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I just got off the phone with Mr. Pollack (Mooney CEO) there IS an agreement that will allow for the manufacture of the 40:1 Gear Sets that we have been hoping/waiting for. The Authorized POC will be contacting me within the next couple of weeks and I will get the cost and timeline information and share with the group as well as the order process. This is GREAT news and wouldn't have been possible without Mr. Pollack's willingness to put in the (unpaid) effort to make this possible. I appreciate everyone patience and encouragement during the process that got us to this point. More to follow once I get more information. V/r Matt

We called our insurance company and were covered because it is an FAA listed airport so we went there. It's fine.

Too soon?

I can see a benefit from this for beginners but I don't like this whole written set in stone type minimums. It's all relative. For example crosswind... I wouldn't put a specific number on it. It depends on the size of the runway, if it's a steady or gusty crosswind, takeoff or landing? On a short narrow runway, my tolerance for an extreme crosswind is much lower than on a long wide runway. I find ceilings and visibility to be a funny one as well. Depends on the terrain, approaches available. Heck it even depends on each other. Lower ceilings with great visibility is a bit different than somewhat higher ceilings with terrible visibility. Tolerance for turbulence also depends on things like passengers, expected duration, fatigue. There are days when you just aren't up for taking a beating as much as other days. I can definitely say that there have been some brutally difficult "nicer" days and some fairly easy "very low" days. Lately my minimums have been mostly guided by personal condition more than the flying. Too much work/child/family exhaustion makes me less energetic/focused to be taking it to the lower limit. My absolute biggest risk-mitigation tool though is to care less and make loose enough plans that the flying is never mandatory. Things like leave a day early, be ok coming back a day late, or even scrap the trip because there would be too much pressure. The personal minimums go right out the window when get-there-itis takes over. Managing and preventing get-there-itis goes a far longer way than writing down some numbers. If you're not in a hurry to be there, you'll "know" if things are within personal mins or not on a case by case basis.

Started new thread so it would be easier for someone later on to find the info Aerocruz100 in the 2 1/4 inch round body form with blue button "One Push" for level flight 3rd cross country (1.5 each way) today Dead calm going , moderate turbulence returning to home port Installed in M20D (short body) with Dynon HDX panel but no IFR GPS navigator as I only do Day VFR in SE airplanes anymore. A/P follows its own control head in heading and altitude mode perfectly Transfer to "Skyview" mode and it follows Dynon flight plan and Dynon control of vertical mode perfectly In climb or descent mode (either Dynon or AC100 control) the vertical speed called for vs what it attains is somewhat sloppy but close (maybe vertical gusts outside have a strong affect) Altitude Hold works perfectly within 20 ft straight and level or in turns. Altitude level off (up or down) works as advertised Very strong up or down drafts in Alt Hold will affect airspeed as the AP tries to maintain altitude. Not unexpected. Just as Boeings do. Lateral tracking on GPS flight plan is dead on centerline, always; Makes turns in flight plan as required If flown from home port out to a point it will return to home if home is next waypoint. 180 degree turn around. When engaged after takeoff it will assume current heading and climb rate. Altitude to climb to can be preset if desired. Trim indicator is sensitive but getting used to it you learn to ignore the prompts if in up and down drafts An easy way to tell if trim is needed is by feeling the trim wheel to see if undue pressure is on the trim system. You can feel the midpoint as you trim to know where the setting needs to be, The trim wheel moves freer there. Another way is to get it close (or if it comes on in level flight) and to tap the control wheel the way it says it needs trim. If it is in trim (or very near) the trim indicator will disappear with just the tap on the wheel. Holding the control wheel and disconnecting the AP will also tell you if you are near perfect trim. All in all. Up , down, left , right all work as needed for a decent price. If it has a GPS navigator it will do GPSS. If you have more questions ask away

Two weeks ago spring arrived and our skiing went to crap. Decided to go visit my parents down in Nevada. First trip in the new airplane and must have been doing something right because we had a tailwind both down (Fri) and back (Sun). Only 20kts on the way down though, the way back was even better!! Apparently we even did an aileron roll!

