Alex's M20D (continuous thread)

[gsxrpilot]

Love the quick action on the gear! Unweight the gear and get it stowed.

[Raptor05121]

Well.....went for my instrument training today. Topped off the tanks, my instructor loaded up, and *CLICK* from the starter. Battery good. Cleaned terminals on all relays. Nothing. So I just bypassed everything and sent 12v direct to the starter and its no-go. 

SkyTec ordered

Edited January 19, 2018 by Raptor05121

[Yooper Rocketman]

On 1/14/2018 at 9:43 PM, carusoam said:

a bottle of wine to go with that Bottle of Jack...

Best regards,

-a-

Be careful Anthony.  You may get sent to "The Pit of Misery"!!   DILLY DILLY !!

[carusoam]

Dilly Dilly....

-a-

[Hank]

3 hours ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

Be careful Anthony.  You may get sent to "The Pit of Misery"!!   DILLY DILLY !!

Negative on the Bud Light. It was good in college and after, when I was still in mass consumption mode. Now, I'd rather pay twice as much for a full bodied beer with flavor, mostly because I drink 1/10 as much (or less). Some of the craft brews that I enjoy have alcohol contents above 8%, so that makes the dollars-for-alcohol about the same, but the experience is still much better with a better beer. 

[steingar]

Do you one better.  There is a beer store down the street from me that consistently has 6-packs of craft beer for 4 bucks.  

[Hank]

9 hours ago, steingar said:

Do you one better.  There is a beer store down the street from me that consistently has 6-packs of craft beer for 4 bucks.  

As long as they aren't IPA, that would be good! 

[Raptor05121]

I did my 4th oil change today. Its starting to get easy, sans removing the 150 screws around the cowling.....Cleaned up the plane and tidyed up inside. Going to a fly-in tomorrow and doing a Young Eagles rally.

 

[Raptor05121]

It has been almost 10 years since my plane has held an IFR pitot static cert. Many a pilot had me scared. "You'll have a leak since it sat so long..." and "make sure to budget $1,000 when he needs to replace the lines".

Took him 45 minutes and $295. Fresh IFR cert with some pretty good readings (+/-30ft was the highest I saw).

Now its time to finish my ticket.

[Raptor05121]

Its been a while since I posted an update. I think I've finally hit a point where stuff stopped breaking (knock on wood). I've done nothing but contribute to the Shell stock price in the past few months, and I think I'm at about 350 hours in my plane since I purchased it 3 years ago.

In other news, I've officially started my IFR training. I have the written scheduled for next week and today was lesson #3. A couple of approaches- the VOR's seem quite easy. The ILS was fun and my nephew took a time lapse of me coming down into Valdosta today (if the link works). I've accumulated 18 hours hood time and am looking forward to learning more. Stuff is starting to click and I can't say I've been excited about flying in a while but this is really lighting a fire under my butt.
 

 

 

 

 

[rbridges]

On 9/21/2018 at 8:52 PM, Raptor05121 said:

Its been a while since I posted an update. I think I've finally hit a point where stuff stopped breaking (knock on wood). I've done nothing but contribute to the Shell stock price in the past few months, and I think I'm at about 350 hours in my plane since I purchased it 3 years ago.

In other news, I've officially started my IFR training. I have the written scheduled for next week and today was lesson #3. A couple of approaches- the VOR's seem quite easy. The ILS was fun and my nephew took a time lapse of me coming down into Valdosta today (if the link works). I've accumulated 18 hours hood time and am looking forward to learning more. Stuff is starting to click and I can't say I've been excited about flying in a while but this is really lighting a fire under my butt.
 

 

 

 

 

That's awesome. As much as you fly, having an instrument rating will be very useful.  

[MB65E]

On 1/14/2018 at 7:05 PM, Raptor05121 said:

My mechanic showed me how to punch pads off and rivet on new ones. I don't see why the FAA says we can't do this. 

It didn't take long to get the hang of it:

Old pads were wearing only on the edges (look at the old rotors) so I was only getting about 1/3rd of braking power. I never really use my brakes except for turning while taxiing but its nice knowing I have full power now if I need it:

After a few high-speed taxi stops and a few stop-and-goes, they are worn in and I am amazed at how effective they are! Actually pushes me forward when I stomp on them! Not bad for $225.

My friend also got a video of my departure

 

 

Just saw this. Awesome looking take off. But I’d relax on the gear retraction a second or two longer. 

We’ve all enjoyed watching your progress!!

-Matt

[gsxrpilot]

On 1/14/2018 at 9:05 PM, Raptor05121 said:

My friend also got a video of my departure

 

 

I'll take the other side on the gear retraction... it looks like perfect timing for manual gear Mooney.  Very nice looking take off.

