Leaderboard

You need six seats to carry 4 adults cross country. You’re looking at the wrong type of airplanes. You buy a 4 seater for 2 people or 2 with kids max. Cessna 210, Saratoga, A36 is what you need to be looking at. You won’t buy a coupe sports car to drive the whole family on vacation in.

First, my name is Kevin and I am a 200hr private pilot that has basically only flown a Cessna 150 converted to tail dragger. Recently I made an offer on an M20E and lost out to a higher bid (A big thank you to Brian Nelson (orionflt) for his assistance and knowledge for that offer). Afterwards, I continued my search until I found a C model that met my needs. The only thing was that this aircraft was over 1,300nm away. I decided I would hire a local instructor (Bob Cabe) and fly it home the next day. Long story short, after 3 hrs and 14 take offs and landings on Saturday 3/24 I was checked out and ready to fly it home. I flew my father, who is a pilot also, down with me to San Antonio on Friday night so I could have a copilot for the trip home. Sunday 3/25 we were finally able to take off at 1pm. We made it 415nm and decided to stop for the night at Vicksburg MS (very nice place too). Yesterday, 3/26 we flew the last 918nm home. The trip home was great (averaged just over 135 knots and 9.8gph) minus a vacuum pump failure (took out the autopilot and I hand flew it the rest of the way) which I will address this weekend. Anyway, pictures are worth a thousand more words so here you go...

Sorry Fook...I also have considerable S1S time (Pitts drivers log their landings not their hours)if you truely do have 100 hours in Acro capeble aircraft as you claim...I find your initial post about rolling a Mooney inexplicable.

My repair is complete and she rolled out of the paint shop today. Sometime this week will be the test flight and if all goes well, we'll have her home next week. It's been a very long 7 months.

He almost bought the best value in all of GA but someone else bought the E, so he settled for the C

There are a few Mooney's at Corona that I don't know if they are on any of the boards. I am going to print off Mike's flyer, leave it on the one's parked outside, and slip it between the doors on the ones where I know their hangars are.

Yes Kelly! Mooney will be flying an Ultra into PRB for the Fly-In BBQ! Plus still more surprises in store... Phil

Your welcome firca!!!I gave you three exclamation points instead of only one cause you really know how to motivate the help ,if you know what I mean...and you probably don't!..!

Congrats on your purchase of the C which is the best value in all of general aviation.

You seem to have a rather haughty attitude towards those who are trying to help you. Good luck.

Today I was flying a M20J for the first time. And what shall I tell you. All the time I wastet in Cessnas and Pipers! IThe Mooney is so great fun. The ac is so agile and responsive quick and easy to fly. I neeeeed one!

Bob Cabe knows that flight well. Bob Cabe knows Transition Training well. Bob Cabe knows Transitioning pilots well. Bob helped me bring my O home. Best regards, -a-

I put one on my first M20C. It was better than the SoS. For a fuel injected airplane that was having start issues and the SoS box was starting to die, I would definitely get the Slick Start. For my current M20C, I'll buy the $25 worth of parts and repair the SoS box.

LOL, I'm still here Thanks for all your useful info. Everyone defiantly got something to say. I know in my heart the J is a better choice but hearing it from other members with better experience helps a lot.

I thought that to stop rotation, it works be more effective to apply brakes *before* takeoff... Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I was at some aviation show about a year ago and Aspen was there. I asked the sales guy f I could buy it and install it myself. He said no way. I walked away and he asked what the problem was and I said it had no value to me. I wasn't going to pay someone else to install it so there was no way I could buy it.

Make sure the breather isn’t clogged up

David, where did you go? The unwritten rule is that you can't throw a Bo or Cirri grenade and run. Actually, im kidding, we love this conversation.

It really is good to hear of one being saved. I visited a 252 today that might not survive to fly another day but very well might be parted out. I couldn't help but think about the fact that there are no more of these being made. And every one that gets parted out is another one gone. All the Mooney models are special but the E's, J's and 252's are in a class by themselves and it will be a shame when they've gone extinct.

