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Labor Day weekend trip to Canada with my wife and her mother. We departed Linden (notice the deer by the runway at high noon) and flew directly to Gatineau CYND just outside Ottawa in my Mooney M20J 201. We were met by Yves and his wife. Remember my return from my previous Canada trip where Yves invited me to fly his wing at Oshkosh while I coincidentally was flying over his house? Well, at Oshkosh, Yves and his friend Patrick invited me to their Casey camping fly in trip Labor Day weekend so I decided to go. We got dinner with Yves and Ned in a fantastic restaurant and were served by Yves lovely daughter. In the morning the weather wasn't too great so we delayed a bit. But early in the afternoon we set off to Casey in formation down low to stay below the cloud deck. It was a pretty turbulent day and combined with the low altitude, it just was not practical to maintain tight formation so we kept it loose. Casey is an abandoned Military airport in the middle of the Canadian wilderness northeast of Ottawa, northwest of Montreal. Once a year, the Canadians have a big get together by flying into this well-paved runway in the middle of nowhere. A few spend the night camping but most arrive as a day trip on the Saturday or Sunday for the barbecue event. We found wild blueberries and my mother in-law especially enjoyed collecting them. We watched the airplanes arrive by both land and water. Several seaplanes landed on the river beside the airport. There is no cell signal, phone service, electrical power, or anything out there. Only what you bring. So we enjoyed a night of camping and the barbecue and headed out the next day. The return flight required us to get above the cloud deck so I climbed IFR in uncontrolled airspace on my own until I got high enough to be able to reach flight service and file a return flight plan in the air. I couldn't file on the ground due to the lack of communications. Luckily I had already made my US customs arrangements in advance and stuck to my time slot so those remained active. A quick flight back to Albany and we cleared customs and then onward to Linden to conclude the exciting 3 day trip.

So much flying in the last month I haven’t been able to post on this thread. Oshkosh was a blast and look forward to next year! I went up this morning for a short flight to warm up the oil and decided to check out a close by short airport. I didn’t plan on landing but once I flew over it I figured it was doable. It’s now the shortest and narrowest airport in my log book. And probably as back country and tinny airport I’ll ever land at in the Mooney. My wing span being just over 6’ wider than the runway. Landing on 32 you are landing a little up hill but into rising no go around terrain. Another first for me in this plane. Exciting times, now to finish the dirty work.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Our mercy flight organization has had two A-36 Bo's. Both were/are prone to dropping on their tails if you're not careful loading. We had our bi-monthly meeting on Thursday and two experienced guys did the same thing AGAIN. Unfortunately, every time they do that you end up with structural damage in the back. One of our members, a long time Bo owner, acknowledged this HAS BEEN a problem on Bo's. I won't load heavier passengers without holding the vertical stab. I've even jumped on the wing to load myself from the front side sometimes. I agree with Erik on the seating too. There's no way I could sit for 4 hours in our Bonanza. I'm only 5'9", but my legs cramp because of the high seats, limited rail adjustments, and no room to stretch out. I have probably 300 hours of Bo time. I DO LIKE the plane. My hangar buddy and I were given the go ahead many years ago to find a second plane for our organization, after the purchase of a Seneca and us being the longest active pilots still stuck flying our own planes from lack of a twin rating. I took twin training, 6 hours to be exact, but thought this was crazy. The single engine plane I was building was almost twice as fast on about the same fuel burn and I'd never stay current enough to be safe in it. So...... convinced we would be buying an all weather well equipped Mooney, we ended up picking the Bo. More seats, pretty good speed and efficiency, rear door access for marginally mobile patients. It's been a great plane for the mission, faster and lower fuel burn than the twin, and better payload. It was 10 knots slower (the second one, turbonormalized) than my Rocket in the breathable altitudes on 3.5 gallons an hour less. I always wondered how that thing could fly that fast with those fat wings. Tom

