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I just did a non-stop flight in my Ovation from KBDH in Minnesota to KFHB in Florida in 5 hrs and 47 min. Flew at 15,000 feet blessed by a nice tailwind and running Lean of Peak. TAS was 163 kts, Fuel Flow 10.2 GPH at wide open throttle (16.9" MP) and 2400 RPM. Ended up using 65.7 gallon for the whole trip. Mooneys are fantastic travel machines!! Without winds flight would have been around 1 hour longer: ~6:50. I have done a few other non-stop flights with a crosswind (negligible head or tailwind) as well in 6:50. Running lean of peak allows for quite long legs at altitude! Here are a few panel pictures taken at the same time during the flight. Video coming sometime soon....

Since my Mooney is going for an annual by the end of this month I flew up to 11,500 feet to perform "in-flight engine diagnostic tests" as recommended by Mike Busch and SavvyAviation. The tests I did were the GAMI sweep to confirm my GAMIjectors were performing as expected and also a LOP mag check to evaluate the ignition system. In the video I show part of the "sweep" and the LOP mag check and then go on to show how SavvyAviation displays the data collected by the engine analyzer. On their site one can toggle through GAMI sweep views as well as Mag check views. If you subscribe to their service they will also give you a detailed report of the findings. I also show what the report looks like. CK

Hello folks. I'm debating to purchase a TEMPEST IRIDIUM FINE WIRE SPARK PLUG UREM38S to install on a 1983 Mooney M20J. I heard lots of good things but my mechanic said its just waist of money. My folks that i know they had them installed they are very happy with the performance and the fact you'll be able to do LOP better with them. I do not have a Gami Injectors. Please share your thoughts and your experience if you had them. Thank you

Here's a new one for the LOP/ROP argument. I flew up to International Falls last night for dinner from Minneapolis (KFCM->KINL). I have been flying my aircraft LOP quite a bit for the last year, but I could not do it last night. The cylinders just ran too cold for my comfort. #6 is the coldest cylinder in my aircraft because it is at the front and has an unobstructed airflow from the cowl opening. The conditions were otherwise perfect for LOP, I was at 5,000, so not too high. The problem was that #6 ran so cold I had to make a change. The graph line on my JPI 930 for CHT starts at 224. When the CHT on #6 stopped graphing I got a little worried, and when it slowly drifted down to 219 (I get a number displayed even if there is no graph line) I figured I needed to do something, so I ran ROP and with some extra power and everything was fine. Part of the problem was that the cowl flaps were stuck in the half open position, and I could not fully close them. But the bigger problem was that it was -22C at low altitude where the air is dense, and the cooling combined with LOP ops was just too good. I don't know, probably that was just fine, I don't think there is a minimum CHT in my manual. But I was not going to tempt fate. Besides, it was getting really cold in the cabin with all the cylinders in the 200-somethings. That is at 75% power (11.5 GPH and about 33 MAP @ 2450). LOP ain't perfect in my aircraft. I can't usually fly LOP above 12,000 in the summer, the temps are just too hot. It sure works well most of the time, below 12. Just was too cold this time, which is a new one on me.