterday. Flying United, we landed at YYZ (Toronto) on a left runway. The plane taxied off to the right. Then the next thing I know, the plane is locking up the breaks. Looking out the window, the nose is probably just a foot past the hold short line for the right runway. And lined up on the right runway is a 4 engine jet of some sort (maybe 747) getting ready to take off. Less than a minute later, it takes off. --The most amusing part however is when the plane pulled into the gate. Not one person stood up before the seat belt light went off. I felt like I dodged a bullet. So, how often do runway incursions happen with professional crews at major airports?

The statements above are consistent with what I have read of Amelia Earhart. In reading an unrelated book on aviation, I came across this statement involving one of Earhart's may crashes: The Aeronautic Branch of the Department of Commerce (renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce in 1934) did not accept her version of the incident and issued her a formal reprimand for “carelessness and poor judgment” based on the report made by the local inspector R.W. Delaney. Actually, the government had intended to ground Earhart for ninety days had her friend Senator Hiram Bingham not interceded. It begs the question was Amelia Earhart a great pilot or just a famous one. Google turned up the following: https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Forum/FAQs/pilot.htm and http://huskypawprint.com/3841/opinion/amelia-earhart-false-hero/

Wow. Very surprised the plane was not scrapped.

I have not looked at the data, but I can certainly imagine good reasons why. VFR at night is an issue. The airports tend to be some distance apart, so I'm sure there is more fuel exhaustion. If you pick up ice, there is less room to get to warmer temperatures. If you land off field, it's probably not flat, and a lot faster due to altitude. And if you manage to survive, it might take a really long time for some one to reach you. And then there are the folks that push the limits. They fly in canyons and make a wrong turn and then can't out climb the terrain or turn around. They fly into short one way landing strips. etc. One stupid example is a Mooney (E model) a few years ago at Angle Fire. From the ntsb https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20130303X91231&ntsbno=CEN13FA183&akey=1 METEROLOGICAL INFORMATION At 1315, an automated weather reporting facility located at KAXX, reported wind from 250 degrees at 33 knots gusting to 47 knots, visibility 10 miles, a clear sky, temperature 47 degrees Fahrenheit (F), dew point 17 F, and a barometric pressure of 29.93 inches of mercury. Utilizing this weather, the density altitude was calculated at 9,549 feet. KAXX and the accident site were located in a basin nearly encompassed by mountainous terrain. Mountains to the west and northwest of the airport have peaks between 10,470 and 13,160 feet. A weather study was compiled for the accident site. An upper air sound for 1400 mountain standard time (MST) depicted an unstable vertical environment which would allow mixing of the wind on the lee side of the terrain. Winds as high as 55 knots could occasionally reach the surface. Satellite imagery between 1300 and 1400 MST recorded a large amount of standing lenticular cloud near all of the mountainous terrain around the accident site. These clouds indicated the presence of a mountain wave environment. At 0322 and 1134, the National Weather Service issued wind advisories for the accident area that warned of a west of southwest wind between 25 and 35 miles per hour (mph) with gusts to 50 mph. A Weather Research and Forecasting (MRF) model was created to simulate the accident's weather conditions. The WRF model indicated that the accident site at the accident time was located within a turbulent mountain wave environment, with low-level wind shear, updrafts and downdrafts, downslope winds, and an environment conducive for rotors. The pilot did not receive a weather briefing and it is not known what weather sources the pilot referenced prior to takeoff. Typically you don't get these sorts of conditions in the flatter eastern half of the country.