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Our youngest just headed back on Monday; she's a junior this year. Jeez we couldn't wait. It was fun to have her here this summer, she was working as an intern, but rather disruptive to our schedule. Having a plane is great for part-time empty nesters. We can head off on weekend trips and not burn any vacation days. At airplane speeds we can go a long ways in a short time. Plus, not stuck on an airline schedule, if our departure afternoon frees up we can leave early. Enjoy your empty nester time. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I'm with Scott here @MyNameIsNobody. I wouldn't wait to save even the $5000. I spent a life time trying to save the money to learn to fly. Finally I was convinced that all I really needed was enough for the first lesson. The important thing was to find the right instructor. I didn't go to a "school" but found an independent guy, old enough to have been to the airlines and back. This meant he wasn't building time, had his own Cherokee 140 for me to train in, and was happy to let me fly as opposed to constantly showing off his flying skills, which was what the young guys tended to do. The flight schools all wanted me to buy a bunch of books, gear, headset, etc. They also wanted me on a regular schedule. They all told me I'd be wasting time and money if I didn't commit. I said "its my time and my money and I'll waste it as I like." I interviewed 5 instructors, flew with 2 of them and picked one. My schedule was a) I had $150 in my pocket, b) I had the time, c)the instructor was available, d) the plane was available, e) the weather was acceptable. Anytime all 5 came together, I'd go fly. I took two lessons just to make sure I liked it, then got a medical. By the time I soloed I knew I should get busy on the written exam. Self study and passed it first try. Then just kept flying any chance I got. As far as money goes, all you need is enough for the next lesson. So every time I'd saved up $150 I was good for another lesson. It took almost a year to get it done, but a hell of a lot quicker than waiting to save up the cash ahead of time. Fast forward 10 years. I have an instrument rating, over a 1000 hours in the log book and my own Mooney. Any regrets? Yeah for sure, I should have started 20 years earlier.

Congrats INA, we are about a year ahead of you. It gets pretty weird around the house when the kids leave. You will get used to it. Take time to re-court your wife, take her on dates. Meet her for spur of the moment lunches. Take weekend trips, visit new restaurants, go to concerts, enjoy each other's company. It doesn't take long to adjust and the transition to empty nest is actually a pretty cool experience We use the Mooney to visit our kids often and have been flying more than ever. My youngest is about 1.5 Mooney hours from where I grew up so we have been able to visit her and my family back home all in the same trip. Thats a four hour Mooney flight. My oldest is only 45 Mooney minutes away making for an easy day trip. This might be a good time to work on a new rating or do that Bahamas trip, etc. Hang in there, report back and let us know what works as your best therapy. Cheers, T

At the risk or major thread drift, I can remember as a kid in east Texas, we could see the Milky Way. Then with city life, pollution, etc., I forgot what the night sky was supposed to look like. Then a pilot friend and I flew down to the "big bend" country, visited the observatory there, and I was amazed at what was still up there.

Hello Mooniacs, as I have now become officially retired and have resumed my love for painting I want to do an original painting for one of you. For any of you that might like to have a portrait of your pride and joy Mooney please send a reply to this thread or PM with photos of your Mooney attached. The image file should be a jpeg or PDF showing your plane in its best form it can be parked or in flight. My future plans are to do these on a consignment basis and will be expanding out to other forums but want to keep it to more of a hobby than a pure business.. i will allow a couple of weeks for folks to send me there photos and I will select one that I am most inspired by. attached are a couple examples of my work. I hope to get lots of responses. Thank you in advance for all that participate Bonal

HA! She is cute but no, but I've actually started seeing someone locally who owns an M20C

Also, maybe we can make a deal in the future where we can make this a silent auction or raffle prize at Mooney Summit! -Seth

There is a Yiddish expression for such a situation: Oy

Thanks y’all, to be continued from my end on this. I did just renew my customs sticker and passports. I like the terms part time empty nester and not fully functioning adults because that’s more of the reality. All of us MSers are at some stage of the Mooney timeline.

