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I never let anybody add gas to my plane unless I'm there watching. I tell them the caps are tricky and that I'll put them back on.

Quick update on the installation of two GI 275's, a AV20S, and fixing a stormscope at Lancaster Aviation. First important thing: on time and on estimate. No unpleasant surprises, two weeks between dropping her off and picking her up. The panel was well wired and documented before, so they didn't have to hunt for loose wires somewhere in there. Removal of vacuum pump and svs was done by Henry Weber down the taxiway. The first stormscope computer I bought online to replace the old broken one was faulty, so I asked Todd at Lancaster to send it back (30 day warranty) which they did, with pictures of the packaging). The second unit worked well. The installation of the AV20s was without issues. The 275's work so far as expected, and integration with the KAP150 is flawless. I think it reacts faster to the 275 than it did to the old gyros. The clarity and usefulness of information is impressive. I kept the old instruments around it for fear of the readouts being so small, but it took me minutes to get used to it and I don't look at the other gauges anymore, except for x-checking with the 275's. All configurations seem to be on point, except for the altitude alert which is deafening (can't find the setting for that). One thing that I see as a plus, but not particularly legal (so it's a great idea to write it here, obviously) is that they installed the lower unit as a MFD, not as HSI. so I have the options in there to run all other windows (terrain, traffic, cdi, etc) besides the HSI and HSI map. That could be helpful since there is a CDI on the top ADI unit, I could use the traffic page departing a congested area for example. One big minus: I should have checked the estimate better. Even though I talked about having the OAT probe installed on the 275 and asked about its location when I dropped the plane off, it was not in the estimate and they didn't install it. I have probes for the JPI900 and the AV20S, but it would be nice to have actual winds show on the 430W's. I might do that on my next annual when the panels are all off anyway. The AV20S does provide TKAS. My fault for not checking it closer. At the end they gave me a box with all the old gauges, all the paperwork, wiped the plane for COVID, and off I went. I'm happy with all the redundancy in my panel now, and the fact that I have all information I need to for hard IFR in a narrow sight angle, so no head swiveling anymore while in the clouds. Bank account is leaner but not broken. 16 AMU for 275's and 3 more for the other stuff.

I've owned my Mooney for nearly 3 years and I've NEVER washed it with water. I use Wash-Wax-All and have been very happy. I just bought a bottle of Collinite 845 (a liquid carnuba wax) to try as a more permanent wax, but have only done the cowling, so far; nice shine and is suppose to hold up well.

Could happen sooner rather than later...

I count it as worth nothing, but that's not all bad. It just means I can get the plane for less money and then have the engine overhauled by the shop of my choice. I can get the work done that ...I... want done.

I lot of misplaced anger and frustration in this thread. I make my living building defenses against this stuff. It's a good living, and allows me to fly a nice airplane. Much of these attacks are automated. The Internet is a toxic river of viruses, malware, and other dangerous code. It's not blaming the victim but rather wondering why they went swimming without the full hazmat suit on. None of us would want to live without the Internet and the interconnectedness that we all benefit from. But the very data processing power that provides the benefits, also makes it a very dangerous place. So there are best practices that companies like Garmin have to follow or they leave themselves wide open to this type of attack. Maybe they'll take it seriously going forward.

I was a line guy for well over ten years, and it was amazing how many times pilots with crappy equipment that broke while we were doing our thing would try to blame it on us vs their lack of care for their airplane. All that being said, I have seen some line guys do some very stupid things, both when I was working as one, and as a flight crew member.

I use a wet microfiber cloth to wash, one section at a time, and use a dry cloth to wipe off the excess wax residue. If the "washing" cloth starts to get visibly dirty, I swap it for a new one and continue. Never had any problems with scratching. It does a nice job.

Yep, our humidity runneth over . . . .

My D is still participating in a 4-month long annual due to calamity after calamity. Thankfully a local flying club member here yesterday put me in the left-seat of their newly acquired PA28-180. Its obviously not a Mooney but I believe that Garmin should mail him a commission check. They had just spent AMU’s in the high thirties on a new panel. Dual G5’s, GFC500, new Garmin comm, Stratus, a bada** fancy audio panel, etc etc. It was my first exposure to the GFC500. Wow that 20 AMU roughy estimate isn’t looking so bad after all... Here is the future site of the new Vertical Launch Spaceport (Granot Loma Estate) along the crystal clear waters of Lake Superior:

Gotta keep the avionics shops in business. Gave @Hank a ride to Griffin to pick up his plane and to leave mine for a small tweak.

