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I work at a big ab initio flight school. We were looking for a replacement for our aging DA40 fleet. We have a customer whose govt aviation authority doesn’t allow training in Piper products (Japan). We kicked the tires on the Cirrus. Flew it. Then we talked to some peer flight schools (big university programs mostly) that had a Cirrus. The maintenance and upkeep data they shared was way worse than the DA40. And the diamond stuff is at least 30% more expensive to maintain than a Piper Archer III. So, we still have DA40s. And a whole lot of Archers (40). The 2019 Archer TX with an air conditioner and G1000NXI is probably the segment leader for training aircraft. We are taking delivery of 5 new Archers per month for the rest of the year. Maintenance example: We had a piece of fuselage get dented on a PA28. Some unknown object fell on it. The guys in our repair shop drilled the rivets out. Cut a new panel. Installed and riveted the new panel into place and spray painted it with rustoleum. Was fixed in 24 hours. We had a DA 40 get a crack in a non-structural section of the fuselage. It required engineering sign off from Austria and two months of parts on order including approved paint to finish the repaired fiberglass. Plastic airplanes are bad news, at least in a training/maintenance environment. On the other hand, Im familiar with an awesome Cirrus only flight school at SQL. They cater to the more money than time (and possibly sense) crowd who wants to learn to fly in the Bay Area. Very successful, they turn around and sell/leaseback planes from their HNW students. Works great for them, and they attract a certain clientele with all the vain gizmos and parachutes that come with a Cirrus. Piper Archers aren’t sexy, but they’re workhorses. Inverse is true for Cirrus and Diamond. I also realize most flight schools don’t consistently put 7+ hours per day on their airplanes. So in a slower environment maybe the plastic holds up better.

I'll pile on, +1 for Jimmy. Even if you don't buy from him he will be very helpful. He usually has a few that aren't listed that are coming up for sale in the near future. I learned a lot about what I really wanted in a Mooney by visiting and looking at all the inventory. As a first time buyer, I purchased from Jimmy and thought he brought a lot of value to the process.

Point counter point, this is getting old, wear your mask and stay away from me, It doesn't matter what I believe, something is going on and I don't want it to find out if I'm strong or not.

And all of this has ZERO to do with our Mooneys, little Timmy!!

Not speaking at all about the topic of this thread or the editorial you presented - A bit of irony built in to your presentation of the editorial. I see you assert, the we should - have an open mind - so that we can read what you are telling us to read so that we can therefore agree with you and then see that you are right, and not to bother saying anything back to you because you don't want to bother to listen to anything that is counter to your open mind based conclusion.

Hmmm... why is it always the other guy who should have the open mind?

I’m an out of work airline pilot looking to keep proficient. Always liked Mooneys. Serious IFR panels even back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’m looking to buy an early model Ovation. 94-98. Almost all I have found have the awesome KFC 150 auto pilot, flight director and a slaved HSI. Safe single pilot IMC equipped! Can’t go wrong with the speed either. Construction is the best in the business. Cessna and Piper have nothing on Mooney.

Coincidentally, I own a glider and am quite familiar with the things you mention. And yes, we do factor those things and more into what we do when racing. In glider racing every last bit of energy management and min /maxing is important. That being said, races are won by VERY VERY small margins because those things do not make MASSIVE differences. They make "very very very small" differences that add up to "small" differences over TIME and repetition. In fact, for them even to matter you have to do all the BASIC stuff correct. You can undo all th eprogress you made by simply losing 1 thermal (out of a hundred you may work on a course) Which brings me back to the point I was trying to make Moonster. That being he will likely not see a drastic change in fuel burn for the trip (he was stating he had higher fuel burns than expected) by trying to nail POH climb speed. Also, the price for any decrease in overall fuel burn will be longer trip times. Which, as it happens, is part of the reason the overall trip burn will not be significantly less. While climbing at 120ias results in a slow climb rate, it results in a faster ground speed for the duration of the climb and less time in flight overall. If he reduces his climb speed to say 90 knots, he will be 30 knots slower for the duration of the climb, and thus have more time in cruise burning fuel for that leg. in short (too late I know), his best course of action is to learn to lean in the climb, find a speed that keeps the engine nice and cool and let her rip. I think all of us probably bun more gas than we expected to or than what one or more performance programs have told us... Heck, we even have to set up a Fuel bias in our Arinc performance section for the Gulfstream... and that is some serious software based on very detailed manufacturer spaghetti charts for an aircraft that carries 43,000 lbs of fuel. Even then it is not correct and has to have a bias put in with experience to get it closer to reality. It is typically less than a + or - 3 %... but with the weights and distances we are talking that is a BIG error.

