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People are suggesting you should have a level of confidence commensurate with your experience. In aviation overconfidence can be deadly. Also, nobody here is trying to run you off. They are trying to give you advice that will improve the chances of you being around here for a good long time.

I'm still on the other side of this... I bought my Mooney, flew 5 hours dual on the first day, 5 hours solo the next couple of days and then loaded up the family and started going places. Next think I know I'm approaching 1000 hours and nearly have my US Map filled in. I had lunch this week with @SkyTrekker earlier this week. He doesn't even have a private certificate yet. But jumped in his E and flew from Waco to Austin, landing at the big airport, KAUS. After a nice lunch of Torchy's Tacos, he was back in the air heading back to Waco. He was obviously solo as required for a student pilot. I also notice that most if not all of the Mooney tragedies that are listed on these pages, are of high time pilots. Experience and time in type is certainly important and valuable. But the FAA has signed you off to carry passengers and go places. Go... just be careful.

General life advice: Don't insert yourself between your spouse and her family. Let her deal with them. Its between you and your spouse if you fly somewhere together, not you and her and your in-laws. And ultimately its up to her if she wants to get in the plane with you or not, everything considered including her tolerance for a long car drive vs her decision to defer to her parents. She's a grown up, neither dad or husband should make the decision for her. You're a grown up too, you can fly down and meet her there if she wants to drive herself. Reading all ten pages, its clear some people aren't interested in our itty-bitty-GA planes, some people don't even like the big ones. I generally try to let people make their own decisions about flying with me and make sure they want to be there. Coaxing is not an effective means of persuasion in this case. As for the comments on relative inexperience, I suppose it depends on the actual weather day of the flight and the routing, etc. I will say in the first few years after having my pilots license (and even now), I liked flying with other pilots. Even though I was PIC and fully competent flying the plane itself, talking things through with another more experienced pilot, even if not an instructor, really helped me improve my flying, catch bad habits, and prevent errors. Its different flying with another pilot than "taking care of" a passenger. I don't know who I am to talk here. My mother was my first passenger when I was 17 years old and the ink was still wet on my license. My dad treats airplanes as "contraptions" and though he was willing to fund some of my flying, there was no way he was getting in an airplane with me. Last year, though, he was coaxed in with Byron flying and an aerial tour of his favorite fishing lake, so I supposed it took getting him a pilot with 10,000 hours of experience and fishing to get him in the plane, but its unlikely that it will happen again.

As Don Maxwell once said "I can teach an ape to land a Mooney". What is most difficult to impart is good decision making, especially to some who have had some success in one form or another during their (usually short) lives to date. Listen to the old timers like Gus who have racked up the hours yet are still a student to aviation and be appreciative of some of the free wisdom and advice you may receive here. No one is trying to beat you up or disparage you, but rather encourage you to continue to learn and cautiously so that it can be added to your experience and properly cloud your decision making.

As @gsxrpilot mentioned above, this week I combined my first Class C solo experience with a trip to Austin to connect with Paul and discuss different approaches to panel upgrades (as well as hearing more about Mooney formation flying...very cool!) I still have another few hours of requirements before I'm clear to take my PPL practical test. Then I intend to turn my focus to IFR training, but not before I sign up for the MAPA PPP. Looking forward to learning the finer points of flying my 1970 E. I wonder when their 2018 schedule will be published. Can anyone tell me how many days the program lasts? I'm in a situation similar to @Skates97, as I doubt my teenage step-son's father will be excited about him flying with my wife and me anytime soon. I figure I'll keep developing skills and experience and having successful flights until everyone is comfortable with the idea. I do look forward to that first trip with the three of us, though. For that matter, I am really looking forward to the first trip with just my wife and me! Shouldn't be too long now.

That doesn’t really address the issue, does it? How do you KNOW 100% you’ve got nothing to hide? Most pilots who bust some airspace don’t KNOW they did it, or they wouldn’t have busted it! In discussing the probable cause requirement with an experienced senior deputy friend once, he told me “l can justify probable cause to stop anyone, anytime.” He wasn’t joking. Didn’t matter what you were doing or were thought, he’s an expert and has a badge. Anyone who isn’t as well is facing a stacked deck. As far as “if one has nothing to hide, just submit,” that is anyone’s prerogative. Go ahead. In some cases, that’s probably the wisest course. It’s situational, and there is no ONE answer for every situation from traffic stop/ramp check/Terry stop to “you fit the description”, “CI tip” or “mine if we come in and take a look around.” As for me, the “nothing to hide so just submit” approach - applied generally - would sure undo a lot of hard work and sacrifice for people who established the rights we have and the many since who sacrificed to preserve them. The rules are there for a reason; I’ll use and respect them, and expect those enforcing them do the same...including the rules that are my rights.