I have heard some discussion regarding the advantages or disadvantages of the retractable step. While most will agree it is cool, some disagree as to the advantages. In a recent Facebook post I saw that someone had their vacuum system removed and has the step hanging out without detrimental effect. Before the electric step conversion, I had left my step hanging (original crank equipped aircraft) by accident and recalled noticing because my speeds were lower and the ball was slightly out. Anyway, decided to do some testing on a short trip yesterday and verified that it does make a difference. In fact, it was quite notable when paying attention to the numbers. I’ll call it an average of about 3 knots. I repeated putting the step up and down a few times and it was consistent. I made a rather crude video for those who must see: https://youtu.be/zOD2mXwcOIk. There are two reasons for the significant speed change. One is obvious, it is that the retractable step has zero aerodynamic abilities. It is a large square tube with an equally blunt step. The second is less obvious, but it is the effect of asymmetric drag on the airframe. Those who have left the step out may note that the ball on your turn coordinator will be ever so slightly out of center, requiring a touch of left rudder to counter it. Just like slipping a plane on final induces drag and gets us slower and lower, this slight slip slows our aircraft down. What percent of the drag is due to the step drag vs slip I’m not sure, but it clearly adds up. Mooney’s are especially sensitive to good rigging, as noted by some wide variation in reported performance. Modern Mooney’s have a more aerodynamic step, so Mooney opted out of the retractable step business in the late 60s. I think it would still be cool to have it retract, but it might be somewhat invasive. Anyway, would love to hear from others with detailed side by side speed comparisons of step up or down or on or off. While I am on the taller side, I still appreciate the step and I know my pax do as well.

To Wenatchee on Friday to see newest granddaughter and back home today. Missed all the Labor Day traffic.

I like Mooneys. I really do. I flew the 231 2.5 hours today giving refresher instruction to the owner. This was my airplane previously and would still be if it had 200 lb more useful load. When I was looking to upgrade Jimmy had an Encore I looked at. But it had about 1,000 lb useful load which just doesn't meet my current needs. There are some Mooneys with 1,100+ lb useful load but they are two to three times the expense of a slightly less efficient, slightly slower on slightly more fuel Bonanza. My compromise (we all compromise) was an S35 Bonanza.

If it occurred exactly as you said, the controller made a mistake - they are human too. Is it available on Live ATC? The controller should have given you an intercept to the extended FAC with that instruction, something like, "fly heading 180 to join the final approach course. Maintain 3,000 until established. Cleared for the..." so you could start the 1600' descent to 1400.. Even "Direct KEHSO, cleared straight in" might make sense. And yes, that is a heck of a dive and drive. If it happened that way, I'd at least file a NASA report; perhaps, if I had the audio, I'd call TRACON to discuss. But your completely unofficial advisory glideslope is irrelevant to the discussion.

Good calls! Hoffbrau haus and English garden boxes checked. Beautiful scenery too! Wave boarders fun to watch! 0B9F884C-0C37-4336-B4D8-59D6B536CCFB.MOV

I'm listening for any similar reports on Mooneys but all I hear is crickets :-) :-) This is actually the major reason I went Mooney over Bo 20+ years ago (in addition to the economy vs speed).

I ended up getting 1 of each #4-7 skybolts, then fit tested each hole. Then ordered what I needed. Just too much variance in a 40+ year old handmade machine. I replaced some of the lower cowling camlocs as well because the sizes weren’t correct. Tom

First time in Munich, you have to do the Hofbrau Haus. I went a couple of years ago after a 20-year gap and sat at the same table and nothing had changed. Yes, it’s where all the tourists go, but it’s still worth a visit imo. Bavaria is very pretty and worth renting a car for a day just to see the countryside. If I still lived in the UK, and had a Mooney, Munich would be a regular destination.

FF is one thing, but running it at 75% or even 85% power doesn’t shorten life as long as it’s rich enough to run cool.