I successfully downloaded nav data and updated my GPS navigator today. Avidyne Too soon??

Over the last week, I flew from Cincinnati to Little Rock for work. On the day I was to fly back, I was delayed and that implied that I might be deviatiating around buildups and storms near dusk - I've done that once and not a fan of doing that again. So instead of doing the 3.5-ish hour flight (that would have begun with a 50-mile leg 90 degrees from on course) I decided to fly 2 hours to Tuscaloosa to see family. The next day, I then flew from Tuscaloosa to Athens, Ohio to have a birthday lunch with my son. Then after lunch a short-ish hop back to Cincinnati. All of this to say, "gosh, the flexibility of the Mooney (and general aviation) is something!" That and "you know those days when you want to fly, but you can't figure out a mission... it is nice to have those missions laid out by circumstances and happenstance"

That list of 31 items in Appendix A of FAR 43 is not meant to be exhaustive. There was an FAA interpretation (the Coleal interpretation) that indicated that other tasks "of comparable ease and non-complexity" is also allowed. I'll leave it to the OP to decide whether plugging the Whelan molex connectors into a new box is of similar complexity as replacing a landing light. I know what I would do. EDIT: still requires a signed logbook entry by the owner of course

That took a bit of time...but I am happy with how it turned out.... N9595M_Restoration.mp4

All fixed up and looking good - thanks everyone for the pointers and help!

I am actually not the author of that valuation tool, although it is often attributed to me. However, it is based on my formulas used in the MAPA magazine that I authored from around 1998 until sometime in the late 2000's. Valuing an aircraft can be difficult and a good guide can help the process. At one time, I was a mostly Bluebook guy. Then I started a combo of Bluebook and VRef, adjusting both for where they were wrong. Then I stopped using VRef altogether because it became unreliable. I have now switched, no longer subscribing to Bluebook and back to using VRef, again adjusted for where they have things wrong. The new owner of VRef does contact me several times a year and we make some adjustments in the Mooney values where necessary. They still don't have it altogether, but it is way better than it used to be and altogether better than BB.

Yes

One thing to consider before throwing parts at it... what are the plugs fouling with? Is it clearly lead deposits? If so, are you really leaned aggressively? Do you have abnormally long time at low power? Or are they possibly wet with oil in the cylinders? Is it all the bottom plugs or only one or two? Just trying to help fully understand the problem before throwing $$ at it.

Since it is long past TBO... It gets valued as nice to have as a core... nice to have to demonstrate the rest of the airplane is AW... So on a scale of 0 -10 it earns a solid 0... If used as a core for factory reman... there will Probably be a requirement To include all the bolt on things like starter, alternator, Mags, cylinders, exhaust parts... etc... In the event that it can’t be used as a core... the 0 - 10 range would not apply, the scale could go negative quickly, for anything missing or unusable... If the least bit interested in buying such a thing.... it would make the most sense to put a chart together for dates, hours, and what got serviced.... writing about it in a paragraph format is like a math word problem... the info may be there, but it is hiding intentionally... not the best way to add value... PP logic only, not a mechanic... Best regards, -a-

Go pro mount Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amen brother. There have been a number of companies that have succumb to the arrogance that they can survive with minimal security measures in place. And then there are companies with excellent security in place but fall victim to the poor front line worker who opens a link in an email and creates the havoc. My company constantly sends our employees internally generate fake malware of different flavors as an ongoing effort to educate employees to the risk. We have a link on our Outlook toolbar called "Report Phishing". It is designed solely for employees to report suspect email. I wonder if they ever figured out that I send all my boss's emails there?

I would also have the airport look under that area of the asphalt that looks solid. You never know if the base soil has eroded under the asphalt and more if your ramp will start collapsing in over time.

