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I was advised this evening by the airport manager that Wilgrove Airport in Charlotte is being sold, the property be developed with residential housing. Rats! I learned to fly at Wilgrove. Still have the back of a shirt that says something about 1st solo, January 7, 1977. Even though it was actually 1978. Bought half interest in a Cherokee 140 that same year, based it at Wilgrove. Got my private license in it also that same year on a Friday. Made my first business trip to Richmond two nights later. Flew the 140 a couple years, made a bunch of mistakes and learned a bunch of stuff. A full third of my hours were at night. Got an instrument rating. A frequent trip was Chesterfield County Airport near Richmond, now FCI, then it was W98. At the time, the only had an NDB approach. Flew it one time to Carlsbad, NM to visit Penny's parents. I joked that we got home, I slammed the door on that Cherokee, sold it and bought a Mooney. Pretty much the way it happened. Sold it to a guy in Morganton. For several years it was there. I asked Lynn Mace about it and he said he used to annual it, the owned later bought a Mooney. Easy to understand. I lived in the same house in Charlotte 41 years. Actually, it wasn't in Charlotte the first couple years, it gobbled us up soon enough. Charlotte kept growing, the city limits kept edging toward Wilgrove and finally annexed the property 5 years ago. We pay both county and city taxes here. When Wilgrove was annexed, taxes on the plane went up 50%. Same for the airport. Beginning of the end. Since this is Mooneyspace: The Mooney was a1965 M20C, 2075 TT, 900 SMOH. KX170B, MK12A, KT76, KN62 DME (had the mechanical indicator) and a KN74 RNAV. Hey, that was before LORAN, that was pretty fancy. Got my name on the waiting list for hangars. Year and a half later, got a shadeport hangar at Wilgrove. Lots more business trips at night. Coming home from Richmond one night, in and out of cloud at 6000, I hit a bird. Splattered on the prop, guts across the windshield. What the heck was he doing out on a night like that? Some personal trips too. I think 8 or 9 trips to NM. One year, mother-in-law had brain tumor surgery and we made three trips to NM that year. Gave one of our employees his first GA ride in that Mooney. Years later I was in Aurora, OR getting ready to take a tour at Vans Aircraft when Bill called to tell me he was taking flying lessons and just bought and airplane. There were other airplanes over the years, he died when his Baron hit the ground at high speed near the airport at Fayetteville. First electrical failure I had was in the dark, early one morning. I learned it was cheap to keep a fresh battery in an airplane. Mooney, whatever possessed me to sell it? But I did and bought a F33A Bonanza. By this time, I was VP in our company. Had offices in NC, SC and VA. I worked with our field sales guys on a regular basis, meeting them at 7 or 7:30 in the morning and wearing them out all day. Frequently it was dark, going and coming. Eventually we had sales people in GA, WV and MD. Then the company was sold. It took the new owners four years to turn a money making operation into a smoking hole in the ground. Just before that happened, I had enough and told one of our vendors I needed a place to work for a while. They gave me a job as a regional sales manager selling hydraulic cylinders. 14 States. Every Monday morning, got in the plane instead of the truck and went to Memphis, Jackson, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Mobile, Allentown, etc. I was happier than a mule eating briers. I would fly out of Wilgrove early enough to pick up a rental car before 8. Another few dozen trips to NM, a few to Bahamas, a dozen to Canada, fishing. Poured a concrete floor in the shadeport. Went through several engines, paint jobs and a couple interiors. About 10 pressure pump failures, a mix of alternator and regulators and one engine failure (NewYorkapproach,114ploutof11for7withanalternatorfailure,requestingimmediateturnforAllentownILSrunway6). Ah, good times. Landing on an unplowed runway at Wilgrove. Windy, rain, at night. It surprises me how lousy the weather could be but still flyable VFR. 24 years, 5300 hours, all out of Wilgrove. Ever been scared to look at something one last time? I walked directly away to the rental counter in Jackson, MS and wouldn't look toward the Mercury Aviation ramp. Somewhere in the middle of Bonanza ownership, a guy at Wilgrove asked if I was the David Lloyd that owned the Cherokee 140 he just bought. Yep. We walked down to his hangar to look it over. It was in the same hangar I had the Mooney in. With the Bonanza I had ratcheted up the row of hangars to the one beside the office. I'm still there for the next 90 days. Gary sold the 140 last year. The airport manager usually had a cookout in the spring, another in the fall. Live music by one of the hangar guys, a professional jazz musician. The first airport function I remember, I met and talked to a young corporate pilot. Monday evening when I walked in the front door, Steve's photo was on television. Hit a powerline while busting minimums. First of too many. Retirement was approaching and everything on the Bonanza was old and worn so it was sold. Started building the RV7 as a retirement project. Penny said I better hang on to that hangar. Final assembly, pink slip and first flight from Wilgrove. Glad I kept the hangar. One day a friend asked why some hangars were enclosed but not mine. Well, you can't get a building permit, the county is trying to choke off any development here. He said we could measure it up, order some steel and sheet and do it. We did. Not pretty, but serviceable. Went back to work for 9 months, going to see all the old customers. IFR in an RV tended to be kind of … sporty. Pittsburgh, Louisville, Chattanooga, Huntington, Monroeville. Flew it to NM once to see Penny's brothers. 9 Years, 475 hours, good times but time to move on. Sold the RV and bought a Mooney the same day in Indiana. Flew home to Wilgrove. Charts used to say 3000 feet. I've also seen 27 and 2800. With obstacles and displaced thresholds. Don't know what the book says now. It ain't real generous. I have always told students of the flight school, learn to land here and you can go anywhere. Learn somewhere else and you might not come here. First Mooney landing, final approach at 70 MPH, full flaps, looked like I knew what I was doing. Turned around on the runway about halfway down. That certainly is satisfying. Back in the fall, the cookout and the rain date were both rained out. Steve, Bill, Sam, Troy, Melvin, Bob and several others, all gone. Edit: Gotta add in a few more names. Helen, Hank and Richard. Stoke, cancer and old age tend to get most of us. Still, there are always new faces with the flight school and people buying and selling, needing a hangar or leaving. Guess there won't be many more new memories. There were some sad times, but a lot of good times. I'm gonna miss that place. Rats! I've got my name on hangar lists at a couple airports. The lists are longer than the time I have left. Don't know what to do. I have a Bruce cover but that is temporary. I suspect lack of a hangar will speed my flying retirement. Note the 114PL on the Bo (Penny's bday is 11/14), 224PL on the RV. Was going to change EB to PL. Don't know now.

