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Back in late 2010 I stumbled across Mooneyspace and was amazed at the amount of valuable information available and the community atmosphere of the site. I was between airplanes at the time so I lurked for awhile without signing up, absorbing anything I could. I had owned a 231 from 1993-1996, a Bravo from 1996-2000 and then other airplanes for a few years and then another Bravo from late 2006 to early 2010. In the Spring of 2011 I was seriously looking at a 231 in Georgia so I signed up on the site , and my first post was to ask a few questions as I considered the airplane. I didn't end up buying it, but by lurking on here I had the right things to consider when I went to look at it. I didn't actually end up getting another Mooney until 2014 but in the meantime I was learning a lot on this site. Mooneyspace helped me to go from being an owner that was mainly hands-off when it came to understanding how an owner can be involved in maintenance, to really enjoying getting involved. It helped to take the mystery and intimidation away. I went from never having changed my own oil on an airplane to being very involved in a top end overhaul/Bravo conversion on an M20M that I owned from 2015-2021. Yesterday I was looking at my Mooneyspace profile and to my surprise I was a few posts short of 10,000. So I thought I would take this 10,000th post to thank everyone that has made this a very fun, informative journey. Early on, @Marauder and @carusoam were very helpful along with Clarence and many others and now so many others on here collaborate to make this the premier place for Mooney information and assistance. Here's to the next fifteen years!!

As many of you are aware over the last couple months and escalating today in an epic nature the site has been invaded by spam bots. It reached a level that was no longer manageable so I have set all new accounts to requiring manual approval. IF YOU JUST REGISTERED A NEW ACCOUNT: Please contact me using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the site requesting approval. Make sure to include your username on the site as I won't know you by your real name and your emails might not match. This might take up to 24 hours so please be patient. Going forward these are the changes I am proposing: All new accounts will be created as a "basic member" that cannot create content but can browse the forums. All current members will become "verified" members. No action or fee required to keep using the site as you already are. To become a new "verified member" you will have a couple options. For instant and easy access you will pay a small fee. Probably a one time $3.00 fee something like that and your account will be verified for life, no additional payments required. A free alternative and slower method will be available where the new user can email me a copy of their ID and something like a utility bill to prove they are who they say they are. As part of this I have upgraded the forum software to include their "commerce" package which will enable the site to automatically take payments for a number of things like membership fees, selling items, etc. I have been considering this for a while since it will automate the current donation system that requires me to manually upgrade accounts after donations which can take time and is prone to errors (such as PayPal emails not matching user emails and me not being able to find accounts to upgrade). So in the near future I expect to change the current "donate $10 or more to remove ads and get Supporter level access for a year" to something more like a $25 per year auto-renewal membership that is completely managed within your member area of the site. While going from $10 to $25 seems drastic, I need to pick a single amount for all users and $25 is actually what the average donation is now from the past 12 months. Also consider that the minimum donation has been the same $10 minimum since 2008 (hard to believe I have been operating this site for 17 years!) and I have been considering raising it to $15 or $20 for a while now. Note that all current Supporter level members will remain as such until it has been 12 months since their last manual donation. I hope this all makes sense. Please feel free to post your comments below. I might not get to reading them all so if you have something really important to tell me please use the in-site messaging system. Thank you all for your patience as we dealt with the floods of spam over the past couple months. It was frustrating for all of us I know. Craig

Strap in. I bring you a story of adventure, peril, and a bit of “there I was” with my recent purchase of M20J sn 24-1167, currently N1156P (Soon to be N707LT) You saw it for sale here: A seldom used M20J of a few 1810 hours. 0 time OH engine and prop, new paint, engine mount, tires and tubes. Original interior an panel. Looking for a new home from Fl. And I bought. Sure, a few questions, but it is a good deal so yada, yada, she is mine. Fast forward. We all have jobs. When do you have time? Not now, or now, but NOW! Time to fetch the new find from FL to CA. Overnight, delayed flights, lost luggage, finally land Orlando. Rent car. Drive to Daytona (DAB). Meet airplane and confirm I have not been catfished – it exists and isn’t a fantasy (of 6 figures tossed for fan mail) Wait for an hour for gas (because it is a training base for Embry-Riddle after all). Pay pre-purchase inspection bill (shout out to Daytona Air Service – great people), and become #12 in line for T/O. A moment: ME: 13,000 hr pilot. Current 121 B737, 135 current G650/G4. But first time ALONE in an airplane in 3 decades. I taught in these airplanes: How hard can it be? Well, my friends, neighbors and colleagues, your skills and patience will be tested. Especially in a new airplane over 2,400 nm cross county with the three time FLARE rule: one at 737 height, once at Gulfstream height, and once at “OMG this is LOW” height. After multiple landings, it wasn’t pretty, but no bent metal. I will be calling a local CFI. Short story: DAB-HXD-TOI-MKO-ODO-E63-STS. 2400 nm, 2 days. 9 hours first day, 8 the second. REALLY comfortable factory seats (thank God). Super-grateful for iPad and Sentry+ And a great deal of super-IFR/VFR skills involved. Let me explain. I used skyvector.com to choose the route. I chose cheap fuel spots. It was a fantasy because MA nature had other ideas. Day 1 was just up to meet a friend in HXB and landing was embarrassing. But I didn’t hurt anyone or bend metal. Day 2: Up at em and head West! But 400nm long line of TRW up the East Texas side through LA and AR. So I land short in TOI. Nice FBO, quick gas. New plan. UP North around the TRW and come back down towards Midland right? OK: lots of TRW, dip, dodge and weave at 8,000’ in the “not forecast East of the Texas Line”. Oh, but low clouds/vis underneath you for about 4 states. Thanks. Not ready to takle a non-turbo airplane over the Rockies/Sierras so Southern route is still the key. The FlightAware forecast: LIES: 4+20 if dipping and weaving around the most hearty of cells who didn’t want to be found – but they were there (like Artesians for those of a certain age). MKO: My first time self-fueling up in a while. I ran the truck in the old days: this self-service stuff is new, but I figured it out. Then, well, we are on the back side of the TRW, so let’s head for the original destination: ODO. Multiple overcasts, with MOA’s: NO, you can’t go right for weather but you can go as much LEFT as you want. Why would any military agency in their right mind want to fly in THIS? OK, you want it, you got it! I’ll go around and you in your T-38, F-16, F-18 can cry for help later. Actually feel sorry for the newbies trying to navigate this. Why the Hell would anyone head to Midland in their right mind? Because dear friends, I go there A LOT. Well, to MAF. But now I’m in a light plane headed to ODO. There are MOA’s to avoid, overcast with some good thumpers I’m trying not to get underneath. It’s quite the show. And by landing, it’s 9 hours of flight. And the young line man looks at me on landing and asks, “Want a hangar?” Oh yeah, the MOTHER of all TRW has parked itself South of MDW tops +510 so Yes please! I just bought this pure-skinned angel and don't want her BEATEN TO DEATH BY HAIL PLEASE. (Heck, she make it this far) This AM (4/24): I am up at 630, breakfast, UBER to airport, and there is my plane fueled and ready. Only real IFR to break through layer to E63: Gila bend. 3+45 I was there. Spoke to a really nice lady who was in her C-182RG just out foolin’ around for the day. You know what? It’s 623 nm to STS from here: I can do it. Damn Skippy. Across the American Southwest. Great controllers through Joshua, LAX, Lemore, and OAK. 4+23, 40.2 gal 4+23 later landed in STS. I now have my commute vehicle. Needs some radios. But the mechanics, interior and exterior are fine. Good deal. Glad to be a part of the Mooney community and have a literal 2 day cross-country machine. So friends and family of the Mooneyspace, I welcome you comments, contributions and patronage at my FBO's in OAK and STS. Dang: What a machine AL built!