It should be a federal law.

I recall filling out my personal minimums sheet when I got my instrument. And I do the same if teaching a newly minted instrument pilot - but it's really as a reminder for them to always be thinking about managing risk. IMO there are far too many overlapping factors to just apply a quantitative risk assessment to dispatch. It's really a qualitative process and takes years to find the right solution. I have one rule - always have an out. That can manifest in a number of ways (ie - never taking off at an airport I cannot land at). I'm ok pushing an approach down to mins if I know I have several options 30-45 mins away.

Part 4.

While you often make fair points, you package them in a shit sandwich, then wonder why no one wants to take a bite. How about you take your own advice and not be ugly in your responses. If you were a bit more tactful and circumspect you may actually persuade a few folks.

So, just an update...I spoke with John Smoker (COO) at LASAR who is finalizing a licensing agreement to allow for the manufacturing and sale of the 40:1 Gear Sets. LASAR is currently working with the manufacture to update the licensing agreement so it will take a little time before they can take orders. Mr. Smoker will be contacting me, at a later date, to provide me the information regarding costs, lead times and minimum run requirements and once I receive the news I'll provide an update. I would anticipate that we should hear something within the next 30-45 days. I wish I had more information for you, especially those aircraft that are currently AOG searching for options or those individuals that have already undergone modification to keep their aircraft flying. I've been assured that the cost of the gears will be significantly less than the cost of a used actuator. Also, LASAR is currently working to find a means to have the Actuator Motors repaired, so more good news for those with electric landing gears or those wanting to upgrade to electric landing gears. Once again, would not have been possible without the efforts of Jonny Pollack (CEO, Mooney). V/r matt

^^^. THIS. ^^^ I figure both back pockets are going to be touching each other if I have an engine failure...No way I'm risking any more of a helmet fire by trying to optimize glide speed based on exact weight and trying to figure out wind speed and direction at several altitudes below me. I've got Foreflight set to 10:1. My biggest fear is going for an airport close to the edge of the glide ring vs. accepting a for-certain makeable off-field site.

Just a word of caution until you get the gas cap rim changed If water can get in then gas can get out on the low pressure area of the wing You might find on an upcoming flight that you port overboard a lot of your fuel from that tank all of a sudden. Being that it is the right side you won't see it until its too late. Out of sight out of mind during the flights. Don't get caught running out of gas.

