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You'd think in 150 hours of flying, I'd have had at least one landing go pear shaped. Well, nope, not even in training. All I've ever done were 'planned' or 'practice' go-arounds. Until today. I started training for my instrument rating. Went and flew for 2 hours with my CFII, under the hood. It was rough. Convective SIGMET in the area and the air showed it. We flew around doing compass turns, partial panel (no DG or AI). We did a practice approach all the way to landing. Winds were reported 270/5 (ATIS was 58 minutes old), landing on 25. I took off the hood at 200 AGL on short final. I was on speed, but I felt sloppy. My brain was still spinning in circles. I flared a touch high, but nothing really 'bad'. As the mains touched, stall horn sounding (not a bounce) the plane lifted back off at a very slow speed. It was not good. I didn't even think about it, I just smoothly added power while turning off carb heat. Uneventful go-around and successful landing the 2nd time around. As we were in the pattern, the tower radioed that winds were now 220 at 14G20. My best guess is a gust picked us back up. If I were a better pilot, I probably could have cleaned it up and set it back down. With my brain mushed out, I wasn't in the mood to even try. I very pleased with myself that I didn't even hesitate and just did it as soon as things weren't right. My CFII commented afterwords that I was very quick to react. He said we were down, up, next thing he knew we were at full power and gaining speed. He didn't even have time to think about telling me to go around.

Strange thing happened on my flight from NJ to FL today. One moment it was bright and sunny and the next it went dark and I had to put my panel lights on! 7.5 hours nonstop to Lakeland. Almost 1000nm. Took it slow and only burned 65 gallons. No fuel stop. A bit of weather dodging. Fun fun. If you think flying 7.5 nonstop through an eclipse on 65 gallons makes us MOONiacs, then please vote for our photo: http://lasar.com/contest/?contest=photo-detail&photo_id=1863

Been meaning to post this, but I got side-tracked by personal attacks on here because of who I voted for, then kicked off for two weeks for daring to respond! After six or eight months in an avionics shop and two months in another shop for paint, I decided to check the fuel tank vents before taking to the air again. Sure enough the left one was completely clogged. I mentioned checking them while picking up the plane. Had it not been for the mechanic offering to put a different fitting on his air compressor hose and blow through the vents after removing the gas caps, I might not have caught it? I learned to do that from MooneySpace and I wanted to say "thank you" and remind you all to keep checking those vents!!!!

And I flew it today , No excitement , Squeaked it in no problems......

Not much Intellectual property on a plane that was designed 60 years ago.

Drove my freshly washed chick car out to the airport for a short flight in search of 100LL <$4.00. Found success in S.W. Wisconsin. Went out to assisted living and wished a belated Happy Birthday to my 105 year old next door neighbor growing up. She is still sharp as a tack and asked me how my adult children (by name) were doing. A short trip down the hall to my two neighbor down former Tech Sargeant in support of the 101st Airborne during WWII. Jack saw a lot in is spring chicken 90 some years. Next off to my in-laws to say "Hi". Enjoyed my courtesy former police interceptor. Engine doesn't feel like it has 150k on the odometer. In laws were relaxing on their three season porch enjoying a couple of swiveling new reclining and rocking chairs. Great to see all in good spirits. Prior to my return home I picked up my favorite deep dish pizza for the .6 flight back home. Nice to have the plane flying so well with no noted squaks. Dan Auerbach's new solo effort playing in the Bose. Much to the chagrin of eh 122.5 monitoring crowd. Put her away while sun was setting and last daylight of a wonderful summer day came to a close. I love GA and I love my Mooney.

It's very bad form to respond to "For Sale" posts like some of you have. To rich for your blood, just pass it on by. No one is interested in your opinion of someone else's item and or price. (Don't like what your watching.....change the channel)

I won't ever list another one here unless the rules are changed. Other forums strictly forbid coming into a sales thread and making posts other than asking pertinent questions related to the sale.