Thanks to all who lend their wealth of knowledge and experience to beginners and novices like me. I will always love my Mooney and Mooney community. Best of all things in the new year to you all! ps. Let us commemorate with retiring the dumpster fire that the garmin pilot thread has become!

Last week we were at 4500' off the California coast by Santa Cruz. We were just starting Commercial training. Before doing any of the new Commercial maneuvers, I start by doing slow flight, then Power off and Power on Stalls. The airplane, a 231, has been upgraded to 2 G5s, and the GFC 500 autopilot. As such, when operating outside of the ESP (Electronic Stability Protection) envelope the ESP needs to be disabled in the G5. Additionally, the AP circuit breaker needs to be pulled because, if the airplane is operated outside the envelope with the AP off for more than 10 seconds, the AP will automatically turn on and engage the servos in LVL mode. I hadn't pulled the circuit breaker, but we had slowed to just above the stall and, unbeknownst to me, my student had used the electric trim to trim up fully. Pulling the CB disabled the electric trim. First, we found that the stall warning switch was inoperative, but continued the exercise anyway. Power was added to maintain altitude on the backside of the power curve and the nose was lowered to increase speed and lower the AOA. To relieve yoke pressure trim needed to be adjusted down. With the electric trim off the student tried to trim down with the trim wheel. It wouldn't budge. The student said that he couldn't control the pitch with the yoke, the force was too strong. At that point I added my control input to the yoke. The force was so strong that with both of us locking our arms straight out we couldn't overcome the pitch up force. I tried to unlock the trim wheel with both hands--unsuccessfully. In all of my flying I have never had a flight where the outcome was in doubt. But for a few seconds that's exactly what I thought. Knowing that the 231 is somewhat nose heavy and on final at 75 knots with low power setting on a 3° slope the plane was controllable, I pulled the power. That did relieve some of the control pressure. I tried to unlock the trim again with the trim wheel. No dice. It was totally locked up. We were on flight following with NORCAL, and I was about to declare an emergency, when I decided to turn the AP on and see if the power of the trim servo would unlock the trim. I pushed in the CB and waited while the system went through its PFT. It took a few seconds, but ultimately finished successfully. I had the student try the electric trim---and it worked. The trim became unlocked. We had dodged a bullet. I said, "Let's head back to San Jose. We're done for the day". I got no argument. Epilogue: I told the student that until we found out the reason for our issue, we wouldn't be flying the plane. The maintenance shop was able to recreate the problem. I called Paul Kortopates and related the issue. He told me that a Service Instruction had been issued on December 14, 2016, SIM20-88A Stabilizer trim stop screw Modification. I've attached it here. It applys to the M20J, M20K, M20L, and M20M. It was to be done within 100 hours. On this airplane it apparently had not been done, so the force of the electric trim on trimming up for slow flight had pushed the trim wheel past the stop and locked it up. I'm posting this because for those owning aircraft to which it applies, you should confirm that it has been complied with. Otherwise, you might be put into an unrecoverable situation the likes of which we were lucky enough to have overcome. SIM20-88A Stabilizer trim stop screw Modification.pdf

This sure is a cynical group. Personally, I would rather have expensive-but-available Mooney parts than cheap-but-unavailable parts. I only rarely need actual Mooney parts but when I do need them, it's usually something standing between me and actually using my airplane.

