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Well, it finally happened this afternoon. My normal trips past ATL include "remain clear of the Bravo," except for those controlers who say "stay out of the Bravo." Going to see family, my direct path is over the field. Finally decided the heck with it, dragging my wingtip on the edge of the line while zoomed in to 10nm on the G430W just adds extra workload and even more time to the trip. So Friday I decided to go around to the north (even had one controller ask me when IFR if I ppreferred HEFIN or SINCA), so I threw some Kentucky windage in just before the state line, like this: Man, those T Routes are good for something after all! Today, coming home, I just flew the reciprocal course. Checked in with ATL somewhere over central SC, and they asked was I flying direct destination, and I said something to the effect of "I've never been cleared into the Bravo so I'm starting my deviation around the north side early." I could swear I heard laughter in the background when he gave me a quick Roger. Then later I checked in with ATL Controller #3 with "level, 8500, VFR outside the Bravo." He said he would get back to me with Bravo clearance in a little while. But in a little while, I wouldn't need Bravo clearance . . . Then the miracle happened! He cleared me direct to destination, into the Bravo, maintain VFR, advise before any altitude changes! Glory be, my first ever ATL Bravo airspace after five and a half years of Keep Out! Now I can add nearby ATL to my list of Cincinnati, Charlotte, Tampa, Orlando and Miami. And maybe Jax, I don't remember . . . Here's my proof: It immediately took 5+ minutes off of ETE, and groundspeed picked up 8 knots after the turn. Glory be! I'd given up on this. Maybe there is hope for me to eventually not deviate at all? Nah, why push my luck that hard? 2:15 out on Friday, 2:04 home today. And Dad is doing well, only two more chemo treatments! Lots to celebrate this weekend, this is my Mooney joy.

Went up today with @Warren to get in some practice IFR approaches. I like to make sure I get them in and not let the currency lapse. We'd been talking about going flying since I moved to Denver, but this was the first time we actually got in the plane together. And it was a good day to have a second pilot in the cockpit. CRM was very welcome today. We arrived at BJC where we are both based and the METAR was reporting OVC008. The field is IFR. So we filed to LMO, a 5 min flight if that. It's so unusual to get flyable actual IMC here in Denver. But we had a very stable layer at 800 ft that was about 1000 ft thick. We got in four approaches and a hold, all in actual IMC. Add into that the very busy Denver Bravo, and it was nice to have a current and local, pilot, in the right seat. Approaches at KLMO, KFNL, KGXY, and KBJC.

Saturday my wife and I took a couple of the young women from her church group along to the Camarillo Air Show. @MrRodgers had worked out a discount (one ticket gets everyone in the plane into the show) so of course you need to fill all the seats! Neither of the girls had ever been in a small plane before, but they loved it! You can see the excitement as we took off from KFUL. Hope you enjoy the post and the short video. Camarillo Air Show

IMOP the absolutely MOST enjoyable thing we get to do as pilots, is to take people up for their first airplane, or small airplane ride. I fly Young Eagles every chance I get, and have friends and family out recruiting for me as well. But I wish there was a more efficient way to make contact with folks, especially kids, who'd like to go for an airplane ride. It's like a drug for this pilot.

This was not a problem with stock mechanical tachs. The line is 10 RPM wide. As long as it pointed somewhere near the red line on takeoff we were all happy! Now that everyone has a digital tach, we are all crazy about a few RPM here and there.

A '90's model M20J is just about the best investment in a Mooney airframe one can make. They are the fastest selling, most popular model of Mooney aircraft, and for good reasons. And there is nothing comparable on the new market, therefor the values of these J's are increasing. It's kinda like finding a '63 split window Vette that needs everything. But it's a '63 split window. Done up right, this J will be worth really money. The question is, do you want to buy a project, or do you want to buy an airplane to fly? This one sounds like a project to me. It needs a couple of months of work at a good shop before you're really getting to enjoy it. I would consider the engine and prop to be run out. It also needs work done on the panel. If you don't think a GPS is a big deal and you'd be willing to fly without one, you can save yourself probably $60 or $70K and pick up a C or E that doesn't have GPS, but does have a good engine. But you're gonna want a WAAS GPS. So I think you'd be looking at an engine and prop, along with a GPS and whatever else the panel needs to bring it up to something you'd be happy to fly. Having said that, you'd be putting money into a '94 J, which is about the best airframe to put the money into.

Air mail by Mooney. Flew down to DVO to deliver a painting to a gentleman today. He owns and fly's a Nanchang. Had to wait for the heavy marine layer to recede but was a very nice flight once things cleared enough for us to get in VFR. Snoopy seemed much happier having the outside temp down to a much more pleasant 70 degrees as opposed to my last flight with temps in the triple digits. He said his first ever airplane was an M20a wood wing said he really liked that plane.

