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Actually, six days. We diagnosed the issue on Friday the 8th. Closed on weekends. Pulled the motor off on Monday, tore it down, and ordered parts. Cleaned everything up on Tuesday and put the bottom end back together. Repaired all the cylinders and finished the assembly on Wednesday. Installed all the repainted and repaired baffles and accessories on Thursday and hung it on the aircraft. It will run today. But who's counting

The Airplane 1981 M20K w/ KFC200 autopilot What Was Done Removed 1. Garmin GTN 650 2. Garmin GDL 39 3-D 3. Bendix King KT74 Installed 1. Avidyne IFD540 2. Avidyne AXP 322 Remote Transponder 3. Avidyne MLB 100 ADS-B In Receiver Why It Was Done The Garmin GTN 650 was a replacement for my Garmin GNS 430W and was installed about two years ago. From the onset, I had problems updating the unit with the Jeppesen nav data. The Garmin update worked fine. Over the years, I have not fully appreciated Garmin's proprietary mindset, preferring, instead, a more open-platform approach to avionics and software in general. I decided, therefore, when a smoking deal was offered on the Avidyne unit, to install the three units listed above. Since Avidyne units all talk to one another, it seemed reasonable to use their units exclusively. With the introduction of iPads and various ancillary units working with them, I never liked all the wires snaking around the cockpit, and this installation offered the opportunity to have a very capable GPS, flight information system, ADS-B out, ADS-B in displayed on the main unit, and a general decluttering of the panel area. The installation has done that. Preparation The Avidyne IFD 540 is considerably more than a large-screen GPS. It preforms myriad functions other than navigation. Second-nature operation of the unit does not come overnight. Recognizing this, the company has compiled a complete operator's manual that explains all functions of the unit. It is downloadable. However, they have gone beyond that by producing a simulator app that operates at least on the iPad and PCs, and perhaps other operating systems. I have used it both on the iPad and the PC. During the time that I have been waiting for the airplane to be finished, I have spent many hours with both the manual and the simulator. The sim has operated flawlessly and greatly diminished what I'd think could be a fairly steep learning curve. Ta Da! The call finally came, and 414MS was ready to make her first flight with the new boxes. Everything booted properly and settled into operating mode. Making initial changes to user-programmable items was accomplished easily and precisely as it had been done in the simulator. It is actually easier on the unit itself because there are real knobs and not flat, electronic simulations of them. After adjusting the settings to my liking, I entered a straight-forward flight plan: from the departure airport to a nearby VOR, then to an initial fix for a GPS approach at my home airport, the full approach, then landing. The flight plan was entered in less than 20 seconds, and the airplane flew the course perfectly. When flying the approach, it is a new and pleasing experience to have each of the fix altitudes displayed on the unit. Today is the second day I've had the unit and have done four more approaches, all without any problem. I did have a problem registering the IFD with Avidyne for some unknown reason; I called tech support yesterday afternoon and received an e-mail this morning indicating the issue had been resolved and the unit is registered. Conclusion This isn't meant to be a real-time description of this process, but I thought some of you might be interested in an opinion on and experience with a newer piece of avionics which is now available in the marketplace. Is it perfect? Probably not. Is it an excellent tool for the cockpit? You bet. I think I made the right choice. I'll update this from time to time as my experience grows. In this day and age, I suppose it is important for a reader to know that I am not an employee of Avidyne, have not been compensated by them in any way, and have not been promised anything by them.

I am pleased to announce after 15 yrs lusting on Mooneys , and just ended a 5 yrs plan of research and search i am the proud owner of a M20C . It was love at first sight, and love at first flight. She is a bare bones girl but is gonna be a great canvas to start with. I plan on systematically restoring her while flying the s*^t out of her. So hello fellow Mooney drivers you have one more to the club. One of the best milestones in aviation that i have crossed.....