Kickoff is in half an hour. It's Gus' 4th season here, and didn't start auspiciously losing to last year's champion in our second game. But we've soundly defeated two No. 1 teams in three weeks, and are about to play one of them again. Here's to our defensive line keping the Dawgs penned up like before! War Eagle! I'm flying tomorrow just for the hell of it, let's hope iit's a happy flight. You may now resume the regularly scheduled discussion . . . . .

I don't know anything about you other than what you have posted in this thread. After reading your responses in the thread I can understand the apprehension of the in-laws. Mixed in with the responses about experience is some great advice on dealing with "meddling in-laws" which you do not seem to be interested in because they don't line up with what you want to hear. Good luck in your future endeavors.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way... What I see most are saying is to be conservative and careful. You have been successful in the business world, congratulations. (Many of us have been as well) You think very highly of yourself which no doubt has served you well in the business world. Some of the comments you have made, including how you talked to your mother in law, would suggest that you have much to learn still in spite of your success early in life. There have been a number of pilots that have met an untimely end because they were overconfident. Granted there are some that were young and bold and managed to survive. The problem is that they were the exception, and most of us are not the exception. Speaking of tool boxes, I have technicians that work for me that have boxes and tools worth more than some people's houses, but that doesn't mean I would want to fly with them. In fact while I would trust them to do any maintenance or repairs on my vehicles, I wouldn't be comfortable with them driving me around in a car, I've seen how they drive.

Ive been lucky, at best, average intelligence and a 2 year degree. I went to the regionals then a freight co, then got the 4yr online degree then the economy got right and got picked up at a major. Now, the job is rather easy, get the plane from a to B to C without messing up, get paid good and go home. I would say most people work way harder to make that kind of money. But being a pilot is like being pregnant, everyone congratulates you but never asked how many times you got screwed to get there. 1. it is definitely a lifetime shortage for the next few years, dont waste time, though. Sooner is better. 2. get a commercial instrument multi, then the CFI and get ATP mins... FAST. civilian is faster. pay it back with the ridiculous bonuses the regionals are offering. 3. 4 year degree is still a requirement for a major. Do it online at ERAU while flying for the regionals, when you get the 2 years jet time to upgrade, the 4-yr degree is yours and now jet PIC, you become a candidate for the majors. That is my story, again, I went from high school dropout in Oklahoma to pilot, he can too.

Had breakfast with my family this morning. Flew to Lake Tahoe. Did some mountain flying with an instructor. Ate lunch. Flew home. Picked up my son from school and was home in time for dinner. Mooneys are awesome!

We easily can see why long distance Mooney flight is awesome. I see why my love affair is strong on shorter flights as well, see this week. Saturday needed to get to Georgetown flight 28 minutes drive time 2:00 hours Sunday took nephew to Virginia Tech rt flight 2:40 drive time 15 hours. Thursday to a client Georgetown 1 hour rt drive time 4 hours. Today to Baltimore 28 minutes drive time 1:45 times two. Even though these are shorter hops our time savings are drastic. MOONEYS are absolutely awesome. Time saved so far this week 19+ hours.

I've been flying behind a Stratux ( a homemade-equivalent version of the Stratus) for about two years now, just before they were getting popular. Since then, the Raspberry Pi has released a new version, the SDRs have been upgraded multiple generations, and new things such as AHRS have been released so I retired my old unit and decided to start anew. I mainly did a little "show and tell" for the local EAA newsletter but I thought I'd share here, too. I've got a Samsung Tab A, utilizing DroidEFB. I like to think of it as a "Lite" version of Foreflight, with most of the cool features, W&B, E6B, flightplan export, IFR approach plates with live tracking, etc etc etc. I'm not an Apple/Foreflight fanboy, and as presiding cabinet member of the CB club, it does me well for most of my flying. Stratux- $155 Tablet- $230 RAM Mount Setup- $75 DroidEFB- $70/yr Photo taken on the way to the Mooney Summit:

15 years as a highly qualified aerospace engineer, I will tell you flat out, though it is true that good pilots understand their systems (though there are some counter examples of amazing stick and rudder pilots who are completely mechanically inept)... there are many many people who understand systems better than any pilot and yet would make a terrible pilots. They are two different skill sets. And despite my engineering qualifications, I'd rather pay some to rack my car than do it myself, but my husband seems to enjoy continuously having our cars disassembled so I suppose it works out. I try not to think about what our household tool box is worth, let alone get engaged in a pissing contest over it... Good aeronautical decision making and good mechanical aptitude are two discrete skills sets, that may be related and both make good pilots, but they are different. Don't get overconfident in this area.

