Pictures or it didn't happen...

[FeelinFiki]

Hello Mooniacs. Having sold my Ovation, I was in a state of immediate sellers regret, highlighted by sleepless nights and bouts of depression...I kid. Or do I?

Thankfully it didn't last too long.

I have always wanted a Rocket...heretofore named "The Red Stone Rocket" You guys from the 50's and 60's will get it :-) 

Blessed to have such a wonderful machine, and certainly loved my Ovation to bits, but now, I fear I must kindly request you keep your speed up on final. 

Rocket owners: would love to connect and pick your brain about this beast. 

She has 900 hours on the engine with 4 ECI cylinders that need to be replaced in 100 hours due to a mandatory AD. How shall I approach this from an engine usefulness prospective? Glad to be back in the Mooney family. It was so cold out there...

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by FeelinFiki

[carusoam]

@aviatoreb… invitation…

Erik has a Rocket, and has swapped some cylinders along the way….

Best regards,

-a-

[aviatoreb]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:27 PM, FeelinFiki said:

Hello Mooniacs. Having sold my Ovation, I was in a state of immediate sellers regret, highlighted by sleepless nights and bouts of depression...I kid. Or do I?

Thankfully it didn't last too long.

I have always wanted a Rocket...heretofore named "The Red Stone Rocket" You guys from the 50's and 60's will get it :-) 

Blessed to have such a wonderful machine, and certainly loved my Ovation to bits, but now, I fear I must kindly request you keep your speed up on final. 

Rocket owners: would love to connect and pick your brain about this beast. 

She has 900 hours on the engine with 4 ECI cylinders that need to be replaced in 100 hours due to a mandatory AD. How shall I approach this from an engine usefulness prospective? Glad to be back in the Mooney family. It was so cold out there...

 

Hey!  You have a tks rocket!  Just like me!  That is a rare bird.  Don't tell anyone but Tuesday was a day I was glad I had tks.  Unforecast ice.  Light unforecast ice.  But glad to have it.

I had to replace a complete set of cylinders for exactly the same reason - my ECI cylinders were caught up in the AD.  So at 1300 hours I removed 6 perfectly good ECI cylinders and replaced them with 6 perfectly good continental cylinders.  Now I am at 1800 hours and I figure replacing cylinders vs rebuild at that time has been well paid for at this point.  Hopefully it goes a bit longer.

So yeah - I have been told to slow down because I was over taking a citation jet on final.  I have recently been told to slow down because I was over taking a cirrus by 70 knots on ten mile final into Burlington.  Poor pokey Cirrus.  Pop the speed brakes.

Enjoy!

E

Edited December 9, 2021 by aviatoreb

[Ragsf15e]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:27 PM, FeelinFiki said:

Hello Mooniacs. Having sold my Ovation, I was in a state of immediate sellers regret, highlighted by sleepless nights and bouts of depression...I kid. Or do I?

Thankfully it didn't last too long.

I have always wanted a Rocket...heretofore named "The Red Stone Rocket" You guys from the 50's and 60's will get it :-) 

Blessed to have such a wonderful machine, and certainly loved my Ovation to bits, but now, I fear I must kindly request you keep your speed up on final. 

Rocket owners: would love to connect and pick your brain about this beast. 

She has 900 hours on the engine with 4 ECI cylinders that need to be replaced in 100 hours due to a mandatory AD. How shall I approach this from an engine usefulness prospective? Glad to be back in the Mooney family. It was so cold out there...

 

Really nice looking airplane.

[Austintatious]

Nice looking rocket!

I've got 2 and we have been flying them for several years.   Do you have the extra fuel tanks?  One of mine does and the other does not.  The one without requires smart planning and management to get range out of it.  But I have made it from Chicago Dupaige to FTW in 3:40 with 18 gallons left.

I really like flying in the 17,000 to FL210 range.  Gets me a solid 200-210 true on 17.5 gph.  If I am really trying to stretch the range, Ill pull it back a little and on the descent Ill plan a 700 FPM descent, pull the power back a bit more and lean down to LOP @ 10-11 gph descending at the yellow arc with no speed brakes.   I have not been able to run LOP in cruise, but am working with Gami to get that sorted out.  This airplane simply needs to go high to benefit from the power plant setup.  The only exception is if going high puts you into big headwinds.

That being said, Do yourself a favor and spend the money on a Mountain high oxygen system and a boom cannula.  Not only is it more safe and convenient than constant flow, it saves a massive amount of oxygen.  I fly about 80 hours a year... I used O2 on EVERY flight, even if I am only at 6000 feet, and I typically set the unit to the highest O2 flow possible (which is really not needed) and I only have to fill the tank once a year.  It pays for itself very very quickly. 

The other thing I recommend is a Bose QC3 headset with a You fly mic.  It is very light weight and with the ANR on makes the sound levels VERY nice.   This setup is way better than my much more expensive David Clark X11.

 

 

 

[FeelinFiki]

Thank you all for the tips! I will add them to the list! Mine does have the aux tanks. Have you guys had good luck getting to TBO/going past TBO? I'm at 930TT with 2 cylinders having 300 hours, and the other 4 getting replaced in 100 hours. That will essentially be a top overhaul with 1030 hours. Hoping to get a little extra out of her. 

We are 1400TBO, correct?

[Austintatious]

1600 TBO. 

I cant comment on going over from personal experience.  What I can say is that in what I have read, the engine is supposedly capable of running at max power, with all parameters at red line for the TBO duration.  That is why certification is so expensive.  Go search out some Mike Bush (Savvy aviation) videos on making it past TBO.  He had a few TSIO520's that he got a few thousand hours out of.

[LANCECASPER]

On 12/11/2021 at 9:59 AM, Austintatious said:

The other thing I recommend is a Bose QC3 headset with a You fly mic.  It is very light weight and with the ANR on makes the sound levels VERY nice.   This setup is way better than my much more expensive David Clark X11.

I flew with that setup for awhile and I agree it is much more comfortable that a traditional headset. The only caveat is that once the battery goes you not only lose noise cancelling but you lose audio in the headset all together, so starting with a new battery on a long flight was always a good idea.

[Austintatious]

6 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

I flew with that setup for awhile and I agree it is much more comfortable that a traditional headset. The only caveat is that once the battery goes you not only lose noise cancelling but you lose audio in the headset all together, so starting with a new battery on a long flight was always a good idea.

This is not the case for the QC 3.... for the QC 2 yes that was the case...  In the newer headset, you only lose the ANR.