Correct. And, success! Apparently that 2 degrees really matters. It runs like a champ now!

2019 - Commercial SEL (finished today!) 2020 - AGI, IGI 2121 - CFI 2022 - CFII

I fly between 80-120hrs a year, and most of it is to take me to work. Because I have to arrive at work at a specific time, I need to be airborne at a specific time. This is obviously a later time than I would have to depart at if I was driving. Every morning that I wake up to fly, I wake up at the same time as if I had to drive and check the weather. If everything looks good, I go back to bed for a bit. If the weather is bad, I hop in the car. The weather forecasters often can’t get it straight beyond a day... I always have a plan B. If you can predict the weather more than a week out, bottle that ability and sell me some. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alex Gertsen with the NBAA assisted in finding a suitable location, one that was interested in having the Summit, and Tampa Airport Authority stepped up and really made a world class destination a possibility for us. You might have noticed their delegation of 4 people at last years Summit to investigate our needs and credibility. Yes its a longer flight for some, and much shorter for others. I personally wont have an 8 hour drive this year, just a one hour. Andrew just cut a day out of his travel to attend the Summit, and people that want to commercial in have a far better time of it. It will take about 1.5 hrs to get from PCB to Tampa in a J, so it wont be bad for the locals of the PCB area. We were starting to get complaints of the condition of the venue, etc. The majority of the previous attendees wont be affected negatively much if any at all. I have had request for the Summit to be in Kerrville, St. Charles Mo., Phoenix, Boston, and a number of other sites. PCB served us well and Dr. Ron Dubins generosity really helped us out being able to house our SME's and others, but it was time to grow to allow for the greater attendance, unfortunately, it does inconvenience some as would anything we do. Fortunately, you guys are still very very close, unlike some that come from the far corners.

