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So I have posted a lot of questions on the forum about a few different topics that I encountered along the way, but I'm prod to announce that N1157L, a new-to-me 1982 M20K was finally able to be flown home this past Sunday from Fort Lauderdale. The original bill of sale was signed off on May 17, and it took until August 5 to get all the kinks worked out. If it looks familiar at all, it was up for auction by the US Marshal's service. I bought it sans log books, so that was the beginning of the journey. It was missing the audio panel, the transponder, and a GNS530W. I had the proper overhauled to 0-time, 500hr mag inspection, replaced a few lights and the left wingtip lens, had to replace the fuel selector valve (that booger was $2k!), replaced a couple of gas caps, and replaced all the wheel bearings and races. Completed a full annual inspection, and all the ADs had to be re-checked as well. After finally getting the new registration, a new airworthiness certificate, and all the proper documentation in order, we flew home to KSRB. It was a nice, smooth 4.5 hr flight. We stayed at 10,500' as the O2 tank still needs to be recertified. But, found some awesome surprises along the way. It has long range tanks installed, has working electric speed breaks, has a storm scope behind the dash (wired to display on the 530), had a merlyn waste gate and intercooler installed, one piece belly skin, and was hard-wired for Bose headphones in all 4 places! At this point, the only thing left to do is to keep hunting records to try to determine the engine total time, although the compressions were really good, and replace the 530W. That, and she needs a really good wash and wax! This place is a great resource for Mooney-holics, as my wife has basically compared my behavior as of late to that of an addict!!! Thanks to all!

I think your partner needs some tail dragger time to appreciate just how much forward vision the O really has.

Nicely done. Stick an Avidyne IFD540 where that 530 was.

Man, first reply throws down the gauntlet with an amazing pic with three little kids. It's hard to compete with kids or puppies! But alas, it's worth the try.

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

I'm curious as to why the owner is selling this plane? Was it not insured? If it was insured, I would expect it would have been totaled and the owner has a check and is out looking for his next Mooney.

If you got the plane for free... it will undoubtedly still be cheaper to go buy a nice one that is airworthy, current, and flying.

That is so true...the wrong one is not only costly it's life shortening

I'd be looking for another plane...

Wish I had that problem

Even if they gave you the plane for free, between the expense of overhauling the engine, prop and repairing the wing, gear, etc., you are looking at some serious cash output.

Where can one read this story? I need to add it to my growing file of things never to do in my Mooney...

Just a quick note to say thanks to the entire team at LASAR. The evacuations in Lakeport have been lifted and LASAR is back and open for business. I have my 67 M20F up there with them having some modifications being completed and I want to commend Brett Stokes and Dan and the rest of the LASAR team for taking such good care of my plane during the fires. They moved her into their hangar to protect her from smoke and ash issues and have followed up with me almost daily about the unexpected closing and evacuation of the airport as well as the eta in getting her back to Santa Monica. I cannot thank them enough. They also have extended their 10% off on all labor charges to the end of August so if anyone has any need of their incredible services I highly recommend you giving them a call. They have provided 40 + years of Mooney service and from my experience they are pilot friendly and professional in every way at every level. Thanks guys. I really appreciate all your work.

I know you came here for flying advice and not life advice, but... Some may agree and some won't. Many of my major goals in life were accomplished because of a supportive wife by my side, or at least easier to accomplish. Of course that is dependent on marrying the right person. The opposite is true. It's very difficult to accomplish things with the wrong person by your side.

Highly Modified 1968 F (essentially a J) TAS 165, 77% HP, 2400 RPM/23.8 MP, 11.2 GPH, 17000 ft. Obviously at higher MP it would be faster. This was flying back from Oshkosh in July. John Breda

I don’t know of anybody specifically who has done it but the roller cases can be ordered and retrofitted to the IO360s. LyCon has done this. Not sure if that specifically excludes the D engines.

