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I am not aware of any why to get the actual clearance online, but there are at least a couple of ways to get your expected ATC routings - one through FlightAware.com and the other through FltPlan.com. You can set them up to send you a text or email (or both) as soon as your flight plan enters the system. (Up to 2 hours prior to your ETD.) The messages will give you your expected ATC routing and delays. You can also set them up to provide notices of departure and arrival to via text or e-mail to family and friends. In the jet, all flights are IFR and these services are worth their weight in gold. I can't tell you the last time I received a clearance that was different than what we were expecting. It has happened, but in the 100 or so flight plans I filed over the last 12 months it happened only once or twice. It makes life easy to have the routing displayed on your smart phone as you're taking down your clearance. As always, there are some caveats when using the “expected ATC routes” function of Fltplan.com and other similar websites: The Planned ATC Route is not an ATC clearance. You must still contact Clearance Delivery, Ground Control, FSS, or Departure Control to get a valid ATC Clearance. The Planned ATC Route is not a PDC. The Planned ATC Route is what ATC is planning for your flight, and will most likely be the Route segment of your ATC clearance. So you can expect to receive the standard routings/vectors to the applicable departure and arrival gates. The Planned ATC Route will usually be available about 10 minutes after the flight plan is transmitted to the ATC system. For international departures to the U.S., the Planned ATC Route is usually not available until 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. The Planned ATC Route is for informational purposes only and may differ from what you actually get from Clearance Delivery. If you guys aren't using Fltplan.com you're missing one of the best bargains and most useful tools out there. If you wait until you've started your engine to get your clearance and figure out if your routing is going to be as filed, you're making things much more difficult than necessary on yourself. There is a lot of value in a handheld that you keep in your flightbag as a safety backup, but the true utility is to use it to check ATIS and get your clearance far enough in advance to get everything sorted out in your mind prior to engine start. It's pretty much SOP in the corporate and airline world to get your clearance 20 to 30 minutes prior to engine start and taxi. With a handheld you can do the same thing.

Howdy, I am a new Texas Mooniac! I just bought a good bones 201... Upgrading paint and interior, and radios My last airplane was a Cherokee 180' I also have a glider and a gyroplane. Here is the last picture I got of her, in pre-buy(annual) And my home base... 3700' of turf Mine is where the party is...

Thanks to everyone who gave their 2 cents after my heart attack in November. I was able to get my medical reinstated and am good to go for another year. The process was easy and well laid out. Timing was quick too (after the mandatory 6 month waiting period). Happy summer to all. Gary

Oh, man! Do they have fly in key parties!!??

Cody-- My C operates off grass the same as asphalt, except I'm more careful. Give it a little more up yoke on takeoff, rotate at 70 mph like always. I usually have Takeoff flaps on grass, but save them for heavy departures on asphalt. All of my landings are full stall, no change there for grass. Less braking is required, and again a little extra up yoke. Taxi requires more power. You know, same as most any other plane on grass. Just watch the prop clearance, and avoid soft ground. I also avoid wet and frosted grass, which are slippery. Beware of long grass on short fields, and allow for slightly longer takeoff rolls. When I visit a nearby 2000' grass field, I restrict myself to 2 people and half tanks. I've yet to need a real soft field departure, flying in ground effect to accelerate to Vy. This works well for my occasional visits to grass fields. Those based there may have other comments.

For the past two mornings, I've looked out the bedroom window to see a hawk siting on the Mooney. Apparently he wants a ride! Lee

I'm to cynical, if I ever have an accident and do not survive, my logs,including aircraft, engine etc. are not to be found. If they are ever reviewed even though they are most likely pristine ..those looking are to find fault, blame etc....being a CPA and auditor all my life makes me quite cynical.

10% of my total time. I relegate most IMC work to maneuvering, climbing and descending through decks. No front penetration, no approaches to low mins. 750/1, no night and no circle to land......have been my mins for 15 years. If I am certain the viz is good underneath, I'll go lower.