Wow... I was unaware of a correlation between genital size and aviation experience, thanks for the info, jkhirsch. My posts on here are often fairly short because I'm busy, but I enjoy being able to help others and share my experiences. If you wanted to understand why I was recommending 500 hours as a level where many pilots could likely begin to feel ready using an aircraft for regular transportation in a wide array of weather, you could have politely asked... Believe or not, you might be able to learn things from people on here if you are willing to adjust your attitude, but it appears you already have everything figured out with your private pilot certificate and several HUNDRED hours... -Andrew

It appears to have just become law. Scroll down on the link below https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/signed-legislation

After going through the annual work up for my special issuance with good results in March I received a note from the FAA - my cardiologist ran me for the obligatory 9 minutes but I failed to hit the hearbeat per minute target..... So back I go - and another 180 dollars. Sure hope the nurse is cute, that may help with the heartbeat Sure can't wait for the medical reform.

This is a time compressed (16 min) flight from our local airport in Allentown PA to Kennedy in NY; the flight is normally about 50 minutes give or take. I know a lot of pilots who are very apprehensive about flying into big airports and Bravo airspace. I can tell you that you have no worries as long as you plan ahead well, study the airspace, procedures, taxi diagrams and have all that ready at liftoff. This was a fairly busy day for approach control so there is a lot of good ATC, we also had an interesting final approach vector. We’re in a 1996 Mooney M20M Bravo. Most of the panel is identifiable, but you will see the Garmin AoA on the glare shield. Hope you enjoy it as much as we had fun flying it!

George, Why does everyone say the FAA has up to a year........ when the very first line in that section of the bill is " Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue or revise regulations to ensure that an individual may operate as pilot in command of a covered aircraft if— " not a big deal I guess (since it passed) but I don't understand?

It's probably important to differentiate between a prop strike and a gear up landing which requires a new prop. The former is a non issue since a tear down and a new prop is required in virtually all situations. A prop strike can occur if the A/C is on the ramp and not running like Anthony's (carusoam) or my own Screamin' eagle with just 47 hrs on the tach since new. In my case the engine was removed and overhauled at Mattituck with just 47 hrs since new as opposed to a tear down inspection. In Anthony's case a factory reman was installed as opposed to a tear down inspection. To me that enhances the value and like others have said it may not even be logged as a "prop strike". Now a gear up landing is entirely different and all of the caveats mentioned apply. I'm not really sure if a simple prop strike is really considered "damage history" guess I'll leave that to others.

Pending in 2 weeks?? Congratulations

Good because I'm the type that watches the other guy make it rain haha

If you haven't taken one recently, go to the MAPA Safety Foundation's PPP for some good, in-depth Mooney training. Only takes a long weekend and helps polish up all of your Mooney-specific techniques.

Oh, here's another idea nobody has mentioned yet...get your glider (sorry, sailplane) license. That will really teach you about energy management and, like a tailwheel, will also hone your rudder skills. And it will help you keep from freaking out entirely in the unlikely event that your Mooney ever becomes one. Admittedly the profiles will be very different, and the sight pictures, but at least you will have some experience with a whole lot of quiet in front of you. I did some glider training, just for the experience, and it was quite enjoyable. Never took it all the way to a certificate but definitely helped me understand more aspects of flight.

I've frequently commuted between the Seattle area and the SF Bay Area, often with a fuel stop at EUG. I would not recommend a new private pilot purchase an aircraft with the expectation to be able to use it for commuting along this route. I've dealt with ice along this route from September through May. An instrument rating and FIKI are both essential for dispatch reliability. There's really 2 ways to do it... the most direct is on V23 over FJS (at or above 11k south, 10k north) but you can deal with icing there most of the year and severe turbulence is possible in the mountains, the other is V27 along the coast (at or above 7k south, 8k north)... I usually fly this route, it's longer, but the lower MEA's tend to keep you free of ice, but be aware that most of the airports around that route are coastal airports and if you have to divert, you may have to deal with high winds and fog (I've landed at CEC with almost 50 knots on the nose at short final and also seen it below ILS mins). The weather in the bay area is usually pretty benign, but EUG to STS is NOT a good route for a low time private pilot to have an expectation to fly regularly. -Andrew

Questions about what Third Class Medical Reform means for you?...Check out this link. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2015/december/09/third-class-medical-faqs

Looks like it was just signed https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/signed-legislation

I have the factory drawings for doing the conversion. They are large scale, but I can make a picture when I get home or scan them at work next week.