Good to know Bob. Also there was a fuel exhaustion emergency in an M20E over WA popularized by an AOPA ASI video, something like "Trapped on top?" that demonstrated that you get to more of the unusable fuel by pitching up to climb attitude. The fuel pick up is towards the back of the tank, so after our M20E pilot had run out of fuel in level flight, as well as in the descent, he glided till he almost had the emergency field made except for a jet blast barrier in front of the runway. He pulled the nose up to avoid impact with the barrier and as he did the fuel pickup found fuel and the engine came to life to clear the barrier and land on the over side! I wouldn't count on it, but something to remember.....

When I first got my 201, I insured with Avemco for the first year just cause they would take me. Insurance started at close to $3000 with zero Mooney time. But after loads of flying, instrument training, and instrument rating in the first year, it came down below $2000. Still, with over 100 hours in make and model and around 500TT, it was time to get some proper insurance. Cliff over at Falcon was a gem. He got me below $1500 and for the last 8 years a slight decrease in premium each yeah as my hours would rise. Cliff was great and would help me with odd requests such as getting coverage for St. Pierre and Miquelon or for Cuba at no extra charge. I was sad to learn that Cliff left Falcon and with rapidly growing rather than shrinking rates, this renewal was time to spread my wings and say goodbye to Falcon which had been insuring my hull for 8 years. For this renewal, I went with my buddy @Parker_Woodruff. Before ever talking insurance with Parker, we'd chat about Mooneys, training, and instructing. He has answered loads of questions for me about those topics and insurance before I ever even considered being a customer. He even took us out to lunch when we last flew into Dallas. With Cliff gone from Falcon, I had little reason to stay as it was his excellent service and rates that kept me there. So, for the last few weeks I was working on a renewal plan with Parker. Let me tell you, he went above and beyond for me. He pushed whatever buttons and pulled whatever levers got me a rate that even Falcon couldn't offer me while chasing after me when I decided to leave. Parker spent the time making sure not only that I'd pay less but making sure I wouldn't jeopardize my coverage by being too frugal either. And being Mooney guys, you know how easy that can be. My experience was Falcon has been very good. But going with Parker for my insurance has been downright outstanding. Credit is given where credit is due. He is an asset to the Insurance, Aviation, and Mooney community. Parker has not paid me anything (yet), twisted my elbow, or asked me to speak about my insurance experience. Just my four half pennies.

I was doing a bit of research on acquiring a new plane for our flight school. I am an absentee owner, but I have been paying attention to the operation for some time and noticed a significant uptick in business this year. Obviously one of our Mooney Magical Marvels wouldn't work in a flight school environment. I looked at the pricing on the Cessna product line, and got sick. A completely overpriced product. So I contacted Cirrus. Low & behold, their SR20's are now powered by Lycoming IO-390's. A slight step up from the IO-360A3B6 I had in my former Mooney. Then I looked at the ergonomics, avionics and the overall utility. This plane is EXACTLY what Mooney ought to be doing. If you could buy a NEW Mooney 201 with modern avionics, sporty interior and have a generous tip to tail warranty, sans parachute, in the mid-$400K range, wouldn't you step right up??? This is why Cirrus is blowing the doors off the market. The SR20 is back ordered until NEXT YEAR. Now I wouldn't trade my Ovation 3 for a Cirrus of any variety. But for goodness sake, Mooney is blowing it royally by failing to address the entry level buyer.

