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GDS Aero and AGL Aviation are excited to announce that we will be partnering to bring the Sabre Cowl Gen2 to Mooney aircraft. AGL will be installing the new cowling designed and manufactured by GDS. We'll keep you posted on up to date information and keep your eye on the upcoming Mooney Summit. David

Hi guys! I wanted to thank you all for supporting me with making my t-shirts this last year. It is so much fun, and I love the community here that encouraged me. I have gotten literally hundreds of requests from all social media for custom t-shirts since I began and I wish I could get to them all! That being said, with the goal of owning my own airplane and being a true entrepreneur and supporting myself instead of working for others, I decided to re-invest in myself to get me closer to my goals. And thats what I've done! Over the last month I've been working on creating a simple and easy to use online marketplace to post classified listings and wanted ads for aircraft! The site is called WingSwap.com, and it went live about an hour ago! As for the goal of my new business, Think of it like a replacement for the old and outdated barnstormers. Barnstormers is the most widely used marketplace for GA aircraft, and it is stuck in 1999. It has a lot of problems on many browsers and I think you'll agree is clumsy and hard to navigate. Controller is aimed at a more executive level of aircraft, so I think there's a great opportunity in this GA niche for me to come in with something modern and simple to use It's free, easy to use, mobile friendly, and built to make listings aircraft for sale simple and easy. I am aiming to become the one stop venue everyone goes to for aircraft sales! http://www.wingswap.comI'm also happy to be able to support the forum here by becoming an official sponsor! So if you, or anyone you know, is selling an airplane, it would mean a lot if you could make a listing on my new website! Its totally free, and I think you guys will like it! I hope you do! *edit: I will manually verify all accounts for the time being if you do not get a verification email either in your inbox or spam folder. Thank you! *edit: FYI "popular brands" works by counting the top number of Brands posted on the site. Once Mooney's get posted, it will appear in the "most popular" section If this is in the wrong area, admins, please move it to a more appropriate area! Also I understand I'm a vendor for the website, but if that doesn't cover posts like these, I'd like to upgrade to the necessary status. Thanks guys!!

Crazy story, but CO detector saved my life (or maybe our nannies). I bought a new CO detector. Took it out of package, some Velcro on back, all set up for plane. Threw flight bag into laundry (HVAC) room. Damn thing started alarming. "Damn it ! I just bought it and it's going crazy." Brought it into my office, it stopped alarming, I saw nothing wrong with it. Back in flight bag...flight bag into laundry room. Alarm say "High", meaning super high levels. Repeated process. Long story short...chimney totally clogged. Now that's a good test !!! I read everything I could about CO poisoning (I had studied it in school and given a few lectures on it and how it relates to pulse oximetry etc). Don't get too bent out of shape about an accurate CO monitor. Just get one that can detect low levels. Keep in mind OSHA lets people put in a 40 hr work week with levels somewhere in the 80 ppm level. In my plane I'm not scared of those levels IF I know where it's coming from (e.g. jet taxiing in front of me) and that it's getting better. Shouldn't happen in flight. Low levels during taxi with door open...ok...etc.

Just to be absolutely clear, the oil analysis states that the metal in the oil is what would be found in a sample with 35 hours on it (i.e. a normal amount of metal for a 35 hour oil sample). Since the oil had 23 hours on it, the analysis states that it is a little higher than expected. It also states that if the engine has not been flown much lately (which is hasn't), that could be what is causing the elevated levels. The analysis firm in no way states that there is 'metal in the oil'. They advise the submitter to check the filter and if no metal in the filter, then just monitor going forward. I have a responsibility to the owner of the aircraft to sell the plane for him and I have no reason to believe that the engine is in any way unfit for flight. I have flown the plane several times and would not subject myself or anyone else to fly in a plane that was not safe. The engine is high time. It would be expected to need an overhaul at some time in the not-too-distant future. And that is the reason it is priced in the 80's and not in the mid to high 110's, as a mid 80's M20J would be priced with a low time engine. Jimmy

Couldn't have picked a better partner! Interested to see this take off and I just may be in line - hopefully they'll still have time to do my annuals. Patrick

Woo hooo! Partnership can be a good thing. You even have Bob right there for testing.