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

Hello all, After a rough couple months of spam-bot invasions I have decided to make some critical changes to the way new users to the community are validated and how Supporter level memberships work. Here are the key changes: When a new account is created here it will be placed in a group called Unverified Members. This group can browse the site but cannot create any new content. To upgrade this account to a Verified Member you have two options: a) pay a $2 fee for instant validation which is good for the life of the account or b) contact me @mooniac58 with a picture/scan of your valid ID to prove you are who you say you are. The old manual $10 minimum donation for upgrade to Supporter level has been replaced with a $25/year automatic subscription system that will renew every year on its own unless you cancel it. No more waiting for me manually upgrade your account, etc. Those that purchase the $2 instant validation will get a $2 credit towards their first year of Supporter level access...so $23 for the first year and $25 thereafter. Generic Donations: Separate from the membership plans, users can still donate arbitrary amounts to support the site using the new donations page. Those that donated prior to today with the old system will continue to have Supporter access until 12 months from your last donation as long as that was $10 or more. These are the current membership levels for members: Unverified Members - New accounts, can browse site, cannot create content or message others. Verified Members - Either paid the $2 fee or proved in another way that they are a real person. Can post new content but not in classified forums. Limited to 200MB total storage for attachments, photos and other files. Supporter Members - Signed up for $25/year subscription. Do not see advertisements on site. Able to post non-commercial topics on the classified forums. Storage limit of 1GB. Sponsor Members - These accounts have paid a fee to have a limited number of commercial posts on the forums (usually 1 per month limit). Some final notes: While I am confident new spam-bots are not being registered on the site, I am quite sure that they have dormant accounts that were created in the past that still exist undetected. For this reason we have and will see brief uprisings where they rise up and make a bunch of spam posts. We will ban each of these as they occur and wipe the content. I don't expect much of this and the past few days have been clear skies here. If you created an account prior to August 5, 2025 and did the normal email based activation then you are in the Verified Member group. No one was downgraded during this process and you don't need to do anything to validate your account. Please do not do the $2 validation process (I am still working on hiding this option for everyone except unvalidated accounts in the site). I will be making small changes here and there to try and make it more clear how new users validate their accounts. For now I hope newly registered members find their way to this topic to get the instructions. Eventually I hope to figure out how to customize the site more to guide new members through the process better. And lastly a big thanks to everyone who has supported this community over the past 17 years! Craig

After 4 months and a week, I finally got my baby back from the spa, well for a week, at least, before going back to be tweaked…. Went a little overboard on the makeover, but I do get the feeling of flying a brand new plane, including the smell from the leather interior.

This happened quite a while ago but it's only now that I'm willing to bring it up. I was flying my 77 J enroute from CYTZ to my home airport CYXL on Jan.31 2025. It was a 650nm flight over mostly remote part of Northern Ontario. Roughly three and half hour into the flight, about one hour from reaching my destination, in the vicinity of Nipigon Ontario, at a cruising altitude of 5500ft, the engine started to sputter. I immediately turned boost pump on and then my engine quit completely. I acted upon the situation as everyone would, I was lucky that there is a highway right below me, and I quickly turned my plane gliding alone the highway looking for a suitable landing spot. Then I tried to trouble shoot the problem, and declared mayday on both Center frequency (but I'm on the edge of their reception) and 126.7. Oil, fuel pressure were in the green. I had plenty of fuel. Propeller was windmilling, there is no oil spraying everywhere or any catastrophic failure. I even had fuel flow, though only 3-6 gph. But I had no power. Engine monitor show all four cylinder cold on EGT. I tried both mag, didn't switch tank because I already ran one dry, and determined I cannot bring the engine back. The subsequent landing on the highway is uneventful. Clipped two small roadsign during the landing roll, but I'm fine and the plane is now being repair in Toronto, after a temporary repair was carried out in the field and got a ferry permit from TC. The landing happened just before sunset, temperature at landing was -20c. If it would've happened ten minutes prior or later, I would've end up landing on a frozen lake. That was the only highway along my route for almost 300 miles. I think I got lucky here. After landing, I checked the oil, sitting exactly at 6 qts. I spun the prop and noticed smooth movement with no issue, and normal compression in all four cylinder. I then checked my fuel tank and I could see plenty of gas. The only thing abnormal, that I noticed, was when I turn on the boost pump there is a strong smell of fuel. During departure out of CYTZ, when I turn on the fuel point in the takeoff check, I also smelled a whif of gas but I did not thought to much about it. Shortly after, police, fire and ambulance arrived, though I do not require fire and ambulance (luckily I don't need to pay for ambulance). A snow plow came, plowed out a side road and move my plane there, where it sat for two month getting the wing patched up and a ferry permit issued from TC. A local float plane company sent a few mechanics and inspected the engine. They found the fuel line out of the engine driven pump to be loose at the connector, causing a very significant fuel leak. The reason why it is loose, according to the mechanics, is likely because the fuel line with fire sleeve over it was rubbing against the firewall, loosening it over time. Both mags are firing properly and sparks are produced on all 8 plugs. I'm not sure how much I believe this theory. Since during the flight, I ran the right tank dry, and my fuel accumulator read exactly 32 gallon used. The fuel flow transducer is located after the leak, so if there is any leak, I'd ran out of fuel before my fuel accumulator reaches 32. The mechanic in Toronto that usually worked on my plane said it might be due to some kind of icing issue inside the injector servo or controller or something like that, and the float plane mechanic did agree that it's also a possibility. He says I should not loose power completely if I still have fuel flow and green fuel pressure. To add, I did sump my tank in Toronto and noticed no water in fuel, and fuel cap o ring is fairly new. It was noted the boost pump was functioning properly providing proper pressure with no leaks. They removed the fire sleeve on that fuel line, reconnected the hose properly and ran the engine up, and it ran fine. So we eventually flew it out to toronto for permanant repair on the wing with a fueling stop in Thunder bay. Now the plane is sitting in my mechanic hangar in Toronto, I've asked my mechanic to thoroughly inspect the engine again, which I asked him to do last time when I was dealing with the prop governer fuel leak isssue. I'm really not sure how do I trust this plane again. For the past year that I've owned this airplane, I was always on the way of fixing something. The engine was looked into at least twice under my request to make sure the pervious owner's mechanic who installed the engine did not make any more mistake that's not yet discovered. Just sharing my experience here. I guess from now on I will use 1% alcohol added into the fuel to prevent icing. I'd love to hear everyone's thought's on this.

Flew my Mooney for my 3rd flight without transition CFI (takair). Brought my wife up with me. We just did a short flight, for her to get used to the plane, and weather was looming so we went back and landed. Probably my best landing ever. I could barely feel my mains touch and rode them all the way out, gently touching the nose wheel down. "Are you feeling this awesome wheelie?!?" I was laughing out loud and so excited. My wife just shook her head. A landing that would've made my instructor proud. But alas, he was not there, as he has kicked me out of the transition training nest. I guess I should start instrument training soon then

The park was gorgeous. I put on a 360 mount to do some recording, and it turned out great. We only flew in it for an hour. We went up Ruths Glacier, flew around a little in that area, and then spiraled up to pass Denali, then down another glacier (not pictured). Most of the other passes were fogged in, so we kept it pretty conservative. The other pilots flying were super chill and gave us tips. I kind of wish I had recorded that. Overall, I wish we did it longer, and I wish we could do it again. The weather is shot for the next few days, and then we need to head back to MN. I forgot the cowl flaps on some of this. I climbed from 6,500 to 16,500 and forgot to close them when we reached the top. Oh well.

