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After months of searching for my dream Mooney and then a two month annual and upgrade at Don Maxwell’s shop in Longview, my 67 Mooney M20 F is finally in her new home in Santa Monica, Ca. Such a great day! A life long dream come true. Thanks to Alan Basinger for taking such great care of 68 Mike as her previous owner and to Don Maxwell for his expert service. Also thanks to Full Throttle Aviation for the Ferry flight services from Texas to California. Most importantly thanks to my family and to my love Shannon for being so supportive of my aviation passion. Shannon gave me a huge hug and said this plane is the only mistress I will accept in your life and I expect you to enjoy her fully. I look forward to meeting more Mooniacs in the years to come and to learning from other members on the Mooney Space forum. 3C2C1D70-CE6B-4DBF-AE0A-573F70C4456D.mov

Hey Guys, I just tested my new engine pre-heater this morning and wanted to share. I don't have the luxury of a hangar or electricity so I couldn't use the "normal" engine heating methods. Luckily, here in South Carolina the need to pre-heat an engine doesn't happen all that much. But when it does, I didn't have access to a good solution. So I built my own. My requirements where it had to be self-contained and able to function without having to be attached to any other service, lightweight, and small enough to fit int he baggage compartment in case I wanted/needed to take it with me. This ruled out every option I was able to find. What I ended up building was a diesel/electric powered heater. The heater is a 5000 watt diesel heater that is typically used in cold climates to preheat cars or to keep trucks/campers warm without running the engine. I mounted this in a toolbox with a small motorcycle battery for power and a small 1 Liter fuel tank for scooters. There is an intake on one side which I will add a filter to later and an output on the other with a flexible duct I can put into the cowling. The control is on the outside so there is no need to open the box except to charge the battery or add fuel. The heater is flexible fuel wise so, in a pinch, it would also run on jet fuel or kerosene. Maybe some of you snowbirds on mooneyspace can offer some feedback on ways to make it better. --Adam

They should send Dan a salesman of the year trophy. I bet he’s sold a third of their units . I bought one

Hallelujah! I don’t even mind feeling stupid... A couple of days on the trickle charger, a nice warm light under the nosewheel well, and it finally, after a good bit of coaxing, started with a satisfying rumble this afternoon. So another bit of education. Just because it thinks it’s charged, doesn’t mean it is. . Warmed up the oil, and took myself for a sunset ride around Edenton.Way too long between flights. I’m glad my dear 20-year old CFI friend was along to keep things in the proper order.

For my Proof of concept, I got a Chinese one off ebay. That's what made me start working on this in the first place. That was the closest I could find to what I needed but was over $500, not light and not portable. Good for an FBO, not for an individual. Yes it is. This one is a Chinese clone of a Parker I think was the name. And yes, the inside of the toolbox stays ambient outdoor temperature. The intake and exhaust for the actual combustion have ports on the back of the toolbox. Based on what I saw yesterday, I should be able to get well over an hour on 1 liter. The temp of the output is hot enough you can't keep your hands in the stream long, but temp wise, I'm not sure. And for the weight, I'll put it on my scale tonight when I get home, but less than 30lbs I'm guessing/estimating now. I wanted it small enough to fit in the plane. I visit my parents in GA and the airport there is a really small country airport with no support equipment. Need to be able to take it with me. Exact numbers I hope to prove out and be able to answer soon, i.e. runtime on battery, fuel burn, weight, output temp, etc. Any other details that would be good to know?

Not privy to the details of the deal....but....if the seller is pushing you to make a deposit non refundable due to legitimate time constraints you’d be well served to walk away from the deal. Deposits are contingent on an airplane being in good condition. Making it non refundable defeats the purpose. Seriously contemplate your next move. Good luck in your search !

She texted me tonight at the exact time I pounded on her window last year. She and her husband are fantastic people. A few months ago Deanna and I took the kids and visited them for an afternoon. It was my first time back, and the only time in the daylight. It was humbling to see. My airplane literally impacted the only spot suitable for survival. It is very hilly, not a place I would pick to land. Cheers, Dan

Did you mount it to the passenger seat back? If so what did you use? Bold move showing a Touch-n-Go video on Mooney Space.

