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Hey all, Rocket Drivers especially: my 86 Rocket fresh out of paint and interior today. Good as new, faster than new (almost) but 1/4 the price! What a machine!

Gentlemen and Ladies, I had every intention of continuing this thread within two or three days of my original post. Unfortunately, the day after the post, my son in law, 43 years old, suffered a stroke. He was very lucky, but it required hospitalization and will require some time and therapy to get back to normal. Karen had to catch the first plane to D.C. where they live to take care of our 7 year old grandson, and I have been preoccupied taking care of the home front by myself. I was going to fly up to join her Saturday in the 195, but a front was lying right atop most of my route along the Appalachians. Again, Hugh will be fine. He's home, already working on his computer and beginning speech therapy this morning. His mental acuity is fully intact as are most of his motor skills. I "think" that I have learned a lot in the move from the Bravo to a pressurized piston twin and the five years of ownership and will be happy to share. Your patience will be appreciated. Jg

Thought I'd bring this back up. Finally have my MIL on my side. Getting to make the trip to CTJ this weekend. Amazing what 200 more hours and an IR does to the family's chill factor.

Over six years ago, I sold my Mooney Bravo and moved to an Aerostar 601P. Six years can bring a lot of changes to one's life, but, in this instance, they brought me a little more than I had bargained for. Coy Jacobs, the man most responsible for my buying the Mooney in 2005 died yesterday and my thoughts today, and my post hereon about his death, brought forth a wide realm of thought and recollection. I think my journey might be of interest to some here, particularly my thoughts on leaving the Bravo for the Aerostar. There will be, as well, some personal reflections as well that will help put it all into a reasonable perspective. But, not tonight. Tomorrow, the next day, or later in the week, I will come back to tell of the six year journey. Until then, just remember to cherish what you have: family, friends, health, and your Mooney. John Green

I looked at that airplane in late July. I looked at the plane and the logs. The hidden value is what was done after the gear up landing that does not meet the definition of a major overhaul. The detractors, in my book, were the useful load and speed cost of the three-blade propeller (looks way cool though), and the deficient panel without IFR GPS. That said, I made an offer of $90,000 on the plane and after a week with no response, I withdrew the offer. I would have bought the plane had there been a counter offer of $94,000 or less. I am glad I was ignored; I close escrow tomorrow on a different ‘83 J with an A3B6 engine, electronic ignition, pre-Oiler, engine heater, better panel, and more useful load for 10k less than I offered on the other. The airframe time is higher at 5600 hours, but all that really means is that it has flown 100 or more hours per year during its life - a feature, not a bug. I am looking forward to flying again and my 2nd Mooney.

Well, I haven’t posted a recent life changing medical issue I encountered 6 weeks ago. I got a simple, routine, small cut on my pinky finger on Tuesday, January 22th. An antibacterial soap cleaning and bandaid was all that was required and I went 54 hours with no pain or swelling, seemed a pretty benign situation. Then swelling and pain started, and within 3 hours of first symptom I had every finger and thumb swelling and in extreme pain. I even had pain in the palm, wrist, and shooting up to my elbow. Holy crap..... I went straight to my local hospital emergency department. Something was seriously wrong!!! After 8 hours of a pain level of 10, with nothing knocking out or even reducing the pain, I was sent to emergency surgery with an infection radiated from the finger, through my tendons, to my carpal tunnel area on Friday morning. An 8” cut to my wrist and complete open of the pinky (5-6 stitches) and 3.5 days of IV pain killers and antibiotics got me discharged by noon the following Monday. Transitioned to oral antibiotics and pain killers, it only took about 8 hours at home to realize this was going south again. Back to the emergency department, thankfully the same crew, with the doctor putting me under since he knew nothing from his pain killer arsenal was going to give me relief. Back into emergency surgery again early Tuesday morning, with a stitch count now exceeding 25 as the infected areas were expanded, my surgeon thought she had the infection cleaned sufficiently now. They installed a PICC line for a 21 day antibiotic regimen and I started a 10 week therapy program. It was determined to be Strep, which a pilot doctor later told me LIVES on our skin, as the strain of infection. I was also told had I delayed treatment at all, it would have spread to my bone, resulting in amputation of my left hand. HOLY CRAP!!!! So, although recovery has been excruciatingly slow, with no ability to squeeze fingers into a fist, yesterday and today were milestone moments. I have barely enough squeezing function to hold the side stick on my Lancair, but decided to fly with my flight instructor yesterday with an ace wrap holding my hand to the stick in case a gust came up that could jog the stick out of my hand. It went really well. Today I performed a medical flight and it went very well. Nice to be back in the air! Now just hoping I will not need further surgery to get finger function back!!! And......... 20 knot headwinds aren’t so bad in this plane. Tom

I always assumed the fuel comes from the residual fuel in the divider that gets pushed out as it's heated by the cylinders after shutdown...