It's my opinion, many of us don't truly comprehend the danger of airport closures and the actual frequency of such throughout our country. Losing airports has the obvious affect.................no place to store and fly our airplanes! I too had no idea until it hit me right in my own backyard several years ago....................I'm speaking of L52, Oceano County Airport here in the County of San Luis Obispo, CA. Oceano airport is 1 NM from my home! Once we received word the developer had intentions of bulldozing the airport and putting up condos and such, we swung into immediate action. The fight was on! NO ONE WAS GOING TO TEAR UP THIS OCEAN FRONT LITTLE GEM! You can easily read of our efforts all over the internet and beyond! With this enlightenment and through our efforts at L52, we were asked to become Vice Presidents of California Pilots Association. The main purpose of that organization is to fight for California airports, keeping them safe from obstructions, up to and including closures. Quickly I learned just how rampant these dangers were, all over California, and specifically in our District 4 Suddenly we were faced with challenges such as local developers, in bed with the City Councill, in Tehachapi, CA, that were intending to build a hospital within the Airport Land Use Commissions designated safety zones..............just off the departure end of the runway. Next came San Luis Obispo, again in our own backyard. City Council was in bed with out of town developers, with the intent of seriously encroaching on San Luis Airports ALUC designated safety zones. Guess what? The builder was able to convince the city to create their own redesigned safety zones, thereby over riding the official ALUC safety zones. The development WILL take place. Again, guess what happens! Development happens around the airport and then the residents begin to complain about the airport........and it gets eventually closed................can you say SANTA MONICA? This list goes on friends! It's real!! Harping on saving and protecting our local airports is something we've done over the years.............probably to the point of ad nauseam to many! Yet, this issue can't be casually ignored!! So, the danger is real, as it is still happening, and obviously it can and does happen in your own backyard. Monitor, stay informed, stay vigilant and get involved............please!

Glad to have joined as a wannabe (joined a few weeks before taking my first ever training flight) and still sticking around 3 1/2 years and 400+ hours of flying later, almost 350 of which are in my own Mooney. I've learned a lot and met some great people and made some great friends.

[mention=7337]Ron McBride[/mention] Mostly all instructional flights with the occasional VIP demo flight either as a sales demo or a government official. Although Soaring scheduled us to fly with our visiting US Ambassador to China, Max Baucus, I just new he couldn’t accept a ride. We did a fly by that day instead. But I still got to meet him and get photographed with him and Veronica (owner of the Meijing Group) which was one of my favorite memories. WRT to Chinese officials, they weren’t too keen on accepting rides either, but what they all wanted to do was go out to dinner after the meeting and take turns toasting drinks to each and everyone. Fond memories there too! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After years of fighting this issue, I have come to the conclusion, supported by perceived fact, that if I really want to use the plane to get somewhere on a specific day, the weather will likely be crap. In an effort to beat this, I now don’t plan to use the airplane until almost the last moment. I have cancelled fewer airplane trips this way. I also hate driving places, so generally plan to go to fewer places. Ironically, since starting this strategy, my flying hours seem to have gone up and I enjoy flying more!

Kevin makes a valid points, and Kevin it was something we debated before instituting the fee. For instance, if there's bad weather, or a problem with your plane, we don't want get there itis becoming a factor. However we decided so in order to hold the type of event size wise we want to offer the Mooney community. For all we know we may change it for next year. We hope to see you there. The good news is we should not be capped this year so you don't have to sign up this instant. However, the earlier people sign up, the better it helps us for planning. We also wanted to get registration open as soon as possible. We should have hotel accommodations, group rates, and that sort of information up soon. Take care, -Seth

I flew from San Diego to Las Vegas yesterday (1/9) for a meeting I had at CES. I have always heard stories of people getting incredibly rapid buildup of ice over San Diego but in my 20 years of flying have never seen it. As you can see I experienced some ice. I was in and out of the clouds climbing over over Ramona(KRNM) airport to Julian(JLI) VOR. The bottom 2 photos were taken only 4 minutes apart and that much ice collected. Wow!

I wonder what caused the stud to shear? Doesn’t seem like it should be heavily loaded; it’s just a pivot point in line with the centerline of the nose gear truss. Corrosion? Fatigue due to shimmy or some other vibration? Lack of lubrication? Has anyone else seen this failure? Skip

Don't forget the Farmers Almanac.

I think you are doing a disservice to to ice "building fast".... One of the most scary flights I was on was in a Citation going into Eagle. I got into severe Icing and the ice didn't "build" fast... I got SMACKED with an inch at a time in .0001 seconds. It was like flying through a waterfall of super cooled water. Got hit about 3 times in a short period. The windshield heat couldnt keep up. The boots were not shedding it all. Had I not gotten out of it and taken 1 or 2 more hits, it could have been real bad. The nose looked like rock candy and the ice was about 4-5 inches thick at the very tip. I found the pics.... Keep in mind, this ice was accumulated in 2-3 shots that were for all intents and purposes INSTANT.