Hello All, Most of you will remember my little mishap back in February of this year. If you are not familiar, here is a link to the tread. Most everyone here has purchased a Sensorcon or similar since my accident. For those that want a more permanent installation Guardian has also offered up a 20% discount on any of their CO detectors. I'm going to be installing one in my airplane and run the Sensorcon right next to it. I might be a little paranoid now. The basic Guardian model runs on ship's power but is basically a stand alone unit. The models above that have varying additional features. I'm planing on adding the AERO 551 to my panel. It has the ability to display on a JPI (also many MFD's) and has an alarm that can be wired into the intercom system. Guardian Avionics https://www.guardianavionics.com/faa-tso-certified-aircraft-co-detectors 20% off Discount Code: coaware The Sensorcon discount also is still active 20% off Sensorcon code: aircraft2017 Update on me. About a month ago I replaced 49V with a 1979 231. I tried to shop for another brand, but in the end I couldn't leave the Mooneys. Cheers, Dan

Picked the engine up from Aero Engines of Winchester , New cam , New Tappett bodies , new bearings , seals hardware etc..... Fresh top overhaul.......Hung it last night , should be ready tomorrow sometime.....

After what seemed like forever, we at Griggs Aircraft, as of today are a PAH with FAA-PMA on your Mooney Bladders under the STC's that we all purchased from O&N. I'm not sure how familiar you are with our company but I assure you we are not just some start up company that bought these STC's when they became available. Myself and Matt Griggs are the owners of the company, I worked at O&N for 14 years and Matt 20. when O&N closed we took on 6 of their employees, 2 of which are the machinists and fabricators that not only made and installed your bladder kits, they also designed them. Kenny, one of our fabricators was O&N's first employee in 1987. So, your future bladder kits will be built by and / or installed by the same people who built them for all those years at O&N. We really look forward to your business and are very sorry for the gap in service between O&N closing and us getting our FAA approval. It was a long road, and took a lot more work than we realized but we are proud to have arrived! If anyone chooses to have the bladders installed here, please come and check out our brand new 10,000 sq ft facility at Skyhaven Airport 76N located in Northeast PA. We are in the process of getting the offices, phone system, and internet moved into our new hanger so if you call for questions or orders, leave a message on the machine if Ruthie doesn't get to it and we will get right back to you. Thanks a bunch and look forward to hearing from you! Chris Murley Griggs Aircraft 570-836-5757

Williston airport is special to me in a more profound way. It is very close to Gainesville, Florida. Home to the University of Florida where 30 years ago a young Aerospace Engineering student met this girl and convinced her to go on a date with him. Hoping to make a great impression he prepared a pick nick basket and flew her from Gainesville to Williston (in a very old 150 that was barely airworthy) where he taxied to the end of the runway near a large oak tree and had a great time. I guess it worked. 30 years later and two great kids. My daughter now also attending the University of Florida and she has been warned about accepting airplane rides from poor students in questionable airplanes. She may listen, but hope she doesn't. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Apples to oranges, kind of, but you realize that the military takes people without a private and at the end of a year they have flown the T-6 II and either the T-38 or T-1. An additional year qualifies them in the most complex aircraft ever developed. So, no a Mooney is not too much airplane, as long as you are willing to put in the hours and have a good instructor. An instructor that is "dropping hints" and has narrow minded preconceived notions about complex aircraft is not the one I would choose.

I simply warned a couple users to stop talking politics in the forums...and politely. No bans, etc. Just deleted the posts that did not belong and warned those that I deleted. If that is too much for you then I guess farewell and safe flying.

We have been approved for 18 hrs FAA wings credits for our safety and educational seminars including the Formation flying talk and briefing by Lee and Bucko. The breakdown is 7 hrs basic knowledge, 4.5 hrs advanced knowledge, 4.5 hrs Master knowledge and 2 hrs AMT knowledge. Depending on the agenda next year, we may have some wings credits for flight activities (did someone mention formation flying?) also. Speaking of Formation flying, our agenda has Lee Fox giving his educational presentation on formation flying at 1000 on Friday Sept 29th, and Bucko giving a public sortie brief for the Flyover at 11:15, followed by the formation fly over at 1130. Plan accordingly as these will be "don't miss" events!