A has a pretty good description above- but here’s a slightly different one... The wing (airfoil) stalls at the same angle of attack regardless of weight of the aircraft. If the gauge is calibrated for full flaps, or no flaps (two different airfoils, essentially, due to different cords), then it will automatically account for whatever weight your aircraft is flying at.... because weight alone only changes the angle of attack required to maintain flight- not the angle of attack where the stall occurs. thats why “on speed” angle of attack is always the same for a given airfoil, regardless of weight... but if your aircraft is heavier or lighter, you’ll have more or less angle of attack for level, balanced flight. As weight changes, though, and as angle of bank changes, you will have a different indicated airspeed in order to maintain that same angle of attack. The critical angle of attack point where the stall occurs, measured in degrees (or units of degrees in some aircraft), doesn’t change, but the indicated airspeed at the critical AoA point does.

1000 foot ceilings makes for a good day of IFR practice. Sort of fun when you are between layers.

My first Guinea Pig was named Al. Short for Albert (of Mooney). He was a fast little F-er when I let him roam free in the living room and it was time to catch him and put him back in the cage.

Because this topic was apparently asked on every pilot forum I monitor I did do the math on another site: Just for fun I did the math on a 20DME arc(as mentioned in another post on this same stupid subject) at 6000' above the station:When your GPS reads: 20.0NM your DME will read: 20.0NM, the difference is 149 feet.3 miles out on the localizer at 1000': GPS: 3.0NM, DME: 3.0NM, the difference being 27 feet.You're never going to be using DME to identify station passing so I don't think the 0 DME case is very relevant.

Have not had my lab in the Mooney yet, but flew Desi here (PnP) from Cocoa Beach, FL to Charleston, SC. She is deaf and was abused when young but a real sweetheart. Looked out the window the entire time. Needless to say, airplane noise was not a problem for her. By the way, if a deaf dog gets away from you calling her does not work at all[emoji16] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I've been looking for a good place for my SensorCon in my M20K. Last week on the way to Vegas with not much to do for five hours at 12K, I discovered that the clip on the back of the SensorCon is a perfect match for a standard GoPro mount. If I want to read the number, I have to take it in my hand, but if the alarm goes off, it's right by my ear. Thanks Dan, for turning us all on to these units.

Today is the one year anniversary of my fateful flight. I'm typing this at 8:10pm, exactly one year ago I was slumped over unconscious, strapped into a busted up airplane in a cold dark field. It's amazing the difference a year makes. I really miss my C, it was a fantastic little airplane that treated us well. Now I own a 231. It is in desperate need of an avionics upgrade but it has been an impressive traveling machine so far. It delivered Deanna and I to the Mooney Summit safely and efficiently, averaging 176kts for the round trip. The Summit was a wonderful experience! Thanks @mike_elliott and @rocketman! For those that are local to the Twin Cities that didn't make it to the Summit to hear me present my story. You get a second chance! I'll be presenting at the "Saturday Seminars" at Modern Avionics on the field @ KFMC. March 10th, 9am. I will also be speaking to EAA Chapter 1229 @ Fleming Field on Tuesday Feb 20th, 7pm. Everyone else, please keep CO in the hanger talk around your airports. Digital detectors can make CO crashes a thing of the past. We just need to get the word out. The Sensorcon discount still is in effect. Code: aircraft2017 Cheers, Dan

Those are my sentiments exactly. I an older Century autopilot that doesnt work half the time, I have been waiting to see if Stec would compete with Garmin, they will have to if they expect to sell against the GFC 500. They should make the price adjustment sooner than later or they will lose market share.

Congrats to Mike Goulian for his win at Abu Dhabi his first in nine years. Kirby Chamblis also made the final four.

I was replacing the tube on the nose dragger and the IA started asking questions about certification and standards and work procedures. I mean after all it does drag around a certified plane and all that. we negotiated down to if I was going to get an annual done in Feb, I would have to do the work. Annual #3 Nothing major to do this time.

I'm right there with you...Shhh don't let anyone know!

