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One didn't need to have MORE than $10,000 to have it confiscated. One case in Florida was for IIRC $8500 taken from a guy IN THE JETWAY boarding the airplane by a FL task force. He eventually won an got it all back AND Florida stopped that entire program of stopping passengers in the jetway. Also IIRC there is a lawsuit somewhere against the TSA to stop their notifications to the police about seeing bundles of money in carryon bags. If you all remember (many won't) the only way TSA got approved by Congress was to agree that they would never have badges and thy would never organize in a union. Both of which have gone by the wayside.

Depends on A LOT Teaching black and white is DUMB I had a full engine failure, if I followed the rote monkey advice and landed ahead I would have been in a ICU and my plane destroyed, instead I was fine and the paint wasn’t scratched It depends Get good training, know you and your planes limits, explore and expand on them if possible, stay dynamic and ahead of the plane

Sounds like the kings men want to steal a plane Id nullify the crap out of that

The stuff I flew didn’t have that much, but tripple slotted with slats does change a wing lol

The simplest gfc500 is going to be pitch and bank (no trim or yaw) but you will still need at least a g5 to run it (and a controller). That or the aerocruze are basically your only options.

I use united at KWVI. Ask for Terry

unfortunately you do not know what needs to be done to your plane to be fully compatible with G100UL. Braly won'd disclose the log books from his Cirrus. Every plane that uses G100UL is a guinea plug. It's not just lines and paint.

On an M20F your choice is really limited to a Garmin GFC500. (https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/604257/#additional) Maybe . . . an Aerocruze 100 (https://www.duncanaviation.aero/news/duncan-aviation-has-stc-to-install-bendixking-aerocruze-100-autopilot-in-mooney-m20s)

I am astounded by the lack of common sense logical abilities of the Alaska SC: 1) "did not violate the Excessive Fines Clause because it was not grossly disproportional to the gravity of the offense". Are you FN kidding me??? Even IF he had actually transported the six-pack...THAT now qualifies a "the gravity of the offense"??? Absolutely absurd! 2) "and the harm caused by the offense". Since the six-pack NEVER made it to the dry village, just what was the gravity of harm caused here??? Have our courts really descended to conviction based upon what MIGHT have happened? Apparently, they have 3) "the court concluded that the forfeiture was not excessive given the nature and extent of the crime". Someone needs to explain to me what, EXACTLY, is the "extent of the crime" when he NEVER made the flight out of Fairbanks? Again, it appears our courts can convict us without actus reus...you can be fined, jailed, and have your property confiscated WITHOUT even actually committing ANY guilty act. INTENT is now all that is required...not long before you'll be convicted for what the government believes you are THINKING. Seriously, I cannot fathom this ruling. I'm certainly no a lawyer, but I did spend one year in law school and I NEVER fathomed that real law could be so divergent from requiring BOTH actus reus and mens rea in order to convict someone of a crime like this (simple traffic infractions do away with mens rea, but you do actually have to break a traffic law!) @midlifeflyer Any comments as a real lawyer on this ruling?

I don't recommend saying that out loud with passengers. Just sayin'

Roger. Thanks everybody.

Is a demonstrated full power detonation margin a requirement for approval of a fuel for use in a given engine/aircraft? In other words, is it even possible that reducing power would be an option available to us? I don’t know anything about how this approval process works, either by STC or ASTM. Someone much smarter than me please weigh in. Could a fuel be approved and available for use in a given engine if that fuel/engine combination wasn’t able to demonstrate some nominal full power detonation margin?

Hi Flyer, I agree 100% and It will be so sweet flying this thing cross country at triple the average speed I made towing it home !!! Cheers, Stuart

Hi Nick, I had no desire to cut the wing and tried to find a party willing to do the repairs but none were willing to do so.I had to remove the entire airplane and cutting was the only way to get it all gone. Basically, this airplane has everything I wanted, and the price was right. The experience was positive for me overall. It would have cost me 25k had I paid another party to do this. Now I am fully versed in the process and can hopefully help others needing to transport the same way. Stuart

That is an excellent question. If yes, then the question becomes are you willing to live with a reduced margin of safety on CHT that prevents your engine from self destructing?

Better than that, I put new Ultra owners into a spin to get out of. As a point of transition training, I do the impossible turn at altitude, 270 deg, 45 deg back, 3 sec “oh $h!t” factor before turning 800’ seems doable by most. Use 1k for real life. Announce “leaving kill zone “ after passing thru 1k AGL, transition to cruise climb, run cruise climb checklist, enjoy your trip

Wow, that's quite a change from the large, busy Top Gun I remember back when I lived and/or commuted to/from NorCal and they maintained my M20C & M20K! --Up.

The law firm representing the case has a 1000 batting average at the SCOTUS on civil forfeiture cases. I also think there is one SCOTUS justice that might be with the defendant in the case.

The state has been making the case for 13 years now that forfeiture is "required" So the man was convicted of importing alcohol into a dry village, which has its own set of problems. Chiefly, that a city can make an ordinance banning alcohol completely. And then second, the guy was convicted of doing something that did not happen, he never took off from Fairbanks. Intent is one thing, commission is another. And then he was fined $1500 a, and his his company was too, and he spent three days in jail. But then the state appealed the court's ruling, saying that forfeiture was mandated. https://law.justia.com/cases/alaska/supreme-court/2025/s-17593.html

I'm no fan of government overreach, but something just isn't adding up. Never even took off and had his plane confiscated and sold at auction?!??! There has to be more to this one.

Sounds like a grand adventure already. Just think how much faster the trip will be when you can *fly* the Mooney instead of drive it!!

That's a great setup. I'd much rather go to a small shop where I know who is working on my airplane. Top Gun has such a great reputation, I always assumed they were a big operation.

Not sure why you’d cut the wing, but it sounds like it needed to be replaced anyways. What’s the backstory on this airplane? Is it sentimental or special to you in some way? The cost involved must be enormous.

My recollection, as well. Here it is (as with most of Prof. Rogers' work, there is some math involved!): turnback.pdf

I've used Top Gun for annuals a few times, and plan to use them again next year. They've always finished my annual quickly (under 2 weeks) except for the year they had to send out my PowerFlow exhaust to Florida for overhaul; that wasn't their fault. But you do need to book many months out.