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UPDATE 12/19/2017: At last, I Closed on the airplane today. Sent all the "goodies" to the FAA office for filing. Time to get greasy and tear into this thing tomorrow first thing. Goal is to have it at Sun N Fun 2018 all done up.

The best headset is the one you can afford and can wear for 5+ hours a day without noticing its there. That's different for everyone. For me its the A20, I have logged close to 10hrs in a single day as PIC with it on and you actually forget you are wearing it. I think the Halos are awesome but I don't like the idea of something being stuck in my ear for long periods of time.

When I was headed to Florida last year in the Rocket up at FL230, I was going through Chicago Center airspace over the lower east end of Lake Michigan around 7 on a Saturday morning. I had been with the same controller for about 25 minutes but could hear him very clearly has he was working a string of airliners into the ORD transition. He comes on and asks "N1017L, are you still with me?" I immediately called back that I was and heard him loud and clear. No response from him. I'm thinking, OK....this isn't good and call back that I hear him loud and clear. He replies "stand by, I'm looking to see what frequency I need to send you to." He gives me my new frequency and I report up to the next controller (I think it was Indy now). The controller says" yes, we've been waiting to hear from you". I replied back I was never turned over until just now. A few minutes later the new controller comes on with the good old "N1017L, I need you to take this number down and call when you land, concerning a possible pilot deviation." I took it down, didn't say any more....now that god and everyone now thinks this GA Mooney pilot screwed up. My only statement was for him to advise the supervisor I would be in the air at least another 2 hours before I landed in Tennessee. Now I had 2 hours of gut boil....did I miss a hand-off? Man, I know my N number like my name, having this plane for over 17 years. My wife says "I didn't hear a hand-off and I was listening the whole time too". When I landed in TN, I called the number even before fueling. A guy named Tom answers (my name as well, so easy to remember) on the first ring. I identify myself as the Mooney he was expecting a call from and, with some thought, mention it "appears we had some kind of radio snafu". He doesn't really say anything, leaving me to feel like I have to explain. I said I was in radio contact with the controller the whole time, never sensing there was an issue. He still doesn't say anything. I further mention I fly a lot of night time medical missions, and didn't find it unusual to be with one controller for a while at that time of the morning as I know they combine sectors when the traffic is lower. With still no response I finally add, my wife was listening and I've had this plane for 17 years and don't believe I missed a hand-off. I think you should check the tapes. He finally comes back with "yes, we checked the tapes and you WERE NOT handed off as you should have been." He further explains the exact scenario I described, the combined sectors at night, were being re-distributed to more controllers as the traffic was coming up and somehow my plane got missed as they were moving planes out of the one controllers responsibility. He took my name, address and phone number, but assured me it was for their end, not an issue with me. EVER SINCE.... I now keep a log on my knee board of every hand-off; the controlling agency, the new frequency, the time, and a check mark when the new controller has been contacted AND acknowledged me on the new freq. If there's been some time since the last frequency change, I call and query if I'm still supposed to still be with that controller. Also...at the recommendation of peevee , I keep my standby radio on the emergency frequency, as this is the first place they will query for you if lost in the system. Tom

Almost finished.

Great advice I know how you feel I have a J with sooooo many improvements that I will never get back. I never really think about it though. My J is every bit of like a cirrus and I have 1/4 of the cost of a new plane. Buying an airplane as an investment never was in the cards for me.

Go flying!

Well, it seems it is not a question of if, but a question of when... Today I was flying back from KESN to KGAi. I was at 6000 feet and hear that ATC is telling an airplane to descend to 4000 feet. Because its call sign was very similar to mine, I thought they were talking to me. Now, my call sign finishes in 41V the other one in GV. I asked for confirmation and was told that GV should descend, I repeated my call sign and confirmed that I was descending. I went down to 4000. After a while ATC calls me and starts deviating me around... obviously I thought I was too slow, or did not descend fast enough... But, no! He gets back to me telling me about a possible pilot deviation, gives me a phone number... I landed (not my best landing...), and called, after conferring with AOPA what to do (do you subscribe to their legal service? I did not until today). ATC tells me very politely the supervisor would be listening to the tape and get back to me if there was an action to be taken. After about 20 min (time I used to fill out a NASA form, but is it too late?) I get a phone call from a number I did not know... I was so nervous that I did not answer and it went to voice mail. So I called back right away... I imagined black helicopters, police cruisers coming to the airport to pick me up... I was transferred to the supervisor, a nice lady told me that she did not call me, but the quality assurance team had called me to let me know that they had listened to the tape and that it had not been my mistake, that I had inquired if the instruction had been for me and then I had confirmed that I was descending... and that ATC did not catch it. She apologized for the inconvenience and I started to breath again. So not all ATC stories are horror stories, on the contrary. After the fact and listening to my own tape (did you ever listen to your own transmission? I wonder how can they understand me?), I learned that I should be clearer and speak slower. I also thought that it was very nice for them to call back to let me know that everything was OK. So that is the story.