Mlm20c- Poplar Grove did the overhaul carusoam- Thanks for the great thoughts. We will definitely have the cylinders pulled to inspect the cam for corrosion.

It can be considered a lot of things, but... Run-out is not going to be one of them. PPI and a well thought out purchase agreement should cover many of the risks of buying a plane. I don’t think any IO550 has been considered run out in so few hours... Good luck with your negotiations. You may want to continue to tune the approach some... Of course... did they list the sales price as if the engine were new? If they did, then there is some discount available because it isn't new... Cam location, design and materials are completely different than Lycoming... a common area to check with a strong eye. If you have two identical Ovations side by side... select the more active one... If the seller has two identical buyers side by side... he has choices too.... The fun part of buying machinery... Some situations are more in the buyers arena, some situations lend themselves to the seller more... PP thoughts only, I only bought one M20R... Best regards, -a-

What is the small airport closest to you in LA?

Saw the Indy race last year. IFR with 1000ft ceilings! They still put on a good race. Too bad we can't land at the track!

Yep, 50 fps is 3000 feet per minute on the VSI; 66 fps is durn near 4000 fpm, whuch my VSI won't register. I do recall reading once about a Mooney that hit bad turbulence and landed somewhere in IL? with a bunch of popped rivets and a bent wing. The plane (Bravo?) was totalled, but landed normally with no injuries. That being said, I've only slowed to Va for turbulence once, a clear day in Wyoming about the time ATC said I would hit it, and during the period when I was off radar coverage at 8500 msl heading from western SD to Billings, MT. Slow down, cinch the belts and motor on . . . . slower. P.S.--that's one time in over 10 years and 700+ hours, trqveling from Yellowstone to Niagara to Ft Lauderdale, lots of time over and through the Appalachians. Fly safe!

That’s a lot of light houses! I believe there are more than 100[emoji848] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In a skid or a slip, you still have to stall the wing first for it to be a problem. The AoA indicator shows you how close you are to a stall... where in a skid or wrapped up turn your indicated airspeed at stall is higher than wings level- so without an idea of what your AoA is, or an in-depth understanding of stall vs angle of bank vs weight of your aircraft, you’re flying blind. but you’re right- no amount of money spent is a valid substitute for proper training. But on that note... Can I shoot an approach to minimums in hard imc with just an OBS and ILS, and a steam powered 6 pack? Yes. Would I rather use my Aspen and IFD440? Yes....

Don’t bother. A burnt valve on borescope wont kill the deal, just adjust price a bit. And you can do it yourself if you want to buy the $150 tool. Cutting the filter if at least 10 hrs since oil change, opening up wing to examine the the spar, pulling the interior to look at steel roll cage would give me more confidence in the sale. But the latter two things should be done by a place like Lasar or Top Gun, unless you can find a real Mooney expert locally, in which case they should do the whole prebuy. TomR and Gsxrpilot’s advice above is spot on.

Hopefully a great party tonight and huge parade down Broadstreet Thursday..

Just out for some Chili. That's us in the Mooney. [emoji3] Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Ok - here's an update. Today I updated my iPad Air OS to version 11.2.5. Also, Foreflight recommended *not* turning the iPad on to connect bluetooth until after the GTN/GTX is fully booted and obtained a position. They said sometimes connecting via Bluetooth before it obtains a GPS fix can cause issues. Not sure which of these changes had the impact - but I did not see any issues today during a flight and GPS position seemed to work fine with no lags/jumps that I noticed. FWIW, the SW version of the GTN is 6.41 and GPS Version is 5.2. I don't know the FW version of the GTX though.