If you are interested in reducing wind noise in flight there really is no better option than installing a Bob Fields inflatable door seal. There has been a lot of discussion regarding this modification and I wanted to dispel some myths and clarify a few other items. The most difficult part of this process is the removal of the old seal. For this task I would recommend a brass wire wheel for a drill or hand grinder. Remove as much of old the seal as you can by hand and with a plastic scraper prior to using the brush. I would recommend that you open the door, remove your interior door panel, and remove the arm closer. This makes it much easier to get to everything for the install. The install directions say to remove the door from the airplane. This may make it a bit easier but is completely unnecessary. With the wire wheel, it’s important to use brass to prevent damage to the back sides of the rivets, you can clean the entire door in less than 30 min. Tape off the cabin, and mask the painted edges of the door to prevent accidental damage with the brush, and keep the debris from getting in the plane. If I ever do this again, I will do this part outside the hangar! After removing the old seal, clean the door with acetone, and then grease and wax remover. This ensures good bond with the adhesive. The directions suggest the inflatable nipple of the seal, be placed on the front side of the door but this isn’t possible with the door on the plane. I elected to drill the hole on the bottom forward corner of the door, where I could reach with a drill . With the interior of the door panel off, drill the hole for the nipple to pull through for connection of the pump bulb. Once again, I am going to contradict the instructions, install the interior door panel BEFORE you glue the seal in place. The reason for this, is that there are areas where the door seal actually laps over panel, which is important for the seal to completely contact the door jamb. The instructions also suggest trimming the door panel. I do NOT recommend this, at least not for the newer style panels. The door seal comes with a long section of hose which allows a lot of options for placement of the hand bulb. Connect this hose to the door seal and bulb while the glue is still wet and get inside the plane with the baggage door open, you will exit this way after installing the door seal. The adhesive sets rather quickly, so be prepared to move quickly. The only three really important points to monitor, one is where the nipple enters the door, two is the stud clamp at the top of the door and three, the bottom of the door where the door closer arm must pass between the door and the seal. Be careful when setting the seal that these areas won’t chaffe or pinch the seal. With the seal all glued, immediately get into the plane and slowly close the door making sure there are no pinch points or areas chaffing. Close and latch the door and then pump the ball about three or four times. This basically forces the seal into a tight fit. At this point, the ball is not mounted and has the long hose attached, so you can drape the hose with the extension out the vent of the pilots window and climb out of the baggage door. Allow a few hours for the glue to set, release the pressure of the seal and open the door. Now choose your mounting point, screw it down and you are finished. Geebee aeroproducts has mentioned on several occasions that this seal can damage door hinges. I can say with 100% certainty that this is not possible with the non electric model. Not only do you not need this much pressure to create the seal, it’s not possible to put much more than probably 10-15psi by hand with this equipment. I do believe it has a high likelihood of leaking while deflated in the rain, so if you are permanently on a ramp and do not have a water tight cover, this will be a big consideration. Some have said, just give it a few pumps prior to closing and this isn’t an issue. I don’t believe I will use this method. One because my plane is hardly ever on a ramp overnight, and two, I will do what I have always done with my Mooney, which is carry a roll of blue tape and cover the door gap and fuel caps if I’m on a transient ramp. I did not do a very good job documenting my work with photos, so I’m sorry I don’t have good visual aids, but I do have photos of the completed install and will be happy to discuss with anyone considering the install. The pics show some areas where the seal laps over the panel. What I found was that these areas had excessive gaps between the door and jams and laying on top of the panel helped fill the void. NOTE: I did NOT glue the seal to any part of the interior panel. Lastly, while some models are not listed on the STC, it is acceptable to install as a minor modification logged by your IA. This is a really easy install if you know the right process. I sure hope you find this helpful! One final note, don’t worry if the seal isn’t perfect and needs to be adjusted after install. It is not difficult to break the bond and re-glue!

It is hard to imagine why someone would delay on the runway. I was taught at an uncontrolled field that you don't take the runway until you are ready to take off. If nothing else you have a much better view of what's going on at the hold short line than you do on the runway.

This issue needs a novel approach. the FAA needs to get its head out of its 18th century ass and make it easier to certify a new engine, that can have variable electronic ignition and eliminate the need for leaded fuel. Designing a new fuel is obviously a poor solution/approach we have the technology already…

My expectations of affordability just went down.

I will never hesitate to take a flight on a CRJ. Any airplane that you can crash that bad and everybody walks away, seems like a great airplane to me.

I concur, I have used both. Spirit is out in the nice suburbs, Cahokia is in a bad part of town, but it is close to downtown. I was heading to NY a few years ago and spent the night at Spirit. The next morning I asked approach if I could get a tour of Downtown. Their replay was "I need you to say you won't fly under the Arch". I said "Affirmative, I will not". They said they needed a readback. I said "I will not fly under the Arch". They then gave me an awesome tour of St Louis at 1000 AGL, right next to the Arch.