I’m thinking this would be the definition of minor mod. Same thing as wiring your stratus or GDL-39 to ship power.

UPDATE: A very thorough firewall forward inspection by the folks at Tennessee Aircraft Services at KMKL identified a loose v- band clamp (not the AD clamps, the smaller one forward of the turbo) as the only place that could be leaking exhaust. It’s fixed, but the weather today was 400 overcast, not good enough for a functional check flight. So I rode home in a Caravan and will return to do the FCF and subsequent flight home when the weather improves. More to follow. Cheers, Rick

So close to being done. Most everything going back on to stay. Almost twins in the hangar!

I've had getting one of these on my list and just haven't gotten to it. The coupon code still works - saw this thread and ordered one yesterday.

Even living here on the East Coast, once you get used to turbo capability it is hard going back!

Just a nosy question. Have you eliminated the M20M Bravo? Many of the Bravo owners on MS refer to them as their "private airliner", and I would think you could find a plane in your price range with the equipment you say you would like.

It’s like flight bags, you need to find one that works for you. Like almost everyone else, I started with Clark passives, then bought the original Clark ANRs, only to find my noggin was being squashed like an overripe melon. I moved to the original Telex ANR and wore them until they broke and couldn’t/wouldn’t be fixed by Telex. I took them up on their $300 towards a new pair of ANRs only to find a hated the fit. I then bought a pair of Lightspeed first generation Zulus, then a pair of Halos, then Clarity Alofts, only to find myself back to the Zulus unless it is really hot out. Do you think this discussion is in the same category as women and their shoes? Sure feels the same. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The only real answer to the question.

I'm ambi-uptus (new word alert). I learned to turn my paper sectionals track up as a student pilot for the reason you mention, but went north up on IFR enroute charts to make them easier to read. I can't even imagine trying to read an approach plate track up. Moving into the GPS world, I prefer track up. On my tablet apps, it's north up, consistent with my IFR chart practice. So, I'm basically track up in the certified box and north up on the tablet. Strangely enough, I have a lousy sense of direction but the system has actually helped.

Thanks Mike. It is nice to see such positive things coming from my crash. Not only CO awareness but my personal relationships as well. I have always been grateful for my friends and family, but now it’s 10 fold. Life is good. cheers, Dan

When I fly with O2 or even just on long trips, I take the Halo frame off my head and let it sit around my neck. The tubes are long enough to still allow the ear buds to stay in the ears. This allows me to easily use a mask when I'm up high in the flight levels, and even easy with the cannula down lower. It's like not wearing a headset at all. And on the rare occasions that ATC has something to say to me, I just pick up the mic and speak into it.

I took my full size mountain bike to BurningMan with me. I took off the front wheel, seat, and peddles. It all went fine through the door into my 252 with the back seats removed.

I've never had any issues with my fake mustache....and I can still wear glasses and a hat comfortably... As I mentioned in my post above, totally get the fact that some folks just don't like having things in their ears. As for Bob's comment, all the cool kids are wearing the Halo's now... Brian

Halo's hands down for comfort, clarity, weight, etc, etc. did I mention comfort? Only downside is they sell out quickly when he has them in stock (as late as last Thursday for the last batch). I use the black foam tips and they are super comfortable and the reduction in noise is as good as any expensive ANR headset out there. Add in the fact that I've never gotten a headache after wearing them for more than an hour like I did with my old DC's and the pair of Bose I wore in a friends Cirrus. However, do you like sticking things in your ears is the big question. If you can wear ear buds, the Halo's shouldn't be a problem. Some folks just aren't comfortable with the inserts over long periods of time and I totally get that. You can buy 2.25 Halo's ($389) for the price of the Bose and Zulu's, so there's that to consider. Buy them to try out and if you don't like them, they sell quickly when advertised here or on any other forum - even at full MSRP to get your money back Cheers, Brian

It’s raining 337’s here today! I received Matt’s and Marauders 337’s today. The FAA actually beat me to getting the paperwork done before the job. Time to get Matt’s flying for data reports! David

The repair is going nicely and we hope to have her back by the end of next month.

Received this today: 2017 was one of the most ambitious years here at Dynon, with the launch of Dynon Certified at Oshkosh AirVenture. As we wind down the year, we are very close to gaining our our initial certification, and we're excited to to begin deliveries and expand the Approved Model List in 2018.

