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In my experience, a really clean well flown E or F with speed mods will out-climb my J, and the cruise TAS is not all that different. My J has all the major speed mods, a LoPresti cowl, PowerFlow exhaust system. recent paint that is kept well polished, the "Top Prop" two bladed propeller, flow matched cylinders, (but too many antennas), and a one piece belly pan, and yet one of our forum members who owns a very clean E model with a 201 windshield, one piece belly pan, and modified cowl will beat me every time in a typical 75 -100 mile two aircraft fly-out. The E has a 3 bladed prop which helps him enormously in climb, and also allows him to keep his speed up closer to the destination airport as that 3 bladed prop really slows him down when he wants to join the pattern. Even though I have speed brakes and use them, it takes me longer to lose speed. Yes, I can fly marginally faster in cruise - 158 to160 Kts TAS (depending on temperature) at 8500' using the LoPresti ram air system, 2550 RPM, and moderately LOP. If I run ROP, the speed barely changes, (perhaps an increase of two Knots), but the fuel flow increases by several GPH. I think playing with optimum altitudes for winds aloft makes more of a difference than relative speed. He generally chooses to fly at lower altitudes than I like, and my slower rate of climb means I am spending time climbing while he is already in cruise. The speed I pickup descending doesn't make up for this, and therefore our block times are close, but with him being first every time. Good fun, and I keep trying to catch him, but his lighter, less draggy, modified E is a great plane. Now if I still had my modified K, and the distances were longer, it would be an entirely different story.

What is the real world labor charge for installation of a Garmin 430W (removing a 300XL), with nav head and antenna replacement? I am finding used 430W for $6AMU range. What (besides internal battery are areas to be worried about in the install? No other nav head beyond 106. Will have cross-talk wires installed for existing panel mount 696. Is an annunciator needed if there is also a KX155 VOR? What is price range for IFR cert? (plane has updated pitot static, but has NOT been IFR certified for years). Only auto-pilot is analog for Accu-trak (already wired to 300XL) Com wires already going to existing intercom and KMA24. Thanks for input/feedback. Feel free to try and upsell to the newer touchscreen Garmin...reasons Thanks, Scott

Thanks Gordon, I do believe its a buyers market and I am hopeful to get a good deal on a g1000 unit, however, upgrading an older model is sound option as well. What is the verdict on TKS? I would never fly into ice with a mooney regardless, but does TKS have a good resale? I think I would rather have the useful load and not sacrifice the speed.

daytime, 800/2 is what this pilot likes, I train about 15 hours a year, about 3 approaches down to minimums each month to a full landing, but in actual, with only one engine spinning, I'd rather wait if the conditions are 800/2 or better. My giant fear is losing an engine, hence why I don't fly at night. It would be different in a lightly loaded turbo twin, but that's few years down the line for me. Heading to Fargo tomorrow, it should be a fun snowy flight. Hope the tops will be below 18,000, I hate the mask.

What good is redundancy when you are at a heightened risk of running it dry at the most demanding moments when you may be depending on that reserve? If we all accept the importance of having a fuel reserve available, then why is it so difficult to accept ensuring it is in one easy to access place rather than split across two? If you arrive with 10 gallons remaining (well above VFR minimum reserve), but it's split between 2 tanks, should you be forced to use it, you will end up with an engine burn out somewhere near the 5 gallon remaining point +/- a couple gallons. Or you will play chicken again and switch before you run out and leave behind a good 2-5 gallons in the other tank. Now you're looking at another risk of killing the engine should you have to land with just 2 gallons remaining. On the flipside, if all 10 are in one tank... whether you land with 10, 8, or 2 gallons you will continue running without switching a tank again. I don't think anyone is suggesting a regular habit of tapping into that reserve. However, in order to make that reserve actually useful should it be required, having it available in one place must be not only the easiest but safest measure.

I'm (obviously) in favor of a J over an F, but if budget is the concern the modified F at $20k+ less than an early J is nothing to sneeze at. You still get 90% of the capability at a significant discount. The flipside to that is no matter how many mods or avionics upgrades you add to an F, it is still an F and won't get J prices in the market even if it is as fast as a J. That may or may not be a concern... Having said, that, I'm glad I BLEW my original budget and stretched to get my J. It meant a longer term loan and more money spent on interest, but at the time it seemed like a good trade-off to get the one I did. It was very well equipped and cared-for, and flying regularly for several years before I bought it. I've continued upgrading and maintaining it, and I'm still happy as can be. If I had stuck with my original plan and gotten a modified E or F at $20k less, I suspect I might have a case of wandering eyes today. If I had to guess from the little bit of info with the original post, kevmor is primarily concerned with speed. Nothing wrong with that of course, and that is what brought many of us into the Mooney world to begin with. Perhaps with this discussion we'll pry some more info from him and see what else is important to him...such as having a fully modernized panel with a 6-pack layout (or glass PFD!) and a pair of WAAS navigators coupled to a modern autopilot, or just having an efficient and frugal XC bird that can fly old-school IFR primarily by hand. Finding a fully modernized E or F is much harder to do as many of them will only be on the market during an estate sale.

