Guest Mike261 Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Hi all... Finally got to fly my airplane (1998 allegro) today. Instructor and I went up for 2 hours and did the obligatory stalls, slow flight, steep turns etc. And landings. True to the rumors it lands fine with the right airspeeds. We did have a couple of glitches though, and I was wondering if anyone has seen these before. The airspeed indicator (true airspeed type) took its sweet time coming off the peg on the first take off. bounced right up at about 50 knots without any tapping or coaxing. we did stop and go landings and it never had any trouble coming off the peg again. Harbinger of a failing A/S indicator I'm sure. the other issue was the vac hi lo warning light. it came on and off intermittently for a good deal of the flight, but the vacuum gauge indicates normal operation. most of the time it pulsed in and out like it couldn't make up its mind, on the bubble so to speak. is this an analogue sensor that senses a threshold or is it an on off type deal connected to a diaphragm somewhere? turning on the standby vacuum had no effect on the light condition. Also...the propeller doesn't seem to react very quickly to the vernier input. I don't recall if this is normal or not. seems like it was not much of a delay, a second maybe less but enough to make me overshoot and I had to turn the knob and wait and see where it landed and then small increments until I had it set. did not seem very linear. maybe this is normal? its been a long while since i've flown with a constant speed prop. the oil was warm so I don't think that was an issue. other than that...what a blast. haven't flown a complex airplane since the mid nineties and was a little apprehensive. lots of information and tips and gotchas available these days that I wouldn't have had access to back in the day, so my mind was filled with watch out for this, do this not that. I quickly realized I had to clear my head of a lot of the internet chatter and just fly the airplane. I've been flying 172's exclusively for years now and not with the frequency I would like to be proficient. I thought I would be way behind the airplane, and in some areas I was, especially getting it slowed down...thank you speed brakes. aside from that it is incredibly stable and easy to fly with precision, I found it easier to handle than the Cessna in that regard...it goes where you tell it and doesn't get shoved around very easily. bank it, stop it, un bank it stop it works every time. once I settled in and got the first landing under my belt, I could feel the stiffness come out of my spine and my grip on the yoke went from a tight fist to two loose fingers and the thumb for the trim. (couldn't stop reaching for the non existent center stack trim wheel I'm accustomed to though). its going to take some time to get accustomed to having the instruments right in my face, ill need reading glasses for that. In the Cessna their far enough away that my 53 year old eyes can focus on them with ease. That's really the only complaint I have about the seating position, if my eyes were younger id have no complaints at all. Someone on the forum compared the J model flight characteristics to a light twin...spot on in my opinion. Stable instrument platform which is perfect because I want to add the double I to my CFI, I can already see how nice she is going to fly in the grey. Sorry to ramble and dump this disjointed review on you all, but there is no one else at the office that is going to understand my excitement or understand a word I'm saying. I have got to figure a way to get out of here early today. N2146X is calling me. Mike Quote
Danb Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Way to go Mike..congrats! Good luck with you new baby, I would get the vernier checked out...great to have you here... Quote
eman1200 Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 No rambling at all, this is good stuff! Congrats!!! Quote
carusoam Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 You've come to the right place to ramble about Mooneys, IMC and experience! Good luck with your transition. The first day, you get a lot of repetition. Things improve while you get tired...(physically and mentally) The second day, things are magically even better! Just know, the brain doesn't have a good feedback loop to let you know how tired it is... Best regards, -a- Quote
Guest Mike261 Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 don't have any good photos yet, just this iPhone shot from the ramp... Quote
N7186V Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Congrats! I had a problem with my High/Low vac lights in my F when I bought her which required a new sensor. If yours is the same as mine, it took a few weeks to receive it after ordering. Good luck and happy flying! Vince Quote
mooneygirl Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Great news. Keep up the practice and don't forget to keep those speeds in mind. The minute you think that you can land that baby at 90 kts is the time you are going to float and bounce. They are wonderful airplanes. You are very lucky. Join MAPA and keep us up to date. 1 Quote
Guest Mike261 Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Great news. Keep up the practice and don't forget to keep those speeds in mind. The minute you think that you can land that baby at 90 kts is the time you are going to float and bounce. They are wonderful airplanes. You are very lucky. Join MAPA and keep us up to date. Thanks! I did experience the float. We went up to pease trade port, which is a former military base. 10000 foot runway. carried some extra on one approach and boy does it float. still landed it and did a stop and go. I joined MAPA 2 years ago when i started to plan to buy a Mooney. lots of good info there, planning on taking in one of those training weekends. Quote
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