I fly that much in a year and will admit that you have to be in the airplane a bunch to do it. I think probably the only way to fly an airplane that much in a year would be if you are using it a lot for business travel and much of the traveling that you are doing are long cross country flights. I purchased my K model at the end of October last year. It was in the shop getting a new panel for five months (Feb-July) so my flying was limited, but I've still managed to put 150 hours on it in the time that it was available to me. i may be wrong about this but I've made an observation since joining this community. Mooney pilots seem eager to pick apart every aircraft that everyone is trying sell on this forum. Seems to me most people here would want you to sell your J for a higher price to improve the value of their own. The more these aircraft sell for the better off we are when we go to sell ours. I didn't think your initial price was out of line. If I had been a buyer and looked at your plane last October before I purchased the K, I would have scooped it up in a heart beat. I looked at lots of crap before finding my K. I hope you sell this aircraft for what you were asking for initially. I hate to see that you have dropped the price by so much. I think we as a community are shooting ourselves in the foot when we pick these aircraft that come up for sale apart. This is the first place most people will look when purchasing and some of the things posted here create an unrealistic expectation in buyers about the value of these aircraft that ends up hurting all of us in the long run. Just my two pennies.

OK, here are some tips from our install. All problems were fixed with a quick call to Cies. They always answered the phone so there was little or no delay. 1. We used our existing resistance based FL202 gauge. When the manual came, it gave directions for hooking up either voltage or frequency based gauges, but not resistance based gauges. A quick call to Scott confirmed it should be hooked up like the voltage system. 2. The floats were marked with which side goes up. However, doing that, the holes in the float did not match the bolt pattern on our plane. Another quick call to Scott confirmed that he was aware of that, had programmed the floats to work upside down and that we should mount them upside down. 3. When you install them, there is a small amount of side play in the float and arm. Be sure when you place the float into the tank that side play will not allow the float to wedge up against a rib (runner?) inside the tank. I slightly bent one arm to ensure that float sat on top of the runner and could not wedge in beside it. 4. Once the tank was calibrated and we started flying the plane, I noticed that the gauge changes in approximately 0.3 gallon increments. That is, the fuel level will go from 15.0 to 14.7 to 14.4 as opposed to stepping down in 0.1 gallon increments. No big deal. I suspect this is a product of the size of voltage change for each 2 gallons I added during calibration. 5. It took our mechanic about 6 hours to do the install with us running the extra power wire to the outboard float while he worked elsewhere. It then took me about 3 or 4 hours to calibrate the gauge by myself because none of my partners were available to help. 6. We have been using them for a couple months now and are very happy with accuracy.

I had an old roll of reflective bubble type sun shade that I used years ago in my old apartment. I had a large window that faced directly into the sun and that room grew quite hot in the summer. The roll had sat around my house unused for 10 years then tonight it dawned on me that I needed a front sunshade for my Mooney. It literally took me 15 minutes, only because I stopped to take pictures! Almost perfect fit too.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Or better still, use a lighter.

It was gorgeous here today at Triple Tree - great viewing and definitely worth the trip!

The tool is not $3700. We have two of them, I want to say they were like $120 each. The large majority or rod bolts are not stretch bolts. Properly torquing the ones that are is not a black art, most head bolts in the automotive industry are of the same type. Have some faith in the A&P community, most of us are not incompetent. We have performed this SB/AD on 8 engines in the last two weeks, there were bushings that failed. The ones that did are scary, they need to be removed from service. This AD is a good thing, it will increase safety. The cost is, well, part of being in aviation, I won't argue about who should be responsible for it. Just know that there is a problem that is being dealt with, and in the end the fleet will be safer.

"Because I was inverted"

I was out yesterday and replaced the tint on the one rear window that had gotten scratched up. I took pictures and wrote up how to tint your windows. I know many of you have already done it but others have expressed apprehension about doing it. Take a look at how easy it is. (And if you mess up a couple of times one roll of tint for $13.00 is enough to make a few mistakes and still have more left over. Window Tinting - Made Easy

I don't think I've said it before, but I really want to just thank everyone in this group. You have all been a fantastic inspiration and sort of like family. I know some of us get in heated debates, whether it's about tires, LOP, or whatever but all-in-all, this forum has been an immense part of my ownership experience. Many of you have made contact with me via PMs, Facebook, texting and calling and many of you have been an immense help to rectifying problems, offering services, ideas, and sending me unwanted items I've had since joining the Mooney family. Being a young owner I really don't have the excess funds to chip in with the multitude of flying groups I'm in, but MooneySpace and the Mooney Caravan/foundation are two I am happy to at least donate a few dollars to even remotely try and pay back how much of a resource it's been to me. I hope to one day be able to spill some knowledge I've learned to newer members. This forum is invaluable and its member's nothing short of a family. Again, just wanted again to give warm-hearted thanks to you guys. And let's all keep the discussions civil because I might have more questions on tires soon

