Steve
En-Route
[moved from another forum]
<p>
Oh yes! Just short hops of an hour or less until I get all the squawks addressed. Since getting signed off for solo I've flown to
-> MLU to get a quote from the avionics shop for a GNS 530.
-> JAN to get some face time with the local FSDO and go over the operating limitations for the airplane (exhibition category).
-> MBO for a prop balance.
-> Local flight with the girls to let them see how it flies. With the hp it's got I could tell little difference in the climbout with all onboard from when I am solo. (I tell Mary it's because she's so light.)
-> M16 to get some aluminum sheet metal cut for a center console mod. Sadly, 20 minutes after I took off from M16 a twin Comanche crashed on takeoff killing the pilot, co-pilot, and the new owner. Ironically, the FSDO official I had met with the day before is heading up the investigation locally and the primary eyewitness is his son who is attending aviation mechanic's school at the airport.
So far the only remaining squawks on the plane are the landing light (of course), and a right wing fuel tank "weep" that was originally thought to be the fuel selector valve leaking through stem seal allowing an avgas smell into the cabin. My local mechanic disassembled the valve anyway, cleaned it up, and it now operates much more smoothly. The plane is back in maintenance mode while he reseals the wing tank. If his fix doesn't take I've got a shop in Longview, TX that specializes in re-sealing Mooney tanks (I understand he has considerable experience with the subject) that I plan to take the wing tank to for repair. The tank leak isn't large enough to drip on the hangar floor, but there is fresh staining on the underside of the wing in the vicinity of the inboard spar attachment near the wheel well. Not an SR-71 level leak, but enough to bother me. Once the tank is done it's back to the avionics shop for the panel upgrade.
I did the prop balance mainly to get some baseline data. The shop owner told me to bring it back in January (at no additional charge) because he wasn't happy with the .14 ips value we ended up with but didn't have time to tweak it further that day. It started at .78 and we got as low as .03 but didn't leave well enough alone to keep it there. He said he could get it to 0.0...famous last words.
Ah, the joys....
And btw, the "issues", well they turned out to be instructor induced...switched to one with more experience in type and the "issues" disappeared.
<p>
</p>Toby said:
Oh yes! Just short hops of an hour or less until I get all the squawks addressed. Since getting signed off for solo I've flown to
-> MLU to get a quote from the avionics shop for a GNS 530.
-> JAN to get some face time with the local FSDO and go over the operating limitations for the airplane (exhibition category).
-> MBO for a prop balance.
-> Local flight with the girls to let them see how it flies. With the hp it's got I could tell little difference in the climbout with all onboard from when I am solo. (I tell Mary it's because she's so light.)
-> M16 to get some aluminum sheet metal cut for a center console mod. Sadly, 20 minutes after I took off from M16 a twin Comanche crashed on takeoff killing the pilot, co-pilot, and the new owner. Ironically, the FSDO official I had met with the day before is heading up the investigation locally and the primary eyewitness is his son who is attending aviation mechanic's school at the airport.
So far the only remaining squawks on the plane are the landing light (of course), and a right wing fuel tank "weep" that was originally thought to be the fuel selector valve leaking through stem seal allowing an avgas smell into the cabin. My local mechanic disassembled the valve anyway, cleaned it up, and it now operates much more smoothly. The plane is back in maintenance mode while he reseals the wing tank. If his fix doesn't take I've got a shop in Longview, TX that specializes in re-sealing Mooney tanks (I understand he has considerable experience with the subject) that I plan to take the wing tank to for repair. The tank leak isn't large enough to drip on the hangar floor, but there is fresh staining on the underside of the wing in the vicinity of the inboard spar attachment near the wheel well. Not an SR-71 level leak, but enough to bother me. Once the tank is done it's back to the avionics shop for the panel upgrade.
I did the prop balance mainly to get some baseline data. The shop owner told me to bring it back in January (at no additional charge) because he wasn't happy with the .14 ips value we ended up with but didn't have time to tweak it further that day. It started at .78 and we got as low as .03 but didn't leave well enough alone to keep it there. He said he could get it to 0.0...famous last words.
Ah, the joys....
And btw, the "issues", well they turned out to be instructor induced...switched to one with more experience in type and the "issues" disappeared.
Last edited: