pinerunner

Will the insurance usually pay for this? That's the question I ask myself most, under what circumstances will they blow off honoring the insurance policy and leave you paying it all. The mechanic who does my annuals said the insurance companies are not as bad I fear since they don't want to get famous for stiffing their customers. Otherwise almost any airplane could be declared not airworthy if you hunt hard enough for an excuse. I bet a prop strike after landing on the beach and you'd be footing the bill on your own.

I think you have to take Busch as being a bit tongue in cheek here. Prop strike is still a bummer. Going all the way to TBO with minimal inspections doesn't work out well either so every cloud has its silver lining. Better not tell that to someone who just had a prop strike. Of course getting a bunch of fresh new dental work might actually be a good thing, too.

If this existed it would be a great upgrade. Drop-in wing-tip navigation lights with forward-facing extra landing lights.

OK, now I'm doing it from my work computer. It's quoting Hanks post fine. The problem was only if I was using my wife's computer so now I know where the fault lies. It must have been the cat.

MB made a telling observation in one of his vids. If you browse Trade a Plane there are lots of ads with both a SMOH listed and also a recent "since top overhaul" as well. A lot of valve problems? What's the experience you guys have been having, or observing in others. Especially with our Lycoming 4-bangers. Does LOP seem to cure, Camguard, just fly it a lot? Is there any worst thing that seems to lead to needing a top overhaul soon? I've only had mine two years so I haven't got there yet. But even though it has a factory new IO-360 with 1300 hours, the logbook shows that at 800 hours it was torn down and so much done that they might as well have gone on and done a major.

It could be the computer we're on. This has been happening to me on my wife's computer. It also doesn't let me paste stuff in using CNTL-V. I'm a guest on this computer. I'll try tomorrow from MY computer and see if quotes go back to normal.

I think your getting power fluctuations in the LOP mode that are too quick for the governor to keep up with and maintain the rpms. Not bad enough to actually miss and run rough. I have no opinion on whether its something to worry about. Say, if you're Sky Captain did you ever run into Sky King? I used to love that show.

Actually I was just saying he had dropped the power so low that the prop was at lowest possible pitch. On the lean side power is a function of fuel flow and not MP. I wasn't suggesting any dire problems with his oil pressure.

Rad have you started flying yet? Get thee to the airport! Being stuck on the ground will make you crazy!

Lets assume you're not a hard core mechanic, engineer type. One thing you can still get a handle on is how much the plane is being flown. The hours on the engine and/or airframe will be there in each years annual. Seeing that the previous owner was actually flying it each year is a good sign. On the other hand a low-time plane that hasn't been flown for ten years......approach with caution. Don't skip getting a pre-purchase inspection.

I'm sure you're not hurting it since you're at 7500 ft, but think about what you've said you're doing. With a constant speed prop set at 2500 rpm you pull back the mixture until the rpm drops; ie you've gone well past peak and onto the lean side dropping power far enough to take the propeller out of governance. Then you bring the rpm back, just. Welcome to the big pull. Sounds like you're running a C model LOP. Didn't it run rough?

I think there's a bet on how many pages before the new year!

Recently a couple times I've tried to use the quote to respond to or discuss something someone else said and my text was just hanging out there alone. No hint of what I was responding to or talking about. Only the last couple of times I've tried to use "quote" has this happened. It used to work fine.

Before the 150's gone I'd get that wife some duel too. Two private pilots are better than one. I wish my wife would fly with me.

Very Helpful. Thanks

No you should not be very concerned about the absolute value of the EGTs. Busch and/or Deakins (I forget which) had a whole article on it. With the GAMI spread you're reporting it sounds like you're in great shape for LOP if you want and your ROP operations will be better for having them closely matched as well.

Couldn't this be used as an argument against switching to the fullest tank for landing? I think if there's a good reason for not trusting that little lever 100% then straight to a good mechanic to check it out. It was standard to check the gascolator in the annual as I recall and I got the impression they're cheap (by GA standards) to rebuild.

