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I say the hardest part in flying the JetProp is getting to the pilot’s seat. (6’2” 190#) My current JetProp has the front seat STC mod which helps significantly with leg room but does nothing to ease the entry. Before buying this plane I did what I called “the sit test” in a number of models I considered buying. Agree that for ease of entry/exit the Cirrus jet and Eclipse Jet are far better. TBM with the pilot door is somewhat better than PA46. Phenom 100 and Cessna M2 were not very comfortable for me up front. Epic and Kestrel were good “sits” but they are mostly vaporware still. (All of them, including the PA46, are very comfortable in the back seats. Maybe it’s time to hire a couple of young pilots, sit in the back & think strategic thoughts. Like how I’m going to pay for that new Gulfstream) Speaking strictly of comfort while seated the Ovation fit me slightly better than my JetProp. But: In the Ovation I couldn’t move around much. In PA46 I can rotate 90 degrees and put my feet in the aisle. Better by far I can, with another pilot in the right seat, get up and go aft for a few minutes to stretch. Even in a mere 4 hour flight that is very refreshing. At Sun n Fun this year Marauder and I got a tip on how to get to the pilot seat in the PA46: Go in backwards. It helps as your knee bends normally to step over the spar. That tip came from a TBM930 salesman...

Flip flops are the pox. I know another guy that blew his out and then stepped on a pop top. He cut his heel and had to cruise on back home. Get better.

I wasn't happy about losing 29lbs of useful load, but I've gained 10-15lbs myself since owning the mooney, and the plane isn't giving me the 3rd degree. lol

I grew up with the current VP of sales with Cirrus(head of customer experience). I also had a commercial pilot friend who flew a corporate owned Mirage for two years. My opinion on this is unbiased in that I cannot afford either aircraft so I merely sit on the sidelines while enjoying the flight experiences on occasion. My opinion on the Cirrus Jet is that it is a great aircraft in comparison with the TBM, Mirage, Meridian etc. The refinements of the Cirrus jet is phenomenal. The Mirage always had issues. It seems to me they have put way too much on an engine to make the Mirage work for the numbers. The cockpit is tight in the Mirage and roomy in the Cirrus. While I’m not a fan of the Cirrus 20 and 22s I think the jet is done “right.” The Mooney is certainly a better all around machine for effieciency, speed, and maintenance for most missions while the Cirrus jet would be my next step up to cabin class pressurized aircraft(if I could afford it). Maybe this helps.

I am loosely related cousin married a brother who's last name rhymes with tom. Who apparently got to fly some scenes. I was google searching him and seems like quite the pilot. I think he said something like she looks better on screen. Mrs Yetti will respond to the "Talk to me Goose" with "Show me some of that pilot stuff Mav"

Flew against a big headwind to KC on Monday (LOP and stretched it out for the first three hours, then 2500/25 to get Missouri under the belly quickly). I was able to leave KC on the same day (instead of spending the night - Win!) and able to head to Marion, Ind to see family. Spent the night in Indiana. The next evening, I picked my way through some rain from Marion back into Cincinnati Lunken. Just another confirmation that Mooney's are time machines! Photo of KC and somewhere over Indiana.

@Coolshot , I went from my Acclaim to a Meridian 6 months ago. The pressurization is a game changer. The first few training flights were rather terrifying. The amount of power from the turbine engine took a few flights to get used to, but I quickly settled in. Expect some mandatory training from insurance as well as yearly recurrent training. My initial training was about 15 hours of sim and real flying over about 4 days. I think the ground school portion was about 20 hours. Legacyflighttraining.com has an online syllabus you can take a look at. Expect higher insurance costs, too. Consider joining MMOPA.com. There are quite a few over there that have made the transition from a Mooney. There are a few recent threads detailing some of the transitions. Some might be more relevant to your situation, as well. I have never flown the piston version of the PA-46. You are already used to being on top of your airspeed management. That will serve you well in the transition. If you can swing it, try out the turbine version. If you can’t swing it, make sure that you never fly in someone’s Meridian or TBM. Best to not even know. Let me know if I can answer something more specifically. Brad 2006 Meridian N951TB

This thread got me thinking...I wonder if Bendix King is waiting for 10 Purchase orders for the KI300's before they start?

