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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/29/2023 in all areas

  1. Just to update all my fellow MooneySpace Family, I was the PIC of this flight. It happened quick as most emergencies do. We (my family and I) were in solid IMC at 5k when I lost almost all power very suddenly and without warning. I worked through the emergency procedures checklist but had no success. I advised ATC of my issues and started a descent to VMC about 1000’ ft below. After the emergency procedures didn’t recover the power loss, I advised I was declaring and proceeded to get vectors for the nearest field. I was about 9 miles from the nearest and I worried if I lost the engine we may not glide all the way to the field. When we broke out, I could see what I thought was an airstrip about a mile or two off the nose. ATC advised I was near a private airfield and I thought that’s what I was looking at. I informed ATC of my intentions to circle this field and make a landing. We landed safely and not a scratch on my family or the plane, thank god! Only after I landed did I find out we landed on the Consumer Reports testing facility track. It’s about 4400’ long and makes a great emergency LZ! Now to work through the process to determine what happened and what’s next. This is a sobering reminder of why to practice practice practice, constantly refresh yourself with the POH and your checklists and stay sharp! I credit my save to my flight training and the many days I spent with my CFI working through this stuff! I will continue to be a student of the game and always press myself to study, practice and stay sharp! …..your life and others depend on it!
    51 points
  2. There are a few days in a lifetime that are especially memorable. In my case it would be my birthday, Shirley's Birthday, the day we met 41½ years ago, and the day I closed on N9148W, 31 years and 12½ thousand flight hours ago today. Little did I know at the time the life changing event that would be. Before I bought it, I was in awe of anyone who owned an airplane, and anyone who owned a Mooney TLS had to be in a different league than me. I remember sitting in the airplane that day and thinking, "what have I done?" Will I even be able to learn how to fly this thing? It was intimidating. I had, Suzanne, Top Gun's pilot and a flight instructor, fly with me down to San Antonio where I took the Flight Safety Mooney M20M Course. After the course, I was still uncomfortable and had, Paul Arrambide, my flight instructor fly back with me to San Diego, where I showed my family what I had done. My Mother had not a few reservations. A PPP the following March in Fresno, where I flew with Jerry Johnson and met my soon to be mentor instructor, Robert Goldin, who fortuitously lived close by me, changed the direction of my life. Who ever heard of someone changing from a Real Estate Developer into a Flight Instructor? I did it. Real Estate became a sideline and Aviation took front and center. It still does. It's a passion and never gets boring. Along the way I've met hundreds and hundreds of people who became my students and later my friends. I've met many top educators in the aviation field. Most of them were dedicated teachers. What an experience it has been and continues to be. After all this time, buying my airplane was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It's a special day indeed.
    38 points
  3. I called Anthony tonight , and all is well... He has put down the keyboard and ventured out to smell the roses for a little while.... No problems , or issues , just didnt want to commit the huge amount of time , that he has been for all these years.... He will be back , e v e n t u a l l y ..... Carry on....
    32 points
  4. Just to update everyone, Upon inspection with the FAA Inspector and A&P/IA, they found that the internal baffles had broken off inside the muffler. The FAA Inspector and IA noticed heat marks and deformation on the inlet pipes going into the muffler housing indicating that the exhaust gases couldn't flow smoothly out of the exhaust and became trapped. They determined that the piece of the exhaust baffles had become lodged and obstructed almost all of the exhaust exit hole in the muffler, thus causing the immediate reduction in power and inability for the engine to run properly or make any power to maintain flight. They did say that they had seen this once before on a different aircraft and normally when a muffler fails the pieces simply blow out the tailpipe. I guess I got very unlucky that mine got stuck. I was very lucky however, that i had such a great spot to make an emergency landing!! We got a new muffler overnighted and made the necessary repairs yesterday. The FAA approved all of the work and all the ground runs showed that the problem was corrected. I was able to take off yesterday afternoon with the plane and fly it back to my local field. I played it safe and made the trip at a high altitude so I had options should any issues arise on the way back. I will say that the FAA Inspector was amazing and did a great job. He never approached with the attitude that he was out to get me and if anything, he was extremely understanding and compassionate to the issues. He reiterated several times that I did the right thing and made safe decisions to result in this positive outcome. He said this is why we have emergency procedures and pilots should never hesitate to use them! Then he said, Never let your pride get in the way of your safety! Thanks all for the kind words above and thanks for reading. Stay safe and fly Smart- Matt
    32 points
  5. My grandson soloed a few weeks ago in our Citabria making him a fourth generation pilot. I told him he had to learn in the Citabria, but he will have access to the Mooney for his instrument rating when the time comes. He got his drivers license two days after turning 16 and soled the next week. He also has discovered girls. He will find all three pursuits expensive! lee
    23 points
  6. A suggestion like that would put my wife in a Pilatus with her next husband.
    23 points
  7. Just a quick report that I got my Acclaim Ultra back from annual yesterday from the Factory Service Center. My observations: The work was outstanding and reasonably priced. They kept me informed along the way. They found things that other shops had missed. They test flew the aircraft when they finished. I flew a 1400 mile trip yesterday with no squawks. Kerrville is a nice town. Mooney is very much in business.
