Marauder

Bah Hobba was one of my favorite vacationing spots. Nothing like fresh lobster everyday. You landing at Bahnger (Bangor)? The only airport I have been to that you can land, take-off and land again without reaching the first exit.

Be interested in seeing how that works out for KSMooniac. I'm glad to hear I am not the only one with the challenge of pegging an exact rpm or MP with the quadrant. It does give you that airline cockpit feel when you are pushing everything forward, doesn't it?

Just wanted to make you aware of an open house at New Garden Airport. Located west of Philly but east of Lancaster. I will be there, hope to see some Mooneys on the field! http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=44ec142cff8cc27761996886e&id=bfb79c2ab1&e=91a07fe6fa

Speaking of vernier cables. Is there an STC out there to convert the throttle quadrant in some of our planes to verniers?

Well Bob, when I was chasing a randomly popping gear breaker, I got to be quite a good breaker observer. Caught my eye before I saw anything else!

What breaker do you have pulled/popped Bob?

There are a number of dynamics that differentiate part 91 from 121/135 operators. The commercial operators have a structure that we don't (and one that I certainly don't want either). There are enough regulations. And even if there were more, you can't regulate stupid. We are not professional pilots (not speaking for all), nor do we maintain our airplanes to those standards (exceptions exist). For most, what we do is a hobby, away to avoid driving (for both personal and work travel) and/or a way to spend thousands on something we love to do. Unfortunately, the activity can have a high degree of risk and as John points out above, you make a wrong decision, the cost is high. Where I think GA struggles is maintaining what I call the 3 Cs. Most pilots will able to achieve and maintain the first C (Currency). And I say most because I am guessing some are looking in their logbooks and counting to see if they are current for IFR flights. The second is C is competency. Just because you are current doesn't mean you are competent. Case in point; ME! After upgrading my panel from VOR/ILS hardware, I certainly was not competent to do LPV approaches to minimums using the new GPS hardware I bought! And the final C is confidence. And this is a problem area. Usually because the pilot has too much confidence in himself or herself and/or their equipment and ends up doing something stupid. Too little confidence can also be a problem in situations where a pilot does not make the right decisions because they are flying with pressure (get home itis) or they defer their responsibilities to others (think a more experienced confident pilot who is with them). I have said this before on this forum, we need to self regulate. If we don't others will feel compelled to do so on our behalf. When was the last time you told a pilot they were unsafe? For the record, I did on Monday. A guy gave his position on entry to the pattern that was no where near to where he said he was. I have no problem people pointing out things to me (oookay, just a little ). Another area is recurrent training. I make it a point to fly with a CFII every few months just to see if I picked up any bad habits and to brush up on some dormant skills (I'm sure glad I dumped that ADF ). Unfortunately, too often pilots take flying like driving a car. It isn't. And for me, it is the allure that keeps me engaged with it. Always more to learn and skills to master.

By your expression in the reflection, you certainly don't look like a happy camper! I had a WX-8 and had it removed. The WX-8 did show a rough image of where activity resided but because of issues with radial spread, it wasn't accurate enough for me to navigate through or around anything. I understand the newer scopes are more precise and can be integrated with MFDs displaying the weather products. Because of the WX-8, I've learned over the years to give these nimbus clouds a wide berth or to avoid them all together by flying early in the day. Have I lost some of my flying flexibility? Sure, but it sure beats ending up like a crushed aluminum can.

Thanks Brett. I will be curious to see how it works out for you. I am getting the Wx/traffic itch and have been debating on my next step. I am running the Garmin Pilot app on my iPad and Nexus 7 as well as a copy of ForeFlight on the iPad. Aspen has brought out their panel mounted ADSB solution that ports over to the portable device. Decisions, decisions...

So Brett, will this work with the Garmin antennae (GDL39)?

Just as a side note, I flew this past weekend a bit and both the EI and JPI digital readouts were spot on with each other both for RPM and MP.

I think it is a matter of adaptation. When I had the Aspen installed, I had a really hard time not looking at the mechanical ASI on finals. After flying with it a bit, the mechanical ASI has been relegated to the backup position and I like being able to look down and see the actual airspeed number. Has improved my attention to precision since I have a real number to shoot for. Not the half way point on my mechanical gauge.

How about CamGuard? That poor pony hasn't been beaten in a few weeks.

