PMcClure

I fly a lot and am top tier on two airlines and have 2 cards that give points. I use the points for tickets for family. Based on actual use, I value the points at about $.015 per mile. They sure have made it more difficult to get perks but I still think the miles are worth it and better than cash back. The main reason is you can stack miles buy using bonus miles. I probably earn 2-3x the miles I spend or fly each year. So that makes the points worth $.03-$.045/mile.

Update - local guy repaired the wing tip and painted. I took the opportunity to have him touch up several other minor hanger rash and paint imperfections adn then clean, degrease, polish and ceramic coat the whole plane. I can say that I am happy again!

Personally, I would focus on the autopilot as the priority. I don't know the Century III at all, but can tell you that changing over from KFC200 to the GFC 500 was worth it and probably cost efficient given the cost to rebuild the old King servos. Without an autopilot, I wouldn't consider the plane IFR ready. So I suggest you plan that first and then prioritize the rest of your money. Replacing the vacuum driven AH/DG would be my next priority. In 17 years of flying, I have had more than 6 failures with vacuum system or related parts/instruments probably the same number of A/P servo failures plus a couple of A/P computer failures. A few of these failures in IMC. So far, the Garmin set-up (A/P and AHRS) have been rock solid except that Garmin has replaced the servos in my plane 2 times each under warranty without me asking.

What color is yours? I see a statement that “flat black is most durable”. I take to mean other colors are not durable.

Some real world costs: Overhaul and balance current 3 blade Hartzell steel prop: $4500 at factory +. freight 3-4 weeks. includes dynamic balancing. New Hartzell ASC11 Composite prop: $35,200 with STC and spinner. 16 weeks saves 20lbs. No trade in value, but maybe I could sell the current prop? New MT 4 blade composite: $24.500 delivered. in stock. Reversing option about +$12500 including field approval. saves 24lbs I filed reverse under the nice, but not much additional utility. The current Hartzell prop I have now is smooth as silk with 16 years and 1650 hours on it. Rebuild is the obvious economic choice. But going with all new firewall forward, the MT 4 blade is tempting.

And is there any change to take off and landing distances in the documemtation?

quoted 24.5 +9 + field approval for reverse.

It's a good question though - why reverse? I can only imagine how good the short field take off roll and climb rates are with a light 310hp Ovation with a 4 blade composite prop. Would I use reverse? Probably not and I rarely fly into short fields. Would it be nice to have if you needed it, sure. Worth 10K, doubt it. But welcome any thoughts on reverse as well as other input on Hartzell 3 blade composite vs MT 4 blade vs steel and updated info on the MT performance and durability.

Bumping this thread with some questions: Any update from the users of the MT 4 blade composite prop? I spoke to flight resource yesterday and am considering this as an enhancement as we work toward firewall forward replacement. They said negative pitch (reverse) is an option for the Ovation but would require a field approval. Adds $9500 plus field approval cost. Any thoughts on that option? Also, Hartzel has a 3 blade replacement composite prop. Any pireps on that?

Thank you for the input. I had our A&P inspect the gear and thankfully there was no damage.

Nice looking work!

Good idea. Is there a service bulletin on what is acceptable that I can share with the shop?

Some local folks are saying replacing wing tip may be more difficult than repairing due to the flush rivets. Not sure about that or not.

Vendor ground crew damaged my wing tip yesterday when putting the plane back in the hangar. They ran it into the adjacent hangar door when swinging around to line up with my door. I know and trust the owner to make it right and he has committed to do so. Any suggestions on how to fix this right. Fiberglass repair and paint, or replace the wing tip, etc...

Flew up to Waukesha for work in the area and got to do the shoreline flight both ways. Fun!

If none of that works, I had to delete Pilot app, re-install and it worked fine.

My wife and I watched this movie last week. It was so wrong in so many ways, but entertaining! And it started a conversation with her about radio and autopilot functions in our plane. All that was lost was about 1 1/2 hours, but may be it sparked some interest by her to start learning some basic skills in the cockpit. Not so bad!!

A challenge to install and calibrate. Dead on when we finally got it right.

I remember thinking it was a lot at the time. But ended up being very happy with it. Not sure he would do it for that much again.

It was and he did an excellent job. You are welcome to come check it out one day.

About $1500-2000 custom made in the aviation shop, including the bend, paint and silk screening.

I went through this exercise as well and ended up buying a B36 Bonanza. I think we all flew in it maybe 3 times. After 2 years, I added it up and 98% of flying time was less than 3 people and +80% was just me. Sold the Bo and bought the Ovation. Everyone complained, but I was happy and now It is just me and my wife at home and we fly to see the kids or parents. Of fly to vacations and let the kids take commercial . I still toy with the idea of getting a single turbo prop, but the mooney is such a great traveling machine for 2 people.

The problem will come down to excess liability coverage. Most corporate and personal excess polices only provide coverage for a risk that is already insured. For example, if your company has a $1 million liability policy for cars, they may have a $10 million excess liability policy to back that up. Since they do not have an aviation policy, their excess coverage won't cover that. Even if you bought a $1 million policy and named them as additionally insured, it may not be enough to cover their risks, assuming they have a high asset base. It only takes one lawyer to figure out where the money is after an incident.

Yes - worked like a charm! It is just a binary switch. As long as it fits, it should work.

I don't have anything else to add, except that I did learn the procedure I report above in a Turbo TIO-520 Bonanza and carried it over to the Ovation and that it works for me every time. I do turn the throttle in while starting and it usually catches by the 1st or 2nd half turn.