    23 points
  8. Hello to all my friends at MooneySpace! I haven’t been here for a while since I sold my Acclaim in 2018. I sold my RV a couple years later and haven’t flown since. I just wanted to give you all a shout out from Mexico. My wife and I are retired and we moved here about two years ago. We split our time between Puerto Vallarta and San Miguel de Allende. I really miss flying Mooneys. Did so for 25 great years, as the proud owner of an Encore and then an Acclaim. I hope all of you who are still flying are keeping the flame alive and enjoying these incredible aircraft. I’d be curious to know if any of you have ever flown your Mooney to Puerto Vallarta? I flew my Acclaim to Cabo several times, but never to anywhere on the mainland. I get a tiny taste of aviation every day because the skydiving concession in Puerto Vallarta is right next door to my condo. They land about 40 single and tandem jumpers on the beach in front of me every day. Pretty neat. Fly safe, my friends, and enjoy your Mooneys! Saludos, Joe Zuffoletto, aka José de México :)
    22 points
  9. I have not been doing much flight instruction work over the past few years, but I have noticed a couple common occurrences recently, both on flights and on various social media posts (Facebook, in particular). It seems a pilot will complain about the airplane not settling down, yet their approach speed is correct (such as 70 KIAS for an M20J). Here are the things that come to mind when I hear this: Observation 1 - Idle RPM set too high. I was flying with a client and he couldn't get the plane to settle. I said "let me demonstrate one". So I take it around the pattern and have the same problem he had. We taxied off the runway...I think his idle RPM was 800-900. It's quite possible you may know exactly what to do and, all things considered, be using correct pilot technique. But in reality, a high idle RPM could be forcing bad results, or worse, forcing you to use to bad pilot technique to get a desired result. Observation 2 - Not closing the throttle all the way. This one is often recognizable to me by sound. A pilot sets up a very good final approach attitude, airspeed, glidepath, etc. Everything is great...until the end But in the flare, the pilot hasn't completely closed the throttle control. The pilot may not be able to experience a full flare unless he spends an exceptional amount of time floating down the runway trying to bleed off airspeed. "Ballooning" is often the end result leading to either a go around or wasted runway as corrections are made. Note on your next flight - Check your engine idle RPM after the engine is fully warmed up. You may find your idle speed is too high and spoiling your otherwise great flying technique. - Make it a point to feel the throttle control reach its "closed" limit before you touch down. Happy Saturday! Insurance is fine and all, but it's nice to talk about flying.
    22 points
  10. Years ago I was flying home and while planning my flight realized there was a 70knt tailwind at 25k, directly on my tail. Pretty hard to pass up in a plane capable.. I was alone, had the nice blue silicone mask with a microphone, so I filed for 25k and off I went. I was cruising along and I looked down in my lap and saw this little black disk. At the time the plane I was flying was an ultra with the precise flight conservers, and I thought the disk looked like the adjustment dial on the outside of the unit. After a few seconds of fiddling with it, I realized I was trying to put it back together, but it wasn’t apart…. By the grace of god I realized that what I was doing made no sense whatsoever and I engaged the vertical descent for 1400fpm and still to this day do not recall the next two or three minutes. What I do recall is being level at 8,000 ft with atc calling me asking intentions. I hit replay on the g1000 and listened to me responding to them and taking instruction. I did not sound like myself, but I was responding. I do not remember any of this… After my wits were about me again I looked down and realized my arm had gotten wrapped around the o2 hose going to my mask and had inadvertently pulled the grommet out of the front of my mask at 25,000ft. The disk was the grommet, and if one was completely cogent, would never had mistaken it for anything else. I don’t know how long it had been pulled out, or how long it took me to notice something was wrong. The flight recorder only goes back about 2.5 minutes on a constant loop, so that’s all I could listen to. I don’t know how long the entire event lasted, but I did realize how close I came to being a bad story. There is certainly more elevated risk at those altitudes, and one must be very vigilant, aware and have some routine to check yourself very regularly. I personally stay 19k or below if I am alone, and will only go to 25k with someone else and if we pick up enough time to really make a difference. This isn’t my recommendation or suggestion, it’s merely a personal minimum in my Mooney, or any non pressurized airplane. Things can deteriorate much quicker than you would like to believe… Last thought on this story… I was embarrassed by this. I felt foolish, like my arrogance and confidence led me to a bad choice that could have killed me. I finally opened up and told the story to a pilot friend of mine and he told me I should share, because perhaps someone could benefit from hearing my mistake. I sure hope it does, because I still feel foolish.
