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Some of you probably know that I fell and injured my shoulder, preventing me from handling the Johnson Bar gear of my forever plane M20C. I looked into changing her to electric gear. It was going to be an ordeal if I did it myself, especially with a bad shoulder, and was gonna be time consuming and expensive to have someone else do it and I somehow felt like I was downgrading that sweet little C. I began looking for an electric gear plane and wanted a little mor back seat room anyway. The weekend before July 4th., I was poking around and saw this plane on Barnstormer. So, many things seemed to fall in place. It was at Maxwell Aviation which is less than 50 nM from my home field and they were open July 4th., so Sandy and I drove down there to look at it. Don was there and gave me a good run down. He said he could swap avionics with my C. I had just gotten through doing a 345 in the C and I didn’t want to give it up, and I wanted to keep my WAAS 430 and card compass. I called Don that afternoon and we made a deal. He said that he would be gone two weeks to Oshkosh, so I knew it would be a long night wait, but it seemed worth the wait. After getting back they were hopelessly behind and Don was bent on flying it several hours and shaking it down tnoroughly since it had basically been through a restoration. Obviously I wanted it shaken down well so I waited and just kept watching flightaware. Some of the other things that fell in place were simply because I was buying it from Don, Paul and Jan. They are competent and trustworthy, and just great people to meet, visit and deal with. If I had bought from elsewhere, where would I have taken it for prebuy? Given their reputation I knew I could trust them with no worry, so I simply wrote a check and didn’t have to fool with escrow and title search. The plane: Since they have access to various items they added lots of modifications, 201 windshield, 201cowl, speed brakes, new custom panel done by Kevin, their sheet metal guy. The panel included a JPI instead of a clutter of engine gauges. It now also has the 430 W, the GTX 345 and NAV/COM with glide slope. It has new paint, a nice interior, shoulder harnesses. I have been about to bust a gut with excitement while waiting, so I have delayed writing this roll out thread. I flew to Longview this morning to have somewhere to fly and she was sitting on the line outside and it turned out they were trying to call me yesterday to let me know she’s ready. Don is going to fly it to Mount Pleasant for me tomorrow morning since I have to get a CFI checkout for insurance before I can solo it. Have you ever seen a 69 year old kid at Christmas? Once I have it home I will get a CFI in the next few days. i am attaching a video of Don taxiing out for the first test flight after restoration, a picture of the panel before panel work and a picture of Kevin giving her the first bath. More pictures to come after I get her home. 81F6E1EC-DB2E-4F39-AFFB-0546FF14A701.MOV

@rdshave

I don't think airspeed is the problem. It's a combination of airspeed, angle of attack, weight, etc. This is exactly the problem that all the AOA vendors are trying to solve.

gsengle got it right, its a fuel rule, it makes you carry more fuel reserves. You are not required to use your declared alternate to land, you are just required to carry the fuel to get there. I can’t think of a time where I actually used the declared alternate, usually you find the best available airport if its really necessary. Actually, nowadays with weather on the panel, on the rare occasions when I have run into a primary airport that is going too low to land, with NEXRAD on the panel and good weather reporting through SatWX and ADSB, I just land somewhere short of the primary and avoid the whole issue.

Ditto except I added an Aera 660 as a poor mans MFD, removed the annunciator as well and lost 40lbs (my backup vac pump was 12lbs alone). My goal is to get to 1000lbs useful load.

Don landed at Mount Pleasant this morning right on time. We flew a little and he had people waiting on him back at the shop so we got my friend the M20 F owner and retired professional helicopter pilot and helicopter instructor. He rode in the backseat to Longview. I got a few things out of the C and we headed back. Longview is a training ground for air controllers so everything is by the book. I am more comfortable going in and out of a pasture in a taildragger and I expect those controllers also would prefer that I did that instead of trying to get it all correct on a controlled field. Many things about this F are different from my C. I got by with flying my C as if it were a taildragger, but it is clear that I will have to seriously step up my game. In addition I am working on my IR, so I need to get comfortable with her so I can continue my instrument training or go back to my Cessna to complete it. Anyway, one picture is Don and myself and the other is her tucked away in her new home( pardon the hangar mess.)