When working on broken things... unleashing a string of swear words is often natural... When the broken device starts working after the ‘incantation’ has been used... one needs to remember the exact words and order they were released in.... -a-

You don’t fly coordinated? -Robert

Just going to do only left turns. Call me Mr NASCAR Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Because sometimes you need all the fuel (practically). And because if your plane holds 3 less gallons than the TCDS states it's not airworthy from my owner/operator standpoint. It's fine to ferry it to get it patched, but not a fine medium to long term plan.

Sooo, my last kid is heading off to college in a couple of weeks and we happen to own a Mooney. This is a bittersweet and proud moment in our lives as parents. I'm looking to dredge up some stories from you guys who are already on the other side, and of course, "happen to own a Mooney." I can't see the forest for the trees just yet but am selfishly looking forward to the opportunity to fly a lot more.

....or maybe both combined? "Vintage Travel!" for me.

It'll be fine. Just keep an eye on your CHTs. Done it many times. Just make sure the cowl pieces aren't setting in the prop blast. The wind will blow them around, scratch your paint and you will be sad.

I happen to like being an empty-nester. My oldest just earned his Master's Degree from UW in Seattle and landed a great job working in Amazon's Global Security Department. I am proud to say that he is now officially off of the family payroll. My daughter graduated with her undergrad last year and is living and working in Manhattan. Unfortunately, with cost of living being what it is in NYC, I'm helping her out with rent. My flying hours in the Mooney are down since graduation since my wife and I used it a lot to fly up to Tallahassee. I will say this, going from a seven hour car ride to less than 2.5 hours in the Mooney was a real game changer. I would often fly up there to pick them up and be home in less time that it took to drive one way. While the days when they were small kids was fun, I enjoy their company more as adults. We all met in Europe last month and had a really great time. It's really nice to slip into a bar after a busy day and have a drink and adult conversation than chasing them around a theme park as 8 year olds. What they say is absolutely true, life begins when the kids are out of the house and the dog dies.

It looks like Candy Man has an M20C, so the issue of 20° timing doesn't apply to him. As to resale value: after 500 Hours since overhaul, I'd say absolutely no difference where your overhaul came from. Less than 100 hours, you might sell for a bit more with a factory new or factory overhaul- but not enough to make up for what you pay. The Lycoming O-360 in the M20C is simple and about as bullet-proof an engine as any. I'd trust (nearly) any shop to overhaul it well. It might be a good idea to ask the shop about camshaft and lifter spalling, and ask for recommendations. The Lycoming parts seem to be hit or miss, but they might know of PMA alternatives like Superior that have fewer problems.

Especially hard on Kelly (my wife). She started to really “mother” me and our dogs...a whole heap a lovin’. It is definitely a transition, but really allows a couple to re-ignite a bond and passion of a relationship. Enjoy the ride! Trust me there is light out there. They are a plane flight away and they appreciate you and “get you” a lot more with absence.

The materials are listed in the maintenance manual. They are all still available. I get the cans instead of the semkits for repairs. I buy it from Frank the local MSC. He gets it from Aviall. It is the cheapest by far.

The same reason boats sit in yards and rot away and cars sit in yards/garages and rust away. I assume there are a few different types of reasons: Fear of the unknown - they don't know what to expect with selling something. So rather than figure it out, they just avoid the uncomfortable situation all together. It's easy to do if the asset is paid for you and it's not costing you anything, or very little. The "I will get back to it" attitude - People buy or hold on to things even when they don't have the ability to use them because they plan to use it again. Sometimes it's health (I'll get back to it when I get back on my feet), sometimes it work (When work slows and I have more time I'll finally get back to it), and sometimes it something else. Sentimental attachment - Pilots are an interesting breed. I've seen so many hanging out because "that's my plane" even though they may not have flown the plane, or any other plane, in years. Physically Incapable - Sometimes a person is literally not capable of selling an asset. They could be hospitilized or something of the like that physically prevents them from being able to go through the work of selling it. I got back to flying after a few year break because I found a guy who had lost his medical but didn't want to sell his plane. He knew that a plane sitting would become worthless so instead he took on partners. I'm with you, I wish more people would take some action with planes instead of letting them rot. There is a whole row of planes, twins included, that sit along the back row of the ramp at GMU that have been there over 10 years!