I've helped a few people on this board and others find airplanes that were right for them. Over my flying career I've owned more airplanes than the average pilot, I would guess. Feel free to PM airplanes you're looking at and I will tell you what I see and what I suggest. I am a CFI (and CFII, MEI & ATP) and have owned four Mooneys and flown dozens. I do a fair amount of Mooney transition training too. Full disclosure: the last guy I helped ended up buying a Bonanza. I will truly suggest what I feel is the right airplane for you once we define your mission and that was the right one for him and his family. And I just do this for fun.

For the most part any broker represents the Seller's interests. Where your interests get protected is first in dealing with a broker with a good reputation and then once you find an airplane that you are interested in buying is having an Independent Pre-Purchase Inspection done. Keep in mind though that the aviation business is a small world, so finding one that's completely independent and unbiased may present a challenge. A lot can be learned though by doing a careful study of the logs before you decide to put the airplane into pre-buy.

I have not seen a Mooney buyers agent... I don’t know of anyone that has successfully taken that route.. (I also qualify as a long term CB... ) The ROI on that service isn’t very good... unlimited travel to see planes around the country to decide they aren’t going to meet your expectations... distance is the problem. It just sounds better than it is... Take a look at AAA’s inventory... They specialize in the top half of the market... I urge you to do your own homework... the preconceived notions you will have are going to get in your own way... To use an agent with any level of efficiency... you really need to know what you want... what are you expecting the agent to do for you? decide which plane to look for find the plane, and a few like it ... compare value vs, price... Select the best one... negotiate price... organize PPI... Complete the closing.. acquire insurance complete registration documents. organize TT. supply the delivery flight. You need to be pretty well off with no free time to appreciate the use this level of service... Too much risk in being disappointed with simple things that are important to you, but not so much to other buyers... When you compare what is available to you as a buyer... and those that are available for sale at AAA... Simply visit AAA... see what they have. Then go on the wild goose chase... PP thoughts only, not a plane sales guy... Best regards, -a-

Masks are mandated here, now. Have a good laugh...we all need one.

Just an FYI... Turns out people smarter than me know about what I have been saying and even have a name for it... Carsons speed TIL https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2010/december/01/technique-cheap-speed http://www.eaa1000.av.org/technicl/perfspds/perfspds.htm In short, take your best glide speed and multiply it time 1.316

True, most are posting a percentage increase along with it.... I think most are pissed that a 40%+ increase for no reason is BS

Hah - I resemble that remark. A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I was a math major with a deep interest also in quantum and also I took a lot of computer classes. Ah if you went into computers then - you are probably making lots more money than me. I am now just a math geek. :-) I was at the right place at the right time with the right skills - but the "wrong" attitude - I graduated from Berkeley undergrad in 1990 - right next door to early silicon valley, with the right skills math and also I was doing all sorts of internships in computers and I was best of all my friends at anything computer large and small, and clearly that was a good time to get in on the ground floor in something start up there in the valley...but my attitude and some of my friends - we wanted to learn about the universe and how it worked rather than the products and things of man - meh - its been a good ride. I still haven't figured out how the universe works but I have learned a bit more and its been (and still is) a great ride.

You may want to contact Jimmy Garrison Jimmy@AllAmericanAircraft.com/ 1-830-438-4081.

In fact low total time might actually be worse than high TT. It often is indicative of a hangar queen which is never a positive for these airplanes. Get one that's flying regularly and ignore the TT number.

I’m sorry you’ve taken offense to your thread. MSers have lots of experience. In my opinion, nobody tried to put you down or say their airplane was faster/better than yours. We simply try to help people learn about their airplanes and flying in general. Confusion about IAS, CAS, TAS, and GS is common. In extreme conditions, this confusion or expectations of certain efficiency could lead to fuel exhaustion. My thoughts? Keep an open mind, try to take instruction and experience without getting offended. MSers will have your back!