Nantucket airport is where it is because the military needed to train pilots to do low approaches. They picked literally the worst weather foggiest patch of land in the USA. Having said that I’m flying in there four times today, all beautiful VFR so dont jinx me! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always double checked against the primary’s. Specially on take off. I bought a whole 900. I replaced the harnesses and all the probes. The. sold the complete 830 for $1,500. I don’t remember what the trade in price was. My main reason for the upgrade to the 900 was taking all the old gauges out and cleaning up my panel. I installed the G5 at the same time and we removed the vacuum pump, a lot of wires, and gauges. All in all we removed 25 pounds of stuff. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WOW! She looks GREAT. And you and I both know how comfortable it is to buy a plane after Don "the Oracle" Maxwell has given it his stamp of approval. That looks to me like a forever airplane.

Probably still my favorite picture...day I brought it home!

No love for the F? Harrumph! Go M20F... for Best value between "Yes it's still a Mooney" and back seat passengers who actually have legs! or Go M20F... You don't get J or K speed without a momentary pause here. or Go M20F...Is the extra $60,000 really worth buying a J? (Okay, maybe it is) or Go M20F...I've spent $30,000 in speed mods and should be going mach .7 but I still plan for 145kts. or Go M20F...I don't have a turbo or the speed of an E or the prestige of an Ovation or Acclaim but damn it I still own a Mooney and I love it!

Trial attorneys call this “making a record”

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.

It seems to me that a Garmin G5, Aspen or other PFDs already has all the information necessary to generate these alerts. Except for gross weight. It could give the alerts at max weight and give you a little cushion if you didn’t enter it. It would just be software and government red tape. While its at it it could adjust the V speeds for you different airspeed arcs. A side benefit would be forcing us all to actually do a W/B on every flight.

In that particular crash the pilot did talk to the tower at the AFB, and the tower indicated that the field could be used for emergencies only. The pilot was already pretty stressed at that point (he was running out of fuel in heavy IMC as well as dealing with some possible equipment failures) and apparently just heard, "You can't land here." Given the short period of time until he did run out of fuel and the weather conditions at the time, he was already in a fuel emergency and the logical thing would have been to go to the AFB. IIRC the NTSB dinged the AFB tower controller for that in the final report, that the tone, or whatever, in the discussion may have contributed to the crash by dissuading the pilot from landing there in the middle of an emergency.

I'm not casting stones until the day I turn in my medical. -Robert

Most Dynon components share information by a network cable, much like a computer cable with Dsub connectors. Each cable has two sets of data lines, if one is compromised the other takes over. The displays, button panel and knob panel each have two connectors available and can be in the end or middle of a daisy chain of components. The engine monitor, ARINC, autopilot servos and ADAHRS have only one connector. The transponder and ADSB receiver use a serial connection teed to each display. Here's where the hub comes into play: If each display, engine monitor, ARINC and ADAHRS are all connected through a 5 port hub and one display dies, all info is available to the other display. If one display is removed for whatever reason, all info is available to the other display. Can you do without the hub? Yep, but for a few dollars and a few extra cables, there is much redundancy. There is software cross checking going on all the time. Alerts will show broken wires, one data line error, data mismatches, etc. Every now and then some upside-down, slipping, ham-fisted maneuver will cause a ADAHRS mismatch. You won't see that in a Mooney. Hopefully. Another thread someone was asking about a G meter. Yep. You can show it full time in place of the HSI. Or have it pop up at some programed force. Mine is set for 2.5 G. Also has a visual AOA indicator and audible warnings. I've got 7" displays. My 67 year old eyes would like the bigger font of the 10" displays. Didn't show the second ADAHRS on the data sheet the 1st I think is $1200, the 2nd is less, by 2 or $400. I think the STC will require a backup battery for each unit. When new the battery will power the display for at least an hour. Software forces you to test the battery once a year. One of my batteries failed the test in it's seventh year, the other is still going strong.