Yep, both of ours are out of the nest and aren't welcome back ;-) The Mooney is a lot more useable with only two of us and the dog.

How do you plan on banking without fuel coming out? [emoji6] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

We use our Mooney for the mission she is best suited....travel. Both sons are out of the nest, but not fully functioning adults quite yet so we travel to visit and give some support. We have family at Carolina Beach NC and drove there once per summer since I was a child, but now the 10 hour drive is a 2 hour adventure and we go 4-5 times every summer instead of once. We've flown into MDW and many other large airports for conferences and I used her for travel to work for the past two years and really enjoyed that. Been to Destin and other destinations in the gulf more times than I could count. Enjoy your old life and cherish the memories, and embrace your new life too.

Hoping for a return to normalcy soon.

I did that to some extent, but it never leaked as bad as yours is. Was not a good long term plan for me. If it quit after leaking only about 3 gallons then that tells you it's on the upper edge on the most outboard section of the tank. Pull one panel and fix it.

It's ironic but when we aren't having massive fires Lake County has the cleanest / clearest air in the state. On moonless nights you see so much of space and stars it's amazing very little light pollution I have seen the Milky Way so clearly you would swear you could reach out and touch it.

Has anyone figured out how to manage the onerous requirements to get the A&P. I know I could easily study and pass the test, but going to school for 2 years or hiring onto a shop for god knows how long, just isn't in the cards. Over my lifetime I have worked on enough cars (rebuilt enough engines, transmissions, differentials, suspension stuff, etc.) and virtually anything else mechanical, to have the equivalent. Plus working under the tutelage of a master hangar elf for 18 years ought to count for something, but I can't find where it does.

My apologies to those interested in the plane. I have been flying non stop, and have had very little time to take care of other matters. I am an aerial fire fighter and the Northwest, where I'm working, is getting hammered. Just look at TFRs on foreflight. Many fires I work don't even get TFRs. The plane will be based in Deer Park for the time being until we get a break in the season. Thank you for your patience.

Train in a Cherokee 180 NOT a Cessna. Low wing and flying/landing characteristics of a low wing Piper much more similar to a Mooney. Your right seat time will be valuable. Good luck in the pursuit of your PP!

Que PTK

Yea, I've never had problems with vibration or temperatures. -Robert

So you had/have/will have a short. Your plane is real close to mine in serial number. There is a micro switch on the ram air push pull knob that is part of the gear warning circuit. if the gear is down and the ram air is open, the "ram air" warn light about 2 from right on the top of panel will come on. The ram air switches right below were your DMe was installed and where you have to take the 2 panels on and off. Check all the wiring there and report back. Be prepared to be angry with the people that installed your DME

I'm glad to hear this. I live in Greenville, about an hour southeast by car or 15 minutes by mooney. My fiance and I love visiting the area, but I usualy refuse to go by mooney because of the reputation. Mostly becuase if I go, the beer there is too good not to partake, so it means an overnight stay and I didn't want to handle the high fuel and ramp prices when a drive isn't too huge of a difference. And for difficulty, at least from the southeast, it's not bad. I flew in there as a 45 hr, recently licensed, pilot with no issues. But then again, I don't fly across the mountains to get there.

http://donmaxwell.com/fuel-tank-repairs-how-we-fix-them/ -Robert

Hey! You advertised this over on Beechtalk for $12500? I guess we know what you think of us Mooney owners!

