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I've been flying 50 years and seldom fly any plane except my own which I am constantly working on myself so I know it very intimately. But haste is a very bad habit. I go into flying mode on the way to the airport - I turn off the car radio and turn my mind to an exercise of "what am I forgetting". During the walk around nothing is partially done, if I open the baggage door to get the fuel sampler I close and latch the door even though I'll be opening it again. I never leave the baggage door closed and unlatched. Everything else is treated in a similar manner. I suspect most of us need to be protected from ourselves.

What qualifies as damage that matters if repaired? Overtow? Hangar rash? Minor surface corrosion? Hail? Bird strike? I doubt you can find a 40 year old plane that hasn’t been damaged at some point in its life. As long as it was fixed properly what does it matter? Especially if it wasn’t recent? Tom

I have not found anything uncomfortable about the 310. I run 180+ KTAS at 21GPH. Lots of room to move around. All this in addition to being super sexy! [emoji16] Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

NDH is nice to find but pretty far down my wish list. In fact, I'd much rather have a regularly flown plane with a couple of properly repaired gear-ups in it's logs, than a NDH hangar queen.

That's silly. So how long were they designed to last. How much of the plane was 75 years old? I saw a good discussion that if we aren't good at managing the public's risk around a well know flying machine, then we are no where near ready for space tourism.

So, back home after taking the old gal (and my wife) to Utah, word gets to me that someone wants an airplane ride. Someone who drove me to the airport countless times as a kid. Someone who flat-out refused to get into an airplane his entire life despite being listed on my airline travel benefits the last 12 years. Maybe he decided that if it hadn’t killed me yet, he’d probably make it through one little flight. Yesterday, my Dad went for his first Airplane ride. He says he’ll go again, which I’m calling a win as bumpy as yesterday’s flight was. After the last 30 hours of “Mooney Zooming” straight-ish lines between distant points, flying circles for a sightseeing trip over the home turf was a great change of pace, though.

Something to this effect???

There’s no place to land during the day, so you might as well do it at night.

About every 5 years, the limit seems to get adjusted a bit lower. Now, the limit is 8 hours with 2 stops. We usually try to make a trip with just one stop, and keep the front end travel long and a shorter hop after the stop. Still, the smallest bladder in the plane sets the length of the legs.

That was my view before I learned and flew ME. Respectfully have to disagree with this now. If properly operated within the limitations, an engine failure can be safely managed.. in-fact, it is possible to climb out SEO if within those operating limitations. The be58 I fly will climb to 10,000 DA at gross weight on one engine.

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Same for me. Johnson Bar airplanes particularly benefit from the inertial reel and push button release mechanism.

Denver south to Albuquerque/Santa Fe area, then head towards Phoenix. Fly early AM, all permitting. Less chance of weather and turbulence.

My wife and I decided on Sevierville TN, and are building a hangar on the airport there (KGKT). Lots of housing choices within 5-10 minutes of the airport to suit just about every budget. Moderate climate in the Smokey Mountains, although possibly a bit on the warm/moist side in summer. As long as you don't need an ocean beach at hand and you're not a big city person its a pretty good choice. Bonus is all of our kids already like to vacation there so they will have a free place to stay and we'll get to see the grandkids regularly! Cheers, Rick

Finished product, with etching primer on. Now to prep the rest of the tail.

To me being a CB carries a positive connotation and means two things: 1. Being committed to resisting the vast sums spent in aviation to buy maintenance-induced failure risk in excess of safety dividend. This philosophy is captured in Mike Busch's book "Manifesto." Being a good CB involves taking the time to understand each maintenance issue thoroughly and the risks and benefits of addressing that issue in a particular way. It means never blindly following the guidance of an A&P, a manufacturer TBO, or your hangar buddy but rather taking the time to evaluate risks and benefits of each maintenance issue carefully. My impression is there are many owners who throw money at their planes with the delusion that it is contributing to safety, and then there are the ones who "get it." The latter are the CBs. Being a good CB is the very opposite of negligence. 2. Having contempt for aspects of both the regulatory bureaucracy and the litigious culture that drive up costs while failing to add safety and making a mockery of justice. There is not much that a typical CB like me can do about these problems, except maybe learning when to use a hangar elf occasionally (and when not to).