Pro pilot here... you will become very frustrated if you try to plan 2-3 weeks out for go/no go decisions... We just arent that good... there are too many variables. The only things we can predict that far out with any accuracy are seasonal patterns, including expected winds aloft and approximate hurricane paths. For me, on a typical trip, I will look at weather no further than 1 week out just to get a feel for what MIGHT happen. If weather is going to be a problem, I let everyone know. At 2-3 days prior I make it clear in no uncertain terms that there may be delays. I have seen the situation change both ways... Good weather turn bad despite predictions and bad weather never come despite predictions. I have gone to bed the night before a trip looking at 100% possibility of thunderstorms and the next morning when I woke up, the forecast had changed to clear skies. One thing to keep in mind, all the weather services are getting the same info from the Log P skew T charts from the ballons that are released. You can see the raw logs here https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/atmosphere/soundings/sfov/skewt/index.html I mostly use the following apps: Wunderground - typically start watching this a week out. Windy - great for winds and precip Storm radar- Perfect for game day seeing where the storms are and where they are moving. It has a great predictive feature that will continue the loop past the current time. I have found it to be fairly accurate in that if once past the current time, the storms start to dissipate they will, or if it shows them getting worse (always does one or the other) then you can bank on wx being a factor. I also use fore flight for official aviation weather purposes and also Arinc hazard alerting, although I have found it to be more annoying than relevant a lot of the time. for me this has worked well and I have not been caught by any surprises. The three apps give a great mental picture of what is going on in the BIG PICTURE. The true aviation weather is better for seeing what is happening in a specific location. Keep in mind that I fly a very capable aircraft. There is really no en route weather that I cannot get over or around with minimal impact to the flight, so for me at the job, I am primarily concerned about departure and arrival location weather, winds aloft and weather at destination for the duration of the layover. If I think storms or freezing weather are coming, hangar is essential. When I get in my mooney, Enroute weather is much more important to pay attention to. My wife knows that even though we have plans to go somewhere, weather can stop us and we might not know until the day of departure. the most important thing is to be willing to scrap the flight.

Plane and Pilot’s “Lessons Learned” (about flying and life) are broader than “I nearly died” tales. If you’d like to frame up a 1500 word story about how an airport can come to be more than just a patch of ground to park a plane, I know some folks who might could make it happen. my username at gmail or PM me and we’ll get that ball rolling.

I tend to plan no more than a day or two out in the winter. Longer in the summer. In a turbo, fiki airplane, extend the winter a few days. Honestly, the weather guessers are no good past about 3 or 4 days, even for the big stuff. But of course, now I’m gonna catch crap.

I could NEVER disclose the price he was giving our mercy flight organization as he deep discounted the labor, had a huge discount on the Garmin product he was passing on to us for the ability to demo the install AND due to support he obtained from Garmin. In addition, his 3 man shop, 5 years ago, now has 30+ employees. He is expanding so fast he can't keep up with everything like he would like. This is a A+ business owner. We'll figure it out. The amount of support he has done for our organization far exceeds any negative from this situation. Thanks again Peter for the help on this!! Tom

As I previously said, my employer entered bankruptcy. We had some of the worst management in the industry. The management gave themselves bankruptcy proof pensions while we all got wiped out. I know about being treated poorly and working for a bunch of dilitants. That all said, as one of the best VP of Ops I ever worked for wrote: "You ride for the brand. The brand is not the owners, the brand is your bunk mates and fellow cowboys. You never leave your cows, you never let down the bunk house. Good fortune will return to those who ride for the brand" It was so true. 10 years later, I had recovered what I lost in pension, with money in my own account, we had great management who treated us fairly, rewarded us handsomely, not just record profits, but the best in the industry ever. We became feared by our competitors, loved by our customers and rode proud in the saddle, all the way to retirement.

