Community Accountablity for My 2017 Aviation Objectives

[astravierso]

11 hours ago, L. Trotter said:

All told, well done. Difficult decision to drive, but you demonstrated discipline and did not make "reasonable" excuses to keep flying. 

One thing I did to help myself should an emergency occurred was to laminate the emergency section of the POH and have it in the side pocket up front with me. Before laminating, I highlighted each sub-section so I could quickly find the particular issue. This way I wont forget anything. The section is small and does not take up to much room. It sits behind the std check list. When I get board during a long flight I might quiz myself about "what if" then check my answer with the document. The POH is to big to store in the back seat pocket and does me little good on the hat rack-should a real emergency occur.

 

Thanks and I would be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind (to head north to Helena) but since I didn't know what caused the issue it wasn't the smart play. Plus  I figured that the board has enough things to talk about and I didn't need it to hash out how much of a dumba$$ I was when I went down in the mountains between here and there.

Your point about knowing the EP's is well taken and this event showed that as a large hole in my skills and knowledge. This will be address in short order.

Cheers

[astravierso]

10 hours ago, MB65E said:

Keep good fresh plugs in your airplane as well as a few spares. Check the timing at oil changes. Possibly upgrade to Bendix mags, next time if not already. 

Inflight mag check from time to time. 

In cruise monitor and record LOP settings just to see how efficient your ignition is working. You should be able to tell if something is sliding. Being able to run LOP depends on the ignition system that is Par or better. I don't care if you want to run LOP or not, it's just a good test. 

Your higher altitude ops will be demanding both on you and the airplane. 

I'll take any right crosswind vs. a left. No fault there.

I would be a bit less aggressive with your flight schedule. 

Glad things are getting fixed up. 

-Matt

 

Thanks Matt,

This event has provide an opportunity for growth and I will be incorporating a good portion of the knowledge the board is sharing in how I conduct operations.

Cheers

[Marauder]

Thanks and I would be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind (to head north to Helena) but since I didn't know what caused the issue it wasn't the smart play. Plus  I figured that the board has enough things to talk about and I didn't need it to hash out how much of a dumba$$ I was when I went down in the mountains between here and there.
Your point about knowing the EP's is well taken and this event showed that as a large hole in my skills and knowledge. This will be address in short order.
Cheers

This first upgrade I did with my airplane 26 years ago was to put in an engine monitor. The first issue I needed to deal with in flight, one year later, was an engine problem. The monitor was invaluable to let me know what I was dealing with. We depend exclusively on that single engine working correctly and the more we know about what it is doing, the better informed we are about what action to take.

With the description of the problem you provided, I'm willing to bet you would have been able to see if the issue was a single plug or a whole magneto failing.

I posted a thread back in the Fall about a problem I saw on my engine analyzer. It was one in which the analyzer provided the data and Paul on this site quickly pointed out what I was dealing with - multiple and inconsistent spark plug failures in the same cylinder. I would recommend you consider putting one of these on your lists of needs.


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[gsxrpilot]

I've only owned two Mooneys. The first thing I did with the M20C was to install an engine monitor with recording capability.  The first thing I did with the M20K was to remove the base model engine monitor and upgrade it to something much more modern and capable.

Unless you're in the tax bracket where engines are cheap, you can't afford not to have a good engine monitor. Step 2 is then learning how to use it and read it properly. Unfortunately most stop before getting to step 2. But fortunately there is plenty of free help on this forum like @kortopates and others to make up for it. Of course, it's even better to have the knowledge yourself so you can understand and know what's happening with the engine... WHEN it's happening. 

[astravierso]

@Marauder and @gsxrpilot, I agree having the ability to monitor, store and analyze engine data is a valuable capability. While it on my list (behind rebuilding my nose wheel, sealing the minor leaks in my tanks and installing my 1990/2000's vintage radios) the unfortunate fact is that the tax bracket I'm in nothing is cheap. The only way it moves up on the list is if I find a smoking deal on a used unit when someone upgrades their panel. But that won't be until the flying fund recovers from what I am thinking is going to be a 3 AMU hit. On the bright side the wife has already asked me if there was a way I could have been able to predict this issue or identified it while I was flying, so I got that going for me when the time comes.

Cheers

[astravierso]

Quick update,  getting hours under the hood and moving forward with the IR (finally) with the plan of doing a lap around the country the last week in August and first week in September with my instructor before he heads off to fly the line. Hopefully I will get some real IMC. Radio upgrade (as much as it is) to start on this Saturday. I have been fortunate enough to find an AI who is willing to supervise me (I will be washing airplanes and pulling panels for him for a long time when I am not doing my day job). I will post pictures of the progress on the avionics page. I have been flying for business (Sacramento CA two weeks ago and Helena today) . After these two trips I am so glad I didn't settle and got what I wanted...a Mooney. I mean Sac to SLC 4hrs and SLC to Helena 2.5hrs sure beats 12 and 9 hrs drives respectively or crazy ticket prices from the airlines. One thing about these trips is they have both been at times when the smoke from the fires in the Mountain West has kept visibility to slightly better than 5 mi  and the horizon has been somewhat obscured which has resulted in me practicing my scan more than I normally would flying typical VFR. So I have been flying under sudo-IFR enroute @ 10.5 and 11.5K  with the help of SLC Center FF (before anyone gets the wrong idea, yes I am flying VFR, yes I get my eyes outside the plane but I am more aware of altitude and heading drift and correct them immediately vice wondering all over the sky and tracking VOR to VOR (although center has asked a time or two if I was doing some sightseeing enroute, I swear I hear laughing in the background)).

All in all, learning is occurring and fun is being had, both have been known to happen at the same time on occasion during this journey. I will be looking for lay over recommendations for my trip at the end of August so feel free to make suggestions. Looking to go the northern route out to MA to visit family, down the east coast (need to fly the Hudson river) maybe to Key West out to CA and Santa Monica (before the chuckheads close it down) and Catalina, up to Seattle then back home to SLC. Yup it's a bit ambitious and I haven't mapped it out yet but I have 14 flying days so we'll see.

Cheers

 

[KLRDMD]

10 minutes ago, astravierso said:

I have been fortunate enough to find an AI who is willing to supervise me.

Just a point of clarification since I see the mistake so often.

AI = attitude indicator

IA = an Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certificate holder with Inspection Authorization (A&P/IA)

[carusoam]

Good Plan, Astra!

IR and Mooney...  like peanut butter and jelly... they just go together...

Best regards,

-a-

[astravierso]

32 minutes ago, KLRDMD said:

Just a point of clarification since I see the mistake so often.

AI = attitude indicator

IA = an Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certificate holder with Inspection Authorization (A&P/IA)

CT = can't type