Honestly it really was not easy at all. Highlighted to me the reality of get-there-itis. And we didn't even have a hotel room booked. Probably my type A, complete the mission mindset. Flew the rest of that leg this morning and honestly was glad we did it in daylight. The scenery is fabulous. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Depending on one's perspective, Coy Jacobs was an icon or a demon in the Mooney community. Coy, bless his soul, had a way of making close friends and lasting enemies. I became his friend 15 years ago, and it lasted.Whatever your take on Coy, no one was ever a bigger advocate of the Mooney aircraft. He published many articles on the various models and a magazine, The Mooney Pilot. More than anyone else, he was the most encouraging force in my choosing to buy a Mooney Bravo in 2005, an airplane I came to dearly love and miss to this day.For several years, I wrote articles for Coy and the magazine. I think it was his second divorce, maybe his third, that brought an end to its publication. I miss the magazine, the airplane, and now, Coy.We talked fairly regularly, him calling me as often as I called him. He had a light stroke some months back but had recovered and vowed to fly up to see me one weekend. His last call a couple of weeks ago was about his youngest son applying to law school. He figured that Karen and I were pretty good sources of advice.His oldest son, Clayton, texted me Friday that Coy was in the hospital in serious condition. We couldn't make a contact as that is the day we were flying back from North Dakota in the Cessna 195. This morning Clayton called to say that Coy had passed away.There are no perfect people or perfect friendships, but friends come few and far between. At my age, they are becoming fewer and the betweens wider. Life is never fair or even and never long enough. We move through it thinking, hoping that we are in some control, but it is a fallacy. Our friends will become fewer until that day that we are the one that has been lost to those few remaining.I'll not waste platitudes of "rest in peace" or "gone to a better place" or anything else of which I have no knowledge. A group of people, most of whom I don't know, have lost a friend. I'll shed a tear and move forward waiting for the next loss or the day that I am, hopefully, the friend lost.Blue skies my friend. Oops, that was a platitude.Jg

Hey all, Rocket Drivers especially: my 86 Rocket fresh out of paint and interior today. Good as new, faster than new (almost) but 1/4 the price! What a machine!

It will work with OEM fuel sending units, but I'd highly recommend going with CiES senders instead of throwing good money after bad overhauling what you have. I wish I did that on my J, but they weren't quite ready then. You'll love the 900. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

Exactly. Modern maintenance programs replace essentially everything over time. I remember a comedian once holding an axe saying, this is George Washingtons axe. Yup, its his axe. But the handle rotted so they replaced it. Then the head rusted so they replaced that too.

I think about every fourth Garmin thread makes me very glad I have an Avidyne IFD. I'm waiting for the day when a certified GPS navigator exists that can use the government databases with no fees, like some of the EFBs do now.

Agree with going south before heading southwest. I’m also a fan of early morning flying in general. There have been a couple of days of nasty mountain associated turbulence the past 2 weeks along the Colorado front range. Seasonal thunderstorms seem to be done. There have also been a few days with strong westerly winds that we usually don’t see until closer to winter with the jet stream shifting south. Coming back from Moab, UT a week ago I had an 80-90 knot tailwind (shown below). Smooth in the FLs, but a no go day for mountain flying lower. As always, keep a close eye on the weather as your trip approaches.

Just curious, my antenna faces forward. Does the antenna work facing towards the rear? I like the look better.

contact Mooney customer support or any good MSC. There is an approved procedure to close off some of the holes in the heater box on the firewall. I did this in my Acclaim, and it made a huge improvement. -dan

Hey Everyone, The best thing to do for technical questions is to submit a formal inquiry, we will direct them to one of our engineers to reach out. We had a great time at the Mooney Summit! Everyone there was fantastic.

We just did Albuquerque to Sedona yesterday morning. It was a non issue. I don think I would do it at night though. Nice and smooth for us but it was light winds and high pressure. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Actually, I need to fess up that I made a mistake when I said that these cards cost $500. Looking back over my emails from when I was making inquiries to Garmin dealers (Garmin doesn't sell them direct and users have to purchase them through dealers), I came across this reply: "Part number 00-00900-10 is $550.00 - one week backorder" Please accept my apologies for misstating the actual price. I promise it won't happen again.

Hope the OP commits to a rigorous training schedule with that twin. Twice the engines, twice the likelihood of one of them going. and with the OP's history that likelihood seems like a good bet. Singles don't fall out out of the sky if the engine quits, twins can.

It's all about mission. Most Aztecs have a useful load of more than 2,000 pounds. With three hours of fuel at 150 knots with legal IFR reserves it will still carry 1,500 pounds. And it will do so off of unimproved airfields for less money than most Mooneys cost. What other airplane is the aerial equivalent of a 3/4 ton truck?

i pre ordered thru aircraft spruce and received my tailbeacon on wed. now just to find time to install it

As I wrote, "If you want to burn a lot of gas to go slowly, the Aztec is just the ticket!"

You're right however it depends on your power setting if at 10000 feet and 65% of a 310HP is 200HP. I'd love to have 200HP all the way up to 11000 feet and the higher cruise speed once I get there.

Some are slow. Some are thorough. Some are neither. When I was getting my helicopter the CFI, a good friend of mine, was always wanting to run through the checklist fast he had it memorized. I told him I know I may go through the check list slow but when I a m flying a different aircraft that I do not fly often I take my time and if I burn little more fuel and an extra 0.1 on the Hobbs so be it. I am faster with my plane and that is because I have many hours in it. Usually about 15 minutes from opening the hangar to ready for take off. I will drive to my destination if I am in that much of a hurry. Sometimes I realize when I go too fast I do miss something. Usually nothing critical but missed. I have noticed some who will sit on the ramp engine running for what seems like an eternity. To each his own.

