bonal Posted January 1 Report Posted January 1 Last flight for 2025 was a few days ago. Local weather today is totally socked in. Hopefully more flights this year looking forward to seeing all the posts from all of you. Happy new year and wishing all safe travels and smooth air. 3
Rick Junkin Posted January 1 Report Posted January 1 New Year’s Day with the grandsons, short flight to orbit the house and wave hello to Mama and Grammy. We’re off to a great start! 4 2
dkkim73 Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 Went to pick my daughter up in Billings, who was visiting friends home from college, and checking in with the FBO folks there. Happy to fly well above the gusty winds across multiple passes along the way had I driven... 6
Slick Nick Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 @dkkim73 we were down in Billings on Tuesday. I use Beacon Air they treated us great when I had a flat tire last month. 2
Ragsf15e Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 37 minutes ago, dkkim73 said: Went to pick my daughter up in Billings, who was visiting friends home from college, and checking in with the FBO folks there. Happy to fly well above the gusty winds across multiple passes along the way had I driven... Pretty day for flying!! Your GIA cooperate today??
dkkim73 Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 Yup. I cleaned and inspected the connections and reseated both GIAs yesterday. Almost 4 hrs and no glitches. 2
Sue Bon Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 I flew IFR for the first time in forever since sending my prop in for a tear-down and then the Swiss Fall/Winter hitting. I know I post this same photo repeatedly, but today was different. The Alps were gorgeous, and the flight was glorious. 12
Ibra Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 (edited) 6 hours ago, Sue Bon said: I flew IFR for the first time in forever since sending my prop in for a tear-down and then the Swiss Fall/Winter hitting Glad the propeller is sorted and you are back in the air. Yes the Alps were gorgeous these days, we spent few days around and it was a blast ! Morzine heliport Annemasse with Mt Blanc Avoriaz above clouds Edited January 4 by Ibra 6
Slick Nick Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 Had to make a run south of the border to Billings last week. Up early on a -30*C morning in Calgary meant the air was calm, crisp, and smooth. The plane sure loves the cold air! I’m thankful that my heater puts out subatomic heat! First photo is over Calgary, the second was near Judith Gap, MT. 4
Ibra Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 (edited) 30 minutes ago, Slick Nick said: Up early on a -30*C morning in Calgary meant the air was calm How do you find motivation to fly? At -5C, I am staying inside I am not touching our hangar doors, I need two mignons to open the hangar and pull the Mooney Edited January 4 by Ibra 1
Slick Nick Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 Just now, Ibra said: How do you find motivation to fly? At -5C, I am staying inside Honestly, it’s my absolute favourite flying weather. The air is dense, calm, and crisp. Once I’m in the plane I’m down to a T shirt anyways, you can’t really tell how cold it is outside. I block about half of my oil cooler when it’s that cold to make sure the engine gets up to temp, but the wing sure loves the cold air! 2
jamesyql Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 I block about half of my oil coolerNick- I have wondered about this. I also fly quite cold down in Lethbridge. What do you use to block it off?