Hello Mooney friends, Last week the National Museum of the US Air Force had the public unveiling of the restored Memphis Belle B-17. As a part of the public spectacle three functional B-17s came in to town to land at the historic Wright Field next to the museum. The big fly-in was to be the 3 Fortresses escorted by 5 Mustangs. Of course there would be a lot of cameras on the ground but in order to get a unique vantage point I volunteered to fly a museum photographer in a formation with the warbirds. It was a good plan and I made it work. This was my second photo shoot with my new Mooney and I can say it did really good. It was everything my IO-360 had to form up with these guys but she did me proud. In order to set up my F model for photo work I installed a Great Lakes passenger window with the large vent opening. That combined with some strategic flying makes it so we can do some real good air-to-air photography. The airplane is very maneuverable and makes flying formation pretty easy. There are definitely limitations but I think it works out good. I am looking forward to doing more photo work like this. On Wednesday Bill (the photographer) and I escorted the formation of bombers and fighters into the show in less than ideal weather conditions. We were only able to make one pass by the crowd (I tried to stay away from the show line) and the planes did not land on the field. On Thursday we gave it another shot and I flew in with the Yankee Lady and a a group of three mustangs on my tail. After checking off from Yankee Lady I went south to try to join up with Aluminum Overcast but never saw her. I hung by the show to get some pictures of the ground activities. Just being able to fly with these guys was amazing but to get the great pictures we got was icing on the cake. The museum is very grateful and cited me along with Bill for the photos. I have included two shots here for you but there are more on the museum's Facebook page. The photographer is Bill McCuddy. Gerbil

I have several places noticed that it is cheaper to park my airplane overnight at a big city airport FBO than to park a car in the long-term lot at that same airport. Hard(er) to bitch about FBO fees when the parked cars are apparently subsidizing me.

I've said for quite sometime we have more to fear from predatory FBOs and greedy airport commissions than the gubmint.

That may be true of planes using inertial nav but what about a GA plane using GPS and is in the clouds on a direct to route? I am not always running the VORs in the background to verify my position. I did have one GPS LOI issue that really bothered me. I was on the RNAV to runway 8 at KLNS when I got the LOI message. It wasn’t a degraded RNAV message (LPV to LNAV), it was a pure you’re SOL message. Fortunately I was running the ILS on the second Aspen as a backup. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Very cool and even close to me! It seems like you picked a very good partner based on reputation!

From 1993-96 I flew an '83 231 in Texas and in the summer it was just a given that most of the time cowl flaps would be at least partially open. The TSIO-360GB ran well but definitely ran hot. Where you are in Saskatchewan I wouldn't think you'd have to very often. I would definitely check your baffles. The Gee Bee baffle kit is so much better than what was ever used at the factory up until later years. The rear baffle material that they used back then gets lazy and folds back instead of forward letting air go past it instead of forcing it down over the cylinders. (this was on an M20K Encore that I bought and the first thing I did was re-do all the baffle seals) On Continentals your #6 is in the front though so you might need some cylinder work or a new cylinder. This engine very rarely ever made it past 1/2 TBO without a top end overhaul. I hear that the -LB engine is a Little Better, the -MB engine is Much Better and have personal experience that the -SB engine is So Much Better. The 231 did not come from the factory with a intercooler but can be added which will help with the temps also. Whatever you need to do to keep the cylinder head temps under 400, preferably under 380, do it. That might mean more fuel, not leaning quite as much, or cowl flaps open.. As far as the one cylinder at 240 - either that's a dead cylinder or your probe is bad. There's no way on that engine, if it is making power, that it's running at 240.

Put some PRC fuel tank sealer under the antenna along the perimeter. About a 1/8” to 3/16” bead. Tape the antenna and the fuselage first, Then put on PRC bolt it down then wipe the PRC wih a cloth rag wet with acetone. Finish with a wet finger. That’s what I did and it looks great and water is never getting under there again.

Buying an airplane never makes economic sense. Its an emotional decision. You buy an airplane because you want one, not because you need one. That being said, there is nothing like sitting in the cockpit and knowing everything is the way you left it. Doing what you want, when you want. That's hard to do if you have to share......