When I was flying down to the Summit I was monitoring 121.5 and Potomac approach called me on guard. Gave me a new frequency for the next sector. I know that I didn't hear a handoff. My only problem with monitoring guard are the idiots that "joke" on the frequency... when it becomes too much I have to turn it off for a hundred miles or so.

Tom -- thanks for sharing. Losing com in one form or another has always been a concern for me. I lost com on both radios a couple of years ago due to an issue with an open squelch on the GTN and a Narco that went to the Happy Avionics Graveyard. I went on a mission to make sure that my end was not going to be the problem. I replaced the Narco with a 16W Garmin 255B and this past summer replaced all of the RG-58 with all new RG-400. What a difference the cable alone made. When I pulled the RG-58, I found a lot of suspect cabling.

While my bird is still down for annual, I went in to get some video of the gear swing and to practice the manual gear extension. I don't practice it in the air but I try to do one every year while it is up on jacks. Here's a video with the whole process and detailed shots of electric and manual extension from different angles at the end. I did screw something up some things and learned some. A more minor one was letting go of the gear override button before the gear was fully retracted. So I realized it's a "hold" button and not a "push" button. I think I knew this already but I wasn't sure so there was a moment I let it go and the gear stopped retracting and that confirmed to me that I'm not holding it for no reason the whole time. Ran into a few issues during the manual gear extension. Certainly I followed the checklist and all but there was something the checklist would not help with. First one was just yanking the cord too hard. I remember from last time that it takes a bit of effort but my mechanic made a memorable comment to me, "you're not trying to start a lawn mower!" The bigger issue was how I did not go far enough to lock the gear down on the first try. I was staring at the mechanical indicator and kept going until the green lines lined up. I was using the indicator for cues for how much more to go but I also ignored the annunciator panel figuring one of the reasons for a manual gear extension is an electrical failure so this is how I would be doing it. When I thought I was done, the mechanic pointed to the annuciator and said it's not locked yet! Sure enough, the "Gear Down" light was not yet lit. One more pull and it was. I learned a valuable lesson. Look for the light, feel for the click. Duh! I feel for the click every time I do a normal gear extension but for some reason I felt like manually moving it will be more subtle and smooth. No, the click is still there at the end. So even if the light doesn't illuminate and the indicator tells you you're down, feel for the click before assuming it's down and locked.

Given the choice between the Ovation and the Eagle I'd choose the Ovation every time. The Ovation came with more standard features, including a fully coupled autopilot (the Eagle came with an STEC 30), usually leather interior, better equipped panel, two or three color paint scheme, etc. The standard IO-550 on the Eagle was only rated at 244hp before any STC mods. The Ovation came standard at 280hp. Both can be upgraded to as much as 310hp, but it's usually going to be more expensive on the Eagle since some Ovations already came with the Top Prop needed for the upgrade. Standard fuel on an Eagle was 75 gallons, on an Ovation 89 gallons. No electric rudder trim. Speed brakes were optional on the Eagle. The yokes were painted rather than leather covered. The first year Eagles came standard with one Nav Com and a King GPS. Trying to bring an Eagle up to an Ovation will be more expensive than just buying an Ovation, all things being equal. A huge consideration is the Moritz gauges that were on all Eagles and Ovations starting in mid '99. The gauges start failing one at a time and the only real solution is to cut a new panel and put in a JPI-900 or JPI930 or MVP-50. If someone has done that already on an airplane for sale, so much the better. If not, it's eventually going to need it. When you start cutting a new panel that's when you start thinking about doing some other things at the same time and $40,000 goes very fast on that type of project. Usually the least expensive way to do it in the long run is just to pay a fair price for the best example out there and fly it.

I love my Brompton. It’s not a mountain bike but it fits behind the back seat of my M20C perfectly. It folds up much smaller than the Montague and it folds and unfolds in just a few seconds. My local bike shop sells a number of brands including the Brompton and Montague. The shop owner talked me out of the Montague in favor of the Brompton, for what I was looking for in a bike. With the 6 speed version it will climb very steep grades with ease. It’s great on streets and dirt roads but for real off road mountain biking, not so much. It’s great if you are at a small airport and want to ride a few miles into town or go sightseeing. Just my giving you my two cents.

IRAN on mags is a must. Thanks. They will be coming off the airplane tomorrow and in the mail. thank you.

I find it funny how some people can still wear those big clunky, hair messing, ear sweating, glasses pinching, canula blocking, head squeezers! This Bonanza guy on the right sacrificed ever using sunglasses, canula, hat, and having hair on his head just so he could get the active noise cancellation.