Welcome aboard, Robin. You might find that some updates from newer Mooney planes can be mounted on the older versions. According to FAA records they are all M20s. There are some old Mooneys that fly nearly as quickly as some newer ones. Aerodynamic modifications were giant improvements in the 70s. An engineer at the factory named Roy Lopresti was their guru for aero projects. for specific questions regarding parts and planes and their logs, you might get some additional help from the mechanic that used to supply maintenance for the bird. Of course, you are always welcomed to ask here as well! There are many B model Mooneys still flying today, at full speed! Best regards, -a-

My Stec 30 system does the same thing, I just adjust the trim a little and it stops. Ron

Especially if not camping, I'd park in Vintage. Its more central to the show, and you can hang with your plane while watching the air show. I also think its closer to the entrance/exits when you come and go from your other accommodation. Frankly if our Mooney qualified as Vintage we'd be considering parking there. Downside is you will have more lookie-loo foot traffic visiting your plane. The only downside to Vintage is the closest to the runway parking spots get closed during the Snowbirds because they have a pretty large "box"

A quick web search shows they come both ways

Every IFD gets some form of Synthetic Vision with 10.2. IFD440 IFD540 IFD550 gets the in-trail view and...

Welcome to the Avidyne club. I have the same setup p minus the MLB I still use my portable ADS-B receiver and portable GPS. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the 10.2 software which is supposed to give some syn-vision capabilities to the IFD540 if I read the literature correctly. Now comes the real decision is the IFD 550 worth the extra ($5,000 for current owners ) to get ARS capability?

She should have thunder in the pipes by the end of the day.

If you are perfectly trimmed, try adjusting trim slightly one way or another.

Yep, did that last December and it was so much fun. Would have been even better if I could have convinced someone else to go through the program at the same time with me. I did it at Jack Brown Seaplane base in Lakeland FL. I want to do my tail wheel endorsement next.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ This, plus caravan formation training.

The breakout friction may be too high. Make sure the elevator system is free and the bridle cable is tight. then check the pulleys in the bridle cable. Then check the startup voltage on the servo. Then also check the static lines are sound. When I bought my plane, the static line inside the tail cone, the tygon tube part was disconnected, the tygon was soft and bad. the two pieces right near the altitude sensor, which is located between the static ports. A new piece of tygon fixed it. What was happening was the increased airspeed would cause a change in pressure in the tailcone, low i think. Then the STEC 30ALT would try to descend to recapture its set pressure. then the speed wound increase, and it would hunt altitude a bit.

I don't know Paul.....I think it's too nice for the asking price. I'd be willing to trade straight across, my old and decrepit "C" yokes for your 201 yokes. That'll give the new owner something to look forward to improving on an otherwise perfect C model plane.

Ms. Google found this site: Select IA and FAA office (I selected Charlotte NC and got a list of 192 IAs in our area including contact info for my local IA. I suppose being on this roster means the IA is current but you might want to contact the appropriate FAA office to verify the IAs status. http://av-info.faa.gov/DesigneeSearch.asp

My loaded C did well across the Dakotas and Wyoming also. But like the OP, I was worried about DA, not Altitude. Didn't think about it until listening to AWOS at KRAP, said something about Density Altitude around 6600' and to follow the recommendations in your POH. Oh, crap! How do I land in High DA? Sure can't lean for best power, that's all I'd ever heard. So I just landed, a little worried about the left crosswind and very worried about taxiing with a ~30 knot tailwind . . . Had no problems. At takeoff in the morning several days later, it was nice and cool, unlike when I landed at lunchtime.

If there's strippers in the VIP room I'm gonna make it rain

I'm very sorry JK but activities inside the VIP lounge cannot be disclosed to non-ticket-holders. Hope we'll see you there!