David, With all due respect, this statement couldn't be further from the truth, in fact, 2019 set a record for used sales for us with more CDI's, Transponders, and GPS/NAV/Comms going out the door than ever. I won't confirm used avionics revenue, but it would exceed a flight line worth of Mooney's. What many people forget is the Garmin's of the world created this market...not just for the US but for the world. Specifically, there isn't a Russian or Brazilian based avionics OEM pumping out GPS's etc...they're using all the same products we do here, hence the 130k+ GNS market. That said, demand domestically is good, while international is very strong. One thing to keep in mind is not all of the world has an ADS-B mandate or meet or the economy to support a $16+ new GTN. I talk to aircraft owners every day who are finally getting out of Gold/Silver Crown Bendix stacks and getting their first panel mounted GPS ever! It's shocking, but for aircraft with low hull values it's a smart play to go used. When a 430W, IFD440, GTN650, IFD540, GTN750 etc are all WAAS GPS/NAV/Comms providing the same exact utility to the end user outside of price and user interface, many opt for the cheapest solution to check the boxes. Lastly, we're hearing from our flight school customers who for the most part can't keep up with demand and are scouring the market for clean 172's to add to their fleet. When they do, they call us to equip back to their fleet commonality which I'm sure as you can guess is used (GMA340, 430W, 330ES, etc). I think our business has proved that as new avionics sales continue to rise (up 10+ % last year), the used market will continue to flourish even if the values and price band gets followed all the way to the bottom. Happy to answer additional questions! Chase.

I realized this morning that visiting Mooneyspace is like having my twice a month morning breakfast meeting with my retired airline captain friends, except MS is daily [if I wish!]. At our pilots breakfast, we talk about all kinds of things. And since one of my friends is a retired United 747 captain and long time Mooney owner/pilot, the conversations can quickly turn to stuff about our Mooney airplanes [we do have a Cirrus owner amongst us, so that's always fun!]. As with any passion, and the particular organizations of which we choose to partake, whether its airplanes, boating, sports cars, motorcycles, music, etc., it is the people that make it truly special. Admittedly a slow learner in some areas, it wasn't until my first visit to AirVenture in 2008 that I finally realized this. It was the like mindedness, the camaraderie, the respect, and the passion of it all from the people there that made AirVenture so very special to me. Just like my pilots breakfast friends and just like Mooneyspace ! As I continued to read the Vintage Mooney thread on the door handle replacement topic, and all the associated input from so many on how to skin that cat, it came to me again, just how valuable, fun and exciting our Mooneyspace really is..........such knowledge, information and creativity from everyone! So, it's the daily "pilots breakfast" for me in the morning, at noontime, during the evenings, late at night, or just whenever....... here on Mooneyspace. It is the people and I do love Mooneyspace !

Yes California does have its issues in the last 6 months I have spent a total of 4.5 hrs charging my vehicle on long trips, of which 4.5 hrs would have been needed for food and environmental breaks anyway. Every day I wake up to a tank of 320 miles without ever having to stop, which seriously reduces the time I spend energizing a vehicle with fuel, or dealing with normal oil changes etc.Battery availability is an issue, which once again, Tesla has an insurmountable lead in with the acquisition of Maxwell. You can charge one at any RV park if you have to. I just drove 2 hrs to the Florida Mooney Lunch group and 2 hrs back, and have 102 miles of range left. Charging now, no need for a gas stop tomorrow Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Hmmmmm......... my parents always told me “don’t put all your eggs in one basket “

Once we have energy density of 800kwh...things begin to look feasible! Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Well, there ya go! A new Ultra for each of us should put the factory folks back at work! Go Mooney!!!

It would be fun to lift my sports car into outer space. But I would want it back by Monday. Actually for the price of lifting my sports car to outer space - Elon could purchase a new Mooney for everyone on Mooney space no charge!

Even if the old nub can be ground off, it is usually not advisable to put a second weld on the same site as an old weld and many welders will refuse to do it. If it needs welding and not a simpler repair, you may need to have a sleeve fabbed and attached and the new piece put on that. Or chop out the old bar and fab a replacement piece (or a piece from a salvage airplane). There is guidance in AC 43.13 about how to do that. Getting proper alignment/fitment may be the hard part, which might be easier with a bar chunk from a salvage airplane.

This LIDAR based solution for ground proximity call-outs already exists for experimentals: https://www.enginebridge.com/product/landing-height-controller-copy/ Nothing to do with the skyview. Just install it, connect it to the power supply and the audio panel, configure it and you are done.

