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I posted earlier in this thread about a paint job I ordered on a 1979 Piper Archer II. I realize it's not a Mooney but someone asked for photos of the completed project. The paint job here was completed by Amos Aircraft Painting in Mena, AR. Here's the new plane:

Not a lot of time for flying as we are in the home stretch of marching band season for my youngest son. One more week and we get our Saturday's back... For those of you that are freezing, it was a cool 60°F here this morning. We wanted to get in an early flight before it got too warm, topped out at 90°F today. A short little hop from KFUL to KRAL for some breakfast and 100LL that was 50 cents a gallon less than my home base. We did enjoy our meal outside on the patio where even though it was in the shade it was still comfortable.

IMHO it shouldn't make any difference in your search, timeline, or plans, but that's just me. It's pretty rare for J's to need parts from the factory, in my observation, anyway, and even if the factory were completely abandoned, somebody may come buy the assets for pennies on the dollar and sell parts and make airplanes again or whatever. There are quite a few makes and models of airplanes out there that don't have factories any more, and factories/brands/etc., change hands with fair regularity.

I have no experience with this, but have put a lot of thought into it... I wouldn't bring on a partner, but would rather add the person to my insurance as a named pilot (at their cost) and then work out a dry rate for them to cover the cost of the hours they use the plane. This way I still retain 100% control and can end the arrangement at anytime. I also have first dibs on the use of the plane. Some would say that an equity partner with "skin" in the game will take better care of the plane. But I'd argue that if the person in question requires that level of incentive to properly treat the equipment, they're probably not the person I'd partner with anyway. I'm trying to work this type of arrangement with a fellow airplane owner who has a "bush" plane. I'll name him on my insurance and get named on his policy as well. We each work out a dry rate for our respective airplanes. Now he has access to a pretty nice go fast traveling Mooney and I have access to a low and slow, big tire, bush plane. Win Win. Just my 0.02

I picked up my 1965 Mooney M20C today from Morganton, NC. It was at AGL for a prebuy and then they completed the annual. I flew to Charlotte yesterday on the 6am flight from Philly and then took an Uber to Morganton. Lynn met me at the airport and jacked up the plane so I could practice with the J-Bar. Then, I flew with a local instructor and completed airwork. This morning, we did a bunch of landings, a few go arounds, and engine outs. It was relatively cool and the plane was pretty consistently in the air at the 1000 foot marker. I flew back to KPNE without issue. Kept my speed on point for landing and had no problems making the first turn off. Planning on working with a safety pilot and some instruction before I would take it IFR. But, it was a long but fun weekend and I'm happy to have it home. Definitely recommend AGL for a prebuy as well

USAA asked that members share someone that they are inspired by on Veterans Day. My tribute is to a fallen hero Christopher Splinter. I knew Chris as a leader and upper classmate on the Hillmen Varsity Football team. I was also a ROTC participant graduating UWP before Chris. Chris was a Combat Engineer. He was a leader and a good man. He left behind a beautiful family in providing the ultimate sacrifice for his country. I just wanted you all to know about Chris. He is not forgotten.

Flying along at FL210 Making killer time albeit in terrible vis. I moved my seat back and just moments afterwords began to feel aweful. Which for me personally is a sign of hypoxia (thank goodness I am not the euphoric type!). I immediatly check my flow gauge and see it at 0. I see the hose plugged in, Next glance is to bottle pressure... 1500.... next thing is the knob, twist it towards open, still nothing, twist the small brassknob wide open, nothing... about 10-15 seconds has gone by at this point... I have 1 last thing to check before popping the boards and heading down... I grab the Scott connector and move it and sure enough it was loose... I shove it in and flow is restored... a few deep breaths and I feel better. Decide to got to fl190 to increase margins a tad. Back to 90+ blood sat within a min of getting O2 flowing again. Problem is the female Scott connector is worn internally and it is possible to rotate the Male part without pushing it in first. My leg hit the tube and rotated it and it popped out enough to stop flow. I'll be replacing that receptical in the near future! Be careful out there, know your symptoms of hypoxia! Ps, in the descent from 210-190. I hit 298 knots ground speed.