    22 points
  11. I decided to fly my 1994 M20J MSE to Sun 'n Fun this year despite the terrible winter. It's got to get better, right? Got from the Seattle area to Twin Falls for fuel on Monday the 27th and then stopped by snow showers. Made it to Shreveport LA the next day via Santa Fe for fuel (the Santa Fe terminal is still under construction and will be until Sept.). Wednesday morning the airplane started very rough with #1 cylinder not firing. Clogged injector or stuck valve? 350 hours on a factory rebuilt engine, so I guessed injector. Went to local auto parts store and got a wrench and some carb cleaner and cleaned injector. No change. No local mechanic available; apparently he only works when he needs beer money. Shreveport is only about 70 miles or so east of Longview TX so I called Don Maxwell who immediately swung into action and sent Mike to rescue me. He staked the exhaust valve in #1 which got it running and I flew it to Longview where Don and Paul and Mike performed the rope trick (they like to call it Rope-a-Dope) and reamed the valve guide. Don graciously loaned me his truck which I repaid by filling the tank. Great guys, the Maxwells. I didn't see Jan, but she is reportedly busy planning MooneyMAX. I gave up on Sun 'n Fun due to the weather forecasts and frankly I was a bit beat. Flew to Payson AZ and visited a friend that moved there form southern CA and built a great home. Then to get back home. With the weather so bad in the pacific NW and the freezing level down near the surface, the only reasonable route for a non-turbo, non-FIKI airplane was low up the coast so I stopped in San Jose CA to let the weather clear a day and then flew home. There were a few low clouds and heavy rain showers along the coast, but nothing like what I flew in in Ketchikan when I flew Beavers up there. The only glitch was that the FBO at San Jose broke a stop off the nose gear towing it. But, Mooney has the part in stock and I'm letting the insurance take care of it. About 30 hours flying to not get where I intended, but as I told my wife, if I really needed to get there I would have purchased an airline ticket. The journey is the adventure. Skip
    21 points
  12. An OP takes a moment to share a fairly excruciating if not traumatic experience with us here at the board that involves death, family and children. Then by whatever methods, the thread is allowed to devolve into a pissing contest. As a community, i find that in terribly poor taste. A thread of this kind should genuinely be about providing an ear for the OP, supporting the OP, lending a helpful hand, and hopefully not pulling out the rulers for appropriate measure. There are hundreds of other threads for that. IANAL, and what’s typed is strictly my own opinion.
    20 points
  13. I purchased my '67F N9611M a few years ago and have flown the pants off of it, going from my home base of Mexico City to Airventure (2x), Victoria BC (6x), the Caribbean, lots of places all around the western US and all the way up to Yellowknife NWT via Saskatchewan. I've flown N9611M over 650 hours and that means I've spent a bit more than that inside of her. As cozy as she is, she was in need of a little help. While the seats, carpet, and lower upholstered panels were re-done by the previous owner, they left the plastics as-is, cracked in some places, ruptured screw holes in many places, and a general yellowing effect which didn't look great with the brighter upholstery. Below is a photo of the original interior: As you can see, the previous owner decided to leave the original upholstery on the arm-rests and the "vintage" plastic panels look a little dated. Frankly, had the panels been structurally sound I probably wouldn't have touched them but hours of long x-country flying had taken their toll on the arm rest seams and from time to time my elbows would get pinched from the open seams. I also had a theory, still to be tested, that the panels in their condition were letting a bit more noise into the cockpit than originally intended. With all this in mind, a couple of months ago I began the process of disassembling the interior of the aircraft in order to move all of the pieces to my workshop and begin the restoration process. This was the second time I had removed some of the interior, the first being during my pre-buy, but this interior removal was certainly more thorough and involved more electrical connections and visits to Mooneyspace to figure out how to get those darn circular vents off. The de-install went well and I found an airframe still with zero corrosion and only mildly decaying foam fiberglass insulation and foam, generally in pretty good shape for an old bird! Once at my workshop, I surveyed the damage and found that there were three intact panels in total, all window frames, and the rest had some form of cracks, punctures, or other deformations with the worst offenders being the footwell side plastics, the ceiling panel, the door, and the pilots side lower panel. In my research, I had found that there were two main schools of thought when repairing and re-beautifying the panels. One, was to follow the Aero-Comfort system of reinforcing the panels and then covering with a fabric or leather. I had spoken to Hector a couple of times and was impressed with their product and found him to be knowledgeable and helpful, however I really enjoy my 1000lb+ useful load and wanted to add as little weight to the aircraft as possible. While super-lightweight coverings do exist, and would have solved another problem with the window joins (which I'll get to later), the weight consideration, getting FAA approved products into Mexico, and cost all played a factor in deciding to restore the panels via option two. Option two, which I went with, was to fix the panels from behind, and then paint. The trick would be to figure out how to fix them so that they wouldn't break again, at least not for a long time, and then how to paint them in both a color and sheen which fit with the existing upholstery scheme. First thing to figure out was what material we were working with. According to the manufacturer, Spartech, it's ABS plastic. Yes, there are some special mixes and flame retardant elements in there but it's ABS. The next thing to figure out was the best way to repair ABS plastic. After exhausting the interior plastics threads here on Mooneyspace which all offered different options for plastics reinforcement including glue, fiberglass, and tape(!) solutions, I turned elsewhere for inspiration and found it in a lovely video from an Australian gentleman. It seems that the best way to reinforce ABS plastic is with ABS plastic! Being in Mexico City, it can be difficult to acquire the right, certified materials for any job and while they do exist, proper caution is wise. Case in point, after visiting a construction market to purchase ABS welding rods, I tested the rods and found that they were smoking considerably on a piece of test material. When I returned to the market to ask the vendor