Today's flight for 2017

[Skates97]

6 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Where's our decal/wrap guy?

The bat plane may need a tale number?

-a-

It has one at the top of the tail, just not in that picture. 

[bonal]

Ahh CRAP!  So I'll start with the good.  Trip to WLW to load up on supplies and to do some Christmas shopping. After removing the Narco I discovered some corrosion on some of the terminals and after cleaning them up my radio transmit seems to be loud and clear again. The weather was perfect but looks like there is a long layer of smoke that may have originated from the terrible fires down south and drifted north through the Central Valley (prayers to all those folks) during these terrible events, believe me I know what your going through.  The trip out was smooth and Snoopy was once again showing how much he preferers cool weather. Making a real nice approach to a greaser landing. Now for the stupid pilot trick. Wind was variable favoring 34 which requires a Long taxi so we spent a few extra minutes waiting to see if we would be OK for 16 and it was swinging from down wind to 90 degrees on 16 well having decided we would be good to go 16 hopped in after pre flight and went through our run up took the runway and headed out. Wheels up and climb our we're no problem with plenty of runway to spare. After about 20 to 30 seconds something sounded very wrong and after a quick check of the gauges turned my head to see the cargo door had blown open. No other traffic so made a ? Shaped turn anounced my immediate  return to land 34 and after pulling off shut down to asses the damage to our Snoopy. Bent it up pretty bad but at least it closed latched and locked. Took a few minutes to regain my composure and made an uneventful although somewhat somber flight home. After putting it away stopped at LASAR before leaving to talk to Robert about the damage he said bring it by tomorrow and they will take a look see and what we might do. I don't know what caused me to fail to lock the door or worse not even latch (I don't know which) but there you have it. Once home all I could think of is hey we made it home safe and sound and that's all that really matters.

the picture is our shade parking spot under a wing of a Martin bomber there are 2 parked out front of our hanger.

[Andy95W]

So sorry to hear this!  Hope the repairs aren't too painful.  Good luck.

[KLRDMD]

Yesterday and today I got to commute to work via Mooney. Instead of a 2:15 - 2:30 drive each way it was a 30 minute flight each way with a climb to 7,500 ft eastbound and 8,500 ft westbound. Between the four legs, there and back yesterday and today I burned 27 gallons of fuel and saved 7 hours of driving time. I saw the sun rise five times* during my flight this morning. How many humans can say that ?

* I was flying in the mountains and as the sun came up over them and I was flying, it went back down behind a mountain peak then back up again as the terrain was very irregular.

[MyNameIsNobody]

On 12/11/2017 at 6:59 PM, bonal said:

Ahh CRAP!  So I'll start with the good.  Trip to WLW to load up on supplies and to do some Christmas shopping. After removing the Narco I discovered some corrosion on some of the terminals and after cleaning them up my radio transmit seems to be loud and clear again. The weather was perfect but looks like there is a long layer of smoke that may have originated from the terrible fires down south and drifted north through the Central Valley (prayers to all those folks) during these terrible events, believe me I know what your going through.  The trip out was smooth and Snoopy was once again showing how much he preferers cool weather. Making a real nice approach to a greaser landing. Now for the stupid pilot trick. Wind was variable favoring 34 which requires a Long taxi so we spent a few extra minutes waiting to see if we would be OK for 16 and it was swinging from down wind to 90 degrees on 16 well having decided we would be good to go 16 hopped in after pre flight and went through our run up took the runway and headed out. Wheels up and climb our we're no problem with plenty of runway to spare. After about 20 to 30 seconds something sounded very wrong and after a quick check of the gauges turned my head to see the cargo door had blown open. No other traffic so made a ? Shaped turn anounced my immediate  return to land 34 and after pulling off shut down to asses the damage to our Snoopy. Bent it up pretty bad but at least it closed latched and locked. Took a few minutes to regain my composure and made an uneventful although somewhat somber flight home. After putting it away stopped at LASAR before leaving to talk to Robert about the damage he said bring it by tomorrow and they will take a look see and what we might do. I don't know what caused me to fail to lock the door or worse not even latch (I don't know which) but there you have it. Once home all I could think of is hey we made it home safe and sound and that's all that really matters.

the picture is our shade parking spot under a wing of a Martin bomber there are 2 parked out front of our hanger.

