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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.

BINGO! Product misrepresentation, plain and simple. The idea that you shouldn't expect to recover those damages is almost as ridiculous as claiming that the $400 isn't even damages in the first place! You paid for a "license" to use a misrepresented product...damn right I'd want my money back.

I have a sidewinder I bought in late 2022 from the manufacturer for an Ovation I owned at the time. It comes with a battery and charger. I'm in Massachusetts. Phil 413-530-0112

Hello, new Mooney owner here. I have a M20F with an Aspen E5 and a Garmin GNS430. The vacuum system was removed some time ago (and so was the PC system). The pitch trim system is still manual. I'd really like to install an autopilot. I don't necessarily need something to shoot IFR approaches (I'm an VFR pilot). Even a simple wing leveller would be great on long cross-country flight. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice on what I should look for or install? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Did you find one? I have a working one coming out in a month.

For one thing the fuel isn't available on any wide scale and likely won't be because of these issues. And is was advertised to cause no issues and be a "drop in replacement". It's not that, it's not as advertised, and I'm out $400. It's not really much in the aviation scheme of things but those are real damages. I paid for a product, it turns out is vaporware and even if I could get it, would likely result in damage to my aircraft. You damn right I want my money back. You order some $400 product on Amazon based on reviews, turns out all the "5 star reviews" are false advertising and the product doesn't work or causes harm, would you just suck it up or return it?

If it weren’t for these spammers I would never have learned how to change my flight on Ethiopian Airways.

You're welcome. Take heed to what @PT20J said; just run it for a second or two in each direction to verify the motor runs. Series wound motors need a load!

What is interesting to me is he never smuggled the beer. They were watching for planes smuggling booze in Fairbanks which is where they executed the search warrant. I can’t determine how they got the warrant. In any case putting on cases of beer with maybe the intent to fly them to a dry county isn’t a crime. Whole thing seems fishy but can’t determine more on the internet but there has to be more.

I’ve been using Top Gun for 30 years now. While Mark is the only IA, they have 2 other mechanics that work there so it is not quite a 1 man shop. They certainly are booked though. It might be helpful to know the model Mooney and condition to help suggest shops, some are good for annuals where there is little needed and others may be required to handle bigger or Mooney specific jobs that require expertise.

That's awesome. Thank you much! Scott

Hello Mooniacs! After Many frustrating months I recovered the Mooney I bought back in November 2024 and got her home Today Saturday Sept 6th. Having gotten quotes from multiple transport companies I decided to do the job myself. I needed to unbolt the wing for a 3k drive not separate the tailcone as is commonly done these days for short hauls. Starting off from Dinwiddie Virginia Last Thursday at 0400 I made the first overnight in Lincoln NE around 1300 miles. Day 2 was Lincoln to Ontario Oregon and around 1100 miles. Day three was a pleasure with only about 600 miles to cover arriving in Auburn Washington at Noon on Saturday. The inbound trip was only completed this quickly because I had previously airlined out and purchased the trailer for the return ahead of time. Virtually all the work was done by myself other than loading the trailer and some tool holding in order to unbolt and unscrew the floor. Departing Tuesday night loaded for bear and constantly mountain climbing It took 3.5 days to get home.This required 5 or 6 gas stops daily along with cargo checks and was not nearly as carefree understandably towing a heavy trailer. Unfortunately I did have to section the wing and My prior invitations to have someone adopt it/repair found no takers.The aircraft fell off jacks prior to me buying it and had a large wound in both wings from that event. I will have the fuselage at my home shop hopefully completing the panel(needs extensive work as It’s basically empty)Along with extensive cleaning/inspection etc. I hope to chronicle the work here and It’s going to be an 18-24 month timeframe most likely In the meantime I need a wing so If anyone has a decent one gathering dust please PM me. Thanks for reading my short summary of what’s already been a 10 month journey. Im looking forward to the Process of returning this excellent airplane to the sky! Cheers, Stuart

It can be downloaded here:

I remain confused. But, I’m not a fuel tank guy, either. By not employing nut plates, dome or not, how do you hold the nuts from turning when the last access panel is installed to close up the tank? And how are those nuts sealed? Installing hardware with sealant isn’t unheard of, but mostly as last-ditch effort to stop a leak and avoid pulling an access panel to make a proper repair. Maybe I should go read a mx manual… Glad you have a way forward.

For my C, Vs1 = 67 mph, Vx = 80 mph and Best Glide = 105 mph. My initial climb is usually 85 mph before lowering the nose to 100 - Altitude in thousands. At WOT, the deck angle at 80 mph would be very steep!