RocketAviator

Don, I installed the Alpha http://www.alphasystemsaoa.com/ Part #: DSTR-AOA-8000K Kit @ $1498 + $1200 install however I also went with the heated prob.which required some electrial wiring and additional circuit breaker installation. There are others, I liked both the product and the people I talked to when trying to make a decision. As 201er stated and I feel the real safety value from the AOA comes from AOA during a bank or a climb in what I will say is circumstances that have varying influences on the angle of attack by which the airplane flies or doesn't fly at! ​While I did not go with but studied closely there are very low cost AOA options basically they are nothing more than a pressure differential gauge / sensor in one form or another. With the value of the plane and the added features of the LED linear display & heated prob I did not see any sense in the home built version.... Due to another post I thought I needed to add this comment: While there are vane type which mine is not my AOA is also not an Air Speed Sensor it is a differential pressure sensor. Absolutely great and very useful instrument especially if are like me you care large weight ranges Fly safe, Rocket On!

Here here! Fly safe, Rocket On

Wow today is the day of I COULD NOT AGREE MORE and 201er you win the prize with this post in my humble opinion! I just had an AOA installed in my Rocket with the new panel and absolutely think it is a great instrument. Having now flown with one like you with a wide range of weights I think every plane should have one and every plane I own will have one!... Except the Saratoga which I am now trying to sell! Besides the cost of an AOA is one of the best value instruments out there! Well said, Fly safe, Rocket On!

Agreed that is why I installed an AOA during the panel upgrade! Great tool! Fly Safe, Rocket On!

Could not agree more with Bnicolette! Another thing I am a big believer on is encouraging ALL pilots to practice in wind conditions starting from light to more.... I had an old Navy pilot who was a pain in the @$%$# as an instructor but he said "boy if you only fly in fair weather you will never fly..& fly safely." So for several months as the conditions allowed every time the wind blew... and it blows often and strong here in El Paso... we would go fly and more often than not be the only ones flying at the single runway airport! He taught me how to determine if the crosswind component was reasonably for me to manageable with my skills and the aircraft we were flying and what to do if not... luckily for us we have KELP a short 10 miles away with runways in all directions! The old guy was SO right as many times as I now fly IFR cross country frequently and I DON'T CARE how much or how often you check the weather IT WILL CHANGE!!!! Much can be done and done safely, the secret to LIFE is knowing which is which! So best to learn what the limitations are and abide by them or die by them it is your choice! I encourage all pilots to practice in not so fair weather that is safe and within your personal ability (grow you ability slowly) with a good instructor, best time and money I ever spent! odd the older I get the smarter those old guys are! Fly safe, Rocket On!

Yea buddy and thanks for the "more pictures" Fly safe, Rocket On!

Yea buddy, & thanks for more pictures!

I can confirm this on the fuel consumption in my Rocket! Oh and by the way I am a short fat guy with a wife (no kids anymore) but 5 grandchildren all who fly with me frequently (not all at the same time that is unless we are in the Saratoga)! By the way I would make someone a very good deal on a good solid Saratoga! Talk about room there is nothing like it not a Cessna 210 not a Bonanza nothing like it for a roomy 6 seat aircraft! Now thinking of all that maybe I will just keep it! Kind of like having a sports car and an SUV (that's a station wagon for us old folks) Oh and I too have 3" Pedal Extensions! Good luck I have tried on multiple occasions to find the perfect airplane for all missions.... so far that goal has eluded me... Fly safe, Rocket On!