I have 1000lbs of useful load in my J. I removed my original strobes and went to led, my vacuum pump, original gauges are being removed when I install a G5 and an JPI 900 the first of May. I’m pulling most of the interior for new CiES fuel senders. We will pull ever bit of old useless wires. I’m hoping for another 20lbs. I run lop for most of my trips at 8,000msl 8 gallons an hour True Airspeed of 180 mph 152 knot ground speed 19 gph Hard to beat that. I can fill the seats and go full fuel and have over 7.5 hours of reserve on standard tanks. If I pull 20 gallons of fuel I can fill my baggage compartment and have over 5 hours of flight time. I can be pretty much anywhere my bladder says I can be in five hours. And look cooler in a Mooney:) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You need to check the W&B for any candidate V-tail bonanza as many will not work with full loads of people and fuel. I don't know if the 33 models are any better. If you need to carry 700+ pounds of butts regularly, you should probably look at an A36, honestly. Some J's have useful loads of 1000+ lbs, and can fly LOP at 8-9.5 GPH @ 150-155 KTAS so they can make that most of that useful load by carrying less than full tanks. And the CG won't run out the back of the envelope while burning that fuel. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

Thank you very much. I may take you up on that. There are about 4 of us based at Quakertown who operate sort of an impromptu rescue service; a kind of mutual aid society so to speak for those of us who get stranded off the field. But again, thank you very much.

If you are intent on rolling your Mooney, go get some real aerobatic training with a real aerobatic instructor in a real aerobatic airplane. Doing your first roll solo in your Mooney is STUPID! Stupid P. S. Don't be stupid.

Well, this very much looks like the box is broken. We replaced ours (despite the fact that it sounded and it actually emitted some sparks) and all trouble are gone. Someone mentioned that you can change the condensator inside the box too. I plan to send my old one to Don or anyone else who knows how to REALLY test them and can possibly repair it and then keep it as a spare. But the $600 spent on the new box were well spent money and should have been spent 3 months and x... money earlier. Lesson learnt.

Long story and I will do my best to keep this short. I was a "Top Gun" era kid and the movie was essentially my baby sitter growing up. I remember my first airline flight at the young age of 4 on an L-1011 and from that moment on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. In high school, I enrolled in Junior ROTC, got an Air Force scholarship to FSU (Go Noles!!), became an Air Force cadet in Senior ROTC, and in my Junior Year of College picked up one of 500 pilot slots handed out across the United States in 2006. I had a goal, a plan, tons of motivation, and I got what I worked for. One year later on January 9th 2007, sitting in a chair at Brooks Base San Antonio, I was advised by an ophthalmologists that I had a pretiy common eye condition known as an esophoria but that, unfortunately, I was "hard DQ'd" from Air Force flying. To this guy, I was just a number. I was literally 4 months from graduated college and starting Air Force Pilot training. Devastation does not describe how I felt and making matters worse, the Air Force was kind enough to send the information to the FAA (which is required and understandable) and I was forced to fight to keep my 3rd Class. At the time, I was already a private pilot with more than 150 hours so the fact that I was now facing a threat to my civilian flying, I was forced to spend thousands on lawyers and medical appointments. In the last 11 years, I have spent a ton of time fighting the FAA trying to prove that what they thought I had, was much less significant than what the Air Force told them. I was on a special issuance 3rd Class for 10 of those 11 years. I was able to continue recreational flying but was unable to fly commercially without a 2nd or 1st Class. Meanwhile, I spent 8 years in the Air Force as a Police Officer, got out, and became a project manager at a large public transportation agency in SLC making decent money. When Basic Med came out, I decided to give up hope and move on from the dream. Shortly after dropping my 3rd Class for Basic Med, however, I decided to request a Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) one last time from the FAA. They approved my request and shortly after I got a 3rd Class free and clear. This was a big step considering I had been on a special issuance 3rd class for over 10 years...forcing me to submit paperwork every 2 years to the FAA proving that I was still healthy to fly. This process was especially aggravating because I had spent a lot of money on the best MD's in the US to prove that I was well within FAA tolerances for not only a 3rd Class--but for a 1st Class as well. The FAA chose to focus on what the one Air Force Flight Surgeon from 2007 had written on a piece of paper. Okay I'm winding this down. I got greedy this month and decided to press my luck for a 1st Class. I went to a new AME who was ironically, of all things, a retired Air Force Flight Surgeon. He called some friends in Oklahoma to ask what the deal was and promised to try to help me out. I received a call on Wednesday of this week from the AME, asking me to come sign my 1st Class Medical Certificate. As if my first born had just arrived, I cried when I got that stupid piece of paper. I was unceremoniously handed the paper by the office receptionist haha...she had zero idea what that piece of paper meant to me. So I'm quitting my great job that I have zero passion for this Summer and enrolling in ATP. I'm chasing the dream knowing that my fight with the FAA may and likely will come up again and again...every 12 months until I'm 40 and every 6 months thereafter. I don't care. I'm 33 years old and figure this is probably my only shot...I will regret not trying and even if this doesn't work out, then I will become a CFI and still realize the dream of flying for a living. What an office. Anybody have experience with ATP or even getting on with the regionals, working their way up to a major? Any current commercial pilots with information on current job prospects? General advice and recommendations are welcome from all.