I think it has to do with the turbo becoming more efficient at higher altitude because of the cooler air. Here’s a good article where they talk about Vy and the power curve, I think the power curve rises with a turbo, before falling. https://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/performance/vx-vy-altitude-and-where-they-meet/

Ignore total time unless it’s an indication of being used as a trainer.

That's what I am talking about - at $450,000+, that SR20 looks damn good.

It is doubtful you will see spark advance approved for turbo engines, without an automated detonation detection & control system integrated to the ignition. The only way it could happen is for the EI STC holder to run their system on each candidate engine, in a test cell, under the conditions that the FAA imposed for original engine certification. To prove that the EI will not harm the engine under worst case conditions. $$$,$$$ per engine model.

Great! Please collect as much pre-installation data as you can so that the post installation benefits can be clearly identified.

Stand by for further offers ! Santa Maria here should you venture up this way..... Happy to share with you what I know.

Must be a fake — if it were a genuine 1960s Mooney item it would have about two dozen screws in it.

Ian here, I've been mostly a military "big" plane pilot part-time for the better part of the last decade. Been itching for a mooney for some time now, lurking and reading all I could here. Finally a TN '59 M20A with original wings will be my new baby. Can't wait to fly a wing built on a Mustang jig! I have submitted a request to join the wood wing mooney mailing list and am looking forward to knowing you guys and having discussions about turbos and everything about the glorious Mooney. And now, gather around as I tell to you this story of mine: I took up my kids in a C-172 for the first time some months back. I had been prepping them for a long time for the flight. Sure they've been on airlines, but this will be a very different experience. My youngest gets carsick frequently. Encouraged by friends who regularly fly their progeny all the time, even younger than mine, I thought they were ready. I put the one I thought was going to possibly have anxiety up front with me. Intercom was screwy right off the bat, with me not able to hear. I spent 5-8 minutes figuring it out while we baked in the sun. Turned out this socket required me to pull my connector part-way out to make a connection. When I finally could hear them and myself talk, I realized that the volume was alarming loud. Pissed that I just spent their first crucial minutes in the airplane listening to me repeat endlessly "can you hear me?", I vowed to make the rest of the flight enjoyable. Good kids though, they didn't complain about their ears bleeding... Take-off and climb-out went great, especially once the cooling airflow started to comfort us. The little girl in the back was super excited about everything, until about 15 minutes in, when she stopped responding to me and I looked back to see her eyes drilling into the seat-back straight ahead of her. Like a ticking time bomb, within 2 minutes she was crying out between big alligator tears, "I just want to be on the ground!" It didn't help that there were little occaisional bumps. As I was racing to get back to the originating airport I tried to sooth her with "It'll be fine, honey. We're going to be on the ground very soon." With intensity that I will never forget, her amusing but sad immediate retort was, "No, it's NOT ok! I just want to be on the ground now!" Attempts to hold her hand in an akward backwards stretch proved only momentarily effective. Big brother's attempts at comforting remarks equally so. How could she believe him when he himself didn't know quite what to think of this unnatural ability for man to leave the Earth? Finally the perch point is here, and she seems to finally believe me that all will be well with the world. But nay, I was delusional! Just then she lets loose a slow stream of vomit onto her shirt and lap. And I could do nothing except tell her that we'd clean her up. "So that's why she was quiet in the pattern," I thought. "She was too busy holding her cookies to complain... At least her queasiness will abate for a few minutes..." Just 200 feet now, time for one of my signature greased landings. But, lo... "et tu, Anemoi, gods of winds?" A sudden downdraft elicited a very uneasy gasp from both kids as their tummies leapt up. Thanks for that final middle finger from the sky as we spent our final moments of slipping the surly bonds of Earth. The landing was a greasy one, but I figured it wasn't the right time to ask tower to confirm whether I was actually on the ground (especially since there was no tower to ask). Taxiing clear and shutting down, I leapt out, picked her up, gave her the shirt off my back, and spent the next 10 minutes squeezing her tight under the shade of the wing. She said then that she would never ride in a small plane again. But I am not deterred. Every few weeks I probe, "You want to go flying today?" or "Some day you'll go flying with daddy again." Each time is met with less negativity than the last. My last question to her was met with a promising, "Where would we go?" Doing mental jumping jacks of joy, I thought, "now to appease the flying gods for perfect weather." I wonder what sacrifice will suffice? Perhaps a very expensive annual w/ repairs is enough?

