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So my wife and I took a road trip to Austin this week and on the way out we emailed Lori Collier and requested a tour of the factory. She was very helpful. We ended up getting a late tour (6:30pm) today on our way out of town. Robert Dutton VP of production operations stayed late just to walk us around. The factory has an open door to Mooney owners. There are some rules though, which we understood. Sign a few papers and you're in. But from the sound of it Mooney has some tricks up thier sleeve with future product and I can't wait to find out. They are also planning renovations of the factory... a face lift if you will. It was great walking around the assembly line our E model rolled off of 50 years ago. He walked us all the way around the line and also took us into the sales room to see the last two single door mooneys that will be sold. It was very cool to be there and I recommend you guys take a tour if you haven't already. Mike

I'm gonna lay this one on the controller. She kept mis-speaking and the quickly correcting herself. That makes it extremely difficult for a non-native English speaker to understand. If she's gonna work Approach Control in an area with that much international traffic, she has to learn to speak clearly. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I went out to the hanger earlier this week to finally empty out the mini fridge for winter. Everything was froze solid except a few bottles of water. It was fun playing with, but makes me wonder why I live in Minnesota. -Dan

I,m one of those "old guys" that routinely do long cross countries without turning on the radio. I my case I had to listen to high density ATC (LAX, ORD. JFK, etc) for 30+ years. I now enjoy the peace of going somewhere quietly when I can. Have gone from N AZ to HOU only using the radio for fuel stops. It's called- "looking out the window" and not fixated inside the cockpit looking at gadgets.:-) :-) Look up "Children of Magenta" on youtube

Well after about 4 hours practicing maneuvers and a bit of studying for the oral, I passed my commercial check ride! I was stressed as usual for a check ride but honestly my examiner was awesome! He made it fun! Thought I'd share my accomplishment with ya'll! Mike

Hello everyone, my apologies for not being up to date on this thread. this is our busiest time of year and I'm not able to keep up with a lot of questions but I've been asked to weigh in here and will do my best to monitor this going forward. but to address the most basic question at this point, no the G5 is not approved as a backup instrument to any EFIS system including the Garmin G500/600 or Aspen systems. it is only approved as a primary replacement for an ADI or turn coordinator. There are no current plans to approve the G5 for this. please let me know if there are any other questions,

After nearly two months the plane got out of the annual and is flying again!!! Still some minor issues are pending like the dimmer is not working...but at least I did a test flight and the CHTs are ok, the new JPI 900 works great and the panel feels really empty without all the steam engine gauges! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've gotten away with too many landings that should have busted something.

Golf? We XC ski in the Great White North. This is behind my house last night skiing on the frozen river.

That's Tony, he was my Examiner for my PPL. Great guy and I think has the right approach. I told him the same thing at the end of my check ride, he really did make it fun. Congratulations!

As someone who does not have a single legacy instrument, the thought of not having a certified backup in the panel is enough to give one goose bumps. The one benefit of having multiple instruments like the 6 pack as backups is having multiple instruments as backups. An iPhone or iPad as backup--NO WAY.

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I don't know much about corrosion but do know a couple things about cancer biology. Zinc chromate is a spectacularly powerful carcinogen - a term usually used too lightly in an age where everything is claimed to cause cancer. Please take maximal protective precautions when spraying the stuff.

It's really pathetic that BK can't manage to deliver on such a basic device. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ho, ho, ho... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm not quite sure what is meant by "trim nose high during landing"? I always trim for correct speed on short final and just hand flare for landing. Have done it that way in everything I've ever from from Cubs to 757s.

I don't get that ad. If you make it your profile pic though I'll read anything you post.

Because they keep interrupting the audio books...

While searching for more information I came across something eerie. Here's video taken from the same vantage point back in October. No registration is seen so I can't determine if it was the same aircraft.

Ha! My hangar neighbor just got one of those. He loves it- It's like his little robot buddy now. It moves around his Cessna 310 like it's child's play. It's really quick and aggressive for its size when not loaded, like a Jack Russell Terrier. Would be fun to chase people with, but I don't want to give him any ideas .

Why wouldn't you want someone to advise you where the traffic is and keep an eye out for you in case anything goes wrong?

I guess they figured lots of folks would like to go down around this time of the year...