about the product he'd sold me, he confessed it wasn't pure ABS and instead had a PVC mix at somewhere around 15% which was causing the smoking and would have resulted in an inferior repair. I had read somewhere that Lego blocks are manufactured out of 100% pure ABS plastic, and so went off on a hunt to dig up some white Legos. Luckily, Mexico City has a lot of Lego and just around the corner from my house was a Lego seller with several 40 gallon drums filled with used Legos, sorted by color. Scoop! After bringing back the legos and verifying with a test piece, I started to weld the panels back together. Some photos below showing the extent of the welding pre-sanding. Below you'll see a before and after sanding of a hole repair. And a couple of shots of the footwell panels which were quite damaged from years and years of use. Special note: these panels were especially de-formed and I was able to straighten them using a heat-gun on the low setting before then welding them. I'm not sure how to post my own videos here but I have some nice ones of shaking the panels and flexing them to try to break them again and they're flexible and strong as can be expected. The only time I managed to re-break one was when I flexed it on a non-sanded weld. Maybe it was the thicker plastic section hitting the thinner section at an angle? With all of the panels welded and sanded, it was now time for paint. I chose an oyster white to soften the appearance of the interior and went to work. In the first picture, you can see the difference in color between the yellowed original panel, the original color seen where the strap covers had blocked UV exposure, and one coat of the new color. And below is all of the panels laid out for painting, with the floor panels in the bottom left playing around with colors. After rattle-can coats of paint on each panel, they were ready for install, and yesterday I went out to the plane to begin assembly. I'm re-doing the headliner but have been itching to fly so thought I'd put together the plane to see how things look before final assembly. And once again, the before picture for reference. Installed, the panels look very good. There are a couple of paint imperfections, mostly in deep corners, and I think a better paint product (or maybe more skill on the part of me, the painter) would have solved this issue. That's where I've gotten for now, next up is: headliner and ceiling panel install de-install of the panels to upholster the arm rests with the same material as the seats install of freshly painted passenger headphone jack covers (more on that next time) sourcing and install of those thin window joining strips I'm looking for help with adhesives recommendations for both foam to aluminum and foam to vinyl, as well as if anyone knows where to find those little strips which go between the windows?
    18 points
  14. Here's an idea; limit your legs to 2½ hours. Never had a bathroom issue with that. New airports, new experiences. Quick stops, get out and stretch your legs. You're refreshed for the next leg.
    18 points
  15. We just completed "Phase 2" of a 3-Phase modernization of our 1965 M20E. The first phase was redoing the panel last year which included a JPI 930 install, CIES senders, all new circuit breakers, new Garmin GMA 345, new Garmin GTX 225, IRANing the 430W, new engine controls, all new switches, a new, powdercoated and laser-cut 1-piece panel, new headset plugs, new antennas and digital coax, and a few other odds and ends. Phase 2 is the interior, and we chose to go with AeroComfort due to their stellar Mooney reputation and first-hand experience with one of their planes and oh man am I glad we did. As most here know, Hector is absolutely fantastic to work with, and the whole project was on-time and on-budget. We did a full interior with them and dropped the plane off at SAT to let them do the install. Along the way, we installed Alpha Aviation inertia reel seatbelts, replaced all the insulation & soundproofing with new, and had a custom leather wrap done on the yokes Hector recreated from a picture. I'll let the pictures do the talking... PICTURES BEFORE / AFTER COMPARISON
    18 points
  16. My wife and I had a great time at Air Venture. After having the plane painted I decided to have it judged this time around and we came away with the Lindy Award for Outstanding Mooney in the Contemporary (1956-1970) Category! More pics over on the (newly redesigned )blog. https://intothesky.com/2023/07/30/oshkosh-2023-in-the-books-with-an-award/
    18 points
  17. I am just putting this in the general section so maybe it can help anyone that is experiencing the issue that I was. I have a 63 C model with an O-360-A1D. After a long hiatus of flying, waiting on a cylinder (since August), I was able to get the airplane back in the air. However, when I tried to start it for the first time since August, it was tough to start. The prop would barely make it over the first compression stroke and I would have to release the key and try again. While trying to start, the voltage on the EDM 900 would drop to 8 volts. If it made it over the compression stroke then it fired right up but getting over that was tough. My first thought was a weak battery. It had been kept on a battery minder the whole time but maybe the battery was bad. I also thought it could be the starter as well. So, I followed a recent thread about someone else having starter issues (the one that was smoking) and downloaded the Sky-Tec troubleshooting guide and followed it through. I did every step in the guide and everything checked out fine. The battery was solid. After 48 hours resting (not on the charger) the voltage of the battery was still 12.9 which according to battery minder is a good battery. All voltages across the battery, the solenoids and the starter itself were all within what Sky-Tec would call normal. The starter to ground resistance was .1 ohms which according to Sky-tec is fine. The battery to ground however was almost 1 ohm which according to Sky-Tec, anything greater than .2 ohms needs to be looked at. So, I removed the negative battery cable which is grounded to a stud on the engine. I cleaned all the washers, cleaned the battery cable ends themselves and cleaned the area on the engine where the ground connects. I reconnected everything. Rechecked the resistance and it was .2 ohms. The engine fired right up with no resistance on the compression stroke and no drain on the battery upon starting. I was amazed that a single ground issue could cause this kind of a problem. Mind you, I know very little about electrical stuff. The trouble shooting guide saved me a lot of money on a new starter, new battery, and just throwing things at the problem etc... It did take a while to do all of this. To access the ground from the negative battery terminal, in order to get a wrench on the nut, I had to remove the intake tube on the #4 cylinder. But it saved me a lot of money, so I am happy, and it is nice to be flying again after 4 months.