Nantucket is awesome for LIFR! I flew in there a bunch before and after the TDZ lights were installed (late 90's?), and the heat generated by them was often enough to lift the fog a bit. Number of missed approaches went way down post-TDZ lighting. Of course, a switch to LED's will ruin this effect. -dan

Statements like the above help support my fundamental belief that the #1 issue is education. In no way is this meant to question @Nels, but nels brings up a very common misunderstanding among the pilot community that airspeed is responsible for stalls even though I am sure all have learned its AOA. Yet unfortunately for too many that is just a poorly understood concept. So its my belief that too many pilots become fixated to degree on the accelerated 1G stall speed and its relationship to bank angle. That would be great if their understanding allowed for AOA, weight, cg. But without that it leads to unnecessarily (IMO) restricting bank angle to shallower standard rate turns in the pattern and excessively long downwinds rather than flying the standard FAA traffic pattern from 0.5 to no more than 1 mile abeam the runway. We all see it. Its then these long patterns which lead to the the pilot getting low and then slow when they start pulling back on yoke without adding rudder and power to compensate for the increased AOA. In other words, the larger pattern the pilot is consciously choosing to fly to avoid the stall/spin is actually setting the stage for the very event. But in contrast, if the pilot's pattern was the well practiced tighter but normal pattern with a continuous descent that kept the wing unloaded from abeam the numbers to the point of landing as supposedly taught in primary training their would be no reason to pull back on the yoke and thus very little concern for a stall/spin accident.

Yep fly an ILS coupled right to the runway in an emergency, even at RVR 1000 you’ll pick up lights on a bright runway by 100 feet and be able to flare. Just better have those needles centered. Fly it coupled. Go to a big runway. Imho use LPV. And ask for lights on maximum. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think I'm going to try the lubrication thing. I doubt there's anything wrong with the gear itself, airplane came out of annual in June. But I think the gear holder thingies could use some lube at both ends. Ordered some trifle off Amazon, but I doubt it'll be here in time (unusual, stuff usually gets here fast). But I can get some silicone lubricant form the auto parts store and use that. Seems to me like a stickiness thing, and lube usually gets that.

My AOA system perfectly addresses that issue... The first audio annunciation is "Getting Slow", and since it is AOA based that is sensed independent of weight and airspeed, as it should be. Next comes "Too Slow" which usually sounds during the flare for me. It works very well. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

Our bar swung freely as well it was the slider that was not locking easily into the block in the panel. After tri flow it went in to locked position with zero effort.

I have. We flew commercial. Food, Weather, History (went to WWII museum) and of course music were highlights. It was (unknown to us until arrival) Gayfest so there was an interesting party and people watching was extraordinary. We had a great time in the Big Easy. The antique shops and one silver shop was over the top. It was like a museum. We just stumbled in because it looked cool. Walking back inside there was some impressive art on the walls. It turned out that they were a well known art dealer. Kel and I got a private guided tour through a beautiful collection that included a Louis XV period bedroom complete with guilted clock. There were multiple Saturday Evening Post cover Paintings that were huge by Rockwell. I came for the Gumbo and left a fan. I enjoyed the Civil War Confederate statues and hope they are not removed. Although they represent oppression to many they to me represent what we have evolved from. Hope and opportunity from despair. Some of the statues are beautiful pieces of sculpture.

Thanks Paul! Well the C was my forever plane until something unforeseen changed that. I sure hope there isn’t some other kind of surprise in my near future. If not I hope she and Sandy and I have many years together.

That's exactly how I think about my instrument rating. One other thing to watch out for: temperature and dewpoint spread, especially around a large area. If it's close, you can have an entire region that's clear skies, unlimited visibility turn to fog in a short period of time.

I think we must have gone to the same person.

There are a lot of us flying Mooney's we bought from Jimmy and David at AllAmerican. They have a very long and positive reputation in the Mooney world. They typically price their Mooneys very close to what they'll sell for. And they move a lot of airplanes through their hangar at Kestrel just north of San Antonio. I bought my first Mooney from them and wouldn't hesitate to buy another one from them. They're good people.