Before you start instrument training, take a little time and get to know your plane, how it handles, power settings, landing in different winds. Fly to a bunch of airports, say everything on the sectional within an hour or so, because they are all different . . . The MAPA PPP is one weekend, Friday morning through Sunday lunch. You will have 16 hours' classroom training and 4 hours with a CFII in your plane. It will count as completing a stage of FAA Wings and as a Flight Review. The certificate is handsome, but the notebook of solid information is worth it's weight in logbook endorsements. It's almost time for me to go again, to sharpen up those areas I've not been working on / using lately (it will also count as an IPC). Nothing like spending some quality time with serious Mooney pilots and experienced Mooney instructors!

The avionics shop custom fabricated this piece of aluminum and then powder coated it. Less than $200 If I remember correctly.

I would suggest that Maxwell can teach an ape to land a Mooney, but it would take a pretty sharp ape to land one well. I've been flying my plane 17 years and still don't consider myself able to land it really well. Or maybe I just not as sharp and most apes.

I just asked about the 2018 PPP schedule last week. Here are the dates/locations. February 9-11, 2018 - Palm Coast, FL April 13-15, 2018 - Henderson, NV June , 2018 - TBD (possibly in Fort Worth, TX) September 7-9, 2018 - Manchester, NH October 5-7, 2018 - Owensboro, KY Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Every time I think we're done beating a dead horse... ...we find a new horse. Sigh.

The fact you started the thread at least either confirms your concern over your own your skills at this point or for a rallying cry to support your own ego. Either way, you asked. And quite honestly, in my 30 years of GA flying, the ones who listen to the advice, at least understand this activity has inherent risks and offset those risks with continuous training and taking the activity seriously. Many of those who have responded are not 100 hour freshly minted PPs. There is some serious experience on this board ranging from military, career professionals and high time GAers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Nobody here has told you to be afraid of flying. They've told you to be afraid of yourself.

You're your own worst enemy. Especially when it comes to aviation. Your business skills and car maintenance skills aren't worth a damn if you put a smoking hole in the ground with your plane.

Me, too, Paul. I had about 60 Cessna hours when I started Mooney transitioning. Fifteen hours later, I flew my wife to the other side of WV for lunch. Three days later, we flew from WV to NC for her dad's birthday. Neither of us felt unsafe, the CFI / CFII / MEI who handled my transition didn't think it was unsafe; in fact, he saw us off on our lunch run across the state, smiling and waving like a proud papa. @NJMac, get your transition training done, pay attention! and go fly. Join MAPA and take the PPP program as soon as possible. My thinking about that (a month after completing the required dual): I had been taught how to fly; I had then been taught how to fly the Mooney. MAPA would teach me how to fly my Mooney the right way, and going sooner would be fewer bad habits to unlearn. www.mooneypilots.com

Help him with what he wants, but don't force him to drink water. He really has to really obsessed with flying to get a career in it. There's nothing wrong with not knowing what to do. I'm 26 and still confused.

There’s a reason “do you know how fast you were going” is such a common line (my personal favorite response is to look confused and blurt out “um, I thought YOU knew?!” Mixed results so far). Anyone who falls for the “just a couple questions and we’ll have this all cleared up” routine should watch an episode or two of the old Columbo TV show. I know a pilot who’d busted a presidential TFR and was walking through parking enroute to the field diner when a city police patrol car pulled up, lights flashing. Cop: “Did you just land?” Pilot: “Yes” Cop: “Did you just fly from X airport (name redacted to protect innocent)?” Pilot: “Yes” After some radio chatter, the pilot found himself on the receiving end of a suspension. This was a few years back, perhaps the outcome would be different today. I would like to think so. Some people I know would’ve answered “I wish, these airplanes are cool, know where I can get a ride?” Others would’ve dodged, and maybe some of us would’ve flat out said “sorry, I’m not sure whether l have to answer that, l would like some legal help.” It’s a judgment call. It’s important to remember you are being questioned for a reason, it’s not a social visit. If you’re not being detained, you can leave; if you’re being detained, you have a right to counsel. Even in court you could defer testifying from memory in favor of referring to documents you don’t have in front of you, so why volunteer anything where any inconsistency in your answers, even honest ones, could result in a “gotcha”—or create a belief you’ve made a false statement. No reason to be a jerk, but the truth is most people do themselves in. Why hang yourself?

