Planeless no more! - Hypothetically ;)

RyanB said:
Are the techniques that Mike Busch teaches equivalent to the gospel or something? Seriously, I don’t know why everyone gives him the final word on everything.
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without getting into the science, he is backed up by science. The temperature you run at is a predictor of the health of your engine and valves. Colder is not necessarily better.
 
I predict that Salty will find keeping the engine hot enough will be much more challenging than keeping it cool. The hottest cht I've seen is about 360. In cruise its difficult to get it above 300. Unleaded gas will be a good thing for these planes.
 
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Jim K said:
I predict that Salty will find keeping the engine hot enough still be much more challenging than keeping it cool. The hottest cht I've seen is about 360. In cruise its difficult to get it above 300. Unleaded gas will be a good thing for these planes.
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Highest I’ve seen is 340, in cruise just over 300.
 
My Turbo would see 430 by the time I was at pattern altitude. Step climbs were mandatory during the summer till I could find cool air. If I could ever get my ride out of the avionics bay, I could tell you how it does with the TurboPlus kit. Between the intercooler upgrade and the G3X/GFC 500, I’m actually more excited to fly the intercooler.
 
Salty said:
Not even close. 2900. 700 pounds under.
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I had to laugh at being 700 pounds under. That’s more than the useful load of the 140 I had.

congrats on the new bird
 
Salty, one other item during your transition. Make sure you grab a CFI, fill the plane up with heavy items - cement bags or people, your choice - and do some landings at max gross weight. When you get good at those, then do a short field landing at max gross weight. The reason for this is that the deck angle, and the amount of power required, can be alarmingly high. Definitely not for the faint of heart... The only way to make the short field numbers in the book is to practice this in advance, and making those landings should be in your bag of tricks....

-Skip
 
Skip Miller said:
Salty, one other item during your transition. Make sure you grab a CFI, fill the plane up with heavy items - cement bags or people, your choice - and do some landings at max gross weight. When you get good at those, then do a short field landing at max gross weight. The reason for this is that the deck angle, and the amount of power required, can be alarmingly high. Definitely not for the faint of heart... The only way to make the short field numbers in the book is to practice this in advance, and making those landings should be in your bag of tricks....

-Skip
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I was just thinking that exact thought.
 
Salty said:
Yikes. My home field is only 3700, which I always thought was long.
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BTW....

You’ll need to let us know how you explain to SWMBO that the new plane requires you to buy a new house with a longer runway. :D
 
Heh. Well, landing distances aren’t bad, at light weights I was down below 1700 feet stops. Made the first turnoff on 5 at zephyr, which is pretty good. But takeoffs were closer to 2700 to get to 50 feet.
 
Half Fast said:
Was the 2700 in a calm, or did you have some wind helping?
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It was with 15G25 at 80 degrees to the runway. So I’d say it wasn’t helping.
 
I'm not sure about 50', but I'm usually off the ground around the 1000' markers when I'm solo. I feel like the book rotation speed is a little low and if I pull the nose off at that speed, it takes longer to take off. I wait till I'm at the top end of the book range solo, or 5mph over that at higher weights, before I pull and she just flies right off.

2700' to 50' is about the book number for max gross, std day, no wind, no flaps.
 
Sorry, I misremembered. It was 2400 feet. Wasn't off the ground until about 1400 feet. That's with light load, no wind, 2 notches, 20F above standard.
 
Is that a new runway going in off the departure end of the runway?
 
No, that's a SR they are widening.
 
Salty said:
Flew a few approaches this weekend, not as nice as the GFC-500, but I was able to figure it out.

A short vid

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Nice video! Your camera angle made me wonder.... does anyone use a 'backup cam' type thing as a gear check cam? Seems like it would beat the tiny little mirrors.
 
I took up my mechanic (235 lbs) and another friend in the back (235 lbs) with full tanks and the 90 lbs still in the baggage area. Pretty much climbed the same as it did with just me IMO.
 