The inspector and industrial are the ones to look at for in the cockpit use. The industrial pro has added features that we don't really need. The Industrial includes the vibratory alarm and the inspector doesn't. This is handy if you plan to wear it from airplane to airplane. If you are looking to Velcro to the panel someplace the inspector should be perfect. Sensorcon recommends calibration every 6 months to guaranty accuracy. Without calibration the accuracy could wander but by very little. If the actual ppm is 50 and we see 40 or 60 is no mater for us. If no calibration is done after 2 years you will either get an EOL warning at start up or Calibration Required warning. They will continue to work. Just last week I ferried a friends airplane and his gave the cal req at start up. During start up/taxi out it showed between 8-10ppm and mirrored the one I brought with me that I had just calibrated. I have calibration equipment as well as the Mooney Summit. If anyone not attending the Summit would like to send me theirs I can calibrate and send back. I would appreciate a small donation as I calculated each calibration costs me about $5 in test gas. Sensorcon gave me a new discount code to share that I don't have it handy right now. But as @Junkman shared above this labor day sale is a little better. I'll post the updated code next week. Cheers, Dan

You have 2 of the Mooney Pros, Inc. instructors close by who can help you really learn your new plane, its proper ops and assist you get the most from your ownership. Paul Kortopates @kortopates owns a 252 is an engine guru, A&P and @donkaye is just down the street, so to speak. You will be $$ ahead to get with them vs buying starter adaptors often, etc.

Burning Man kicks up dust on the Black Rock Desert. On Friday as seen from 45 miles south at FL240. It was the second day of our trip, overnight in Cheyenne. Stopped for lunch at Wendover Utah Those big runways were in 1945 the training site for the atomic B-29 squadrons.

Hi, I am the owner of Superior Panel Technology and a customer of mine that owns a Mooney recently purchased a set of FiberLites (fiber-optic instrument lighting system) for his Mooney and he informed me that he saw on this website a posting that Superior Panel Technology had gone out of business. This is FALSE!! We have been in business now for 20 years and going strong. Not sure where that false information came from. I hope this note gets posted somehow on this site. Every fly safe! Ken Whitaker Superior Panel Technology

Shhhh... I was trying a new “strategy” as he said ... his slower airplane with bad leg room is clearly better. And history of any problems was the pilots’ fault. He’s better looking and smarter too. I’m selling my mooney to buy a beech.

I haven’t flown behind a Lycoming for several years now to recall the details of the fuel system. I used the same technique Mike describe and it alway worked when needed. Im sure the pressurized lines just help purge the air when you went to prime before starting. FWIW I always do hot starts with an open throttle and normal to a little extra prime and it always started on both types of engine for me. When I had my J I only had to do the technique described by Mike if is was really stubborn and that wasn’t very often.

I never claimed that. There was an issue with the earliest airplanes, from the 1947 through mid 50s more or less. That was fixed 25 years ago. Even with an issue, if you flew those airplanes within the design parameters the chances were excellent that nothing bad would ever happen. How many 1947-mid 50s Mooney airplanes are we talking about in comparison? Oh, none? How about the early Mooneys? How did that early tail work out? The bottom line is, for the last 25 years there hasn't been an issue with these Bonanza yet people love to bring up ancient history. All airplane manufacturers have had problems. They get fixed. I see no need to continue this as it is not of any further benefit to anyone.

I actually like the slotted ones. They are a nuisance to keep from scratching the paint, but I like to be able to look at the cowling and know that if all the slots are running the same direction, they are all latched.

I would look at the vernatherm first, as others suggested. Is the cooler equally warm (top to bottom) after you land? If cold, you may not have flow there. There is a chance it needs to be flushed, but I think that is rare. If you open cowl flaps does it cool down? That might hint at a cooler or airflow issue vs vernatherm. As a side note, there is a Mooney SB regarding this. Beyond the radiant heating from your exhaust tot he cooler, apparently one benefit of this on the C is to keep the front exhaust pipe from cracking due to local cooling. Not sure how effective as the E never got one, but the pipe is further away.

I load pictures here from my phone all the time . . . . Just below on the left where it says "Click here to choose files"

Mike, I had a similar problem with my M20C. As a side effect my CHT were very high. I tried many things. In my case the solution was to change the carb. But obviously ya can not do it. Another issue that helped was to go over the diameter of the fuel hoses in the engine. We discovered that some were of the wrong diameter. Thus, my fuel pressure was too high and I was not getting enough fuel. After looking into all these issues (including changing the carb) I was able to get from 16 to 17.5 gal/h on take off.