Summit is Nancy's favorite Mooney event of the year, ahead of AirVenture I think. We'll spend most of a week loafing in Panama City Beach courtesy of Ron's generosity.

OK, I don't see that note for the M20J. Maybe I don't have a current copy??. Mine is dated 12/9/2010. Just read latest type certificate revision, as of Dec 2017, and I still don't see the note you reference. KOAK FSDO is (510) 748-0122, but email is more efficient.

Like a acclaim ultra?

What I suspect that Aspen person is seeing is the issue that we cover above.. The S-tec really wants you to hit a button on the segment outside of the FAF... using Aspen GPSS & HDG (VTF from the S-tec point of view).. and then hitting NAV is pressing that button. Using the 55X GPSS mode (NAV NAV) goes all the way to the FAF, but you think, I'm in NAV mode, I don't have to press anything... but the 55x wants another NAV push, or APR push to finalize the mode settings, look at the inputs and select APR/GS. I just flew a GPSS LNAV+V approach to minimums and I used the APR button to arm the GS capture. I have not yet done an ILS where the procedure turn terminates at the FAF.. That might trigger a default 45deg intercept depending on where the GPS switches from GPS to LOC. I remember once upon a time blowing through the localizer after a GPSS procedure turn when I was transitioning, but that was an older rev of the G1000 software, and I was very new to the systems.

Urs, I am an electronic technologist and if you want to send me the box, I will fix it and build something (and/or create a procedure) to facilitate the testing of the box. I will send you a private message. Yves

It doesn’t have to be that way, but I could not agree more with your assessment.

Both are nice planes. When I was looking to get a plane 5 years ago, Mooney and Bonanza were on my list. I came to the conclusion a Mooney would cost me less (to acquire and operate) and was better for the longer distance flying I planned on. That said, to have a plane capable of carrying 4 larger folks, luggage, and fuel, I would look at an A36, Cessna 210, or a Piper Lance. Some folks have suggested renting a bigger plane when you need one. In theory, this sounds like a good idea. In practice I have found it difficult to find nicer high performance planes for rent.

https://aspenavionics.com/products/general-aviation/evolution-e5-primary-flight-display http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12404967/aspen-avionics-unveils-evolution-e5-dual-electronic-flight-instrument There's limited info here but supposedly better glass and processor, non-TSO but STC'd, with autopilot integration including with Trutrak, all inside exact same box. It seems like everything one would want as a better alternative to dual Garmins besides an HSI, which is a bizarre omission though it does display a CDI and glideslope around the AI. Apparently it can be upgraded to an HSI and all the options available on the PFD1000.

Damn, man, that's cold...