[Raptor05121]

Passing 430hrs TT, 20 simulated, 0.5 actual and 6 approaches. Today we did a DME arc. Tomorrow is my written.

 

[RLCarter]

For some reason I like DME Arcs

[Raptor05121]

Passed with a 90. The plane is fueled up and ready for the Summit.

 

 

[RLCarter]

Congrats, I got cocky on my written and it was a humbling experience 

[Raptor05121]

Back from the dead.

N6744U is doing great. I just surpassed 500 hours TT. IFR checkride is around the corner and really looking forward to starting my commercial. We did a compression check for this years annual and found two cylinders low. Diagnosis confirmed they were leaking via the exhaust valves. Cyl #4 had 2200SMOH @ 52/80psi and Cyl #3 was the newest at 450SMOH @ 35/80psi. I was a little ticked at something as new as Cyl 3 going junk so soon but then again, I did buy this plane for $16,000.

I ordered two overhauled steel cylinder/piston assemblies from Don George Aircraft in Orlando for $850/ea. Also purchased new oil cooler lines and misc parts to comply with SB M20-110 for oil cooler line rerouting. Also ordered new spark plugs and wires.

The actual act of removing the cylinder and putting them back on was NOT hard at all. I quite enjoyed working on the engine itself. The inside cam and crank were beautiful from what we could see. What I didn't like was the 8+ hours I spent on the doghouse. We did do QUITE a bit of patching to it, and it is tighter all around. I also ordered some ACF50 and resprayed the entire fuselage. Total cost for new cylinder assemblies, hoses, wires, annual inspection and labor: $3,150. My hourly labor: Approx 40-50 hours spread over two weeks. My mechanic really taught me a lot and I do think this was probably the most "fun" annual I've had in terms of learning new stuff. 

The break-in was fun. I think I got 2.5 hours of flying out of 40 gallons of gas with the power settings Lycoming recommended. Mineral oil out at 15 hours and sample sent off. Filter was clean. 

 

[Raptor05121]

Trip 1 since annual:

15 hours of flying was enough to reassure me that 44U was ready for a trip. My sister and BIL moved from Florida up to Norfolk (Navy guy) and since popped out a copy they named Ramsey Alexander. Ramsey after the Pharoah Ramesses II and Alexander after...well...you know who

My girlfriend has wanted to go see the baby since he was born but being the diligent pilot I am, I was adamant I was NOT going to drive FL-VA. After the plane was good to go, I found a weekend off and good weather (30kt tailwinds!) and off we went. A little over 3 hrs block-to-block with an average ground speed of 170kts was excellent. We then decided to drive into DC since it's been almost 15 years since I went to the National Air and Space Museum. We paid Trump a visit and the next day left for home.

But not without a detour to Kittyhawk! We saw the original Wright Flier on Saturday and on Sunday went and saw where it all started. 

Great trip, and wouldn't have been possible without our time machine.
 

[Andy95W]

Seriously, Alex, get your licenses and get a job in aviation.  Maybe pickup the A&P license along the way if you can find the time.  

Airplane ownership and flying started as my hobby.  Now it's my job.  The coolest thing is that it's still my hobby- but now I get paid really well to do it.

[Raptor05121]

2 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

Seriously, Alex, get your licenses and get a job in aviation.  Maybe pickup the A&P license along the way if you can find the time.  

Airplane ownership and flying started as my hobby.  Now it's my job.  The coolest thing is that it's still my hobby- but now I get paid really well to do it.

I would absolutely love to. My dream is to fly King Air's or Citations. A&P would be a plus!

[0TreeLemur]

1 hour ago, Andy95W said:

Seriously, Alex, get your licenses and get a job in aviation.  Maybe pickup the A&P license along the way if you can find the time.  

Airplane ownership and flying started as my hobby.  Now it's my job.  The coolest thing is that it's still my hobby- but now I get paid really well to do it.

Are you the exception to the adage:  "The way to destroy a fun hobby is to turn it into a vocation"?

 

[Andy95W]

1 hour ago, Fred₂O said:

Are you the exception to the adage:  "The way to destroy a fun hobby is to turn it into a vocation"?

 

I might be!  I'm probably weird, but I still enjoy walking through airline terminals. I still look forward to going to work, particularly if I've had a week off.  This is my 3rd career field, the first was great, the second one sucked.

There are 2 adages I like better:

"Do what you love and the money will follow."

"Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life."

 

[Marauder]

I might be!  I'm probably weird, but I still enjoy walking through airline terminals. I still look forward to going to work, particularly if I've had a week off.  This is my 3rd career field, the first was great, the second one sucked.
There are 2 adages I like better:
"Do what you love and the money will follow."
"Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life."
 

You forgot the third adage:

“Do what you want to your Mooney and you will never stop working”


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[tigers2007]

Alex how much time is on the engine SMOH?


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