I cant wait til i get to the point in life where i need to compare my mooney to my meridian

Why would it be worse news for those with anything newer than a J model? Older airplanes have older parts which might be harder to come by.

Sorry, this will be long. We are 4 partners. As others have said, put everything in writing and get everybody to sign it. Use your imagination. Here are some items to consider: 1. Ours is an UNequal ownership partnership in an LLC. Percentage of ownership is in proportion to capital invested in the LLC. I currently own just under 50% and each of the other three own roughly 17%+/- (but not equal) each. 2. You could also have a NON-equity partner. That is, you own 100%. They pay some 100% refundable deposit, say $5000. When they decide to quit, or you decide to kick them out, they get all that back. If they owe you money when they leave (damage, dues, hourly, don't give you the keys back so you have to have the plane re-keyed, etc) you take what they owe out of the deposit. 3. What happens if a partner dies? We give the estate the right to let someone inherit the share provided they meet our qualifications. If they don't want it, we sell their share for them and then give them the money. 4. What if someone damages the plane through negligence? We make them pay any costs that are not covered by insurance and make them pay any increase in insurance premiums for the next 3 years. 5. What about upgrades? Upgrades are considered capital improvements. When we removed our old transponder and installed the GTX345 that was a $6000 improvement. All that money came out of our general fund. We each contributed equally to that fund through monthly dues so we each got a $1500 increase in our capital equity. Same with the Cies floats. $2000 --> $500 each. For the GFC500/G5's, one partner put in $1500, two put in $2500, the LLC has so far put in $6000, and I put in the rest. That changes our percentage ownership. 6. What do you do if you decide to sell the plane? We divide the net proceeds from the sale in proportion to ownership. We have two funds (on paper). One is from monthly dues. That money is divided equally among us because we contributed equally. The other fund is from hourly charges ($30/hour dry) which are meant for future hourly related expenses such as engine OH, prop OH, magneto 500 inspections, oil changes, spark plugs, etc.). The more money we have in that pot, the closer it is to OH, and the less we can get in a sale. That hurts the owners in proportion to ownership, so that fund is divided in proportion to ownership. 7. We specify the plane cannot be used as collateral for any loan. 8. How are upgrade decisions made? Ours is by vote. Majority rules. You could make yourself the sole decision maker. We allow upgrades to be made without cost to some owners, as long as the others want to pay the cost, and the majority allows that to happen. Ownership percentages then change in proportion to contributions. 9. Have operating rules too. a. How much per hour to fly? Wet or dry? (we use $30/hour dry) b. Tach time or Hobbs? We use tach. Using Hobbs encourages people to hurry up to get airborne and fly as fast as they can because the charge rate is the same taxiing on the ramp or flying at 45% power as it is flying at 100% power. We want people to properly warm the engine, take as much time as they need to get ready to fly, and then fly the way they want. c. Runway surfaces? We specify hard surface only, mainly because we have a J with the "inner" gear doors. d. Scheduling rules? Ours is first come first served with rules for resolving conflicts. We use a Yahoo calendar for scheduling. In 6 years we've never had a conflict. e. Fuel level? We specify parking with 30 - 35 gallons. That's enough to fly at least 300 NM and land with an hour of gas without limiting potential payload for the next pilot. f. How long can it sit? We say that if it sits 2 weeks, somebody has to go fly, weather permitting. We have rules covering who that is and what their options are. g. Billing rules. We keep a log in the plane to log beginning fuel/hours and ending fuel/hours for each flight. At the end of the month our treasurer totals up the hours and bills us for it along with our monthly dues ($250/month). If we bring the plane back with more fuel that it had when we got it, he gives us a credit at the current local fuel price. If we bring it back with less, he charges us.

yikes - yesterday the radio seemed to be working better (not perfect) after all my jiggling of the coax plugs. I'm still taking it to the shop and having everything checked, refastened, maybe get new cables. Other than that plane is behaving very well - so I'm happy!