John, you should talk to George McKinney at Lock Haven. He is very knowledgeable and helpful. http://www.airpartsoflockhaven.com/ I have the CiES with a JPI 930 and they're great and highly recommend. But if you're just replacing one resistive ACDelco sender I suspect George is your best bet. He can overhaul yours but he might be able to swap out or sell you a serviceable sender.

There are only two planes listed on the website right now. The "most popular" section is determined by the amount of the listings on the website under that brand! So if someone posts a mooney for sale *hint hint* it will be like #1 right away! haha

Seller’s remorse, grief, separation anxiety .... This comment hit me directly between the eyes this morning. I’ve been wrestling with selling my plane for a few months and have been putting together a website for that day. And, each morning I wake with the same arguments. For my situation it is time. But, does life really go on after an intimate relationship with a Mooney, my Mooney? (My grandkids call her Alana Charlotte.) So, shall I post her now? Here’s the site: http://m20f95v.com/ Reality check and comments welcome. ron

I can’t have a partner. If you are like me and replace or overhaul stuff just because it’s tuesday then it’s a no go with a partner.

That's the J'est F I have ever seen.

Flight over Niagara Falls 4-13-2012

Don't know what compelled me to look up my first airplane ,N735C,a 1948 108-3 Stinson Station Wagon and Im kinda of sorry I did considering pictures I found.I bought this from my flight instructor in the fall of 1981 I think for 3500 cash.Of course ,it's engine was in pieces on a mechanics bench but I was able to find parts and overhaul for another 3/4 k I think.Flew me safely Calif,NeV Baja ...

I gave TruTrak a call a few weeks ago. They were hoping to have their autopilot approved by Oshkosh. No promises, just hoping. I think Garmin is probably 6 to 18 months away yet because they've listed the Mooney as starting to test in the next 12 month for about 6 months now. If they started tomorrow it might be as little as 6 months. If they start in 6 months, it could be 6 to 12 months after that. I've heard (or read) nothing from Trio. Just guessing.

That plane is screaming to be a test plane for the Dynon Skyview STC! Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

Backups with VOR, etc. are problematical for missed approaches at the ever-increasing number of airports that have only GPS approaches.

Dan ,you have a Bravo...TVL is fine even with afternoon departure...but if still concerned go to Minden Nv rent a car and drive back to Tahoe.Honestly approach into Tahoe is over a 20 mile Lake with no obstructions...recommend morning arrival for first time in.Just shoot the approach.

So three partners owned this Bravo out right,than took 100 k debt later ,with each of the three partners guaranteeing entire amount of debt .Your concern is "the maintance looming"what is that,the pucks,O2 bottle ,next annual...or the big one ..engine o/h at some foreseen future?A pretty nice high time Bravo just sold recently After it was turned over to All American.Pretty similar equipment and I don't think it had TKS I believe it went for 130k .Your bird appears pretty similar,and that Garmin 750 was pretty costly install.And obviously the 20k in the bank is part of the deal.The 150 asking appears not entirely unjustified,especially in a partnership situation.I guessing your real concern is assuming that loan,probably best you sit on this until you can really figure out what you can afford.

A little super glue will fix that right up.

What? And skip Dallas ?

As an application developer, my profession, we get a lot of feedback from users that click on a "tile" within the app. Like your categories, on "why will it not click when i press on it." Well, in your case, you have the anchor tags on the text itself but the visual indication you can click the entire tile. Unless you do only text links, like Controller, I would suggest you make the entire "tile" clickable. Nice clean, response design - Bootstrap or derivative? Great job!

Seth - the easiest thing to do is call up Buffalo Approach and ask for the scenic tour over the Falls. You need to be at 3500 or above, using the KIAG altimeter setting and need to stay below 130 KIAS. At some point you will be told to switch to 122.05 and when you complete your right hand patterns with position reports, you can then come back up on Buffalo approach. It can be a zoo there and the helicopters were below you (not sure if helicopter flights are still going on there). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

