Hector

I have a 67 C with a little over 5000 hours on the airframe and 950 on a factory remanufactured engine. I purchased her two years ago from a friend and I've put around 150 hours. Good IFR platform and I found it very easy to fly and I don't gave near the experience that you have. Insurance company insisted on 10 hours of dual and it was well worth it specially since I found a CFI that owns a mooney as well. Tips and advice I got from him were on the spot. Love the manual gear. It will take you a few hours to learn how to do it in one continuous fluid motion but after that it is simple to operate and maintain. As others have said, a good pre-buy is really important and in Texas you have some of the best Mooney experts in the country to help you with that. The high hours in my bird did not concern me at all as Mooneys are built tough. Mine had always been kept in a hangar and was corrosion free and very well maintained. I do owner assisted annuals and I'm getting ready to do my second. No surprises on the first annual and I even insisted on removing all the interior panels to check all the steel welded frame. I typically cruise between 7-10K and do 140 Kts at 9.2 gallons per hour. Not too bad on 180 HP. Reliability to date has been excellent and I could no be happier with my bird. Take your time and find a good one, and by all means do some research here. Lots of folks with lots of Mooney knowledge. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Mini on the yoke works best for me. Good for approach plates and everything else. Just for the heck I did try mounting it with a suction cup various places on windscreen and side windows. No matter where I placed it, it always seemed to obstruct the view even if just a bit (unacceptable for me). In the end the yoke worked well for me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yeap, Scott beat you to the punch Bob. For some reason I thought the approved three bladed props for the Mooney were a little shorter than the two bladed props Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Wow, stand corrected then! I'm surprised. Thought the blades would be a little shorter given your swinging three of them. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Use whatever works for you. I can tell you that this works if properly applied. before i used this I would get a few drops of water in my feet while flying through rain. Since i went to this I have never had water intrusion into the avionics bay again and I have flown through a lot of rain. Coming back from south florida a few weeks ago I was in the rain for over one hour. Not a drop!! I got sick of dealing with the sticky goo. It made a mess every time I opened those panels and if you did not reapply again inevitably you end up with a leak somewhere. I have no doubt that it works, its just too much work fro me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

MooneyBob, one advantage of your three bladed prop is that is has more ground clearance than the two bladed props. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I was not thinking in those terms alone. Yes agree anyone can repaint and repair stuff, but not a lot of folks have the resources and engineering staff to actually develop improved parts/products for our aging fleet. They could do a lot with that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Agree completely. I just don't know if Mooney can survive on upper end Ovations and Acclaims alone. Lets face it, these aircraft are going to be pushing $1M. How many can they sell here? Is there no room in the market for a new J? I've heard the argument before that there really isn't that much difference in cost for Mooney in building a J vs an Ovation but I think they need to figure out a way to offer something that is more financially viable for folks. New J's or a rebuild/refurbish program might bring in more business. Then again, heard on the news today that China now has over one million millionaires. Maybe Mooney does not even need the US market anymore. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Home Depot. Works pretty well. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I have a C with the hook type latch at the top. The only two times it has come open in flight where both when I let passengers close the door and obviously I did not check it properly. This all happened right after I purchased the aircraft. After those two incidents and a few incidents of passengers slamming the door to close it, I decided that was the end of that. Now I am the only person closing the door in my Mooney. By the way, one of those times I did manage to close the door in flight (slow flight). Since I started closing the door have not had a repeat incident. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I believe the man stated more than once this will be fully announced during SUN N FUN. Maybe you guys can wait ONE week. I'm sure there will be plenty of questions/discussion after it is officially announced in a VERY public forum, and if not, well then you'll have your answer too. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yes, you can certainly look at it that way and there is nothing wrong with that. In my spreadsheet I was trying to distinguish more between my typical every flight current draw (things that are on all the time regardless of flight conditions), vs worse case condition. I was interested in knowing what percentage of my lowly generator capacity I was using during a typical flight as that has a bearing on generator longevity. Since I switched to an LED landing light, for example, it is now on the continuous column because I use it nearly all the time. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Thanks Hank, I'll do some research. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yeap, other than the elevator, I see nothing there to get terribly excited about, and even the elevator ( assuming all surrounding structure was inspected and the damage is localized) is not something I would ground the aircraft over, but would require it be repaired at next annual. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Get another pilot to go with you. You fly, and he will help you navigate the NOTAM and help you look out for traffic. Teamwork, You can do this! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Anyone know if this mod is available for the C's. I have to say our chopped off wing tips do look ugly

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PGsbSj6Hb2k You can try to find one of these. I assume you have already considered folding bikes which can be pretty nice, take little space, and you don't have to deal with gasoline in a gas tank. I just happened to be reading another aviation forum today and someone posted this video. I don't know if there are modern folding scooters. Maybe someone here knows better. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Congrats. Very nice C indeed, and I envy your hangar, specially at that price. I pay more for one that does not look nearly as nice or as large as yours. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

During a Sun N Fun last year the AeroLed folks showed as side-by-side comparison with the Whelen light by aiming them both at the ceiling of the hangar. I have to say the AeroLed appeared to be quite a bit brighter. I'm happy with the Whelen I have though and given that I try to avoid flying at night as much as possible the lower cost was icing on the cake. If you routinely fly at night (or just want the brighter light) I would definitely take a closer look at the AeroLed Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

No, I think I will choose not to get dragged back into this stupid discussion. Specially not when we have reached the point of calling the Russians peace keepers and we are responsible for genocide and all the world's troubles. Too far apart to have any meaningful discussion. My apologies for taking the bait. I'm out. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Wow the Russians are piece keepers now. This just keeps getting better

I guess I'll reserve judgement here since I have not seen pictures of this damage, specially the dents. I will say though that I would be pretty ticked off if Mooney recommended re-skinning portions of the wing over minor dents that are routinely signed off by A&P's simply because the have determined there is no internal structural damage and they are aerodynamically inconsequential. As an aerospace engineer I have signed off more dents on military aircraft over the last 25 years that I care to remember. The easy/safe answer for Mooney is to say 'replace' but I would hope they care enough about their customers to give such dispositions due diligence. Again, not having seen the damage perhaps they did and their recommendation was based on sound engineering, but I don't know....

Another big advantage is that I now routinely use my landing light in congested airspace as it has little effect in my current draw. Not so with the 200 watt incandescent bulb.

I have the Whelen Parmetheus PAR 46 LED landing light and I like it.