Im a Mooney believer , Ive owned 4 of them over the years. I listen endlessly to other non mooney pilots tell me all the problems with mooney's , Stuff like hard to land, too small etc etc etc.. To me its a wonderful safe airplane with a unique brand , created by unique people. I know the history. It has not always been easy for the company and those that work for it, but.... This forum is testament to the loyalty of its fans, pilots, purchasers, and those that support the product So I am just generally interested and shocked to see that some high end aviation or related or ( maybe other ) entity step up to create a " brand within a brand." There is allot of "brand making" that has been done over 50+ years, a strong fleet requiring support , and die hard Mooney people will to support the next step My fear is that the current ownership will have too much ego in the game to sort out the situation for the greater good ( or money). when things move from just plain business to other motivations Still hoping for the best Peter

Thanks for the additional information. I have yet to make it to a Summit. And no, despite the belief of some, it has nothing to do with the logistics of transporting extremely large women. Two years ago I got pulled into a last minute international business trip and last year I was going to fly down with Danb while my cylinder was being replaced. Due to a health emergency we couldn’t travel. Unfortunately I am going to wait until I know my schedule will permit travel. On a related topic, I know this event is a major undertaking for setting up the venue, events and lining up speakers. It would be nice to see the event offered in different locations around the country. Either move this one around or offer smaller scale versions. There are a lot of Mooney owners in different pockets around the country I believe would participate if it was closer. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Trimmed, my airplane flies very nicely hands off. Control inputs flying IFR, if tracking or on ILS, in no wind condition, control inputs are almost imperceptible. Just nudge the control and you are changing direction. Fingertip corrections only needed when established and stable. It is a nice feeling. The "heaviness" of the controls adds to the airplane's stability. Thus, it is stable yet very responsive to the smallest of control inputs. John Breda

Like most things in the Mooney it is standard industrial parts adapted to aviation. If only someone had a picture that would lead to a clue. OMG then a little Google FU. Turns up Boston Gear https://www.bostongear.com/ Which does drive reduction and right angle drives. Someone should chat with them. Ask how they identify their drives and then buy a bunch of gears.

.....I just enter the NDB identifier into the GTN750 and it works fine.....

My 1975 F does not have a relay like this. Nor did my F have an avionics master. Looking at the way it was installed and the location, my guess is that it is a relay for an avionics master. Do you have an avionics master? I would track the wires and see where they go. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Veronica must be an amazing person to work with. So if anyone is keeping score... She is... 1) Running a high tech, Worldwide, aviation company... check. 2) Using capitalism in China... check. 3) Meeting promises of building Mooneys in Kerrville, not taking everything to China... check. 4) Have you seen any other Women doing this while still in China? 5) So if anyone is going to get the lights back on in Kerrville... it will probably start from the top. 6) Veronica has been a great leader. 7) The Ultras are spectacular next generation versions of the beloved O and Acclaim. Plenty of room for improvement and next gen ideas... seems this work is never done... 8) When you talk to new owners about their Mooneys... (I only spoke with one...) I must not be very outgoing... It is a traveling machine that enables people to go where they want, when they want, many states away... that was a business owner... buying another business machine... He was so happy with his decision, the enjoyment was infectious... 9) His plane was on display... 10) Don’t forget the team... A leader is only as good as their team... if you’re the leader... put in the extra effort to select a good team... Part of that team is the Transition Trainers, a few were at KOSH too... I got to spend some time with some awesome MSers on that part of the team as well... Mike and Dan got to listen to me asking lots of questions... 11) then there is this part... Making private aviation available in China... the place that doesn’t have enough GA airports... private aviation in a communist country...? Somebody believes that This is possible... Imagine for a moment... the freer flow of ideas, AND people... that has worked pretty well for humanity in other places... PP thoughts from the outside only, not a Mooney sales guy, yet... Best regards, -a-

Cheers David!! What a ride. It’s frustrating to think of all the airport closures. When I first started to fly all the old timers would say...”remember that strip over at that place” or “remember when we used to land there.” It was like ancient history to me, but seeing it all real time over the last 20 years makes you appreciate all of the past stories and all of the airports still around. Your eloquently written story is the voice of many unspoken tails. EAA should publish it in Sport aviation too. All the best! Hope the real estate folks loose their asses!! -Matt

Love Mooneyspace as well. Learned A LOT in the seven years I’ve been a member since I purchased my Mooney. The combined knowledge about Mooney’s, avionics, flying, etc., is an incredible resource. Search can be a bit tedious, but persistence pays off. I do wish folks would use their names but I can live with the anonymity. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I wouldn’t be too critical of the avionics shop. Think 10-15 years ago there were releases of new technology every couple of years. Now it’s difficult to keep up with all the changes in how the electrons fly around on a weekly basis. or wait until next week - you may be able to replace your Ki256 with a g5 ...