I like the Bose A20. I owned a clarity aloft for 2 years and it was ok, but I fell out of love with it and used it less and less and eventually sold it.

Halo's with custom molded ear pieces. I've tried them all and have a Zulu2 set knocking around in the back seat. The Halo's were easily the best, but now with custom ear molds, there is no comparison.

banjo, who is that sitting beside you?

Well, the only comparison I can help you with is that I went from DC's with the ANR upgrade to Zulu 2's and now Lightspeed PFX's. I love my Lightspeed PFX. It is comfortable and does well with noise cancelling. Not sure what difference it makes compared to Bose or others but the PFX continuously samples the noise both inside your ear and outside to adjust the noise cancelling. Could be hype, maybe not but they do well in my C model to keep things quiet. The cord is also a braided cord that is more like a rope. It does not get twisted, does not kink and can even be tied in a knot to hang it up somewhere. Yeah could be marketing but to have a cord that does not get twisted up is good.

Nice writing, PK! Other Paul (Rocket), Thanks for bringing PK's writing here. Best regards, -a-

I have a dental meeting in June at Omni Amelia Island Plantation. I'll keep that in mind when they open up registration.

I completely agree, and appreciate you sharing the details. Glad ATC was able to acknowledge it and that you were ok. We're all one big team up there. Sometimes I think this topic gets overlooked, so am glad you brought this back to the forefront of our minds.

Definitely send the mag to one of the specialists for an inspection. I use Select Aircraft in Lancaster, TX. He's got the experience and the parts. It is a good mag and engine, just adhere to the inspection intervals and make sure it has the newer mounting clamps and new lock washers when you re-install it. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

ADS-B mode S ES and UAT have sufficient data bandwidth to deal with such routine messages. I would be happy to participate in a datalink system that popped up ATC communication as text onto my MFD. Much better than repeatedly asking “was that for me?”

Great catch and good execution- did you open up all the vents after it alarmed? I get 0-3 in cruise (same as in my car). Interesting enough my wife is someone who like the heat on High all the time. So it’s cooking in the cockpit (still 0-1 ppm) with the heat full on. We land and I open up my little pilot side window and the co alarm buzzes at 60 ppm. I close the window l and it goes back to normal. This was after landing in a right crosswind Similar thing happened after cracking the door - CO levels shot up. I think we’re pulling a slight vaccum and entraining exhaust gas when we think we’re getting fresh air sometimes.

1) I have found putting the gear down when I'm just above the glide slope intercept works well for staying on the GS. The trick for me is to slow down to gear speed before the FAF and I generally need to be in level flight to do it unless I'm going to chop power significantly. Sometimes I find myself a little behind and in the white arc to put 10 degrees of flaps down before I slow down to 120mph and then once I hit the FAF, get the gear down and I may already have 10 degrees of flaps. Don't be afraid to use your flaps to get that little extra 10mph slow down if necessary. Power settings are largely dependent on headwind component, temperature and other factors so I just try to fly whatever power settings give me the speeds required and a 500-700fpm stabilized descent (of course, if large headwind then maybe only 300fpm, etc). Sometimes it's 18", sometimes it's 16", sometimes 15". 2) I try to slow down to about 75 knots around the MDA -- if you're a little faster that should be fine too, just pitch up for the slower airspeed after adding power without being excessive to let yourself get the J bar up. Good J bar technique is helpful too with it being one solid motion, but sometimes it can be a struggle. Not sure if this was helpful at all, but good luck on your instrument rating. It was definitely the most useful thing I did all year flying-wise.

Update on replacing wiring harness and all plugs: No real change. Engine still backfires and runs rough. Max static RPM did go up a bit to just under 2400 RPM. I think this small improvement in max power is a result of all new wires and plugs. Just like doing a tune up on a 1963 Chevy. If you wanted it to start in the winter in northern Indiana you did a tune up of new plugs and points every fall and new wires every two or three years. Next steps are to pull Both Mags and take them to a Mag shop and have them bench tested under load. Overhaul if anything is abnormal. Have also decided to shut the door after the horse ran away, and when I am finally able to get the plane to the avionics shop, I am going to have a JPI 900 installed. I'll keep everyone posted on progress with the Mags. -mark

Unquestionably the cheapest option here since you already have a WAAS GPS, is to do a 330ES transponder. They can be had on the used market for less than $2000 and the install is often less than $500. It's quick, cheap and gives you full ADSB compliance for all altitudes. There are many other options with many more features and options... but all come at a cost. This is what I did for my C. I bought a 330ES from @Alan Fox and my avionics shop installed it for $400 while I waited. Easy, cheap, done.