After landing I put the flap switch in up position and the flaps did not move and the circuit breaker popped. Thereafter, I noted that the breaker would pop when the master was turned on with the flap switch in up, takeoff, or down position (the airplane is a later model with the three position flap switch). I tried wiggling the flaps because some have said that got them working again, but to no avail. I'm not saying others are wrong, but the up/down limit switches ride on the acme screw barrel of the actuator which cannot be back driven due to the wheel and worm gearing of the actuator so I have a hard time seeing how wiggling the flaps can move the switches. Be that as it may, it did nothing for my problem. Removing the belly skin and inspecting things, I noticed that the actuator had overrun past the down limit and jammed the barrel. I disconnected the barrel and manually freed it and rotated it to the up position. But the breaker still popped. I disconnected the connector that feeds the motor and the breaker still popped indicating that the problem was not the motor. I disconnected the connector that goes to the up and down relays and the breaker didn't pop, so the wiring is good. Next I removed the down relay and reconnected the connectors and the breaker did not trip indicating that the short was in the relay. I took the down relay apart and found that the armature had become dislodged and that all three contacts (C, NO, NC) were stuck together creating a short circuit. The Magnacraft relay looks like a pretty flimsy mechanical design to me. I found some new/old stock online and ordered two. Hopefully this helps someone with a similar problem.

In about 3 years I will have been a MooneySpace member for half my life.

I have a question- WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE? Here we have a company that can produce any part we need for an orphaned line of airplanes-Mooney There are only about 7,000 of them left (and we kill dozens every year shrinking that field) We have another company stepping in to help US get the parts WE need from the sole supplier And all we do is bitch about it! SO, JUST WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE? Provide a viable LEGAL solution Don't just bitch about it! What if we CAN'T ever get any more parts? What do we do then????? Its a very small consumer base needing parts whose construction is tightly controlled by an outside agency- the FAA That equals $$$$$$$$$$ To make every part for every Mooney ever made TAKES THE ENTIRE ACTORY less the assembly line That takes money to support- more $$$$$$$ Have any of you actually seen the production facility in production? Minus the assembly line? Either you make parts there or you move it somewhere else - at what cost? More $$$$$$$ ALL airplane parts are priced at today's cost to produce a new airplane - NOT 50 years ago. Priced any new Beech parts lately? How many Bonanzas are sitting because of bad ruddervator skins? They can't get them. Our Mooneys will be paper weights or boat anchors if we can't get the parts we need The days of being Cheap Bastards is over. You want to fly a Mooney (or any other airplane) pony up to the bar and pay the bill. As I have said several times- we are flying antiques! They will eventually die a lingering death But without parts it becomes genocide!!! Suck it up folks - there is no alternative except to buy a different make airplane that is in production Sorry for the attitude but this bitching does nothing constructive for the situation we are in.

Follow the brick

Happy Update. The Shop called me this morning with total transparency and owned up to it being an unsupervised intern. He was removing the lower plugs and the Plug wire was slightly seized and rotated the plug out. Instead of grabbing experienced help with a better solution he used a crow's foot with an extension wedged it against the pushrod tube and commenced to torqueing the other 7/8 wrench. I guess he banged it several times. The shop is sending DOM and IA who completed the annual up with all new parts, fixing it , performing an engine oil flush with new filters a few times after the fix and then fly it back down to them after 3-4 hours and once again change oil and filter. After each flush send to blackstone for analysis and determine if any further maintenance is required. I wish more shops had this stance and leadership when things go wrong and its their fault. Hopefully crisis averted but they assured me if further engine damage was done , IE bearings, lifters , etc. they would handle the repairs with no expense to me. Thanks for listening.

Now it’s official . . lol

Suggest making your enroute stops at larger airports with luxurious FBOs and expensive fuel. I know this is contrary to official Mooney CB doctrine, but bear with me for a minute... Early in my family flying endeavors, I dutifully planned XC trips with small airport/cheap fuel stops enroute as a GA loyalist. Doing so effectively ended my wife's interest in GA flying for about a decade. There were a couple of incidents of sitting around at run-down facilities waiting on weather with no Uber/Lyft/cab service that didn't sit well. The last straw for her was my cheerfully diverting for an unplanned potty break stop, but choosing a tiny little airport that turned out to have not even so much as an accessible porta-potty, requiring her to drop trou in the open air. That was 20 years ago, but it's still the first story she tells every time traveling by GA comes up in our friend group. I want to emphasize that my wife and kids aren't high maintenance types, and in theory they're all about adventurous travel. But everyone has their limits, and statistically, GA flying is at the edge of what's fun for most people who aren't actually flying the airplane. She still flies with me on occasion, but we're not really a GA travel family, and I trace it all back to my choice of stopover points when I was young and enthusiastic about GA flying. These days, if I'm traveling with anyone other than another pilot, I'll happily buy eight dollar avgas and pay ramp fees in exchange for comfortable lounges, free cookies, on-the-field maintenance, nearby nice hotels, readily available Uber service, and so forth. The monetary cost is incredibly cheap relative to the emotional expense of a bad travel experience.

Rumor is that, an FAA complaint has been filed by LASAR.

Had you posted your interest in N562BG on here before spending the money on the pre-buy we could have told you much of what the pre-buy told you . . . for nothing. I have pictures and logbooks and info in a file on dropbox that I would have gladly shared. Brian is the best at what he does, but spending the money to have Brian Kendrick travel out to look at that airplane is a little like hiring Picasso to paint your tool shed. Every once in awhile someone comes on here mentioning that they are looking at an airplane, asking all kinds of questions, but they are afraid to give too many details since they're afraid that someone will swoop in and buy it before they do. In nearly 15 years on here I've never seen that happen. It usually takes us about 10 minutes to figure out which airplane it is anyway. The Mooney community is small and tight-knit. People on here share lessons that they've learned. We don't charge each other for that. I might share one thing today but it's likely I'll need two things tomorrow. That's the community that we are. It's a net win for everyone that contributes.

