Marauder

I'm sure it was all about nothing.

Thanks for keeping us informed. Interested in hearing how it goes.

I would have the accuracy of the tach checked before jumping on the prop governor. Mine maxes at 2690 using the digital tach.

This is bird nesting season as well for some of us. Might be worthwhile take a look under the cowling. If you didn't have a problem beforehand, maybe it is something simple.

Baffles in good shape?

Your comment about back pressure and being sensitive to going airborne again smacks of too much airspeed. If you have the speed nailed, you should not be going airborne again. The stall warning should be going off and a good indicator when you are near the correct airspeed in the flare. If you do find yourself going airborne again, arresting the decent and salvaging the landing can be done with a little bit of throttle (just be cognitive of runway length). If you do let it climb above a normal flare height, the wing will stop flying and you will be dropping it in unless you manage it with some power.

You'll be fine. Just remember Yeager's line "it's the man, not the machine". Keep your head and you will prevail regardless of the situation.

Hank -- are we talking bout real duct tape or the Lowe's kind? I just spent an hour taking apart my manmade duct work used for propane pre-heating (thank you Brett for converting me). That stuff was sticky! (The aluminum foil kind).

Sorry for the soapbox. The biggest problem with our society is the lack of accountability and the willingness to sue everyone for everything regardless of whether you are in the right or wrong. I shall say no more...

Are we talking about straight up website on your iPhone or Tapatalk?

You're right John. I would have to resort to the coffee grinder if I lost power. and you would use what if that wonderful handle broke? If we keep going, this is going to turn into a CamGuard or not to CamGuard conversation. P.S. I personally don't care which mechanism the plane has, as long as the gear comes down!

Any idea why it failed? Spring break?

Didn't know this was occurring and not surprised it is. I'm sure just like the criteria used to select towers for closure, they are probably looking at the activity at these flight stations and closing them accordingly. With the increasing usage of DUATS and the integrated Wx reporting capabilities in the tablet apps, I'm not at all surprised. Quite honestly, short of the occasional PIREP I file with them, I just don't talk to them. I know some of my local pilot friends use them all the time, but with the proliferation of available online weather, I find enough information available to he me make the decision. Don't get me wrong, when I was VFR only, there was nothing more comforting than hearing from the briefer "You should be okay VFR along your route". No software package is going to do that for you.

Jim - will it work with the GDL39 and Appero stuff? For me, I started with ForeFlight, really never liked the GUI, picked up Garmin Pilot - like the GUI. I did try wingX on the trial but found I still liked the Garmin better. Maybe I should give it another try. I think the issue is the hardware, not the app. The hardware locks you into the app, at least for ForeFlight and Garmin. I want to be able to move to another app without re-investing in expensive hardware.

Many of us who were early adopters of this technology are still struggling with what will be the "stable" state when this technology matures. I'm usually an early adopter of the hardware, but at the prices they are commanding (ex. Stratus 1 for $799, Stratus 2 for $899), I am finding it hard to invest now realizing that tomorrow will bring advancements and additonal cost. For a "nice to have" technology, it is expensive. Compounding things is that the players in this arena are in most cases holding to a proprietary stance (i.e. I cannot use a Stratus 2 to run my Garmin Pilot traffic capability). Whomever allows for an open hierarchy will get my business.

Aaron points out something that you should know. If you put the plane down going too fast, you will bounce it off the nose wheel. The plane will go into a porpoise. I was told and never experienced this, but if you let it porpoise 3 times, the third time you are doing a prop and/or engine overhaul. I have porpoised it and it will get your attention. Protect the nose, protect the nose, protect the NOSE! A couple of examples:

Sometimes if I don't pull the lever far enough out, I find it hard to swing it into the down position: Sorry couldn't resist. From my limited experience with the manual system, making sure everything is lubed (and with the correct grease) and doing the retraction at lower speeds makes it easier.

Phillip -- you just convinced me to stop hauling around propane tanks and go electric with your Switchbox and now you want me to carry ice!? Seriously as John mentions above, flying higher in the summer is what I try to do. Now if you can find a way to cool the plane for those minutes that I am doing up run-ups on a sweltering 90 degree / 90 percent humidity days AND it doesn't involve me carrying ice to the airport, I would be interested. Here is a thought. My F350 has air conditioned seats. they are running some sort of Peltier device that with a blower pushing cool air through small holes in the artifical leather seats in one setting and warm air in the other direction. Now that I would be interested in.

I find looking down the runway's full length and using my peripheral vision helps a lot to gauge the correct flare height. If you are accustomed to landing Pipers and Cessnas and using their visual reference, you will find that you are flaring too high. I think of landing a Mooney like Fred Flinstone with his feet hanging out below. You feel that low when in the right altitude/attitude. Are you hearing the stall warning at all? You should be at the correct speeds but if you are not hearing the stall warning, I am wondering if your airspeeds are off. When I do it right, the stall goes off just as my wheels are touching. I find that landing the Mooney has been easier than other planes as long as you keep the speed nailed.

Bennett, strange things happen in avionics shops. I suspect if you are not the first owner since th AP was installed (and even if you are), it may have been swapped out during troubleshooting of a problem. Sometimes these guys swapped a known good module or EPROMS during the course of troubleshooting only not to reverse things afterwards. In my field of endeavors, we call them "no good board swappers".

I have a funny filter story, funny that is until I figured out how much it was costing me. On my PC system there were at least two, maybe three "vacuum" filters on the pneumatic system. They were changed out every annual. Back in the early 90s they were somewhere in the $20 each range. I was able to buy them myself and used them doing my owner assisted annuals. One annual I was taking them out of the box and I noticed the label was loose on one of them and like a Cirrus guy seeing terra firma from a bad angle, I pulled it - only to reveal a nice "Fram G2" underneath. Went down to the local auto parts store to find that wonderful gasoline filter on sale for $1.50. I'm sure there was $18.50 in "value" there, but I sure couldn't find it. My suspicion is that the label cost $18.50.

Bennett - I share your sentiments on airbags in vehicles on the road. I too was involved in a significant accident, T boning a guy who turned in front of me at a highway intersection. The Ford I was driving had the first generation airbags (early 90s) and other than being scrapped up from the airbag door and having "droF" inscribed on my forehead, I was fine. The accident was violent enough to knock both of my tied on shoes off. The challenge with airbags in airplanes is the cost. I would be more than willing to participate in a group buy if it would help lower the cost to something reasonable. BTW - for those wondering about "droF" - Ford managed to find a way to put an embroidery "Ford" in the cloth of the airbag. It transferred very nicely to my forehead...

Next week during my annual I am removing my Insight GEM 602 (for a 4 cylinder) for an upgrade to a JPI unit. The unit continues to work flawlessy. If anyone has an interest, PM me. I haven't figured out what I want to charge yet, but my wife says my hoarding of aviation "extras" needs to stop. Update: The GEM 602 was carefully removed from my IO-360 A1A and is ready to be sold. I have a couple of interested parties, one who I just sent an email to see if he is still interested (he has first dibs). Also, can someone tell me what is the best way to make the cash flow? Being a hoarder, I never had to accept payment from someone. I have a PayPal account I use to buy stuff off of eBay, but never did it the other way! Here are a pictures.

Fortunately you will need a bigger stick to get that swarm going. Ok, I'll start it "I LIKE CHAMPIONS!"

Oscar -- these keep getting better and better. After you become a famous movie director, I am going to be saying "I knew Oscar when he was just a Mooney pilot" Nice work.