When I took the nieces and nephews up they wanted to see what a steep turn was and loved it. Proper preparation was important, explaining that 45 degrees is halfway to 90, showing them with my hand what the bank would look like before starting it, and explaining that it would feel much steeper than it was. Talking them through it as the angle kept increasing and telling them where I was stopping from going any further, having them look down and pointing out the altitude indicator and that it wasn't moving, so despite what it might look like we weren't getting any closer to the ground. The response was always "Wow" or "Cool!" Surprises aren't good for the passengers, knowing what to expect before it happens eliminates a lot of apprehension. I do the same thing if we are going to be flying over areas I am expecting bumpy air, most of the time in the local areas I can anticipate it. I tell them what "may" happen and why they may feels some bumps. Then if/when it does I say, see, there it is. Me too, boring is good.

Great pictures, I need to dig some up and get them posted tomorrow, see if I can sneak in under the deadline.

My wife just gave this to me for my 50th birthday last weekend, so I don't need one. The artist even manged to get my face into the window. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures that you can use if you so desire...

Close is always further than you think when it comes to building. I did the slow build, first two years I was still working and could only spend one day and a couple evenings each week. Then retired and work on the RV a couple full days and a couple evenings a week for a year. Built everything in my shop in the back yard so meals, restroom and travel were not a problem. One day everything was done and time to transport to the airport to final assemble and inspect which took 8 weeks on the same schedule. One day short of 3 years first rivet to first flight. It is about like building a house by yourself--a bunch of work. The seats and rudder pedals ARE adjustable. But not in flight. Need a wrench for the pedals, pliers for the seats.

I would love a portrait of the old girl adorning my empty hangar wall.

@carusoam in theory (without having flown one yet) I love the M20R’s. In reality, I can’t wait to sit & ride in a few at the upcoming PPP to see which one(s) I like the most. @jaylw314 after some additional thought & discussion, I agree that doing my IR in my own Mooney is the way to go. I’ll finish up my PP in the Cherokee and then start shopping for a Mooney this fall while building some complex time in my club’s Arrow. Once acquired I’ll start my IR training in my own Mooney @Mooneymite yes, I’ve found the members on MS to be pretty amazing. I’ve got 3 upcoming calls set up with MS’ers who own Ovations to pick their brains about their experience & recommendations. Really cool. @Hank thanks for the invite to Panama City Beach. I’ll definitely take you up on that at some point in the future. Looks like I’m going to fall into the same category as most Mooniacs: PPL —> Mooney @Danb look forward to meeting you in Manch. @DonMuncy yes, I can’t seem to get away from this site! @Seymour I’ll definitely join the Pilots Assoc, thanks. Let me know next time you’re flying to KASH and we can grab a coffee at the MidField Cafe (on me). @TonyK once I get my wheels we'll be flying to VT a bunch. Look forward to meeting you. @Dan at FUL I was able to get a discounted rate of $200 for the PPP (sans practical) @MrRodgers man, gorgeous plane! I hope to post a similar picture in the not-too-distant future. Maybe this winter or next spring. Thanks for all of the feedback and advice everyone, much appreciated! Can’t wait to officially join the Mooniac Club!

I’ve ridden in my hangar neighbors RV 7. My 6’3” frame does not fit very well. Knees hit yoke or feet hit rudder pedals without uncomfortable contortions. Seats are not adjustable

Currently watching the market for a really nice 7 or 8. Going back and forth between buying a flying version and one that is “close”. Realistically trying to get a feel for how close is “close”. I think Joe’s system of travel plane AND fun plane is the way to go. Pa46/a36/Ovation/bravo and an RV/cub/etc.

All depends on the type of airplane the experience of the pilot, doing it in an appropriate manor and location and most importantly the passengers.

I love my wife much more than I love my plane. She's also hot and I will always put her needs first before buying plane stuff. I wanted to make sure that I officially posted that in case she ever finds this site...