Perhaps you missed my post about how if you fall asleep in my plane you wake up with a pulse ox on your finger...

Thank you all for the responses. I have merged them into this answer to the pilot who asked me: If you look at a schematic of the Arrow landing gear system, you see three separate actuators. Essentially, each wheel is an independent system so each can fail when the others are working. So each has its own gear light. In the Mooney, the three wheels are mechanically interconnected. Single actuator. If one is down, all are down. One wheel "hanging" while the other two are down should not happen.The way the system operates is also the reason that the floor window is primary for ensuring gear down. Of course, no system is completely foolproof. But the types of issues which would lead to a one-wheel failure in a Mooney while gear down is indicated would also likely bypass a three gear light system.

Software update to 2.6 seemed to fix this fellow's issue.

Don't do it.......

A vacation home is fine if you leave ot for a couple weeks. A plane not so much.

What Hank says here. Pull the foam cover off the mic and take a look, make sure you have the flat side for talking facing your lips. I always just squeeze it to make sure I have the flat side facing my lips when I put it on. Also, check the stereo/mono switch and try it in both positions to see which way the sound and side tone sound best. Mine works best on the mono setting, but I have an ancient audio panel and intercom. Play with the volume control on the headset as well, I had once where I started noticing an annoying buzzing, turns out I had the volume on the headset turned up and the actual radio volume down, the headset was amplifying some electronic noise. Turning the headset volume down and the radio up fixed it. Hank, my wife loves hers as well, they were a birthday present for her I think a year ago.

If you don’t need the money I personally would not do it. And I don’t rent my vacation house on VRBO either. But that’s just me.

So funny! I was about to post a very similar thread after flying back from Fullerton today and taking some photos of my Max displays! The two main things I’ve noticed since the upgrade to MAX- 1: the displays are very clear/crisp and colorful compared to the older models. 2: there is no longer any lag in the displays when synthetic vision is enabled- they run smoothly. The “lag” or “jitter” was my chief complaint about the old Aspen with SV enabled (without SV, it was fine)... obviously I wasn’t the only one- the new processing power has brought clear, fast displays to the Aspen. oh, one other thing I noticed- the case no longer gets hot. So the new technology must be running quite a bit cooler, too! here are my pics...

Hmmm . . . i-equipment and payment-required apps are such a pain. I use FREE Avare on my wifi-only Samsung tablet (equipped with GPS for <$200), and it locks out the screen when NOT RUNNING Avare--so I don't need to worry about losing charts, and the airport diagram pops up automatically on rollout. This always-on feature keeps Avare up whether plugged in or not, as long as the cover is open. Should the cover accidentally close, it boots up as soon as I swipe the screen to turn it back on, and it draws a straight line from when it closed to where I am. No, I didn't drink the Kool-Aid and don't support high priced i-fruit . . . .

I really like having my EDM 830 on the pilots side. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

I agree with Dan and Erik, those of us flying high need a more serious O2 backup such as the MH product I also use. Why? It's not realistic to assume you can always point the nose down. If you use the FL's to add to your utility and to enable you fly above weather you may need to wait or divert for a ways before adding another emergency to deal with. The MH product gives you O2 with a better applicator (mask) and for quite awhile. (Although I don't know the specifics). But you know it's got much more pressure since it needs a regulator to dispense. Thanks to skip for looking up the specs on the cans. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, we talked about a new finger device, that you actually wear on your thumb, that alarms by vibrating unmistakably when your O2 Sat level falls to below whatever you set it too. It gets your attention well before any hypoxia sets in. See https://www.amazon.com/ViATOM-Wearable-Rechargeable-Saturation-Vibration/dp/B07MXZGVNW Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My 252 spends a lot of time in the flight levels. But if I'm on the mask (above 18K) one of these bottles is sitting in my lap. I want it easy access and ready to go if I need it I also have my Altitude pre-select set for lower altitude and a 1000 ft/min down. I also use the O2D2 system which I bought in an effort to conserve O2 and go further between fills. But I now see it as a safety feature in that it gives me an audible notification of each breath as long as its full of O2. If the good stuff quits flowing, it will alarm AND I won't hear the next breath. All these little things have now become second nature and I'm confident that it increases the safety of flight in the flight levels in my unpressurized airplane.

