IndyTim

First, thank you for your service! And welcome to MooneySpace. My son is currently training in T-38s at Columbus AFB. Nice to meet someone flying heavies. In response to your questions - Which is the best/most efficient model for a 1,000NM XC with no more than 2 passengers + bags. .... Ideally cost would be low - under 150k for sure but preferably under 100k. A Mooney is a good choice for this mission, especially since you aren't planning more than 2 passengers. If you really mean 3 people in the plane, then a 1000 mile leg is a long stretch non-stop. It's doable, but the chances that none of the three will need a pitstop are very low. If it's just you, and you've got a water bottle handy, then.... But if you want to do this non-stop (and fly faster than 145 kts), the 1000NM range will require an 1150 mile capacity with IFR reserves, so you're looking at either a newer Mooney, which would be over your budget, or one with extended tanks from Monroy. You can add the tanks if the plane you like doesn't have them, for about $10,000. http://www.monroyaero.com/lrupgd.html How does O2 work in an unpressurized airplane at 20K ft? I notice the M20's have pretty nice ceilings, is there a separate oxygen system and how hard is that to maintain? My 252 has factory 4-place oxygen. I use it a lot, since my plane (like all the turbo Mooneys) is most efficient up high. I've gone to FL230, where I saw TAS of 206 kts on a fuel burn of 10.7 gph. Lean of peak, obviously, although frequently I fly rich of peak. Way rich of peak. I use nasal cannulas up to FL180. I'm still looking for the right solution above FL180, since a mask is required there. Aerox makes a miked mask for $462. http://aerox.com/product/msk-aem-microphone-mask-assembly-small-faa-approved-tso-c103-rev-e I assume you know that you'll need a turbo bird to fly in the flight levels -- a 231 or 252, or Rocket 305 to keep it in your budget. However, I'll note that lots of private pilots do long cross countries in normally aspirated planes, at altitudes of 8000-15000 ft. In my case, I bought my 252 so I could go high, and I wanted to do that for several reasons: - speed - to get over weather - to get over mountains - to have more landing options if there is a problem in flight (although fire or O2 problems are a factor in the flight levels) In reality, it doesn't pay off to fly high all the time due to headwinds. Sometimes I'm at 8000 ft. I probably use O2 about 1/3 the time, but your missions might be different. You should really think about whether the high altitude is a requirement, since the turbo adds complexity and cost. If you really are trying to stay under $100k, then you can find a nice M20J or a 231 M20K (turbo) for that price. How safe are Mooney's? What should I be asking that I am not? Can you do any basic aerobatics in a Mooney? One of the things I really like about Mooneys are the strength of the airframe -- there has never been an inflight breakup of a Mooney (unlike the Bonanzas). The wing spar design is similar to that of the P-51, and is continuous from side-to-side. I have read (can't find the source right now), that the design was successfully tested to 12 positive G's, and that an owner's plane survived an inadvertent 14G load. Despite the strength, it's not an aerobatic plane, unless you consider lazy 8's and chandelles to be aerobatic maneuvers and then of course it can do those. The issue with the aerobatics is the spin prohibition, as has been mentioned. What you're not asking.... Have you been in a Mooney? If not, find one, and go for a ride. PM me if you're near Springfield, MO, Dallas, Memphis, or Columbus AFB and I can make that happen. Regarding the FIKI comments - I wouldn't call that a requirement... a FIKI bird is going to put you over budget unless it's got a runout engine. And then you're still over budget. If you're flying on personal missions, one hopes you've got flexibility and can choose not to go if you aren't sure you can avoid icing. And with in-cockpit weather from XM, and/or good pre-flight planning, you should be able to avoid icing conditions 99.5% of the time. And then get the heck out of them if you encounter them. That said, I'd like to have it and would have it on my plane if not for an unscrupulous installer, but that's another story. Good luck, ask every question you can think of, and hopefully we can help.

Yep, I'm interested.

Does anyone know if they offer a "pinch hitters" program, for spouses (spice?) and other interested parties?

I hope we get sufficient attendance - been looking forward to this for a few months. My local FAA examiner, Brian Morgan, is one of the PPP instructors. Branson should be lovely this time of year. If you're a fisherman, come early or stay late. Lots of bass in Table Rock, and Lake Taneycomo has world record browns and some really nice rainbow. And, of course, there is also Gaston's fly-in resort just a few minutes from Branson by air: http://www.gastons.com/

Anyone going? I am signed up, but I notice that MSF requires a minimum of 25 attendees. This would be my first PPP. Are they typically a "go"?

Thanks for asking. No, I have essentially written off the deposits. We've filed a claim against Airnet, and there is some small chance that they'll pull it out, make a bunch of money, and honor the pre-receivership customers. But I've been advised to not hold my breath. I've gone over this scenario in my mind a hundred times, if not more: what should I have done differently? Perhaps escrow the money, if the shop would have allowed that but it's clear after the fact that they didn't have the funds available to order the TKS kit, and again in hindsight, had run out of credit with CAV Aerospace. CAV Aerospace referred me to Airnet -- not sure how much CAV knew about the situation but clearly they should have known about Airnet's credit standing. The fact that Airnet accepted my very large deposits just 20 days before being taken into receivership sickens me - they knew it was coming but chose to plow forward, and endanger customer's funds. Again, I think what I should have done differently, and what I will do going forward, is pay for equipment in full, up front, so there are no issues with title. One hopes this doesn't happen with other shops in the future, but the problem is there is no way to tell what a shop's financial position is, unless they are publicly traded. There is no transparency.

