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I will be formally retiring at the end of 2026. It’s hard to believe I’ve spent more than 45 years in the weather business, and nearly 30 of those years as a flight instructor. Weather and aviation have shaped so much of my life—my work, my friendships, and a whole lot of memorable days. Now it’s time to turn the page. I’m looking forward to slowing the pace, spending more time with my grandkids, and—over the next couple of decades—traveling to interesting places around the world with my wife. I have to say it out loud or it’ll never happen. So…what does retirement look like for me? Mostly, it looks like making room for new adventures and gently setting weather and aviation to the side. I’ve shared what I can, and I don’t think I have much more weather wisdom left to impart to the aviation world. It feels like the right time to step out of the light and let the next generation take it from here. That said, I’m not disappearing overnight. I still plan to manage and maintain my EZWxBrief progressive web app for at least a few more years. I’d hate to shut it down while so many long-time aviation friends still rely on it daily for preflight planning. I will, however, be ending my 1-on-1 online training at the end of this year—my day-to-day volunteer activities won’t leave me with the kind of open schedule that training requires. You also won’t see me at aviation events like AirVenture or SUN ’n FUN as a vendor or forum speaker (including this year). Instead, I’d like to go purely for the joy of it—and maybe take my grandkids once or twice so they can experience the magic. Beyond that, I don’t plan to take on additional speaking engagements or hold classes past 2026. I’ve truly loved teaching pilots at every experience level about weather, but it’s time to pass the torch. I do plan to keep writing. I’ll continue to provide occasional content to various aviation magazines, and I’ll keep selling my two books and the Weather Essentials recorded classes. That should keep me connected to the aviation world—just at a comfortable distance—for a little while longer. And as for the forums… I’ll likely stop posting and reading most of them (at least the ones that haven’t banned me). But I’ll still be around, and I expect I’ll be answering the occasional email for the foreseeable future. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey with me. It’s meant more than I can say.

As promised please see G100UL sales from 01/25 to 01/26, as you can see sales have dropped to an embarrassing new low for GAMI...100LL to come soon for comparison

So one plane

Thanks, guys. Just to be crystal clear, the airplane doesn't need any of the above modifications/fixes right now (or in my opinion, in the very near future). There are no fuel leaks, the engine runs excellently with a Blackstone oil analysis done at each oil change, and I've never deferred any maintenance items. If you are concerned about cosmetics then a buyer may want to consider new paint, but I've always focused my AMUs on non-cosmetic upgrades/fixes. If I didn't have a baby coming soon, I would be keeping the plane and continuing to fly it frequently as-is. I think the plane is priced aggressively and fairly. I don't want it to languish on the classifieds for months and would love to see it go to a great home. If there are any other price-related questions, please feel free to send me a PM.

Not sure if this helps, but I subscribe to www.adlog.com They do the AD stuff for you and send it to you to put in the logs. $43/year for single engine.

Thank you for everything you've done to enhance safety by teaching us weather. I hope you get to enjoy a wonderful retirement.

Most of these chains look nasty. Years of weird lube and dust, gross them out. If you remove the chain, clean it up with solvent along with the sprockets. Then take the chain and put it in a coffee can and spray it with a good quality bicycle paraffin chain lube. Work it into the chain before it dries. Let it dry and then wipe down the chain with a clean shop rag. The chain will be beautiful and the lube job will last for decades without gunking up the chain.

My GTX335 does this very rarely, maybe once every 150 hours. I got to the same state as you Rags, just turn it on and off again and it fixes it and it's so infrequent I don't want to tear the installation apart to fix it. Also have dual G5s in my bird.

Ahh, ok. I'm inside the mode-c veil so letting it slide probably won't work for me, I imagine I'd get a nasty note or a number to call sooner or later. I've got a few optional items piling up, if I can't get anywhere with connector cleaning I'll probably just have them pull it into the shop at KPAE to take a look. Thanks for the reply anyway, appreciate it! I'll try to remember to post back here whenever I finally get it fixed.

Several years ago when I was doing panel work, besides the SL30, the TX56A was the only nav/comm that fit in my center stack, and I thought that SL30s were getting pretty old. The Garmin 1.3” nav/comm was still a couple years away. I picked up a used KI-204 from a guy on the field for the CDI and it’s also is connected to an Aspen (for redundancy). My avionics guy had me pick up a box off e-Bay to auto-pair the frequency on the DME-890. Coming from a late ‘70s Narco panel, I have zero complaints.