Beautiful work, Bonal! I think i’m Going to need a composite... piece of art... Background, Eric’s desert scene... Close background, SDB’s Arch... with Rich’s 201turbo turning to shoot through it.... Middle, A good pic of my O in flight... don’t have a pic of that... Foreground, Seth’s safety patrol kids... A super nice ray tracing art of everything reflecting off Bryan’s finely polished spinner! My O would look extra nice with a borrowed piece of clothing... a nice coat of Bob’s paint would work... All framed up and getting squished by ILC’s boy’s finger and thumb! Titled “Pilot Perfect. Or I’m Squishing You.....“ Bonal, Thanks for sharing your awesome skill. To get all that would probably be an 8’ X 24’ mural! Who’s got a new hangar home in need of some awesome Mooney wall mural.... Best regards, -a-

Thank you. Actually it is the wiring retainer that is in the back of the bracket that holds the landing gear position light. We soldered in some new diodes, glued it back together in a way that can be easily removed for bulb replacement and put it all back together. Everything is working wonderfully now. My first experience on this forum has been an excellent one and I will definitely be sticking around. P.S. Check this bad boy out... knocked the dust off of it and pulled up the schematics old school style hahaha

Still my fave of my beast:

Finally closed on the house today. 80 days after our offer was accepted. There were any number of issues that had to be worked though but it is a done deal. Now, the remodel. Extensive. Probably three months. Then we move in and list the current house for sale. Anyone want a nice house in three months that's about 15 min from both KAVQ & 57AZ ?

Wow, what a cool contest. There are some really amazing shots so far! Here are some of my favorites with my airplane!

haha luckily I don't like her for her things. Its just an awesome coincidence OKAY enough personal life. Back to business. Barnstormers ain't gonna kill itself!

Thanks, here’s one.

An Irish World War II Spitfire pilot and Flying Ace, was speaking in a church and reminiscing about his war experiences. "In 1942," he says, "the situation was really tough. The Germans had a very strong air force. I remember," he continues, "one day I was protecting the bombers and suddenly, out of the clouds, these Fokker's appeared." There are a few gasps from the parishioners, and several of the children began to giggle. "I looked up, and realized that two of the Fokkers were directly above me. I aimed at the first one and shot him down. By then, though, the other Fokker was right on my tail." At this point, several of the elderly ladies of the church were blushing with embarrassment, the girls were all giggling and the boys laughing loudly. The pastor finally stands up and says, "I think I should point out that 'Fokker' was the name of a German-Dutch aircraft company, who made many of the planes used by the Germans during the war." "Yes, that's true," says the old pilot, "but these Fokkers were flying Messerschmitt's."

This is November 3's personal Caravan Airventure. This year Ute and I enjoyed the best Caravan we have ever had, my own gaffs notwithstanding. I took all of our videos and put them together for this retelling. Just us Canadians enjoying ourselves.

You need to have a set of gauges connected while it's running to see if it's tripping the high or low pressure switches. My guess is it's going high after a while which probably means the receiver/dryer is partially plugged.

Ummm... Maybe?

The wing spar/wing root are just aft of the location of that wrinkle. The wing spar runs from inside the floor of the aircraft (where it joins the other wing spar) out towards the tip. To cause a wrinkle in compression perpendicular to the spar like that one appears to be, the spar likely flexed as did the rest of the wing support structure in that area. So probably, you are looking at replacing the spar and spar cap, some of the cross members, the wing skin, and to get to the wing root the starboard fuselage skin will need to be removed around the wing. Pricey. That’s my Internet diagnosis from a picture. An A&P will need to get inside there and determine what all needs to be replaced, which at a minimum means the wing skin in that area, just to inspect. Now, that’s a picture, it may be that on further examination that is not from a flexing of the wing at all. But chances are pretty good it is.

For a good honeymoon video... see @201er‘s... Mike has posted a few videos from buying his 201 to Flying it to the arctic circle and the Caribbean including Cuba... See if you can catch a Mooney fly-in... Get that discovery flight scheduled... Maintain headway... Best regards, -a-

I just replaced the incandescent with the Parmetheus Plus par 46, the new LED is FAR brighter than the incandescent it replaced.