His personal Turbo 310 has engines that have almost 4000 hours and they soldier on, an occasional cylinder due to exhaust valve guide wear and burned valves, which is common. I am not a huge proponent of leaning to CHT. You can lean some engines right into the middle of the red box in winter and they wont show above 360 CHT. My buddy's 260HP Bonanza with the Liquidair baffles wont go above 290 CHT regardless, unless its right when pistons start getting holes in them. Its airplane specific. Better, set the mixture to 15 LOP, and if CHT creeps above your threshold, lean a little more. EGT primary..... CHT, secondary.

As a survivor of a bad traffic accident, seat belts with shoulder harness and air bag, is why I am here today. I has surprised with the size of the air bag (small). How big are the air bags in the shoulder harness for our planes? Which side of the harness is it? What are the maintenance requirements? My accident was 3 weeks ago, I have a lot of time now, 5 fractured ribs, nose and 7 staples in my head. 2007 Jeep Wrangler and a very sudden stop. An airplane cabin does not look crash worthy compared to even older cars. If you do not have shoulder harness’s in your plane, get them. With air bags would be better. Ron

No Don, all G1000 models of any plane have the G1000 elements as part of the Type Certificate, so that is the point of contention. It does make it harder to add piece-parts to your panel the way you can if you have separate radios, PFD/MFD, etc. So getting updates to the system relies on both Garmin doing the programming, and Mooney certifying it for release. So far, Mooney has actually been a leader in keeping its older G1000 planes updated, with (now) reasonable availability of WAAS upgrades, ADS-B compliance, etc. The Cessna/Diamond/Beech folks are still struggling with these issues in their older G1000 planes. As I've stated elsewhere in these pages, my next quest is to rid myself of the last vestiges of spinning gyros in my panel. This means replacing my backup AI with the new Mid-continent SAM module, which is in the Ultras. I think this can probably be done without further approval but I just haven't investigated it in detail. Beyond that, I'd like to replace the S-TEC 55x (driven by a hidden electric turn coordinator with spinning gyro) with Garmin's new GFC600 autopilot, but since this definitely integrates with the G1000 that will need to be blessed by the Garmin/Mooney Duumvirate (yes, that's a word...I looked it up!).

Good morning! I am DOM in a high end corporate flight department. I also have a background in extremely high end automotive painting (from a past life) and I am a moderately experienced sheet metal guy. I prefer stripping an airframe with the proper chemical stripper, a stripper that is reasonably viscous, and neutralized instantly with water. That's how the big boys at Gulfstream do it. What many don't understand is the effort required to strip an airframe properly, as the stripper will find it's way into joints, under hardware, and on to your windows. Done properly, it's the way to go. Then careful prep etch/alodine. Aluminum is an interesting metal. It's very flammable, most people don't know this. However, aluminum, when exposed to the oxygen in the air instantly forms a tough, thin, oxide coating that prevents further oxidation. Hence the inert nature of aluminum in real world use. (off topic, we can talk about thermite powder, a very reactive mix of alum and iron oxide) The aluminum alclad on sheet metal is very corrosion resistant and very thin as mentioned in the post above. Careful use of "Scotch Brite" won't remove it. When using alodine on an aircraft, it becomes clear just where the alclad remains and where it is gone, as the color is markedly different. I generally use etch and the red "Scotch Brite" to scuff the aluminum. Rinse it and rapidly treat with alodine, which also works it's magic rather rapidly. Surprisingly, you will likely see large areas of sheet metal (even on new aircraft) where Alclad is no longer there. When manufacturers drill holes, they often sand off the burrs, sand to promote adhesion and so on. They might even sand the aluminum to remove blemishes. This all becomes clear when alodine is applied. I have been treating minor corrosion on local South Florida aircraft using a Soda Blaster. It's a viable method of stripping paint and corrosion in small areas, such as around rivets. There are some companies stripping entire airframes using Blasting Soda. It's reasonably inert with a pH of around 8.2, and instantly neutralized with water, etch, mild acids and of course Alodine. Done correctly, Soda Blasting won't remove Alclad. And it does leave a good surface for paint to bond to. However, I do not know if it's a viable method for stripping an entire aircraft. I suspect the methodology is not fully worked out. Edit: It's best to make an effort to preserve the Alclad, obviously. But don't get wrapped around the axle on this subject. It's tougher than you might guess, for example, buffing and polishing aluminum with abrasive polish won't instantly remove it. That takes years of buffing... And, if you look carefully, you can see where it's been buffed off. Sanding with 320 will penetrate the Alclad. But, again, the manufacturer may have done this in production.