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This is why we have the Mooney. Worked half a day on Friday and then flew to Salt Lake to surprise my sister for her 50th birthday. Then we got up Saturday morning, picked some raspberries for my dad from her garden and flew from Salt Lake to Phoenix to see my parents whom I haven't seen since Thanksgiving. On the way we flew over the tiny mountain town where my dad was born and the farm that was in the family for 100 years and took pictures and video for him. We also flew over Bryce Canyon and Lake Powell. We visited my parents and then had dinner at my sisters and stayed at one of my other sisters for the night. (Normally we stay at my parents but don't want to be in their home that much right now.) We had breakfast on the back patio with my parents this morning before flying home mid-day. A little over 1300 nm flown and memories to last a lifetime. Full post and more pictures coming soon.

This summer I met Bryan from Just Plane Silly and we were talking about his irreverent approach to aviation videos. He asked it he could shoot some video and pictures of my plane for a video idea he was hatching. Well here it is, the Just Plane Silly vision of what 1970's TV ads could have been for GA aircraft. Just enjoy the video and don't take the snarky comments seriously.

I have job that has me sitting most all day. I've found my Apple Watch very helpful in keeping my health up. It keeps track of my general activity, standing time and exercise time. I honestly go on more frequent more brisk walks because if I don't it tells me I'm not being good. But also because I'm an engineer type and it provides me quantitative data like I burned 200 less calories than yesterday. That registers with me vs the more qualitative approach most people take of trying to exercise but not knowing specifically how its affecting them. I also put everything I eat into my iPhone for the same reason. Once I saw quantitative numbers on calorie intake vs output (as measured by the watch) I started loosing weight immediately. Before the relationship was too nebulous to me. I don't feel like I'm dieting at all but there are probably snacks I skip because I don't want the guilt of entering it into the phone. -Robert

So that day arrived on Friday (almost 4 yrs to the day when i started writing this thread) when the weather gods and the install gods were in alignment. Covid-19 restrictions allowing I and my co-pilot flew commercial to Holland, took the train from Amsterdam to Roosendahl, my co-pilot then bought a shed load of beer and we took a taxi to Seppe, just down the road to pick up Baby after she had had her final upgrade of what I planned all those years ago when i first saw her in 2015 and bought her. She now has full GPSS and a FMS (ifd540) new audio panel (oh boy that is soooo sexy, thanks @gsxrpilot for insisting I went for a PM450B). The sound is amazing. The Avidyne 540 is so good, with the GDC31 interfacing into the autopilot. Put the flightplan into IFD540, activate flightplan, press the little GPS/heading button for the GDC31, put the autopilot into hdg mode and she flies the route steady as a rock, turns on the waypoints, flew down my makeshift approach into my home airport. Love it. Total cost a DAMN sight less than the GFC500 rip it all and install Garmin approach. The IFD540 even comes with a little keypad. I thought gimic when i first saw this but its extremely useful. Trying to input things in turbulence becomes a doddle with this little baby. My co-pilot for the day (which made it a commercial flight so we did not need to quarantine) sat there typing away. He normally instructs in VFR so when we flew into a little IMC half way across the North Sea he said “im scared”. Made me laugh, as I love IMC and we had made sure all the stuff was working as expected before we launched from VMC to IMC. Oh did I tell you he also managed to break the bracket on the P2 seat back. Fortunately before we had even started the engine, so the wonderful people at Aeroskill Mastenbroek are doing their aero skills and fixing it for us. He’s a big rugby player and used a little too much muscle when leaning backwards! Now we have some old fully functioning radios and things to sell.... see later post. photos of installation will follow later, we were too busy playing with our new toys.

Big, newish white Dodge Dually drove into the drive thru at my QSR today. Mooney symbol and "not for hire" on the drivers door. Two men inside. I did my usual, asked them the "how things were going" question I ask every person in a Mooney shirt, then asked the "how does the mock up look" question. They looked at me and wondered what I thought I knew. I took his card and ran it, written on the card was Jonathan Pollack. I asked if he was Johnny? He said yes. I wished him and his crew luck. Said thank you for what they were attempting to do. Seemed nice enough. About my age if I were to guess. Anyway....