TUC is not universal across the population. I was very glad to have the opportunity to sit in the PROTE chamber at the Mooney Summit; It was, to say the least, and eye-opener. I am in my mid-50s and not fat. I am not a smoker. But I was ready to start playing with yarn within 2 to 3 minutes, whereas another pilot in the chamber was solving differential equations seven or eight minutes into the test. I’m glad @Austintatious Knew his symptoms and took decisive action. I strongly encourage anyone flying in the flight levels to seek out a PROTE or altitude chamber training session. Experiencing your symptoms and how quickly the onset of the stupids comes can save your life. +1 on the second source of O2. I have the mountain high pony bottles https://www.mhoxygen.com/product/co-pilot-deluxe-kit/ and check the bottle’s charge before every excursion into the flight levels. As others have mentioned, preselecting 12,000 and a 800-1000Fpm descent without commanding it on the autopilot means you’re one button push away from breathable air. -dan

If anyone is looking for a Halo headset from Quiet Technologies, they now have some black headsets and some yellow ones available. Order here... http://www.quiettechnologies.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=51 As some know, the gentleman making them is very short-handed from a staffing standpoint, and only is able to turn out a few at a time, but as of tonight, there are limited quantities of both available. Just wanted to pass along to anyone interested but may have given up on looking. They go extremely fast...like within a day or two, and in the past, the few that have been released have been sold in less than a few hours. Although I bought one a year ago, I check periodically to see if any are made and released for sale....so FYI for anyone looking this evening. Steve

To the men and women who are currently serving, and to all those that have served previously, thank you for your service to our country. Freedom is not free! Thank you.

X06 is in Florida, for the rest of us who don’t know.

I haven't done any searching about Samsung tablets overheating because I have never had that issue, I'm just speaking from my experience. It is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 that I've had for about 3 1/2 years, have run both Droid EFB and recently iFly GPS. Brightness almost all the way up, screen/app always on, connected via wifi to a Stratux getting traffic/weather fed to it, direct sun where the outside temp up at 10,500' was still in the upper 70's, and have not had it overheat even on 2-4 hour trips from SoCal to Phoenix and Salt Lake City. It is also in a case which sits in the ram mount on my yoke. I do know that I constantly hear about the problems with iPads, glad it is not an issue you are dealing with.

I would think that when the POH talks about two batteries under Limitations and says that "Equipment must be installed and operable for all operations" that it would mean that the batteries must be operable for starting the engine.

I wonder how labor vs. raw materials/out-sourced parts vs. interior vs. avionics breaks down. Maybe Mooney could build 'green' airplanes (airworthy) and owners could fly them to their interior and avionics shops as they see fit.

This is why I bought everything I thought I might need, such as my Charlie weights.

Aspen was doing so many of the upgrades they ended up behind schedule- it took almost 8 weeks for them to turn my units around. I dropped the plane off in mid July, picked it up in early September (the hot months down here in Phoenix... not pleasant for ga flying!) the blue banana is very pronounced- it’s impossible to miss on the displays... on my IFD, sometimes I forget that it’s there, it’s so subtle. It works as it should- tells you the expected intercept point for the climb/ descent you’re in. I like having it on my mfd now, rather than having to look at the IFD for it.

Those metal clamps seem quite evil. I have to open up that side of the plane to run some wires. Might as well throw some RG400 in the bundle. I already ran a some for the Nav antenna. Thinking about it though the Skyview radio is remote mount back in the comm bay. hmmm

1) what software version are you using? Pre 2.6* there was a issue with the algorithm where vibration / turbulence could result in a slight bank / erroneous 2) 95% of these issues outside that software versioning have to do with the calibration procedure having not been done properly when the original installation was done. 3) rarely the AI would show a degraded mode if GPS aiding was not available. 4) enable logging /debugging if the issue persists. 5) Your rigging is correct? If flying in a skid an AHRS derived AI can show a lean. I haven’t heard about this with G5’s, only have seen it with portable devices so chock this one up to theoretical only. Check the software version and verify that the calibration procedure was done according to the STC (should be written down in the AFMS). Then go from there. Edit: looks like it was software version 2.6 as per below.