Its been a little while since I've posted but I wanted to pass along some critical information that might help prevent an engine failure. I have not read anything about this here so sorry if it is old information to some. I've been reading quite a lot after purchasing my Bonanza (no comments please - still missing my Mooney) and ran across an article from 2006. The pilot, who is actually based at my home airport, had an in-flight engine failure because of a broken oil temperature probe that was installed improperly when an engine monitor was added to his plane. His plane had an IO550 and the oil temp probe was installed just above the vernatherm in the oil cooler housing. It was installed in a port using reduction bushing to take the 3/8 NPT hole down to 1/4 NPT to fit the probe. The probe was installed deep enough in the port to be hit by the vernatherm each time it opened. It eventually broke the probe in two and all the oil was pumped out through the wire passage hole. The result was a seized motor - luckily he was able to dead stick it into an abandoned private strip and walked away with nothing more than a hole in his motor where the rod had come through. After reading this, I quickly checked mine expecting it to be fine since the motor had been replaced about 90 hrs before I bought it. The JPI had been installed years earlier. I was surprised to find that the probe was installed in the same location as his. We removed the probe and found a deep nick in the tip and a slight "V" bend in the barrel. There is a crease midway down the length of the probe barrel that is 180 degrees opposite the nick. The vernatherm was obviously pushing it pretty hard - enough to actually bend it against the inside bore of the reduction bushing. There is a 1/4 NPT plug in the front left of the motor just behind the prop that is a much better location for the probe. Mine is in the process of being relocated there with the oil cooler port now plugged and safety wired. Here are two pictures of his broken probe, one showing the damage to mine, and one showing where it was installed on my engine before it was removed. If you have an O with an engine monitor installed and have not heard about this, check to see that the oil temp probe is not installed like the one in the picture on my engine - NOW! Both the IO520 and IO550 have this same configuration so pass this along to anyone else you might know with either of these motors with an engine monitor installed. Tom

I've stated before it is your log book and you record what you are comfortable with in accordance with your interpretation of the regs. Myself I judge the situation and if I feel I need the instruments to fly the plane then I log it as IMC. I also look at where I am and if I'm in and out of the clouds and I could not legally be there VFR then I am more likely to log it as IMC. As for approaches if I am flying an approach and any part of the approach is IMC then I log the approach.

Oh that I could hear those words from my wife!

Can confirm. Twinter let me sit in his E a few months ago. It is hands down the cleanest I've sat in to date. I ogled, admired, wasted his time, and decided I had to find one as similar to his as possible.

Thats a very nice looking airplane, and loaded to boot.

I'm not aware of an automated way to get the actual clearance via any data source, at least not for GA. There may be data feeds for the big iron but I have no familiarity with that. It is true now that there are several ways to see what clearance you'll actually be given when you do finally call in. ForeFlight will do this automatically, and send you the actual assigned route if you file through that device. You can also sign up for alerts for your N-number on FlightAware, such that after you file, when the flight plan is input into the ATC system and gets to FlightAware, you will get an email showing you your actual clearance. This is helpful in that you can have your route programmed into the avionics before you actually call in, so it can save some steps. But as far as I know you still do have to talk to an ATC human being to get your actual clearance.

My logbook is paper; not only must I have it for actual signatures, but I'm also cynical and don't trust the on line apps to stay in business or provide warning for me to retrieve my data before they shut down. I do keep a many-tabbed spreadsheet that records general flight information: a listing of every airport that I have landed at, with date, hours, runway length, etc; a listing of "firsts," from 1st lesson, solo, first pax, first grass field, first for Class B, C, D, etc; there's a sheet that tracks approaches, night landings and currency for both; another sheet tracks my insurance hours. It is constantly evolving as I want/need to know something. But details are in my (printed and bound) logbook, which won't be harmed by magnets, thunderstorms or the business practices of any company, and can't be hacked.

Welcome to our great side. You will find a lot of great advice and a lot of fun. It is a great community. Regarding your question about turf and grass fields. Don't worry too much about it (Although I have to say the first time I landed on one I was scared to death). Just be as precise as possible, check you speed and make sure that the field is in good shape. If you want I have some videos of me landing on grass strips... Oscar https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuBPKyU-fEOZGWKutpVtFKw

And don't forget about "It's Groundhog Day!" Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Now to make this really scientific; you need to understand the demographics of the people. I am willing to bet the 3 people with the seats filled 70% of the time are parents of young kids or swingers.

Thanks Nathan - I'm adding that info to my maintenance manual!

