Marauder

I can't tell you how depressed I got when I showed up at college with a plug in Radio Shack 8 track player (which I still own too!) and the boys from NYC showed up with Crazy Eddie's "our prices are insane" cassette players! Nothing like listening to Pink Floyd without that "clunk" in the middle of a song.

When I get out there again today, I'm going to see where the shin mark lines up with the new shin mark. I don't have the step any longer, so I have banged my shin a few times on the flap. I'll see where they line up. Hopefully nothing changes with my tanks -- I have bladders...

I will know later today when I go through the final bill. The labor will be mixed in with the annual work but I will ask my mechanic what it would have taken labor wise with just the donuts changed out.

I went through a Ni-Cd rechargeable phase and came to the same conclusion you did. Between the memory issue of charging them without fully discharging, finding one dying before the rest and just keeping track of how long one would last before I could expect to find it dead in the device -- it was easier and more reliable to keep a good supply of alkaline batteries. I think I read or saw lithium rechargeables available now. If that is true, it might be worthwhile revisiting it.

I think the benefit of owner assisted annuals is just gaining the knowledge of how everything is put together and how the systems work. I wish my current mechanic supported it. I did a fair amount of owner assisted work beyond just the access panel pulling

Thanks for the PIREPS. Definitely was a surprise to see it sit that much taller. I have had a lot of PM stuff this time around (including tires and tubes all around). Over the last couple of years I noticed the rough runway a bit more than I remembered. Thought it was just the runway getting worse. Be interested to see how it does.

Looks like you had nice Wx there. Always loved Peachtree...

Google it?! I own one! You asked for it, here it is! Already for you to install it! Need tapes, got them too! Ready to trade?

Looks like a cool project! Wonder if this is how Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs got started

I have owned my Mooney since 1991. The donuts on it were manufactured in 1988 and installed in 1989. I decided to update them during the annual this month and before they became $300 each I went out to check out some other work done on the plane and saw it for the first time since the new donuts were installed. I swear that the plane sits 2 to 3 inches higher. Has anyone else replaced donuts and noticed this?

To your point and fantom's; most of us who do these, do so for our comfort. Would I stop flying an engine if I got a high iron number back, absolutely. I want to know why it is high. But just like every other diagnostic test in the world, it is just one indicator and not necessarily an end all, know all test. Just another data point. Sort of like when you go in for your physical and your BP is up. Would you rather know the root cause and possible explanations for it being elevated or should the doc just start open heart surgery? Here is an article: http://www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator/190242-1.html

Since we are talking about Stratus, I saw the announcement today that Garmin lowered their GDL-39 to $699. Funny how that happened right after the Stratus I went to $699...

I agree with all the comments on inspecting and noting ANY damage (including the infamous trunk scratches from people putting luggage in). I take pictures and have the exit attendant sign below where I noted the damages. I recently did have a different twist on a rental car claim. I got a bill in the mail for a parking ticket in Toronto. I had rented the vehicle in Buffalo drove to Toronto and back. I got a $200 CAD bill for some sort of illegal parking in a fire zone. Only problem was the ticket was written two days before I actually rented the vehicle.

I should add that a close friend of mine did find one of these with his Mooney's nosewheel. Wasn't pretty...

How the heck did you get a picture of Gabe the Gopher? Often seen popping up through the cracks in our paved runway! With the condition of our paved runway, I'm seriously thinking about using the grass strip on the side.

One solution offered to me for the elevators was to flip them and switch sides. Made sense, how many times are you going to have someone see the underside of an elevator. For the ailerons, I got pricing ranging from $1200 to $1500/each to reskin. You got a better deal? BTW -- Lasar offered me replacement elevators and ailerons for $6,900.

I have seen this as well. Not sure what it means, but it certainly would make sense if the pre-load is different on one side over the other.

How about a Sony Walkman with a ZZ Top cassette in it?

Do you have any earlier reports for your engine? The greatest value I find in these analyses is the trend that is produced. If a wear metal is steadily increasing, it may indicate a potential failure or unacceptable wear resulting in not making TBO. It also may be mormal for the engine as normal wear occurs as it gets closer to TBO. The ultimate indicator is either a pure mechanical failure shown by finding metal or some other indicator that a failure has actually occurred (like failing a compression test). These lab results are just a potential indicator of engine health and need to be cross correlated with what a mechanical inspection uncovers. When I send these results to my mechanic, if he finds something elevated he will try to use that knowledge to see if there are any physical indicators of the problem. I had an elevated silicon level this past time. His inspection included a close look at the air intake to make sure I didn't have a leak and was sucking in dirt and to see if any silicon based gaskets were showing signs of wear. We concluded since my airport's taxi way was being rebuilt that the inch of dust I needed to clear off my plane after a few days was probably the culprit.

Byron - I'm at the same place you are. For the hail damage issue, PM me, I have vetted this and can send you the info on who does it and what to expect. Thanks for starting this. I'm interested in this topic as well.

And even more important to make sure it is set correctly! Some mechanics not familiar with Mooneys either fail to check it correctly or in some cases, at all. My very first mechanic never checked it on the first annual.

I was an early adopter of engine analyzers and what Mike B says is correct. A fouled plug is pretty obvious, you would immediately see the EGT drop and by knowing which cylinder and mag you are checking you can pull that plug if you can't burn it clean by leaning. An engine analyzer also can point out a lot of others like pre-ignition and detonation in flight. I also use mine to check whether the mixture is working correctly as well. Pulling it back during the run up with both mags on, I am looking for a uniform EGT increase as well. In your example above, the amount of rise is not as important as whether they all rise and rise in a similar fashion for both mags.

My 75F manual says to use 2000 rpm. So obviously this has changed for some reason or another over the years. Your F And mine both used the same prop engine config when new. So it would be interesting to know why it changed. As for run-up, I use a combination of rpm drop (using the rpm drop feature on the EI tach) and watch for bars dropping on the engine monitor.

What's your insurance hull value?

I'm tired just reading your itinerary!