So, we are mad because they do put them on and you are mad because they didn't put them back on. I guess it sucks to be line guy... Wouldn't you catch it during pre-flight inspection?

Optimum No Rinse (ONR), 1 oz in 2 gallons of water. 5 gal bucket. Microfiber towels. Optimum big red sponge. Wet wipe gently with sopping sponge. Dry with microfiber towel. Polish with another dry microfiber towel. Do a section at a time (1/3 the wing is my section) No hose, no rinsing. The 2 gallons will do the whole plane with about half leftover. When done: GTecniq Liquid Crystal C2V3. Lightly spray a section. Wipe off. Polish with dry microfiber towel. Magical.

I usually ask then to just set the fuel caps back in the holes and don't try to close them. They rarely listen. I've found my caps in the same position. The same with the oil fill. Actually, it has been years sense an FBO would add oil. Maybe if we put a piece of tape or paint on the cap and plane that indicated the proper alignment it would help stop that.

This is the AC which applies to the plain vanilla Part 91 GA cockpit. If you read it through, you will see that, just like charts and maps, most of the documents you are talking about may be carried electronically. The AC discusses the usual cautions about adequate backups. Format? Pretty much anything which can be viewed by the system you are using. But, for example, I wouldn't have a AFM and it's many supplements in a non searchable (and non bookmarked) series of jpegs or even tifs. PDF has pretty much become the international standard for that.

I wrote an article for the July 2016 issue of the Mooney Flyer describing my panel overlay upgrade. You may find the attached article of interest. article.pdf

You’d have lots of backing I am sure. But would you be willing to invade foreign county’s to do so? Such is the reach of cyber crime. Garmin was back up the same day this thread was started. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did the middle ground, repair and painted (grey), then ultra leather on all the trim pieces, headliner, and window trim. And of course the seats and belts. I didn’t do the glareshield but might in the future. Tom

TFR's because of terrorist concerns should be done away with completely. TFR's over fire fighting opps here in the west make sense. TFR's over an air show, yes. But VIP TFR's and sporting event TFR's, silliness and security theater.

Milestone achieved today +1000 hours. I flew up to see mom and passed 1000 hours along the way!

You're right. Garmin is having problems not because the theives are bad people, but because they didn't prepare enough to fend off the attack. It's always the victim's fault . . . . Was your car broken into? You shouldn't have left it there (even if it was at your home); your alarm should have been armed; you should have installed a better alarm; why do you still have windows that can be broken out, and locks that can be forced open? Your car was just too tempting to those innocent people walking by . . . . Be more careful in the future, and maybe no one else will break into your car and steal your stuff! Get outa here!!! I blame the theives and crooks, they choose to break in and take things that aren't theirs. If only victims could send them bombs instead of cash, there'd be a lot less of this going on . . . .

There are actually markets on the dark web where you can "rent" malware of your choice, have it customized for your specific target, and have an attack generated without you doing anything but spending some Bitcoin. Besides nation-state players who are doing it for their country, organized crime in multiple countries are monetizing attacks such as these. Some groups play the long game and some go for quick wins. Recall the Anthem breach a few years ago. About 18 months later some of those who had their personal health information compromised (military officers above a certain rank and higher level government employees) started receiving emails from their physicians with their latest test results attached. Several of them opened them to find old results, but at the same time they loaded malware onto their systems. We have to learn some of the actors have exceedingly long planning horizons compared to our standard American quarterly driven outlook. Because of my job and company, I receive FBI alerts about various ongoing attacks and risks being seen in the wild. This week alone I have received 8 different notices. As we said years ago, you aren't paranoid if they really are coming after you.

That's like making the construction company that built the road pay for it when people run red lights.

Solo flight,headed for an easy takeout

Mooney - guy - you earned a lifetime membership - always welcome! That sunset pic - hey - has everyone gone out and seen Neowise the comet? Its at its brightest this week * yesterday and today * but still viewable for a few more days. Just look North West and its under the big dipper when it first gets fully dark. 64,000,000 miles away and a lovely tail. Returns again in 6,800 years. SO someone needs to get up there and take a picture in flight! If you are at 10,000 ft you are almost 2 miles closer!