A couple of things to consider: 1) Engine Monitor - Do you have a TSO'd primary engine monitor giving you CHT's like an EDM 900 or an advisory unit like an EDM 730 or 830? If the former, then one cyl will have a non-standard CHT probe that could be running cooler or hotter but off 30-60 degrees depending on the actual probe type. You need to take this into account and what cyl the non-standard probe is installed as it likely its installed in your #1 cyl since that is a common cyl for installing the OEM CHT probe preventing a standard probe from being installed. 2) Min CHT temps- Continental's CHT limitations are from 250-460F. Although your POH wants you to keep CHTs at or above 250F at all times, we've learned a lot more about engine management since the POH's were written and Its fine to operate in cruise below well 250F. But what we should pay attention to is before going to full power we should increase power slowly or moderately to get all the cylinders to at least 250F before going to full power as well as oil temperature to at least 100F (which is even more important than CHT in these engine). This is usually very easy to do. (but important to keep in mind when practicing power off landing or glides to a landing). 3) Cowl flaps settings - The factory did a lot of testing with an Engineer at Continental to establish the closed cowl flap setting, which IIRC is in the Service Manual. They found if the cowl flaps were closed entirely, that in addition to cooling problems, it caused back pressure in the top of the cowling that actually caused a forward area of turbulence in front of the air inlets that significantly increased drag and decreased prop efficiency resulting in a several knot airspeed loss (I forget detail of precise number of knots but recall in the range of 4+ kts). The lesson they learned is that fully closed should actually be ~1.5" open, but see maintenance manual as my recollection may be off a bit. Overall though, I can't agree more with the comments above to address any baffling issues. But it also just as important to make sure your engine is getting enough fuel at takeoff or max power in climb and to do a thorough mixture analysis to make sure your mixture distribution is adequate to prevent hot cylinders from to lean a mixture at climb power when IAS is low. I see a surprising number of M20K's with inadequate max FF. Fuel set up is suppose to be checked at every annual, but because of the specialized gauges needed to do it, it is often overlooked. It shouldn't be and if the plane does have accurate FF, it really simplifies the max FF adjustment too, making it much easier. You'll notice of course that all performance data in the POH is based on Closed Cowl flaps because opening the 231 cowl flaps has a significant penalty - this was significantly addressed in the 252 and Encore models. But even opening them in trail is a 5 kt penalty with fully open a whopping 14 knot penalty. So you really want to make sure your cowl flaps are rigged properly and your baffling is in good shape. The crazy thing about the performance tables, with showing only data for cowl flaps closed, is that its virtually impossible to run at max cruise power up high without the cowl flaps open in trail - that is if you care about cylinder longevity since the POH only cautions you to keep CHTs within 440F - which is too high! Which is what led to so many top overhauls.

As previously mentioned, the "most popular" is determined by the number of listings on the site by the manufacturer. Since there's only a handful of aircrtaft at the moment on the website, most of the "most popular" section is just random brands. Once the site fills up, the algorithm has something to work with.

While our GA navigators generally have a "drift mode" to cover short periods of gps interruption, as @Marauder points out, we really don't have a backup. Think about loss of gps inside the FAF...how ya gonna do the missed approach?

Was there metal in the filter or was there a "metal" reading higher than average for the sample time on the oil analysis ? Those are two VERY different things ! Sounds like you would benefit from a buyer's agent in this process.

Just caught up on this thread; glad to see the great outcome, @aviatoreb. Congrats on your airmanship and I'm glad your bird is airworthy again! Great to see the community come together and help each other.

Done! Great thinking. Three planes uploaded already! Would love to get a Mooney up there! First one gets a free bump to featured listing

My first plane... is still plying the skies around Idaho... She left a trail on FlightAware... That M20C still flies great... Best regards, -a-

But does she sing?? If so, this thread just finished.

A friend of mine might have gotten a couple shots of me. I like your idea of getting a print signed. I had already planned on framing one or two for the house but hadn't considered getting them signed. It would be tough but possible. Gerbil

Glad I am not your airplane. Not feeling the love. Bet you don't even thank your plane for a safe flight after you fly!