Slick Nick Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 Just now, jamesyql said: Nick- I have wondered about this. I also fly quite cold down in Lethbridge. What do you use to block it off? I cover about half with speed tape (tin tape.) block it 2/3 if it’s below -20. Half blocked is still good up to about +5 without getting the oil too hot so I run it from December till about march. 1
Hank Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 46 minutes ago, Ibra said: How do you find motivation to fly? At -5C, I am staying inside I am not touching our hangar doors, I need two mignons to open the hangar and pull the Mooney At -13C, with engine preheated overnight, just do a (very!) quick preflight, pull out of the hangar and crank up. She climbs much, much better! Now I no longer live where weather like that happens very much, and I'm happier. Even with reduced climb . . . . 1
Ragsf15e Posted January 4 Report Posted January 4 1 hour ago, Slick Nick said: Had to make a run south of the border to Billings last week. Up early on a -30*C morning in Calgary meant the air was calm, crisp, and smooth. The plane sure loves the cold air! I’m thankful that my heater puts out subatomic heat! First photo is over Calgary, the second was near Judith Gap, MT. That is a gutsy route in the winter! Beautiful, but gutsy. You don’t want to land out somewhere just north of the border, very pretty, very desolate, very cold! 2
MikeOH Posted January 5 Report Posted January 5 2 hours ago, Slick Nick said: a -30*C morning is.....crisp Good grief! Yeah, and a dewar of liquid nitrogen is 'chilly' to the touch! As a lifelong resident of southern California, if need to wear a sweater it's too damn cold to go outside!! 1 2
N201MKTurbo Posted January 5 Report Posted January 5 9 minutes ago, MikeOH said: Good grief! Yeah, and a dewar of liquid nitrogen is 'chilly' to the touch! As a lifelong resident of southern California, if need to wear a sweater it's too damn cold to go outside!! It’s always cold in SoCal. I have to wear a hoodie there in the summer. 1 4 1
Slick Nick Posted January 5 Report Posted January 5 1 hour ago, Ragsf15e said: That is a gutsy route in the winter! Beautiful, but gutsy. You don’t want to land out somewhere just north of the border, very pretty, very desolate, very cold! Sure is. There’s enough between Cut Bank and great falls, but through the gap there isn’t a whole lot. Last week the weather was awesome. We had a 35 knot tailwind on the way down, but it was smooth as butter the whole way. Don’t think we felt a single ripple! 1
dkkim73 Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 23 hours ago, Slick Nick said: Sure is. There’s enough between Cut Bank and great falls, but through the gap there isn’t a whole lot. Last week the weather was awesome. We had a 35 knot tailwind on the way down, but it was smooth as butter the whole way. Don’t think we felt a single ripple! It is very smooth and beautiful. I think of Cut Bank as being in "cold country", as well as pretty much all of your province On 1/4/2026 at 4:25 PM, Ragsf15e said: First photo is over Calgary, the second was near Judith Gap, MT. I'd like to get back up to Alberta this year or next. Haven't been there since the 1990's (working in St. Mary, we had 9 inches of snow in August). I've always thought it humorous that, freezing in the middle of nowhere in the northern US, I was still south of a major Canadian metro area with lots of amenities and its own major sports team (Calgary, and really probably Edmonton, too). On 1/4/2026 at 3:38 PM, Slick Nick said: I cover about half with speed tape (tin tape.) block it 2/3 if it’s below -20. Half blocked is still good up to about +5 without getting the oil too hot so I run it from December till about march. I did that, worked great. My mechanic fabricated a plate for me as I couldn't find an official plate from Continental or Mooney (apparently there was one). My main restriction in the deep winter is carrying a bunch of survival gear: a vest with year-round stuff (hat tip @Rick Junkin for some sourcing ideas), and an A-bag with arctic coat, camp stove, mil sleep system incl. GoreTex bivvy, etc. Also usually fly in comms (for me it's IFR even in severe clear, and I like learning the local flow and knowing who's out there, e.g. fractional, majors, local operators). I've "been meaning" to make more contacts in the local scene doing SAR etc. (MT aeronautics does a yearly winter survival course, very affordable) and get a better sense of what the response and coverage are. And volunteer, at some point. Winter is also a wonderful chance to just watch nature and scenery. Plane performance is also killer. 1
0TreeLemur Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 January 2nd I flew one holiday visitor to catch a commercial flight in HSV. Flew up there under the ceiling which was at 3,000 ft. Returned IFR into worsening conditions. Uneventful and fun. Love winter IFR in Alabama. Seldom is icing a concern. 5
Ibra Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Flew to Lyon (LFLY), on return trip pilot iced up completely, non event in Mooney with modular avionics that mix of steam gauges +2xG5s. After exiting clouds and ice, I took two pictures to print for kids, “find the 15 differences?” 1
Ibra Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 (edited) 3 hours ago, Slick Nick said: Yikes! Pitot heat not working? The PT heta failed in flight, it was dead cold when I checked after landing. I will check CBs or wires when I have time and ask for some MooneySpace wisedom Non-event in Mooney, aircraft keeps flying with a small glitch ("gear airspeed/bypass" horn was loud and I had to disable it, Gear = Up and ASI = 0kts is not a desirable aircraft state), the airspeed was alive as I descended to land. A friend had a similar experience in DA42NG (full integrated glass cockpit G1000 and flight envelope protection ESP), he did call it a spectacular recovery ! Edited January 26 by Ibra
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