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A BIG thanks to Shadrach (Ross) and gsxrpilot (Paul) for his MooneySpace Map. My family and I were on route from Peterborough Ontario Canada to warmer climate when we had a charging system failure showing 11.6 Volts. We landed at Hagerstown at sunset and called it a day. Early Christmas Eve morning I remembered gsxrpilot created MooneySpace Map. I used the MooneySpace Map and I was able to look up Shadrach who is based in Hagerstown. I sent Shadrach a PM and he came down to the airport the same time I arrived. We removed the original voltage regulator and cleaned the contacts. Ideally, I would have replaced it but all the service shops were closed for the holidays. We then noticed the SCAT air hose going to the back of the alternator was touching the terminals on the alternator. It is very possible the wire in the hose was making contact with the terminals and grounding it out. We put some RTV insulating pipe around the hose and started her up. To our delight we got 13.8 Volts. We had a great flight on flight on Christmas day to Kissimmee Florida with time to enjoy the sunny afternoon. I can't thank Ross Shadrach enough for spending Christmas Eve day out in the cold and away from his family getting us up flying again. And, Paul gsxrpilot for creating the MooneySpace Map and allowing us to be part of it. You guys saved Christmas and I am very grateful. Stephen Skinner

Glad to hear all went well. Stories like this are a tribute to Mooney Owners on Mooneyspace and validate the reasons we have this website. It is also a testimonial to what I think sets us apart from other owners groups. I think Mooney owners are more in touch with the technical aspects of their machines, as it should be to facilitate safe flying. It is nice to be part of this community and I am sure others feel the same. John Breda

I have no where near the experience level of most on here, so my achievements were a bit less lofty. 2018: My goals at the start of the year were to take a vacation with the plane (Oshkosh), and to fly 100 hours (117.8). Other accomplishments that weren't on the goal list: learned formation flying, joined Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh, set new CC distance record (496 NM), learned to change my own oil, got an AWESOME picture of my plane by the St. Louis Arch! 2019 Goals: 100+ hrs, IFR rating, Oshkosh/Caravan again, family vacation, new distance record, install engine monitor & ADS-B, mountain flying training, get a picture of @Junkman by the arch to return the favor!

2018 Got my IA - finally! Became President of our SD Aviation Safety Counselors (a 501c associated with our FSDO FAASTeam) 2019 A couple hundred more accident free hours Master CFI? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow! This is something that Happens with McCauleys if a blade is shimmed to tight. There has to be a little tip-play in the blade or this will be the result. This is a more Extreame case nonetheless some propshop needs to step up to the plate. If that propshop is mine, No questions asked I will handle it.

Glad everything worked out for you Stephen! This demonstrates one of the short comings of our birds. A missing or worn terminal cover on the alternator field wire is not visible without removing the cheek panels. Preflight couldn’t have caught it without decowling.

2018: bought the Mooney, added IFR FW. 2019: fly 200+hrs by end of summer, get ASEL commercial add-on (Feb), get ME add-on +25 hours by end of summer. 2020: obtain ATP, get a job offer at a regional, frame DD214.

~240 in the Mooney of which ~155 have been in the last 90 days.

226 hours in the Mooney... so far. We're away from home with the Mooney and won't be home until next year. So we expect to add a few more hours before we're done. Also 291,431 miles as a United passenger... but those can't be logged so they don't count.

I made this adjustable height stand out of scrap PVC pipe. It holds a GATS type sampler under the gascolator so you can pull the ring single handed.

Santa’s gift to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

What are your aviation goals for 2019? What did you accomplish in 2018? 2018: -Earned Commercial (finally!) -Got hired by a local air charter firm and flew a Part 135 paying customer!! 2019: -I plan to attain 1500 hours (closing in) -I plan to earn a new rating, maybe two . . . multi rating (multi commercial at the same time if possible), tailwheel, maybe take CFI written -Seth

Yes - I’m addition to operating my own financial services firm, I also now fly for Open Air as a Charter Captain. Its a part time position and I enjoy it. They enjoy my flexible schedule. Most aircraft are based at my home field, GAI, but there are some at Dulles Airport, IAD, Leesburg, JYO, and a few others. www.FlyOpenAir.com -Seth

2019- sell my Mooney and leave aircraft ownership. Starting our plan to transition towards retirement in 8-10 years and the airplane isn’t part of that plan. I still have access to another plane or two to continue flying.