If the drive motor is running (pins C and D) the solenoid is on (pins A and B). A simple voltage check with the servo connector with a multi-meter will show where the issues is. With the meter on the ship side pins A and B (ground) when the roll rocker is pushed up the solenoid should get buss voltage. You can also test the servo with power-supply if needed. The 4 pin connector are notorious for being intermittent. If you are still having issues just give me a call and I will help with troubleshooting as much as possible.

I flew to Greensboro NC earlier this year. Later in the day after my arrival a very powerful thunderstorm hit the field with some pretty large hail. I was in the area, so I went back to the airport to find the plane safety placed in a group hangar. The line staff had seen the storm coming. Sometimes you have to give the FBO and their staff the benefit of the doubt.

Great educational video on our fuel pumps.

Looks like an awesome day! Their expressions on take-off are priceless. Well done! You are the bringer of fun.

Thanks, Paul. It's SIM20-109. Somehow I missed that one. Skip SIM20-109.pdf

Impressive machine, Tom. At the same altitude and FF you are moving 40 knots faster than a JetProp, itself no slouch in the knots per pound of JetA statistics.

To add more “data” to this qualitative analysis thread: Any C model Mooney is way cheaper to operate than any King Air. I did a lot of my instrument training in a Beech Sierra. It was not supersonic but has lots more room in the cabin than a MiG 21. A few hours dual in a Pitts S2C convinced me it will roll somewhat faster than an Ovation. A short body vintage Mooney is quite a different airplane than the later long fuselage planes. Flying is a very good thing.

My fiancé and I have completed two Pilots N Paws flight rescuing 4 dogs so far. Unfortunately, the second one didn’t go as planned...but that’s what you get in general aviation sometimes. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the videos!

I didn’t know Mr. Kopczynski... Until now... https://lebanon-express.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-kopczynski/article_15680572-a21a-5047-a055-bb99587cdb88.html He was a real Mooney guy. You know you are a real Mooney guy... When one paragraph of your obit includes.... In 1971, he established a business, Reliant Aviation, as an aircraft mechanic and business owner, specializing in Mooneys for 45 years. As the respected resource of all things Mooney in the Northwest, Tom had clientele fly their prized possessions to his trusted hands and brains from all over the country. Best regards, -a-

To make a fair comparison, forget the price, quote the hours of labour and what is included in said "Annual inspection" I'm not in a race to the bottom, compensate your maintainer like the professional he/she is. Could you live on or run a business on the numbers quoted here? Clarence

Although I have been meticulous about keeping weight down, mine is 1127 lbs with a full glass panel (G500, Dual GTN's, and much much more) and 115 cu ft 02. Although I have yet to find one as good as mine though

Michelin air stop tubes solves the problem.

IMHO... if I answer #1, I'm a fool. But if I answer #2 I should stay on the ground. I think it's somewhere in the middle. It's a big sky, the vast majority of pilots are well trained, proficient, and professional. None of them are "trying to kill me." But I should be alert and aware of what's around me. But then both survey options are very relative and subjective and therefore either answer could be acceptable under various interpretations. BTW... when on a motorcycle, I don't believe anyone is "trying to kill me" but rather I assume they can't see me. If I ride as if I'm invisible, then it's on me not to get hit. And I don't have bad feelings toward the car that swerves into my lane. They didn't see me. When I get cut off in the pattern, I don't ascribe malice to the other pilot, rather he didn't see me. So I should fly in a way that ensures I can't be hit.