I was flying from KEFK (Vermont) to KPNE (Philly) and had a vacuum failure. Fortunately, I was in VMC over a mostly overcast layer between 3000-5000 feet. While I have a G5 AI and a Precise Flight backup system, I decided it was best that I find a hole to descend. I did some practicing with the Precise Flight to confirm how it worked in case I did need to descend through the layer. The Precise Flight backup system works off of the delta between the manifold pressure and ambient pressure so it does almost nothing if the throttle is fully open or close to fully open. I was already aware of how it worked, but had never used it in an actual vacuum pump failure event. Fortunately, a Mooney is pretty fast so a low power setting still produces acceptable cruise performance. 110 knots isn't amazing, but a 172 can't go any faster. Just as I was starting to get worried, I found a nice size hole near Soleberg Airport and was able to get down while meeting VFR cloud clearance requirements. Well, I installed a new pump today and disassembled the old pump. The only issue seems to be that the shear coupling is sheared. The vanes and rotor are intact and the pump spins freely. Pump has 550 hours on it and I could have just replaced the coupler, but I feel more comfortable replacing it with a new pump. I was fortunate to have backups to get myself out of this situation if needed, but this is a good reminder that you should not bet your life on the vacuum pump. Descent video: https://gopro.com/v/QnqzVPWX9o5MP

A High Wing Airplane is NOT a Mooney. The idea of the “E” as the “Sweetspot” is a little amusing to me. I like the idea of re-working the gear on the Mooney as well as getting more gross weight capability. The Mid-Body Mooney strikes a better balance between to small and to big. I look forward to seeing what Mooney comes up with to compete again. What I really want is for them to remain in business and support the existing fleet.

No. On an approach with no stepdowns, sure. But with stepdowns, don't even count on it for that. It is a purely lateral navigation approach with an advisory vertical guidance which does nothing more than hand you a glidepath in the standard 3 degree range to assist you in maintaining a stabilized approach. Period. It provides nothing else. In fact, the only place you will see LNAV+V is where the FAA has decided there should not be a vertical glidepath. If there is an LNAV/VNAV or LPV option, there is no LNAV+V. If you follow it, it does not guarantee you wont bust stepdown minimums inside the FAF. It does not guarantee you won't hit something on the way to the MDA. It is so incredibly important to completely understand and accept that an approach with "+V" is not a vertical navigation approach. It is a purely lateral nav approach.

A velco pad to hold a couple vecro wrapped flashlights and pens/pencils.

A couple of USB charging ports would be useful.

Definitely thinking of another G5, but I will not be rid of the vacuum system without replacing my Brittain. I was willing to enter IMC if needed due to the G5, Precise Flight, and Stratus/iPad backups. However, I had 3 hours of fuel remaining and would not have entered IMC partial panel unless my fuel situation dictated otherwise.

Well, if you believe in fairytales, then preach on about how an airplane that bigger than other currently flying aircraft and has a smaller engine, but somehow will be pressurized and fly much faster and much further on less gas. It’s simple physics here and the reason why none of us attempted it before is because it’s not possible with today’s technology. Now go look at the Mizar and the Bonney Gull and even the Bugatti 100P, you’ll see some striking parallels here. They don’t end well, but there is still time for him. I would say probably the first thing to do is change test pilots, because this guy is too emotionally invested in it and when the time comes to bail out of it or cowboy it in, or whatever, he’s gonna think about how much money is going to cost him, and how far back to project is getting setback. Hesitation kills. And I’m not even sure if he has that good of a background in test pilot flying. To the real professional test pilot it’s just a job...they are separate specialties here, and he needs the best of each. No no, I suck because I’m a Debbie downer, I’m here telling you that night follows day

Close. They're currently in a Sikorsky H-34 at the Pacific Coast Air Museum. The helicopter was made in the 1950s and was flown into the 1960s and possibly the 70s.

You guys suck....at least he is trying....who on here has designed, built and flown your own airplane? Who? This is the process and how it will be unless any of you engineers want to quit your job and do this work for free..... I know it goes against the grain here but I hope he succeeds and you all sell your Mooneys for a raptor someday.... I am sure every plane in history never had first flight test issues.... rant off...going swimming.....

How dare anyone say the Mooney is small. I’m 9ft 13 and fit in my airplane just fine. If you don’t fit you must be doing something wrong.