For my interior, we are using a GoPro Hero3+ Silver, set to 1080p @ 60fps. We have it mounted upside down, attached to a sticky pad on the roof speaker. You can go into the settings and have it record upside down. Our intercom and music is handled by the Nflightcam USB audio cable, attaches in-line with the speaker jack of the pilot's headset. It also has a female USB attachment in the cord so you can charge the GoPro via the audio cord. With virtually unlimited battery life, our recording is limited to the 64GB card's capacity which will hold about 5 hours worth of video. I also highly recommend a Neutral Density filter, it removes the prop effect and also the washed-out windows so you can see outside better, otherwise it focuses on the panel and the windows are just white. For outside mounting, I have three GoPro branded (important point here, more on this later) sticky pads mounted to the exterior of my Mooney. I have one on the flat spot near the tail tie-down, one on the vertical stabilizer, just forward of the lead weight, and one on the pilot's wingtip, aimed into the wind. The 3M material on the pads is rated to about 350lbs if I remember correctly. The weak point in the GoPro system is the plastic mounts, which will break if you hit them hard enough (I've tried). The sticky material will not come off unless you did not follow mounting instructions (clean with isopropyl alcohol beforehand, apply in as warm weather as possible with direct sunlight, and wait at least 24 hours, preferably 72 hours, before applying force). If you buy the eBay GoPro mount kits, you are not getting genuine 3M material and you are not getting proper GoPro strength plastic. The chinese copies are much thinner and made of more brittle plastic. I've broken one just trying to screw my camera onto it. DO NOT USE KNOCKOFF MOUNTS WHEN PLANNING ON EXTERNAL FILMING. My exterior camera is a GoPro Hero4 Session (smaller footprint, less drag) with 64GB card mounted on a swivel, which can be pointed and tightened down in any direction. I keep the WiFi off and my battery lasts ~1.5 hrs on a full charge. The card will hold about 3-4 charge sessions worth of video. Same camera down below: (No exterior shot from this angle) The Same camera on my wingtip. The mount is placed parallel with the wind so it has very little drag when it's not in use, I can pivot the camera 90 degrees with its swivel base, aiming it at myself: I haven't played with any other branded action cam. I've heard good things about the Garmin Virb, but alas my flight bag it kept stocked with my Hero3+ Silver and Hero4 Session. I might pick up a cheap Hero so I have 2 exterior angles, but they serve me well. Quality is very awesome and the editing software is not hard to use.

My 0.02 worth after 55 years doing this flying stuff? Training is one thing, experience is another. All the training in the world can't replace experience! My mantra- You're not a safe pilot until you are "tempered" and you are not tempered until you make a mistake in an airplane that scares the crap out of you and YOU know you made the mistake. Once you are tempered, flying takes on an entirely different perspective.

All in favor of appointing @Marauder to Maraudorator, say Aye

If I became a moderator half of you would be banned for life! [emoji23]🤣 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm sure we've all been behind the plane enough at one time or another. I've even been overwhelmed with the FMC in a 757 to the point that I turned it all off and just flew the airplane by hand. My take on how to stay ahead of the plane: 1. Do as much on the ground as possible so you don't have to do it in the air. Look up frequencies, airspace restrictions, terrain considerations, review approach plates. 2. If I'm flying and sitting fat, dumb, and happy; there is probably something I can do now so I won't have to do it later when things get busy. Get the ASOS/ATIS, load the approach, set the navaids, pretune the next comm frequency, review the approach again, and slow down if need be. 3. Know how to use all your equipment. Having to figure out how to do something with your GPS or autopilot while flying wastes time. Know what it can and can't do and how to do it so it becomes second nature. 4. Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice, the more your mind starts to catch up with the speed of your airplane. Just my two cents worth.

How about not allowing any replies to "for sale" posts. PM only?