Greetings all, First off, a sincere thank you to everyone who’s shared constructive feedback and thoughtful questions! We’re taking your concerns to heart and several clarifications have already been made on the website as we continue to add information. Some context: over the past year and a half, we’ve raised the capital to purchase Mooney’s parts division, stabilized and grown Lasar out of the COVID era, and taken on the heavy lift of managing and funding the Mooney facility itself. Since June, our small but determined team has been working to build and execute a plan that continues Mooney Product Support long into the future. Mooney Assurance is one way to help us get parts flowing and rebuild brand confidence. We’re not claiming that Mooney Assurance is currently a “home-run” value proposition, we simply want to provide as much value as we can while we tackle an enormous job. The idea for this program came from a number of Mooney flyers who wanted us to provide an avenue to help the brand. We understand why some may feel they don’t yet have enough information, and that’s fair. Our focus has been on the day to day, so communication with you all is something we’re working to improve, our goal being to balance sharing updates with digging in and doing the work. This project is a heavy lift, and many hands make light work. Your engagement, questions, and participation help move the entire effort forward. Please stay tuned for more updates as we work to “show” rather than just “tell.” For those who wish to discuss specific ideas or concerns directly, please reach out to Brett Stokes at brett.stokes@lasar.com. We appreciate your patience and hope you’ll join us in preserving a legacy. Stay tuned this week for increasingly informative updates. Sincerely, Brett Stokes and John Smoker Lasar Aviation

I don't know where you heard about that reputation and I certainly have not seen it other in isolated situations. It's these situations that need to stop the fighting and bickering. This is the single BEST place to talk Mooneys and it's important for all of us to make it a welcoming and productive place for Mooniacs to hang out and share experiences (good and bad) that others may glean valuable information. I'm sorry if someone made comments about your weight. That's not right in any fashion. Also, if you went back to all of my posts, you will see that I have not attacked or said negative things about anyone personally. Including you. We want everyone here, let's help this forum have a really good vibe.

I have a 1991 Bravo. I'm on my 3rd engine. The avionics I put in starting in 2013 and upgraded as the G500 transitioned to the G500 Txi and GTN 750/650 to the GTN 750/650 Xi and GTX330ES to the GTX335 are better than in most business jets I have flown in. The Bravo travels at half the speed of jets. That is fast. Rather than step up to a Turbine with at least double the yearly expense, I chose to keep my Bravo and upgrade it to the max. I love the airplane and its avionics. Structurally, it is the strongest single engine airplane out there. Basically, it is new, panel and firewall forward. I feel like I have a new airplane. I have never looked back.

George, I am certain it is very clear to you that there are many folks on this forum who fully support you and your products. It is equally clear that there are many who are respectfully cautious about G100UL. And there are some who are downright nasty, and question your integrity and motives. I suspect that this diversity among members/posters is probably typical of most forums. I would sincerely hope that you do not let the few who attack you, taint your view of the majority of us, and you will continue to participate in the exchange of ideas and information.

Up on top today, with Mt. Assiniboine poking through at 11,765’.

I'm halfway through my A&P program and I like sheetmetal so I decided to do a very minor owner produced part project. My 201 yoke switch covers (blanks) needed a refresh so I thought I'd just do a quick strip and repaint. Once I stripped them I wasn't happy with the condition of the old aluminum so decided to fabricate new ones. I tried .051" 2024T3 as well as .064" 2024T3 and 7075T6....I think I like the 7075 best. First photo below show the old switch covers as installed. And the other two photos compare the old stripped covers (left) to the new covers that are almost ready for paint (still need a little more hand sanding). I'll etch primer tomorrow and hopefully paint Sunday. Will post final pictures when I can.

Couple thoughts. First, anyone who viewed Mooney's financials should NOT comment. They are in possession of MNPI and can be sued for tortious interference especially now that Privates are being solicited. Second, this LASAR plan fails within a year or maybe never even gets off the ground (see what I did there?). Based on the following. Third, LASAR's video showed lack of sophistication and I don't mean just the terrible production quality. The message was neither crisp nor enlightening. I get we are only talking single digit millions here, but as a 30 year Investment Banker who's seen a lot of presentations over the lifecycle of a company, that video was outright a waste of time. This latest message takes the lack of sophistication further (announced the need for funding AFTER you announce the deal). That's way backwards but in line with how they described the take over of LASAR; no real plan and no foresight to the issues. Fourth, it doesn't matter whether you consider yourself a lender or equity holder by paying the upfront subscription or entering into the Privates. The result is the same, you're equity given the lack of collateral based on some of the materials from LASAR and the 1st stage pitch distributed here several years ago. I bet NOLV is at best $500,000. Fifth, any creditor can involuntarily declare Mooney bankrupt should the amount of debt meet the limit (limit routinely increases but is surprisingly small). However, I would bet there's no debt here. Mooney couldn't even get terms on payables (a low bar) according to Mooney's hobbyist CEO. Also, unlikely any equity investor converted to debt (its usually the other way around). Lack of debt actually makes a buyout here easier. The change could just be a paperwork exercise with as little as $1 being exchanged. Ask Bombardier how that would work. They did it in 2017. Last, this train wreck was predictable years ago when the latest ownership group came in. A lawyer as a CEO rarely works (Frank Blake at HD being the rare exception). A lawyer who has no operating experience in any manufacturing much less aerospace (the issues here are not specific to the aerospace industry), funded by friends and family money, and wants to do a turnaround as a hobby? Well, that's laughable. Hey, I get it though, sounds cool at parties to say I am the CEO of an airplane manufacturer. I've had to make tough credit decisions. I've funded into companies that eventually went BK. I've negotiated forbearance agreements. An investment decision on LASAR's "scheme" isn't a close decision. It's just terrible. Btw, my name is William P. Rutkowski in Atlanta. Anyone is welcome to look up my credentials in LinkedIn. NOTE, THIS IN NO WAY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INVESTMENT ADVICE. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR FINACIAL ADVISOR BEFORE INVESTING.

