DrBill Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 I was lucky to sit next to Bill Wheat in the exhibit area for about an hour chatting. Learned a lot from him and even more during his seminar. Definitely was worthiwhile attending. So far, am not home yet, my arifare from CLT-KSAT and back has MADE me $100 NET ! I just got a $300 voucher to take a later flight and go first class on a $300 original ticket. Got a $100 voucher on the way here for taking a later flight. If I get another $300 from DFW to KCLT This trip will have cost me NOTHING ! Dr Bill N5612q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyDave Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Quote: DaV8or Sad to say, I can't join all you folks because, well, I guess my Mooney just doesn't want to go home! On Tuesday, I planned to change the oil before going and when I went out to fly the plane and get the oil warm, I got stopped on the pre-flight. When I rocked the airlerons back and forth a new sound emerged. It was the clinking sound of loose metal. I spent the rest of the evening (would have been way faster with two people) tracking this down to the vertical rod that connects the yokes to the bellcrank in the wing. Basically, the bearings on either end are pretty worn and loose now. I guess the last little bit of grease squeezed out and now it rattles. I satisfied myself that it wasn't going to fall apart and put all the inspection panels back on. I will change them next annual, or when ever I need to get in there again. By this point, I needed to go home. Wednesday I got delayed at work and didn't get to the hangar until just before sunset. I pulled the plane out and went to start it to warm the oil. Whah-Whah-whah- wha... Try again and Whah- *click* *clack*. Great! Dead battery! Put the plane back, went home and got a battery charger, went back and hooked it up. Have to try again on Thursday. This morning, I got up early, pulled her out and again, *clack*... *clack*... All the connections look good, so I figure since the Sky-Tec starter was put in in 2002 and the battery was put in in 2006, that it's most likely a crappy battery. Anyhow, the battery was the only thing I could potentially fix today and still get to Kerville. I bought a brand new Concorde sealed battery, put her in and... Just for giggles, I undid and cleaned with the copper wool all the connections from the battery to the starter. I even checked the engine ground strap. No good. Tomorrow I have a local A&P coming to further test. I figure it has to be either the starter motor, solenoid or relay. We'll see. So now I'm in for a $310 battery, which is OK, I consider it preventitive maintenance, but also one night at the KO Ranch because by the time I called, it was to late for a refund on Friday night. Then there's the MAPA registration for the event. I think there is some percentage I can get back. Then there's tomorrow... Expensive weekend considering I went nowhere!! Oh well, I wish you all great flights and a fantastic time in Kerrville! Please post pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaV8or Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Quote: FlyDave Try turning the starter a little before turning the key. If there is uneven wear in the starter armeture this may provide the contact to start it and point more definatively to the starter. The thing that all mechanics told me was that electrical parts like starters and alternator is that there is no "TBO" on them. They can fail at 150 hours just as easilly as 600 hours. My starter lasted 350 hours. When they go, they go....period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyDave Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Quote: DaV8or We were suspicious of the starter too, so we pulled it off the plane and inspected it. Looks fine and works perfectly off the plane. We rigged up a bypass using jumper cables which in effect turned the master relay into the starter relay and it worked fine, so I'm pretty sure it's the starter relay, or solenoid as Mooney calls it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooneygirl Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 A friend of mine asked how the "convention" was. I told him that we had a wonderful time, but it really felt much more like a family reunion. I imagine that many of you who attended felt the same way. It was so nice to meet new friends and see old friends. Trey and Lela and all the rest did such a remarkable job of making each one of us feel welcomed home to Kerrville. Mitch and I tallied up our hours on Maggie, 21. [We did go to Dallas after Kerrville for the day, so that added 3 hours]. The airplane performed without a hiccup. We even had 145-150 kts on the way home which was super for heading west. We stopped in Deming, NM. We stayed at the Hacienda across from the airport $32 total. Was it the Holiday Inn? No, but clean and we got a good night's sleep. We met Bert the next day from Desert Aviation. What a remarkable example of an ambassador for General Aviation. Of course, all FBOs are struggling. But he believes in rolling out the red carpet for his customers. Good fuel price $5.50 [compared to over $6 in surrounding area], discount for paying cash ten cents a gallon. No tie down charge, he will put your plane in the hangar for free, and has a crew van that is free. Any military that comes in eats for free. He said they spent $7000-8000 per year feeding our military, but thinks it is worth it. His wife is an elementary school teacher, and every year he takes the 35 students up for an airplane ride. He believes, which may be true, that this ride might be the only time the children are exposed to general aviation or airports. We flew on to Lake Havasu, and stopped at D2 Aero. $5.15 was the fuel price. D2 has always been very hospitable. They have an "island" themed FBO complete with free slushes and popcorn. They gave us a couple of frozen water bottles which was great for the trip home. The owner said she was looking through photos from 2009, the fuel price was $3.19. She said they used to pump 1200 gallons a day and now they are lucky to have 120. They did have an event to honor veterans last year with a big band and folks dressed up in 1940s garb. This next week, they are hosting a wedding reception. We left Havasu and thought we would have to go into Santa Maria IFR: I follow roads, route 166. But were pleasantly surprised when the sky opened up and was solid VFR. As a person who puts on events, I keenly understand what it takes to put on an event. Trey and Lela, my hat is off to you two. It was just lovely. We will be back next year. Thanks so much.Jolie LucasMitch Latting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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