I couldn't agree more, they should only contain people interested in your plane, hopefully the adm will be able to figure out how to fix this inherent problem. As you know everyone here has there own issues some jealous, some arrogant i.e. if your plane isn't just like theres, theres an issue with it.

How much it saves you will depend on how well you learn how to use it. But it could easily save your life if not at least save you from a risky off airport landing. With the monitor there is rarely an excuse to continue flying an engine till it seizes. Almost always there are plenty of signs to warn you that failure may be eminent if you don't take immediate action. And with knowledge of how to use it, you have a very good chance of saving your engine before it gets to that point. For example, I was flying across the country about mid-way at 10:30pm over the middle of Texas while we watched a slowly declining oil pressure; still in the green. Oil temperature was still normal, but as we were debating what to do about it and when, as it got closer to the top of the yellow arc we began to see fluctuations in the oil pressure. I recognized this as the oil pump cavitating from too little oil in the sump. That was it, the reality of the situation was setting in (remember the CARE checklist?). Cruising at 17K, I had already surveyed towered airports with approaches and services within glide range of about 30nm and told ATC we were diverting to San Angelo because of a oil pressure issue. My wife was the pilot flying on this leg and she was the first to notice the issue. As the pilot not flying, I was working the radios and was talking to ATC. We had already pulled the power to near idle and gliding to the FAF for the approach I loaded and was asking ATC to clear us for our selected approach. With 2 pilots, and the marvels of modern GPS technology we were gliding into San Angelo on idle power and landing without incident. The following morning we diagnosed issue. Our turbo had been pumping oil over board and we were down to just a bit more than 2 quarts of oil; plenty sufficient that we have evaded any engine damage. If we had ignored all the signs with still 1.5 hrs to go to our planed destination we likely would have at least lost the engine and who know what our options would have been if we had not been monitoring our engine analyzer. As a CFI, I work with Mooney owners and with rental pilots at a flying club. Its interesting to me at least that most of the rental aircraft these days have a JPI engine analyzer so their owners can monitor their investments and virtually all have either a new GTN GPS or GNS W GPS. Because of the engine monitor, more and more new pilots are learning the importance using an engine analyzer to do a more thorough mag test before taking off. Of course it takes a CFI that understands this technology to teach to his/her students and what percentage do this I don't know. But just yesterday, we taxied back from the run-up area because the engine monitor showed the left mags #1 plug was cold, or not firing and we were unable to clear it after multiple attempts. For an owner, that save a lot of time which saves money knowing exactly which plug to go clean and test. And the light bulb goes on for the pilot in training on the usefulness of the monitor. Consequently, as analyzers become more universal in training aircraft I doubt many future pilots coming out of ab initio training will even have a question on the value or need for the analyzer; given a choice they won't want to go without it.

As mentioned by Larry and others, it is addictive! The Flying Monkeys are flying this Saturday to a local EAA fly-in/breakfast, and then departing to fly over a small town parade. We've got 8-9 planes planned, and I've invited another Mooney owner to ride along and see what it is all about. I hope a FL/SE group can spin up in the near future and spread the joy! Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

I am very pleased with the workmanship. She is most ready to go space trucking...

The Silver Eagle is a great airplane. at O&N I built over 50 of them. we maintain a few dozen of them now and have the STC to build them if someone was interested in a new one. As to some of your questions, we do not have a line on new orings for your original shaw aero caps. At one point we ordered the orings from shaw (which cant be done anymore) and learned that the caps are not serviceable. you can not disassemble them to get the new oring in. the cap needed to be sent back to them to replace it. we have recently switched to a newton style cap and this is an upgrade you can make. it is a lockable cap with key. the shaw aero caps went up to a crazy price of $2000.00 a piece!!! They must want to be out of the fuel cap business. So yes, we offer an upgrade kit to replace your existing cap with these locking caps. The cost for this conversion is $190.00 a side. Ill see what I can do when the install comes in a few days as far as taking pictures of the install process and getting some of them up on here. thanks! Chris

