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I thought about purchasing a J Model but I couldn't figure out how to retrofit it with a manual gear so I decided to upgrade to my C Model.

I have some suggestions for you. 1. file IFR every time you fly even in VMC. Keeps you in the system and communicating with ATC 2. Go on many short cross country flights 100 to 150NM on IFR plan in VMC with scattered to broken clouds maybe 40 to 50 and file to be in the clouds. 3. Fly under the hood with a safety pilot to help build your confidence on an IFR plan doing approaches 4. Pick several days where it is 1500 scattered to broken file IFR and do multiple approaches at your airport. 5. Pick a nearby airport on a similar day and again file IFR and do multiple approaches. 6. For these flights do all the pre-flight needed have all your charts and plates ready and available 7 As time goes on you will build the confidence and go down to 700 to 800 overcast. 8. Find a day where it is about 900 to 1000 overcast and the tops are about 2500 to 3000 and shoot approaches to your airport. While being vectored around you most likely will be above the clouds and you will shoot the approach through the overcast layer. This is great because when you are on top you can settle down and get yourself ready for the approach. The first time I went IFR on a "real flight" I was coming home from ORL. There were many clouds and rain along my path. Before I took off with my pax I took several deep breadths. Once I was in the air and in IMC I focused on my scan flew the plane and everything was fine. You have proven to the FA you are IFR qualified now you just need to prove it to yourself. Advice to me was to take it easy in IMC at first plan your flights with >800 ceilings at your destination.

Congratulations & I feel and have felt your pain myself! Once I got my IFR ticket I then learned I had just scratched the surface of what IFR was really all about at least for me! Much of what was taught is or at least I have never used and much more I wish I had been taught regarding real IMC flying, if that makes any sense? A CFII - ATP pilot told me right after I achieved my Instrument Rating "congratulations you just earned the right to kill yourself legally if you think you know anything about flying IMC".... he was so right and the learning curve never has never stopped or for that matter gotten any easier for me...! It has been a great ride for me, I just wish it was easier, I had no idea of how much work it would be going forward! I wish for you many safe and rewarding flights!

Saw this on facebook today

There is no question that the radar displays using ADS/B is not nearly as "smooth" as on XM but it still works just fine. I have run ADS/B right beside the XM and other than the ADS/B being "blocky" it is right on with what it's displaying. For me, it's a no brainer to go with the ADS/B in my little airplane. It's free. This picture was actually taken on the ground picking up ADS/B. I flew 7 legs in the last two days and used nothing but the ADS/B on Foreflight and found it to be outstanding and there was a fair amount of weather around. Of course I had onboard radar though. The Stratus unit had no problems picking up all the information at FL300 moving at M.80 http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N211RN/history/20130510/1900Z/KAFJ/KTEB We also did this route using nothing but Foreflight and ADS/B http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N1162G

Very cool!!!! for some reason this is the favorite improvement I have done to my J. Its cool to have towers tell you your lights look cool and that they can see you way out on final at night. Plus the decrease in power consumption is real nice! Nice job!

19000' in my Ovation - just once. It was a bad day over N. Quebec/James Bay, and I wanted to be clear of tops. A N/A IO-550 becomes pretty sluggish at that altitude - 100 fpm climb by the time I made it up there, but with a nice tailwind, it pushed me along pretty nicely. 16k is a much more reasonable altitude with the IO-550...you still have about 300-500 fpm avail if you need it.

+1 on a call to All American Aircraft. They can give you good current info on the Mooney market. Ray

Here's my take on price, unless the ad says "FIRM", 10% is given, anything is possible. I made an offer at 84% with explanation (needed to stay below X with prebuy, taxes, etc). With a FIRM ad, I'd say 5% is the most you're going to get. There are some, perhaps many, people who take a low offer as "insulting". I've always been a business man and if I think there is reason to make a low ball offer, e.g on market for a year or more, then to me that's BUSINESS, not personal (e.g. Godfather... "That's busness Sonny") Some people will not make a counter offer if they feel they were "insulted". Another way to look at it, it MAY not hurt to go low but all in all, I made an offer what I could afford and labeled it that way.. He did NOT have to sell to me. BILL

Scott is absolutely right about no expectations of recovering costs for a full "remanufacture", but sometimes an esthetic is the most important consideration. In contrast with some who have chosen to follow this pathway, I do not expect to fly her long enough to reasonably amortize the costs involved. I'm 78 now, and I will "hang up the keys" for the Mooney, at least, when I am 80. Still can pass my aviation physicals, but age just creeps up on you, and I think it prudent to quit "winners" after more than thirty years of accident (and incident) free flying. Still toying with the idea of buying an Ercoupe (LSA version), to keep in a hangar out in the boonies, and just fly her locally, strictly VFR, just to keep a hand in flying in my 80s. A good friend, and A&P, of about my age is willing to maintain her for the consideration of flying her occasionally. A couple of old fogies with many thousands of hours between us just flying low and slow in a simple airplane for the pure pleasure of it has a certain attraction, but not until I have taken my J back across the country a few more times, and then back to the British West Indies, and then to revisit still more places in the Caribbean.

Define you mission first. Where you plan on flying, what type of flying VFR/IFR, how long of trips, how many people how much baggage. Sounds like you may have done that already since you keep coming back to the same manufacturer and type.<br /><br />Secondly define what you want in it avionics paint speed mods etc. Like one of the other posts get as much as you want in the plane up front it is cheaper and easier than modifying it yourself. Myself I found both of my planes in several months each. My first plane I did not know very much but I was looking for something that I could get into the air with and I found a 1964 E model. My second plane with more knowledge and IFR rating changed some of the things I was looking for. I put looks last because at 10k feet no one on the ground can see what shape the paint is in. I have avionics at the top since that is what I use to fly the plane and what I interface with the most. In the end all have to come together with compromises in each catagory.<br /><br />1. Avionics<br />2. Mechanical condition<br />3. looks<br />

I con concur with lots of small bags. I use quite a few small zipper cases to line the floor of the baggage compartment. Such "stuff" as spare oil, clean rags, window cleaning materials, various small parts and spares, extra spark plugs, small square (Fuji) water bottles, two small tool bags, various size batteries in plastic cases, an APU electrical fitting, bag of miscellaneous fuses and a volt/ohmmeter, etc. All these bags have plastic luggage tag like labels, and they take up vey little space. The aft weight is helpful. I also always keep a survival bag at the rear of the baggage compartment, above this first layer. This leaves quite a bit of useful space for soft luggage, and the like. Actually "raising" the floor of the baggage compartment this way makes it easier to load and unload the usual travel luggage.

Thanks for the info Bennett. Definately going to change my shut down procedures.