Well, I haven’t posted a recent life changing medical issue I encountered 6 weeks ago. I got a simple, routine, small cut on my pinky finger on Tuesday, January 22th. An antibacterial soap cleaning and bandaid was all that was required and I went 54 hours with no pain or swelling, seemed a pretty benign situation. Then swelling and pain started, and within 3 hours of first symptom I had every finger and thumb swelling and in extreme pain. I even had pain in the palm, wrist, and shooting up to my elbow. Holy crap..... I went straight to my local hospital emergency department. Something was seriously wrong!!! After 8 hours of a pain level of 10, with nothing knocking out or even reducing the pain, I was sent to emergency surgery with an infection radiated from the finger, through my tendons, to my carpal tunnel area on Friday morning. An 8” cut to my wrist and complete open of the pinky (5-6 stitches) and 3.5 days of IV pain killers and antibiotics got me discharged by noon the following Monday. Transitioned to oral antibiotics and pain killers, it only took about 8 hours at home to realize this was going south again. Back to the emergency department, thankfully the same crew, with the doctor putting me under since he knew nothing from his pain killer arsenal was going to give me relief. Back into emergency surgery again early Tuesday morning, with a stitch count now exceeding 25 as the infected areas were expanded, my surgeon thought she had the infection cleaned sufficiently now. They installed a PICC line for a 21 day antibiotic regimen and I started a 10 week therapy program. It was determined to be Strep, which a pilot doctor later told me LIVES on our skin, as the strain of infection. I was also told had I delayed treatment at all, it would have spread to my bone, resulting in amputation of my left hand. HOLY CRAP!!!! So, although recovery has been excruciatingly slow, with no ability to squeeze fingers into a fist, yesterday and today were milestone moments. I have barely enough squeezing function to hold the side stick on my Lancair, but decided to fly with my flight instructor yesterday with an ace wrap holding my hand to the stick in case a gust came up that could jog the stick out of my hand. It went really well. Today I performed a medical flight and it went very well. Nice to be back in the air! Now just hoping I will not need further surgery to get finger function back!!! And......... 20 knot headwinds aren’t so bad in this plane. Tom

I just uploaded a video of a low approach of the Space Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. I flew a few times over this remarkable airport and enjoyed it very much. This time I mounted an action camera at the tiedown-mount of my Mooney M20F and filmed the approach. Groundspeed was about 140 knots during the overflight.

The LR tanks fuel indicator is not accurate until the fuel drains to the inboard and, in my Bravo around 75 gallons or so, I’m diligent in determining the amount of fuel on takeoff, inflight and monitoring my fuel totalizer. I and my wife considers the installation of LR tanks the number one and best addition to the Bravo turning it to a true long range airliner, it most likely has paid for itself in time saved and the ability to fly past many frontal boundaries. Many trips of are 1000+ miles doing these nonstop in about 5+ hours has increased our safety and increased here enjoyment, her goal in regard to an airplane is going from point A to point B as fast as practical, limited patience I on the other hand enjoy flying. Not flying at night any more has made the tanks even more a plus, we’ve made trips nonstop otherwise we’d have to spend a night, all the savings in time and utility has made it a great purchase.

Nice, Richard! Mustangs, Corsairs, a Stsggerwing . . . Mooney parking . . . Happy faces! Good times!

A few things to check. Mil H 5606 hydraulic oil get very thick over time and can cause the piston to become stiff in the calliper, fill the reservoir with fresh fluid and pump it out the bleeder fitting on the calliper until it runs freely, be sure to keep the reservoir full to avoid air entry. The piston may be stuck stuck in the calliper bore due to corrosion, disassembly is required to polish the bore, install a new O ring and bleed the brakes. The brake pressure plate can get stuck on the calliper guide pins and you can get a build up of dirt and dust behind the pressure plate, disassemble to inspect and clean as required. Clarence

I’m sure most will disagree with me...I’m assuming you have a verbal or written agreement with the seller. To me it sounds like you’re getting cold feet about the plane. Not having gps and the hours/age of the engine should’ve been a known quantity the moment you laid eyes on the ad. I’m feeling you want a large discount to fund things that might fail in the future. I’d ask for a small discount / repairs to be made for the oil leak and nav/com. If this does not sound reasonable save everyone’s time and move on.

Yes, it’s an option. I generally like North up on my display. Helps this old man with situational awareness. LOL. Tom

Your insurance number will depend more on aircraft value, but I like that budget number. @Parker_Woodruff can tell you more than I can. Annual may be 3-5k but you will have years where the total maintenance cost is north of that number. Inspection will be $2k. Oil changes are $3-400 apiece. Then you have to pay for things that break. You have to be ready for a big expense, but we all cross our fingers it doesn’t happen. If you have time to turn wrenches or do some basic things yourself you can reduce the cost. $25k should be very doable. Jump in- the water is fantastic! PS- budget $5-10k for the buying process. Pre-buys, travel, training... it all adds up. It’s worth it- economics are different in aviation- $1000 in the real world is significant (at least to me). $1000 for something airplane related... that’s a different kind of math.

Thanks Paul! Bob’s going to be disappointed with my alphabet skills... The M20E is the most talented of the short bodies... and makes a great retirement plane. Fantastic bang for the buck, and great LOP efficiency.... Best regards, -a-

And E...