I take a little different attitude than most. I would suggest one get the newest model, best Mooney he can comfortably afford. If you can only (comfortably) afford a C, it will do everything you need. If you can afford a J, go for it. Faster is more fun. If you can afford a turbo, it is nice to be able to get over the mountains or weather better, even if you don't do it too often. That said, do not sacrifice quality in the model you are shopping for, just to have newer. If you can't afford the nicer ones (of that model) on the market, drop down to the level you can.

Thanks to the folks keeping to the Rocket topic rather than an AOA debate.

I have all the ratings I want/need and exceeded my 2018 flying goals 2019- more trips cross country with my partner-- Delaware to Oshkosh,and Sun-n-Fun Windsor Ca a couple times-- a couple trips to Florida--a couple to New Orleans and the main cross country to Lake Tahoe(chickened out last year when in Vegas due to wind and turbulance) MAPA three day course every year and the Summit These goals are easy if we keep our health Happy New Year to all

Got mine on the 24th, installed and did my certification flight for the rebate yesterday. The entire process, including a few minutes trying to download the FAQ PDF, took 10 minutes. I was just positive the test flight would be a waste because it just seemed entirely too easy and surely something wasn't working right. Got my ADSB report and incentive code 1 hour after the flight. What great technology.

F is the perfect speed value combo. you will have a fair amount of cash left over for fuel and fixing it. You will be going just about as fast as a J. Learn to land in someone else's plane, then transition to a Mooney and finish your PPL.

Okay. If there is anything we can do to help, don’t hesitate to call. We will be opening up agin on Thursday. Shop 870-208-8882 Cell 870-208-5198

It kind of flies like a dump truck. It's very heavy on the controls due to it only having spoilers, no ailerons. Although to be fair, we don't really fly it the way most folks do. Lots of VFR patterns with 80 hr students along with instrument training, formation, and low levels. It cruises around pretty well. We flight plan for about 360KTAS and 1200lbs/hr. Our version does not have thrust reverse either so TOLD can be a challenge to meet on hot days. Single pilot is easily doable in it, as it is all the CBs are on the pilot side. Just would need to move the oxygen controls and a couple of gauges into the pilots field of view and it would be good to go. Also maybe move the gear handle further left. Oh, and most days I am single pilot as it is, only from the right seat. Students tend to come up with some interesting ways to not be present during the flights.

2018 was a really bad year too many fires TFR's closed airport etc. 2019 to fly more and to go another year without a gear up

I did the majority of my flying this summer logging about 125 hours this year, near 100+ vacationing this summer unfortunately most were long range, I had minimal low IFR approaches therefore time for IFR practice before next flying season.

290 TT in the past 12months 245 in the Mooney

2018 - Commercial written done. 2019 - Commercial check ride. CFI written.

Thanks. Playing catch up and making up for a sparser past.

It happened to me in my Mooney in the first 50 hours of ownership. In my case it was a non-event due to having a stand-by vac system. Not because of this event, but I now have 3 AIs. 2xG5s and my original AI to drive my A/P. Additionally, I have thousands of landings where AOA was the primary instrument we used. I love AOA and am having one installed at annual later this week.

118, but she went down in October for an engine overhaul and was down in March for avionics upgrade. Tom

183.4 total hours so far for 2018. Probably another 1-5 by the end of the year depending on if I fly this weekend. 131.1 in the Baron 52.3 in single engine airplanes almost all of which was Mooney time 38.1 hours instructing

75 in my Mooney (only 8 months of flying - I was out of town and then moving Dec 17-Apr 18) 330 in Beech 400

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays, and here’s to a GREAT 2019. -Seth

There’s a lot of work to bring this project to completion going on. I’m currently working on the baffling, induction system and plenum for the E and F models. The plenum will be cam-locked for ease of removal. In the photos is the plenum being fit to the new baffling. It saved some time from making one from scratch but I’m having to cut it up quite a bit to get the fit I want. The front of the plenum will be cut and modified to clear the air filter inside the left air inlet. Thanks, David

How much did you fly in 2018? How much in your Mooney? What other aircraft? We want to hear? 96 in my Mooney Missile 105 total in Mooneys 176 Total, with a mix of Cirrus SR20/SR22/SR22T G3, G5, G6/Bonanza/RV/Saratoga I also flew some unloggable twin time - need to get that multi rating!! -Seth

Fresh out of paint, our new to us Mooney Rocket. Mechanically she is sound but she will need some love getting the little bugs out. Flew her a couple of days ago at 12,500 doing 206KTAS. Got to love the speed. Anyway, new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself. Gavin Woodman CFI/MEI/ATP AEROCOR.com FlightData.com