If it's ordered through Spruce I can pass on my discount please free shipping on orders over $180.

By all means if I can spend your money I would upgrade to the JPI 900 series. I had the 830 and was very happy with it. The only reason I upgraded was to remove all the old legacy gauges in prep for a full panel upgrade. One benefit of the 900 your eyes don’t have to wonder looking all over your panel at gauges.@jaylw314 you can sell it to your wife as a safety upgrade.... I totally agree with@marauder if all our wives read these posts on MS and knew what you spent on everything there would be a lot more single pilots loosing their planes in a divorce... I got your back... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've owned an RV-8 for 5 years and absolutely love it. I've never traveled in it but that will change soon when I ferry it from Denver to Northern CA next month. I always fly it solo and have never had a passenger in the back seat. It's the plane I bought for myself to enjoy the thrill of flying a sporty, aerobatic plane on nice days. I don't think it would be a great traveling machine for two people because of the size and the tandem seating,. The -6 and -7 would be much better for that.

Thanks guys, ended up just rewiring the field wire and using contact cleaner on everything and she's good as new for now.

IIRC, at some point he reported some unspecified "problem with GPS." Of course, it's unclear if it was a hardware or pilot problem. Luckily here on the west coast, widespread IFR is unlikely, so good alternates make sense. Here in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I usually use Bend, OR as an alternate even when flying IFR locally, because it is on the leeward side of the Cascades. With all the mountains on the West Coast, SOMEONE is bound to have better weather than where I am

Just talked to the machine shop apparently they typed in the wrong grade. I've got the right price now 4x4 sheet 229.00. That's what I've paid the last few projects not sure what the secretary was quoting but this forum allowed me to question with facts that the price was a little over the top. Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

Personally widespread low IFR is a no go in a single. No options in case of engine failure. It’s the one scenario that makes me dream about a twin as much as I love the Mooney. Usually widespread low IFR is certainly forecast well enough to make you have to look far away for alternates that meet the rules too... I’ve used Albany once as an alternate on a flight from HYA to ACK. Was only thing that fit the rules and made me carry 300lbs extra fuel on top of the 45 mins... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It basically says if the weather at your destination is anything other than “gentleman’s IFR” you need an alternate. This makes you carry enough fuel in addition to the 45 mins to get to your alternate, so it basically just ups your fuel reserves in the case the weather is the least bit low. Then you have to ask pick a suitable alternate so that your extra fuel reserves are somewhat related to how far you likely need to go. The forecast at your alternate has to be pretty good, so it might have to be far away, way increasing your fuel load. It’s all about fuel planning. When you actually divert you go to wherever makes the most sense at the time. And to answer your other question, no, the weather phenomena that make it that low tend to be somewhat localized like heavy rain, coastal fog, valley fog, etc. (My day job is a Captain at Cape Air - we know low IFR) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m supposed to tow my airplane behind my car to go places?

I shoot for being at my gear speed by the time I'm ready to intercept the localizer, VOR radial or GPS course. On the procedures there is an altitude that ATC will usually get you down to before you reach the IAF or FAF. for me climb WOT, 2700 cruise WOT, 2550 and LOP above 4000msl decent WOT, 2550, nose it over and trim for faster decent speed, unit the MP starts going above 23" to 24" then I check it there; this will vary due to ATC decent requests i.e. if I'm close and have to descend faster about 5 miles from the IAF or FAF throttle back to about 18" and adjust to slow down to gear speed 120IAS once established on the final approach throttle as necessary to maintain 100IAS, flap speed, and follow the glide path or step downs. At FAF or so gear down fly the needles until you can see the runway add flaps and land, some will add some flaps at the FAF which is acceptable Go out with and IR pilot or by yourself at a non towered airport and fly the approaches it has in VMC and with your eyes looking out the windows. This will let you get a good feel for where you are with respect to the instruments, the procedures and what the plane is doing. Learn the plane first then get under the hood. At this point you are learning to fly the instruments and you already instinctively know what you need to do for the plane. IMHO trying to do both while under the hood just makes it more challenging not impossible though.