Bought 68’ M20C in a May 2011, flew just over 1500 hours and would still own if not for a gear up landing (not pilot error, right main gear door caught on gear leg rivet). Bought 67’ M20F in Sep 2018 and have over 220 hours on it. We are constantly amazed at what a difference in comfort and performance the mid body and 20 additional HP provides. Another plus is the low insurance costs. I also like the manual gear, flaps, and light weight of the mid 60s Mooneys. My wife loves the strength of the airframe. We test flew several vintage Bonanzas and Debonairs, a couple of Bellanca Vikings, as well as flew nearly 100 hours in Cherokee 235s. Bottom line; the Mooney is the best choice for us.

Having not flown a K but having ridden in a J, I'll say yes. Its 5 degrees nose up on the ground so you need to flare with a different perspective. If you are a little fast and pull some power, it can sink like a stone probably due to the extra weight up front. There's a narrower window between floating forever and planting it down a little too hard.

As an Italian from northern NJ, ........never mind

Just an observation, but I have noticed over the years I have been on Mooney space that you always disclaim being an expert on the various matters of interest. I think quite the contrary, that you are an expert!

Just heard back from the FBO Manager. They confirmed there is no reserved parking and will be addressing this with the flight school to make sure it doesn't happen to me or anyone else again. Many of you pointed out the risk of putting my plane up front around all the flight school planes. I may not park up there anymore anyway now that I've got that on the mind. However I feel better that moving planes around for no good reason is being addressed and stopped.

It’s all a matter of prospective. I’m a 23 year Mooney owner, who will NEVER LOSE THE LOVE OF MOONEY’s, hanging with my Mooney friends because that’s WHERE I want to be. When the complexity and speed of my Lancair exceeds my aging body and brain, I’ll return to the Mooney ranks, excited as hell to be back in the ranks with my friends!!! Tom

Get to know your mission... Get to know your finances... Get to know your concerns... being ‘upside down’ has always happened since the beginning of time... most people didn’t recognize it because of something called inflation... inflation would erase the image of being upside down... How do you feel about being in over your head buying a plane? There are some nice M20Cs at half the price of the M20J... without half the speed penalty... When you are buying a forever plane... the finances are a lot easier to bare/bear... The cool thing was looking to buy an M20J in early 2007... there was one for sale for 140amu that I was looking at... kind of peak pricing of a sort... later in the year I was looking at a Missile instead, at a lesser price... by the time 2009 came around the M20J money was used to buy an M20R... So much can change in a year. Be ready to weather a storm. But don’t spend your life worrying about it... PP thoughts only... not trying to rain on the M20J dream... Best regards, -a-

Dr MacGregor let us know that they covered Mark with CEAs on the following: 1. Both arms 2. Small area on lower right torso 3. Front left thigh They didn’t put down CEAs on his right front torso as expected because they saw signs that his skin is regenerating on its own. I’m amazed and not sure how that’s possible as Mark’s doctors and nurses never brought this up as a possibility! The 2 autografts on his left front torso are doing well. We’ll know in a week, if these CEAs successfully take. Please keep Mark in your prayers and positive thoughts for healing for the next 7 days. Ashley, the really sweet nurse who helped Mark when he arrived the day of the accident, told me that when Dr Mellon told Mark it’d be a 2 month recovery, Mark said, “That’s too long!” and tried to get up. Well, it’s been a little over 2 months so I know if Mark were awake, he’d be in a big rush to get out the burn center. Thank you everyone for your posts, cards, texts - I read all of them to Mark.

Definately this. Hone and re-ring can go a long time and its pretty cheap as engine repairs go. I wouldnt have a shop that has a white floor and turbine airplanes in it do this, have some local curmudgeon semi-retired A&P do it.

BTW, in contrast, the Best Mooney or most efficient Mooney ever made, will do 190 kts at 18K on only 12.7 GPH with ISA conditions with a useful load over 1100 lbs!

