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As many of you know, I lost my C model just over 1-1/2 years ago with my little run-in with CO. That was on the last business trip I took with my own airplane. Until Thursday. I replaced the C with a 231 just over a year ago. It had a long period of inactivity prior to my ownership, but I have been working the bugs out. I have been slowly upgrading It and it has been getting better and better. Oil consumption has been cut it half since I brought it home. I have changed the oil 5 times now and the Blackstone reports keep getting better. The first one was great considering its history. I finally really felt I was getting in a groove with this airplane. Thursday I took off on the first business trip since my fateful day. While cruising along VFR at 14.5K ft all was well. I was running lean of peak, 10gph, all but the #2 CHT’s were 340 or lower(#2 was around 365), TIT was around 1510, and I was showing 169kts true. Life was good. Then I heard/felt 3 little pops and everything returned to as smooth as it was before. But I noticed my #4 cylinder went cold(EGT and CHT). It was running so smooth I suspected I blew a spark plug out so I reduced manifold pressure to the low 20’s and hung a U-turn to divert to KPKD, about 16mn behind me. I advised ATC that I was diverting do to engine troubles. I told them it wasn’t an emergency yet but would keep them updated. Once I got over KPKD, around 10Kft, Center advised me they lost me on Radar and asked if I needed any assistance. I told them I was over the airport and should be fine. They then asked me to take down a phone number to call after I was safely on the ground. I copied it down and switched to CTAF. Some time just after this, the engine started shaking violently. I reduced power more and the shaking let up a bit but was still very uncomfortable. At this point I knew it was much worse than blown sparkplug. I pulled the mixture back to IC and that seemed to smooth things out a bit. I did a steep spiral over the airport and set up on a downwind about 1800agl. Much higher than I would have liked but I wasn’t in the mood to loiter around and circle one more time. In the back of my mind I was expecting a fire. I really wanted to be on the ground! While on downwind I pushed the mixture back in briefly and the violent shaking returned. So out it came again. I put the gear and flaps down on a tight, high base. I had to slip on final as I was a bit high and fast, I managed a nice landing and only used 3500ft of the 5,500ft runway. It turns out the #4 Cylinder had a classic head/barrel separation. I suspect it fully let go when all the shaking started. It broke the intake riser of #4 and #2, The injector fuel line broke, and the baffling got banged up good. The exhaust manifold kept the head from departing all together, but got bent in the process. We have yet to dig deep into it yet, I’m hoping there is no more damage. I only lost a quart of oil. I’m very thankful for Mooney Friends. Texts went out after I got the airplane back on the ramp. @ThorFlightand @lotsofgadgets both offered to pick me up. Thor rearranged his schedule and was pulling up in his J just a few hrs later. I was back home in time for dinner with the family. Mooney friends are awesome! Some lessons learned. I should have declared an Emergency when center asked if I would like to. It turned out OK, but no one on the ground was aware of my situation despite several “engine out” calls on CTAF. If I hadn’t made the field, search/rescue may not have been alerted. Be safe out there! Dan

Yeah... don’t go riding in a PC-12... or sit up front in a Lear 60... or take a ride in a F-15... I just have to keep reminding myself. “love the one you’re with...” And if folks think nobody gives any love to the rocket- what about us missile owners (Remember us? Me and Seth? The missiles? Anyone... anyone..?). At least people talk about the rockets!

I use a checklist only after annual to make sure everything is set back to the normal setup that I always use. Since nobody else flies my airplane, and I don't fly any other airplanes, that's the only time things might have been left out of kilter. After that, it's HATS for pre-taxi. Heading, Altimeter, Transponder, Switches. Pre-runup, it's FMP (I won't say what it stands for, but it's a shoe) Flaps, Mixture, Pump. The only time I came very close to a gear-up landing was with an extremely experienced instructor when we were practicing landings at different slope angles because he felt I was doing all my landings a bit steep. He was making notes right before the flare, and I just felt I was coming in too hot, so I said "I don't like this speed" and did a go-around. When I went to raise the gear in the climbout, I realized it was already up. That OH SH*T moment. I just kept quiet, and didn't tell him. Until about 3 months later. The main takeaway I got from it was that gear-up landings are most likely to occur when you are doing something differently, or are distracted. If the speed in the flare seems high, don't hesitate to goaround and then check your gear

