Leaderboard

I bought my 81 J model Mooney in New Mexico in 1998. It had been inactive for several years and the logs could not be found. A couple of days ago (22 years and 2,400 hours later) I received a call from a gentleman from a small town in NM. He said that his father had operated a one man aircraft repair shop for many years prior to his death about 5 years ago. While cleaning out the contents of his father's hangar recently he found my logs which he kindly agreed to send me. He refused any compensation--even the cost if sending the logs. We had a nice visit and he seemed like a really nice guy. He

Well, we left N252AD in Smithville, TX in the capable hands of JD and Laura Casteel at SWTA. It's time for the big one. Her engine made it to 1830 hours on the original cylinders and turbo. But she's definitely tired. Only one cylinder was able to make compression over about 50. And her belly is just one long oil slick all the way to the tail skid. The governor is leaking oil as well, and the vacuum pump can't seem to muster enough power to deploy the speed brakes anymore. This year's annual will include an engine overhaul and Encore conversion. The engine, turbo, waste gate, govern

Hey JT! I wanted to thank you for your kind note and words of encouragement. In fact, I located this post on my own a while back and meant to respond but as you can imagine it was easy to get sidetracked. So please accept my apology for the long delay. To your point, I think it's important that the Mooney Community have access to the company. As a Mooney owner I never felt a connection to the company even though I relied on the engineers, metal workers, electricians and other artisans every time I turned the key in my 201 or Acclaim. I'd like to change that dynamic and as you've prob

This is why we have the Mooney. Worked half a day on Friday and then flew to Salt Lake to surprise my sister for her 50th birthday. Then we got up Saturday morning, picked some raspberries for my dad from her garden and flew from Salt Lake to Phoenix to see my parents whom I haven't seen since Thanksgiving. On the way we flew over the tiny mountain town where my dad was born and the farm that was in the family for 100 years and took pictures and video for him. We also flew over Bryce Canyon and Lake Powell. We visited my parents and then had dinner at my sisters and stayed at one of my other s

I'd like to thank JoAnn Hill, Head Master of Master Instructors LLC (and Sportys for the 20 year Jacket) for putting together the Master's Program. It's been an honor to participate in it for the past 20 years. While not easy to qualify, I think it is a worthy goal for Flight Instructors interested in pursuing Excellence in their profession.

This summer I met Bryan from Just Plane Silly and we were talking about his irreverent approach to aviation videos. He asked it he could shoot some video and pictures of my plane for a video idea he was hatching. Well here it is, the Just Plane Silly vision of what 1970's TV ads could have been for GA aircraft. Just enjoy the video and don't take the snarky comments seriously.

Hey friends, I just flew a four-day trip shuttling folks between Newark and the Dominican Republic. On the last day, they let us fly over dry ground... to some very dry ground. Phoenix, if we're going to be specific. I was supposed to be deadheading back to NYC but it was the end of the trip, so I chose my own adventure and stuck out my thumb for a direct ride home on a Delta jump seat. Another pilot showed up, also looking to hitchhike and we were chatting at the gate when I made mention of traveling in the Mooney. The guys eyes lit up. "What model?" An old '65 C

Having seen this from the other side, I'm not such a fan of this service. I use Savvy for engine analysis, but wouldn't use them for a pre-buy. I think there should be clear delineation between airworthy items and other issues and deferred maintenance items. On the one hand, a pre-buy should ensure you're buying/selling an airworthy airplane. On the other hand, while pointing out things like rust on the baggage door handle might be interesting, but it's a 50+ year old airplane in the sub $50K price range, it's not going to be flawless. It would be a better service to the customer to have an un

Fly in at a friends private grass strip. My wife caught a cool smoky start up!

I fixed the tail

We flew Saturday from Tuscaloosa to near Grand Rapids, Michigan, to visit our son and family. On the way up, we flew around the rainy area associated with decaying tropical storm Delta. Returned this morning. The instrument rating made this flight possible, and our C is running great. Covered about 1300 nm and shot three instrument approaches, two to minimums. This photo was taken this morning as the sun rose over southern Michigan. Gorgeous day! Almost nobody flying between 6000-10000 ft along our route.