Always love seeing pictures where 4PT takes you! When I landed in Penn Yan a few weeks ago this turbine was taking off. I almost thought it was you when I first saw it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's Sanibel Island, Captiva, and a civilian Hercules taking off from Baton Rouge. Plus a photo of Salty Approach. 71B12013-ED76-4F80-B6DE-C8C85633E4A4.mov 1D5BC9EB-3A7C-407C-8B85-A4A3599959AB.mov 72811F9C-46EA-4DDF-9247-DFDA2039477C.mov

My thought is that fine wires are great and will probably help cover whatever is actually causing the problem... for now.

Is it a B-5 system, or some other system? Again, there are many models of Brittain autopilot, with different capabilities. Some are approach certified, some are not. The documents I posted about approaches are specific to the B-5. I am not advocating using a Brittain autopilot to fly approaches that is not specifically certified to do so.

The range estimation is very primitive, and therefore the range estimations are not very accurate. My understanding is that for the most part they use signal strength and frequency components to estimate range, but neither provide a reliable estimate since the behavior of lightning is not consistent (intensity can very, even the number of strokes can vary, etc., etc). For this particular application neither range or direction have to be highly accurate, so it still provides a very useful display. If an emission from inside the airplane looks a bit like any of the common forms of lightning, it may have difficulty excluding it. Also, an installation that yielded more signal attenuation than expected would likely just result in the display showing the strikes further away than it would otherwise.

An old trick was to scatter a few infected USB dongles around in the parking lot of the intended target. Invariably somebody would pick one up and plug it into something on the internal network to see what was on it. People are always the weakest link in the security chain. My fave was when the Qualcomm CEO left his laptop unattended at a conference and it walked away on its own. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-18-fi-22857-story.html#:~:text=A team of techno-sleuths,at a conference in Irvine. I'm sure many of us who have worked in technology have our own stories of experiences with electronic attacks or industrial espionage. At a very large household-name technical employer a girl in a jumpsuit with a company badge (which turned out to be fake) walked in, asked specifically where so-and-so sat, went to their cube (they were away at the time) and walked off with their computer. I think the idea was that she was posing as somebody from IT. We never heard how she got into the building, which was "secure", but he lost a lot of time having to re-create everything he was doing from the last backups, etc. He was working on a specific piece of technology that somebody apparently thought they either needed to have themselves or needed to slow down our effort. I wouldn't make any assumptions about how Garmin got penetrated or who did it. It's a wild, dark, world out there and visibility into the far end is nearly nonexistent, and even if or when somebody figures it out, it rarely becomes public information.

Wonder if there is any relationship to Dr. Evil, who is famous for asking for One Million Dollars.

Correct. @John Brems, make sure the magnet is properly securing the door closed, and that the cockpit handle is moving the cable to full forward and aft travel; such as to secure the door and magnet. About 9 years ago, before I found Brian Kendrick, I had one shop replace a broken magnet (simply due to age) by using a common kitchen cabinet magnet and not the proper Mooney part. Make sure you get the proper part number in the event you need to replace the magnet. I've seen more than one give out under wear/age. Steve

Sure looks like something is scoring the cylinder walls.

It’s both, I don’t know if it’s compared to towel bars or cat whiskers. I would not think of it as a speed mod, it’s an aesthetics mod, cleans up the tail.

Oooops!!! Snoring.mp4

Probably someone from Aspen or Avidyne. (kidding) ;-)

There is a little sort of rectangular pyramid at the bottom of the device. It is a plug/cover for the download slot. Pull it out (put it in your pocket so it won’t get lost). Put a jump drive in that USB slot. Wait a moment. It will say “Download?” and below that, Yes and New. Might as well just hit Yes, either button would work though, don’t stress if you fat finger the other one. It will let you know when it is done. You can take the stick drive out, put that cover back on the USB port, take the stick drive home, plug it into the USB drive of your home computer, click on This PC. You will see at least a couple of drives, one will be an external drive. That is your jump drive with the downloaded files. Click on the jump drive, it will be open and there are all your files. Savvy’s website will take it from there, or you can email files. PS forgot to mention it won’t download with the engine running, mine won’t anyway. just get in the plane and turn the Master on. Does not take much time, I wouldn’t worry about the battery.