Getting a Little Discouraged

[N601RX]

Quote: jetdriven

WHat I find amusing is the FAA approved fire retardant carpet is glued to a cardboard sidewall.

[John Pleisse]

Quote: N601RX

WHat I find amusing is the FAA approved fire retardant carpet is glued to a cardboard sidewall.

[jwilkins]

Quote: N4352H

I suspect in almost all cases of 2 and 4 seat crash/fires it is to late for the occupants if the fire ever reaches the seats or carpet.  At that point fire retardant material isn't going to help very many if any of the occupants. 

The car mats and seat covers are perfectly legal as long as you send one of them off for a flame test and they pass. It cost $40 for the test.

[jetdriven]

I always thought leather was assumed to be "self extinguishing".

[aviatoreb]

Quote: JimR

 

 

The regs don't say anything about the materials having to be "installed" in order to fall under the provisions of FAR Section 23.853.  Just that they are in a compartment used by the crew or passengers.  So, yes, by strict interpretation that would probably include removable floormats. At least the FAA could certainly argue that it does.

That having been said, does your interior really see so much traffic that you need them?  Mine does not.  Floormats seem like an unecessary thing to haul around to me.

Jim

[jetdriven]

You better call the FSDO and explain to that 800 hour CFII who in now the inspector, so you can "get the record straight" and repent for your sins.  Perhaps only a 6 month suspension.  And dear God, do not file /I with dual VOR/DME and 4 GPS's onboard.  OKC just graduated a whole class of 800 hour CFI inspectors specially trained to investigate equipment suffixes, and panel light rheostat part numbers on 1947 Luscombes .   :)

[johnggreen]

Well, I see this thread is still going.  Heck, I had almost forgotten about my post to it awhile back.

In light of the title of the thread, "Getting A Little Discouraged", I thought of something that actually adds a little positive to our (Mooney owners) predicament.

Several years ago, I bought a low time, 1963, H-18 Twin Beech.  it was one of only 8 or 9 H models built with conventional gear.  I refurbished it to the point that, well it may not have been the nicest, but I never saw one nicer in pics or in person.

Other than the cost of fuel at 40 gph, it was not really any more expensisve to maintain than the Bravo.  Why?  Because parts were dirt cheap.  A large percentage of Twin Beeches are in bone yards and they willing give themselves up, one part at a time, to keep the rest of the fleet flying.  P & W 985's are a dime a dozen, as are accessory parts and you can overhaul two of them for the price of one Bravo engine.

Well, maybe this is not exactly a "bright side", but you get the point.  Mooneys going to non-flying status can keep the rest going for a long time.

What does Ross say?  Cheers?

Jgreen

[jetdriven]

John, that was so funny that Shiner Bock came out of my nose!  Shame on you!

 

[DaV8or]

Quote: aviatoreb

Don't laugh....I fly in slippers.  Like leather soled mocasins.  Or just socks.  Not to preserve the floor although that helps - but I feel like I can feel what is going on with the pedals through my feet and react quicker to the pressures than if I am wearing thick rubber soles.

My slippers are not flame tested.  They are uncertified.  They are experimental slippers.

[DaV8or]

Quote: johnggreen

Mooneys going to non-flying status can keep the rest going for a long time.

[KSMooniac]

I believe LASAR has a pretty good inventory of used parts.  I'm not sure about the major salvage yards... many of them have Mooneys, but I suspect they are just hulks in the yard and not necessarily broken down into usable parts ready to go on a shelf.

[MooneyMitch]

Dodson Salvage has provided some Mooney parts for us in the past.  They have proven to be a good source up to this point. 

http://www.dodson.com/

[johnggreen]

Dave,

The "cheapest" way, other than fly it of course, to haul an airplane is "yourself".  Once you figure out the rigging with a properly set up trailer, it is really a piece of cake.

The one good aspect is that weight is almost never an issue.

One of the funniest events of my life came during the hauling of an old Stinson Gullwing.  I was in law school and bought one that had been dead sticked into a nearby airport.

Three friends and I dismanteled and hauled it home, two trips, on an old low-boy trailer and did it in one day.  It was only 25 miles but quite a task for four guys who had never even dismantled an airplane before.  A Stinson Gullwing is one BIG airplane.

Anyway, just reminiscing, sorry.

Jgreen

[DaV8or]

Quote: KSMooniac

I believe LASAR has a pretty good inventory of used parts.  I'm not sure about the major salvage yards... many of them have Mooneys, but I suspect they are just hulks in the yard and not necessarily broken down into usable parts ready to go on a shelf.

[KSMooniac]

Uh, that makes me sad seeing bits and pieces of Mooneys.