I received the Engineering bill from Mooney a few days ago, it was $1034 or within a $1 or two, for the engineering document issued through Mooney and approved by the FAA. It is very similar to Grant's pics plus there is a change in a floor support brace from Mooney and the bill for that part was about $75. So as what was mentioned before the price may very depending on what you can purchase the actuator and associated parts for. I would also recommend sending your "new" actuator off to LASAR and have it serviced by them if you choose to do this. The price is $450 for them to inspect it and service it. If it needs other things then you would have to figure that out with them. My A&P and I came to the decision to do this while there was no answer to the gear problem, maybe the solution is good, we'll see. I hope it is for those who chose that route. I like the fact that my gear actuator is very solid and doesn't have issues with finding parts or have to get it inspected every 200 hours incurring more time and money for inspections. If you decide to go the route I did contact support@mooney.com. I'm glad to let you know that the folks at Mooney are working to help the Mooney owners solve some of the issues we have with our airplanes. I'm grateful for Frank and Kevin's support to get this accomplished for my needs and those of our community. Good Luck

With the TIO540AF1A engine I'm not sure Lycoming would even give a core credit. I look at that airplane and remember mine 30 years ago. It's really sad to have to say that there exists a TLS (it is not a Bravo) that basically has no value as a usable airplane without inputting an unreasonable amount of money, but that is the case with this airplane in my opinion. I wouldn't trust flying it in it's present condition at all. Of course everyone knows that we all got our airplanes at a discount. Right? Most, if not all of them were sold at less than the cost to produce them. It's not an accident that they aren't made anymore. We are the lucky ones.

Realistic Price: 119,500 (Asking)+110,000(Engine+Installation (2 Year Wait))+3,000 (New O2 Tank)+12,000(New 4 Puck Brakes)+125,000 (New Avionics)=369,500 = Find a different Airplane

I’m pretty sure that centrifugal force would preclude it from coming even close to the airplane. I would think vibration damage could be bad enough to rip the engine from the plane.

A slightly different sort of minimum I learned years ago: If more than 3 mistakes happen before take-off, then don't fly that day. (Or if its important, work out what you'll do to mitigate that you're not in the right headspace) I mean mistakes like forgetting a fuel drain, trying to start the engine without priming it, making a radio call before turning on the radio. The point being that we all occasionally make mistakes, but when there is a pattern, then we are likely to do something serious unless we change it. And it might just mean "you're stressed and dehydrated, drink some Gatorade and take 10 minutes to focus on the flight and stop thinking of work"

I did not, but I actually did something different, i filed a claim with the county to lower the value of my plane and hence the prop tax in California. Since the fuel is sold by the city thus the county it’s their fu.k up, believe it or not i got an email today and they will, now we are just negotiating by how much

If you find the racetrack fuel filler panels available as salvage its really an easy job to replace them rather than try and dig out the filler necks a reseal . Much cheaper and easier job to do the racetrack panel. Just screws and huckum-pucky to seal it. BTW nice looking bird. Don't get too anxious to change things right away. Try flying it for while and get used to it. Fix the small issues and fly the plane. Enjoy it and then think a while about changing things around after you are used to the airplane. Use it- don't park it at a shop for months right after you got it.

Nice. Turbotech turbine, who knows. But it looks like it’s actually flying, and doesn’t burn 35gph