Hey JT! I wanted to thank you for your kind note and words of encouragement. In fact, I located this post on my own a while back and meant to respond but as you can imagine it was easy to get sidetracked. So please accept my apology for the long delay. To your point, I think it's important that the Mooney Community have access to the company. As a Mooney owner I never felt a connection to the company even though I relied on the engineers, metal workers, electricians and other artisans every time I turned the key in my 201 or Acclaim. I'd like to change that dynamic and as you've probably gleaned from my interviews, reconnecting to the Mooney Community is a priority. In the coming weeks we'll be building out a new website and it will allow me to communicate with Mooney owners and advocates more directly. Eventually, the site will also invite participation from the Mooney Community so everyone can have more of a seat at the table so to speak. As you correctly pointed out, we're working to get over this "first hill." I'd be dishonest if I told you it was easy. There is a reason Mooney finds itself in the position it's in and it will take an awful lot of work to undo some of that and get us going in the right direction. But the one thing I am confident of is that Mooney is still the best single engine piston out there and always will be. "Like flying a Ferrari in the sky" I like to say. That reputation still has some gas in the tank and I promise to do my best so that Mooney can rise again. In the meantime, we'll keep the parts going and look to offer improvements to the fleet. I probably won't have time to respond to all the questions and suggestions I expect will be posted, but I promise, I will read each and every one. Thanks again, JT Best, Jonny Pollack

Solved!! Seems to be all it needed was an idle mixture adjustment. Through the process though, I now have all clean/two new plugs, a freshly timed engine, and a leak free intake. Thank you all for your comments and suggestions, glad to be a new member of the Mooney community!! Thanks!!

Buying a new one from AWI on AircraftSpruce is about $800 and shipped pretty quick if you need it turned around fast.

$2200 for factory new. So about $1000 less. Overhauled would seem to be the obvious choice on my “high-time” (1500 hours) engine.

Absolutely, but the laundry-list aspect of it should make potential buyers beware. It is not rocket science, or voodoo magic, to doing a pre-buy on a Mooney in spite of the mystique that seems to surround it. What you have is people that are essentially clueless about Mooneys other than knowing them as fast and having a cult following. They are wanting to buy into it on the cheap, without doing their homework. What they also don't know is that every vintage Mooney is pretty much a project. Where a buyer comes into that project is essentially the purpose of the prebuy.

Flew to Santa Rosa yesterday to scout out some panel upgrades for my 1993 MSE. Photos attached. Does anybody have any experience with these radios? The state-of-the-art technology on these displays seems bulletproof; I could quit worrying about my gas discharge display making my KX 155 and KX 165 unreadable, and I would never get the big red Xs you see on the G1000s. The big crank should make tuning that ADF a breeze in turbulence. I'm not sure I have enough space in the panel, though, and weight and balance might be a concern. I eagerly await receiving the wisdom of the group.

The coupler is the weak link by design, and if it shears I wouldn't reinstall that pump unless it only ran the step or the speedbrakes or something. Something made it shear.

Great pirep of actual vac pump failure, Cferr! Odd that the shear coupling failed without an obvious cause, like something jammed... I’m glad you put in the extra effort to test your equipment prior to the possibility of descending into any IMC... We still have some leftover memories of the V-tail being spread around NYC... while VMC wasn’t that far away... Thanks for sharing the pic. Got room in the budget for another G5? Best regards, -a-

This weekend were the first flights with the PMA450B that I put in which my son came along. My wife had flown to Phoenix and back with me a couple weeks ago and loves the new audio panel. My son is a fan too. I had it on crew mode because my wife likes listening to the radios but later in the flight I had it on "All." After a little while my son said "Can you push whatever button it is so that I don't hear the radios anymore?"

I think you are probably correct here. I just recently upgraded my panel and doing the online stuff to get ready and take my written IFR so I have no basis for how helpful they are to the GA IFR pilot. From reading about Rich's experiences they sound "Not so helpful..." For the VFR guy tooling around what is some very busy and congested airspace they are very helpful.

I actually have their half harness which I bought off of a recommendation here. It seems like a good quality harness. Surefly is hopefully going on one day this week after work. I've had it since the 15% off Coronavirus special, but was waiting for annual to install it.