Paul, It's a IVPT. The Evolution is the next prop-jet model brought to market by Lancair, who then changed their name to Evolution Company and sold the Lancair company to some boys in Texas who recently introduced the Mako. The EVO (Evolution) was purpose built as a pressurized turbine, unlike the IVPT that evolved from the basic IV series. Darwin Conrad took the 231 air frame which was seeing "higher than normal" engine issues (mostly related to manual waste gate controls and pilots new to turbos not operating them correctly) and installed the Cessna 340 / 414 engine system in it. This engine is all automatic waste gate control and added nearly 100 more HP to the air frame. He converted more than 100 of them and, IMHO, changed the focus of the factory pretty quickly to new models with more HP and speed. At the time I bought mine I was really looking for a 252. The Rockets were significantly cheaper and easier to find. 1800 Rocket hours later, and with a turbine in my stable now, my wife and I still love that Mooney. It will be a sad day when I sign the bill of sale over to the next owner, which will happen before the ball drops for 2019. Tom

I visited Texas this year. I found it useful to displace the 130 degree air with nice cool 100 degree air.

This is why I've adopted the policy of asking permission from the owner before posting on a forum. Even if there's risk for criticism, its worth it, as long as its allowed. Eyeballs are eyeballs. I was notified someone saw my ad on wingswap from this forum, and they are contacting the owner to come take a look at it today. The power of WingSwap Carusoam, I am a "social media" friend with Jessica. She's a professional aviation photographer and I've followed her work for a while. I will ask her the back story on the plane and get back to you guys! Bob I saw your Mooney at Oshkosh and was blown away! Truly is spectacular. Tom, I would be honored to help you sell that beauty! Featured listing is on me!

I agree with you. I would never post my Mooney for sale here. I’ll just call up one of those people who have called me over the years begging to sell her to them. Posting a Mooney for sale here is like taking a pig to sale at the auction. “She’s too fat”, “She’s too old”, “Her belly is dragging on the ground” — and no matter what you do to your plane, to those critics, it’s like putting lipstick on that pig. People don’t appreciate the effort (and $) we put into these updated planes. Why should they? They say they’re happy with their pig. Oink [emoji200] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'll bet a majority of members on this board only dream of using their personal airplane for work and even more so to generate profit. For most of us it's purely personal pleasure, and we've already run up the white flag on financial responsibility by getting out of the car or off the airlines and into a personal airplane. I'm starting with a new employer this week and this one is happy for me to expense the use of my airplane when I use it to fly to customer meetings. This alone makes me think I've won the lottery... but it's still not paying for its self and therefore for me, MPG still holds the edge over the extra speed. As has been said, the J is the true MPG winner, but the 252 is a very close second (sometimes in first place) but with much better dispatch rate because of the altitude capability. Someone once said, "after two hours, every airplane is to slow.*" *exception... @Yooper Rocketman's Evolution... after two hours in that airplane I'd still be trying to catch up to it ;-)

MS is a tough crowd to post a for sale ad on. Opinions are strong, sometimes comparable to POA members. Not sure why that is. Several have posted various reasons. Kind of like walking on egg shells if you are not thick skinned. Just like when you sell something to a friend or neighbor. You want to sell it, but he is your friend and neighbor and you want to keep it that way.. I'm hoping to start a new business venture (opening another fitness center in a adjacent town) In the next few months and unfortunately I don't think my wallet can afford two airplane payments and keep them both serviced and flying regular. I'll be putting my E on the market and other than this mention and probably a quick short post in our MS classifieds I won't push it hard on MS. We are a tough crowd, I have a ton invested as I thought it would be my forever bird, so not much was left to do. Not high-jacking the thread, but avionics wise we are very close in comp. 41M is a 74 E and will be listed just a hair north of 100k. I'll be curious to see where this goes and the comments posted. High dollar asking price with lots of mods. Should be interesting. Don't think it will fetch asking price, but I sure wish it would. Good luck Jesse and owner..Maybe we will give WingSwap a try next month.. -Tom

The 305 Rocket is an amazing time machine, and is among the very fastest piston singles. People try to justify all sorts of things in aviation. Reality is that for productivity, speed matters most. A flight from Florida to North Carolina is 2 hours 45 min, enabling a productive day at the destination, and a return flight the same day. People tend to forget that airlines can't do this to most destinations. And that slower aircraft can't do this. Even at 145kts, that's a real world 4 hour trip. Total flight time is 8 vs 5.5. Only one aircraft makes similar day trips possible and leave you enough time to be productive. God forbid trying that in a 172. 12 hours of flying into a headwind both ways.....

