Smartest Thing You've Done in Mooney?

[201er]

I'm getting a little tired of reading about screw ups people made in their Mooneys or trying to roll a cirrus a couple feet of the ground. I'd like to hear about some positive things people have done. What are your stories where your decision making specifically lead to the avoidance of a bad situation?

 

Have you cancelled a flight for weather and then really enjoyed your decision because it became even worse than forecast? Or have you caught a critical mechanical problem in preflight that saved you from flying? Let's hear some stories about smart moves by pilots and see what else we can learn from them.

[Marauder]

I decided not to take my mother-in-law with us on a trip. That was the smartest Mooney trip decision I ever made.

[The-sky-captain]

I had my wife and 2 year old with me on a long, 6 hour day of flying a month or so ago. We were all tired, night had fallen and we were racing a long line of thunderstorms back to Rogers. The closer we got, the bumpier it got and more and more lightning strikes were dotting the horizon. NEXRAD was showing a band of yellow over my airport with a 2 minute or so delay and a bunch of nasty red right behind it and the stormscope was lit up like a Christmas tree. As bad as we wanted to get home I made the decision to land about 10 miles short at another runway that was in the clear. Lucky we did as hail, strong winds and hard rain pelted my home airport at that time according to family members. 6 hours in the left seat along with night conditions were enough for me to make me feel good about my decision. It was a bit frustrating to fly close to 1000 miles and have to land 10 miles short but when I looked in the back seat and saw my little one sleeping it was a no brainer. Family picked us up and I came back the next day to fly the remaining bit in bluebird skies. Remember guys, most of those little weather boxes we have onboard are DELAYED up to 15 mins or so. I've seen it as high as 20 minutes. Be careful with it...

[scottfromiowa]

OK 201'r you must have reached some ceiling on max posts....

Buying....and someday

SELLING

[Gone]

Cancelled lots of flights to fly commercial instead.  While I would like to think that my Mooney is also my best business travel machine (fun as well as cheaper within the first 5 hours) I have often had to recognize that the weather conditions for my intended flight were beyond the capabilities of this pilot/aircraft combo.  I generally end up cancelling between 4 and 6 business flights per year.  

 

We recently came to the decision that Ned Air flights from Ottawa, Canada to most points in North America between 15 Nov and 1 Apr has about a 60% chance of being scrubbed and rescheduled on commercial aviation.  So that will save us a bundle of "last minute fare hikes" and keep the business travel more within budget.

 

The complexity and cost of flying a turbo and FIKI aircraft currently outweigh (significantly) the hassle of having to fly commercially during that period or any other time that flights have to be scrubbed because of weather.

[Alan Fox]

Landed in the middle of the night at some bumfuck airport in Va. because I was falling asleep....Almost froze to death....  But better than the alternative...

[Bennett]

Coming back from whale watching in Baja, I stopped at Calexico for Customs, and then headed back to the Bay Area. My passengers were two Coast Guard officers, both pilots, who HAD to be back the next day. The area around Palm Springs was turbulent, and the winds were so strong that I was making a good 80 knots over the ground. I needed a Block altitude for the really strong up and down drafts. My passengers wanted to get home, but the weather at San Carlos was lousy, and other pilots were reporting severe turbulence over the southern Sierras and Grapevine. I announced that we would land at Palmdale, (about 200 miles short of KSQL), rent a car (hard to find one on a Sunday night), and I would drive us up to the Bay Area. And that's what I did. The passengers sat there and bitched all the way back, but it was my decision. Next day I drove back to Palmdale, dropped off the car, and flew back in great weather. I felt good about my decision then, and even more so when I learned that two aircraft crashed that afternoon and evening in the same general area. Aging has taught me prudence in flying. PS The two pilot passengers never flew with me again - something about being a chicken pilot. OK.with me. Nothing to prove to others after 35 years of incident free flying.

[Super Dave]

I once perfected the New York Times Friday crossword in 27 minutes while sitting in my Mooney on the ramp waiting for pax. I've never approached that level of smartness before or since.

[NotarPilot]

That's a great story Bennett. Hopefully we can all learn from your prudent decision.

[aviatoreb]

I don't have a smartest thing.  

 

But one saying I have is that I say is that our airplanes are not up to the tasks of a scheduled carrier and I am not up to the task a those 10,000hr ATPs, so I do not pretend to stick to a schedule.  What we have to our advantage is the ability to change our schedule. ANd case in point, I was in Halifax last week on business, and I decided at the last minute to come home about 12 hrs early since I saw a worsening weather trend that would likely result in embedded tstorms.  And with crummy weather for several days after - I came home a bit early - I spent about 45min in solid IMC on Thursday noon time on the way home, but it was nice and smooth rain cleaning my airplane. Nothing more exciting than rain on the xm and no sparks on the spark finder.

 

Good thread.

[yvesg]

Erik, how was it in Debert? Did you manage to get your clearance on the phone?

Yves

[moodychief]

Smartest thing is saying "I'll buy it!!" after the test flight.

[NotarPilot]

I would have to say one of the smartest things I did in my Mooney was get my instrument airplane rating two months ago. Since then I have shot about 5 IAPs and I have to say, instrument flying is some of the most challenging flying I have done. And doing it well is key. You definitely need to set yourself up and be ahead of the airplane. I did an ILS approach last night that was very sloppy. I flew through the final approach course and had to come back to intercept it. I then realized I was too fast at the FAF to extend the gear so that was another goof up but luckily I was able to break out high enough to see the runway and fix it before landing. I'm not proud of it being that my previous IAPs were so much better but that's why you practice. Having your own plane allows you to get out there and just do it.

I'm taking advantage of the June gloom in Southern California and flying as many IAPs as possible to get used to flying in IMC. I have to say I'm loving it and the Mooney is such a great plane to do it in.

[aviatoreb]

Erik, how was it in Debert? Did you manage to get your clearance on the phone?

Yves

 

Yves,  Really well thanks.  Thanks again for your help.  But the details of it didn't work out as I thought it would.  The number you gave me was some sort of central number.  They gave me another number which turned out to be the Moncton controller and when they figured out where I was they gave me a third number which was the Halifax controller.  So it was all good - but it doesn't seem to work in Canada the same was as it does in the USA where you simply call Lockheed and they handle the rest as a go between to your local controller to get a flight clearance.  So I am still a little confused as to what to do next time.  I only fly to Canada maybe once or twice a year but I think I will get that little grey book you mentioned for next time.

 

Meanwhile - check out this fly in BBQ at Debert Nova Scotia airport CCQ3....a lobster bake fly in on June 22!  Almost makes me want to go back - actually I do want to go back but I am otherwise occupied.

[carusoam]

That lobster and steak bake sounds delicious!

Best regards,

-a-

[yvesg]

Yves,  Really well thanks.  Thanks again for your help.  But the details of it didn't work out as I thought it would.  The number you gave me was some sort of central number.  They gave me another number which turned out to be the Moncton controller and when they figured out where I was they gave me a third number which was the Halifax controller.  So it was all good - but it doesn't seem to work in Canada the same was as it does in the USA where you simply call Lockheed and they handle the rest as a go between to your local controller to get a flight clearance.  So I am still a little confused as to what to do next time.  I only fly to Canada maybe once or twice a year but I think I will get that little grey book you mentioned for next time.

 

Meanwhile - check out this fly in BBQ at Debert Nova Scotia airport CCQ3....a lobster bake fly in on June 22!  Almost makes me want to go back - actually I do want to go back but I am otherwise occupied.

Good to know all went fine. I actually got Lobster tonight, the 3rd time this season.... I had enough....

Yves