Way to fly the plane.  Snoopy just wanted that crease fixed.  Glad it is just a little repair.  _ _ it happens...

[gsxrpilot]

After the little Mag issue of the last couple of days, it was time to go fly and see Mom & Dad for an early Christmas. I like the long cross country flights and today would be a perfect opportunity to set a new personal best non-stop distance. I'd be solo, carrying max fuel, colder than standard temps and a stiff tailwind. 

For a long flight, you gotta start early.

All loaded, fueled, filed, and ready to launch. Starting point Smithville, TX 84R.

I know you guys are sick of looking at my panel, but just imagine having to stare at it for hours on end 

The Blue Ridge Parkway at the southern end of the Smoky Mountains.

I know it's all wind... but gotta love the numbers. 230 over the ground on 179 TAS at 61% power and 9.4 gph.

Finally bedded down after a long successful flight. Roxboro, NC  KTDK

84R - TDF Direct 1140 miles 4:53, 56 gal used 20 gal remaining.

And that's how I like to use my Mooney.

[bonal]

GIxxer, an order of magnitude 

[kpaul]

8 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

 

Rocket,

Is there always a 80' split in altitude between your Aspen and G5?  In this shot your Aspen says 23,050 but the G5 says 21,030.

[gsxrpilot]

4 hours ago, kpaul said:

Rocket,

Is there always a 80' split in altitude between your Aspen and G5?  In this shot your Aspen says 23,050 but the G5 says 21,030.

Yes, it's always that way. And the truth is that neither of those altimeters matter. The steam gauge to the left is the altimeter that runs the autopilot and so is the one I use. I'd like to take it back to the avionics shop and see if the three altimeters could be calibrated to be a little closer to agreeing with each other.

[Hank]

11 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Yes, it's always that way. And the truth is that neither of those altimeters matter. The steam gauge to the left is the altimeter that runs the autopilot and so is the one I use. I'd like to take it back to the avionics shop and see if the three altimeters could be calibrated to be a little closer to agreeing with each other.

Sure, the one not in the picture is accurate!    It's OK, we believe you. Really . . . . .

[jasona900]

Wow... 230kts at 9.4gph.. tailwind or not..that's impressive!

[Jerry 5TJ]

Altimeter disagreements—

FAR 43 subpart E table I lists certification tolerances.  Regulation allows error that increases with altitude.  +/- 155 feet at 25,000.  

Your three altimeters could  be 310’ apart at FL250 after each passes a static certification test.  

But I hope at least the two solid state sensors in the Aspen and G5 could be set to track each other better. 

Back when I just had one baro altimeter in the plane I was always (well, nearly always) at exactly the right altitude.  

 

 

[gsxrpilot]

Here you can see all three Altimeters. The steam gauge lower left is driving the KFC150 Altitude Pre-select. So that's the one I'm most concerned about and make sure it's accurate according to ATC.

[kpaul]

5 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

So that's the one I'm most concerned about and make sure it's accurate according to ATC.

Which one do you fly your instrument approaches off of?  I would want that one to be accurate according to the controlling obstacle.  

It appears that your original and your Aspen tend to agree within about 40-50' in the two different pictures, but the G5 is 110-120' high.

Are all 3 within 75' of known field elevation on the ground?

One day I will grow up and have to worry about the three altimeters in my panel, until then I will assume my one is accurate  

 

[gsxrpilot]

7 minutes ago, kpaul said:

Which one do you fly your instrument approaches off of?  I would want that one to be accurate according to the controlling obstacle.  