I prefer the LC2 and LC3 connectors. They are 0.625” long while many of the amazon ones are twice the length. They are what my avionics shop use. Larry

This is important !

One advantage of long, slow descents is that you don't have to do steep turns in the pattern to bleed off excess energy.

Wow that's awesome. You have skills, knowledge, and communication abilities. I nominate you for President of the CB club !

Not exactly a joke, but this seems like a fitting place to post this. This past weekend I flew into Wood County OH airport. Toledo approach asked me to report the airport in sight. It was all I could do to keep myself from responding "Mooney 1TF has Wood."

Paul's picture of his panel shows he's eastbound at FL250 with 25,000 dialed in the altitude box. The only way he's going down is coming out of FL270, which looking at his Flight Aware records I've not found one flight he's done that high. Few autopilots will hold within 100' at FL250 as the air is pretty thin. I guess I would do a bit more detective work before implying a regular poster here is distorting his documented aircraft performance. The one thing I've found about airplanes (and muscle cars, snowmobiles, boats and motorcycles) is there is always someone faster than you, no matter how fast YOU (or I) am. That said, the 252 model designation came from Roy Lopresto getting 252 MPH out of the air frame after his mods (219 knots), being the same concept in the models "201" and "231", obviously at WOT. Seeing 200 knots TAS in a 252 should not be a big deal. The "BOOK" numbers on my Rocket show I should see well over 220 knots TAS, which I've never seen. Paul clearly posted a "real life" flight running at his normal cruise settings. Not sure where the heart burn is coming from? Tom

4 years ago when Bruce and I did my F's interior, he was planning to sell kits, and wanted to set up some installation centers. I doubt if his plans have changed any. The F came out just great, it now belongs to Phil Bies. Great great plane!

When my M20E had a smell of gas in the cabin when I opened the door it was because there was a leak at the level sensor below the door. I do not smell fuel just because it's a Mooney. Fumes come from somewhere and she's trying to tell you something.

Nothing like doing the same long trip over and over.... 1) familiar pre-flight... 2) familiar weather gathering... 3) familiar flight... familiar frequencies, runways, plans B..... 4) With a hangar, engine heat is automated, no ice and snow on the airframe, Minimum surprises... 5) With a tie-down, things are more of a challenge, but the kids are busy removing and storing the covers... everybody has a job to do... 6) when the execution goes smoothly... it appears to be 'jump in the plane and go' 7) In a C the flight is 1.5 hours. In an O, 1.2 hours. In a Firebird 5.5 hours.... (talk about back seats...) Go Mooney... for life! (for life enhancing travel) Best regards, -a- Afterthoughts.... when it comes to time saved... I was able to do this trip, up and back the same day. I could be sociable with family after the 'long' trip. Leaving after lunch on Sunday to return, was like gaining an extra day. Family members doing this drive, skip town first thing in the morning. Barely getting breakfast in before going...

Wow, I didn’t realize you had zero time in your mooney. It is very different from a 172. You will need transition time and even more comfort time before loading precious cargo. Staying ahead of a mooney is not the same as staying ahead of a 172. There is a reason 172s are trainers.. they are easy. You’ll need your complex endorsement as well. Patience.

Ah, yes, the old “climb to 26,000 feet to push over to 25,000 feet for an MS posting” trick.” Not falling for THAT one again, Rocket! ...Unless of course you were trying to “get it on the step”? Now THAT, I would totally believe! I do believe the speed claim, rumor was even your C was “sneaky fast”!

Until then, turbo 911's for all!..

The G5 with GAD29b can output heading information to your AP. However, you still need attitude information from the current AI for the AP to function. Per the STC if you have a FD it cannot be moved but many shops are not reading the fine print so I’m sure you will find someone willing to do it.

And a third, namely how it will affect business when/if word of the denial spreads. Aviation insurance is a small industry, not at all like auto, homeowners, and health insurance. I've had multiple brokers tell me claim denials are infrequent at least partly due to industry dynamics. A reputation for weaseling out of claims on technicalities (even when the carrier is legally right) is harder to mitigate in aviation than in the trillion-dollar scale of those other insurance markets.

that's just that mooney smell. It either smells of gas or it's empty.