    17 points
  18. In my information consumption of the Richard Mcspadden fatal accident, I came across this excerpt. I heard it, in his own words, in the last two minutes of the most recent AOPA Hangar Talk Podcast, dedicated to his memory. It was striking enough that I felt it useful to transcribe his words into text here. Please excuse the grammatical exceptions, used to enunciate his words. Well said indeed. "Gratitude, consumes me when I fly my Super Cub. This bright yellow magic carpet that takes me to wondrous places- physically and mentally. Morning flights are especially magical. The air is smooth. The Super Cub rigged so well, that it's akin to having an autopilot. I can take my hand off the stick to sip some home roasted coffee. Or adjust the satellite music flowing through my headset. I feel some warmth from the paltry cabin heat which knocks the chill off my legs in sporadic waves. I'm viewing an imax movie out my front windscreen but I'm not just watching the action- I'm in it. Immersed in this spectacular panorama. The smells and sounds are real, and I'm so grateful to capture it. well aware that it's transient; both in a moment, and in a lifetime. Flying has brought so much to my life. In many ways, has been my life. The feeling of gratitude to the many people who boosted me here comes back frequently. In ways, it seems unfair that I was exposed to aviation and given opportunities few have. And I feel a growing urge to give back. Cast a wider net. And expose more people to this splendid experience that can change the trajectory of a life. Flying inspires, and fosters connection- in a community. And we could use more of that now." -Col. Richard "Spad" McSpadden
    17 points
  19. She’s done and back home. After 7 years of researching with the help of y’all, designing, re-thinking and re-designing (insert infinite loop here) I couldn’t be much happier with the outcome. Important to note that one of the things not visible on the panel is the remotely mounted Guardian CO detector that’s interfaced with the G3X. I had a major CO event in a very well maintained airplane that was successfully caught by my Sensorcon and now I will not fly without a CO detector. The Sensorcon is still in my flight bag to be used as a backup and when flying with students and friends in their airplanes. Big shout-out and thank you to Dan Bass @DanM20C for making us all aware of the importance of reliable CO detection capability and keeping a close watchful eye on the exhaust system. Time for me to step away from the keyboard and spend what’s left of my life’s savings turning dinosaurs into aviation adventures in my “new” ride. Again, thanks for all the help. Cheers, Rick EDIT: I changed the picture to show the panel powered up. Also, it shows I added white "OFF" labels to the top of the magneto switches on the Electroair ignition panel. I found this helpful in the transition from a rotary key switch to make sure I turn them off, and also makes it easy to confirm they're off looking through the window from the outside. They disappear into the switch body when they're turned on. This fine work was done by Precision Avionics Specialists at 6A2, Griffin Georgia. https://www.precision-avionics.com
    17 points
  20. Glad to hear that Anthony is doing well, smelling the roses and getting more sleep since he's taken a break from Mooneyspace. Just a Private pilot, not a sleep specialist. LC
    17 points
  21. Once a pilot, always a pilot. Never say you’re not a pilot, because you are.
    16 points
  22. Speed brakes are a tool for the tool box to use if needed. The key is to set up so they are not needed of course. They don't hurt to land with them or upset the config so significantly to cause issues, but as stated fairly ineffective as you cross the numbers On roll out, deploy them for the cool factor as you wiz past the FBO. Cirrus guys will drool with envy
    14 points
  23. For this year's New Year's Eve, I made a little crossword puzzle for you guys to solve. Anyway, thanks for all the support and fun this year. I wish you all a wonderful new year Oh... and I also wrote another poem... *ahem* It's come and gone, this year we've shared With all the goods and bads And even though we lost some greats We welcomed great new add's It's over now, this year we've had With all the bads and goods Discussed a bunch tech-ni-cal stuff And flying under hoods As the year dies down, I hope for all Safe flights and lots of fun May you stay aloft with turning props And engines that always run MS Crossword.pdf
    14 points
  24. Hi, After waiting almost a year longer than anticipated because of the bankruptcy of ASP Avionics in Belgium, my panel is finally done. Very happy with the result. Only, moving the magneto key up, above the USB, was not a good idea. The bulge in the side-plastic makes it a bit hard to reach.