WOT is best for air ingestion with the least obstruction to the air flow. Hank is talking about "swirling" the fuel as it leaves the carburetor. This allows for greater fuel atomization and a better distribution to the individual cylinders. And it works very well. My JPI EGTs are all over the place at WOT, but with the throttle pulled back just a tiny bit, the EGTs come nicely into line. When I throw in a VERY small bit of carburetor heat, the EGTs are usually a straight line, like they would be in a fuel injected engine. The very small bit of carb heat also increases fuel atomization. Yes, that is the "Economizer". Mixture still controls the total fuel flow, regardless of which jet the fuel flows through. With any leaning at all the Economizer basically isn't doing anything extra.

When I used to commute to Tucson every day, IFR was out of the question. The flight took 28 min. The quickest I ever made it IFR was 40 min. The time advantage for flying was only 15 minuets over driving. The main reason I flew was to relax my brain. Flying takes so much less mental power than driving, it was a nice break at the end of the day.

No not Xmas, more like birthday, i wont get it till about the 20th January. (which is my birthday so don't forget i want LOTS of presents form you guys or there will be trouble. ill send in the management, remember them?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk3_A0lR1Zc

I think the track is genius, better than wheels. I bet it would work well on snow. Ice I don't know. That thing can move around a decent size jet. A mooney is child's play for it. As for speed - I think the point is slow, not fast. I don't want to move around my $10M jet (for instance - I don't actually have one) and RC-car speeds (60mph!) - I want to move it at 1 or 2 mph max. As I said, besides being able to stand in front of it and walk along side it, the main advantage of that device over a traditional tug, is that you can walk around the airplane as it moves, and you can even walk from the front to the back and control it from the back as you back the airplane into a tight hangar so that you can safely control the tight clearance spots to within inches.

No signs of rodents. The underside was very clean from what I could tell. When I bought the plane 6 years ago, I noticed the roof would leak when it flew through rain. I found the drain tube wasn't attached to the air scoop. The previous owner said he never let anyone bring drinks in the plane and it was hangared. My best guess is water worked its way to the floor and caused the galvanic corrosion b/t the steel brackets and aluminum floor pan. I'm hoping what I did will slow things down. My next annual is in August 2017 timeframe. I'll have someone remove the seats and brackets completely to evaluate/treat. IMO, I think this is something that could take forever to become anything, but I don't want to take chances.

Hi guys, apologies about lack of communication, its xmas time and the residential construction industry goes a bit haywire at this time of year. Everyone wants their houses finished before the 24th. I have no idea why, personally i think they are just being fussy! Update time again though. (Ill post pics later today). However after the condition report showed a few areas for manitenance, we decided to do everything on the report, so the bushels in the nose gear, brake cylinders, and aileron hinge plates are all being replaced. Just waiting on parts now, I just hope the msc has ordered them direct and not through Troyes in France for they take forever to get things to you. Both tanks have been cleaned and resealed. Gami injectors are in. All corrosion has been removed and chemically treated to stop it. All measurements checked and well within tolerances. All access panels have been cleaned, primed and resealed. Aircraft has been "neutral washed" to remove any chemical residue and is now drying over the Christmas break. The interior is back with us from Aerocomfort. I havent seen it yet, but the guys say it is all there and they havent opened it to avoid "getting sticky toffee fingers on it". I do love how non English speakers translate their phrases into English. In the New Year she will have her primer put on her, then ill go and visit to see how she is. I feel i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Andrew

No, that is what is crazy about all this! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wait does the G5 require a backup when used as a primary? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I'd expect in a situation like this a good controller would stop being casual and conversational and start using crisp professional instructions like "turn left heading 180". Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As I was listening to that exchange I began to wonder if her instructions to turn "southbound" instead of "turn left heading 180" was contributing to the confusion. It maybe that for a non-native speaker a generalization like "southbound" just didn't compute. On top of that correcting herself didn't help if the guy was already having trouble understanding her instructions . Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The emergency gear extension cable was worn out and had to be replaced.