I too have Xavion & Seattle Avionics Voyager both work well but the Xavion is the quickest and easiest to setup and use. I have a Excel spreadsheet that I created which graphs a chart so you can see the data much like what Xavion & Voyager display. If you want to PM me you email I can email it to you. You can easily modify it from pounds or kilos etc! fly safe, Rocket On

HERE Here SpamPilot! I currently have two similar (planes in your story not that the airplanes are similar) airplanes a fixed gear Turbo Saratoga and now most recently the Mooney 231 / 301 Rocket and I can attest to exactly what you are stating in my case too. One issue I have is when I fly one on a given day and then the next day or so fly the other... kicks my tail if I don't pay close attention when going from the Saratoga to the Mooney! While I have only about 38 hrs in my Mooney and over 700 in the Saratoga, flying frequency is the most beneficial activity I have found on maintaining my landing proficiency and at a factor of many times more important on the Mooney side of equation! My first 10 hours in the Mooney were miserable, I found myself saying what did you do!!! Did you forget how to land an airplane, after just landing the Saratoga to test fly the Mooney, then thinking ok I just to to practice once or twice like I did on the Saratoga and then I will have this thing whipped... Well I am sure you already know who got whipped!! Then it just seemed to come (after about 10 hours of instruction & 25 or so landings!!!). Also on the advice of my instructor stating "you need to get away from this you are too intense and trying too hard".... to my reply "how can one try too hard darn it!!!" In the last two weeks I have had 3 cross country night flights. The night before my first night flight I practiced landing the Mooney from dusk to well after 10:30 that night 16 landings in one day / night.... was $, time and effort well spent in my book. Last night when I landed with my wife and two grand-kids at about 10:40pm , my wife who never says much about my flying stated "you should fly at night more often your landings are better at night than in the daylight...! ouch! Fly safe, Rocket On!

Freebird... I am and have always been a Gadget Guy (not so much though anymore), heck once I flew to Chicago (commercial flight) just to get one of the first Palm Pilots (not an aviation device..) For me the technologies have certain advantages and some disadvantages such I suspect it is for most all things. However I am firmly convinced that while not "certified" there are many devices and applications now and that continue to be developed that avail themselves to you that are quite cost effective and are portable that you can carry with you as you fly and try out different "gizmos"..lol For example the iLevil AHARS and and IPAD can offer a wide and cost effective & future backup.... flight resource! I am also a big AOA (angle of attack) fan, but that is not something portable that you can take from plane to plane with you but one of what I consider a must added safety device... Good luck with finding the perfect Mission Aircraft.. in my over 30 years of flying I never found the perfect FIT ALL airplane... I guess that is why I cant seem to part with my old station wagon.. i.e. Piper Saratoga, while it is no match for the Mooney in performance it will haul the mail so to speak and has room to be truly comfortable. Just a couple months ago I flew it with two of my brothers on a 20.9 hr round trip flight.... I could have taken the Mooney and done it quicker but not with the load we had and no where near the comfort level for the back passenger! In all cases wishing you a lifetime of great safe flying.... now that you are hooked! Rocket on!

Just using my actual installed price I would recommend you contact John if you are serious about the GTN 650 his price was less for my 650 and it was an afterthought on my panel, I originally was going to leave the 430 WAAS in and at the last minute decided to go all the way with the 650! By the way, just a off thread subject question, are you the same one Robert in the IMC in VFR thread?

Randy is this famous Romeo Delta plane of the famed race car linage? Picked up in Florida, Mark Woods was the broker? I may be all wet and off in left field it just seemed like it must be with the low hours. If so I was also in the running to buy this plane the day you were on the way to Florida to check it out. I made a standby offer for more than you are selling it for now!!! At that time it had only about 480 hrs. I felt like I had looked into every Bravo, Rocket, Ovation, Acclaim Mooney there was.... I know I did not but it sure felt like it!! Good luck if this is the same airplane Mark said this was a great rare opportunity with such low hours and especially with all the avionics work that had done to it.

Good luck! Glad to hear things worked out as best they could for you in such circumstances, mostly that you and no one else got hurt!

