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Yesterday was a perfect day for flying! So I went out there and flew down to the beach. Some nice shots of my Panel in action and some volcanos (including one smoking...) Enjoy.... Oscar

This unit is just out of the polish shop. I was going to put it up for sale in the painted condition, but I got an offer for a no charge polish job, so I could not resist. It's looks just great! There is nothing broken or cracked. It's off a '76 F model that had a cowling modification. Search for it on Ebay, "Mooney Aircraft Spinner"

Having been in partnerships, flying clubs, and mostly individual ownership, I vote for personal ownership. As I once saw in an an advertisement: "The best part is just having the keys in your pocket". I've owned a Trophy 261 conversion (essentially a 231 converted to a 252 plus some speed modes) for about 16 years, and now a 201 for about 2 and a half years. I bought each of them with a different purpose in mind. The 261, with long range tanks (115 gallons) was the perfect machine for long flights from San Carlos,CA to FL, and then the British West Indies. I generally flew eastward well into the flight levels to get into the lower levels of the jet stream, and several winter trips were remarkable for their ground speed. I paid the price in fuel burn, mostly in the climbs to altitude, cold cockpits, dry nose and mouth from the continual use of oxygen, and sore bottoms (sometimes seven hours at a stretch), and I was at gross at takeoff with just me, my survival gear, and full fuel. Yet she was a great aircraft for its purpose. Returning to CA almost always was flown at 14,000 - 16,000', or less, to avoid the same strong winds that were helpful eastbound. My 201 was purchased for fairly local pleasure flying, with some 600 to 1000 mile trips, and has proved to be perfect for that sort of flying. I can keep below oxygen altitudes all the way to Texas, and further east, by using the southern routes, for example: KSQL,OSI, SNS, PMD, Soggy, PSP, BLH.......... All in all, the 201 does everything I want, at lower costs (fuel and maintenance) than the 261, and as a fun aircraft, well Mooney had it right with this airplane.

Well, cuts are needed. The reason they don't happen is that when they are attempted, every constituency under the sun screams bloody murder about THEIR part of the cuts. The other parts are ok. I don't mean to be callous, I was in Olathe at KIXD this fall, they have a contract tower that is wonderfully well run. But could I land there safely without the tower? No doubt in my mind.

Jajaja, you guys are the ones who appreciate the videos...My wife asked me the other day: "why do you put a camera on the belly of the airplane? It ruins the view...." Yes, the ESV is important. It allows you to plan ahead in an area where the mountains (the volcanoes) you see in the video go up to more than 10k and you need to navigate around them (it is not advisable to fly over them because of the ashes). Haze is also a BIG factor around here and visibility goes down to under 3 miles rather often and without good radar coverage.I can tell you having the ESV and the terrain option visible on the Garmins lowers your blood pressure.

XC skis weight almost nothing compared to downhill skis. I don't know the number but I would say like one or two lbs for a pair. The poles are even much less. XC poles are long too - my poles are 172 and 177.5cm resp. They run 60g/m. Seriously I have hats heavier than that. Well maybe not, but we are talking carbon fiber featherweights here - but very long and bulky.

Me too- these new (ok... not that new... but it seems like they were introduced yesterday!) parabolics make it easier to carry the skis around! My 178's fit just about perfectly in the J....

Thanks for the great suggestions. I was looking at getting a rebuilt one from aircraft Spruce for $500. I like the idea of adding internal lighting as my DG could not accept bezell light due to length. Good stuff thanks again Scott

the 231 was produced from 1979 to 1985 and then the 252 started in 1986. Model years 1984 and 1985 had enclosed wheel fairings that are supposed to be worth a few knots and you may find a KFC150 with preselect for the autopilot. If I recall correctly, the back seats were the new design that split, reclined, and were removable.

My Instuctor told me once that if you leave the rotating beacon switched on after shutdown that you would never leave the master on after putting plane up for the night.

Skynewbie It would help if you define your mission and budget. How far do you plan to fly and with how many people? What are the sizes of the pilot and passengers? Is known icing protection important? How high are you willing to fly? The planes you list, depending on age and condition go from $125K to well over $500K and carry realistically 2 to 5 people (I know they have more seats). The Bravo is the fastest, then the 252, then probably the 36TC the Socata and Cirrus are probably about the same. Gordon

We put colored collars on the A/P and trim circuit breakers. You can find them fast with those.