    14 points
  25. Update - local guy repaired the wing tip and painted. I took the opportunity to have him touch up several other minor hanger rash and paint imperfections adn then clean, degrease, polish and ceramic coat the whole plane. I can say that I am happy again!
    14 points
  26. Here's what me and Mrs. OTreeLemur did last weekend. When we bought our J in late '22, I thought the tail number looked naked. We fixed that. It was a long, fun weekend!
    13 points
  27. Simple rule of thumb: O-360: Turn key, go fly. IO-360: Carefully read POH and 4000+ pages on Mooneyspace about starting procedures. Analyze, implement and discard. Go to bar, come out the next day and do the cold start procedure.
    13 points
  28. I think most people here will appreciate your two recent posts, and we all see that communicating in a forum type atmosphere like this can quickly escalate in ways that would never happen face-to-face. The hurt feelings recently are because we lost a contributor who provided thousands of posts to answer people’s questions, free of charge. He didn’t provide his time to generate business for his shop, he already serves as the primary MSC for a huge region in Canada and gets plenty of business. Frankly, most of us couldn’t understand why Clarence (M20Doc) would spend so much time helping others for no benefit to himself. But we were all glad he did. I myself have been an A&P/IA for more than 20 years, and I learned a lot from him. I’ll be the first to admit it: 98% of his posts were good and helpful, 1% extolled the virtues of the Piper Comanche, and 1% could be off putting when he got annoyed. Unfortunately, you experienced that last 1% before seeing the 98%.
    13 points
  29. Our society wants to govern by the exceptions, rather than generalizations. Yes, there are two people you know in their 80s that are better pilots than 90% of the fifteen pilots in their 50s that you do know. The truth is those are the exceptions. But there, generally speaking, aren't economies of scale for the exceptions when it comes to older pilots. It's rare when there's an accident that "hits home" in the type clubs that we see people talking about age when the pilot was, in fact, older. Let's not be in denial when these instances come up. And, in addition to age, we should talk about loss of control in IMC...there are real problems here across the age spectrum...but sadly these problems are likely worse as pilots age. I've had to have a discussion with an older pilot's friend to make sure he wasn't flying as sole PIC when I noticed he seemed mentally impaired. Thankfully the friend confirmed he wasn't flying sole PIC. These aren't comfortable conversations, but some of these conversations could stop accidents. By all means, the exceptions should keep flying. I give flight instruction to two pilots in their 80s. I've noticed a certain humility about them that is the opposite of the mentality I've experienced from other pilots. Those are the guys I will fly with (provided they also have well-maintained planes). I'm on the receiving end of the senior pilot "firing squad" at most airshows that I attend for Airspeed. I know what it's like to look at a pilot who is clearly in his 80s as he complains to me about insurance and be thankful he's not flying. It's the pilot whose wife steps away (and I get the impression it's because she knows he's already blasted whatever hapless insurance broker has been manning the previous 3 insurance booths he's walked up to that day and she doesn't want to hear it again). I also know what it's like to look at a pilot in his late 70s/early 80s and think: "Man, I can 99% guarantee this guy is an excellent pilot and I'd probably put my family on a plane with him. It's a shame insurance is a problem for him."