If you search, you’ll see lots of complaints about Samsung tablets overheating as well. The IPad uses the backplate as a heatsink, most buy cases which block cooling air, add some sun and run a hi usage app like a EFB and you have a recipe for overheating. Solutions include: Shade it from the sun More modern devices are more efficient, with CPU to spare so not to run at 100%. Drill holes in the back of the case (or remove from case entirely), and direct footwell vent up towards the ipad. I haven’t had the problem after the first occurrence, here in south Florida. Tom

The installation in my Mooney is done exactly like my former KFC 200. So it looks like they simply used a proven installation design. If your are using a pushrod design you are very limited in travel and also get a non linear force/travel distance distribution. So I think the design might not be as bad as you are thinking. Also from all I read about AP the Kings performed better than the Centurys. Not to talk about the GFC which is way ahead of the KFC200 and 150... I think you are missing a lot by cancelling your installation, but of course that is your decision.

Thanks but will probably at least 1-11/2 yrs before I get to take that step on mine but will keep your offer in mind if something changes(like me winning the lottery)

The airplanes I have flown for a living have high levels of automation and system redundancy, so I feel quite comfortable flying in pretty lousy conditions. The airplane I fly for fun has much less of both of those things and I am a lot more picky about when and where I fly. I don’t think that’s because I am any smarter or better at risk assessment than someone who has only flown light singles, just more spoiled! Many years ago, just before my first PP night cross-country, my instructor gave me the following tips in the event of an engine failure. 1) Turn into wind 2) Slow to minimum-sink speed. 3) When you get near the ground, turn on your landing light. 4) If you don’t like what you see, turn it off again.

I think Calfire operated the OV-10 Bronco and not the Mohawk. At least not that I’ve seen and I’m a pretty good plane spotter/geek with that sort of thing,

As Eric and Byron summarized above, the way the Mooney gear, both manual and electric versions are entirely inter-connected is genius. The Piper and Bonanza versions are nothing like the Mooney. And this is why the floor window and bulb are primary, not the annunciator in the panel (even though the bulb is on the same circuit as the floor bulb) you want to see the green foot ball position. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OAT was 5F yesterday morning at your home base Tom. Enjoy the climate change in FL while we freeze our butts off and hold the fort down up North! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All of you in SOCAL should come down to our PROTE event at SEE 11/20-11/24! See FAASafety.gov for announcements. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I purchased one of those maybe 10 years ago - they are very lightweight meaning - there is nothing in them. If you pack O2 into a small space it would weight a lot meaning it has a lot of O2 molecules in there. This thing in the picture is a toy and not for real life aviation use. If you are going to fly high you need a second O2 system as some kind of backup, and fully at the ready and not hidden away in a bag needing for you to fish around the back seat, find it, set it up and then don it. This thing is small, but the cartridges are very dense/heavy - they look like the size of Co2 cartridges you would use for am air pistol as they have the identical shape but they are much bigger. https://www.mhoxygen.com/product/co-pilot-deluxe-kit/ In a small bag dedicated to this one item, with this thing in it for all my mid and upper teens flights- 3 cartridges in a little bag, one of the cartridges already have screwed on with the little mask ready to go - so grab, twist and go. They claim 30 min at 15,000 for one cartridge which seems hard to believe - but I will say this - those cartridges are impressively heavy which means there is a lot of O2 squeezed into a small space - I suspect the density of the air is higher than in a normal aviation O2 tank. And you get 3. Anyway this is a really nice compact so easy to handle system. If I am flying to 20 and up, which is very very rare, but I do occasionally, I am as a rule carrying one of my other full sized O2 air bottles with regulator etc ready to go. Make sure your second system is just that - ready to go so you are not trying to find and setup something. Oh - there is no problem carrying extra bottles for me when going high - I have never flown in O2 needed environment with people in the back seat not because its a rule but because that kind of flying seems to either be solo or with maybe one other person. So the big O2 bottles sit behind the co-pilot seat. One bottle or two they use mostly the same space so why not carry two. And if you carry a second, why not keep a second regulator and tubes on that second one?

