Jamie

Looks like this one: http://www.concordebattery.com/flyer.php?id=37 It's the RG-35A. I got the slightly larger capacity RG-35AXC just because. Got it from aircraft spruce: http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/catalog/elpages/rg35a.php?clickkey=13706 (This assumes you have a 'C', like your profile says.)

Go higher...Lots higher. Get out of indian country. Higher == faster.

Heh. Maybe the gear handle should be labeled "MOONEY" - "CESSNA".

Niiiice.

...which is why that CGR-30P is starting to really grow on me. Replaces the tach and is -primary- for several gauges. I'm stuck on the whole "certified primary" thing because apparently that's why my current engine monitor (GEM 600) reads cold on cylinder 3. It couldn't replace the factory CHT strip gauge and so I'm stuck with a "piggy back" probe. screw that. I want that -gone-.

Nope. Not the gear, anyway. But the flaps...

Bookmarked. Definitely asking about this at the annual. I have two different strobes apparently. I forget the names (again) but one is no longer made (Hoskins?). I had serious envy for another mooneyspacer's plane with LED everything (he posted a video months ago), but got sticker shock (I know, I know... I'll get used to airplane prices at some point) and forgot about it.

This is awesome. Just like the Medical situation, current legal environment puts pilots in an adversarial role with the FAA, reducing safety. Gear up landings, especially, do not seem to benefit from additional training. It's not that the pilot didn't know.... "Gee? You mean I have to put the gear down every time?" This is also, imho, how the current cost of aviation stuff in general decreases safety. Why do I not have a little radar thingy on the belly that senses the ground and gives me a gear warning... or just drops the gear? Why do I have this manifold pressure hack instead?

If I were a big company, wouldn't I want to sell 10000 units at $5000 instead of 1000 units at $15,000? Granted, those are totally made up, but I know there's a bunch of glass cockpit stuff that'll never be inside my airplane at current prices. So, I'm effectively out of the market and represent latent demand at a lower price. In what way does the current situation benefit the manufacturers? (It probably does, and I just don't see it.)

I didn't have to do that. But. I don't have it with me (it's still in the plane) but the registration from the previous owner is still in there along with the new one. I seem to remember verbage on it about how it's supposed to be returned to the FAA in the event of a sale, signed by the original owner. I remember, because I thought this was odd and asked the broker about it. Apparently this either isn't done in practice, or I'm don't remember correctly. It could be on the -state- registration (ohio was previous state, and apparently they require a separate registration). What does the current registration (the paper kept in the plane) say?

Would a fire extinguisher help much at all? I know some people keep them in the cockpit, but I've never understood exactly why. (I'm not saying they're not useful, but I'm not sure what to plan for with regard to size, type, etc.)

thanks, y'all. I definitely want something more than I have now, and JPI seems to be in a distance second place from attitude alone.

Well before I could afford an airplane, I was "into" astronomy. I have a fairly nice 'scope, though ancient (state of the art 1998). Anyway. The problem has always been finding dark skies, especially for astrophotography. Seems to me that if (and I'm not sure I can) fit this in the plane, I ought to be able to fly someplace darker than where I am now. Suggestions? You guys in the West have it good. I'm more interested in a few hours around HSV, but I'd be interested in reports from whereever. Any other like minded astronomical aviators?

JPI is really making a name for themselves...a bad one. M20F, how many hours did the install take?

old thread, rising from the dead... It's hard to believe all the stuff you get for $5k. Anyone else have one of these? Like it? I'd really like to put something like this in during the next annual.

....pop the speed brakes.... (Yes, this is probably trolling the "if you plan your emergency descent properly you won't need them " crowd.)

Someone questioned the utility of losing weight as a viable means of increasing useful load. I merely posted some examples showing the possibilities. (Those came from google images, but I can get simliar with a camera phone in the local Wally World in, like, 10 minutes. It's Alabama... you can't swing a dead cat without hitting suitable subjects.) ...back on topic... I have a 430. I think it's a 430W, but I'm not doing IFR stuff yet so I haven't looked.

...how do you tell if a 430 is a 430 or a 430W?

I diagree. Mooney needs to get on board the Fat Acceptance train. Aviation advocacy groups are laboring under the misapprehension that flying is too expensive, when in fact aircraft are simply too small. They need to be roomier and capable of lifting an average American.

It's fairly well known that that a large part of the cost comes from liability and FAA certification requirements. When -I- assert that it ought to be possible to build a plane for less, I'm not wishing it to be true, and not disagreeing with the people who's job it is to determine if it is true in the current regulatory environment. I'm saying that, absent ridiculous and arbitrary man made law, it should be possible to build a plane for less... a lot less. Consider homebuilts an existence proof that inexpensive high performance aircraft are possible. I do, at least.

Encountered IMC in flight. I'm not sure what's not to get. It was just valley fog, probably and it probably burned off soon after I turned around. But about 20 miles SE of HSV, I encountered a layer that had cumulus at 5000, and and I couldn't see the ground underneath. Not knowing how far it went, and not being able to see over it, I decided not to risk it. That, and when I opened my flight plan, the guy said "IMC along route of flight".

Until I win a big-ass lottery and can drop $40k on a new engine for this airplane while I fly one of my other airplanes, I'll continue to be "terrified" of grass, and proudly so.

May sound dumb, but I wouldn't buy a plane with a relief tube. Ick. That's as far as my mental processing gets before "ick". I also wouldn't want to clean it, or have it maintained, or share it with passengers,or... Bombers needed them back in the day, I guess, but now there are better alternatives. Like, my favorite, planning short legs to take care of biological interrupts.

anecdata: I was looking at several types before I bought the mooney. The cirrus was appealing because it was fast and had a modern interior. The parachute was kind of a "meh.. intererestng" thing -until- I found out about the mandatory repack interval and cost. Owning an airplane is expensive enough without that. http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/cirrus_caps_parachute_rocket_repack_cost_208212-1.html

I found the app for this site while browsing for aviation stuff when I first got my phone: http://www.socialflight.com/ More than just airshows, goes down to breakfasts, poker runs, etc. It pisses me off I didn't make it to the WoG airshow. I was IN THE AIR and had to turn back because I don't have an instrument rating. Dammit.