It all started with some really cool T-shirts... We knew Jesse since he was a young buck with a few good ideas... All it takes is some hard, well thought out work, and a lot of hours... and a fistful of dough... and a whole bunch of other things... like MS... Best regards, -a-

I’m not seeing radios in the panel... are they remote? Or part of the fancy display? Don’t rush to answer these questions... we will have plenty of time before the second half of their 2018 arrives... Best regards, -a-

Since we seem to be nearing the finish line on this CB thing.... allow me to hit on the other part looking for attention. There are a couple of ways to get replacement parts... Some times they are New Old Stock (NOS) sitting on a shelf... Lasar.com Some times they can get manufactured... Lasar.com Often there is a used one in working condition looking for a new flying home... @acpartswhse Starting a new thread titled something like ‘in search of... M20F Ram Air part...’ Or Check with our guy that is building modern cowlings he may have a few deleted parts left over... If I understand correctly this is a part related to the Ram air feature... Slowly over time, people are deleting the ram air system while replacing it with a better flowing intake system... Just some Other things to consider if you are thinking of keeping this bird for a long time... Some people refer to a bird like this, as a forever-plane... M20Fs make great forever planes.... Best regards, -a-

Polish the one you have. I had to replace my original spinner a long time ago due to crack so I polished the new one. It took some effort, but it was worth it.

I have a Castleberry standby AI in my Ovation. Had to send it to Castleberry for repair. (It was an internal power issue) I believe the cost was about 1200.00 USD. After getting it back It was still very slow to erect without caging it first. Now caging it is part of my after-start checklist. Also, my Ovation only has 970 hrs. tt. When you cage the AI, don’t pull it hard like we did in our training days. A slow steady pull will do.

I'll put my old E in the hopper, 2 pics from Madison, one from Oshkosh...

I'm based in C29 though I've been up at KLSE during the week lately for work. If you're interested in checking it out I'd be happy to show you.

What's wrong with that ?

Get it going before the House, cars, and kids eat up all the free cash flow.... my constriction when learning to fly, was daycare expenses... When it comes to life time goals... get them started... Around here the local flight schools have a discovery flight for $100... this allows you to meet a flight instructor and try out a school plane.... turn it into a flight lesson if everything is looking good... Study up for free.... http://aviation.und.edu/multimedia/podcasts-videos.aspx The more often you fly, the more time and economically efficient you will be... Flying only a couple of times each month will take about two years to get the PPL. If you enjoy the training, and don’t have a time line to meet, this can work pretty well... If your goals are to own a Mooney... focus on economic efficiency... minimize the time off between lessons... minimizing repeated steps caused by time off, leaves more money for finding and buying a plane... What’s your time line? What are your constrictions? Want to put some goals together? PP thoughts only, not a cfi... Best regards, -a-

Just talked with Paul from Weep no more. What a great guy. Booked 5 months out. Quoted $6400 or 6800 for both tanks. Considering having it done so i can check that box for the next 15 years. Will see how things go when we pull access panels tomorrow and look. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Similar story to mine. I worked with a guy who flew cargo for a small carrier and had his own C-152 back in the early 90s. He wasn't into building time and knew the ins and outs of the system, ATC etc. He had his own notes and print outs which focused on the critical stuff. $40/hr for the plane and $20/hr for his time those days! . I got my licence in 9 months.

