Hector

Wow, was going to leave early this morning and fly in but something came up and had to cancel. RIP

I may try to go Friday.

If they are not bright enough, then you could try plain white LED's that are even brighter and see if that works. Should be ok i think since you are retaining the red lens. Let us know if it works.

Did the conversion today per Dan's instructions. I'm pretty happy with the results!

Earlier this year while I was there I used Fontainebleau and their charge for a Mooney was twice what they charged for a C-172. I asked the lady at the FBO why and she did not know. She was just reading from a list at the front desk. I told her my M20C was no bigger than a C-172 and pointed to my airplane parked right outside the door. She gave me the C-172 rate. Next time I was down there they tried to charge me the "Mooney" rate again and I told them I had previously been charged the C-172 rate. They gave me the lower rate. Sometimes you have to put your CB hat on to save some bucks

Yves, next time you are down there use KTMB (Tamiami Airport). It is more centrally located in Miami, caters to business/general aviation, full precision approaches if you need them. The FBO I use there is Air Sal. Nice folks, $15 a day if you stay overnight and the self serve pump is right next to them (currently $4.95). No ramp fees or any other charges. There is a Hertz rental car agency across the street from the airport that I use typically for $25-30 a day. Just call them and they'll pick you up. If you use the Hertz at one of the FBOs at the airport they charge you twice that amount.

Alex, welcome aboard. I'm based at Craig, one of five Mooney's there. One C (mine), a B and an E (my hangar neighbors), an F and an MSE. We try to help out young guys like you, specially if they like Mooney's. We routinely go out for the proverbial $100 burger so if you want to come along just PM me and you can tag along. You might even learn something .

Flew with it today. I have a Stratus 2 and it all worked quite nicely. Very usable. Even the altitude ribbon was only 100 feet off which is not bad at all. I only wish it worked in my iPhone 6. I have an iPad mini and like to look at the approach plates in full screen mode. Split screen during the approach is not desirable. Would much prefer to have SV running in full screen mode on the iphone with a RAM mount next to me.

There are currently over one million Chinese millionaires. Yes, there are lots of folks there that can afford to fly. If the government opens up the airspace an private flying takes hold, Watch Out!!

Glad you mentioned that Hank. I just bought an Ashlight and was wondering if they were any good. Just received it today and was going to install it tomorrow morning. Don't fly much at night, but last flight a couple of weeks ago could hardly see the kneeboard to write down a clearance.

No worries, I figured as much. Besides, looks like my hangar neighbor next door will be able to use them.

Dan, thanks for posting this mod. I actually purchased the kit from shortwingpiper a few days ago thinking it would be a simple solution but it was not. The overhead panel in my 67C may be a little different but even after enlarging the opening with a Dremel tool as suggested I still could not get the lights positioned correctly. I started thinking about how to modify the existing torpedo lights to LED, but thanks to your post I will not have to reinvent the wheel.

Left hand on the yoke, right hand for everything else.

The GPS information being sent to Foreflight will now come from the transponder's certified WAAS GPS, not the uncertified WAAS GPS built into the Stratus. The only thing coming from the stratus unit will be the AHRS information and of course the WIFI signal to relay GPS, traffic, and weather info coming from the transponder.

The Bermuda Triangle has shifted, probably due to global warming [emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]

Don, the attitude indicator with SV has ribbons on the side displaying altitude, ground speed, and rate of climb. Bear in mind these are all GPS based but pretty good nevertheless

The original stratus does not have AHRS so you will get synthetic vision but it will not show your attitude. It will show you straight and level at all times. The stratus 2 has AHRS so it will display synthetic vision in a real attitude indicator.

Just downloaded synthetic vision (SV) on the iPad. Will try it out tomorrow. However, I can't seem to figure out how to get SV on the iPhone 6. I was hoping I could use SV in full screen mode on the iPhone with my stratus 2. Maybe the SV product is only for the iPad?

As a structural engineer I would not purchase an aircraft with significant damage/deformation to primary structure. If the primary structure (spar) showed evidence of bending/deformation and was not replaced it is likely to now have residual stresses that could lead to problems down the road. The combination of normal operating stresses plus the residual stresses MAY still be low enough not to cause fatigue issues for many thousands of hours, but the problem is that you just don't know and that would bother me to no end.

If my FBO had them I would never use self-serve!

Good info. At a minimum it tells me that if I ever detect high CO levels in the cockpit I should lean as much as possible until I can safely get on the ground. My carbureted C will not run completely LOP, but I can get 3 of the 4 cylinders LOP before it starts running rough. That would hopefully buy me enough time.

My uncle owned a movie theater in Cuba. After the revolution, the party used the movie theater on the weekends for committee meetings and such. My uncle was still expected to pay all maintenance cost, utilities, and taxes on the building. Unable to show any movies on the weekends, the theater became a financial drain and with no way to unload it he had no choice but to turn it over to the state. That is how it's done!

They absolutely do and no problem at all seeing the instruments including digital read outs (they are not polarized). Make sure they are the transition lenses that do not depend on UV to darken. These are relatively new is my understanding. No problem at all with the iPad. Just make sure they are not polarized.

For me it's not a choice. I wear glasses. I like transitions. The new transitions have come a long ways. They darken significantly more and become clear quite fast. They also darken inside your car even if your glass has a UV coating.

Welcome aboard. By now you have probably figured out that buying an airplane on a budget is all about compromises. For your mission the ideal Mooney (within reach of your budget) is probably an F model but finding one in the 40's will be tough unless you are willing to put a lot of work into it and accept a lot of shortcomings. In your search no doubt you will see some F's that are perfect for you. If you can stretch your budget without breaking the bank then go for it, but if you have to overreach then be careful. You don't want to end up as BigTex described. a C/E are not ideal for routinely carrying 4 people. It's certainly capable, I had 4 people and a small dog in my 67 C last weekend, but unless the folks in the back are small they will not be comfortable on a long trip. In the other hand, your family appears to be on the small side, AND you should be able to pick up a nice C/E that is IFR certified, with a basic IFR GPS, and a basic working A/P in the 40's. See if you can get a ride in a C/E from someone, and better yet, have your wife or kids come along and sit in the back. It may be that you have to break up that long trip into two days, but if you can make it work, you can end up with reasonably priced, reasonably equipped Mooney that is easy to maintain.