The nylon isn't harder than the aluminum, but the silica trapped in the oil crud under the ty-wrap is harder than the aluminum.

I got them at a local upholstery supplier, I found the heavy duty at several places locally and some even had colored ones, just not the color I was looking for.

I don't know that we'll ever get to all 400 but we're trending that way! Last night after dinner we rode out to the airport to enjoy the night sky... and to take pictures. Quote of the day from Amy: "If I ever have second thoughts about us deciding to not have children, I'll just recall the time you spent an hour taking pictures of the airplane."

Continually lifting up this family to The Lord God Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Find a good used KX155 or KX165 and slide it in. They make great 2nd radios and a lot of people are taking them out for upgrades. If you are patient, you should be able to get one for between $500-$750 USD.

The GTN750 screen controlling a GDL88 providing UAT ADS-B Out has provision for the VHF anonymous mode. There is no equivalent privacy mode for Mode S ES transponders used to implement ADS-B out. The crowd-sourced systems like FlightAware receive your ADS-B transmissions directly from your plane into a wide-spread receiver network. Since that data stream is independent of the FAA that means blocking your N number with the FAA will not hide your flights.

If you want an Avionics shop, Crystal Avionics at New Braunfels is good. If you want a good Mooney shop, then you want SWTA at Smithville.

More photos to come 1EF24C7E-E533-439E-B7DC-32E47CF4AF6A.MOV D2FB3912-B545-4D64-B9EA-2B435C794EEA.mov 8329F508-AB92-4E68-95A6-9730CA90AEB3.mp4 C5ABFBCF-6C61-4412-BFC8-43D756B2E7F0.mp4

But hand painting the screw heads to match the paint scheme can be a fun Father / Son activity, one my Dad and I shared in 1970 while touching up his 1964 C model.

You’re right, Dan. Finding one already equipped the way you want it is a huge time and money saver. Just don’t waste too much of the flying time you have left waiting until the time, the money, and every aspect of the ideal airplane to line up exactly right! Also, you might consider beginning the bookwork now for your instrument rating, so that you can have the test and the rudiments already out of the way when you’re ready to buy that perfect Ovation. An IFR clearance sure does grease the skids flying through big city airspace, even if there’s not a cloud within 500 miles.

Strap it to the roof! Mooney biplane style... -a-

Since were all dying to know about the how the Mooney certification is coming along, Andrew and I are holding a webinar on Sept. 24 at 5pm MDT to talk about the upcoming certs on the TT products and how BK and TT are going to work moving forward. You can register using the link below: https://honeywell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KjsXVx-8RlOIZACSSBRzDQ

1964 or newer will get you an armrest on the Pilot side. 1967 or older will get you more flush rivets on the wings, adjustable cowl flaps and a typically better cruise speed. The 201 windshield will not make your Avionics Shop happy as access to behind the panel is more difficult for them. 1965 or newer gets you slightly larger fuel capacity. 1968 or newer will probably mean fixed boarding step, fixed cowl flaps and may or may not provide the dorsal fin. A good, clean C or E with slick finish, young engine and prop is plenty fast as it left the factory.

a closeup look at the new MAX screen.

I flew a rather interesting SID and VOR DME approach the other day. Lots of arcs and a circle to land from 15 to 33.. Hope you enjoy.

A&P's look at me like I'm crazy when I bring up SB388. Maybe they are afraid of maintenance-induced failure. Who does this regularly and how much does it cost? There is not much information about average costs for this inspection out there on the internets.

I have some data and before and after cruise on our Acclaim. I record for every flight.Based on a5 before and after flights comparison before and after 29" 2400 LOP FL140. near max takeoff weight, (ranging between -8 degrees C and -14 degrees C). Before average TAS 192, after average TAS 189.5

Hi everyone, Mark’s scheduled around 12 or 1 pm PT surgery tomorrow. They are always delayed If he‘s not the first case. They will be taking a very thin cell layer of skin from his lower abdomen (autograft) and putting it on his right front torso where he needs it. Mark’s blood pressure has improved hovering mean arterial pressure of high 50s to low 60s. He still has heart arrhythmia so the cardiology team will run a diagnostic test on Mark tomorrow morning to make sure he’s ok for surgery and to see If thy fInd any more information. Cindy, the music therapist came by with a cool machine that makes the sound of ocean waves for Mark. Not sure it helped Mark’s heart rate but I certainly passed out!

Yesterday's "flight" we lernt to move water. Moved about 12,000 gallons.

I'm just catching up with several weeks of posts... thanks Mike... and I'm sitting here with tears dripping on the keyboard. I can't imagine. "Officially a miracle", I'll say. May a gracious God continue to bless and sustain this loving family!