Peter, Read this out loud in your Best Bostonian accent. Where are my Pats fans? (C’mon Bobby, where ah ya?) From Back in the day... The Eagle has been impressive symbology... But, Have you seen what a Patriot Missile can accomplish? Have you seen that guy, Gronkowski? I think they call him the Patriot missile... Or was it Danny Amendola..? that Brady guy, he throws the Patriot missiles. Long, fast, and with precision targeting... Too bad the game isn't being played outdoors in Foxboro... (stretch your accent on this one) Its gonna be a great game. (Ya gotta believe it...) It would be really cool to fly out to watch a football game! Nothing but my respect for the Eagle, and what it stands for. The Bald Eagle, not the lesser Philly Eagle... Go pats! Learning how to speak in and around the Boston area, it can take a while to learn to speak any other way. We chose the Moon...and the other things....not because it was easy... but, because it was haaahd.... -jfk Best regahds, -a- Reminder for me... If/when the Pats win on Sunday, write letter to the Mooney factory... ask them to consider renaming the M20S to something more meaningful like.... the Patriot! (They’ll sell a bunch on NFL.com) Need to bring back that early 90s Lone star paint scheme, possibly update it with 49 more stars....

Good video, BUT.... the advantages of LOP were well known in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Almost 90 years ago ! I was taught LOP when I got my licence in the 1970’s. Why on earth is it still a contentious issue in the 21st century ?

I have posted the link to the group buy to many Beech, Piper, and Cessna owners. My friend bought a Cherokee 140 and before we flew to MD to pick his plane up, he bought one. On the first flight, his CO detector was going off. We landed in NC and its been there since. The A&P attests there is nothing wrong with the exhaust but hes got 150ppm+ coming from one of the vents at the moment. He's about to throw a new exhaust on it and finally get it home. That little $90 device probably saved his life.

That's a sign that you live too far north. Keep moving south until you don't hear anyone having that trouble. Some good suggestions are above. Also, you can heat whatever you apply to add in the melting. Warm-up the anti-freeze, or whatever you apply, and that can help. Unfortunately the concrete slab is a huge heat sink. This will work against you right now. Is the hangar insulated? Does air leak in/out easily? Another option to help with the others is to put a space heater in there before you get started. But if it's not insulated and it leaks (air) easily that won't help much. Good luck!

Yeah, I'd get on the list at Top Gun. In three weeks that plane will still be available. And if it's not, you won't be out $1000. Just my $0.02

still trying to figure it out too i actually put my Cirrus up for sale and trying to figure out how to afford something with pressurization. Outside of that, i have been thinking about contacting Jorgensen Labs in Colorado; They make vet supplies and more specifically ICU cages. They make a canvas travel version that weighs about 35#; http://www.jorvet.com/product/buster-icu-cage-large/ I was going to see if it would work at altitude or if the cage is to porus to hold O2 levels; I would imagine that since it can be used for anesthesia , it is sealed enough to hold pressure in.

1) Greatest part of this video... Facts per minute. Martin really delivers. Very dense, complete, nugget rich video. Be ready to pay attention, to avoid skipping or rewinding. 2) Second Best part of this video... Graphical explanation of the topics being discussed... Martin has some strong video skills... The video is well organized from step1 to stepN... 3) Most unique mixture knob scene... Mixture knob moving out on its own. Some camera trickery? Or is that one those fancy auto mixture things... 4) Some distractions... It isn’t a Mooney instrument panel some gauges and knobs are different, taking extra, important seconds, to take in. 5) Not really covered... NA Mooney topics... Target EGT for Best power at high DA airports... ROP climb, very rich, but not too rich... blue box technique. JPI, two button push, to flip from leaning ROP to LOP... Carbureted challenges. They get a mention and a hint. Would need a good M20C for a good follow up. Left out the words Big Pull when describing moving to LOP quickly based on prior experience and knowledge of FF data. 6) If you are new to LOP... Take your time absorbing what this video has to offer. The benefits are real. Lower temps, lower peak pressures, higher efficiency. The cost savings are real. Avoiding the red box is important, and isn't hard. Once you know your plane, the big pull is pretty quick, and painless. 7) I am a fan of getting all cylinders LOP, barely... Maximum conversion of fuel to Ground Speed, at altitude, where %bhp is below 65% already. Essentialy Running at peak EGT. oil cleanliness is also a positive by-product Of LOP. Note to @takair A great follow-up to this video would be a shorter part two: Safe LOP at the touch of a button... Best regards, -a-

Great pics, Jolie! -a-

Happy anniversary Dan. Because of your evangelism about your incident, I know of at least one "save" and I am sure there are more. Well done, sir!

