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Well I sold my previous M20E 4 months ago, told myself I should save money... Well I did that for 4 months so let me introduce my "New" to me Mooney, it's a 1964 M20E with nothing I can really think of upgrading (so far). I'm excited for my cross country trip at the end of the month to pick it up!

Who have you tried to reach out too? The goal is business as usual for TT and help them on there way with getting certs out the door. We know at this point their backlog is just growing, so we're going to try and help push through that backlog as well. PM me if you need anything, and I'll work to get it addressed. Cheers, Steve Pearce BendixKing

Yes, all of our Caravan members want us to sit quietly and wait for however long the FAA takes. No pictures of bent metal have been shared here and no information has been divulged, although the Official Statement was redone to explain that two planes actually touched in flight (from the original "there was an incident"). No information, no photos, no discussion--completely shuts down the opportunities for the rest of us to learn anything from the real events and its myriad possible causes. But we've been invited to next year's Caravan training to see the improvements. This is now the second time that I'm withdrawing from this thread, having been told already by non-communicative "informed persons" that I don't know what happened. Because I wasn't there, and those who were ain't saying.

There was a kid that had parents that worked for the faa... he was 15 before he figured out his name wasn’t “No”.

This would be great, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. This idea makes too much good sense for a federal agency to adopt it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I saw a short commentary (I think it was on the AOPA website and at OSH) about the Feds talking about something new for "legacy" airplanes called a "Special Airworthiness Certificate" to allow the installation of what are now unapproved parts (avionics)? One would turn in their current airworthiness certificate in exchange for this one. It would allow as noted what are now unapproved parts and maybe allow the owners to do the maintenance much like experimental aircraft owners do now. Maybe a special repairman's certificate (just speculating on that one). Limitations, as mentioned, might be nothing outside of the USA, no Canada or Mexico but I feel that might not be a restriction in the future, I can't find where I saw it but I'll keep looking. As I said, I think it was one one of my AOPA emails like the weekly update or something.

I have been a "lurker" here for about the last 6 months as I considered a Mooney purchase. I want to thank Mooneyspace.com for their generous and open door policy of allowing people to look in on subjects posted. It has been of great benefit in my airplane search. I am proud to say I am the new owner of N192JK, a 2005 Ovation as of 2023 UTC yesterday. She is currently located at Don Maxwell's shop undergoing a pre-sale, now an annual and a WAAS upgrade. Thanks to this forum I was able to select Don Maxwell as my preferred place to perform the pre-buy and I have had the honor to meet both Don and Paul who are real gentlemen and have been most helpful. I will be basing out of KGVL as I live on Lake Lanier My previous airplane was a PA18-160 Super Cub rebuilt by Cub Crafters. It was probably one of the few IFR certified Cubs around and had an Aspen 1000, Garmin 420W and a Lynx ADS-B unit. I loved the airplane but my mission has changed to a need for reliable and fast transport up and down the Eastern seaboard. In my search I needed good avionics and TKS. I wanted to avoid turbo charging, preferring horsepower and displacement. I don't really want to be sucking on a tube all that much in search of performance. It came down to an early to mid 90's Bonanza or a 2000 something Mooney. Since my wife and I are not tall people and it is usually just the two of us I concluded the Mooney was the best airplane for the buck and (shhhh), it will blow the doors off a Bonanza. I have flown a lot of Beech products, even worked for a Beech dealer and I love their airplanes but if you have to write the checks........ A little about my aviation self. I am coming up on my 50th year since solo at KRHV. I have about 29,000 hours. About 8000 in GA aircraft of all kinds from C-150's too biz jets. I have been a CFI-I, a Chief Instructor with examining authority, a Line Check Airman and a Part 135 Chief Pilot. I recently retired off the Airbus A330 after a near 40 year career. Aviation has been my life and passion all my life and being a pilot is the only thing I have ever wanted to be since early childhood. This Mooney will most likely be my last airplane and I hope it will be the best! I look forward to learning from you fine folks here. You all have been very helpful in getting me to this point in my "Mooney experience"!

Alex, I always liked working on my plane and for the last 20 years of Mooney ownership, I would do my own oil changes every 25 hrs of course. I would take that opportunity to, cut open the filter, inspect the suction screen, mouse milk exhaust joints, visually inspect intake and exhaust, clean air filter, inspect for oil leakage, fuel leakage etc. I would remove plugs and borescope each cylinder and clean the plugs, re-anneal the copper plug gaskets, rotate and regap. Yep it took a 1.5 hr job and made it into a 5-6 hr job. I had the piece of mind of the condition of the engine going forward for another 25 hrs. It was probably overkill, but I enjoyed it and more importantly, it was a great time to put eyes on everything under the cowl.