I'm a EE and spent about 35 years doing R&D on wireless communications. I have a pretty well-equipped lab at home where I can do a lot of relevant testing and measurement. A few years ago while travelling in a buddy's Cherokee we sorted out that a USB plug that I'd brought along to run my tablet was the source of some interference we were experiencing. A cheaper, crappier one was used instead and it cleared up the noise and didn't bother anything. This got me curious so I tested a large variety of 12V USB power adapters, everything from ones I'd spent a fair amount of money on to spiff-free crap that had been handed out as swag to various friends. The idea was to see whether there was a trend or any kind of identifiable feature that would give away which ones were noisy and which weren't. First, it's easy to identify a noisy one with a spectrum analyzer. The DC-DC converters that are the guts of these things have oscillators that provide the chopping frequency to make the DC voltage change. Bad ones generate a lot of harmonics from the oscillators and those can get fed back into the 12V source via conduction, they don't even need to radiate it, it just goes back into the power system and old or cheap radios or audio panels that don't have good power conditioning send it straight into the receiver, or the transmitter, or whatever place will maximize the annoyance to you. The radiated energy can cause trouble, too, but this is one of those cases where a common path of the impairment is conducted, through the power supply or perhaps the ground. Anyway, my conclusion was that which ones are noisy and which ones aren't doesn't have anything to do with the manufacturing source or how much it cost, or anything like that. It may have more to do with whether it got dropped somewhere along the way and there's a solder crack on a capacitor or other filter element and now the thing is just noisy. The quietest one I tested, i.e., the least noisy, was a cheap unit that had been given given away as swag at a real-estate event. I went out and sorted out who made them and bought some more, and they're all pretty quiet, and since they're also nearly flush I use them in the jacks that feed my back seat outlets, so that they minimize the physical interference to the passengers, front seats, etc. My personal view is that the sorts of things that make one noisy or not can happen just as easily to a $500 in-panel unit, but when it craps out, what are you going to do? If you have a cheap unit plugged into a 12V outlet and it starts making noise, you take it out and grab another cheap one out of your flight bag and go on your way. So, just IMHO, using the cheap ones provides improved safety by giving you a quick way to solve the problem in-flight if needed. If an in-panel unit goes bad, you may need to pull a breaker to shut it up, and you'll also lose anything else wired to that breaker.

Your observation is correct... Compression fittings are an experienced based system... It takes a simple training to get them right... It is hard to know if you are doing them incorrectly... Mixing parts from different suppliers is a common mistake... The pitot static system is a crummy place to have somebody learn the technology... the O2 system is a similar crummy place to learn... PP thoughts only, best regards, -a-

If the practical useful load is 11-1200 lbs, with 80 gallons onboard, that means a FF UL of 620-720 lbs I think it is pretty fair to say that any Mooney is going to go faster than any BO on equal fuel burns. The difference is of course varied depending on what exactly you are comparing. But With this cursory look, it appears the BO is pretty much right in line with the Mooney when It comes to how much you can put in it and go X miles. I wouldn't be surprised if in some cases the Mooney would win out, being able to carry more weight for the distance to be traveled, either in extra fuel or butts and bags.

Yep, I just drove away in a new to me '06 4Runner. I'm thinking to myself, I hope this turns out to be a good vehicle. But then compared to the risk taken on airplanes, $8K is a pretty small pot to gamble. There are no guarantees... with anything.

I've said this before, but it bear repeating. The short body Mooneys are the biggest bang for your buck in all of GA. Even the experimental have trouble beating them for the cost. Nothing goes as fast or hauls as much on that kind of money.

@DustinNwindThe full-size Brittain TCs that control the wing leveler are the model TC100. You can find them and their little attached can-like "inverter" for sale on eBay for not too much (a few hundred $), then have them overhauled by a reputable repair shop of which there are several. That will replace the gyro that -a- mentioned in the tail. You'll need to get the approval of Brittain to do all this. They are replying to e-mails but still in the process of transferring their STC to new owners, was the last I heard.

I’d be annoyed. I’ve had my nose gear truss bent by folks who didn’t know about Mooney tow limits... might go have a chat with the manager... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've been flying a turbo for a few years now. Taking the APS course as well as my experience, tells me the cooling issues with turbos is bunk. I've done power off descents from the flight levels. And never sit idling my turbo watching for the TIT to reach a certain level. I'm also working on the Commercial maneuvers including steep spirals and power off 180's. My turbo is clean and will likely make TBO on all the original cylinders and turbo. So I fly it without any regard for "shock cooling", "coking" or any other of those mythical turbo maladies.

"I've heard . . . " I pay $1,460 for $90k hull on an S35 Bonanza. That's a first year premium with zero time in type when the policy was issued. The Mooney is a very solid feeling airplane. It is very comforting and has a sports car-like feel. The Bonanza is so perfectly balanced that it is a joy to fly. It is effortless. But a Bonanza is not as stable as a Mooney, by design. The Mooney is more efficient. You have to be on speed when landing every time in the Mooney. You'll float 100 ft down the runway for every 1kt you're fast. Come in 15 kts fast or 5 kts slow in a Bonanza and you won't even notice it. There is no measurable difference in cabin widths between airplanes but the Bonanza feels so much larger inside due to the windows and curvature of the fuselage. The Bonanza is a much larger airplane on the ramp with a +/- 400-1,000 lb greater gross weight and +/- 100-400 lb greater useful load. They're different. One isn't better than the other. Get a ride in each and make your choice.