I replaced my previous LCD EGT with the UBG-16. Very happy with it. It also shows fuel flow, OAT and voltage

Well, I used Signature at KSTL. Was it cheap, no. Did it make financial sense, no. Could I have used a cheaper option, most likely yes. But, then my family flew commercial, I wanted to have my rental car at hand and all worked out well in terms of how convenient it was. To be fair, my M20C, as much as I like her, was not the target. I had a Cirrus Jet, two Gulftreams ,three Citations and a lonely SR 22T parked with me on the ramp. But then, the attention was great, the coffee was good and the cookies were also tasty. Of course the bill was a shocker. Now, on my way to Saint Louis,. I stopped at I69, I wanted to visit Sporty's operations. Quite impressive!!! Highly recommended. But the nicest thing about it was the treatment...After fighting a 48 Kts headwind right on the nose, I was tired and decided to stay and continue next morning. So I asked about hotel options. I was given a piece of paper with some hotel options and great prices. I called got a nice rate in a Holiday Inn. Then I asked if I could get a taxi or if Uber was available. The lady at the counter told me to use their crew car and that I could keep it until the next day! The car was a newer Ford Edge SUV... I took the car asked them if I had to pay for anything, the answer was NO, just enjoy the rest of the day. There is an interesting WWII Museum on the field, I enjoyed myself and rested at the hotel. Of course I purchased some stuff at sportys and next day I left... Conclusion: Small airport, nice and great service: free. However, I was away from the city. Big airport, nice and great service too, but you pay for the location and convenience. Oscar

No I won't.

The leading edge of the Mooney wing is the same airfoil as the P-51 and according to Bob Kromer the press and mold used was purchased from North American. -Seth

Dan, A good CO detector is so cheap compared to the potential downside, why not just get one? While you make valid points about the TN drawing (what little) heat for the cabin from the intake, CO is not something to flirt with. You know that fire breathing TIO550 is making CO, and you would be well served to make sure you are alerted if it is getting to you via any path. Here is a link, use discount code airport2017 for 20% off. https://sensorcon-sensing-products-by-molex.myshopify.com/products/inspector-intrinsically-safe-carbon-monoxide-detector-co-meter?variant=4193484932 Disclaimer: Sensorcon is a shameless sponsor of the Mooney Summit, where last year they supplied 5 of these for our raffle. Thanks Sensorcon. I understand Dan Bass is also speaking with Guardian CO to donate a few units this year.

I'd wager it's not damage history that keeps planes from selling. More likely they've got antique panels, no autopilot, runout engine, or sitting for a long time. Any of those conditions, if not priced accordingly, will keep a plane from selling. I've owned two Mooneys with 6 gear-up's between them. I'd never be afraid of damage properly repaired. I'm in agreement with @Bob_Belville that your budget is a bit tight for Mooney ownership. You might talk to @Raptor05121 about it. There are quite a number of members here who bought $35K Mooneys and really wish they hadn't. Just be careful.

Is that a dart or a cadet?

Wow, very few original M20s left flying. I would LOVE to hear what sort of numbers you are getting with the 150hp

I shadowed Erik as a chase plane after the repair at N68 and he took it to Weber at LNS for an inspection of the repair. The person performing the repair was both unfamiliar with Mooney’s and the Mooney Rocket is the tightest under the cowl. He seemed very competent. So Erik has chosen to have the work inspected by an MSC so he doesn’t end up with a cracked something else or other failure I 50 hours to due to bolt incorrectly torqued, etc . . . We got there too late yesterday at LNS to have the inspection occur yesterday. I needed to pick up a part from Alan at VAY, so I asked Erik if he wanted to join (he was going to stay the night at LNS anyway) and said yes. Once we got to VAY Alan suggested taco Tuesday night nearby, which was GREAT!! So now we are going to organize a Taco Tuesday night at VAY (nearby) sometime soon - watch for the thread once it’s announced. Alan flew Erik back to LNS in his V Tail Bonanza. So yesterday, Eric flew in a Bravo, Rocket, Missile, and V-Tail Bonanza. -Seth

It definitely wasn’t a last minute evasive maneuver, just a normal turn. ATC turned us, pointing out the traffic and saying “I don’t know what he’s doing,” but two seconds later he did know what you were doing, because you declared the emergency. Nope I’m not a Mooney pilot but am a flight instructor who knows someone who just purchased a Mooney. Looked your N-number up to find the airplane owner and a Google search pointed me in this direction. Creepy, yes but not as creepy as seeing your plane descending under us and having that helpless feeling wondering if you made it! I’m in PA for a few more hours sending you a virtual wave!