I'm still intrigued by the "inappropriate touching" of two Mooneys on the caravan this year. The fact that there's pressure to not talk about it makes it even better.

Oh crap. That means I started the next 13 pages that took this downhill.

Did someone really make that comment on this forum? I'm sure someone can find a way to spend your money.

Hey Everyone. The West Coast Mooney Club has a brand new website promoting our group and club activities. You are all invited to check out the site and also join the club by going to the site and clicking the Join Now icon. https://westcoastmooneyclub.com/ Thanks so much, MrRodgers

keeping the 20k I've paid in labor in the last year would more than makeup for any loss in value of the aircraft

1) Fisk is pretty safe... it would be hard to say it isn’t and have actual data to support the statement. 2) it can be crazy busy, similar to flying between VORs on a warm weekend, down low, in the North East... so call it uncomfortable for some, or many... 3) Part of the Caravan Plan is a bit hidden... I had to learn what a Madison Bag was... 4) I heard... ‘Don’t forget to pack your Madison Bag’... I didn’t know if I even had a Madison bag...had to look around the house to find something stylish that I could use for an overnight stay... and hold a couple of hundred pages of documents and my iPad... 5) Madison had another stylish convention going on too... if you are familiar with American Girl Dolls... Madison is a style leader... the headquarters for AG is just outside Madison... https://www.americangirl.com/shop/ 6) Finding all the extra time... back when I was working... that was more of a precious resource. Retirement helps. Grown kids helps even more... Free time was available... Madison is where I got to sit and talk with Yves and his copilot Patrick... Another hidden detail... you are going to meet a few people that you know, and find out more about them... The hotels were low cost, the dinners were low cost, yet the conversations were priceless... similar to our Fryer Tuck’s nights of the past... 7) Fear of Fisk is similar to fear of flying... the more you learn about doing it, the less fearful it is... that’s the Notam that Becca referred to reading a few times... 8) Fear of close proximity to other planes... becomes less fearful when you have training, experience, know your wingmen, and have great weather... 9) It can really help Having a copilot onboard... Caravan and Fisk are similar for this... 10) Flying at 120ias doesn’t leave much opportunity to do anything other than fly, and scan... out the window... 11) Healthy fear... can be a strong driving force for a person to work at improving their skills... KOSH... The more I go... the more comfortable it becomes... Best regards, -a-

Upgrades are in. Panel lights, G5, turn coordinator and JPI 830

http://www.mooneycaravan.com/news/updateonmooneyincidentatmooneycaravan19july2019 http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/07/plane-crash-at-eaa-airventure-airplane.html Updated Statement Relating to Incident During Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh XXII, 21 July 2019 posted Aug 5, 2019, 3:42 AM by Ashley and Maria Neboschick [ updated Aug 5, 2019, 3:45 AM ] As many of you know, we had an incident during Mooney Caravan 2019. During the en route portion of the flight, a slowdown occurred during a rejoin to fingertip maneuver. During this same time period, an en route course change also occurred in the direction of the rejoining wingmen. As such, an overrun occurred and both pilots took corrective action. After landing it was noted that contact had occurred. No other elements of the formation were placed in danger by the incident. Currently, a team of Caravan individuals is analyzing the event in order to come up with procedural recommendations. This team is in the process of gathering and reviewing all available information. While our internal investigation is not yet complete (and will not be until the NTSB makes their analysis and recommendations public), there are several takeaways that we are working on for future Caravan operations. These recommendations will likely include more thorough training, more focus on emergency procedures and emergency calls, as well as more detailed written emergency procedures. Please be patient with us as we try to decipher the information, and come up with meaningful conclusions. It is important that the NTSB report comes out prior so that we can incorporate all data into a thorough Caravan safety report.

Too bad she didn’t have a 406 ELT.

I honestly have no idea what you are referring to. None of the sequence you listed for the Caravan is remotely accurate. The decision to not fly in on Saturday was made at about 7am, the storms were indeed forecast at the arrival time of 1130, hence the reason the caravan delayed. The Caravan was scheduled to land right after the Cherokees. About half of that formation had their tents destroyed as they attempted to set up camp. Yes B2OSH delayed through their first arrival window, electing to attempt an 8 PM Saturday arrival, however the airfield never re-opened for grass parking so their leadership decided to cancel their mass arrival. The Caravan did not use the B2OSH landing window on Saturday. On Sunday, the Caravan was given a 9am land time by OSH ATC. The Caravan was then slightly delayed by EAA because they were unsure where to park 62 ACFT. Initially, the plan was to park the aircraft on a taxiway until a dry enough spot was located. it was not until after the Caravan landed that EAA informed the lead aircraft that they had a parking location available. There was continuous coordination between the Caravan Lead pilot and OSH ATC and EAA, luck had nothing to do with it.