Robert, first that you need to know while I have no dog in this fight(no benefit to me I don't get a commission or any form of compensation), I previously posted my experience with a Texas based Avionics shop by the name of Crystal Avionics. Which by the way I traded in 2 Garmin 430 one WAAS and one not from my Mooney upgrade this last month. I know John takes units in trade and tells me prefers to install them in other planes rather than resale them. With 2 planes under my belt of complete avionics upgrade I believe you are on the right track of not investing to much in avionics but as others have suggested get a good WAAS capable GPS... as one who fly a fair amount in IMC it is well worth it!!!! I also like and use 2 yoke mounted GPS & IPAD with ilevil Ahars in addition to a knee board tablet for complete backup... A little overkill maybe but the tablets and IPAD are cheap and the 696 came with the Mooney! While my current panel has the GTN750 & 650 with ADS-B, G500 with SVT I have flown for years without their many features built into a panel but in one form or another on the lower cost tablet / IPAD option! I fly with and use Voyager, Xavion and have looked at other packages, all do a better job with than without anything!

Ok did I call it or what....? Like I said HOOKED..... Welcome Freebird to the Mooney addiction!

Yves, Duct tape is great but unless I am needing to make some sort of an emergency repair...there is NO way I am putting Duct Tape on my paint! You ever put duct tape on something and leave it in the sun for a while it will take the paint right off, not to mention a real pain in the @#$%@ if you can even get it off... Thanks but NO THANKS!

I sure hope it makes it... I will definitely be taking the grand-kids to see this one! It says Aug 9th... Will see the Disney web site still states Aug 9th.. Yea buddy! Rocket on!

Now Jose may be on to something here and something I would be interested in checking into further, but my main concern would be wrongfully and possibly fatally expecting it to be a reliable safety belt if you will! Also I am not sure any tape that would reliably stand up to the flying is something I want to stick on my new Rocket paint job!! Especially when it comes time to peel it off! If anyone tries this let me know...

You may want to check these sites out before you bet your life on it!! http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/frost-formation-1222.html I am not positive but I believe these two products are very similar! http://www.neverwet.com/anti-icing.php http://www.ultraeverdrystore.com/ There is a fair amount of hype and research on some of these technologies (my first impression is mostly hype when they are trying to sell it, research when not!!!) Don't get me wrong I am a BIG FAN of new technologies and have great interest in this type of product since I do fly a lot in IMC and just early this year lost all pitot instruments when I unintentionally flew into ice! I have other interest in this type of product for my business as well but not sure I am ready to try it on either of my airplanes just yet!

After getting a kick start from this forum I called the following day of my post on the 20th, and Trey told me the Ok City training was full!! Today I received an email from Ralph Semb stating they could fit me in!! So we jumped on the opportunity, Lord willing here we come. Thanks to Lela, Trey & Ralph for their extra efforts! Also another cool opportunity that I learned of today and that I plan to participate in while at the OK City training: Some if not all of the group are going to the FAA facility and all take part in the High Altitude Chamber! I tell you, these Mooney people are just alright!! Hope to see and meet some of you Mooney folks there! Rocket On...

This is what they emailed me back in the "Confirming Registration for the 2013 Mooney Caravan" Volunteers who are working to make all this happen will have first priority for participation in the Caravan. Final selection will be based on a review of flight experience: · Pilot certificates and ratings · Demonstration of competency in required formation skills normally accomplished through attending a Formation Clinic put on by one of the Oshkosh mass arrival organizations · Total and recent pilot hours · Prior Caravan experience · Paid registration fee · Minimum 500 hours flight experience · Flight time in Mooneys Prepaid BBQ tickets can be picked up at Madison check-in or at the BBQ. oh pick me, PICK ME... one can only hope!

Yes Cliff Notes Please...

More cool pictures... Sorry I suspect but not sure if you have to join shutterfly to view or not! http://mooneycaravan.shutterfly.com/pictures Enjoy...

Ok I have jumped in head first.... how about you? I have signed up and payed (now I only hopefully will be accepted) to join in the Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh... A DOUBLE BUCKET LIST ITEM!! One to fly in and attend Oshkosh and the second formation flying... PUT them both together and I feel like I hit the daily double... And an extra bonus is to get to meet my new found Mooney friend Eldon from Canada who volunteers at Oshkosh and was kind enough to sell (an old short, fat man) me some 3" extensions and pedals for my Rocket... Come join us! http://www.mooneycaravan.com/ I hijacked.... ok i know a bad word in aviation these images from their site!