It is has indeed turned into a neurotic OCD behavior for me! I'm hoping the novelty will wear off

Same in NY. Tax man cometh...

I think you are giving him too much credit... We can always ask to have his IPs pulled to verify.

Interesting discussion. Like Hank's plane, my quadrant friction lock is on the right side. I normally loosen it a bit to advance the controls for take-off, tighten the knob and keep my hand on them until I am cleaned up in the climb. Then I loosen the knob, adjust power if required and tighten again. Once tightened, I have never had them move. Usually works well unless you get distracted in between. For years using the factory analog gauge, I would look for the relative position of the needle against my expectation of where it should be. You fly a plane long enough, you know where needles should be (and shouldn't be). Recently replacing my manifold gauge with an electronic one, a whole different perspective has emerged -- I'm actually looking at a number. On my flight home last night, I normally reduce power a bit. The usual "around 17 inches" is now 16.9 or 17.1. It's driving me nuts!

Try this: You guys are too funny! I assume you folks are applying corrections for temperature, altitude, KCAS and instrument error you have uncovered. Not to mention extrapolation for conditions & factors that affect performance (your exact weight (not what your paperwork says you weigh empty), compensation if your plane is not 100% in rig and of course whether your plane is washed and WAXED).

There is plenty of room under the cluster gauges to do the flush mount.

Thanks Bob. The constant was 108. I see what I did wrong. In the words of Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does"! I read the constant as the actual %HP and adjusted it to 70. I'm going back to being a shrimp boat captain...

I loved my time in a 172. It was a great trainer and even better site seeing plane. When I lived in WNY I would rent a 172 to take visiting friends site seeing over Niagara Falls instead of using my Mooney. I do remember a funny story flying in a 172. A buddy of mine owned a 172 and I flew with him from Buffalo to Syracuse on an IFR flight plan. On the way back, we picked up some strong westerly winds in front of an incoming winter storm but were in VMC. The controller working us called and asked if we wanted to try a different altitude. Apparently he noticed, like we did, that the traffic on the Thruway was moving faster than we were.

Like Brett mentions above, airport terrain and wind direction plays a role in my decision. I have taken off with a sustained 20 knot direct crosswind at my home airport. It's not the takeoff as much as the rough ride clearing the tree line that is challenging. The highest I ever landed was a 25k direct crosswind. I started losing rudder authority and had to cheat a few degrees on the runway heading to offset the drift.

Mike -- I have the airspeed digital tape on the Aspen to compare to the mechanical ASI. They match very closely once the needle comes off of the peg on the ASI and the Aspen starts reporting (over 20 knots). You may be dealing with a problem with your ASI or perhaps something going on with your pitot system.

There definitely was some sort of change in the PPL requirements over time. Like Jim, I remember doing a ton of actual stall work ranging from uncoordinated power off (like a bad base to final turn) to accelerated stalls from various configurations. Somewhere along the line I believe this became "stall awareness" more than actually doing the tough maneuver.

So, I finally got a chance to fly and set up the HP setting in tthe unit following the instructions below: Section 7 - Programming Horsepower Constant For EDM’s equipped with FF, RPM, OAT and MAP, you will adjust the HP Constant once for your aircraft (NOTE: perform MAP adjustment prior to this process) Follow the steps below: 1. Prior to takeoff, with the engine running, enter Pilot Program Mode (hold STEP and LF until ‘PROGRAM’ is displayed). 2. Tap STEP until you see HP ADJUST. Hold both STEP and LF until you see HPC=108 (your value may be different). Try changing the constant by tapping/holding the LF button. Note that the %HP gauge value changes as you change the constant. This adjustment will be performed while airborne. 3. Once airborne, by reference to the Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM), not the EDM , setup a constant power setting of 70% in straight and level flight below 10,000 feet (be sure your mixture is Rich of Peak). If necessary, re-enter the HP constant mode (steps 1 & 2 above). Adjust the HP constant until the EDM’s %HP is as close as possible to 70%. Note: the reading is the percent of maximum HP, not actual HP. 4. Tap the STEP button to save and exit. After completing the setup, I flew around a bit at different and then went back to an altitude and set the power settings to mimic a 70% HP setting. I was surprised to see the JPI readout showing only 48%. Either I am misunderstanding how to set this up or I did it wrong. Should the JPI not be reporting 70% HP if I set the power up to duplicate 70%? What am I missing on this?