Salty said:
I took up my mechanic (235 lbs) and another friend in the back (235 lbs) with full tanks and the 90 lbs still in the baggage area. Pretty much climbed the same as it did with just me IMO.
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Takeoff roll?
 
Half Fast said:
Takeoff roll?
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No good data on that as the mechanic was futzing with the mixture to see what was going on and it extended our roll quite a bit.
 
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Oh, and traffic is coming from the GARMIN GTX-330ES TIS-B not ADSB
 
Salty said:
No good data on that as the mechanic was futzing with the mixture to see what was going on and it extended our roll quite a bit.
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Interesting how memory can fail you. We were actually off the ground quite a bit shorter than my earlier, lighter flight. I felt it was running too rich, so he was leaning it out during the takeoff roll and watching the EGT/CHT's very closely. DA was about 2000 feet at the time of flight.

Unfortunately, my comparison flight was several hours earlier and there was very little wind at that time. It was 15G20 during the last flight, so I'm sure that helped a lot. Not sure if leaning helped also, but I suspect it did.
 
Salty said:
Interesting how memory can fail you. We were actually off the ground quite a bit shorter than my earlier, lighter flight. I felt it was running too rich, so he was leaning it out during the takeoff roll and watching the EGT/CHT's very closely. DA was about 2000 feet at the time of flight.

Unfortunately, my comparison flight was several hours earlier and there was very little wind at that time. It was 15G20 during the last flight, so I'm sure that helped a lot. Not sure if leaning helped also, but I suspect it did.
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Yeah, you really need to test on a calm day, and have a chance to try different flap settings, too. Might be better to find a long runway to do your testing.
 
Half Fast said:
Yeah, you really need to test on a calm day, and have a chance to try different flap settings, too. Might be better to find a long runway to do your testing.
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Calm is not a word I'd use for today.
 
The morning tomorrow should be ok, but it will probably be ugly in the afternoon.
 
I’m in Orlando today - it was lower clouds than I expected in the morning and ugly winds since the storms went through.
 
bflynn said:
I’m in Orlando today - it was lower clouds than I expected in the morning and ugly winds since the storms went through.
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We were under tornado warnings until 10:45 this morning.
 
Got a bit interesting near here today ...

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https://www.live5news.com/2022/03/12/plane-flips-onto-another-plane-charleston-airport/
 
Great shirt you bought her... :)

Good on her for flying again. I think it takes more courage for a passenger to fly again after a crash than it does for a pilot. I hope you two will have lots of fun trips together.
 
So, update after 50 hours of flying it.

I love it. As much as I loved my Mooney, this plane is better in so many ways. Except for the fuel bill. I never had room for anything in the Mooney, I've got pockets and glove boxes, and space behind the seats, it's ridonkulous! And so much more comfortable as well.

Took the wife on a longer flight today, her second since the crash. She sat in back and listened to music. Loved it. We went and got lunch a little over an hour away. She's officially back in the saddle!
 
Salty said:
As much as I loved my Mooney, this plane is better in so many ways.
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I guessing when them folks at Rough River sober up (or not) that you're gonna hear about this ... :D
 
Skip Miller said:
Congratulations!

Here is a PA-32 specific pre-flight checklist item for you. At the time I was flying a PA-32-300R Saratoga, essentially the same airplane.

I had pulled off the taxiway to do the pre-flight runup. I got to the switch tanks item, switched from right to left, and the engine died! I knew both tanks were full, too. I used the old maxim that if something has an unfavorable result, undo it! I switched tanks back to the right and it started right up. Time for some investigation! Taxied back to the FBO, shut down, Exited the plane and re-entered head first with my head down in the footwell.

The answer was immediately visible. The lock-out lever that prevents the pilot from selecting tanks off when selecting the left tank, is attached to the metal shroud surrounding the valve assembly. The whole shroud including the lock-out lever was loose. It was basically just sitting there. When I switched tanks, the valve lever moved from right to left to off.

I am glad that happened on the ground.

So my advice is to check the shroud frequently, and/or check the lever position carefully after switching - particularly when switching to the left.

-Skip
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isn't there an AD on that?
 
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