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Another one that paid the $2 fee to validate and spam. Who would have thought...

The shop on the field I have used for over 10 years has changed hands. The new shop may well turn out to be fine, but it is un-nerving to put my plane in for an annual as they have told me they have limited Mooney experience. I am in north Alabama, just about dead center. Airport is KDCU. Anyone know of Mooney savvy shops or individuals near me? My annual is not due for 9 months, but it is never to early to start worrying about the next one. I am in a private hangar and have jacks and tools, will just need a qualified inspector.

Yep reported

Could be. Maybe Mooney knows?

Thanks, hopefully he can get you resorted soon

Just started a few minutes ago when I logged on. @mooniac58

Make a reasonable offer

I just renewed my aircraft insurance with D R Cox & Company (broker) and my insurance went up $1,800 this year. I’ve insured my 2005 M20R for the past several years with W. Brown and the only thing that’s changed is I’m a year older 73. I have approximately 6,400 hrs with commercial, instrument, single & multi land and have been flying Mooney’s for over 40 yrs. without an accident or incident. The carrier seemed to be responsible only requiring an IPC each year. After speaking with my broker I was informed that there are limited markets offering coverage for Mooney aircraft. Here’s a list of carriers that my broker received a response from: Aerospace - $2,000 higher than W. Brown Old Republic- declined Global Aerospace-declined Starr Aviation -declined USAIG - declined USSIC - pass Here’s the kicker a friend of mine has a 77 Beech A36 with approximately the same coverage and he’s a year older and less hrs and he just renewed his insurance for $2,000 less than me thru Global Aerospace.

And the pictures of clamps with issues that were the basis of the AD were visually in VERY BAD shape.

And how were everyone's ears?

Groton CT is the same weekend as Mooney Summit. They combined the Oct one with MooneyMax.

That’s true of Class B primaries as well.

Well, in the case of APA, it’s busier than many if not most Class C airports but is not radar controlled. When I moved to a nontowered airport in North Carolina, pilots told me they avoided RDU because it was “too busy.” I would laugh and point out that if you added RDU and GSO and added 100,000 annual ops, you’d have the APA numbers,

isnt this a month later Oct 15th now?

Avidyne: “GPS/SBAS based IFR enroute, oceanic, and terminal navigation is prohibited unless current Navigation and Procedure databases are installed.” The “debate” has two sides. Those who don’t read the POH and those who do

There was no fuss made by the DPE in that situation, the fuss was self-induced by the student. The DPE did no asked about the discrepancy, just wanted the applicant to fly the approach.

Best I remember I see 18.7gph on takeoff but that was summer temps and DA so may be a little higher in cooler air. 17gph would be low, but would not explain not making full RPM.

There’s a pretty good discussion over here:

As an update on this post, I had planned to get a second cylinder at some point to either cascade or just dual-stage fill the O2 in the plane. However, with the Mountain High 02D2 system I added about the same time, I go through the oxygen so slowly, I've found it unnecessary. I just refilled the supply cylinder for the first time. It still had 700 PSI left in it, but I wanted the plane topped up more for a long cross-country with 2 on board. So, if you're considering doing this, maybe start with one cylinder and see how long it lasts you before you invest in a second one. I have found having the setup in the hangar has greatly increased the percent of the time I fly on oxygen, and has also increased the average altitude I fly at. I'm in clear smooth air more often and feeling better and less fatigued when I land. All around worth it.

Which the plastic washers help to prevent the tendency to over-torque the screws. Tighten the screws to ‘snug’ (a technical term). And that’s it.

Why would you ever need the alternator put out 50 amps? I can think of only 2 reasons. 1. You have wing mounted taxi/landing incandescent lights, which 4 of them would require a lot of power. I had this issue. My plane was placarded to not turn on both lights. PO had installed a 130 amp alternator, but breaker was only for 70 amps. I fixed this by going back to a standard alternator and installing LEDs. 2. Battery is condition is mostly drained, unlikely to happen unless you prop started it. This can be mitigated by not allowing the engine to idle very fast till battery has been charging for a few minutes (you would start it with field breaker pulled until rpms is stabilized at a lower speed). Hopefully this doesn’t happen often.