Thanks aggie... I found the issue myself.... I was using the older Garmin Express utility. I realized I had to use flyGarmin for Windows. Managed to get the work done. Thanks again. Yves

It is my understanding that zinc chromate is a rust inhibitor only. Not a rust converter. If you spray it over rust, it just encapsulates corrosion that will continue to be active. Eastwood and permatex both make rust converters in various forms. For hard to access areas like yours, I would use the Eastwood aerosol version. But, it is worth the effort to get in with a small Dremel sanding ball and get as much as possible first. Any rust will turn completely black, which is what they claim confirms the rust is now dormant. Then, spray over it with zinc or paint. If this isn't done before zinc or paint, it will eventually bubble and flake down the road. Heres a link to the Eastwood stuff http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-rust-converter.html?SRCCODE=TXT00010&adpos=1t1&creative=164110199694&device=m&matchtype=e&network=g&gclid=CNn-opPihtECFdgGgQod4OQKYg

Sophia's look is priceless! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1) Dish soap. Doesn't really need to be thick, it's the suds that you need. 2) Duct tape at first. It left some residue so I switched to some wide painters tape. Worked just as well. 3) Didn't. As that panel with the filler cap was removed in place of plexi I held the vacuum up to the vent on the bottom of the wing. I found that if I tilted the hose so that it wasn't completely flush with the skin it still provided enough suction to bend the plexi inward. The vent on my C is most likely different from your F. In fact my fuel cap is under an access panel with a scupper so there will of course be differences. The last time I did this I didn't even bother with soap. There was about 8 gallons of fuel remaining so I just put the plexi in place and applied suction. The bubbles were very easy to see coming up through the fuel and causing ripples at the surface. Good lighting is important. Tossing a few glow sticks under the plexi would sure help. Good luck.

Never did 35, but plan on taking an instructor up to get used to 20 which is what I was comfortable with in my Arrow. Just wanted to check with the Forum to make sure we won't break the airplane! Thanks all.

Russ, as you probably know I had this problem as well and did post on it. Have an update that may or not apply. My trim would stick and then started running away. After 2 incidents I realized it wasn't a fluke. Local A&P (who is quite good and has worked on a variety of Mooneys) couldn't find anything. 1) Avionics shop found that the pitch servo had worn brushes. Worn brushes = dust in the servo. New brushes/rebuilt servo....runaway trim problem solved.....but...sticky trim still a problem. Trim would roll then stop, often requiring a forceful manual tug to get it going again. No pattern that I could identify. 2) A&P tearing his hair out, can't find anything. Calls out of the blue, he had a brainstorm remembering something from another aircraft years ago. Wires connecting the various yoke switches can chafe and wear. If the electric trim is operating while the yoke is moving the chafed wires then the trim can freeze. He demonstrated it on the ground. Went in and got all the wires out and several were chafed. All were replaced. 3) no more sticky trim!! This may be a red herring rather than addressing your problem, but if all else has been tried see if this isn't a factor. You never know. Robert

My general rule of thumb is that I have to get somewhere, I'll either file or go flight following. But if I'm out on a leisurely cruise, or just tooling about, I don't bother.

They are, IIRC, I clearly remember one saying clock. One of them has something to do with batteries, because I know if you blow it, your batteries disconnect. Happened to me once when switching from 1 to 2, the whole plane shut down, happened on the ground and IIRC I was really slow with the switch.

I wrote the passengers NOT so much

Amazingly enough, one friend was badgering me after I first bought the kit (1999) on what my avionics were going to be. I told him there was no way I was even THINKING about that, as fast as that technology changes, I would only spend time on that when it became my hold up (almost done). So no, I never dreamed I would go glass, none alone all glass with no steam gauge back-up. It has been a transition!! Tom

I have the 240 installed. I like it. Its really very simple and intuitive. If you're interfacing it to a 440 or 540, make sure your shop installs the wires to monitor the standby frequency. I love the blue tooth. My iPad automatically connects to the panel whenever I power up and the alerts from foreflight I hear in my headset. If you don't already have the 440 or 540, and don't care about the standby audio, I would probably go with the PS Engineering unit.

Well, today I finally joined the ranks of being a "G5 pilot" (No, not that G5). Pretty slick little device and I think I'm really going to enjoy flying behind this thing. Installation was about 7 hours of work but it wasn't a straight or simple swap and drop-in replacement either. Right off the bat we could see that the lower part of the G5 unit was going to overlap the top of the Bendix/King HSI bezel. Jeff, of High Desert Avionics, was able to figure out a way to move the holes up so he could ensure a proper fit. After some drilling and filing away at the instrument hole a brand new G5 lay happily in it's new home. Total cost for parts and labor ended up being $684. I'm glad he was able to accommodate me and have the unit done in one day while I waited. If you're in the SoCal area and need good quality avionics work please consider Jeff at High Desert Avionics at Fox Field. I've always been happy with his quality of work and continue to go back up there when I need avionics work done to my plane. He doesn't make you feel like your job is too small and not worth his time, like I had at another local shop. Today I just learned how he helped out on the SpaceShip One program, working for Burt Rutan.