Mike, old friend, your statement “I asked Karl Ludolph (the real Jester) to speak with David Phieler about doing tight ship formations at the MAPA tent the next day. The rest is history.” reminds me of the adage “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.” In the first place, you give me too much credit. I'm not so influential that a word in my ear could result in what has developed over the last 7 years. In the second place, lots of people talked about transitioning from the gaggle to formation elements (including our strong journalistic critic, Bill Kight). These discussions started long before 2009. Karl's encouragement was but one comment among many. It wasn't a matter of the wisdom of going to a formation model, but how to do it. The problems that seemed intractable were how to develop the expertise to train pilots in formation flight and also how to develop procedures for formation flight. It was not simple thing, by any means. To say “the rest is history” shortchanges numerous hard-working volunteers who have dedicated countless hours to develop the organizational culture, administrative structure and training and procedures that now define out success. Since you've been watching from afar now that you're down in FL, and haven't been with us in the new era (I've missed you!), I can understand how you might think things just happened, because in many ways we've made it look easy. It's anything but. A brief history lesson would likely be helpful to understand what the Mooney Caravan is (and isn't) and how its structure both promotes its success and determines how growth occurs. 2009: We flew the gaggle. We muddled through as we had since 1998 (with better results than some earlier years such as 2000, when the size of the group presented significant organizational challenges). The conversations about transitioning to a formation model that occurred that year were really just a continuation of conversations that had been going on for many years. 2010: Sloshkosh. Caravan canceled due to field conditions that prevented North 40 camping. We had formation-qualified pilots who had been to Bonanza clinics and practiced with others who were ready to trial a partial formation flight, but that had to wait. Three intrepid pilots named Oliphant, Shopperly, and Brennan waited a few days in MSN and flew a three ship formation on the Fisk arrival. Shopperly landed, as he had a hard surface parking reservation. The other two had to make a low pass and depart. Treating this as proof of concept, the group decided to do a hybrid flight in 2011: three formation elements of three ships each in front, with the gaggle following behind. 2011: A few more pilots participated in Bonanza formation clinics to learn the basics. At Madison it was decided to take the biggest dunderhead who could be found and put him in a training flight with an experienced formation pilot in the right seat as a safety pilot. The theory was that if this guy could be trained anyone could learn to do it. The lead ship in the flight had a highly experienced airline captain in the left seat with an experienced formation pilot as safety pilot. The third ship in the flight was flown by Maj. Dave Marten, a USAF test pilot. The training went well, as did the flight to Madison, a mix of formation elements and gaggle. At the debrief the consensus was to “go for it” in 2012 and transition to all formation. 2012: Thanks in large part to attendance at Bonanza training clinics as well as ad hoc training opportunities, the group managed to qualify a sufficient number of pilots for formation flight to make a relatively small (compared to past years) yet credible formation flight to OSH. The enthusiasm generated by that flight confirmed the decision to make the change. 2013 – 2017: Thanks to a compendious and comprehensive procedures manual developed by Dave Marten and refined with comments from the group, and also to grass roots development of home-grown formation clinics, the group has grown to this year's caravan with 56 registered, qualified and paid up pilots. The model that has evolved is for local pilots to organize clinics with support from the caravan's Operations Group. The limiting factor for a clinic is having a leader who can present the ground school, and adequate safety pilots to fly with the newbies and show them the basics of formation flight, including caravan procedures. We've had yeoman help from Bonanza formation groups, Redstar Pilot's Association safety pilots and military pilots with formation training who've learned how to apply their knowledge to Mooney performance and caravan procedures. We've also had volunteer safety pilots fly thousand mile trips to clinics on their own dime. The essence of the clinics is a procedures structure from the caravan around which a clinic can be organized by volunteers. It's a decentralized process in the sense of local organization, with centralized standardization in the form of the procedures being communicated. We're becoming more sophisticated in our execution, and have become a 501(c)(3) charity to foster our mission. We follow a continuous improvement model that would make any Japanese auto manufacturer envious. One wag described the Mooney Caravan as “a progressive autonomous collective” of pilots who want to learn and practice formation flight with the annual goal of flying together to AirVenture and with the subsidiary goals of fellowship, training and practice throughout the year. The group has a corporate structure that is very “flat” (little hierarchical management, little red tape) along with a rich organizational structure for providing formation flight opportunities. It has grown solely by dint of volunteers stepping forward to take on responsibilities that fill the group's needs. In that way we have a Safety Director, an Operations Group, a Communications function, an Executive Committee to manage day to day corporate responsibilities, and a robust cadre of regional groups that handle the nuts and bolts of putting on clinics (to name a few functions that volunteers have taken on – by no means an exclusive list). Because of this structure, the group is dependent on local volunteers to organize clinics. It can't descend on a location and “bring” a clinic from headquarters. It can provide support in terms of consultation on clinic organization, procedures, and, to a limited extent, encourage safety pilots to attend. That's about it. So where does this all lead? The culture of the group is focused on having a great time flying formation with the ultimate goal of flying and fellowship at AirVenture. It has evolved into a year-round organization, with gatherings of varying levels of formality from practice sessions involving a few pilots (which aren't really caravan activities in any formal or legal sense), to occasional demonstrations such as that planned for this year's Mooney Summit, to clinics, to the big show each July. Growth of the group, and extension into presently under-served geographic regions, depends on volunteers stepping up to take on the challenge of local organization, not as a one-shot deal, but as a continuing endeavor to grow year to year. The organization lacks the resources to provide a “top down”' centralized solution to “plant” a clinic in a new region. If you want a clinic, you can partner with caravan members who have the experience or travel to a clinic in another region to get the experience yourself, then start the ball rolling and ask the group for help in implementing a clinic. Sorry for the long post. Pardon the pedantry. Hope I've shed a little light on history and the structure of the Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh Educational and Safety Foundation, Ltd. And its continuing evolution to make next year's flight to OSH the Best Caravan Ever. Dave Piehler (aka "Raptor", aka "DYL)