I applaud the concept of personal minimums. But when I give my students the speech about them, I treat them like grownups, and explain that reality often makes it difficult to employ the concept the way it's written in the books. In fantasy land, one sets personal minimums for weather, pilot rest, and so forth, that start out very conservative, and are gradually stepped down as the pilot gains experience. This fantasy can actually work OK in reality if your life moves slowly, the frequency at which you fly changes smoothly, and the weather where you live is broadly varied. In reality, most of my students experience sporadic patterns. For the pilot, it's common to do a lot of flying in a short time, then have long layoffs when money or life work load gets in the way. Weather-wise, where I live, winds tend to be either mostly calm, or gusting 20+ with shear; and ceilings are either very high or very low. So this idea that you gradually push your minimums down (and up) with experience and currency, just doesn't work out in practice for me and my kin. Two specific examples that are common in my area illustrate the point. First, the idea that you can do something like step up your crosswind tolerance in increments by first flying on a day with 5 knots crosswind, then soon thereafter 7, then soon thereafter 10, and so on, is laughable - that just doesn't happen around here. The reality is that you have to set your sights directly on 15G25, and go out with an instructor on those days until you're willing to accept that level of risk by yourself (and we don't lie to ourselves - a 15G25 crosswind always adds risk to takeoff and landing no matter how comfortable and proficient you are). With regard to IFR minimums, there's very little flyable IMC on the front range of the Rockies where I live. The clouds almost always have ice in the winter, and convective activity in the summer, and they're rarely within 2000' of the ground. So you're not going to "ease down" your approach minimums from 1500' AGL to 1000' to 700' and so on. You practice those ILS/LPV's under the hood to 200' AGL as if your life depended on it (because it does). Then you go out on one of those rare flyable IMC days and shoot a low approach for real. People with real life work/family schedules around here actually get to fly IMC a couple of times a year, if they're lucky. But if you make it work, it becomes reasonable to take that trip to the coast where benign IMC is more common. In the end, I've come to feel the same way as @bigmo about it. I actually care less about the theoretical concept of holistic personal minimums for a complete flight, than I do about "outs". I tell my students it's OK to take off if they judge it reasonable to take off from the airport they're already sitting at, and if they can reasonably expect to return right back to that airport. That keeps them reasonably safe for the first 10 minutes of the flight. Everything after that is dynamic: if you don't like the winds at your destination (maybe the look of them while 100 miles away, or maybe an actual aborted approach when you get there), can you find winds that are less and/or more aligned with a runway somewhere else? Do you have the fuel to get there? If IMC, where is the nearest VFR, or at least the nearest 1000' ceiling? These things need to be re-assessed several times per hour while enroute, and - this is critical - you need to be fully willing to wind up somewhere other than your original destination, even if you have to pee in a bottle on the way there. I've come to feel that some of the most important items in my safety arsenal are a credit card, toothbrush, change of underwear, and my work-over-VPN laptop in my flight bag. Having that stuff with me on every flight makes it much easier to divert somewhere with favorable conditions and wait things out. It turns out to be really rare to actually do this. But it's only once I developed the mindset, that I began to truly feel like I was correctly managing risk while traveling GA.

Same here 10.5 iPad in my lap , I like the screen size and tried a couple different mounts and they always seemed to be blocking something important.

I specifically traded an iPad Air which I otherwise loved in terms of speed, price, etc, because it was functionally too big. IMHO the Mooney cockpit is too tight for a full size. If you have panel space or don't mind blocking a window, it might be different, but it wasn't an option for me. HTH

Here's the background as I know it and have come to learn the history of over the past couple months. - In ~2011, CEH (Center for Environmental Health) sued several distributors of fuel (flight schools, FBO's,etc) regarding California's Prop 65 (we all know as the 'everything may cause cancer, harm, etc' labeling). - In 2014, a settlement (consent agreement) was made by the parties to carry unleaded when it came available fast forward.... CEH sued in Dec 2024 to enforce settlement agreement... and make them carry the 'commercially available' G100UL. See Avweb for summary of the court documents Not only that, they added a request to modify the agreement and prematurely ban 100LL in California before the FAA 2031 deadline. Given some recent filings requested use of my photos and referenced my work, I purchased a few documents. They are public record and free to share once purchased, so I am offering them here. If you want the rest, the docket location was posted earlier in this thread. A set of filings the past week describe several G100UL user's experiences (not all of them that exist). Grab your favorite drink and have a read... I've tried to put them in general chronological order. 59816247_01_24_2025_Declaration_OF_GEORGE_W__BRALY_IN_SUPPORT_OF_PLAINTIF___ 59816248_01_24_2025_Declaration_OF_PAUL_MILLNER_ON_BEHALF_OF_THE_AIRCRAFT___ 59909915_02_18_2025_Ex_Parte_Application_Settling_Defendants_Ex_Parte_App___ 59909917_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_Patrick_Davis_In_Support_Of_Defendants___ 59909918_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_David_Bertucci_In_Support_Of_Defendant___ 59909919_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_Sean_Patrick_Kelley_In_Support_Of_Defe___ 59909920_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_Daniel_Demeo_In_Support_Of_Defendants____ 59909921_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_Steven_E__Rubin_In_Support_Of_Defendan___ 59909922_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_Bruce_T__Nelson_In_Support_Of_Defendan___ 59909923_02_18_2025_Declaration_Supplemental_Declaration_Of_Patrick_Waddi___ 59909924_02_18_2025_Declaration_Of_Jeffrey_Soule_In_Support_Of_Defendants___ 59913858_02_20_2025_Declaration_SUPPLEMENTAL_DECLARATION_OF_PAUL_MILLNER____