We picked up the Mooney predator this weekend so we can make it fly again. Out of all of the restoration projects we’ve done this will probably be the most exciting Mooney we’ve worked on and I’m going to keep this thread updated with our progress as much as I can. With the help of some former and current Mooney employees who have worked on it we hope to have it flying soon with maybe a few updates along the way and hopefully those who have dreamed of fly it will get a chance.

Well guys, I have made my decision. I am going to self-insure with only liability coverage. As I told Parker, if I am willing to accept the risk of dying from flying, accepting the risk of the loss of an asset is a reasonable idea. (I know, I know, the percent risk is much higher of one, but the ultimate result of the other is much more serious.)

Hey Mooney friends, It's been a while and I come to you fresh of a cross country adventure I wanted to share with ya in my 1968 M20G. Here was the route: Day 1: Friday: KIAG>KMSN (3hr 20min), $154.01 fuel cost (may include overnight parking fees) A quick leg after work on Friday evening, landed IFR on the ILS in moderate rain. A quick over night stopover, a friend who worked at UPS picked me up from the airport and we had lunch at Coopers Tavern (had a pretty awesome Swiss Mushroom burger out that way)! It was neat to see the capitol building in Madison and learn how it was

So while my Mooney is in the shop, I'm doing something I've always wanted to do... get a tailwheel endorsement. I've always said, the sexy airplanes are all retracts or tailwheels. And I've always been just a little bit embarrassed that I can't fly a taildragger. So I'm addressing that issue and putting it behind me. This is just pattern work so not all that interesting. But I'm having a great time learning to fly all over again. (Actually the flying is the easy part, being on the ground is the issue.)

Just when you think you're having a bad day................there's this ! Nuts.mp4

Gents, I recently departed with my beloved M20F and will miss her dearly. This was my first airplane, and she will always have a special place in my heart. Its strange how attached you can become to an inanimate object, but I always felt like she served me so well. It was not uncommon for my wife and I to take 6hr long trips from central Texas to the east coast to visit family and friends. We rode in style, comfort, while going fast and sipping fuel. These airplanes are truly remarkable and I am sure one day I will come back to them. For now I have gone the Vans RV route

I know you have all had the same excitement as I do today, but it was finally my day. Multiple instructors after my first one decided flying a Falcon was more fun than flying with me, COVID, and managing to fly while taking care of my family, I soloed today. The setbacks of starting with new instructors was frustrating, but SO worth it. I hope to join the ranks of Mooney owners one day, but I’m happy to just be plane crazy about them until then.

As requested. Im the first ship

Having done lots of PPI’s over the years, I’d say as a maintainer “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” As I’ve said in these pages before, there is no standard to which a PPI is completed, it’s up to the buyer and maintainer to determine the level of inspection required or desired. I try to inspect the airplane fully, presenting the own with a detailed list similar to the one above, noting airworthy and non airworthy items. With this knowledge the buyer can make and informed decision on buying the airplane. Non airworthy items still require money to ultimately repair, money whi

Update: I am back home. I spent the last 6 months in Springfield, IL flying survey for corn fields. I logged 400 hours between a 172, a 182, and my Mooney. She's been a flying carpet and has ferried me to and from home four times in my stay up there. I did get a prop balance done on N6744U. She was at .27 IPS and they got her down to .07 IPS. The great part is the IA who did it has a program with the local college so I got a good deal on labor in exchange for letting him use my plane to demonstrate how to balance a prop to a bunch of new AME's My Concorde RG-35AXC finally died after 650

I definitely wouldn't start tearing apart the panel. I see very little functionality you're missing but the four things below would all add to what you have. And I know you said not to say it, but I would fly it awhile and see what features would add to what you already have. Patience is a good thing rather than just tearing it apart because you can. 1. Do the Aspen Max upgrade and have the audio call-outs run over to the audio panel. Good value now and no panel cutting. 2. When the STEC 3100 becomes available for Mooneys that would be a good upgrade to the STEC 50. Aspen is work

Ok, I'll take the other side of the argument here. I think your plan is a good one. Get your Private and then get the Mooney you want and can afford. The speed and power will be shocking at first and you'll struggle to stay in front of the airplane. But it's nothing 10 or 20 hours with a CFI or other experienced Mooney Pilot can't solve. Fly it VFR for 6 months to a year and then get your IFR in that airplane. The one you're now comfortable flying. I used to live in Dallas and then lived in Austin for a few years. The Dallas, Austin, Houston triangle is perfect for a small single engine a

With N252AD in the capable hands of JD and Laura at SWTA... I decided to learn to fly all over again... Who knew it could be so easy in the air and yet so tricky on the ground.