    13 points
  30. Atlantic Aviation in San Jose, CA oversteered my nose gear when parking my 1994 M20J and broke off one of the steering stops. They wouldn't admit to it, and I couldn't prove it (next time, I'll take photos before it gets moved), so I filed a claim with USAIG and they are taking care of it. But I still had to get it fixed. I called Dan at LASAR and learned that LASAR isn't currently rebuilding nose gears because it no longer has approval from the FAA after moving to Oregon. I next called Frank Crawford at Mooney and found out that Mooney had a gear leg in stock. Greg Lehman at Advanced Aircraft in Troutdale, OR ordered it for me and had it shipped to my address and scheduled a date to install it. The reason I had it shipped to me is that it comes primed and mine is painted red, so I needed to have it painted. I had some paint that I had matched awhile back and Mike Payne at the Port Townsend Aero Museum agreed to paint it for me in his paint booth. Alas, the landing gear leg had a pinhole defect in one of the welds and I had to RMA it back to Mooney. Mooney was currently building a lot of 10 legs which the manufacturing engineer expedited so that I could get one in time to get it painted and keep my date with Advanced. Yesterday, I flew it to Advanced and Greg and his team installed it. The folks at Mooney were really great at helping me get the part, and I can't recommend Greg and his team at Advanced Aircraft highly enough. USAIG has also been very easy to deal with, and is even picking up cost of the gas for my flight to the shop and back. Skip
    13 points
  31. Gents, This is an MSer offering a Mooney up for sale… Let’s try to stay positive about pricing and plane descriptions for other MSers selling their planes… We want people to be comfortable listing their Mooneys for sale here… Most MSers with a plane prefer the higher prices… MSers that haven’t bought their plane yet already know how to negotiate… I love Jimmie G… (we go way back…) But, people have been ‘over’ upgrading their planes since Big G went touch screen and started installing GFC500s in everything… It is very easy to sell a complex panel, with a free plane attached to it… Sure… It could be a market top… Or… we could be waiting for a really long time for the recession to actually happen…. Recessions are nice for buying planes… but nobody has the confidence to buy one then… that’s what drives the price down… Do your due diligence… Then start that conversation with Ross… Let’s see… Beautiful looking M20J… Not many others around for sale… I’d be asking for more pics and log copies… Ross, What’s next for you? Best regards, -a-
    13 points
  32. Okey Dokey. The front seats are done. I think they turned out well. Copy of an Audi seat…..maybe Porsche….can’t remember. All leather. I used the old Mooney Logo as that’s what was on the yokes. And i like it better. The foam is the three layer memory stuff from Spruce. Stripped then repainted the baffles in high temp/ hot rod red before reattaching the silicone. The new IO-550 is in.
    12 points
  33. Took our new Japanese exchange student for her first small airplane flight. We picked up @JRo at Harvey Field (S43) and flew to Bremerton KPWT for lunch at Amelia’s
    12 points
  34. Picked up my new baby over the weekend. ‘95 Bravo, 1900TT, 10 SFOH, 10SNP. Geared up in 2021 & fresh off those repairs. Has a KFC150/297, a G600, just added an Avidyne 440/540 stack, and yes she needs a modern Engine Monitor sooner rather than later. The current AMU bill is at 24 and another 18 + labor is planned after the Maxwell’s clean up the pre-buy items. Needs paint & carpet, but the seats are in decent shape. Still working on the flare, I’m used to being 60’ in the air when the mains touch, not 2’.
    12 points
  35. Your choice, but at the price and availability of aircraft batteries, a Battery Minder is a good idea.
    12 points
  36. Welcome to Mooneyspace. Clarence has a shop in Canada and is a major contributor to Mooneyspace, with over 11,300 posts, helping people with Mooney maintenance questions and is highly valued here. If there is anyone who is regularly on here that knows more about Mooneys, I can't imagine who that would be. Everyone who has been on here any length of time knows about his shop and appreciates his contributions greatly. It's understandable with only 12 posts you might not realize that, but observing and giving the benefit of the doubt goes a long way on here. One of the reasons people have migrated here from other online forums is that people genuinely try to help each other and treat each other civilly. It doesn't always happen that way but it's the norm here, not the exception.
    12 points
  37. A short hop from Fullerton to Catalina. The channel was covered in a marine layer that also covered most of Catalina Island. The airport was sitting just above the tops of the clouds living up to its name "The Airport in the Sky." There was a lot of traffic in and around the airport but we easily slid in behind a Pilatus. A year ago when we were going to AVX regularly the landings were smooth. This time, after 8 months between flights there, the upslope got me and it was more "planted" on the runway than "touched down."
    12 points
  38. I’ll break my recommendation down into how much time it takes to perform. In general, you need to look at the main spar, the stub spar, the tubular steel frame (covered in SB M20-208), and then general surface corrosion on the skins and corrosion on the angle aluminum pieces. Phase 1 (about 30 minutes: You can see a good bit of the main spar and stub spar in the wheel wells. The main spar is the heavy frame work where the forward landing gear pivot point is. The stub spar is the rear pivot point. Look at as much of those as you can in the wheel wells. You can google search for “aluminum corrosion” and see some good pictures. Surface corrosion isn’t as important as intergranular corrosion, which leads to exfoliation (picture below). Next, look inside the tail cone (see below, marked in yellow with arrow). That panel comes out in less than a minute with 1/4 turn fasteners. Look for exfoliation on the angle aluminum pieces and surface corrosion on the inside skins. While you’re there, look at the pushrods- they are steel and often rust. That isn’t terrible, but does need to be addressed. Phase 2 (about 1 hour): If that initial look is acceptable, then you should dig deeper into the wings. Open up some of the inspection panels and you’ll see more and more of the main spar (red highlight). Look inside inspection panels #11 (see picture below) and you’ll be able to see a good bit more of the stub spar (green highlight). The main spar actually runs wingtip to wingtip, but I’ve noted the location of the extruded angle aluminum pieces that can corrode badly. Phase 3 (about 2 hours): If that seems acceptable, you’ll want to take a look inside the cabin. If possible, remove the back seat and pilot side wall. There are square panels under the back seat- remove one and you can see the inside view of the main spar (red arrow on picture below). Inside the pilot side wall, you’ll see the tubular steel structure that is the subject of SB M20-208. You’re looking for regular rust, particularly below the window frames. On the picture below, the steel tubes are painted green with zinc chromate paint- but you can see at least one tube with a lot of rust on it. That tube will have to be replaced. I’m sure others will chime in with additional suggestions. Good luck! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you!