You are all set now. Thanks for your support!

This is great- we posted the exact same altitudes at the exact same time.

Premier is an MSC, right there on the field.

That's my guess too, it's interesting because of sipping the Jet-A here in Brazil. The Acclaim does everything i want it to do but carry 4 people and fuel....but that AvGas here is $7,50 at the moment and does nothing but get more expensive. Jet-A can be had for less than half of that and 9 gph > 16-17 gph...(or 14,5 if I slow it down) But as my dad once told me when I wanted to swap out my 4x4 truck for effeciency purposes after I got a job travelling "Do you know how much fuel you can buy for $1mm???"

Parker is great! I recently switched as well. -Seth

Flying in these traffic conditions changes your perspective. When I went on my long cross country last September, to New Hampshire, I thought my stratus and Avidyne traffic was broke. It is amazing how little traffic there is most places.

Yes, there are over 28,000 volunteers with receiver sites contributing to the FlightAware data. FA Site Stats Most sites use an inexpensive software defined radio (SDR) and many do use the Raspberry Pi processors. They receive Mode 3 replies on 1090 MHz and some of us also have UAT receivers tuned to 978. If an aircraft is not transmitting mode 3 on 1090 or UAT 978 replies no FlightAware volunteer site will hear it. So a military aircraft that is (say) only squawking mode 5 won’t be seen on the public network. Yes, those of us operating Part 91 must conform to 91.215 and 91.225.

I can solve your problem, connect the JPI to your GPS, then it won’t have to guess using RPMs, I think it uses GPS speed to figure out flights begin and end.