I took it to be the shape of the tail, like the wedge on the log splitter--the part facing the log is vertical like our leading edge, instead of being tilted back like a Cessna.

Enjoy your retirement, Scott. With continuing writing, etc, however, you may find, like I did, that I can't figure out how I ever had time to work.

question, if it's a capable and solid plane, why give it away at 63k? the avionics cost that

sorry @toto...you scored the weekend I was setting up a replacement computer and getting a house ready for sale. Most insurance companies are fine if the pilot is FAA legal, unless they've inserted a specific requirement, such as those that require annual medical certificates for pilots who have reached a certain age, like 75+.

Basically….buy braly still beating the 150 planes drum……KWVI is part of the airports that have to facilitate the Super Bowl let’s see how many planes dip their tanks with G100UL

You can extend the output connection as long as you want. So my minder hangs on the wall near the wingtip and the output cable is extended to the baggage hatch. We're only allowed to have the "approved" minders with the specific "DVT kit" with Anderson connectors that Spruce sells, but they're pretty much what are best to use, anyway, so it's not that bad.

hmm, i suck. I keep the batteryminder connected pretty much all the time i'm not flying. figure battery lasted atleast 7 years so not horrible

Here's a possibility, but not a mobile mechanic:

QAA is qualified but their quality sucks. The only good thing about them is they have capability to overhaul most everything. Suggest you contact https://aircraftaccessoriesofok.com/ ask for the fuel shop and you can talk to the guy that will repair or OH it for you for a rough estimate and shop time. They do good work, are reasonable and provide prompt service. Please don’t fly it like that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In 1985 when I started flying people were talking about 100LL being gone in a few years. My opinion then was that as long as there is a demand for it, there will be 100LL or an equivalent. My opinion hasn’t changed.

Just picked up my ‘76 Ranger from Aero Valley LLC in Paul’s Valley OK with its freshly installed Aero Cruze. I’ll do a better PIREP after a couple more flights to gain experience in regular use. Flying OK to OH, I just wanted to get straight home and let it fly the magenta line all the way back. Initial impression is it’s worth the money I spent. All in about 10k. G500 with associated equipment was 30+. So about 60-70% of the performance of the Garmin at roughly a third the cost. Real test will be support five years from now.

I had these Eaton annunciators made to replace the Mooney annunciator panel. The Engine/Engine is linked to the JPI and will give a low fuel warning. I kept the Vac Hi/Lo because I still have a vacuum pump for the speed brakes.

I think we all really appreciate the time, effort, and money everyone at EarthX has put in to bring new technology to our aging fleet. And the time you've take to help improve our understanding through this forum. Not many companies take the time to help the consumer in that way. Thanks!

I lived in Chicago for 8 of those years of ownership. I am from North Dakota, I am familiar with cold. You do you but I see no point to a trickle charger.

33 years and the same experience, 20 of those years in Michigan.

After a 3 year wait, I’m finally back in the air. 1 more hour until the first oil change after OH and I can spread my wings a bit.

That you've waited 25 years so far mitigate a lot of that, so you may be able to retain your card. Do you have an approximate timeline for installation? Another few years should assure that you can keep your card!

Never again having to worry about leaks, strip vs patch discussions and related cost/hassle/bs, is PRICELESS. So I guess they add infinity to the current value

FWIW I have ruled out Mooneys that did not have bladders because I didn't want to mess with wet wings. It was absolutely a deciding factor for me purchasing my M20E.

Bladders would add some value in my opinion. In fact, a friend of mine and I both just had bladders installed and in his case it added fuel capacity. At some point, most Mooneys are going to need either a tank reseal or bladders. There are plenty of debates on both sides as to which is better, but a recent one of either means that a new owner isn’t going to need to spend that time and money on doing it. Therefore, it adds value just as a more recently overhauled engine would add more value than an older one.

I figured I'd post a picture of my new panel here in case anyone has any questions about the setup or is looking at doing something similar. I've only flown with a few times now but the GFC500 is living up to its reputation so far in flying approaches, IAS climbs, ect... Since I didn't have a big JPI prior to the upgrade I really like using the MFD during cruise flight to put the full engine instrumentation. I put a bunch of the legacy equipment for sale in the classifieds section but feel free to PM if you're looking for something else I didn't list since it may still be in a box. Top pic is on A/P while testing out flying holds...

That's a Cirrus.