Bob, 18,200 total 1030 Actual instrument or about 5-6%. As for hand flown.... In the DC9, hand flown until first level off or cleared above 10k. Hand flown from cleared for the approach to landing unless it was a Cat II ILS. In the 757/767, hand flown for a minute or two at both ends. In the Mooney, hand flown until level off, AP for cruise on long flights, hand flown for the descent, approach, and landing. Bob

We are so lucky to have these resources. This was a big motivator in making the movie. Now with the museum in development, I feel pretty confident we can keep the history alive. I don't believe there is another company currently in production in the US that can boast this many years! Go Mooney. Hope to see a lot of our Mooney family at OSH14.

There's always the fuel selector valve.

In general, I don't get much time in real IMC time. Most of the en route time is generally in VMC, over clouds. I log the time to blast through the cloud deck (often about 0.1 hours), and descend through a layer (another 0.1 ). And even when flying the approach in IMC, it is seldom more than 0.5. --But there have been those other times....when you find your self in it for a bit. A thick layer and ugly headwinds up high is a time when you might choose to fly a lot of cross country in IMC. The last time was 1.5 hours at night. And it was bumpy enough that I did a lot of it by hand. On a side note, the last time I went to Galveston, the air was very stable, but with 600 foot ceilings and just over a mile of visibility. There were lots of folks all over the Houston area that were out getting multiple approaches, presumably for currency. --If I wasn't in a hurry, I would have done my 6 that morning. Approaches are kind of fun when the air is smooth, you have lots of fuel, and you know where the VFR weather is.

11% of my time or just over 100 hours of actual followed up by 50-70 hours of hood time (don't know that stat off the top of my head - but I know I just crossed 100 hours of actual). So, if you are using your Mooney to go places, 10% sounds about right. I agree that if flying more for pleasure around the pattern/hamburger run and only in good weather, you'll get less actual. About half of that was in my former F model which had a wing leveler but was all hand flown. My Missile has an AP and I admit, flying with an AP allows you to manage the airplane as opposed to work and manage the airplane. I'm based on the East Coast in the Mid Atlantic - different areas have different "normal" weather which will affect your IMC totals. -Seth

good info to know. thanks. glad all is well.

"Cripes Al Mooney" had her first test flight yesterday post IO-390A3A6/Hartzell-scimitar/ARIcowling/Oil-coolerRelocation/BrakeCaliperReversal/OilamaticPreOiler upgrades. In a nutshell, this motor is putting out a lot more power than my old run-out IO-360A1A. Can't say any more than that now. Need to break in the motor and see how cooling is, etc. A few hiccups (hooked up the prop governor backwards and didn't realize until in the middle of run-up and something "felt off"..... "Hmmmm..... why does the prop check seem different?.... Son-of-a !" . That took a couple of hours to unbolt the six little 4mm x 20mm screws holding on the end cap on the governor, rotate 180 degrees then hook up and safety wire. My I/A face-palmed. Yes, Cripes now has "metric scum" parts on her (just the governor). The 2-blade seems a lot smoother than the 3-blade was (even though I had the 3-blade meticulously balanced). Attached are a few photos. More to come. John

Another option is to use a black plastic dip. It will leave a rubber like overcoat.