You are very correct. I've always thought that in the effort to find the sweet spot between Speed & Efficiency, Mooney hit the mark over and over again with the C, E, J, K252. Then they said "to hell with it, let's go fast". The long bodies all go fast, but at a cost per mile penalty.

Although its true that there is the implicit minimal descent/climb rate of 500 FPM in the AIM , the truth is its not a hard fast rule. It stems from: AIM 5−3−3. Additional Reports a. The following reports should be made to ATC or FSS facilities without a specific ATC request: 1. At all times: (c) When unable to climb/descend at a rate of a least 500 feet per minute But the even the controllers are told not to rely on this in their Directive Order JO 7110.65X - from page 4-5-5 4. Controllers need to aware that the descent rates in the AIM are only suggested and aircraft will not always descent at those rates. (and the above is repeated in multiple times) Consequently I target 200-300' FPM coming down from the flights levels at cruise power and rarely ever get a complaint; even flying in the some of the busiest airspace in the country (SOCAL). Of course if they're asking me to descend or climb for traffic, I know not to do that. But most of the time I can get a descent at pilots discretion and will be actively requesting that in advance so that I can descend earlier and convert that altitude to ground speed for as long as I can.

Check battery connections and no load voltage, it should be at least 12V.

All this is interesting, and it is information one (I) should be aware of. But at my stage of life, $5 or 5 minutes is almost of no consequence, and I will probably keep doing what I do.

Presenting them for inspection is not the same as surrendering. Even though he is holding it, you are still merely “presenting” it. Find me a SINGLE instance of an inspector taking a pilots certificate during a ramp check and calling it “surrender”. How many times have you been ramp checked? Pulling the “I’m not letting go of my certificate” game is what dramatically increases your chances of the ramp check going sour because you’re playing games, you’re telling the inspector you don’t trust him, and for no good reason. Try that with a cop next time you’re stopped and see how much more likely you are to get a ticket. If you really don’t trust the guy ask for his 110A and write his info down. Seriously this is bad information.

At the moment you relinquish control of anything, the possibility of getting it back decreases immensely. This includes physical ID’s and also personal information. I am a bureaucratic “enforcer” and deal with this situation on a regular basis (i.e. taking ID’s and personal info). If someone doesn’t give me what I’m looking for, I generally find other ways BUT I legally have those avenues. A civilian administrator with no search authority doesn’t. I do agree with you that in most situations “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar”. Therefore handing the pilot certificate (property of the USGov) to the inspector and the medical certificate wouldn’t be a bad idea. But it isn’t stated anywhere in the CFR that the pilot must surrender those documents to an FAA inspector during a ramp check. The pilot also has the right to remain silent (as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment). Over my lifetime of public safety I have experienced countless people skate off with no repercussions solely due to them withholding the necessary self-incriminating evidence needed to charge them with a crime or violation. It is their right to remain silent - there is nothing we can do to compel them. I personally carry a well-rounded legal representation liability plan for my career. Now I’m wondering if I should also consider AOPA’s legal plan. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The APR button (also) increases the sensitivity of the AP. I.e., it make corrections more frequently. Try it someday while cruising. dial in a VOR to fly to...fly it with NAV for a few minutes, then press APR. You'll notice much more jerking around after the APR press. I have always pressed the APR key when closing in on the localizer but before I get on the localizer. Don't recall it behaving in a counterintuitive way. Robert

Back in 1978, mt first CFI job was with ERAU in Prescott where we used Grumman AA5-B's for primary training. Great primary training aircraft. Was able to function well at high DA airports, and carry 3 people with fuel. Now they have C-172-SP for primary training. Too bad they quit making the Tiger, much better performance than Cessnas and Pipers in the same class. If I wanted a fixed gear/fixed prop aircraft, this would be the first choice. I see your photo is a Yak-52. I also fly a Nanchang CJ-6. You in RPA?

Any of you who are EAA members can download a copy of Solidworks. Use that to create the CAD file to take to your local metal shop and get the panel cut. Practice with a piece of plexiglass or lexan from HomeDepot. That way you can draw on it with a sharpie and see the frame through it to line up mounting holes and see possible obstructions. The panel in our Mooneys isn't structural and so it's easy to do this as an owner produced part. Here's the finished product.

Your plane is way to nice for me. If I could sell mine for what I have in it I'd add the difference in a heart beat. But I can't sell the plane I own for that kind of money and live with myself. I may haven been screwed by others but I don't and won't do business that way never have never will. I still work on the basis of a hand shake from a man is his word. It bites me sometimes but in the long run it has never done me wrong.