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For local maintenance I’d highly recommend Jeff with Fly America out of DKB. He is very good with many years of Mooney experience.

I originally had my my S-tec30 with gpss installed back in 2003. I thought it was good at the time but never very precise, in the bumps it always wondered a bit plus it lacked many features I really wanted. It still worked when removed. THEN I went up in a A36 with a GFC autopilot ( complete system ) and that did it for me. I was amazed how stable, smooth and precise it was. I also really liked the approach capabilities felt like I was in a biz jet.

He decided to go for it, currently being installed. Not sure about short and mid body differences, I've only flown the GFC500 in a A36 (which opened my eyes to the GFC500) an Arrow and my Mooney. I’ll fly in my neighbors 231 once it’s finished,.

People would tell me I didn’t need a yaw damper on my short body but I thought since I’m pulling a S-Tec30 out and installing a GFC500 I might as well go all the way, very happy I did. Take regular trips say 2-4 hours and then have to return the same day in pretty bumpy air and you will have a much more relaxed / enjoyable ride with it. Like many others have said, the ones with it will say you need it and the ones without will say you don’t. My neighbor asked me if I thought the damper was needed so I took him for a ride on yet another bumpy day, we turned it on and off many times so he could make his own decision what worked best for him.

IFD and ForFlight work very well together.

Many years ago I had the S-tec 30 with gpss installed and was never really happy with it, seemed to not hold alt or heading very well. Last year decided to take the plunge and have 2 G5’s and the GFC 500 installed and I have no regrets, night and day difference and really nice on IFR trips

I’m interested.

I originally installed my IFD540 with a S-Tec30 auto pilot then afterwards I added two G5s, worked great. Last spring I had the avionics shop remove the S-Tec 30 and added the 4 servo GFC 500, I also really love the IFD and this set up does everything I need, climbs, descents full IfR navigation, approaches etc.

GFC500

My IfD540, 2G5’s and GFC500 work excellent together.

Nice video, I really like your new Mooney.

A vibrating saw works really good too, pretty fool proof and if you ever have to cut / trim I highly recommend that one does NOT cut / trim in a cold environment. I heated my shop up to 72 for good part of the day. The picture below is after I cut (using a vibrating tool) the bubble for my RV separating the sliding canopy and windscreen portion, after trimming I highly recommend sanding and polishing edge's.

I used MEK and scrapers, worked the best for me.

Side windows are not difficult to replace. Remove screws, mark / number retaining clips if you have them, break old sealant and remove windows. Clean up old sealant, pre fit new windows, match drill holes with a high quality drill bit for plastics / acrylic's, cleco in place after each holes is match drilled, mask off exterior very close to window skin edge, apply sealant ( I used fuel tank sealant ) to surrounding interior frame, set windows in place, install clips if you have them and screws. lightly snug screws then final torque. Labor times will vary depending on skill level, my side windows took about 20 hours with clean up. I would buy the best bits since there are many holes to match drill, don’t want to crack one.

Another option that works really good. Schauer JAC25

Looks awesome!

Very nice!!!

Thanks, I still feel like a kid at Christmas time.

Great! Looking forward to it.

Thanks!

Thank you! Over the years my wife and I have really enjoyed watching your amazing videos too.

It’s nice watching your Mooney transformation. Wishing you and your wife the best with many more great years to come, modern medicine is a miraculous thing…….

A long long time ago i got my pilot cert and I said some day I’ll get a hanger home, well it took over 30 years but better late than never. I’m posting this to anyone who has the dream of living with their plane.

I added my Hartzell 3 blade a while back during overhaul and also added the flap gap seals. I like you wanted better takeoff / climb performance. For me it was worth it performance wise. It did make me me a bit nose heavy but I installed a light weight starter to off set.

I added everything right away with no regrets but my advice to anyone is before you decide wether or not to add or delete durning the GFC500 do your self a HUGE favor and try to fly something with everything included. During the flight you can turn off the items you want for the demonstration and compare, do this on a smoother day and a very bumpy day then decide what works for you.