Since the Mooney Summit is approaching, I want to give everyone a heads-up about recent changes affecting all Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA) run airports: KTPA, KTPF, KVDF, and KPCM. The county has implemented a new rule requiring any outside mechanic or service provider to submit an application to Hillsborough County for approval before being granted access to airport facilities. This will and already has negatively impacted the tenants of Tampa Exec. At Tampa Exec in particular, there is only one on-field mechanic. I’ve relied on a trusted mobile mechanic—formerly the manager of one of the local flight school shops—for most of my maintenance. However, under the new policy, any mechanic must now carry a $1 million dollar liability insurance policy as well as specific hangar liability coverage to even be considered for access. This restriction can cause significant problems. For example, tonight I noticed a Baron that had returned this Friday to the field. Unfortunately, it looks to have suffered a nose gear collapse on landing, damaging both engines and props. In that situation, the owner has no real options: he’s limited to the one on-field shop, which is already overwhelmed, and bringing in outside help has become so tedious who the hell would want to work with the FBO. This policy applies across all four HCAA airports. Two of them (KTPF and KPCM) are managed by Atlas Aviation, which although I don’t love, seems to be a bit more pro GA than Skyport, the FBO that currently runs Tampa Exec. Many tenants were hoping Atlas would take over Tampa Exec, but Skyport somehow won the contract for a second time. The impact on tenants has been overwhelmingly negative. The one existing mechanic on the field opened his shop only a few years ago and is very capable, but his space is shared with the largest flight school on the airport. With limited capacity, the workload ratio is easily one mechanic to 200 tenants. The county has restricted all maintenance activity to that single hangar, preventing new shops from opening. They have built one new bulk hangar and are planning to build another. Space is not an issue, it’s them not caring or willing to put the effort forth to keep GA going. They have yet to build any new shade or enclosed hangars in over a decade. They’ve sure as hell have been doing construction non stop for the last 4 years, mainly to benefit the high dollar jets coming in. That leaves mobile mechanics, like the one I’ve used, as the only practical alternative. He currently works for a large avionics and maintenance company but started his own mobile business with hopes of eventually opening a dedicated GA shop. He’d like to open a shop for airframe and avionics work, but despite months of requests, the FBO has refused to provide him even a small space. The opportunity for growth at KVDF is obvious to everyone except the FBO and county, who continue to push policies that work against GA. I’d hate for someone visiting Tampa to find themselves stranded over a minor maintenance issue, unable to get timely help. Aviation is supposed to be enjoyable, but dealing with an airport system that feels anti-GA and anti-business takes much of that enjoyment away. Finally, a word of advice: avoid the $7/gal avgas at the HCAA airports. Instead, stop at KZPH, just 15 minutes from KTPF, where fuel is closer to $5/gal and the atmosphere is much more welcoming.

Mooney Flyers, I seek consensus and feedback from Mooney operators regarding the new FAA rule change (MOSAIC) that allows Sport Pilots to fly four-seat complex aircraft, provided the aircraft’s clean stall speed is 59 KCAS or less. Are Sport Pilots allowed to fly the M20 with the MOSAIC final rule? Using the TCDS, Owners Manuals/Pilot Operating Handbooks (POH), FAA definitions, and the final rule as a reference, it looks like the answer is not no. The answer is more like, “It depends!” Because we are dealing with a stall speed limitation (VS) and VS is measured using Calibrated Air Speed (CAS), we must determine how to adjust the indicated speeds published in most Owners Manuals (vintage Mooneys) and POH (later Mooneys). The aerodynamic design factors that impact the stall characteristics of the M-20 have not changed substantially from the original type certificate. Structural enhancements over time have increased the load factors that newer aircraft can be exposed to, resulting in increased speed and gross weight limits. Aircraft maximum takeoff gross weight (MTGW) directly impacts the published clean stall speed (VS1). Therefore, VS1 for the Mooney M20 is a function of MTGW, and the highest published MTGW, which equates to a VS1 of 59 KCAS, is 2740 LBS. So, my position is that a Sport Pilot would be entitled to operate an M20J or earlier with a published MTGW of 2740 or less. The data to support this idea is published in the 1977 Mooney M20J POH Figure 2-2. Published airspeed indicator marking ranges in Figure 2-2 are in CAS MPH. Specifically, the green arc range is 68 - 200 CAS MPH. When 68 MPH CAS is converted to KCAS, the result is 59 KCAS, the limit that Sport Pilots can operate. Why is this important? Sport Pilots only need a valid driver's license to meet the medical requirements to fly; the lack of a flight physical is no longer a limitation to being legal to fly an older Mooney and many other certificated aircraft. Is my position correct? - Cheers

Makes sense. The AV30s are nice little units, the 172 I trained in a bit had a pair.

More likely to be Nomex. It was commercialized about 10 years earlier.