The trim wheel has minimal resistance on the ground and at low IAS.. e.g. during initial climbout. Under aerodynamic loading at higher IAS the wheel is significantly harder to move, and feels like it's binding slightly. My thinking is that this could explain the failure mode of the stab trim servo drive electronics. After repairing the STEC, it worked fine on the ground and during initial climbout. It was after level off and acceleration that it failed when commanding autotrim. So maybe the increased resistance in the trim system caused the stab trim motor to draw excess current. What I don't understand is why the elev trim switch/breaker didn't trip. It's only a 5A switch/breaker.. surely this should trip before the STEC electronics get fried. Thanks for the tip on cleaning out the old grease, will probably do that first and then subjectively evaluate trim feel... Tim

Oh I dont probe that fitting, screw on the hose finger tight, go inside and pull the ring for 5 seconds, take a look and unscrew the hose

You should try flying with an “Oxford” callsign....

Many jet operators have complied with ADS-B with solutions that DO NOT involve a complete WAAS navigation lobotomy. A WAAS GPS might cost $10,000 installed for a small general aviation aircraft but for jet aircraft with multiple FMS systems you could be looking at $250,00 to $350,000 or more. Is the ability to descend another 100 or 200 feet lower than what your current LNAV/VNAV system offers worth that expense? Unless you frequently NEED that capability, the answer is often no, particularly for legacy jets worth under 3 million or so. Many jet operators find themselves frequenting airports with an ILS and are rarely, if ever inconvenienced by the lack of WAAS navigation. Piston aircraft and turboprop aircraft on the other hand visit non ILS airports more frequently and can usually equip for WAAS for much less. It’s all about the cost/benefit ratio, even on multi million dollar aircraft. I often wonder how often the average general aviation aircraft owner really NEEDS the full capability of his WAAS GPS, in other words just how often is a single engine aircraft owner shooting REAL approaches in weather less than 400 and 1? I’ll bet most never do, yet spent the money for the capability.

Again, I said a Baro-Corrected Altimeter Source was required for VNAV enroute descents on the GTNs and AP coupled VNAV descents for the GFC 500. This is independent of the AIM. It is dependent on what Garmin says works for their units.

Not everyone has WAAS.

200 knots on 3gph. Must be LOP.

PT20J is correct. A battery tender will not deliver current when connected backwards. The LED should have been flashing red. It also has an 80 hour time out circuit if that is the case.

Before shutting down, set the idle for 1000 RPM, don't move it until after it starts. To restart, brakes on, fuel pump on, engage starter. When it fires, advance the mixture. I think this is what the POH says, it works as well as anything. Edit: Looked in the POH and it doesn't say anything about a hot start. Maybe I read that here. It works.

1. The magnetos have no connection to the battery. 2. Connecting a battery tender backward should not cause a problem. More sophisticated ones will have a protection circuit and even cheapos should have a fuse. 3. An open circuit battery voltage of 12.6 volts indicates that the battery is about 75% charged. 4. Turn on some lights and energize the starter. If the battery is just too week to run the starter, the high current draw of the starter will dim the lights very significantly. If the lights don't dim, then the problem is that the starter is not being energized. The problem could be a circuit breaker or fuse, the ignition switch or the starter relay or some wiring or the starter itself. Skip

Hi Jonny! Thank you for finding the time to connect. My hope is that the silver lining of this nasty Covid cloud is a Mooney factory that is able to use this time (when it's difficult for anyone to compete) to quietly rewrite the Mooney image to align with the facts. It's 2020, be relentless and brutal to the competition. They have been to us. So- website, yes, please! Jim

Yes, this is true, my ex-wife loves that argument. It isn't exactly true, though. He was able to get off the ground, possibly before the Wright Brothers, but it was straight line flight with no control...the Wright Brothers were the first to make controlled, powered flights. Oscar - you can fly in with no issues as a single engine, but you have to call ahead and make arrangements with Infraero beforehand...they were super nice about it and didn't create any hassels at all, in fact, quite the opposite. After my ordeal with ANAC that was nice. They have a dedicated e-mail and you just let them know you are coming and how long you want to stay (max 3 days) and they will reserve a spot for you on the apron and you get a follow-me when you land. That was pretty funny...my Mooney was about the same size as the follow-me truck I was following.