You’ll need at least one or a g3x.

Maybe he just wanted to know... -a-

Well, I guess I come from a different time/type of Customer service. 120Hrs SMOH an I’m sure that O/H was in the $40/50K Range. Why are we pulling this engine off? It’s not because you want too! Why is it your financial responsibility? In my option, It’s not. FAA Form 8120-11 being brought up in the next conversation may help you out. I would bet if someone were to send the cotter pins out of your screen to a metallurgy along with the cotter pin that the O/H manual calls for, there would be a difference in the two. An that’s where SUPS come from!!! Lets be honest, calendar time(out of warranty) is not what caused that. The 120hrs on the engine didn’t cause that. That issue was put in place long before you ever had your engine reinstalled. It’s from trying to save money during the O/H process. Clearly none of this should be out of your pocket with Con recommendation of don’t start it. They need to seen a couple guys to your place, remove the engine, fix it an reinstall with a giant thank you to you for your understanding an sorry for the inconvenience. I have had to do it in the Propeller world if one springs a leak or something of that nature. It’s called customer service.

Looks like it’s at the splice plate where the inner spar connects to the outer spar. It’s repairable by replacing the spar cap and maybe the doubler. Requires drilling down the bottom wing skins from the belly outward knocking out the huck bolts and drilling out a lot of rivets and detaching everything in the way. We’ve replaced four spar caps in the last year. Although a lot of work at 120-150 hours still cheaper than getting a new wing and transferring it. If you have some questions on it give us a call be happy to give some advice to whoever decides to tackle this.

I think I did suggest that he ask his doctor if Zyprexa is right for him... In a way, it’s nice to see the system work. Crazy guy posts senseless rant on Mooneyspace, he gets called on it, spews out a little more crazy then goes away. On the other hand, I do have an amateur radio license and I haven’t been to Belize in over 10 years. If someone wants to pay for my airfare, I’ll “fix” your radios for you! Apparently the standards are a little more lax there. And that Belikin beer is really good...

The world DOES care. If I die in a crash and it was found that the instruments were repaired with non approved parts, the Insurance WON'T pay out, which means that little policy that I have on the plane that is there to feed, house, clothe my loved ones in the case I die, is null and void and they do not get fed, clothed and housed. Im sorry but as others have said, you have totally destroyed any semblance of credibility with this thread and ranting on your part. If you were good at what you do, had long standing referals to prove it, had evidence that you used approved parts etc etc, then you would have been accepted in my eyes (and im sure others on here) as a bona fide operation. However your response to this thread, has shown that not to be the case so far. "A customer is someone who has deigned to get out of bed that morning and potentially call you in order to talk about parting with their hard earned cash, like your spouse, they are ALWAYS right even when they are wrong". One of the richest people in the world taught me that.

Maybe you should try some.

Andrew , You doubt the "Fox" …… Bad boy... No tea for you....

Funny how this account was started only an hour ago Amateur trolls

Having owned a 180 Comanche, 2 E model Mooneys, and now a 400 Comanche and being a 35 year maintainerer I can offer some insight. I don’t know where underpowered comes from? Both have the same 180 HP Lycoming engine, a C model Mooney has a 2575 gross, the Comanche has 2550, wing area is essentially the same. Comanche cabin is larger so it loses a little in efficiency to the Mooney but gains comfort. The Comanche has fuel bladders from birth, that any maintainer can replace in a morning without the need to travel to a specialist. The Comanche as noted is fully primed at manufacture, I’ve never heard of one being scrapped due to spar corrosion. Piper aluminum of the same vintage (early 1960’s) doesn’t seem to corrode like Mooney aluminum. The Comanche doesn’t have a steel gage to rot out like a Mooney. The Comanche uses 2 quarts of hydraulic oil and half a dozen O rings for the landing gear, Mooney uses $1500 shock discs and needs special tools to change. Both models are blessed with AD’s, the Comanche has a recurring 1000 hour gear inspection, and a recurring 5-10 year AD on the stabilator horn. Both airframes require a maintainer that knows the airframe. Both are well supported by the aftermarket. The 180 Comanche is the lightest flying of all the models, comparable to a light Mooney. A careful PPI is required for both. There isn’t a Comanchespace, the group certainly isn’t as active as this group, but they are just a passionate about their airplanes. Clarence

That's part of the reason I posted the event. Had I not experienced it I would likely found it hard to believe. Several have asked so I will respond on therapy. Yes, I've been going to Occupational Therapy for 5 or 6 weeks now, 3 times a week (can't remember when I started). In addition, I replicate the therapy regimen 3-5 times every day on my own. Although there's improvement, it's excruciatingly slow!!! I am still not convinced I will get full finger function back without further treatment, but I'm working my tail off trying through hand exercises. Finally, thanks for all the supporting comments. That contributes to the motivation in pushing the exercises to the limit. Tom

Everyone makes such a big deal out of MRSA, but in the end it's still just Staph aureus which lives in everyone's nose and skin. You're not going to have a problem with MRSA unless you were going to have a problem with run of the mill staph, and that generally doesn't happen. We get pissed off about MRSA because people keep bringing the damn thing into hospitals, where there ARE people who are vulnerable.