The problem with questioning the controller, is you’re already in a high workload mode and have very little time to get started on the approach. You spend a minute trying to argue with the controller and you end up having to be re-sequenced. I would just try and if I failed to get established, do the missed approach, then talked to the controller when asked on the miss what your intentions are. With RNAV I would ask for full approach, your autopilot is your friend. Tom

Or the Boeing website was designed by a complete idiot. I suspect the latter.

Sounds like they wanted to lighten their workload. Speed brakes would come in handy, I probably would have cheated a little and just intercepted the leg a mile out from the FAF. Tom

Thanks!

And the Luscombe has fairly petite women on it- the Mooney has a good number of large sized men and women both. Very impressive.

There is a similar picture of Luscombe way before the Mooney picture :-) I count 28 up there and 30 on the Mooney

I wonder if we aren’t making this more difficult than it needs to be. With the domestic form, we just entered the equipment codes for whatever equipment we had installed in the airplane. It’s really the same with the ICAO form. It seems the difficulty arises from the fact that modern navigation and surveillance equipment has a lot of capabilities, the details of of which may not be obvious to us because we really don’t need to know about them to operate the equipment. However, the capabilities are described in the required AFM supplement, and a bit of study will reveal the them and thus which ICAO flight plan codes to enter. Skip

LOL has been a stop for me to/from OSH for a few years now. When I stopped last year it was a gazillion degrees. Vicky Benzing [air show pilot] was there getting fuel. Pretty cool to see her. Anyway, great stop to get in, get fuel, go to the bathroom, get an ice water and go.

Do you see that big round thing just aft of the cooler plate? Its called a muffler :-) How much radiant heat do you think it would pass to the oil cooler if the plate wasn't there?

It’s actually is factory. Many are lost or not installed correctly. It actually helps air not back flow through the back of the cooler. That’s why there is an STC to relocate it to the back of the engine. High pressure air can flow through the back of the cooler from the top of the engine. The plate keeps the air moving down and aft. Still a poor design, but if removed, I fear your oil temp would be worse. Feel free to try it. Ours was missing for years and I never did flight tests before and after. Now with your -900 you can get some data points. Personally I would like to duct the exit to the left cowl cheek panel, however I did the math and the exit area to work would be larger than a 3 in hose.... there’s not room for a 3in hose currently. -Matt

Ah- that fixed it once and for all. THANKS! Its me again! E

Hope all of you are prepared and safe. Planes can be repaired or replaced. Lives are much more complicated and valuable. Take nothing for granted with the track of this monster!

Wellll. Sheeeeit. Love the one your with.

Not new math, just confusing advertising. The quoted prices you posted are AFTER the $30 sale. The prices have went up considerable since most of us purchased two years ago. Cheers Dan

Spend the 600+ it takes to fly down to the Summit next year and we will get your old one all fixed up for free You will get more than that back in education, food, networking let alone the great raffle ops and silent auction items. The memories of the trip alone will more than cover the 100LL bill. The Summit's calibration equipment disappeared sometime between Summit V and Summit VI. I guess we should get another setup sometime soon.

No touch and goes; just much higher oil burn noticed after short hops. I’m the sole owner and operator and the person who checks and refills the oil. Engine has almost 2300 SMOH and I don’t fly it all the time. Another hypothesis could be that the time between use along with oil leaks could explain missing oil. Mine leaks oil but not quarts of oil. (I keep mine at 6qts). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had my transponder fail about 100 miles north of KCHD a couple of years ago. I was talking to Phoenix approach, which covers half of AZ these days. KCHD is south of town, under the class B, and inside of the mode c vail. They asked me what my intentions were and I said I wanted to fly to KCHD. The lady sounded annoyed and said “stand by”. She came back a few minutes later with a full clearance through the class B, over KPHX and to KCHD. She said to report any heading and altitude changes. They worked me as a primary target through the class B, I reported my position and altitude just like in the 80s before mode C. They seemed to enjoy the process. So, exceptions can be made.