AFAIK, only the big Continental ones take off with boost pump off. The Lycoming- equipped have boot pump on for takeoff.

You are completely WRONG! AirVenture is the most organized event you will ever attend. They have their act together with more than 5,000 volunteers who joyfully are there to assist. Plenty of tables, many with umbrellas surround the food vendors, plenty of food vendors all over the venue, although expensive. There are many, many port-potties scattered at convenient places all over the venue and they are maintained throughout the day multiple times. No lines for them. No Smell to them. For over 650,000 people the grounds are kept immaculately clean. Traffic is as well organized as possible with "In" direction in the morning and reversed to "Out" direction in the afternoon. I will say, though, that it is a pain in the butt. Police man the main entry roads and control the traffic lights, and volunteers direct traffic once you gain entry. Busses are provided from the parking areas and have priority with their own special lane. The venue is huge and there are multiple trams that have various routes throughout the grounds. Anybody who is anybody in aviation is there hawking their wares in 4 large hangars. The new airplanes from the big and small companies are displayed outside. There is fly-in airplane camping parking surrounding all the runways; enough for the 10,000 airplanes that fly in. The RV area is like a city in itself. The "cream of the crop" air traffic controllers from around the country control all of the air traffic. There are forums in the forums area every day given by many well know speakers. The FAA also has a building and has seminars all day long. If you're a lifetime member of EAA, the Oasis on the front line has all kinds of snacks and tables for free in an air conditioned building. If you are a donor you step up even more and have access to the PHP house, that also has even better snacks than the Oasis. EAA hosts almost a dinner there from 4-6 Monday, Tuesday. and Wednesday. If you're a donor or exhibitor, AOPA puts on a great free breakfast and has an outstanding dinner at the Waters house of the Lake on Tuesday evening. Hundreds of people show up to that. As you get older, 4 wheel scooters are available to rent for the day and have enough charge to get you anywhere on the grounds. Many years ago I almost laughed at the thought of ever needing one but, alas, for the past year and now again for this year I've needed to rent one for my special person. Flying in with the Mooney Caravan was fun for a number of years. The camaraderie is great. However, I park in Madison and drive up to Oshkosh because I don't want to park on the grass for the week, and I found that by the time everyone had debriefed and I got set to fly back to Madison, the thunderstorms often started building. So I haven't flown in with them for the past few years. And then there is the pure adventure of traveling more than half way across the country, stopping at places you probably never would have seen, meeting people you never would have met (I've got some great stories of people I've met going to Oshkosh at fuel stops). This is year 25 and counting. I hope I've conveyed a little bit of the excitement of AirVenture, It's a lifetime experience not to be missed.

Hi all, I've gone back to lurking these past few months due to a problem with losing GPS signal since the annual in January, which seriously cramped my flying (and my general mood). But I'm happy to say that the cause of the problem has been identified and is no longer an issue So now I'm off on an adventure with the legend himself, @kortopates... I'm so very stoked! Yesterday we flew via Lyon, France to Brugge, Belgium. Today we made the trek across the English Channel and southern England (one photo shows the white cliffs of Dover) to St. Mary's Scilly island with a fuel stop at Land's End. The guy in St. Mary's tower let us do a tour of the Scilly islands before landing on RWY 14 which is 695 meters long (2280 feet). Tonight we will decide where to go next. So awesome!!

CAM LOBE CORROSION? A DULL TALE OF 1200 HRS SAFE LYCOMING OPERATION Surface corrosion noted on a cam lobe after pulling a jug isn’t great, but in isolation it is a terrible reason to split a Lycoming case – it may need overhaul soon, or maybe not... My illustrative anecdote: >10 years ago, a newb pilot/owner buys an M20C with a 600hr SMOH O-360 that had spent some time sitting and needs a little cylinder work at the outset. After pulling a couple jugs, the well-known Mooney A&P/IA who did the prebuy finds surface corrosion on multiple internal components and even some pitting on cam lobes but normal lobe height and lifter faces. The A&P sends pics of the extensive pitting and says newb owner you must overhaul. The collective “wisdom” of the internet also says that the newb pilot/owner/doctor must overhaul and asserts that he is just another vertical-tailed doctor killer-buying sucka. His demise in a smoking crater seems likely to all because he is arrogant enough not to accept A&P or internet guidance without asking questions. The sucka pilot then takes deep dive into authoritative literature by Mike Busch and others, learning that (1) there is zero danger in running it until cam/lifter truly spalls and (2) it’s easy to monitor the situation through the filter so that once it happens, further damage to the engine can be prevented. Armed with real knowledge, the arrogant newb pilot/owner pushes back hard against the A&P/IA, getting him to sign it off under some duress. Though this newb’s demise seems imminent to all, he flies regularly, uses Camguard, and keeps engine dry in winter by heating it uniformly and continuously. He also cuts and scrutinizes his filter nervously at every oil change, finding nothing for many hundreds of hours. He gets a good engine monitor, learns how to use a borescope, and learns spark plug maintenance, allowing him to monitor the top end as well. He does oil changes and oil analysis religiously but ultimately quits oil analysis after learning enough about it to conclude that it’s utterly useless for real world maintenance decisions on this engine. Finally, after flying for another 1200 hours over 10 years and accumulating ample instrument time, he notices a subtle but consistent decrement in TAS on recent flights. At the next oil change, he finds ample ferrous shavings in the filter (pic). He had become lazy recently and was only cutting every other filter, and so he pulls the previous filter off the shelf and also finds similar metal, realizing that he flew about 80-90 hours with cam lobe(s) and lifter face(s) coming apart. He flys it one last time to a major engine shop 3hrs away for overhaul, marveling at the aircraft’s fast and smooth performance during this serene flight and wondering if he is making the right decision. At overhaul, the suspected cam/lifter spalling is confirmed, and metal shavings are flushed from the oil cooler and governor. The prop is IRAN’d/resealed, and the hub is found to be in fine condition, as is the crankshaft. He’s finally back in the air and still (mostly) enjoying the continuous learning involved in the Mooney ownership journey….