2018 was a big year for us: 1st formation work in a Mooney (clinics x 2) 1st KOSH Caravan experience 1st Summit Used the airplane to visit family in Tennessee and Chicago on 10 separate occasions Completed Commercial ticket in a week Keeping up the pace of 100+ hours per year in the Mooney Made some great friends! Plans for 2019: Visit my Dad in Tennessee and my son in Virginia (moved from Chicago) as often as possible Get that awesome arch picture with @skydvrboy CFI/II accelerated program scheduled for June Instruct the three students that are standing in line waiting for me to complete the CFI/II certification Trying for 2nd Caravan but work commitments are dictating otherwise 2nd Summit hard scheduled Make some more great friends! Cheers, Rick

Very loaded question Mike beat me to the punch so I’ll delete our similar statements, I’d consider that your not a pilot yet, glad your taking up this adventure, I’d lean towards the lower end of the performance and complexity of the aircrafts Mooney offers. You’ll be saving money during each hour flown between the four cylinder and the big block in the Bravo. Also you’d be able to keep in front of an aircraft doing 150 vs 190, there is a difference in the speed of our brains and overload your about to encompass. Do it, have fun join our club, there is never enough Mooney flyers out there Happy New Year.

125K will get you a very nicely appointed J, a clapped out M that needs another 125K, or a nice K. You will get all kinds of opinions of which is best, suffice it to say they are all the best at what their designed mission target is, which you touched on slightly. The J is the most efficient. The M is by far the fastest and the highest flyer, but you need 200K to play in this class. The K is a great compromise, especially a 252 Encore version, but don't expect one of those for 125K. The F is the king of useful load/range and still affords that extra 10" that us type "a" personalities demand. 125K is a great budget for a new to you F model and J. You will get a lot more plane with an F, but it will be slower and less efficient. Expect 145 TAS vs 155 TAS on the same fuel burn. An E is a nice hot rod but has shorter legs, less room, less useful load. Don't expect 100% dispatch utility out of any of them. Get a TBM for that. Spend money not only on the best plane, spend it on yourself becoming the best pilot. Here is where real savings can be unearthed.

OK but then he's trying to take advantage of someone at that price.

Just a little over 300 hrs this year all in Mooney aircraft. 240 hours in my 231 and 61 hours in a Missile.

I'm right there with you in 2020!!!

Dec to Jun ~120 Blackhawk hours followed by 110 Mooney hours since my purchase in June.

Only did about 15 hours in my Mooney but owned since Sep. only about 20 hrs this year total.

Maybe 2019 is the year I'll get my single engine ATP. I passed 2,000 hours total time and 700 hours multi time in 2018 but that's about it.

About 100 in my Mooney M20C and 500 in Citation X Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Fred. That AV-20 looks a nice addition to your panel. Merry Christmas.

As for the back AI vs AOA discussion... I'll let you guys hash it out. In truth the most important variable in the safety debate is training. Both my partner and I are CFI's ATP's with 5K plus ours.... I think I'm up to 7K as of last month. We both have multiple training events per year in sim and aircraft... practicing all types of relevant abnormal/emergency procedures. Our SOP is to conduct a safety analysis prior to each flight looking at recency as much as equipment and weather.

Mine was completed a couple months ago, lost some time for the installation and a couple issues with parts found during installation that needed changing and took a little time to get. I just hit 25 hours on it and changed out the mineral oil as the consumption is stable and the new owner (sale date set for 12/27) wanted the mineral oil out. Having a bit of concern there might be a little more oil stabilization pending, my FBO/maintenance shop gave me a Phillips multi grade rated for break-in AND regular service. So my engine had 2100 hours on a 1600 TBO. It has power like I don't remember (I bought it with a fresh OH, due to prop strike, on a 300 hour since new engine). That may be because it had degraded slowly towards the twilight of it's life and the past TBO time. But on the other hand, my Lancair is about the same weight and well over double the HP, so to be impressed with the Rocket engine performance, it must be pretty good! Jewell did a great job for me.......my FBO is used to engines coming from shops where the rebuilds have been dyno run, so they were not as happy because they had to perform more work. But then I ended up a good $20K under where I would have been with one of those shops too. Very Happy! Tom

JD (SWTA) was on the phone with Jewell about doing an engine for one of his customers, and also asking for a quote for my engine as well. When asking about lead times, Jewell said he's swamped. It's all Mooney engines. He doesn't know what happened but all of a sudden, every Mooney engine in the country needing an overhaul seems to be headed his way. The secret's out, it seems.

The prop snap ring is gone. Some impact damage to the spinner. I plan to talk to the local maintenance guys about pulling the prop this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Wonderful diagnostic effort with just a few pictures. Thanks guys. Jim

Today was move in day . . .