A Sea Gull who was protesting without a permit on the active runway 24 at Ocean City NJ today was murdered today by a plane. The entire Sea Gull Community is upset and is going to react by looting and stealing French fries from innocent children on the boardwalk.

I'm going to lock this topic since apparently some members are just not capable of keeping politics off the site. Going forward I am going to be giving bans to users posting anything political. It won't matter if you are a Supporter or standard member. Given this is an election year and I don't have the time to police the forums.

RP, responding to your thoughtful input... (I don't know why as a group Mooney Spacer's argue the value down of our aircraft. For the money their is no better value out there than a used Mooney.) There isn’t a group of MSers involved in this case... it is one person. Chris likes to take the other side... The other side of any argument possible... The Dynon AP doesn’t exist in the Mooney world yet... How can that be better than anything else? At best, It can be equal to other APs we can’t install... Lets not get dragged into the swamp... We have a

The GFC500 for the F/G is fully certified and flying! Expect 2-3 weeks for the PMAd parts kit to be available to ship. I picked up my F, which was the certification aircraft, yesterday. I was only able to fly one coupled approach (LPV) into my destination. I wasn't up for much after the 5 hour flight. I of course have the full system to include yaw damper. I did like the yaw damper in the climb, as I was able to be feet on the floor and the ball was centered the entire time. I have quite a bit of time behind bigger aircraft autopilots so the transition was very easy and stra

I don’t think I was beating the brand. I love my mooney, and I have loved every one I have had. I am 100% supportive, donate considerably to this forum as well as MAPA. I am also a big advocate to my peers and anyone who will listen to convert all I can to mooniacs. I also am aware that what I am getting from the factory, I am lucky to get. They had no obligation to help me with the state of the company, and the challenges they face. The poster asked what mooney was today, and I was honest about my experience. If someone disagrees with my opinion I can handle that, but I’m not wr

and here is a picture which I thought was too awesome not to share, another mooney parked by mine when we were at lunch... Pay attention to colors!!!

I plan to 86 my keyed ignition and install an Electroair push button system to engage the starter but had some concerns about not having a key needed to start the engine. I looked for an economical throttle lock but couldn’t find one so I made my own using some aluminum tubing that I cut (about $12 for both tubes), a hinge from Home Depot (About $1.79 for a pair) and some pop rivets using a rivet tool. I had the spare lock in my junk drawer. I realize anything can be defeated but it would definitely slow someone down. It actually came out pretty good. I cut the bare aluminum to fit inside

Not many chances to fly IMC in a piston single around here (Colorado). But coming home from Texas yesterday afternoon, I cruised over an undercast for more than an hour. And with the sun at just the right angle for it, I saw for the first time ever in my Mooney, glory.

1. The magnetos have no connection to the battery. 2. Connecting a battery tender backward should not cause a problem. More sophisticated ones will have a protection circuit and even cheapos should have a fuse. 3. An open circuit battery voltage of 12.6 volts indicates that the battery is about 75% charged. 4. Turn on some lights and energize the starter. If the battery is just too week to run the starter, the high current draw of the starter will dim the lights very significantly. If the lights don't dim, then the problem is that the starter is not being energized. The problem

How dare anyone say the Mooney is small. I’m 9ft 13 and fit in my airplane just fine. If you don’t fit you must be doing something wrong.