The first video on our RTW trip is online. It’s quite short and provides an overview:

Hey all! My name is Philip, and I fly Dassault Falcon jets and run a mobile A&P business based out of the upper Midwest. I picked up a unique little E model Mooney as another service rig for the business, so figured I'd join and get involved with this awesome community! This E model is unique because one of the past owners put a lot into making it just like a mini-J model. It has every offered speed mod, a beautifully done original 201 paint scheme, electric gear, one piece belly, wingtips, speed brakes, and much more. The most interesting part is that it received a single aircraft approval STC for a Lycoming IO-360-C1D6 engine, which uses a 6.3 and 8th order counterweight on the crankshaft, just like the J model engines (A1B6D & A3B6D). Finishing it off, the engine is mated with a round-tip J model propeller and spinner. I've been a long-time viewer of this group, and the content here has helped tremendously when working on client's aircraft. I'm glad to now be a part of this group and hopefully I'll be able to contribute even just a fraction of the value and knowledge that is held within this community!

For years in manufacturing when a company was well-capitalized they produced parts that had a high-turn rate and sold them to their dealers to stock, taking the burden off of the manufacturer to carry 100% of the inventory and spreading that inventory through the dealer network. To be a dealer, or in this case an MSC, you had to stock parts. Once the machines in Kerrville are set up to produce a certain part number you can get some economy of scale by producing enough of that part to get your cost per unit down. Then if they could load up the supply chain to the dealers that would help take care of cash flow to keep the overhead paid. In my opinion, the MSCs should be the ones investing in Mooney. If they believe in the future of this, as an example, if 10 of the bigger MSCs put in $10,000-$15,000 each to get the ball rolling, to me that would make a lot more sense than individual owners who don't even need a part at the moment putting money on deposit. Smaller MSCs could put in a lesser amount but wouldn't get as favorable of a price structure. It wouldn't kill an MSC to keep some often-sold parts in stock. As @Schllc mentioned, start with the most often requested part and go down the list and build up the supply chain and sell it off to the dealers to stock. The risk for the investment goes down to nothing once the MSC has the parts they've paid for in stock. Mooney isn't alone in the supply chain being broken. Every shop now servicing any make, is used to ordering every part that they need once they know they need it. By not stocking parts dealers pay an atrocious price per part, and pass that and the shipping cost on each part on to the consumer, all contributing to make General Aviation very expensive for the average person, all while the airplane sits there waiting on parts clogging up the maintenance chain.

I had never used a rotary (corded electric Harbor Freight 6" orange pad with MaGurire's Polish), but after watching a few videos on YouTube, took the plunge. I did the whole plane in 3 hours. The difference is amazing (effort required and results) compared to traditional waxing with paste polish. I did this dry. I would do about an 18" square section at a time. I would put five pea size dots of product directly on pad and tap area I was going to work. I would do five passes with the wheel only on poser setting 2. I have a debugging surface prep product that I would spray and wipe with a micro cloth to remove any remaining polish. I didn't want a LOT of cutting of paint, but the wheel and clother did have some blue from the buffing. The shine was great. I attached a couple of photos. VERY pleased that I tried the technique. I had ZERO issues with any "removal of paint from rivets or swirling". The waffle pads work excellent. I used same pad for entire plane. I only did top and side surfaces. NO BELLY . I will do this a couple times a year going forward.

@Aaviationist I don't have a dog in this fight at all, but I have seen too many good and productive participants on this forum leave because of personal attacks. Yes, tons of people have differing opinions and that can be healthy and hopefully sharing these differing opinions, we learn. Personal attacks are different that just having differing opinions and are not welcome here. Please change the tone before more people leave.

I sold my Cessna to a guy named Carl. He is building time for a flying job. He was out of control last night.

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

Went up for some therapy after work yesterday.

This thread has degraded quickly. I don't know Dan Gryder personally but I know two people that do. Those folks would likely admit that he can be a blowhard, a provocateur, a troll, and any number of other pejoratives one can imagine. However, in discussions with folks who know Dan, I have never inferred that he is an idiot. To the contrary, he’s been described as a pretty talented aviator that is often his own worst enemy. I personally find his style off-putting. I also find some of his public statements needlessly antagonistic. Some of those statements have resulted in litigation, and likely deservedly so. What is also off-putting is all the name calling and piling on by people who've likely never met the man. Anyone here who knows Dan personally, feel free to correct me with a personal anecdote. Those of you who want to continue beating this horse every time Dan posts something you hate should consider starting a new thread where you can have a Gryder hatefest, circle jerk. @Freddb34 did not post a lot on this forum, I am saddened that his final thread is tied to all of this Gryder bickering.

I got finished reading all of Mr Baber's posts in his recent thread on here regarding the prior engine issue. He sounds like a thoughtful and humble guy who handled the event carefully and intelligently. The sediment in the left tank sounded like the culprit, the approach to addressing it seemed fairly meticulous. It's very sad his efforts and those of his A&P weren't enough to keep him safe. What an awful tragedy. RIP Also f*ck the folks who immediately want to point the finger at him without knowing sh*t.

Due to the significant pitch up when flaps are retracted in Mooneys, especially the long body Mooneys, I have taught to retract the gear 1st, trim down, then retract the flaps when going around. I always taught the student that the drag of both were comparable. While most POHs say retract the flaps 1st, in this case I think safety is more important in my opinion than an incorrectly written POH. Finally, in the Acclaim Type S the POH does have the gear being retracted before the flaps in a go around. I recently saw a YouTube video of a recent test conducted in a Bonanza on the given topic. For the Bonanza the conclusion was that the flaps should be retracted first. I decided to run the test on my airplane, a Bravo M20M. At 4,500 feet I slowed the plane to a steady 105 knots ( 5 knots below maximum flap extension speed), engaged the autopilot in altitude hold mode and extended the gear. The plane stabilized at 87 knots for a drag reduction of 18 knots. I retracted the gear and returned to a stabilized 105 knots. I then extended full flaps and waited see where the airspeed would stabilize. It stabilized at---87 knots, the same as with the gear extended. Demonstrated conclusion: Confirming my earlier statement, for safety reasons, the gear should be retracted while trimming down before the flaps are retracted in a Mooney go around.