Never been to AVL, however I have recently found (and became addicted to) a series on Avweb called "Say Again" written by Don Brown - an ATC controller and Facility Safety Representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. In all my years of flight instructing, I never realized how little I knew about how the other half operates. I attribute this to the FAAs lack of cross pollination between controllers and pilots, further suppressed after 911 (according to Don). The series is extremely informative and has already changed the way I fly - (I am only 12 articles in). The series start in the early 2000's and recounts his personal experiences as an ATC controller in the ATL area, and continues on to the mid 2007. I cant recommend these enough. Back to my point - laytonl mentioned Mt. Mitchell which I recall reading about in article #5 . It may be worth a read. Below is the relevant excerpt from the article. Mountain Monsters Speaking of winds, I wish I had a nickel for every time I've had this conversation in my career. "Cessna 12345 are you familiar with the Mt. Mitchell area?" That's usually met by a puzzled response. Anybody who is trying to fly over or on the east side of Mt. Mitchell during the winter and spring winds isn't familiar with the area. The people who know the area know better and avoid it. "Cessna 12345, the Mt. Mitchell area is 12 o'clock, 30 miles. The area has a long history of severe downdrafts and turbulence. Minimum IFR altitude is 8,700. I'd be glad to vector you around it if you'd like." Right now, somewhere in the bowels of the FAA, some legal eagle is having a conniption fit. Years ago, the MEA on V35 (which passes just east of Mt. Mitchell) was 11,000. Some genius noticed that it exceeded the criteria for 2,000 ft. terrain clearance in mountainous terrain. It did, for good reason. The rules prevailed over common sense and the MEA was lowered to 8,700. So now, at least two or three times a year pilots tempt fate at the wrong time and they get the roller coaster ride of their lives. A 1,000 FPM descent despite applying full power gives you two minutes to ponder your fate. Remember that controller that stuck his neck out and offered you a vector around it? All he can do now (as you tell him of your predicament in a voice two octaves above your normal range) is say "Roger." By the way, if you ever find yourself in that predicament, the terrain falls off sharply just east of Mt. Mitchell. That's not a recommendation. That's not a suggestion. It's not even a hint. My only recommendation/suggestion/hint is that you stay away from it when the wind is blowing. However, I have seen a few pilots survive an encounter with Mt. Mitchell by turning due east . If a controller ever offers you a vector out of the way of something (say an airplane, mountain or thunderstorm) you might want to give serious consideration to taking him up on it. Don't wait until you get scared. By then it may be too late.

I’d go fly one, personally I think it’s overblown. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Mooney Caravan leadership made a great call to hold the Caravan due to low ceilings and visibility on Saturday. They have established a set of go/no go weather minimums and were never presented with a weather window that met this criteria. Sunday early afternoon the weather improved greatly and all 62 Mooneys were lead safely to the North 40. Hats off to the Mooney Caravan Flight Ops and safety team.

I'm 27....have owned my plane for almost 4 years now and have just purchased my first vehicle. I think I'm a bit late to the game but its my dream car and I've always wanted one since they came out in 2003. Its an Oxford White, 2004 Ford Mustang Mach 1 edition. 32-valve 4.6L V8, 310hp at the crank. 5-speed, of course, and coming soon, a custom plate

I put in my Whelen Parmetheus just a few months before they came out with Gen 2. In the four years I've had it, I can remember turning it off twice--once during annual and once halfway through pitot static testing in my hangar, when it had been on almost an hour. I've measure good visibility of the landing zone at 1/2 mile.

A C-130 was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed by. The jet jockey decided to show off. The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, 'watch this!' and promptly went into a barrel roll followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier. The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought of that? The C-130 pilot said, 'That was impressive, but watch this!' The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes and then the C-130 pilot came back on and said: 'What did you think of that?' Puzzled, the F-16 pilot asked, 'What the heck did you do?' The C-130 pilot chuckled. 'I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back, took a leak, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.' When you are young & foolish - speed & flash may seem a good thing !!! When you get older & smarter - comfort & dull is not such a bad thing !!!

There is one more reason for a rocket. It is a real hot rod, and it is just fun to have and own a kick in the pants, fast climbing, fast cruising, roaring machine. That is not a practical reason, but it is a reason nonetheless. The MT prop by the way also helps a good bit with ground clearance. I forgot the numbers, but it brings the ground clearance back to what it was with the original 252-tsio-360 prop size/clearance.

I had the MT 4-blade prop added to my rocket mostly for balance reasons, but the weight improvement was nice too. (From memory) I think it was 36lbs off the nose which moved the balance to near the center of the M20K envelope and left me a very harmonized airplane with zero balance issues and light to the touch and easy in flare. My weight is ~930lbs (memory) and I have tks even.