The yellow hydraulic fluid is DTD 900/4051 castor oil and only used in conjunction with natural rubber on vintage planes.
Airliners use Skydrol which is always purple. No wonder it’s foul, it comes from the Monsanto stable originally.
denopa wrote:
Re: oxygen; with its 25K feet ceiling the piston PA46 doesn’t HAVE to have emergency oxygen. I’ve removed mine and I have a Mountain High bottle instead
Where do you get the STC for that (or is it N-reg and you got a field approval?). Using the Oxigen is on the emergency checklist and therefore removing it requires to change the emergency checklists – I thought this is only possible with an STC.
Sebastian_G wrote:
I dont remember what the manual says but at FL200 TCU is apparently 10 minutes. The mask are hard to reach and complicated. And once activated you are looking at a 4 digit maintenance event. So personally I would just descent at idle with speed brakes at max speed. Also do not deploy the gear.
Depends on actual altitude: In FL280 I would not care about refilling the oxygen generators or destroying the landing gear. From FL200 I would not pull oxygen as well.
The landing gear, however, I would (and have) deploy): First of all one doesn’t really know what went wrong with the EVSM and second it was a -350. Hydraulics are very different in the different versions …denopa wrote:
I climb on IAS/FLC mode at 125KIAS, at 35” 2500RPM, fuel flow to keep CHTs below 370 and TIT below 1450, which usually means 33-35USG; that gives me about 650fpm average up to FL180.
Interesting Data. Which engine/prop do you have? Looks a bit like Lyco, right?
With the Conti-550 and the MT 4 blade one can get the same 650 average (more on the 950 side at SL and almost 500 at FL180) with 31’’/2600 and only pump through 28 USG of liquid gold at the same CHT and slightly higher TIT – for the non Malibu-Pilots: The Malibu is clearly CHT limited in climb, esp. on warm summer days.
Quick descents I fly same as long range cruise: 25/2500 @ 12 USG LOP
Snoopy wrote:
@buckerfan
Is the first memory item for cabin altitude different on a pa46 and not „don oxygen mask“ like on other pressurized aircraft?
Snoopy,
when I had the sudden decompression I didnt consider the oxygen for more than a second. Firstly, it is really fiddly to get out from under the seat. Second I wouldnt really rely on it working properly. Thirdly I remember well when I did HPA training some years ago (albeit in a TBM 700) that it was a really easy thing to do – turn 30 degrees off course, idle, flaps gear and airbrakes out and push the nose down to maintain close to max maneuvring speed. So thats what I did, while calling ATC. I didnt declare an emergency, which in retrospect I should have.
For those who havent experienced sudden decompression, it is kind if interesting. There was a sudden loud “pop” and immediately the air in the cabin went very foggy (as the water vapour condensed). It was the condensation that really got my attention and indicated exactly what had happened.
If the same thing happened again even at FL250, I still doubt I would go for the oxygen mask. Within 15 seconds max I could already be in descent.
What caused it?
Buckerfan wrote:
For those who havent experienced sudden decompression, it is kind if interesting. There was a sudden loud “pop” and immediately the air in the cabin went very foggy (as the water vapour condensed). It was the condensation that really got my attention and indicated exactly what had happened.
Thats interesting, to get a first hand experience.
I had a slow cabin depressurisation (which if not noticed can be worse in some ways) coming back from Sardinia at FL230 a few years ago, luckily I spotted it and started a quick descent to FL120, fortunately the cabin never rose above 14000ft and at FL120 is was still holding 1.5psi so no oxygen needed.
After that I bought a monitor which is programmed to come on if the cabin climbs above 10000ft
Pic is of what you would normally expect to see at FL230
Buckerfan wrote:
Within 15 seconds max I could already be in descent.
I know some Malibu pilots who for that reason always turn the altitude preselect to FL100* after reaching cleared cruise altitude so that a safe descent is only two buttons away and the plane levels off at a safe altitude even if you (partly) loose consciousness. I’m still not sure what I should think about.
On the oxygen question:
When I’m alone, I would also not bother with the masks before I have configured the plane for a “safe descent”. And when I fly at FL210 or below it is highly likely that I have reached an altitude where I don’t need it anymore by the time I have capacity for it.
When I have a “Co” next to me, I would ask her to take care of oxygen in any altitude above FL200
ANd btw.: For exactly that reason I don’t really like to fly above FL230
*or slightly higher than over the alps…
boscomantico wrote:
What caused it?
It was a failure of the pressurisation controller.
The sudden decompression occurred on a trip from Gloucester to Poznan with an instructor, at the point we were over Cambridge. After descending we flew back to Oxford and called my mechanics for advice. He asked us to do a test to FL230 and see if it recurred, which it didnt. So we set off for Poznan again.
It was only about a month later, in the climb from Gloucester to Venice and monitoring the cabin pressure carefully, that it because apparent that it wasn’t pressurising.
So it was back to Gloucester and some 10 £ aviation units and a week later that I had a new controller.
NB an “aviation unit” in my parlance is £1,000 or $1,000. Somehow makes the cost of private flight more palatable.
Thanks @buckerfan
Interesting account.
Does the Malibu have a cabin altitude warning?
This one ended catastrophically https://www.flyingmag.com/technique/accidents/doomed-tbm-900-pilot-twice-asked-lower-altitude/
Snoopy wrote:
Thanks @buckerfan
Interesting account.Does the Malibu have a cabin altitude warning?
Snoopy, it does.
In the case of the sudden depressurisation it was superfluous, as it was immediately apparent that we had lost pressure. In addition to the aforementioned pop and foggy air, there was also the matter of being showered in crisps! I once read about someone who keeps an old bag of crisps in his aircraft as a backup pressurisation monitor. My wife jumped on the idea and always keep a bag or two behind the co-pilot seat. It worked a treat that day.
Not sure I would use crisps… they are full of oil and leave oil stains on any piece of fabric or leather, which are almost impossible to remove 