George's sound is good but you need to listen to Johnny Paycheck for the better earlier version.

Take your time (the left side is a beast) and a semi-handy owner can do it with a sign-off from your A&P. This was the first upgrade I did on the plane shortly after buying it. Think of it as the best money that you can spend and hopefully never need.

Told my wife that last night - if she fell asleep then I probably was going to also Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

If duct tape holding my cockpit door shut is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

The cessna 310 i flew didnt have lousy short field performance, at least i wouldnt call off the ground and fully stopped in 1500ft lousy.

But it can also keep you flying. I am in need of another car... the 2008 Toyota I drive is falling apart and has 248000 km. Due to change. I could have went for a new $25K car.... of the year. Shopping around I found a similar toyota... much younger, no rust, half the millage at $6K. Sold! The savings will allow me to keep the Mooney. It is all a matter of choice. Yves

Andy has a point concerning the overvoltage relay. The ones from Interav sometimes tripped occasionally and had to be reset by turning off the master switch. It may have been left behind by the mechanic. I think the PP regulator has built-in overvoltage protection.

Wind at the bottom left, as you've been doing. Pull out on the winding stem and set the time (backwards, forwards, whatever). On my checklist (from the Owners Manual), I wind and set at the beginning of each flight. The red hands use the little brass knob in the middle of the face. First wind and set the clock (white hands). Spin the center knob CCW until the red & white hour hands overlap, then spin CW until the minute hands overlap. Every time the minute hands overlap again, lean down and switch your fuel tank. When you shut down, the difference between the red and white hand sets is the flight time for your logbook. Since this clock is used to time your flights, hourly fuel tank switches, those annoying ATC calls about when to expect further clearance and a diminishing number of instrument approaches, does the accuracy beyond your maximum fuel endurance really matter? Yes, I'm a little punchy after 1.5 hours in a Cessna (4 flights) followed by 4 Mooney hours home into the wind, hitting storms at sundown . . . . But some good bourbon made it all better, but may not do much for my posts.

Worn brushes? Had the same thing happen with an Interav. Pull the brushes and your local alternator shop will have the same brushes in stock. About 10 bucks.

Like all accident, let’s wait till the facts come out. The NTSB is amazing.

I don't think it is approved yet.

I had 2 panels that were slow to wet (like 15 minutes plus on high, even though the low pressure light went out relatively quickly). The left inboard most panel and the left outboard horizontal stab panel. I purged them, had the pump overhauled.. all seemed like they worked for a week or two... after almost a year, I finally found the problem. And anyone that has a similar problem should probably check this.. under the tail fairing, the lines that run to the tail horizontal stab panels run VERY close to an aluminum rib. In my case, after trimming the airplane over the course of about 15 years, the rib sawed a hole in one of the tail panel lines! The A&P purging the system last year didn’t catch it, but the sharp folks at professional Air in Bend, Or caught it. To fix it- they had to remove the upper fairing on the tail, the fashion a new tube, then they covered the spar with a little piece of tube, so it wouldn’t happen again. They fixed the other side as well. im not saying this is exactly your problem, but it sounds like you might have pressure drop across the system somewhere downstream of the low pressure sensor and the filter... run the system and look for excessive puddles. That spot on the tail, due to the mooney’s Articulating tail, and the fact that a bit of fluid that normally drips down from the vertical stab panel made it fairly insidious.

It's basically a pressure pot and a filter and some lines. I haven't seen it here but on other forums. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LQSG0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030ZD7MU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O3OP2S/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092KWBY2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (you might need 3/16") https://www.harborfreight.com/welding-cart-61316.html https://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-half-gallon-pressure-paint-tank-66839.html To hookup to your panel you will need to get a couple of TKS olives (aluminum) and nuts from your SC. The braided stainless steel tube and the misc brass hardware coming out the other end of the filter are from a local hardware. I just took it in and bought what was neccessary to do the final connections. I will have to grab some photos of the brass tee on the other side. Of course you will need an air compressor to supply the pressure can.

What he said.^^ I did this yesterday on the ground, without the engine running. I had the ice light on to confirm it's operation and there was enough voltage drop on the system with that additional load that I could hear the pump slow down. I suspect with the engine running it should pressurize even more with the higher voltage. Mine was slow to saturate the vertical panels on the tail as well as one panel on each wing, but they eventually got wet. It is important to do it regularly. I liked a previous suggestion of running the pump monthly when you update the nav data. Brilliant! iain

Do you exercise the system regularly? The membranes inside the TKS panels can dry out, I think they say it should be turned on at least once a month...