They are big planes! I had never seen a row of those big turbo prop crop dusters on a flight line before. It was very cool. My buddy and I got crop dusted once on a bike ride near Davis California when like 25 years ago.

I appreciate your attitude. It really is a sad state of the world, when what should be a valuable asset, isn't able to generate any way to pay some back rent, and yield a decent value to the owner. But we are in a "what is" situation rather than a "what we wish was" world.

My A & P has a bunch of crop dusters every year. He just commented that he has a bunch of July annuals and wished more had February like ours. I don’t understand why anyone would have their annual in prime flying season? I guess ‘cause it is prime buying season too? : ) Crop dusters are so fun to watch. I always pull over and spend a phone call or two (when on the road) watching them do their thing. Massive planes. Pilots appear very skilled.

fix the leak at the top of the tank

Took me over a year to obtain my PPL. I had two young kids and was on a budget. I would ask how much $ is available this month...It will take more time and $ this way as likely will lose your instructor and have to prove yourself again, but don’t WAIT until you have all the money saved...You will never get started.

Annual signed off! Just got it washed and waxed and ready to fly. Looking forward to some fun flying this summer and then updating avionics, interior, and maybe paint down the line!

Get a cushion seat pad at http://www.aircraftspruce.com/search/search.php?s=seat+cushions&x=25&y=20 Easier and cheaper than tampering with the panel. José

I’m between 6’4” and 6’5” and have to bring the seat height up slightly...high enough to get my visual sight line over the glareshield correct, and low enough where the top of my headset clears the ceiling by a small, yet comfortable amount. I don’t believe there are dimension differences between the panels in the pre-1999 airplanes and the post-1999 (Moritz gauge) airplanes. Your six-pack and other instruments are simply mounted below the Moritz package. Honestly (and respectfully) you’re making an issue over nothing. Again, go fly one. Where are you located? If you’re a reasonable distance, you and I can connect, and I’ll take you up. Steve

Thanks guys for the info. Made a deal on it and will be picking it up on the trailer on the way back from oregon. jerry P

Given that I tell them you don’t want to take ownership of the plane, I make up a bill of sale, give them the plane, they may be able to recoup some of the 8k .

Just got back from Oshkosh. Flew over Friday morning to enter 954N into the Vintage Aircraft Competition and came home with an award in the Contemporary Class. John Breda

So I asked ..MKTurbo about his procedures for operating his J with the M20Turbo kit, since I have a similar setup. And he suggested that others on this forum might be interested also. So I am taking that gives permission to reprint our conversation. If others would like to chime in please feel free to do so. I was asking because I am trying to dial in how to best run this aircraft. Not many charts on how to do so and definitely a few different techniques to operating a turbo-normalized system. I'm just saving time by asking around. If anyone else has this setup or operated one previously then I would be interested to hear your techniques and procedures. Brian Reprint from me: Currently I am running 25”/2500 for the most part above 8000’. Leaning has been an issue mainly because I think I have a fuel/spark issue in one cylinder. But I would love to know your leaning technique and around what fuel flows you have. Also what speeds you run at? i also have the slowest J out there right now, which I am trying to dial in. Different issues though.  Reply from N201MKTurbo: I usually run LOP at 28 in 2400 RPM and 1500 TIT. That usually comes out to about 9.2 GPH. That gets me about 152 KTS down low (~5000Ft) If I'm flying far enough to make the turbo worth while, I usually fly at 16000 or 17000. At these altitudes I true out about 180 KTS. I've had it up to FL220. The turbo goes open loop at that altitude and your power will change with pitch and bumps. The only time I go that high is to top weather. If I run ROP the cylinders get hot, so I usually have to run about 11.5 - 12 GPH. That is usually at 2400 RPM and 26 in.

I have that, too. My 201 windshield is offset by the Hartzell 3-blade. Reading all of this makes me rethink the F as just a C with extra backseat legroom, hauled around by the hard-to-hot-start IO engine . . .