It appears that your original and your Aspen tend to agree within about 40-50' in the two different pictures, but the G5 is 110-120' high.

Are all 3 within 75' of known field elevation on the ground?

One day I will grow up and have to worry about the three altimeters in my panel, until then I will assume my one is accurate  

 

It's a valid question. The first answer is that I don't use the G5 at all. 

The analogue altimeter is always set to the correct barometric pressure and every time I get a new pressure from ATC, that is the gauge I update first. The autopilot is using it, so it needs to be right. If I know I'm going to be shooting an approach, I'll set the Aspen so that it agrees with the steam gauge prior to intercepting the approach. That way once I'm on the approach, I can use it exclusively in my visual scan. The Aspen also allows me to set a bug for the minimums and will warn me as I approach that altitude.

[kortopates]

Both certified altimeter are quite close to each other and that's what counts considering the G5 altimeter is not certified for primary - only attitude is. So folks might be expecting more than it is?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Yooper Rocketman]

-21 degrees at altitude??? Boy it's warm down south.  I saw -42 on my flight to Florida a couple weeks ago.  It was even in the minus high 30's in Georgia and northern Florida.

Tom

[gsxrpilot]

I did the first leg of the trip home today and am paying it all back. I only had to fly as far as Atlanta as I was planning to stop and see my son and daughter-in-law. I stayed as low as I could, between the layers and above the Smokies, so 6500 ft. At times I had 52 knots on the nose. Running ROP, and 75% power I could only manage about 120 knots. 2:34 to go only 366 miles. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get the rest of the way home to Austin. I expect I'll be making a few fuel stops.

[Skates97]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

I did the first leg of the trip home today and am paying it all back. I only had to fly as far as Atlanta as I was planning to stop and see my son and daughter-in-law. I stayed as low as I could, between the layers and above the Smokies, so 6500 ft. At times I had 52 knots on the nose. Running ROP, and 75% power I could only manage about 120 knots. 2:34 to go only 366 miles. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get the rest of the way home to Austin. I expect I'll be making a few fuel stops.

Looks like you can fill another state in on your map after that trip. 

[Hank]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

I did the first leg of the trip home today and am paying it all back. I only had to fly as far as Atlanta as I was planning to stop and see my son and daughter-in-law. I stayed as low as I could, between the layers and above the Smokies, so 6500 ft. At times I had 52 knots on the nose. Running ROP, and 75% power I could only manage about 120 knots. 2:34 to go only 366 miles. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get the rest of the way home to Austin. I expect I'll be making a few fuel stops.

My lowest groundspeed so far was at 10,000' between GSP and TYS, dodging icy clouds at sunset--a whopping 68 knots . . . .

Welcome to our wimpy little Eastern mountains! 

[Skates97]

21 minutes ago, Hank said:

Welcome to our wimpy little Eastern mountains  hills! 

Hmmm.... I don't know Hank. A quick scan looks like the highest MEF around there is around Tennessee/North Carolina at 7k feet. That won't even get me over the "hills" here if I'm heading north. 

[KLRDMD]

8 hours ago, Hank said:

My lowest groundspeed so far was at 10,000' between GSP and TYS, dodging icy clouds at sunset--a whopping 68 knots . . . .

I once had a sustained 47 kt groundspeed between El Paso and Tucson. Well over 100 kt headwinds.

[bonal]

2 hours ago, KLRDMD said:

I once had a sustained 47 kt groundspeed between El Paso and Tucson. Well over 100 kt headwinds.

Who says a C150 can't hover

[N201MKTurbo]

2 hours ago, KLRDMD said:

I once had a sustained 47 kt groundspeed between El Paso and Tucson. Well over 100 kt headwinds.

It seems like every time I'm westbound through New Mexico I can watch the cars pass me on the freeway. And they are getting a better ride!

[MIm20c]

5 minutes ago, bonal said:

Who says a C150 can't hover

New mission for the aspen screenshots, 0 kts ground speed.