Nice work, again, Dan! I have been told... ‘God only gives us challenges we can handle...’ You have handled the post-accident survival, and the pre-accident survival really extremely well. That is amazing! Good luck with the next steps. Share some more pics and JPI data when you can. What is making the oil under the tire look like 1/2” of Brown goo? Or is that an effect of the camera lens? Thanks for sharing, again, -a-

Sure came off as gloating to me. Even more so with the emoji that was added. To the OP glad you had a safe outcome and sorry for the challenges ahead. To our guy with the twin you seem to always have to make comments promoting the multi engine airplanes. I'm sure most if not all of us think your Barron is an awesome airplane I know I do and not in need of promoting. And as for a mere 50% more well to many that's a lot of money. Good job Dan.

How much is your insurance? i was just a tad bit annoyed with a dude coming on to a thread of a fellow aviator sharing a difficult day and someone comes on and gloats. I or he comes her to share the experience to help others deal well with situations if god forbid they happen to others. And honestly to shake off quite a fright in a community of fellow aviators. and honestly - it is a fact that a twin is a mixed blessing. For the reasons that I said and documented in the ntsb database and the actuaries computed insurance rates. this is a question not a statement. Is the insurance rate of a twin at same Hull value ever the same as a complex single assuming supreme experience in each? that hypothetical question aside. I get it... I get it when you gloated the day I had an emergency to handle and shared it on the forum and I get it today that dan is here sharing his experience / you love your twin and I am very happy for you. I wish you happy and safe flying. Good value and great insurance rates for your earned provably better than average twin pilot skills.

Oh boy - this thread gives me flash backs. Good for you Dan and well done! I had a comparable incident in April. A full engine out emergency, (dead turbo), smoke in the cockpit and a dead stick landing. Starting at 16,500 ft. The cause was entirely different, but there were similarities. I was close enough to an airport that I was soon 12k over the target emergency landing airport, doing steep spirals to come down asap because I too was worrying about a fire - but I was dead stick but there was some smoke - not a lot - but also the smell of burin (but it was just burnt oil). Then I too made essentially the same decision as you - I had one last turn I could have made for a better approach to landing but I elected to land right away skipping one last turn and I too came in very hot but thanks to speed breaks I managed to make a reasonable stop with some runway to spare to a nice uneventful landing. Oh boy - good for you and good for me - to be posting "how lucky" we are. Knock on wood for both of us good buddy!

Tired of your Missile? Want a model people talk about? I've got a C, let's make a deal . . . Can't hardly race for pinks, though. On second thought, can one person pull a Missile out of a hangar, or push it in with full tanks???

Thanks for posting and glad you are okay. Post back what you find.

Albeit a different cause, you and @aviatoreb have shown that skill and coolness result in a good outcome. Well done Dan!

Great job! Looking forward to the engine autopsy details too. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

I always get a kick out of how so many boast about the speed and efficiency of their Mooney until someone has a faster plane. Then we just talk about efficiency???? Airplanes are ALWAYS a trade off. Speed, efficiency, payload, seat count, acquisition cost, operating costs, maintenance factors, the list goes on and on. If you compare the Rocket to most other high performance singles and the lions share of twins, it stacks up pretty good. On this forum, I’ve always been amazed at how it’s treated like the black sheep..........well, by those that don’t own them or have any appreciable time in them. But then, what would I know? Tom

My friend Jessica just listed this 1966 M20E Super 21 for sale on WingSwap, and I just had to share it with you all. You'll have to read the description for whats all included, but its as if Mooney rolled out a brand new M20E in 2018! If you think of it like that, the asking price of 135k is a bargain. Just lowered too. Full LED, Garmin G500 EFIS equipped instrument panel paired with a Garmin GTN750 GPS/NAV/COM and GMA35 remote audio panel. All cylinders overhauled in 2017. https://wingswap.com/listing/10559