I'm one of the guys @kpaul mentioned. My first plane was a 550hp turboprop, the T-34C, and in less than a year I was flying jet aircraft. But it was also my full time job of study, simulators and flying. Having said that, some people can't move up as fast as others and some people just don't put in the time to study, prepare and fly frequently enough. Flying is a physical skill, aviating is a mental skill - skip out on either for a while and you lose them. I would tell students all the time that flying is easy, being a pilot is hard.

Since you raise it, and there are many on this forum who don't know it, I will gladly share the Caravan formation story -- as I saw it unfold. 2005 was my first (cannot speak to earlier, but guys like Piehler and Jonathan Paul can) and yes, the gaggle is NOT optimal. I watched attendance decline year over year. I watched and listened to some pilots say "never again." I thought about that too. One year I rented a house under Fisk and what I saw after watching convinced me that the Caravan was still safer, as the pilots were all at least organized, briefed, in the same types and expected to be close. So I stayed with it and got to know more regulars. Among them were a few form pilots, not just JPaul but also Richard Bristow, Ernie Brock, and Mort Boyd. They regularly flew form with the B2Osh guys here on the West Coast and invited me to go. Numerous other people within and without had advocated going to an all-formation format. Others argued that we were too small a group, could never amass the expertise, we could never get people trained, and that we would "scare people away." Personally, as a GA-only pilot with no form training, I was apprehensive, but open. JPaul sponsored me to the board of directors and I was an element lead and on the board in 2009. 2009 was a turning point - we had an element lead who basically decided he didn't like the spacing in the element ahead of him and decided to fill it ... with his element dutifully in tow. On final, needless to say, there were airplanes where there should not be airplanes. No metal was bent, thankfully, but in the debrief what was more shocking than this element doing what he did -- we had all seen that -- but that he DEFENDED it. This individual had a boatload of ratings and an authoritative position. That discussion led to a decision by the then-board to try a form flight in 2010, and many of us immediately suited up with B2Osh to get ready...and then Sploshkosh happened, so we did not get to fly as a mass form that year (although there was ONE element that did fly in a vic from MSN to OSH). In 2011, we had half the flight as formation and half as "gaggle." While most thought it was success, not everyone agreed we should go "all form." Some still advocated we would lose people, we would scare people, wouldn't train, yadda yadda, But we announced all-form for 2012. Thanks to B2Osh and a LOT of work by a LOT of people, we successfully did all-form in 2012. Yes, we DID lose people, but each year our numbers have grown. Each year has been better and safer and, yes, MORE fun! And today our numbers are higher than the first Caravan...and better than 2009! But more importantly, we are a safer, more fun group. And thanks to volunteers stepping up, today what started as a few West Coast guys flying form is now five strong regional squadrons, with dedicated leadership, operations, and pilots and families who fly regularly together. In fact, as the B2Osh brethren "warned" us, we would be flying together a LOT more locally so we are able to socialize with many pilots we would not have met if we remained a once-a-year gaggle for MSN-OSH. We have many pilots who fly only regionally, or who only make OSH once in a while. We also have pilots who fly across the country to make a clinic. There is an informative deck at the bottom of the FAQ page on the website listing leadership and other key volunteers. There are also training materials and Ops contacts, as well as a "clinic-in-a-box" product for any volunteer who wants to take ownership of an event. Form flying is a team sport, and one must be an active participant. Hope this clears up the "history"...