Nice! I’m sure with every passing day you are getting more and more excited:) Wish I was on the east side to see it. But maybe someday. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Having been through multiple (7) lengthy flight training programs, I will warn you that 16 hours a day is too much. You wont be able to sustain that for 6 months. About half that time will probably be sufficient. Sometimes you have to take some time to just let the information sink in before you can pile more on top of it. Having the ability to focus on it as your full time job will help immensely. It will feel like the longest 6 months of your life until you are finished and then you will look back and wont believe how quickly it all went. I am one week from completing a 4 month program. I am of course dreading the checkride, as I have all of the 30 or so I have taken in my career. Good luck with your new adventure.

Here’s an interesting article that may shed some light and help you. http://www.mooneyland.com/why-mooney/

I can help with that..

I've replaced the entire exhaust without pulling the entire bottom cowl. You can get the shroud off too. I got the scars to prove it.

@Gary0747, Take a look at the rim/bead area and make sure the tire is even all the way around. With split rim installations the tires are not always forced on to the beads concentrically, leaving the the tire to appear slightly out of round. Just a thought. Ron

Since no one seems to agree on any x-wind limits, perhaps we could use this thread to have people post what the crosswind was when the plane couldn't handle it and ran off the side of the runway, or crashed in the attempt. That would be informative empiracle data.

Is it necessary to drop the bottom cowl for an annual? Doing so is certainly a pain on a C model. I would only want it done if necessary for another reason. I imagine the bottom of that boot can be adequately inspected by one's hand and/or maybe a mirror? I can't say I've tried but will now give it a shot next time I open then cowl based on this thread. Then again, the OP says he could see light across the boot with just the side cheeks off, so really there's no excuse at all for the shop. I think stuff like this is why I like doing my own oil changes and cleaning/gapping my own plugs - not because I need to save a few bucks but it serves as an opportunity to give everything under the cowl a close look every few months.

I live on a 3000’ grass strip with 70’ trees at the runway threshold. The takeoff run in my ‘92MSE is considerably longer than my previous ‘78J, though I can’t recall the exact numbers. Landings are not an issue even on wet grass. I never takeoff at gross weight from this strip. I’ve developed procedures for different conditions unique to our runway such as max 10 knot tailwind on takeoff (it’s a one way runway), no more than 2600 lbs above 75F etc. Ive found my takeoff numbers are almost right on the published values for paved runways and about 10% more than the published 50’ numbers. This based on about 50 takeoffs where my wife would note the ‘break ground’ and ‘clear of the trees’ points. I had to correlate her measurements to the runway because she would say “at Kelly’s bbq grill”, or “at Harold’s boat”. Sometime Harold moved his boat which messed with my numbers! lee

I'm in.

Planning from further out to be there.... sent in an email as well. Best regards, -a-

We are freshening up a few things this year! Should be great! -Seth

Lowered my Ovation panel significantly by cranking seat height to max then adding a seat cushion. Big difference.

Awesome video! Next time I'm in NYC, I'll be prepared to buy you a tank of fuel... I'd love to take that flight.

FLY-IN UPDATE! Hi Everyone, I am so excited to announce that we have about 25 Mooney's set to join us at our very first BBQ & Fly-In for the West Coast Mooniac Group next month. If you find yourself on the West Coast please join us for a great day. West Coast Mooniacs Fly-In & BBQ When: Saturday April 14, 2018 - 10:00 AM - Till It’s Over - Place: Paso Robles Airport - KPRB Hangar BBQ & Optional Visit to the Estrella Warbird Museum Fuel Discounts Are Also Available For All Participants RSVP Is Kindly Requested - So We have Enough Food & Beverages For Everyone Monetary Donation To Cover Food Costs Is Appreciated RSVP to our host: Phil Corman philcorman@hotmail.com Join The West Coast Mooniac Club at Mooneyspace.com under the "Club" Topic. Announcement! We also have a Facebook Page - West Coast Mooney Club. Go to this link - West Coast Mooney Club You can post content, photos, videos and access our event section there as well. Hope to see more of you register to join us. Fly Safe, Michael Rodgers SEE FLYER INVITATION BELOW FlyIn.jpg.pdf