I see the same in terms of the your description of what they end up doing. Here's another twist... particularly in transition training,is see lack of checklist use leading to lack of checklist use. Example of what I mean: I was transitioning a pilot from a 172 to a 182. World's easiest transition (along with Cherokee to Dakota). Prop/MP and cowl flaps are about it. The pilot had moved to a typical 172 flow in lieu of a written checklist for everything after takeoff. Many do. After all, it's only fuel and mixture (and carb heat if carbureted). Hardly a need for a written checklist for those. But, what happened was this. As usual, the prop/MP was a non-issue but, time after time, on every setup for approach to landing I had to remind the trainee to close the cowl flaps. Finally, I decided to simply say, "You've forgotten something." He would look all around the cockpit, looking for what he might have missed. I chuckled when he tightened his seatbelt. The one thing he never looked at, thought, was the checklist lying on top of the glareshield in his line of sight. He had gotten so used to not using a checklist that referencing it never even crossed his mind.

I loved my 231 and I may have one again at some point. For what it is, it is best of class, in my opinion. But there are risks in flying a single engine airplane. It seems at some points in my life I'm willing to take those risks and other times I'm not willing to.

Is he scrambling them or will they be sunny side up?

I find it interesting that expendable income pilots do not see the utility in checklist usage, yet professional pilots use them.

You're new here, aren't you? New Imron paint by Hawk June 2018 SabreCowl Hartzell Scimitar Prop Johnson Bar Manual Gear, hydraulic flaps Speed Brakes, manual actuating 64 gallons Bladders One piece belly, all(?) speed mods including 201 windshield CYA100 AOA STEC50 Stormscope 900 JPI EDM 930 GTN 750 GDL 88 ADS-B I/O Aspen 1000 Pro w SV, AOA, ADS-B, GPSS Leather Interior, etc. 2012 Owned since 2/2012 by long time (49 years) Mooney pilot and flown ~75 hours per year. Maintained by the owner and AGL Aviation Services, a MSC. Not your grandpa's '66E. VID_20180310_112623405.mp4

Jesse, Tell us about your friend Jessica... There is an interesting story in there for sure... Who did the work? What inspired all the details? How Long did this ground up project actually take? Bob’s E is amazing... Both would make great retirement Mooneys... Jessica’s E is available... See if you can share more of the back story... Best regards, -a-

My GUMPS: G = Gear U = Undercarriage (Gear) M = Maybe I forgot the Gear P = Perhaps I should check the Gear light too S = Say, is the Gear handle in the block?

A turbocharger is an excellent A/C unit!

Nice to hear you're safe and sound on the ground!

Good job and I’m very glad you made it down safe. Bottom line you made the correct choices that ended up with you on the ground safe.

I only hope my training kicks in as did yours and others on this board.

I love that Sunbeam Tiger in British Racing Green!! I haven't seen one of those in a long time!

We should all hope it sells for top dollar as it makes it easier for everyone else to improve and sell our planes. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

Good job Dan! Great to hear a successful outcome. Tom

Fly early, fly high.

I know the Rocket is stupid fast, but my turbo J would have done it in in about 2:20 with ~22 gallons. That suits me just fine.

Rod Machado once made the comment that there is only one difference between dialing in the wrong frequency on a handoff and a gear up landing - the consequences.

attached pics at home, too far to drive for a car/plane pic..but enjoy, all 3 rebuilt, tooo may toys now..

Crazy week, time got away from me ... :0 Mooney Selfie.pdf Panel.pdf Mooney 5782Q.pdf Mooney.pdf

Because they are ***holes?

One of my favorite airports to fly into for breakfast when I used to fly my father's Cessna 150 TD was Butter Valley. Since purchasing my Mooney at the end of March 2018 I didn't make it back until now. This is my first landing at Butter Valley since purchasing the Mooney. Runway is 1535'x24' with 900' of grass overrun. My dad and brother flew over first in his brand "C" and shot the video. You can hear my father in the background urging me to add power.