How much weight does your long range tank mod add, Jose? I mean several cans of sealer, buna-N topcoat. Additional fuel caps and accces panels and doublers. i actually am of the idea that sealed integral wing tanks are the way to go, but in this specific application I’m not impressed. Most of the fleet has some leak somewhere. Ten grand for a whole strip and reseal yet even those leak after a few years, requiring a 1,000$ trip to the installing shop for warranty work . At some point we should admit that it’s not a “once and done” sure fire fix for chronic Mooney tank leaks. Despite having now the third engine booties onto my plane, I’m very specific to fix something once and forever. Our plane came with 20+ year old bladders because the previous owner spent several grand and 3 attempts to patch the left tank. Everyone here is quick to add the smooth belly mod which adds no performance at all and loses 29lbs, or keep their old KX-170B com2 when they Install whole new IFR GPS kit, but when bladders are involved, oh the humanity over 29lbs. Unacceptable.

Wasn't me. I don't seem to fly my Mooney, just pay for it to be in the shop.

Exceedingly tight. I would have never believed it if it were described to me and I hadn’t tried it myself. Once you squeeze into the pilot seat it is fine. There was a mirage at my MSC and I was invited to try to get into the cockpit to illustrate this point.

Yes the block was replaced by LASAR on our first annual 5 years ago so should be ok but will be checking for sure. As for the transponder we have not done the ADSB upgrade yet and I'm one of those that will be letting time go by to hope for a lower cost option than is currently available today. But I know that clock is ticking and 2020 mandate is just over the horizon.

Actually the AIM was updated in 2016 to clarify that you can navigate by GPS provided you are still able to monitor the raw navaid signal, such as with a second CDI or EFIS that allows you to use both. This is really meant for NPA procedures since you need the glideslope with an ILS. Otherwise you've been spot on above. Check it out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do the Mooney dip. After positive climb I tip the nose down at the exact same time as I release the gear and start the swing motion. It is really simple with very minimal effort. Once locked, I resume normal climb out. Hope you start feeling better!

Yeah, same here. I stopped counting after seeing it the 100th time. I remember making a small mark on the VCR box (yes, VCR) after each viewing. I remember vividly waiting in line for nearly two hours at a theater the night it opened with my best friend at the time (knew him from Civil Air Patrol). We were the first two in line. Both of us flew together at a CAP flight encampment the year prior (where we both soloed), and each of us had less than 50 hours in our logbooks. He was heading for college on an ROTC scholarship (he was a year ahead of me), and I was in the app process for the USAFA. He so badly wanted F-16s after flight school. For me, the F-15. We'd both argue constantly about who "could" out-fly the other. So, we watched the movie together, and within a couple of weeks, he left for college in Tennessee. Around 2 months later, I tried reaching him, and after spending over a week and countless people who had "no information", someone informed me he and 3 others were killed "a few weeks earlier" in a C172 crash not far from his university. I still think about him and our friendship every day, and will probably go see this movie in his honor.

There was nothing in that thread that said “buyer beware”, this plane has bladders. It actually says the opposite — Cessna owners who say don’t be afraid of the bladders. Another thing to remember is these bladders are installed in the plane without removing the original sealant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

José, sounds like a pretty bad (somewhat expensive) idea to me. I think I'll wait for the AD. Or a "mandatory" SB. Or a few actual cases where corrosion was found.

Yeah I'm about half way through a @Marauder style conversion. The panel is done. And a few other upgrades have been done as well. There are a few small items to go and then Interior and Paint will be the final items. I'd love to get right to paint, but it really needs to be the very last thing after all the other work is done.

Yeah man! Keep it going! I love watching vintage Mooneys restored beyond their former glory.

Haha, I just have a strange attachment to the reliability of the radio for a #2 and I'm definitely a CB when it comes to avionics. I will see if I can get my buddies MX170B working though in lieu and maybe just hold off on repairing the KX175b for now.

Just a pilot's log entry, i.e. "Removed KX175b SNxxxx, replaced with MX170B snyyyyy, no w&b change".

Ask Peter

You bad!