I recently sold a half share of my 68' C to a CFII/former airline pilot. I spent plenty of time with him and people who know him making sure he would be a good fit for me and the airplane. I took the insured hull value of the airplane and divided it by two. He paid me for one half. We have an hourly operating cost of around $90/hr wet. This is based on fuel @ $6/ gallon. It includes a 2,000hr engine overhaul fund of about $23,000 and a 2,000hr prop overhaul fund of about $2,000. I have about a $6/hr fudge factor included for oil and misc. We pay out of pocket about $1,000 a year for insurance and we split the hangar rental each month, so hangar and insurance are not included in the hourly rate. Any upgrades or major parts that need to be purchased are split between the two of us and generally that money does not come from the airplanes bank account. I am an IA so I do all the maintenance and upgrades/avionics work on the airplane, which obviously saves us a ton of cash. My partner helps with the maintenance when he can, and in return I have a free CFII/MEI at my disposal. I am very fortunate because I have a great partner, he has even become a good friend now. Spend lots of time getting to know your perspective partner(s). Ask around and see what other people think about them and their flying skills. My airplane is my baby and I normally do not let anyone else fly it, but I am totally comfortable with knowing I have a solid partner I do not have to worry about.

And Mooneys...

will any of those other displays put the instrument approach plate with your planes position on the display directly in front of you and in your primary instrument scan? Eliminating head bobs and weaves i.e. vertigo? If anything happens to the PFD, can any of the other displays, with a single button push, revert to a complete backup AI and HSI with the navdata already loaded and displayed to continue the flight?

I visited Seppe on Wednesday and checked in on AL, which bearing in mind i have pneumonia was a feat in itself. She is looking better by the day. The left tank is cleaned, corrosion all fixed and well within limits, sealed and ready for her final protection. The right tank has been cleaned, inspected, slight corrosion fixed and again well within limits. Sealing is taking place as we speak. She should have her first coat of primer on her by Tuesday which is excellent news. All the flight controls and fairings have been cleaned and prepped. Loose smoking rivets throughout the aircraft have been replaced. Correct rivets have been put where the incorrect ones were (some sham maintenance company in the past called Airtime in Bournemouth). The interior is complete and will be back in Holland around Tuesday as well, which is excellent news. Can i just say (and i havent seen the product yet) but Aerocomfort in San Antonio is definitely the place to go to get your interior done. We shipped everything to them, they even sent lists to Holland to make sure that everything was sent. Hector has been so accomodating, friendly, coping with the damn Brit and his wierd English ways. They liaised with my shipping company direct and just kept me in the loop so i didnt have to worry about that as well. Fully understood to send photos to me before final payment went out (silly Brit thing). Excellent customer service, i cant fault it. Andrew and before anyone notices the crack is old and was fixed ages ago.

Let me have your attention..Follow-up from Mooney. I just received a phone call just a few minutes ago from Vivek at Mooney Inc, well actually he was heading to a Mooney dealer up in the northeast. I was kind of caught off guard as I had just walked into work. He did relay sincerest of apologies on behalf of Mooney and said there was mis-communication with respect to tour cancellations. He said that they would gladly provide us a tour and even offered an extended hospitality of a lunch. I told him I truly appreciated the follow-up and accepted the invitation. I did not want to make them go over and beyond with the lunch offer, but would gladly accept the tour. I really would have been happy with just a abbreviated tour allowing me to stand at the entry door with my face smashed against a window looking in. He did not go into details regarding future tours, so I'm not sure of the status of that. I do appreciate his follow-up, correction and invitation. Time to close out this thread. I don't want to beat a dead horse..maybe it was mis-communication or the end of the tours. Regardless, I appreciate them following up and the special invitation. I want to post this as quickly as possible so everyone will be at peace with the outcome. Pictures will follow..I promise! Thanks for the support from MS. -Tom