Save yourself the time and aggravation and order the nifty set from LASAR. Very reasonably priced stainless jackpoint/tie down combo that you leave on the plane all the time. That way you never have to worry about having a flat away from jacking it up safely.

Because (IMHO), you lose redundancy. Look there are a lot of guys who'll fly 1100nm with a tail wind and want to avoid stops. I do three or four hour legs and play it safe on multiple levels, leaving 12-15gals in each tank. My refuel estimates per side are almost w/in a half a gallon.

Air traffic controller: Montréal Terminal

This is what I use! I added the numbers in the red as estimates because the POH didn't have data in those areas! I have this in an Excel sheet if you'd like it. I printed it and then laminated it. So I have a "Takeoff data chart!" If I can takeoff in a place I can land there so I never worry about landing distance!

Well said! And judgement is the single most important thing that I look for when working with any pilot including myself!! I train with those that have more skill than me but look at them for not just their skills but for the judgement that they bring to a given situation. Sceanario based training is something that we often ignore or is not used but really helps especially with a student who is exhibiting some of the learning issues described in this thread. There is a common thread with successful people who transfer their professional success to flying an A/C. After the basics are learned they will often "assume" that since they are not questioned or should not be challenged in their professional life ie Doctor, Lawyer or Indian Chief subconsciously they "know best" and their judgement is often flawed as a result.Sceanario based training may offer an alternative approach to teaching judgement. In the end teaching judgement may be as simple as either you have it or you don't but I do know if you have had the pants scared off of you like John Green and lived to tell the tale you wil be a more cautions pilot. The trick is of course living to tell the tale.

OR75, Excellent point and one I wanted to address but I had already loaded my post with points that some might take as insults. Again, I do not wish to berate or insult. So if you must wonder about my motivation it is, and will always, be this. Many, many novice pilots read these blogs. They don't know what to take with a grain of salt and what is the "gospel'. It therefore scares me that "innocents" may completely misconstrue a particular thread and fly accordingly. Forgive me, but I am truly a "by the book" pilot and have been for a long time. Flying is a very dangerous vocation and avocation with a fatality rate pretty much equal to riding a motorcycle. We take the risk. That being said, doing it "by the book" will give even the most incompetent of us a margin of safety when we most need it. Once when I was 24, I threw the book out and went on an ill-advised flight. I almost killed 6 people. You can read about it in Flying magazine this month under, "I LEARNED ABOUT FLYING FROM THAT". You can see it online without a subscription at flyingmag.com CASE IN POINT. Yesterday I flew from my home base in North Central Mississippi to a small airport just outside Knoxville to pick up one of my sons. One the way back, a cluster of high intensity thunderstorms was right in my way. There was a hole about 15 miles wide with a much less severe storm to my left. Did I take it? No. The "book" says give a thunderstorm a 20 mile birth. I could see clear air on the other side. What did I do? I took a left turn around all of it. Flew south toward Tuscaloosa. Added 25 minutes to my flight. So what? I'm not trying to prove my manhood with my Bravo. Yes, I have WSI and stormscope and center advising me, but, I did it by the book and will continue to do so. If you want to see my track, go to flightaware. N21448. As for the macho side of me, at 63 I can do a one legged squat with either leg, 50 pushups, 100 situps, and work most 20 year olds in the ground. So, don't take my observations personally. I really don't want to read about you in a NTSB accident report. OK? Jgreen

Yes, sometimes pilots are faced with in flight scenarios that they have no option but to "address". There are a multitude of reasons for a crosswind component, and if you ignore it long enough, you will probably become an "incident". With a landing gear that has almost no shock absorbing movement compared to the the spring gear of a Cessna or the hydraulic action of a Beech, I can only shudder at the thought of the side loads imposed on the Mooney gear and wing connection points in a severe cross wing landing. Mooney must consider that a weak point as they actually have a landing weight on the heavier Ovations, Bravos, and I assume, Acclaims where they specifically caution in the POH about side loads generated from "heavy" landings. I have no doubt that many leaking wing issues can be traced directly to hard landings and strong crosswind landings. All this being said, the most disturbing point is the cavalier attitude that I see from low time, barely experienced pilots who think themselves to be such a rare cross between Bob Hoover and Sky King that just because they don't "understand" why the manufacturer and FAA put limitations on the flight parameters of their airplanes that they should just disregard those limitations. A similar thread and attitude cropped up here several months ago over VNE's and gross weight limitations. I would also point out that most members of this blog are flying airplanes 30, 40, and 50 years old that have been owned by multiple persons of questionable flying skills and usually subjected to the minimum of maintenance that can be had. I am not trying to embarrass or insult anyone. I am pointing out that complacency kills and this site is absolutely full of complacency. That's all. Sorry if I offend. Jgreen