I have a spare that was in good working order when removed for an upgrade. Send me a PM if you decide to swap the unit in lieu of repairs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Me, too. Another of the joys of living and traveling in the boonies!

Hi Tim, I have flown my and other Mooneys several times back and forth between Germany and the US. End of August I will fly with a M20K to Boston from Germany. My home base is presently KBED. Happy to chat (gern auch auf Deutsch). The bigger part of the preparation was all the time to get the paperwork set up. Especially if you like to keep the Mooney in the EU. Insurance for the ferry flight, tax handling (assume the Mooney is part of your moving goods) etc. There are some things that needs to be planed ahed if its not just a visit for some weeks. The routing is almost given with a J and just have some "weather options". You would also need a ferry tank for some more routing options. There are several options for a ferry pilot. Guido or Arnim are just some. Why you are not flying with one of the guys? It's a very impressive flight. Hendrik

yeah...about that...

The cover of The Peter Principle (1970 Pan Books edition) The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence"

Ina, We’re gonna need some pics of the C-jet... I mean Coolshot is going to need a pic if you got one.... Looks like Insurance always gets more demanding as the plane has stronger capabilities... Best regards, -a-

When my tanks were stripped and resealed, the FBO billed 52.6 or 52.8 gallons. I picked it up after sitting a couple of days; gas ran down both wings when I opened the caps first thing in the morning.

Yes! Might have been three fuel stops in the 150. And climbing to 9500’ in the 150? Maybe in a thunderstorm. Headed there again tomorrow via Mooney so that I don’t have to fly KCI to CVG via BWI thru midnight.

That's kind of sad haha. Do not many transient visitors come by your airport?

This is terrible news. I have really enjoyed dealing with Jim over the years, and in my opinion he made the best Mooney covers. Cheers, Dan

My quote was for 25 hoursl.

Glad to know your Mooney is functioning well. You sure couldn’t have gotten all that accomplished in your old 150 given twice the time!

BradB did it... Jerry did it... Jesse’s new website lists two for sale... Marauder documented flying right seat in one... Turbine and pressurization seem like strong reasons to graduate from the Mooney line... until Mooney builds a Turbine version or Rocket engineering builds one.... Don’t be afraid to stay on MS... once a Mooniac, always a Mooniac.... Best regards, -a-

Here this should get you started. Don't forget an assortment of screws, nuts, washers etc that you inevitably need.

If you depend on vacuum installing a vacuum gauge is the only way to know for sure what's going on, although after 470 hours that pump is probably on its way out.

Have no fear.... you share the data... MS has the engineers! 10% more HP is a seat of the pants measurable event... Back to the Camaro vs Z28/IROCZ analogy... 180hp V6 vs 220hp V8 and delivering all the extra ft-LBs of torque through 245/50 VR 16” Gatorback radials... 1987 numbers... from old fuzz memory. As far as unusable hp goes... the prop and governor does the job of converting the HP to motion.... if it didn’t you would recognize exceeding redline on the tach... Sure.... a mis-match of prop and HP can lose some efficiency. There are prop selections that will improve on that as well... got another 10amu for improved efficiency? Recognize some people don’t want to share some data... Others aren’t able to share data... Some are afraid of the data... because it might tell them something they don’t want to know... Comparisons to experimental planes and leaving out the details isn’t very helpful. Some people build experimental planes for all kinds of reasons like shortest T/O and spot landings... In the end... MS is a place to share data, experience, and ask questions and get answers... The longer you hang out here, the more you learn... The more you learn, the more you have to offer... Expect that some people are not skilled at asking questions or leaving advice. Some are challenged by the key board... Also know that there is always going to be a bigger fish... I thought 180hp was pretty good. 200 was even better. 280 is pretty spectacular.... 10% more, 310hp cuts your T/O distance down from 1200’ to 800’ and initial climb rate rises to 2kfpm... By sharing data you quickly find the cost of the power shows up in the CHTs... Fortunately, somebody had this challenge already and shared their solution... There is a FF that needs to be set properly, not in the middle of the range.... The sharing of real data and real documents is great at keeping the costs down..... Everybody has something to share. That’s what makes MS a community. Armed with an idea... I asked a question on MS... I was shared a ride in a 310hp Screemin’ Eagle.... documents and contacts... Enough info to comfortably Check the proper boxes when buying my next engine and prop. So... If you have info to share.... don’t be afraid to share it. Like bigger fish... there is always going to be nay sayers.... At MS some nay sayers don’t know they are nay sayers... Wait until you have a really good idea to share that is really unfamiliar to the community... like an AOAi... If you get bogged down because a few accidental nay sayers come out, you will miss out on what the greater community has to offer. Being part of a community takes some effort. It is worth it. Go MS! Best regards, -a-

