IvanP

It is listed as part of McCauley spinner for 201.

This should not be too hard to fabricate as OPP. Did you check with Frank Craford at Mooney?

I have dealt with Paul, Sherry and their staff on many occasions before their retirement. Great people who built a successful business not by ripping people off but by sharing their love for airplanes and flying with others. While they were never cheap, I never got the impression that I was being ripped off. I do not know much about the new LASAR, except that I was able to get some hard to find parts through them, albeit at premium pricing. Heather has been a great help and very responsive to questions even if some of her research did not result in a sale. I sincerely hope that LASAR will continue to support the fleet while being somewhat reasonable. There is nothing wrong with making profit, but there si also nothing wrong with being reasonable when running a business. It is a balance that many business owners struggle to find. You charge too littlle and the business will fail becasue you do not make enough to survive, you charge too much and the business will fail because your customers will leave you. Businesses with captive market have the short-term advantage of being able to charge whatever they see fit, but that may not last very long.

I would be curious as to how many of those $2,000 springs they sold. Making parts exorbitantly expensive is a good way to kill the entire fleet of Mooneys by atrition. While most of us are arguably willing to pay inflated prices to keep out toys going, I think that there are limits to our willingness to do so. The recent wave of consolidations of part sources, supply chain issues, and skyrocketing prices are certainly testing mine.

LASAR folks have been helpful in sourcing parts in the past, albeit with premium pricing. As with other situations where supply chain is consolidated, prices will likely go up.

Interesting. Just curious about how a storm would cause the bent props on parked aircraft with engines off We know that the Rocket did not get mangled by a storm and I bet that none of the other planes showing signs of prop strike were victims of the storm.

The seats definitely make a difference, no question about it. The seats in my E were really nice, even in the back, but I still would not want to spend too long of a time there. I think its is just my personal preference and I am not rying to convince anyone one way or another. I do not seem to have any issues getting in or out of the front seat, though. My 6'4" friend who flies with me occasionally also seems to be quite comfortable getting in and out of the front seat of the Bravo without any problems. The weight issue is a different story - opinions or personal preferences do not change the physics.

I did not say it cannot be done. It is a matter of comfort for the passengers. I have been in a back seat of a Mooney and would not want to repeat that experience. It is kind of like cramming four people in Porsche 911 - it can be done, but it is not a fun ride for those poor souls in the back. I flew my E with 3 people on board couple of times for relatively short hops and according to the passengers in the rear it was tolerable, but not enjoyable experience. For my thirsty Bravo, my issue is mostly with weight. I can load passengers or fuel but not both.

KX-200 is supposed to be a direct "slide-in" replacement for KX 155 or 165 units. I guess that is an "upgrade" option without having to dig into the panel and wiring. My 165 (secondary) is probably on its way out so I may be in the same boat as you. At about 5 AMUs it is not cheap, but worth considering. I am thinking about going thsi route when my radio bites the dust. I definitely do not want to dig into the rats nest behind the panel at this time. I know that we can get cheaper new radio, but the labor cost woud likely exceed the savings.

Well, Mooneys are not really 4-people planes, even the long bodied ones. Too cramped in the back seat. My Bravo with Monroy tanks is essentially 1-peron and couple of bags plane with full tanks (I am a bit chunky), or 2 -people (me and my wife) with about 4 hrs of fuel and couple of bags on board.

I doubt that "getting out of ground effect" was significant factor there, but who knows.

How much ground effect do you get at 50 ft AGL?

I have been to KMYF few times. Good experience with Crown Air FBO. As @kortopates mentioned above, it is a busy airspace. Filing IFR when coming in even on CAVU days tends to make the SAN Bravo transition easier. Morning departure may be IFR due to coastal cloud layer.

That is a great opportunity to sink another 10+ AMUs into this project by replacing the vacuum speed brakes with electric ones

It is very unfortunate. Seems that noone got hurt. Hope the bird will fly again. Curious to know ehat lead to it. Was it just an ordinary gear up landing?

The principal difference between men and boys is the price of their toys. The plane is a great toy and I am very grateful to be in the position to enjoy it. I could not really justify plane ownership in my situation - few trips a year, ususally within 2,000 miles range, but all these could be done by commercial cattle bus. When my wife and I bought our first plane, I did not even try to justify the ownership - it was a toy for our enjoyment. We have been blessed with the ability to own and fly Mooneys for almost 20 years now and the mindset did not change. It is something we want to have, but there is no real need for it. If we ever get tired of it, we will sell it and move on to something else. If you found something else in your life that makes you happy, move on and let someone else enjoy the plane.

@Rick Junkin Thank you! That is super helpful. I decided to let it be for now, but will take a crack at it at annual that is due in December. I am willing to bet that it has not been inspected since the overhaul.

Yup...sounded like the plane was hit by a bullet when it happened on my E. Changing the wire is not too difficult if teh mechanism is OK.

KX-200 - slide-in replacement is just a bit north of $5k .

Being involved in annual inspection is a valuable learning experience. I am lucky to have a mechanic who is willing to share his knowledge with me and educate me on the fine points of Mooneys and the TLS engine. KNowing your plane is definitely a plus. Enjoy flying the plane and do not stress too much about its age.

I have practiced few go-arounds in Bravo and unless I need to climb fast to clear obstacle, I do not use full power - 30" MAP is usually enough to get away from the ground and establish positive rate of climb, retract flaps to T/O while trimming down, then gear up , then flaps up and set up in the pattern for another try.

Understatement of the year . Let's hope that GAMI is actually working on the issue, rather than finding excuses for the shortcomings of the current brew. I can see Europe banning 100LL earlier than US so the concern about fuel availability is very relevant, particularly with the engine that is in Bravo that cannot use some of the alternatives out there.

This engine has only about 130 hours since factory overhaul so I would hope that the screen is not full of crud. I like to tinker with things, but not to the point of disassembling stuff that I cannot put back together. I think that Lance is right that only very few screens on this engine are actually inspected at every oil change. Will leave it be for now and see what can be done at annual in December. The filter was clean, waiting for oil results from Blackstone lab.

Well, 100LLAvgas as we know it is going away sooner rather than later. The hope is that there will be some viable alternative to it, other than G100UL (many posts on that topic on MS), developed and distributed before the environuts succed in complete ban on Avgas. My Bravo is a year older than yours and the avoinics are nothing to write home about either. It flies well and I intend to fly is as much as I can before aging out of this hobby. Not going to put $100k into fancy glass avionics, though unless something breaks to the point that it would become necessary,

Well this will certainly make compliance with this AD interesting as the screen should be inspected at each oil change according to the AD, unless I am reading it wrong. With Bravo requiring oil change every 25 hours, it will be a PITA.