If you've read about the development of the Commanche, I forget if it is in "The Al Mooney Story" or "Mr. Piper and His Cubs." Al flew the the M20 into Lockhaven and Piper nicely kept it in the hangar there over night. When Al returned the next morning, they were just screwing back on the last of the inspection panels... The prototype commanche even had pucks like Mooney gear. Those were later replaced by oleo struts. Fitting Commanche gear to the Mooney may not be as difficult as one thinks. I suspect that the Commanche gear would make greasing the landings in a Mooney easier... But too much weight and too complex.

Appreciate that. They're expensive and there is a minimum order so the more orders, the less we're out of pocket in advance. We ordered at least 20 so they should be out there soon.

Hi Jonny, Looking forward to the new direction you are going with Mooney and wish you the best of luck for all us Mooney drivers. Any suggestions you have for how we can help are welcome. Dan

Yes. Don't you notice the tendency to go right as you taxi with the rudder trim set for takeoff? It's also a potential issue when landing from a strong crosswind. Unlike some Cessnas, the rudder and nose wheel are interconnected. Also, why not use full rudder trim on takeoff. That's what it's there for; to correct for slipstream, torque, and p-factor effect.

Well it’s in - all bugs fixed. First impressions - I like it - a lot. Amazing level of integration. With everything talking to everything else, the set up options are pretty mesmerizing. KFC 225 integration is very good — approach capture and track precision seem better. Test flights this weekend, some more comments to come. Lots of subtleties in configuration and in upgrading databases. + No Vac!

I haven't flown as much as a lot of other folks, only a little over 4 years but I will tick over the 500 hour mark in the next week. I do fly into Salt Lake and Phoenix fairly regularly, have been up to Oregon and Idaho, and last summer went from SoCal to North Carolina and back. I'm not saying there aren't helpful controllers in other areas, but I have been consistently impressed by the controllers here.

I called Avionics international with my annunciator problem. Spoke with Kenneth. Learned the the power supply wire is on the far right side of the 15 wire connector. I can probe that with a multimeter for 14v while the unit is failed and again when the unit comes back to life. If it is not the power supply then they can rebuild the unit. $650.

The Halo's are great. I just purchased a pair last month and have now used them for about 20 hours of flying most of which has also been with a nasal cannula. They are significantly quieter than my passive David Clarks and much more comfortable on long flights. The audio clarity is amazing and they weigh next to nothing. I also really appreciate the extra headroom they provide (I'm 6'2") over traditional over the head headsets. At 1/3 the cost of a new set of Bose A20s, they are pretty hard to beat IMO.

Eye wittiness reports fire before landing. On site inspection revealed that the engine did come apart, I don’t have anymore specifics other than it did come apart. As for the weather I was passing through the same area, approximately 20 to the east in route from KRBW to KOMN at 5500 at the same time as his accident and my G500 was showing a solid 21 knot direct cross wind out of the east. The sky was broken at 3,500 on the coast where I was at. Even with his experience accidents do happen. An in flight fire following a total engine failure would stress anyone I would think. I learned to fly and was based for the first 12 years of my flying career in central WV. There aren’t many places to go there if you had an engine failure, day or night so I always expected the worse should the emergency like this ever come up. A mutual friend is having a small get together to honor Bill this coming Saturday at his hangar at the airport. He will definitely be there, if only in spirit.

Looks awesome....... You wanna fly mine?

Mrs. Adams, the first grade teacher, asks all her students to tell stories with morals. Little Lucy goes first, and tells the story about the tortoise and the hare. Mrs. Adams asks her "what's the moral of the story", to which she replies "slow and steady wins the race." Then its Timmy's turn. Timmy says that while his Uncle Frank was flying his F-106 over Viet Nam he got shot down by a surface to air missile. He ejected, and while he was coming down under his parachute he drank a whole fifth of Wild Turkey. Upon landing he proceeded to empty his service revolver into the Viet Cong who were swarming toward him. He killed a half dozen more with his knife, and killed two more with his bare hands. Mrs. Adams asks Timmy what kind of a moral there could be to such a horrible story, to which he answers "don't mess with Uncle Frank when he's been drinking."