Just a quick note, I had to replace the coffee grinder light bulb when it burned out recently, and the acrylic dome was filthy and cloudy. I took went to town on it with simple green and a micro mesh kit, and afterwards it seemed like I had spotlights sweeping around the hangar when I turned it on. Not really anything amenable to pictures, though Anyway, yes, micro mesh works quite well on the coffee grinder dome

Update. Got this from the shop today when I sent them a request for a pic. They noted a couple issues while doing the install and asked if I knew of them and wanted to do something about them. 1. Fuel flow on JPI does not work. (My comment = OK - did not have it installed) 2. A/P tracking way off, in nav/app mode. (My comment = Hmmm, cause of the wandering track?) 3. Heading bug seems really lazy (My comment = OK - good thing I am replacing the DG with a G5) 4. Mk12D loose in its tray. This may be a simple adjustment of the set clips (OK - secure please when you move it down to put the 480 above it) 5. #2 Nav is not centred (5 deg at 0 and 180 deg) (OK - please fix) Small things. they are on top of things. Pic does not show much, but it alleviates any inherent lack of confidence. It will be ready by 14 June.

Its critical for the OP to understand the basic concepts before getting into buttonology. Vectors and heading are synonymous period. You aren't flying a heading in GPSS mode ( you are flying a GPS course). Failing to turn to the assigned heading can and will get you a pilot deviation if you end up getting to close to other IFR traffic causing a TA. Best to go practice this with an instructor till you fully understand your equipment. GPSS is entirely appropriate if the controller clears you direct to some IAF and clears you for the approach. But on a vector in heading mode you are setting up the AP to intercept final. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your observation and experience are unfortunate and not unique. I am a physician well versed in this area. I've done all the AME stuff except take the required 1 week course in Oklahoma (Ive been signed up twice-some work thing always gets in the way). This is what I believe to be happening: -AME's are FAA consultants and are acting as such. They are NOT practicing physicians when performing their "duty" for the FAA. Legally, as a consultant they have no need to carry malpractice insurance as they only recommend whether you qualify for a certain flight medical or not. -Basic Med does have a negative financial impact on AME's (less exams being given). They no longer have a monopoly on flight physicals. I have a 20 year history with an AME Colleague who wont even answer a simple AME question for me. An overt and blatant act to not support Basic Med-sad. -AME's are telling other non-AME physicians they are a high risk if they perform Basic Med exams (false and very misleading). -Primary care physicians don't understand what Basic Med is and what they are signing. -Basic Med is a congressional program, the result of a lobbying group (AOPA), not an FAA program. -Now just a personal thought......The FAA does not want to give up any control and has no interest in supporting a program that was essentially crammed down their throat by congress. Government agencies at their core seek for more control and power, not less. They can't help it. Like any change it will take some time. Personally, I believe the core concept of Basic Med make a lot of sense and is an improvement in care and pilot qualification at a much more reasonable price. A pilots physician should be more qualified to render an opinion as to the health of their patient. This program is also consistent with the DOT CDL medical certificate for commercial truck drivers. If it is of help to anyone, I am willing to provide Basic Med exams at Oshkosh is year. I will be there all week, hopefully camping close to the Mooney Caravan site. PM me if you have interest.

GET OUT! Again? Here's what was posted on the Mustang board recently: My Reply: Mooneys can have bags (bladders). They are an aftermarket item, no production Mooney was fitted with them to my knowledge. That said, if you want some fun, go over on Mooneyspace and post “Bladders are better than a reseal.”

That does not compute

Mine is approximately 1.5 to 2 quarts per 25 hours between oil changes with 9 quarts put in at oil change.

The plane was sold a few weeks ago to a fine gentleman from New Hampshire.