Sensorcon has donated 3 Inspector and 2 inspector Industrial CO detectors to the Mooney Summit VII for part of our raffle offerings! Thanks Molex!!!

Since about 1990 on most headsets have gone to threadless headsets. Video is about stem and quill headsets. Don't ask me why the new style is named threadless.

Thanks! Go ahead schedule it and get it done. I was amazed at the lower cost with a study buddy who did the rating at the same time. Sitting in the back seat was like getting extra training at zero dollar cost. Also, having a study buddy over the weekend to go over procedures, knowledge, systems, concepts, it helped. -Seth

We put 1,000 miles of travel on our 67 Mooney M20F (N9268M) this past week. Las Vegas, NV. Camarillo, Van Nuys, San Luis Obispo (Oceano Airport). It is really great to finally get out and stretch the distances I fly while utilizing my transition training from Light Sports. The Mooney is such a fantastic platform and I can't wait to do more long distance trips. The West Coast Mooney Club. Gotta Represent! Packed all the camping gear and ready to head home from a long week of traveling and fun. Departing Oceano Airport. The marine layer delayed our return by one day and just hung over the airport. We saw a patch of blue and took off back to Van Nuys. Sunset Approach along the Pacific Coast into Oceano Airport for Movie Night and Camping. Mooney In The Mist. Oceano Airport. Oceano Airport View of the Red Rock Area on approach into Las Vegas. 185 mph in level flight in cruise at 9,500 MSL. Loving all the speed mods on my plane. IMG_4387_(1).MOV Crossing the Mojave Desert on the way back to Van Nuys Camarillo Airshow with the West Coast Mooney Club.

Public Service Announcement-- If anyone is thinking about flying their Mooney to BurningMan, please reach out. I'm happy to share all the G2 on the whole experience, what to expect, airport regulations and procedures, protecting the plane, tying down to survive wind storms, gifting rides, protecting the interior from naked dirty hippies, and where to get fuel. It's a wonderful experience, and for those of you with open minds, I highly recommend it. But there are a few things you'll want to know ahead of time.

Not really “today’s flight” but from my last trip. Went up North to drop the plane off for the annual and kept going North until we hit Alaska. Due to upload issues with my iPhone, they are in random order but include: Mt. Shasta Treehouse in Oregon Vancouver, BC Juneau, AK A glacier Flirty hiking pose

We are working with the TT folks to help them clear their current backlog of orders, but I don't expect that to be done by the time the Mooney's are ready. From my understanding most people are seeing a 60+ day lead time at the moment, I'm expecting the time to be decreased by the time October rolls around. Short answer: I think there still will be a lead time, just not sure what are this point. I'll continue to update as we get closer to submitting the STC. Cheers, Steve

My first annual in a MSC in PA was expensive. Extra $500 for AD compliance, a Power Flow exhaust crack missed during PPI (resulting in a replacement unit), an engine/oil heater (need one of those in the NE), new Concord battery, and a bunch of small things added up to 9amu. None of them besides the exhaust were expensive individually, but, oh boy, they did add up. This is my first airplane, and in spite of the first annual financial scare I have been maintaining it at the same shop based on their good reputation, hoping it is safe while studying as much as I can about these machines, and hoping that the second annual coming up in November after close to 200 hours of Mooney time will be smoother.

the Annual "Inspection" isn't horrible. $1600 in 2017 also had new plugs installed, prob not nec but plane was new to me so $1900 total. $1680 in 2018 another no squawks annual, did mention rod ends and baffles may need attention soon. $1600 in 2019 plus the following: new aileron rod ends new rudder rod ends Landing gear shimmy ( prob could've just bought a new tire ) $3k total. but had to have surefly installed so another 2k $5k total. I never have the oil changed at Annual. I end up doing it like a month before annual. i'll never admit to the cost of the other way more expensive things i've had done. note pay in cash so the wife doesn't see it on the credit card statement

Definately this. Hone and re-ring can go a long time and its pretty cheap as engine repairs go. I wouldnt have a shop that has a white floor and turbine airplanes in it do this, have some local curmudgeon semi-retired A&P do it.