Interesting read for those with an open mind: I’m not interested in hearing why this is wrong so don’t bother rebutting. Not participating in the fear mongering. Letter to the Editor: Why Increasing Number of Cases of COVID-19 is NOT Bad News JUN 27, 2020 AT 11:22 AM BY PJ By JOHN T. LITTELL, MD Several times a day, on every possible news outlet, we are bombarded with updates as to the new number of “cases” of COVID-19 in the U.S. and elsewhere. News analysts then use these numbers to justify criticisms of those who dare to reject the CDC’s recommendations with regards to mask wearing and social distancing. It is imperative that all Americans - and especially those in the medical profession - understand the actual definition of a “case” of COVID -19 so as to make informed decisions as to how to live our lives. Older Americans remember all too well the dread they experienced when a family member was diagnosed with a “case” of scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), or polio. During my career in family medicine, including several years as an Army physician, I have cared for patients with chickenpox, shingles, Lyme disease as well as measles, tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS. The “case definition” established for all of these diseases by the CDC requires the presence of signs and symptoms of that disease. In other words, each case involved a SICK patient. Laboratory studies may be performed to “confirm” a diagnosis, but are not sufficient in the absence of clinical symptoms. Having now been privileged to care for sick patients with COVID-19, both in and out of the hospital setting, I am happy to see the number of these sick patients dwindle almost to zero in my community – while the “case numbers” for COVID-19 continue to go up. Why is that? In marked contrast to measles, shingles, and other infectious disease, “cases” of COVID-19 do NOT require the presence of ANY symptoms whatsoever. Health departments are encouraging everyone and anyone to come in for testing, and each positive test is reported as yet another “new” case of COVID-19! On April 5, 2020, a small number of state epidemiologists (Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Technical Supplement: Interim-20-ID-01) came up with a “surveillance” case definition for COVID-19. At the time, there was uncertainty as to whether or not completely asymptomatic persons could transmit COVID-19 sufficiently enough to infect and cause disease in others. (This notion has never been proven and, in fact, has recently been discounted – cfr “ A Study on the Infectivity of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Carriers, Ming Fao et al, Respir Med, 2020 Aug – available online through PubMed 2020 May 13, as well as recent reports from the WHO itself). The CSTF thereby justified the unconventional case definition for COVID-19, adding “CSTE realizes that field investigations will involve evaluations of persons with no symptoms and these individuals will need to be counted as cases.” Hence, anyone who has a positive PCR test (the nasal swab, PCR test for COVID Antigen or Nucleic Acid) or serological test (blood test for antibodies –IgG and/or IgM) would be classified as a “case” – even in the absence of symptoms. In our hospitals at this time, there are hundreds of former nursing home residents sitting in “COVID” units who are in their usual state of good health, banned from returning to their former nursing home residences simply because they have TESTED Positive for COVID-19 during mass testing programs in the nursing homes. The presence of a positive lab test for COVID-19 in a person who has never been sick is actually GOOD news for that person and for the rest of us. The positive test indicates that this person has likely mounted an adequate immune response to a small dose of COVID-19 to whom he or she was exposed – naturally (hence, no need for a vaccine vs. COVID-19). It is important as well to understand that the presence of lab testing is not the ONLY criterion that the the CDC uses to established a diagnosis of COVID-19. The presence of only 1 or 2 flu-like symptoms (fever,chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath) - in the absence of another proven cause (e.g., influenza, bacterial pneumonia) is SUFFICIENT to give a diagnosis of COVID-19 – as long as the patient also meets certain “epidemiological linkage” criteria as follows: “In a person with clinically compatible symptoms, [a “case” will be reported if that person had] one or more of the following exposures in the 14 days before onset of symptoms: travel to or residence in an area with sustained, ongoing community transmission of SARS-CoV-2; close contact (10 minutes or longer, within a 6 foot distance) with a person diagnosed with COVID-19; or member of a risk cohort as defined by public health authorities during an outbreak.” Note that the definition of a “risk cohort” includes age > 70 or living in a nursing home or similar facility. So, in essence, any person with an influenza- like illness (ILI) could be considered a “case” of COVID-19, even WITHOUT confirmatory lab testing. The CDC has even advised to consider any deaths from pneumonia or ILI as “Covid-related” deaths – unless the physician or medical examiner establishes another infectious agent as the cause of illness. Now perhaps you see why the increasing number of cases, and even deaths, due to COVID-19 is fraught with misinterpretation and is NOT in any way a measure of the ACTUAL morbidity and mortality FROM COVID-19. My patients who insist upon wearing masks, gloves and social distancing are citing these misleading statistics as justification for their decisions (and, of course, that they are following the “CDC guidelines”). I simply advise them, “COVID-19 is NOT in the atmosphere around us; it resides in the respiratory tracts of infected individuals and can only be transmitted to others by sick, infected persons after prolonged contact with others”. So you may ask – why are we continuing to report increasing numbers of cases of COVID as though it were BAD news for America? Rather than as GOOD news, i.e, that the thousands of healthy Americans testing positive (also known as “asymptomatic”) are indicative of the presence of herd immunity – protecting themselves and many of us from potential future assaults by variants of COVID? Why did we as a society stop sending our children to schools and camps and sports activities? Why did we stop going to work and church and public parks and beaches? Why did we insist that healthy persons “stay at home” – rather than observing the evidence-based, medically prudent method of identifying those who were sick and isolating them from the rest of the population - advising the sick to “stay at home” and allowing the rest of society to function normally? And, while we witnessed the gatherings of protestors in recent days with little concerns for COVID-19 spread among these asymptomatic persons, most certainly many are hoping that the increasing “case” numbers for COVID-19 will discourage folks from coming to any more rallies for certain candidates for political office. Fear is a powerful weapon. FDR famously broadcast to Americans in 1933 that “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself”. I would argue that we have to fear those who would have us remain fearful and servile and willing to surrender basic freedoms without justification. John Thomas Littell, MD, is a board-certified family physician. After earning his MD from George Washington University, he served in the US Army, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal for his work in quality improvement, and also served with the National Health Service Corps in Montana. During his eighteen years in Kissimmee, FL, Dr Littell has served on the faculty of the UCF School of Medicine, President of the County Medical Society, and Chief of Staff at the Florida Hospital. He currently resides with his wife, Kathleen, and family in Ocala, Florida, where he remains very active as a family physician with practices both in Kissimmee and Ocala. To learn more, visit johnlittellmd.com