I'm happy for you Isaac! Find a nice day and work yourself back into the saddle. If you feel really rusty, wouldn't hurt to sign up an instructor for an hour. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hello fellow Mooniacs! Below are just some of the exciting Mooney events happening at and around Airventure 2014. Back in production, Mooney is show central this year with the first Acclaim off the production line landing on 36L in the lead element of the Mooney Caravan. Come see it land and in the Mooney display tent on the fairgrounds. In the North40? The Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney is not just hosting the annual BBQ Tuesday, but is also Mooney HQ in the North40 all week: From Monday's pancake breakfast to the afternoon Mooneyspacers meeting, to Wednesday's Continental Engines' presentation on how to best run your engine and "Ask the Experts" panel, this year is shaping up to be the most active Oshkosh for Mooniacs ever...And don't forget Monday's Mooney Owners Meeting at the EAA Forums. Have fun! THURSDAY 24 JULY – Sioux Falls SD 5:00 p.m. Pre-Caravan Kickoff BBQ FRIDAY JULY 25 – Madison WI 12:00 noon – Madison WI – Mass Arrival MSN by West Coast/Texas Wings SATURDAY 26 JULY – Madison WI 7:00 a.m. – Briefing for Dawn Patrol Mission 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Practice Sorties, Proficiency Flights – Caravan Operations 6:00 p.m. – Annual Pre-Caravan Dinner presented by Continental Engines – Pedro’s SUNDAY 27 JULY – Madison WI and Oshkosh WI 11:00 a.m. – The Mooney Caravan sponsored by Mooney arrives at OSH in style! With the first Acclaim off the production line in the lead element, come to show central and watch the Caravan land. Join the North40 post-flight festivities! 5:00 p.m. - North40 - Camp Cherokee - Mooney Caravaners invited Cherokees 2 Oshkosh Wine, Beer and Cheese Social Gathering TBD – North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Royal and Ancient Secret and Sober Society of the Single Malt MONDAY 7/28/2014 - OSH 9:00 a.m. – North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Mooney Pancake Breakfast 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 AM - EAA Forum Pavilions - Forum Pavilion 8 Mooney Owners Forum. Join Mooney experts in the fields of aircraft operations, safety, aeromedical, maintenance, insurance, FARs. Hear from Mooney International. Learn about Mooney organizations that support you. 11:20 a.m. – EAA Fairgrounds - Mooney Display Tent Acclaim Auction. Back in production, Mooney returns! Watch the auction of the first Acclaim off the production! See and hear exciting Mooney developments! 4:00 p.m. - North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Mooney Caravan Educational Safety Foundation 2014 Board of Directors Meeting 6:00 p.m. – North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Mooneyspace Forum Social Gathering TUESDAY 7/29/2014 OSH 4:00 p.m. – North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Mooney Caravan Annual BBQ / Prizes – Best dinner in the North40! WEDNESDAY 7/30/2014 5:00 p.m. – North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Continental Engines Presents “Operating and Maintaining Most Efficiently” 6:00 p.m. – North40 Mooney HQ Tent Sponsored by Mooney Mooney Caravan Presents Pizza and "Ask The Experts" Panel - Mooney HQ Tent Bring your questions, our experts have all the answers…or so they told us! Sign up and receive FAASTeam WINGS credits for attending. Go online to www.faasafety.gov “seminars,” click state “WI” and pre-register.

Kind of funny, but the cost of my annuals went down a substantial amount when I did the grunt work. Literally an afternoon of dissassembly, day of inspections, morning of reassembly was a lot cheaper than the 5 days it seemed to take the mechanic before. Wish I had discovered that a LOT sooner in my ownership

Violation!!! MooneyBob, if you are going to post on Mooneyspace, you can't admit there's anything you didn't know. It's in the terms of service, I'm sure. :-)

I was able to help with my first annual which pretty much meant I unscrewed every single screw on my B model. It was great to see everything behind the panels and I was impressed how well Mooneys are built. I think the more involved you are the better care your mechanic is going to look over details while your do the grunt work. Plus .. It was a great time to start my interior makeover. I will post picks when completed. Troy

Just a suggestion: Get mechanically involved with your plane during your first annual. I don't know how "mechanical" you are, but no one is ever going to be more concerned about the condition of your plane than you. There's no rocket science involved in an 'E' model. Try to find a mechanic who will allow you to participate to "some" degree. A lot of IA's are happy to have the owner do the boring grunt work while they use their expertise on your gripe list.

Bob, with all of the rain we've had this may just be a little light corrosion on either the master switch or the field circuit breaker. I would operate both a few times and spray with CRC contact cleaner and see if this helps. If not, let me know and I'll walk over and take a look when I'm back in town. Lee

James, many 231/252/262 owners have already done these upgrades. They do it knowing they won't get that money back. Occasionally when they come to the market, the prices are in the $140-175K not in the $300K range. Heck, there is a sweet 1980 Rocket on Trade-A-Plane with a recent overhaul, new interior, and nice panel, for $137K. That's sort of your competition?

It took 4 pages to get to the "frivolous lawsuits are destroying the world" post. I'm actually proud of the group for that, as a lawyer. Jkhirsch, please talk to a qualified aviation lawyer before you make any more statements to the FAA, if you have not already. Some advised you to do that, several pages ago, but I can't tell if you did. You can PM me for my phone number and I will talk to you, no charge. You are swimming in dangerous waters here, and posting far more information online in a public forum than any lawyer would tell you is wise. I'm all for freedom of information and transparency of government, but this is a story that should be posted after you're done with the FAA's enforcement action, not before or during.