I don’t want to talk about it any more….

Background - it came up in another thread last year that new factory-style Mooney baggage door seals were hard to source. The Knots 2 U ones sold on Spruce and other places are made of cheap weatherstripping foam, are not factory style, and instead of attaching to the door, they go on the airframe, and therefore get scraped/damaged easily as you load and unload baggage from the plane. I'd been through several of those, with the last one not even lasting two years, when I complained here. @Gee Bee Aeroproducts stepped up, I believe bought a salvage baggage door, and manufactured a new factory-style seal out of modern high-quality silicone. I think I bought the first one. Shame on me, it took me a few months to get around to getting it on the plane, and a couple more months to post this, but it's there now. Report: The seal is great. Arrived with enough seal material to make a little more than two of them and a nice clear 2-part epoxy to glue it on. It makes a much tighter fit than the foam seal did, such that I had to lubricate the lock pins to get it to close. At first I was worried it was too tight, but after a little grease on the pins, it closes smoothly and is very snug. Before, the latch felt like it could pop open in flight if not locked. Now, I still lock it, but there's no way it's coming open unintentionally if I were to forget. I've never had a factory style seal, so I'm not sure, but suspect it's working as intended now. I also never had problems with water intrusion before, but I'm certain it seals better and tighter now. It's been on for a couple of months and has not compressed or loosened much, which is perfect. It's safe and out of the way on the door and I don't expect it to get damaged or need replacing any time soon. Thanks Guy for making a great new product for our Mooneys. A few pics below.

Yes Commander 112/114 support survives as Commander Aircraft Corp. (CAC). But they have had a very troubled and precarious existence that in many ways is similar to Mooney but with a couple big differences. Commander Aircraft Corp (CAC) produced the 114 and 114TC until 2002 when they filed bankruptcy and ceased production. Three years later in 2005, in a bankruptcy auction, a group of 50 owners named Commander Premier Aircraft Corporation (CPAC) paid $1.7 million for the FAA type certificates, as well as all jigs, tooling and other manufacturing assets. They had aspirations of restarting production in addition to support of the fleet. They moved the assets from the Oklahoma plant and to Cape Girardeau, Missouri where the City stupidly provided incentives. Things did not go well. They never got needed funding and were in debt to creditors. In 2009 they sold to a Montreal based owner named Aero-Base Inc. Creditors had to agree to discounts to get the deal done much like a voluntary bankruptcy reorganization. By 2011, the new owner of CPAC could not get needed financing and Commander Premier Aircraft Corp filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. Three years later in 2014, the assets of CPAC were sold in a bankruptcy auction to a Chinese national, Ms. Borui Mao, for only $650,000. The new company was named Commander Aircraft Corp (CAC) again. The assets were moved from Missouri to Norman, OK into 2 leased hangars. In 2019 CAC announced that they would invest $8 million in a new manufacturing facility to build new 115/115TC. Nothing ever became of it. I don't think that the 115/115TC was ever approved. CAC continues to sell parts and provide services. The last Commander was built in 2002 by the original CAC. HOME | commanderaircraft Compare this to Mooney: Mooney Int'l is still a corporation with the balance sheet financial liabilities and the off balance sheet liabilities of past aircraft and aircraft part production (18 years going back to everything made since 2007). The so called "new owners", U.S. Financial LLC,, only bought 80% of the company. 20% is still owned by Meijing Group. It is not apparent that the new owners invested any capital into the company. It is more likely that they were looking to get rich with a quick paper flip of the company but are now stuck like a tar baby (remember the Power Point they were using to shop the company?) The main difference between Commander and with the current Mooney situation is that Commander was sold as a "sale of assets" in bankruptcy not once but twice. There were no liabilities assumed by the new buyer(s). (i.e. it was a liquidation of the company twice). Mooney was last reorganized in bankruptcy during 2001-2004. Now we have the following situation LASAR has some unclear deal to manage?/fund inventory?/ take-over? parts fulfillment for Mooney. LASAR's parts guru, Dan Riesland, is located in California and not at LASAR's Oregon home base. Mooney's tech guru, Frank Crawford, who seems to be the glue holding Kerrville support together is in Kerrville With the change, headcount (and hence knowhow), in Kerrville will continue to shrink Don Maxwell posted on Facebook that the Mooney Int'l financials in Kerrville cannot be supported by part sales alone. Three (3) years after the LASAR ownership change and move from California to Oregan, LASAR is still trying (struggling?) to get its PMA's and STC's approved and to market Brett Stokes highlights this in a July 2, 2025 Facebook post He also highlights and promotes that LASAR provides service and support for "Cessna, Beechcraft, Piper and more" - so LASAR's focus is not just Mooney. The Vintage Mooney section is full of posts of how many times LASAR has been called and emailed asking to provide 40:1 gears with no movement. LASAR may be well intentioned, but costs and logistics may overwhelm them quickly - perhaps they already are. From the comments/posts there seems to be a feeling by owners that LASAR will do more to order in quantity and keep larger inventories. That takes capital which no-one (especially the "new owners" US Financial LLC and not even the MSC's which could stock parts as they used to do) seems to be interested in or able to do. So we think (hope) that LASAR has deep pockets? Perhaps the best way forward is for Mooney to be forced into bankruptcy. IThat will be painful and destructive to owners in the short term but could clear the way for the assets to be sold for pennies on the dollar to someone that will just focus on parts manufacturing and supply (and not any dreams of new models, weight increases, landing gear mods or anything). It would get rid of the Chinese and would get rid of US Financial. It would free the IP up for the new owner/supplier with no liabilities.

Spokane to Carson City for a visit with the parents/grandparents. 15,000’ most of the way at 175ktas and 10.4gph. Awesome airplanes! IFR and had to stay low for icing across Washington, but Real pretty descending across Reno near Pyramid Lake and Blackrock “airport”.

My advice would be to chalk it up to experience and never go back, and explain to them exactly why you won’t be back. No need to raise voices or argue just let them know that you expect a good job and they are apparently unable to deliver that, so you will be taking your business somewhere else.

Too soon?

That’s a really big Bonanza