Glad @Yooper Rocketman is recovering well. I believe his post said this was a strep infection. MRSA is a staph infection therefore different bacteria altogether. Most MRSA infections are community acquired now, not hospital acquired. What he described sounds more like flexor tenosynovitis which is a purulent infection that travels along the flexor tendon sheath and can be quite damaging. Sounds like he was lucky that they found it quickly and intervened aggressively. Usually not caused by a simple prick to the skin, but something that punctures the flexor tendon sheath. I agree with physical therapy being your best friend now. It’s a combination of working hard and taking it easy that will help your recovery. Keep at it!

Mrs. Steingar is now recovering from a pretty major bout with the flu. Not the 24-hour variety virus that most folks get, but honest-to-Odin influenza A. One thing I have to keep reminding her is that depression and negativity reduce immune function and prolong disease. She's been pretty miserable, and its been along climb back to health that isn't done yet. I would say the same to anyone. The number one thing to do is keep your spirits up. And Tom I'm glad you're on the mend enough to fly that gorgeous airplane you built. You will never understand the level of my admiration to anyone who can pull off a trick like that.

So, I had conversation with FAA, about legality of pilot/operator replacing aircraft navigation Light bulb. Official FAA rules say that pilot can replaced any light bulb on aircraft without any need for mechanic to signe it off. Even if you are changing bulb to LED!!!! only thing that matters you install correctly color where it should be. There is no such a thing as “that bulb is not aircraft/FAA approved” and don’t kill messengers (me)!

Dude! Apologies for the priests coming out and performing an exorcism on your thread. It happens all the time. "Out demons, out!" They are trying to kill the Hangar Fairies. I did an LED upgrade and I may still have the bulbs. Will head out to the airport this afternoon and check. If I have them, I will give them to you for free. If I have them, I will reply back and you can send me your address via PM.

C’mon guys let’s consider the totality of the circumstances here. The Whelen LED nav or landing light bulbs are drop-in replacements. They clearly use less energy. They will almost last the lifetime of the aircraft. There is no way the FAA would dare fight this one.

Then there is the smart wife that ask for new shoes and outfit for that special trip to Sun n' fun. And you happily spend $200 on new clothing. But on the day of the trip she says "Honey I am not feeling well, I am getting my period and don't want to make a mess on your plane. But go by yourself and have more fun" So much for new clothing. Beware of these tactics. She got me three times but no more after I met Sofia, always ready to fly.

My in-laws of about 10 years, gave up complaining about 9.5 years ago when they realized we weren't about to concern ourselves with their worries. While not exactly the same thing, they were always worried about their daughter's travel to "interesting" places around the globe. And always tried to convince her of the dangers. Then she met me, and the travel just accelerated. It's been 62 countries and all 7 continents in these last 10 years. They didn't like the Mooney either, but we've been all over the US in it anyway. They've just given up and thrown in the towel on trying to control what their fully grown children are doing. After all, it's none of their damn business anyway.

My step daughter (17yo) was not allowed to fly with us for probably 6-8 months after I got our plane. Her father was afraid of letting her fly with me. (Truth be told he doesn't like me much... ) My wife didn't press the issue with him, we just let time go by as we took trips without his daughter while she was at his house. Multiple trips from Southern California to Arizona, Utah and Idaho later (involving real mountains, no disrespect to those who fly back east) he decided to let her fly with me. It helped that she really wanted to to fly and would talk to her dad about wanting to go. Her first flight with us was from Salt Lake to Southern California, she enjoyed it.

Andrew, The North American tire, is made to a much higher standard then a British tyre and is therefore an approved replacement. Clarence

There is one of my old airplane tires in the hanger that is missing part of the sidewall. It is square cut out. It may or may not match the muffler hanger on the aeroplane. So technically it is a certified part on the certified airplane.

To get this thread back on track, here are pics of my iPad Mini mounting. It might be the easiest mount to use. It comes on and off very easily. And certainly qualifies for CB endorsement. I still have plenty of room to grip the Yoke. But in turbulence, formation flying, or anytime I feel it's interfering, it can be pulled out and set somewhere else, handed to the copilot, set in the right seat, all in under 3 second. Nothing is clamped to the Yoke or shaft either. This design isn't original with me, but shamelessly copied from Pinto who uses this system in his Acclaim.