pinerunner

I have no problem with the current agency. Of course up in Maine they don't bother us much. It seems to me that aviation rules, etc. are an inherently government function. I think the whole push to privatize everything is a scam.

I recall in reading the story of Lindbergh's wife that they met and weren't very impressed with Amelia. Lindbergh felt his wife was actually a better pilot. The fact that Amelia didn't manage to home in on her target supports the notion that maybe she wasn't well trained on her navigational radio equipment and found out the hard way. I find it very credible that she was over rated as a pilot. Of course my opinion is of no matter. Pick any story you like, even discover the truth, and the result is the same.

http://jonathanpaul.org/pdf/NonStop.pdf I found it by googling his name and mooney as I recall. Fascinating reading.

Act of nature. It's a K so value is high enough that they won't just scrap it as quick as with my old E. A month in the shop might not look so bad compared to writing a check over $100K. But if you knowingly bought it like this and tried to stick it to the insurance company and they could prove it that sounds like fraud to me.

Great view of the tubular framework. These pictures could be used in an instructional series. It's great to see that this kind of work CAN be done. I'm looking at the dates on this post and it looks like the whole thing was done in a couple weeks to a month. Can that be true? Sometimes what's straightforward and what's crazy hard can be deceptive but still... Could it be that Mooneys are a relatively easy rebuild project once you understand how they're put together? That sounds crazy. I can't believe I said it.

I love reading his accounts. He had long range tanks and could hold 90 gallons. He also waited for just the right wind conditions to help out. His accounts make me wonder what I could pull off with just 52 gallons in my standard 64 E model. In a pinch its also good to know that you can stretch your reserve by dropping to 6 gph.

Great view of the tubular framework. These pictures could be used in an instructional series. It's great to see that this kind of work CAN be done. How many man hours did the shop put in?

Update: He just got his first hour of duel in the M20E. I think he likes it better than the Cherokee he trained in. We found an instructor (on the verge of getting his ATP) with a C model and it was just a matter of the two them getting together.

I'm beginning to think I want to try Halo's and maybe also Bose X used.

As an older pilot working towards my IFR rating and doing it as cheaply as possible I've been wondering; how do I get the best possible reception of ATC clearances and other information over the radio? I've got older King radios and David Clark headsets that I bought from ebay. I don't want to spent the maximum dollar possible but I'm wondering if there are some more modern equipment purchases that have yielded big increases in the quality of the voices you hear over the radio in the air. Mine is currently OK but I doubt that it's great.

I did a few a couple months ago. Specifically 60 degrees since that was required for my commercial back in the 70's. I think I used 120-140 mph. Know I made sure not to be slowed down after reading the stall speeds for my old E model without flaps. Needless to say I was pretty sloppy. A couple were OK and a couple I lost altitude and rolled out. 2G's feels like more than it used to and I didn't want to try even more.

This doesn't sound too bad though it isn't ideal. The kind of thing a reasonable prebuy had darn well better save you from is being the last owner of a plane that is about to be scrapped because of a corroded wing spar. It sounds like you're getting intimate with all your planes quirks sooner than you would have liked but that you are getting on top of it and with a good A an P on board as well. I think anyone getting into buying their first airplane had better have a few thousand tucked away to handle these squawks and develop a good relationship with a mechanic up front.

Or just pull out the old sectional chart and finish up.

Soon. The insurance upgrade ($1500) kicks in at the end of the month. They're requiring 5 hours with instructor and 5 solo before he can take passengers and be covered. We have an instructor at our airport who has an M20C so he'll be our goto guy. My son is very detail oriented and he'll be helping me as safety pilot right off.

I would run a GAMI spread test to see if all the cylinders are still peaking at the same time. It must have been very good when you first got the GAMI injectors but maybe something happened. Before you take a wrench to it get the maximum diagnostic power out of your engine monitor. Oh I just noticed you plan to do this. Good luck. David

I was having trouble with higher CHT's in my M20E. Dropping the nose and climbing at something like 105 MPH helped a lot. But first I get the gear up and the flaps (max extend speed 100 MPH) too. A slightly nose high AOA helps keep the speed under 100 until I'm cleaned up.