If you haven’t already committed to Plane Plastics, Mooney will still produce a replacement side panel for your K. I have an ‘80 K-model with the same panel and just went through this process at annual in May. Went with the original Mooney panel and looks good as new. As a side bar, Plane Plastics does NOT make the correct panel for your oxygen setup, and will not custom make one (ask me how I know). After fighting with them for nearly two, maybe close to three months to get a refund on the returned incompatible panel, I decided I probably won’t be doing business with them unless I am absolutely certain they have what I need.

Just being able to do routine maintenance on your plane without spending 2 years studying jet engines, pressurization systems and deicing would be great. I’ve long advocated for a private a&p program not for hire with restricted authorization ( ie change a mag but not overhaul an engine) Also saves a couple grand on every Garmin panel toy. I guess that means it won’t happen. -Robert

Fwiw - the airport was open on Saturday morning before the late morning storms rolled in. That’s when we arrived, 7 am - had about 4 hrs of good weather to set up and then watch the storm from a restaurant. Parked in Row 520 so really close to the show. Many Bos and Cirri would have been able to get in if they looked at the weather and realized that their formation arrival schedule would be in the middle of a storm and just come in on their own time earlier in the morning rather than waiting for their “slot”. Instead they spent another night at a motel instead of at osh, the downside of formations. Mooney caravan though was basically miraculously timed for arrival this year! I was really happy for the caravaners for that timing it was basically perfect. that said, I don’t think any midair’s occurred among the thousands of airplanes that arrived via Fisk, one midair occurred out of 62 planes on the caravan. I don’t think that is conclusive evidence that a mass arrival inherently less safe. But that’s not the point of this thread - more that Fisk is safe. That said... I have been a little concerned, as I mentioned in the other thread, about the caravan safety culture given the currrent response, but I’m holding judgment until I see how this is handled in the training and procedure updates and transparency about what happened...

Thank you all for the warm welcome. Since you asked for pictures, here you go

FTR, fuel leaking anywhere is unacceptable; except for minor wing tank seeps. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Burned exhaust valves in these engines are usually a byproduct of loose exhaust valve guides. Whenever you have a rocker cover off to change the gasket, check the valve stem for wobble. Excess stem to guide clearance will appear a few hundred hours before the valve burns.

I’ve done the Fisk Arrival three times. One, the first time in a new-to-me Mooney, was a hoot. There was a hold over the lake, and I entered it without drama, slowed down for the 172 ahead, All was well until a Champ shoehorned in ahead of me at maybe 65mph. Maybe WOT for him, I figured, but scary slow for me. As my stall horn began to squeak, I lowered the gear. Then 10 degrees of flaps. Slower. Faster. Slower. Champ swooped up and down, s-turns. On the arrival, finally, ATC encouraged the Champ to speed it up. Up with the gear. The rest of the arrival was untraumatic, landmarks clear, ATC professional and friendly., orange dot right under my wheels. Whew. Next time it was IFR into Fond du Lac. Time after that it was back into the circus that was Fisk, comparatively orderly, but muddy grass made the trip to N40 a little tense. So, being a total neophyte to formation flying, I was worried about joining the Caravan, a previous experience having been like being the last kid in a game of crack the whip. Boy, had they upped their game in the last decade or so. Very professional, excellent safety information, and even an experienced, and courageous military pilot to ride right-seat to keep me from screwing up. It was an excellent experience, one I highly recommend. Breakfast. Tent with chargers. Such warm, friendly fellow Mooniacs. Funny people. Parties. I hope to do it again someday...portapotties notwithstanding.

Bugs Bunny. The actual Germanic name is "Brunhild" or Brunhilde, a mythic germanic female warrior. In the Bugs Bunny cartoon they changed it to Broomhilda, and then there was the comic strip by that name.

She did look like "Broomhilda" even had a mole on her hook nose. She used to roll out to the runway with her students in the back of one of her many E-2 Taylorcrafts with her compact out powdering her face with door open and the prop blast going! She had a stock C-150 Aerobat and she took the word "Aerobat" seriously. She would do airshows with it and I did not know a C-150 could do those things, aerobatic version or not. If she was down on you she could cut you down to size and chop you up faster than Benihana! If you learned to fly from her, consider yourself truly fortunate.

Who's making that markup, though? I don't think it's Milwaukee, so they probably don't have that much motivation.

I did Google it, right after I replied to the post. So I got the information. It just seems to me that a bit more context might have helped everyone understand who isn't following TIGHAR religiously. But titillation and obscure information are part of the process, I understand... Personally, having examined all the photographic evidence that is now on display everywhere, I think people are stretching with this one, but you never know. I do think that Nikumaroro is the likeliest spot for them to have ended up based on other evidence. Perhaps Ballard can help validate. Only problem is, what happens to the intrigue-industry if this is ever proved? What is the next mystery to be solved. I know...Ancient Aliens!