TUC is one hard line... Loss of knowledge of the time passing happens faster... much more insidious... See how your heart rate jumps when you can’t figure out what broke... more O2 gets used at a higher HR... So while you are problem solving... and think only a minute or two has elapsed... it may be 10 minutes already... That is on top of your notification time... How much time was it between the O2 part disconnect and you receiving the low O2 sensation...? no answers required...PP pontification continues... it would be much better to have a portable O2 bottle... take a few hits... measure your O2 level.. then proceed with problem solving... Did you measure your O2 level, or only after your O2 was restored? You could be right with your logic... And... Now, you know there is a better way... and... Tom has given an example... We have lost Mooney pilots due to O2 problems... one with some pretty high end equipment... the other with some really good flying knowledge... You have great control/knowledge of your symptoms... But, It is a real gamble to rely on the 5 - 10 minutes of TUC... and hope descending to 10k’ works... Do you have a level off at 10k’ feature on your AP? That would be a great idea to have pre-set... so when you need it.. push the button and go... Again, the challenge of complex decision making, pushing buttons and error checking... goes out the window much faster than the TUC numbers... Put it in the category of drinking a couple of six packs... hard to tell how impaired you are because of the impairment... the difference... it is hard to adsorb that much alcohol in such a short period of time... Nobody is going to say you did anything wrong... just informing you that there are better ways... I’m probably as old as your father... can you tell? The FLs can be one lonely place when the O2 stops flowing... An informed consumer is MS’ best customer... -Men’s Warehouse (a place to buy nice suits...) So as a PP, and only fly a NA Mooney... have a real back-up portable O2 system... a second O2 monitor...and alarm system for the primary O2 system... All the info you can get... so you can fly in the FLs for a really long time... Did I mention... I only ran out of O2 once... Best regards, -a-

Wasn’t there an STC to use the pilot relief tube to evenly distribute warm urine across the leading edge of a wing to melt the ice? I know when my dog used to pee in the snow it seemed to melt pretty quickly so I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work. Seems like you would just need a couple of bottles of Gatorade and you could get at least a few “shots” of deicing.

The scissor jack from my car worked great. Low enough to fit under the axle, wide enough to grab it as it went up. Changed my nose wheel tube in 20 minutes.

Sadly, Cirrus' carefully designed true but misleading sales pitch, "Cirrus says there has never been a fatality in which a CAPS deployment was attempted within the normal envelope." will continue to be told as that, and still true. When in reality many people have relied on the get out of jail free card to a poor outcome. This tragedy of this thread will likely be classified as outside normal envelope and therefore the record remains perfect by circular definition. Giving the false impression the parachute is a perfect solution. All the best and sympathy to the family.

Finally got some wind beneath my wings today. This photo is after the flight, with my two gorgeous mechanical babes in the same shot. Fun fact: Vne on the E is 189 and the top speed of the 911 is 179. So, I get in, get ready to start and my checklist booklet is missing. I hoofed it. BTW, thanks guys for the insurance thread, I was EXTRA CAREFUL with the gear. Headed down the RWY, no ASI. Too late, Mooney loves to fly and takes off on her own so I hoofed it until I realized about 10 minutes out from the airport that maybe, just maybe, pitot heat might get it back. It did. The engine ran like it was in the Arctic (that's a good thing in Southeast Texas). I started to close the roof vent scoop and then thought better of it--better to fly with a cold draft than no draft come summer should the cable break Got back and had the tower say, "Sir, you look like you are on line with 16 (I was CTL for 12)". Normally, some controllers are just very respectful or they are former military, but this "Sir" read out as: Hey you old fart, you're heading towards the wrong RWY. <sigh> Still a great flight and she put the step down!