One data point. I ran my M20E right tank to the point where a loss of fuel pressure could be seen and then switched (my son in the right seat was nervous about actually letting it quit). Presumably bubbles were starting to get sucked in. Back on the ground I could barely see a little fuel when looking in the through the top. The inlet and screen are about an inch above the lowest point so with the dihedral angle that put the surface of what I'll call the "unusable pool" just about at the level of the lowest point of the outer section of the fuel tank. Now I know that if I can only see a little bit its about to run out, even though there's some out of sight in the inboard compartment. I think I'll remake my dip stick. I'll run it down to the point of losing fuel pressure then land and fill it to the point where I can just touch my stick straight up and down. That will give me the usable fuel number for the bottom of the stick. Then I'll fill it until fuel is just touching the bottom of the outboard bulkhead and that will be my first mark. From there on four gallon increments until its full. I haven't decided whether to use pencil, tiny chisel, or woodburning to make my mark. Pretty sure sharpie will dissolve away in gasoline.

I just got the news. My son Nathan just passed his private check ride. I've already got my insurance agent working to add him to my policy and find out what hoops he'll have to go through before he can fly the family plane. He wants to go all the way to professional pilot. I think he'll help make sure my M20E gets enough time in the air. Too bad the engine wasn't rated for 201 HP. Flying is more fun if you have someone to share it with.

Another nice thing about a ditching in water is you can read the wind direction from the ripples if you learn how. Easier to make sure you're pointed into the wind and minimize the speed relative to the surface you're about to crash into. Yes I'm also a seaplane pilot, though it's been a long time.

Why do all the other planes there have their tails leaning back funny?

I've wondered about the brake caliper reversal and why anyone would bother. Is there a speed gain?

Without EGT and CHT on all cylinders I'd stay full rich until the manifold pressure is in the safe zone. I'd be conservative about where the safe zone is. I'll let others argue about where that is. I also wouldn't count a low power setting based on low rpm and high manifold pressure as safe for aggressive leaning (still assuming no EGT and CHT for three of your cyinders) since the energy per stroke would still be quite high and you'd be going slow over top dead center where heating of the cylinder head and top of the piston would be maxed. If you're sure you're LOP on all cylinders then the flame front is slower and you can monitor the CHT's to be sure you're not too hot then fine. But without monitoring all cylinders then the old rules of thumb are what keep you out of trouble.

I haven't yet or even come close because the first thing I do in setting it up for landing is slow it down below extension speed and then get the gear down. In my IFR training I worked in out that slowing to about 110 and setting power to hold altitude makes dropping the gear give me a tidy ~500 ft/min. So putting the gear down starts the descent and is hard to forget. I can see though where an instructor, inspector, or ATC giving a bunch of instructions and interurpting a pilot could short circuit all that and lead to a gear up. CGUMP on short final (but not too short) or airport in sight on straight in instrument approach. Maybe that would be the best insurance. My new instructor (the first one died) is big on checklists. I'm sorting it all out with him since I don't want my nose in paper for something I should be able to memorize and repeat from habit. I believe eyes should be out the window. The habit I'm worst on is aux fuel pump on below 1000ft. I started out with Cessna and gravity feed. I'm almost perfect on the take off but I've caught myself landing a couple times with it off.

In my case I was shopping for a plane and what I read got me interested in Mooneys. After missing one that was for sale nearby I hooked up with a fellow that was having trouble selling his a thousand miles away. He offered to let me get my biannual in the old Mooney M20E that I ended up buying (great sales technique) and I was hooked. I stopped looking at C-172's.

I hate to see these "crash after takeoff" scenarios keep popping up. It seems too common lately.