I find it easiest to remove the rod ends from the gear doors and then remove all the inboard screws and slip the doors off. Then you can just remove the rest of the screws attaching the exhaust cavities and take them off without anything in the way.

I was talking to my principal inspector a while back. He told me there is a whole organization back in DC dedicated to making the FAA web pages impossible to use. He said as soon as you figure out how to work them, they replace it with a new one that solves the usability issue.

Me push throttle, me get lift, me no engineer.

Consider for a moment that there is no right and wrong. There is only Alive and Dead. Fly like that.

There are rules, and then there is etiquette and common sense. They all affect safety, and at an uncontrolled filed are all equally important. not simply because of what is right or wrong, but because of the stakes, and the fact that one or both simply may not be aware of the hazard created by the lack of observance of any of the three. simply looking at the rules, without context and respect for the situation may win a legal argument, but that doesn’t make it right, and you know it, it seems you just want to antagonize for the sake of conflict. If everyone exercised all three things at uncontrolled fields these things would likely never happen. When I was doing my first solo, I was in the pattern, making my calls. A plane came out of nowhere, not talking, flew parallel, over took me then in short final dove beneath and in front of me and landed, making me go around. he was lower, so technically he had the right of way. But was it the right thing to do? I suppose you would say yes, but no one in my situation would ever agree. As long as people like you take that attitude things will never change.

Guess I’m a little late to post pictures of the new bird, but here she is! She needs some interior work on the yellowed plastics and the paint is original, but everything else is great - 1700hrs tt, 200smoh 3 years ago, maintained at Cole MSC, etc. Looking forward to lots of family trips! (And if anyone wants to help/teach me the plastic restoration process, much appreciated!)

Looking at that grainy video, it looked like a hard landing. Sounds like crazy cross winds. Thank God it wasn't worse for the passengers. On a more dad-joke note, I need to point out that it was technically, ultimately, a gear-up landing:

I had a conversation with Mooney engineering a few years ago about a patch to an elevator Their emphatic comment was? "We do not approve of any patches to flight controls." Finding a LEGAL way to patch it will be your hurdle. I once looked at that very rudder trim system and wondered how one would ever get the rudder into correct balance when installed. Having balanced a few Mooney rudders I'm still wondering, considering the big tab at the full aft end I don't think its possible. JMO Using a TM 55 as @sabrenech says above has interesting possibilities If it was me I'd just replace the rudder and be done with it. Better resale also! Buyers don't like patches

THIS for me as well. Many years ago, I did a C172 checkout for a 20,000 hour retired airline pilot. When we got to the simulated engine failure, he was at best glide and heading toward a landing spot within 6 seconds. Once I realized what he was doing, I started to test it out with other airplanes. All he did was look out the window and pitch for the most familiar attitude - level cruise. Turned out that a level cruise attitude resulted in a speed close enough to best glide that the difference was inconsequential. So inconsequential that trying to be perfect has a negative impact. Even seems to account for weight. I’ve been using and teaching it ever since. I used that technique recently in an “impossible turn” demo. It wasn’t in a Mooney, but I’m linking it below anyway. Tweak if you need to with a touch of trim. If your autopilot has an IAS mode, use it. But only once underway to your landing area.