Hi David, i wasn't planning on going to OSH, as its tough breaking away from the fam for that long and im probably still a little green for that anyway. My focus right now is finishing up my IR. I was thinking about triple tree though, as its only an hour from here. thanks! craig

haha. 100,000th post in General. suck on that

Death is a reason to take it seriously. Don't accuse us of being irrational. I'm very rational. You're getting emotional because I'm guessing you take risks many of us wouldn't. You're PIC, go for it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Beautiful plane. I own one that rolled down the production line shortly after yours SN#377 N7138U. I bought mine Jan 2016 and have flown her about 125 hours in the first 6 months of ownership. I am looking at a major on the engine in the next few months as it sat for 6 years before I got it and compressions on #1 and #3 are in the low 60's with oil consumption running about 1 qt / 3 hours. I am slowly(as budget allows) making improvements to her. As others have said Mooney's aren't hard to fly, they just don't want to quit flying. My insurance only required a CFI signoff, no set hours (I transitioned from a Bonanza 35E). Watch your speeds in the pattern and you will do fine. I shoot for 100mph on downwind, 90 on base, and 80 over the numbers. For me that sets it down beautifully.

Ben non désolé, pas de flottes sur le Mooney.... List of Mooneyspacers that pledged to attend the get together in Oshkosh at the Mooney Caravan tent on Monday at 6 PM Jastu23 + 2 Bob Belville + 1 Sabremech JKSmith gsxrpilot Steingar Hector 201er + 1 yvesg + 1 M20Doc wishboneash larryb jetdriven + 1 Stinkbug +1 cnoe (tentative) Bob + 1 SoMooney Guitarmaster FlyingSchmidth Ned Gravel + 1 N131MA druidjaidan + 1.5 tbrickey drapo (tentative) Still working on the trying to get a keg... how many beers from one of those can you usually have? Yves

Consider adult Depends (or competing brands) for long flights. Not as crazy as it sounds, nor are they bulky or uncomfortable. After landing a small discrete "clean up" kit with an extra set of underwear to bring to the bathroom makes this work. And if you didn't need to use it, all the better. Sure, not very macho, but takes away bladder anxiety.

I prefer an Apple Juice bottle. It gives you plausible deniability when you dump it out on the ramp.

Good job, Richard. My CFI had me go through the POH and create my own checklist. For the 172, I had one landscape page printed in 3 columns, and I folded it like a letter between columns to keep in my flight bag. Front was everything from Preflight to After Landing, the back was all of the Emergency sections, with headings highlighted (red for fire, yellow for electrical, etc. when I bought my Mooney, I did the same thing but it wouldn't fit on one page, so I did it in Word and printed in Booklet format. Folded in half like a little book, it fits my kneeboard. Having so much room, I retyped much of the Performance Tables so I don't need to check my brittle, browned Owners Manual in flight, just flip through my little laminated booklet.

Rocket = Dolly. Larger displacement equipment hung on the front in place of the factory jugs.

I always love it when people accidentally write "money" instead of "Mooney".[emoji57] Freud was such a genius! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You need to continue to turn the screw counter clockwise until it stops. There's a lever at the back of the radio that needs to be in the proper position to release. The screw will actually "push" the radio out (and pull the radio in when installing). Pull (or push) just enough to help the screw do it's job. It'll slide out easily when done.

Setting up a fill system is a bit of a pain, and if not done really well, can get really expensive. I doubt I will recover the costs, but the convenience is well worth it.

My 1979 231 did not come with O2 system but was added in 1980 by prior owner. I now have my own refill system not because of cost savings, but because of the hassle of getting oxygen at various FBOs. You also should get a pulse oximeter to know your oxygenation. There are many cheap, portable, accurate options. I have the OxiPro which cost about $40.

I may have one. Let me climb out of the salt mine and I will check my parts bin. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm wondering if he will be open to a series of these. It is understandable that people can't fly to all regions of the East coast. Perhaps he will be open to a "Train the trainer" approach.

Keep the plane, swap the girlfriend. There are a lot more of the latter than the former. You might keep both if you call her bluff. You're welcome.