    12 points
  39. While I do have a dog in this fight, (im 72), I have to say of the people my age, pilots typically are cognatively better off than non pilots my age as a data point. Every week I self evaluate and daily my wife evaluates my mental capacity to be flying, realizing I am aging out and at some point, I will not be of value to the Mooney Community except for a nice party or 2, but enough about me.. Every pilot should fly often with other competent pilots and sincerly debrief the flights to stay tuned up. Notice I didnt say instructors, but it always better if you can find a competent, and in our case, a Mooney specific well qualified instructor as they will be astute in identifying correctable habits and issues that may compromise the safety or proficiency. Not always the case with the freshly minted CFI, but they will get this skillset in time also. We willingly spend a ton of $ on maintenance of our planes but so few on maintaining the most important system in the cockpit, ourselves, and thats just wrong as we are far mor perishable than an AP servo or a rod bearing. As Parker elludes, the insurance industry cannot use the exception to base underwriting on, but they can and sometimes do use known history and data, both good and bad to affect your rates.
    12 points
  40. This is a first in over 20 years of flying my 231. I have had my share of really bad landings but today took the cake. Coming in a bit high and fast, I got sloppy and overconfident and instead of popping the speed brakes (which I actually thought about for a moment) I let the plane float...one bounce, two bounce then down but too far down the runway and too fast so instead of executing a go-around, I stomped on the brakes and was told I was smoking the tire for several hundred feet before it blew pulling the plane to the right. I was fortunate that all I appear to have damaged (beside my ego) was the tire. Warning to all out there, don't get overconfident...no matter how long you have been flying and if you believe you need to go around....GO AROUND!
    12 points
  41. After exiting co-ownership in Fall of 2021 (Missile) I am now the sole owner of a modified 1965 M20E. Just returned from Dakotas with her after commercial flight(s) today. Owner and I traded a lot of information before purchase was completed. He installed a low time engine that had been majored to new by Lycomming. Upgrades are extensive (completed in early 1990's and include: -J cowl -SW Texas aviation speed slope windshield -Wing tip fairings with strobes -Flap gap seals -Late J dorsal enclosure -GDL 82 ADSB & Aspen on an otherwise basice panel with eight pack pilot panel Flew great and fast dodging boiler build ups on a 3.5 hour flight. Really happy to be owning a Mooney again. Perfect for my wife and I for next ten years as custodians. Looking forward to the journey. Scott
    11 points
  42. Recent flight with some friends for a lot of flying fun!
    11 points
  43. My wife knows I love my Ovation. She had her cousin create this metal artwork on his laser table.
    11 points
  44. 11 points
  45. I just did a non-stop flight in my Ovation from KBDH in Minnesota to KFHB in Florida in 5 hrs and 47 min. Flew at 15,000 feet blessed by a nice tailwind and running Lean of Peak. TAS was 163 kts, Fuel Flow 10.2 GPH at wide open throttle (16.9" MP) and 2400 RPM. Ended up using 65.7 gallon for the whole trip. Mooneys are fantastic travel machines!! Without winds flight would have been around 1 hour longer: ~6:50. I have done a few other non-stop flights with a crosswind (negligible head or tailwind) as well in 6:50. Running lean of peak allows for quite long legs at altitude! Here are a few panel pictures taken at the same time during the flight. Video coming sometime soon....
    11 points
  46. Dan and I have arrived in Tampa and are beginning the set-up for Mooney Summit IX! We have an amazing program planned for this year! If you have not registered, it's not too late to jump in your Mooney and come join us. Also check out the Silent Auction this year - you do not have to be present to win. --Alex
    11 points
  47. NONE of these 'ideas' would be mentioned to my wife... I value my life. We LAND and use real restrooms. Happily married for 37 years...plan to keep it that way
    11 points
  48. Returned home today from Bozeman after 5 days touring Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, after a visit with son #2 in Georgetown TX. The Mooney performed flawlessly over 32 flight hours (including the Henderson PPP) with instrument approaches to KGTU and KBZN. We packed for 90 degree weather in Nevada and sub freezing at Yellowstone. Amazing how much luggage a mid body Mooney can hold ( I know I need to wash out the truck bed)
    11 points
  49. Happy you enjoyed the article, and welcome to Mooneyspace! I own N6816V and had a blast doing the air-to-air and helping Jason with the article for Flying.
    11 points
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