This is getting goofier than ROP v. LOP... Anyone here study ‘capitalism in a communist country’ in their MBA program? Follow that up with ‘private ownership of a company, under communist rule’ How about a finance class for modern communism? Communism used to be so simple... My hat is off for the people at both ends of this debacle... There aren’t many machine building manufacturing companies in the neighborhood to go to... The factory management is pretty Top Notch to have gone this far... I have quite the biased opinion... I am a Mooney owner... Best I can tell, they are still on the same team, fighting the same fight... Still waiting for the next piece of news to come out... from a reliable resource... Like everything else, the news comes out when released... anyone can shut down a business... It takes a successful team and a bunch of hard work, throw on some good luck, to build and grow a business... Don’t throw in the towel until somebody makes you... Keep fighting the good fight. Everybody on the team has an important job to do... Everybody on the outside wants to see success... (let me know if this is not a true statement) Best regards, -a-

Trying to get a little more out of my C. Working on fitting the new induction system on mine so it fits under the new more aerodynamic cowling. It’s a tight fit and here’s attempt number 4 to get the air filter to fit the baffling. David

So when are we going to have a $200K new J?

Go get your SES at Ryan Seaplanes in Flagler, FL while you're down for Mooney Summit. http://www.ryanseaplanes.com

YUP! All is well now with fine wires on the surefly side. I think factory gap is less than ideal for the surefly side, it produces alot stronger spark gapped wider you may have 0 issues with massives.

If there was something wrong with the pivot that the steering horn rotates around during retraction, it could tear the pin off while the gear was swinging.

I was just looking at old VFR nav charts of NY/NJ... circa 60s and 70s... They would show the name of a radio station and its frequency as if it would be normal to use for VFR navigation... You can use the GPS to navigate to the radio tower... but you can’t get the score of the Sox/Yanks game... Best regards, -a-

Quite honestly, I would attend regardless of the location and the distance I had to travel. Yes, the first time might have been because it was only a hour and a half J flight for me, but after being in the middle of everyone who was there, I was hooked. As for the registration fee, well, I have found very little in life worth having is free, and we were certainly getting a bargain for the Summits prior to this one. So I will see you there.

You don't just have a turbo, you have a Rocket! My 252 turbo runs very well LOP. My GAMI spread is about .4 and I can get to 20 or 30 degrees lean without any roughness. I hear the Rockets are more difficult to get to run well LOP. The one Rocket pilot that does LOP very well is Lacee @RocketAviator. He's not on this forum much anymore, but maybe the ping will get him to chime in. I only do LOP at 65% power or less. That way I can actually run right AT peak and the power is low enough that I don't have to worry about harming the engine. Oh, and my TIT does come down off the peak when I'm LOP. I'm running about 1530 or so TIT and my hot cylinder is usually below 330.

What GeeBee said ^^^ I did mine about 2 years ago and paid about $31k for for the GIA63Ws and software upgrade for the S-Tec, and the GTX345R for ADS-B. As noted, the issue isn't Mooney but that Garmin has discontinued making the GIA63W GPS units. The newer models are unfortunately not backwards compatible. Also worth exploring is to check with people who understand/know this stuff whether you could get kits for Beech or Cessnas and then have a MSC use the appropriate cabling, s/w etc. for your Ovation. Of course those might be equally rare at this point. Good luck. Robert

Hi, Mat I actually had a somewhat similar but different issue. On taxi for whatever reason the gear motor would randomly start to cycle. Luckily gear would always remained locked. The initial thought process was that it was the down limit switch. The metal pad that makes contact with the switch was actually adjusted and the problem stopped; however, you cannot adjust the rod too much because it may completely disrupt the rigging. The guys at Willmar weren't convinced this was actually the issue and sent the gear motor out to George's electric in California and said the brake in the actuator looked terrible, so it was ultimately overhauled. So, I think as the guys above said its either one of three things: the actuator, down limit switch or rigging. I would not let someone who does not know this gear well mess with the rigging at all. If your actuator has not been looked at for 30+ years its time to send it out regardless. I think George's overhauled mine for about $500ish