OK I finally get it. Ovations and poor man's Ovations ie The Eagle are freaking fast. Picked it up yesterday flew 800 miles home in 4 and half hours. Made it south across East Texas in an hour. Mooney Zoom. Oh there is a F model with Dynon Skyview for sale.

Been almost a month since I started this thread. Had some delays with work but finally got the Ovation up on Jack Stands and Belly Pans off. I am located in Brooksville, FL and Flew it "Slowly" to Venice, FL (Sarasota Avionics). There Main Hangar down there is a Mooney Service center. After some consult with Don Maxwell this is where I decided to go. Dan and Dave there immediately began troubleshooting. The Black collar was indeed jammed on the jackscrew against the motor housing. The Motor is fine. That is the good news. Bad news is both Landing gear Main Tubes (may not be proper name) are bent. Right one was bent very bad. Left one slightly. These have been bent just didn't know it. Whoever had serviced the landing gear rigging in the past didn't noticed and adjusted around the bent tubes. Adjustments were marked with a sharpie on tubes.... Amazing. They had them out of adjustment so far it stressed the rod end links on the front of the rods (where the cotter pins go through) and they used safety wire through the cotter pin centers to take up slack. So...... This entire event was a blessing in disguise. Failure of the tubes rod end was imminent ! So the plane sits in Venice till new tubes arrive and a re-rig of the entire landing gear. The good news is Mooney actually has had so many request for these tubes they are about 1 week out from new build up completions . Sorry for the long winded post. Thanks

Update: The "reputable" engine overhauler was not exactly prompt about fixing this issue, making me do all the leg work to find the right part number to correct their mistake and also wait for my first oil change so I could add a qt at a time to prove the marks were incorrect. It ultimately took a phone conversation with Lycoming tech support to figure out what dipstick Mooneys with O-360-A1Ds shipped with. Those minutiae are recorded below in case anyone ever needs them again. The shop owner made it sound like there's no way the dipstick was swapped in his shop - claiming it must have been the remover/installer who did it, a claim that stretches the limits of credulity. After tons of back and forth, he wanted a $300 deposit to send me the replacement before returning the old one, which finally annoyed me enough to say screw you and just buy the correct dipstick off ebay. It does make me wonder what other incorrect parts are on my 32k freshly overhauled engine!! . Anyway, dipstick minutiae are below....thank you Lycoming tech support: Mooneys with O-360-A1Ds originally came with dipstick tube part #75736, which is 11.5” in length - it's one of 3 possible ones on this engine. The original dipstick part number matching this tube is LW14758, 21.25” in length That dipstick has been superceded by part number LW16783-18, 19.44” in length The 1.81” shorter length of the newer part version results in the 4qt mark being just above the bottom of the stick. Based on pictures from internet searches, both dipstick versions have 4,6, and 8 qt markings that are spaced fairly evenly.

I think maybe the best use of a concentrator is to use it well before you’re required to be on O2. If your older you might want to use it even under 10K, and if flying at night 6K. I think if you do you will find your less fatigued and at night it really improves night vision substantially

We have an agreement in place: If she has a third kid, I get to upgrade to a six place airplane.

good thing that wing got left behind...

Pull the breaker and they'll drop like a rock.

This is one of the very rare instances where I consciously break St. Busch / St. Deakin's commandments. The safety consideration of not having to move three levers in the correct order in a potentially high-stress situation of a go around due to a bounce, "baby on the runway", or something else wins, in my humble personal opinion, over the cylinder longevity consideration. As a matter of fact, in the end of descent the cylinders are comparatively cool anyways.