Interesting on the G5. Mine is level in cruise. There’s a thread around here showing how to enter setup menu and adjust it if you want. Cruise is around 130IAS, vectors for approach is probably 110-120... probably still show you level. Very little change in AOA.

Welcome aboard and thank you for your service Charles. You have come to the right place. Best regards, -a- If anyone hasn’t introduced themselves... take the opportunity to write a few words...

One of the advantages of the vacuum speedbrakes is that the single actuator in the belly with cables to the speedbrake panels means that an asymmetric stuck speedbrake is very unlikely. I seem to recall a few stories about that from the electric ones. The disadvantage is that the colder it gets, the more likely they will both stay partly extended once you put them out. I avoid using them in the winter here in Canada. it would be nice if somebody could STC an electric actuator to replace the rubber bellows in the vacuum actuator. That would allow removal of the engine driven pump (assuming no vacuum gyros) and no more sticky speedbrakes in cold weather.

Thanks for arranging this and keeping it up-to-date, @DanM20C! Just ordered one.

IMO the money spent for a g3x/275 or txi/g5 combo is a great “investment” in your ovation. Both will allow a final panel to be made/installed, will work with your current AP, and will be fully compatible with a future gfc500 upgrade.

Congrats on the check ride, MS... Hmmmm MS.... sounds familiar... A real MSer! -a-

I found the Rib with extrusion see picture Call me Paul Loewen 707 263-0462

During paint scheme research, as I came across this paint scheme from Mooney back in 1963. I valued the scheme because it was vintage original and because I thought it was really kinda modern looking too...................therefore, a perfect fit..............a very cool vintage design for my very cool vintage Mooney, and it felt somewhat modern to boot!

Don't go up in @MooneyMitch 's plane. He and his wife have new paint jobs on their mooneys, and it will sour you on the others.

Always pre-buy the plane as well as the owner. You can tell pretty quickly if they are a person who defers maintenance or takes care of something before it becomes a big problem. Never use the previous mechanic who has done work on the plane for the pre-buy. I doubt they would bring up anything since they have signed off on the plane, and different eyes see different things. And before you move forward with anything, decide if this is the plane you want for the mission you have. It may be a bit much to ask at this point, but what do you want to do with this plane? Some of us started with our first plane before we spent the money on our "forever" plane. (Dated other planes before we got married to our current Mooney.) @gsxrpilot and others have put together lists of what they prioritize in a plane when they went shopping for one. My wants were specific enough I could dismiss several that seemed to meet my needs, but did not check off enough boxes to grab my interest. Good luck, and welcome aboard!

Just my opinion, but putting an MSC label on a shop does not guarantee they do the best work. The quality of the work is more dependent on those turning the wrench than whether or not they are an MSC. An MSC that is good can take a turn for the worse if there is a change in mechanics. Likewise, one that was not so great can get better with new mechanics or more experience. I'd rather go to a non-MSC with good mechanics than an MSC with average mechanics. The hard part is finding out which is which. Good job finding and fixing your leak.