Smiles201

My understanding, and I could be wrong, is that at some point the J model began to share the same basic tubing structure as the K model, which had a beefier construction. So there may be a structural difference that allows the higher gross?

Much of this discussion is predicated on the idea that risk can be managed and that only bad or poorly prepared pilots come to harm. It is a little humbling to note, however, that seasoned pilots with thousands of hours of experience make mistakes or somehow get into unexpected situations that they can't handle. Hell, I almost had a midair in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. So while we need to constantly discuss safety, and be ever vigilant, it is important to recognize that no one is immune from an accident.

I have had this problem, needle going back and forth, voltage fluctuating, turned out to be a poor connection between master and alternator. Check voltage at every juncture. You may have a slight voltage loss at some point which in effect turns the alternator off and on very rapidly when the engine is running. Master could also be bad. Lots of other threads about this.

If I recall correctly, there was a discussion, maybe a year or two ago, where some owners said their costs were something like 150 to 200 an hour including fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, hanger, engine and avionics reserve, etc. The more you fly, the less your hourly should be.

Report mentions cam lobe was worn. Reason for lack of full power?

I used to be in a 201 partnership in Los Alamos. Over ten years ago. Never any problem with climb rate, just follow standard high altitude procedures (under gross, cool time of day), You may be more confident with the additional hp of an e, happy hunting.

One other probably obvious point, be sure to fly by indicated airspeed. Your sight picture may be very different then in the flat land, as ground speed will be higher for any indicated airspeed due to the effect of lower air pressure at altitude.

If leaking out the valve stem, go to a bike shop and get new stem and tool to screw the old one out and new one in.

I was a victim of beginner ignorance. Learned to fly at high altitude. First plane, brand P. Flight plan 10 gallons an hour. Fifty gallons in the tank. Land after four hours. Easy. First trip to Oshkosh, twenty years ago, flying at altitude 2000 feet lower than my home base. You know where this is going. After four hours it dawns on me that my fuel guage is lower than I have seen before, "can that be true" and I realize I have been burning over 12 gallons an hour! Landed on fumes. Live and learn. Could have ended differently.

I sometimes ask the same question, and it seems to me that you hear more about crankcase cracks in the e. Not sure if that is a true statement or not, just my observation. No balance weights in that engine as opposed to the j. Not sure about the f. May pay to talk to some of the well known engine shops.

As a side note,I found out the hard way that it is recommended to vacuum out the system after a pump failure to minimize the possibility of gyro failure after pump failure and the consequent ingestion of broken pump pieces.

Assume you meant to type 'pass muster', unless serving hot dogs, this is correct idiom I believe.

Depending on part number, lots of yellow tagged units on eBay, 1 to 2.5 AMU's.

Used to be based out of los Alamos 7100 ft. No problems. In summer do not take off at gross. Plane does require somewhat more runway than other 200 HP planes if I recall correctly, but once cleaned up climbs well, and loves to cruise high. I would often cruise 12 to 16 thousand. Has higher ceiling than other 200 HP planes, I confidently flew through several CO passes.

Just to play devils advocate...They intercepted about 200 flights and found drugs in almost 40 of these planes. If my job was to find drugs, I would be real aggressive with these searches and these pilots because I know that 20 percent of the time they are the bad guys and may be involved in other illegal activity. And I know I can take extraordinary measures and won't get in trouble. As long as we continue to have repressive drug laws, we will continue to have these types of enforcement problems. I live close to the border in New Mexico and have nothing to hide. That said I would not be surprised to hear of drugs being planted by overly aggressive agents. There was recently a case of border patrol agents being successfully sued for an illegal cavity search. So, it could have been alot worse.

Vfr into imc, spatial disorientation, is number one fatal accident cause

A little off topic....I agree completely with the premise of self insurance. One of the best ways to save money is with long term care insurance. Depending on your situation, most will benefit from setting aside enough for two years of care, the average time needed. The bigger risk for most is living so long that you run out of money.

John, There is an add listed on the ipilot website (http://www.ipilot.com/index.php/classifieds/3-multi-engine/10667-2965-ttaf-1623) which purports to be a 77 601P with a 2nd pitot static system. Not sure if this is a current add (or a real one for that matter as pictures are not of an Aerostar!), but owner may have some information for you. Best wishes. I always enjoy your well written contributions. Miles

Flown into sedona many times, always land uphill, rwy 3, takeoff 21, unless wind is very strong, over 20/25 knots. I forget the exact figure, but very steep slope. He was attempting to land downhill with ten knot headwind, obviously unfamiliar with the airport and perhaps with the effects of density altitude. There can be alot of traffic at times, sometimes more than one aircraft on the active, tour flights, all of which might result in rushed approached.

Sometimes after avionics work I have had circuit breakers trip due to metal shavings from the avionics work somehow getting behind the breakers creating a short. Usually a one time event in that case, as the shaving will burn up. Obviously, your situation may be totally different.

Where you live aren't there flying clubs which have nice planes to rent? Just another option. I was in a partnership with two others and it worked out great. As long as everyone can afford it and is like minded as far as maintenance and scheduling.

Latest today is that the flying pilot, 777 trainee, claimed he saw a bright white light while on final...it will be interesting to see if this really happened or if he will take the 'religious experience' defense! BS aside, sounds like they were either tired, distracted or, unlikely, an unusual instrument failure. Interesting statistic, is that large percentage of accidents occur with crews that have not worked together before, as in this case.

If you depend on stall horn, and are getting slow in a right hand turn, right wing could stall before horn sounds?

Though mooneys are the best, what you are experiencing is less window area. I felt the same way moving from piper to mooney. The advantages will soon make you forget the slight loss of viewing area.

Pass on Roswell. Try to hit the air museam in Liberal KS to see interesting early mooney (culver v), right on field, or ones in tucson or phoenix. Coolest airport is sedona az, on top of mesa, land on 3, takeoff on 21.