Back to the Rocket and WHY anyone would possible want one when it burns SO MUCH FUEL. Mine is used a lot for business. I love Mooney's, so didn't want to move off the brand, and my budget wouldn't support the newest models. I needed more than my F could provide and found this model to meet those needs. A couple mission examples. I needed to drop a driver off to bring back a new Western Star tractor we found in a York PA dealership and were able to get on a dealer transfer for one of my customers We could not get out of my home airport until 8 AM due to fog and when we arrived in Eastern PA I lost several hours going to the dealership, checking over the truck and getting all the documents compiled and signed before my driver could get on the road bringing the truck back to the U.P. When I got back to the FBO, there were a lot of thunderstorms in PA and NY and a decent group of pilots stranded in the lobby. A good weather radar and forecast study revealed I had a window if I headed out north and traveled across a larger section of Canada on my way back, especially since I could go to FL240 and dodge what larger stuff there was VISUALLY. The 1214 NM round trip ended up more like 1400 NM, but I landed by 5:30 PM and was sitting in a lawn chair by 5:50 PM watching my kids warm up for their 6:00 soccer game. Not a parent on the sidelines, besides my wife, had a clue how many miles I had traveled in my own plane that day before showing up for my kids game. I had a customer out of Marquette that was looking for a couple used dump trucks. I flew up to KSAW and picked him and his driver up. We headed to Danville VA for the first truck and I will never forget the comment by the truck driver in the back seat. He said "we really don't look like we're going very fast", to which I replied "were doing 245 knots, which is over 280 MPH". He said again "it still doesn't look like we're hardly moving". My second comment was "son (he was substantially younger than me), you'll realize how fast we were going when you get out of this plane after a three hour flight and it takes you 1 1/2 days to drive back". We bought one truck there and flew over to St Louis, MO for the second unit. That one was not as advertised so back to KSAW with my customer, 1700 miles traveled and one truck bought (he bought the second one a week later that we found in lower Michigan), and HE WAS STILL HOME IN TIME FOR DINNER. I paid ALL the plane's expenses for that year with those two truck sales....and gained a customer for life. Efficiency.................I guess it's a matter of your own perspective. A standard J model Mooney could not have performed those two missions in the time frame required. I've got a bunch more of those types of trips but I won't bore you with the details. FOR ME, the Rocket has been the best plane for the mission. Tom

There’s gotta be a witty reply to this...

:-) Im just having fun with you. Ok - in the constrained to only a mooney category. M20J is the efficiency king. In certain conditions a 252 can beat it but generally M20J with all the mods, lopresti cowl, power flow, etc. In the most efficient thing on the planet unconstrained category - Ill go vespa. In the unconstrained category, hey Job can I borrow your F15?

Without a doubt. Unless one values a Johnson Bar or an engine that has been flown regularly...

I was flying one that was over gross with full tanks and a pilot. They re-did the WB and now you can take a skinny passenger. In reality it will climb like a home sick angel with whatever you can fit in it. The landing gear may collapse if you hit a bump in the runway, but it will fly!

I had a different story. I bought a plane with an IO-550 that had about 80 hours over the last couple years about 4ish months ago. Just put 135 hours on the engine in the last 4 months of ownership. Engine is currently at 1530 hours and has never had a cylinder changed. Engine is a TCM IO-550 G

My youngest is just starting Ga. Tech on the Hope scholarship and my oldest transferred to UGA from Auburn a couple years back because he also qualifies for the Hope. In addition to being very proud of them I am greatful to them for not going to expensive private universities which would have seriously dinged my aviation budget. And as far as the kids being grown and out of the house, I love it. I have a couple of friends who are about my age who are on second marriages with much younger wifes who have just had babies after getting a first set of children grown and gone. My hat is off to them because I can’t imagine going through all of that again.

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 NEVER said that anyone is wrong for complaining about prices. Please show me where I said that and I will apologize for it. I politely request that you reread what I wrote. There is probably no one that belly aches more about prices than I do. That was not my point. My point was that flying is expensive. I don’t like it any more than anyone else, but when someone is so strapped that a little over 1AMU causes them to get rid of their plane, they probably were already at a point they should have been out long before for their own good. I politely request that you don’t misquote what I wrote. If I was not sufficiently clear with the message I was trying to convey, I offer my apologies.