The LED wingtip assembly is sleek.

The ignition switch does turn it off, but they still draw a very small current for some reason. Not entirely clear to me what it is doing, but I relate it to a non volatile memory keep alive circuit. It may be to keep in in a “fast boot” state. Would be a good question for SureFly.

I also recommend the tail LED (500) strobe, but I like the Christmas tree look of them being out of sync. Tom

I think I remember an MSer saying six years before changing it out... just because... So I bought two for the O... My Gills would croak, one each year... netting two years on each battery. I paid extra for the Gill battery charger to see if it could help stem the tide... Anyone want a Gill Battery charger? Best regards, -a-

Cool! We need more Mooneys in LA!! And it's a pretty one . . . .

Byron, I felt the exact same way and would constantly question my FSDO at IA renewal seminars about it. They finally convinced me by saying that putting it on a 337 makes it a permanent part of the aircraft records so even if the logbooks are lost, there is still a record of it. Should you put every minor alteration on a 337? No. But a fairly complex one like moving the battery location- probably. And as easy as it is to fill out the PDF, why not?

I don't know if this is a great idea or a horrible one. Insurance wise, there is no telling. I think they like to use every excuse they can muster to increase rates. For their perspective there is absolutely no reason the rates should go down! "Ohh now you are putting non certified stuff in those things! that is less safe!" What would that do to value? Looking at the used kit/home built market I really cant imagine. I suspect that aircraft that have been kept to the same certified standard would be worth more on the used market and those who had gone down the road of non certified will likely be less. I for one, would have HATED to been shopping for a Mooney in an environment like that. It would have cut the options down as there is just no way I would be purchasing one that I know the owner had been doing unsupervised work on. I OWN an experimental as well and I have seen what that results in! Every single one that fell into this new category I would be looking at as a project. A project of fixing all the mistakes and shortcuts the Previous owner did himself. Here is what I dont get. Why dont they require the same standard for the AIR FRAME and simply allow non certified instrumentation? I mean if the non standard Instrumentation is good enough to fly IFR in a 200+ knot home built over all of the "general public".... then why is it not OK to do the same in a Certified air frame with proper mechanics looking after it?

Beautiful plane! Congrats!

Put a decal or sticker on it !

I will be repositioning my C172 down to SFB from Rutland, VT at the end of this month and the Mooney will be following sometime after the first of the year depending on several factors. I am looking forward to more flyable days.

That’s not true. You can get an experimental for air show exhibition are for testing and modification for an STC but usually this requires you to return it back to a normal category of airworthiness after a period of time. You can’t just stick experimental on it and go on though

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113902

Hi Jon, welcome back to Mooney ownership! I just returned from a tour of the West post AirVenture. From WA I guess I'd recommend staying north until you're east of the Rockies. Either across ID, MT or as I did slide down to South Idaho and Logan UT and then east through southern WY to Scottsbluff Nebraska (Interstate 80) then direct. On that route you won't need O2 with only a brief need to go to 11,500. Here's what I did (though I flew up to Yellowstone for a couple of days between the Rockies crossing and the leg to Walla Walla.)

I also live 3 blocks from the airport, so there’s that too. I also considered building my own powered towbar before purchasing. The $99 hoverboards supposedly have two motors that put out about 8-10 lb-ft of torque (6.5” diameter wheels) and a 36VDC lithium-ion battery pack.

The question wasn't likely missed. Unfortunately, there isn't one correct answer since every plane has it's own unique story. Some planes are overpriced, some are priced well, and others are simply misrepresented. Cutting through the chaff takes an enormous amount of willpower and effort. Finding the real story of a plane can prove to be an expensive educational undertaking consuming large amounts of both time and finances. One never knows the real story of a plane until they have to begin wrenching on it... or begin stroking the checkbook so someone else will wrench on it.

Thank you Victor. I was just in Oz and I even stopped and looked at an Ovation 3 outside of Brisbane (although that was not the purpose of my trip). Had a great time and finally got to hold a Koala which was a lot of fun! As a matter of fact I told my wife when I repaint this airplane in a few years I want "Mooney Red" instead of the maroon.

IMHO, you need to expose your plane to a broader market. I found our Mooney on Controller. Trade-a-Plane is also good.

Thank you... now I fly in the US Northeast and my videos are from the Mooney Caravan...also spectacular. Also, let's see how detail oriented you guys are... what is wrong with my Panel picture?

1975 M20C - I would like to say that it's instrument capable. :-)