Camguard in the oil gets good reviews for helping keep the valves lubricated. I guess something about its chemistry makes it stick while ordinary oil drains off. In M.B.'s Savy Aviator vid he says he's actually tested it and seen a positive effect so he recommends it for his customers. One of our members posted some pictures of valves with and without TCP in the fuel that made a case for TCP fighting lead deposits. M.B. has mentioned a couple times that fuel already has an additive to fight lead deposits as long as you don't run it too cool (there's chemistry going on that fails at lower CHT's). I wonder if proper mixture management makes TCP in the fuel irrelevant. I'd watch the 1-hr vid on oil that you can find in the Savy Aviator website. As I recall it Camguard is the only additive the gets the thumb's up from Busch. Most of the others simply don't hurt anything. With that I take their ad claims that Camguard helps "prevent scuffing wear from dry starts by maintaining an active lubricant film on critical parts" seriously and use it along with Aeroshell 100 in the summer. Because of my working away from home I tend to let it sit more than I'd like so this sort of thing is a big issue to me. Note 2: Camguard, MMO, and Avblend are different products. Some of the posts here seem to equate Camguard with the other two.

Ditto. I liked that you had some data to give us. I'm referring to Blue Eagles earlier post. Quote doesn't seem to be working for me.

Having a heated hanger is a great first step. Doing an oil change just before a period of inactivity helps. As the oil gets darker the incomplete combustion products in it include organic acids which can contribute to corrosion and double bond containing hydrocarbons that can slowly polymerize to form those varnish-like deposits that slowly build up on engine parts. Mike Bush has a vid you can watch on the Savy Aviator website on oil and there's a quick part on how to "pickle" your plane. Thanks for starting this great thread by the way. Hope the back comes along fine. Dave

Yep. On the LOP side power is proportional to fuel flow (14.9 HP/GPH has been quoted and seems to work well for me) (as long as its still running of course) so going further LOP will drop power.

Its happened to me once. I had plenty of altitude. Engine sputtered a little and then just stopped. I knew I was operating close to the end of that tank and so was expecting it. I was running LOP at the time. Switching to full tank and throwing in boost pump didn't bring it back as quick as I'd hoped. After maybe 15 seconds of rough running and discomfort I went to full rich and it settled down. It wasn't too bad but don't ever let it happen to you at low altitude. Approaching low altitude, switch to fullest tank. I think you should do this on purpose with plenty of altitude to learn how your system acts. And yes the threads here seem to repeat. One comment I'll add to this. The reason for doing it on purpose is to get good old-fashioned data on how your fuel-flow is really doing that you can't get quite as reliably any other way. Putting a known amount of fuel in a tank and seeing how it takes to get used is the simplest, most obvious way to get a firm hand on how much time you can count on from it. If someone says there's no reason to do it when, in fast, the reason is obvious, then I know how to approach their comments. Dave

But seriously, I'd find the instructor or FBO I like best and rent their plane(s) then start talking to them about your having the Mooney bug after you've soloed. They'll probably talk you into finishing your private. I recall one member talking about getting his wife her private in their Mooney. It was pointed out that many instructors would be leery of starting at new student off in a plane where the right side has no brake control. The insurance companies SHOULD charge a lot for a low time student pilot in such a plane. Dave

I have to agree with this. I soloed a J3 back in 75. I had a special reason since we had found the same plane me dad had first owned and soloed and they were giving lessons in it. It was a forgiving plane to fly. I did finish off my PPL in 150's and 172's since I needed the radios in the end.

I really hope someone with a C model trys this, it makes sense that slowing the velocity in the intake system would give those fuel droplets more chance to evaporate before they split into four separate flows. In the mean time some of the stuff that Busch and Deakins discuss can be implemented on the carburated planes, like leaning for taxi. Many are doing that.