We had nothing but sunshine in Clemson, SC. Well, that is, until THIS happened!

So proud.

Aye! And I nominate Carusoam for second moderator

The G5 will never replace the KI256...It is fairly obvious that Garmin is steering us into their autopilot options which frankly is the better choice compared to a decades-old King autopilot. The entire GFC500 system is close to the cost of a single king servo! If you really want to keep the King autopilot, the Garmin option of G500 + GAD43 exists today, but at great cost. Aspen 1000 + EA100 also exists at less cost. Who knows if the KI300 will deliver as promised at slightly less cost or not, but with all of these options you're still faced with multi-AMU overhaul costs for the servos, HSI components, etc. King gave us a sneak peak at what they want to do with service policy and costs and that should be enough to tell any cost-sensitive owner to run far away from their stuff. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

We use black sceet / double wall with finished ends, and supply lined clamps with all custom ducts ( I.D. X LENGTH ) I will never sell scat single wall crap or have a non finished end that will collaspe or wear thru a duct Iam working on a new molded 90 elbow for all sizes for better fitment as the duct needs a sharp curve from baffle or to muffler It will be available in all i.d. sizes and lengths If you want pics ? n77gb@msn.com Note : several std sizes will be faa / pma in the future

Dave, Larry, Mike, as someone who has only flown the Caravan twice I appreciate very much this discussion. I also appreciate all the work that has been done by those who had the vision and the persistence to get the program to where it is today. For what it's worth I am scheduled to participate with several MAG pilots in 2 formation demo flights in October which will involve a couple of practice sessions ahead of the events. Who'd have thunk! I would add that, very much to my surprise, my bride of 53 years who got me started as a pilot over 48 years ago, turns out to be a fan of, and willing participant in, formation flying! Who'd have thunk!

Mine seems to be a minority view here - what do I know, I didn't start flying Mooneys until 1969 - but I think the left panel should be primarily for aviating, particularly when you get that instrument rating. Consequently I put a 930 on the right side and the remote RAD right above the Aspen. I would not want to move those NAV heads to the right side. When shooting an approach you'll want to have a tight scan that includes that head along with the ASI, AI, VSI, ALT, T&B. The panel itself is not that expensive to cut out and silk screen. I'd take advantage of the opportunity to clean it up while you're removing all those steam gauges.

I want to publicly thank Power Flow Systems, Inc. for donating to the Mooney Caravan raffle, of which I was the lucky winner. The coupon was good for either (1) $300 off any Power Flow Tuned Exhaust System; (2) Free Challenger Air Filter System; or (3) Free case of aviation motor oil. My exhaust system is working fine and I already have the Challenger air filter, so I chose the motor oil, which I received, shipped directly from Aircraft Spruce. Thank you for you support of the Mooney Caravan.

Legally, I can tell you that from a products liability standpoint the buck stops with Lycoming. All product manufacturers use sourced components but the whole is greater than the proverbial sum of the parts. Under the law Lycoming is responsible to the end user for all legally implied(as well as express) warranties of fitness and merchantability. Note that does not negate the liability of the part supplier as well. Again, if it were my engine I would see to it that Lycoming paid for all my expenses including whatever I had to spend to make them do it.

I recently had $33,268.00 worth of aviaonics installed in my 70C plus several years ago I did the stec30 gpss and other goodies .Why not with a solid Mooney airframe and a bullet proof 360. These are extremely strong, economical IFR cross country machines. I believe (impeccable very well equipped)turn key C's and E,s can and do sell for top dollar unadvertised quietly, locally by word of mouth. I see it often with our brands and others in my part of the country.

Most are.