Barry, perhaps you can give us some insight what is happening at Sandia? Complete lack of customer support, emails not being returned etc. I'm tired of being an early adopter of new products, listing to all the manufacturers promises, then a year or two later you have got an expensive brick in your panel. Is that why you left? S-Tec had the upgrade market by the balls - and they dropped it. Expensive customer service, inability to transfer from one plane to another etc. I'm so glad that Garmin have come out with an autopilot - I'll take that any day for my C172 over TruTrak, Trio and yes, even S-Tec. Even with their flat rate servicing, at least they make a really good product and understand that they need product life cycles of 10-20 years, not 3 to 4 years. If you think a 3 year warranty is a benefit - good luck. Seems to me you are saying that you expect problems in year 3? My KFC200 has worked reliably for going on 38 years now, with only 2 servo changes in 2500 hours. Two KI256 overhauls. It flies better than any S-Tec autopilot I have flown behind. I understand there is a huge cost in certifying autopilots - seems to me that the cost of hardware is relatively low, and it should be a low risk to provide a 5 year warranty. Sure some flight schools might use up a servo or two, but you should be showing more confidence that 2 to 3 years? Don

If the price were on par with the competition, I would be all over it. However, the upgrade price is double that of the competition and I read that you want my current unit as a trade in (not that it has any value based upon an insane STC system). I will stick with what I have for now and will look to Trutrak and Garmin when it is upgrade time as I would hate to see your prices when the special is over. Stec is going to price itself out of the market. #notmymooney Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In my it's always windy in Oregon theme... I headed out to Aurora to Pacific Coast Avionics today to get my IFR Cert done and my Garmin 430W/530W units upgraded to software more recent than 5 years ago. So, Chris and his guys helped me out, even when I got there and handed them an Autopilot Disconnect switch and said "hey, can you install this too". The flight out was a nice boring VFR flight with rain... The flight back I had managed to pick up a 54kt breeze with 43kts on the nose... But at least I was still able to keep the ground speed of a 172. Got a nice ILS into Newport and while I'm glad my King Autopilot works again, I can't wait for the Garmins...

Yep speed + efficiency is good. 4:56 - 1,154 miles - 56 of 76 gal used.

The roughly triple cost of competitor products that do the same things is a complete non starter.. not sure what stec’s product manager is thinking... not to mention the policy that renders almost no residual value if the owner ends up wanting to sell the system later on.

Barry - welcome to your first round of MooneySpace hammering. We can be a tough crowd at times. As a regional sales manager, you are probably acutely aware of the price points your competitors are expected to be charging for the newer generation digital autopilots. As a loyal STEC owner, I certainly want to support your business. That said, I think competition is a healthy thing in this industry. If Garmin releases the GFC 500 at the expected $6,000 list price and it costs me $4,000 to install it, I would have a hard time justifying $10,000 to upgrade a 20 year old autopilot and reusing the old servos. I'm not a huge Garmin fan as they already have a lot of my money but if they do provide a completely new system at a lower price point, many of us will probably head in their direction. The value prop is what does it do that the competition isn't expect to do?

I might not have had 14 broken ribs, a broken arm, orbital, nose, clavical, fingers, punctured lung and some other more severe injuries if the plane was equipped with Amsafe airbags. Who knows? Ill be at the front also

That’s how I have it wired up currently. I’m happy with the interface with the gtn650 and audio panel.

The 660 and its bigger brother the 796 are excellent units. They can be hardwired to the gtn giving you an mfd screen that are almost the size of the 750. And now with mapmx it shows exactly what the 750 shows. Also they give you obstacle and terrain alerts which cost extra in the gtn.

One of the regular contributors here, @gsxrpilot, has a list you do NOT want to be on. It is made up of good deals gone bad. Or worse. While this plane may have the potential to be a money pit, if you decide to pursue it, a very thorough PPI can make the difference between gold or fool's gold. Many of us do a PPI on the owner as well as the plane when we buy, and it often gives insight into how the plane was maintained and flown. Best of luck on this. Keep updating us as you go.