Flew out for breakfast with my son. Him and my wife in our 172 and me and his GF in the Mooney. My wife took what is now my favorite picture. Notice I had to stop the prop to fly formation with the 172.... :-)

I’m going to contradict the other advice you have been given. There just isn’t enough difference between the C, E, or F model to worry about for your mission. In fact, the only time I would worry about which model is if you are going to regularly fly with 3 or 4 seats filled. Then you’d need the F (or the G). I think you will be much better off focusing on how well the plane was maintained, how often it was (is) flown, and how it is equipped. For solo flight or with a single passenger, there just isn’t much difference between the three. However, there are huge differences between the

I've been running low on altitude recently, and went out for another fix today. This is climb out, with KALX visible behind me. And this is the sadness of an away game . . . . As long as we beat the bulldogs, I'll be happy! It was quite bumpy above 2000msl, not near as smooth as this makes it look. Not bad, but I'd rather not have a first time passenger today. While I didn't overfly the neighborhood today, it wasn't far. That's home in the circle. Any excuse to fly is a good one!

I'd never seen this list that I photographed at KGCM during a fuel stop. Thought it was funny.

Made it to smiley creek and then johnson creek, and stayed the night in johnson. What gorgeous places to fly.

Really..? It is to some people... Why would you tell them it’s not? Kind of an argument in futility... There are a few Short Body Mooneys each year that have been loved until their owners couldn’t love them any more... Those M20Es were worth six figures... Bob’s M20E looked right at home in front of new Ovations and Acclaims... There was a time, not long ago... people said putting a GPS in a short body was a waste of Money... There are a few Mooneys parading around with full WAAS color screens... clearly those statements about not being worth it Didn’t make se

Here is the landing when we arrived in Rio, as edited by my son Curtis...he is much more technological than I am... (I can work the G1000 at least!)

A complex endorsement is required to act as PIC of a complex airplane such as all Mooney M20's with the exception of the D model (if a fixed gear one still exists). Additionally a high performance endorsement is required to act as PIC of all post J Mooneys as they have over 200HP. So is there any way for a not yet HP/Complex endorsed Private Pilot to log PIC time in a Mooney? Yes! As long as they fly with another pilot or instructor who is qualified to act as PIC in a Mooney (including BFR, current, medical, and Complex/HP endorsements). More about that and the story of how I got kicked o

This is partly why I often fly my plane 1200NM to get work done as I pass many MSCs and mechanics along the way.

Enroute to New Century as we speak. Sitting in Denver with a layover. I pick up the plane tomorrow morning. According to Garmin the certification paperwork was completed on the 16th. More to follow!

Showing your mistakes isn't a bad thing. Showing why they happen and how to deal with them can help other pilots. What other Youtubers need to learn is editing and how to make content smooth. Most Youtube videos are too long by far, and get quite boring. He makes his interesting and entertaining. In the end run that's what's really important. Folks are more likely to watch entertaining things than long boring ones.

W100+ ??? Rob, that stuff is "engine poison"! Do not use it. Give it away to you neighbor just up the road. I hope you have a whole case....

Thanks to everyone that helped with posts and PMs. The victor airways made flight planning easy peasy. I planned to spend two days, possibly a third flying west, but with an odd tailwind through east texas and great weather from Mississippi to California, we did it all on one day. Total was 2 fuel stops and roughly 12 hours of flight time. Coast to coast in a day, amazing. Our original plan was to stay overnight in el paso, but it was early, and we were both ready to get to San Diego. The mountains are directly east of the airport, and you have to drop several thousand feet quickly. A

Hey all, I just posted my first video...the quality is what you can get from a camera phone and I didn't put any sound on it other than ambient but it shows me taking off yesterday from a friend's perspective that was fueling his King Air on the ramp when I took off to return to São Paulo from Rio de Janeiro. I left my plane in Santos Dumont for the weekend, which has to be one of the most beautiful airports in the world. Before anyone worries, I had done my runup on the ramp because it is a commercial airport and I was taking off between airbuses...and the gear went up quickly because

Porsche. Porsche has a history and is an engineered evolution 911) that reflects the M20 way better than Marinello...Mooney is the Porsche of the sky... And Ferrari sucks in 2020 F1...So there is THAT...

I would add the 2 budgets together then proceed