Seriously??? Wtf?

Preliminary NTSB report is here: http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20140731X02420&key=1 She reports flaps and gear were down.

Done. This forum is an extremely important resource for any Mooney owner. That's for keeping it going!

Nice fish, Hector.

I passed my IFR checkride three weeks ago, almost 2 years to the day after passing my physical to get my temporary ticket, and a year after I bought N252BH. I use my plane for business, and, believe it or not, my wife had only been up with me once, and that was just for a short sightseeing jaunt on a calm summer evening. Last weekend, we did our first trip together, from Springfield MO to Defiance OH. As luck and Mother Nature would have it, there was quite a bit of weather to dodge, and we spent some time in the soup. We ended up having to deviate and come in behind a large convective system in order to get into Defiance, and landed in 1 mile visibility. I worked really hard to avoid turbulence, since my wife is very sensitive to it and I wanted our first trip together to be as enjoyable as possible. The ride up wasn't bad, with 50-knot tailwinds we made good speed but of course lost that advantage in having to go up, around, and then come back down into Defiance. On the way back home on Sunday, we fought that same wind which was then against us. I tried 10000, 8000, and even 6000 and settled on 8000 as the best compromise since it got pretty bumpy down low. Despite all this, it was a good trip for us both. My wife was a trooper, and only grabbed my arm once when we shot through the first set of cumulus clouds. After getting home, she commented that she doesn't really like to fly (which was honest), but that she really valued the convenience and time-effectiveness of having our own plane. There is no way we could have made a 1200-mile trip by car to see her family on a 2-day weekend, and have it not be miserable. So, it was all good.

It's a good thing it's a wrap, so it can come off. That would not be to my taste. However, I'm overjoyed to see a brand new Mooney (of any color) at Oshkosh.

It's unnerving, the number of accidents this summer. Period.

That would be an awfully tough place to put one down - it does look like, given the lack of positive v/s for whatever reason, she did a pretty good job. I'm wondering about the gear up decision, if there even was a decision (possibly not due to the short time frame). Would you have landed gear up or gear down in this scenario, if you had time to choose? Is the stopping distance shorter gear up or gear down with brakes?

Wondering why a 550-equipped M20L wouldn't be climbing like a bat of hell. She reported to the tower that she was full throttle. I can't really tell how much flap was still in the plane, from the pictures my estimate is 10% max. No speed brakes are deployed, but even my 220hp 252 will climb at 700-800fpm with speed brakes - I've tested it. Someone on beechtalk speculated that, if there were multiple bounces before go-around, possibly a bent prop. That would make the engine sound funny to those who know what it should sound like. The other possibilities would be excessively low RPM, or way lean on the mixture. I don't know if she had all the knobs forward, only that she reported full throttle. And of course, there is always fuel contamination but normally you see that shortly into a flight. She had already been up flying, and was attempting to land, so I think fuel contamination is a low-percentage possibility.

Pretty dramatic. I'm moved by the commitment and effectiveness (not to mention the bravery) of everyone who pulled the pilot and pax from the plane. http://www.10news.com/news/watch-good-samaritan-pulls-passenger-from-burning-plane-07302014

It's hard to tell from this picture, but it doesn't look like the flaps are down.

According to the FAA, she bounced the landing first, then crashed after. She was trying to execute a go-around and couldn't gain altitude so sounds like she did not configure correctly. Could have been one of several things - maybe she was still leaned out, and/or full flaps, and/or slow prop. Sounds like she had her mother on board - that's very sad.

On the Bay -- $850 for the pair, starting price. http://cgi5.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll

I also use the W&B in Xavion. It's quick, and always ready to go on my iPad.

I had Weber Aircraft install these new at 1790.1 AF hours. At 1816.7 hours we decided to do a complete engine overhaul and the build shop insisted on brand new mags. These mags have 26.6 hours on them - they didn't even get to their first timing check. $900 each. If you need a mag, and can find a better deal, you should take it. Can send pictures, but they look like brand new mags packaged in brand new Champion boxes. Nice, but not very interesting imo. Champion Slick pressurized magnetos Model 6324 Mag 1: Serial no: 13101794 Lag. 30 Rot. L Rev. E. Mag 2: Serial no: 13101795 Lag. 30 Rot. L Rev E.

I think it's a very good idea to have the procedures where they can be quickly accessed. But I'm talking about actively rehearsing them on a regular basis. I asked my son about this today and here is his response: "The EPOD (emergency procedure of the day) is quite useful, we cover one before every flight. The student briefs it and the instructor asks questions / quizzes on airspeeds or techniques for recovering. We have to maintain a log of when we went over each EP, and each one has to be seen within 60 days. Even after not seeing an EP for 30-45 days I notice I am much slower at remembering the proper recovery actions."