Rhumbline

Check with LASAR. I bought a new hardcover copy there a couple of years ago. Don't recall what I paid but it wasn't unreasonable for a new book.

Is the autograph still there?

Agreed on both points. On the other hand, why not just be up front with the customer and recommend that they weld it up or weld it down "cause we ain't gonna mess with those anymore!"

Merely relayed what I know on the topic for anyone interested. My dilemma dates 1 1/2 years and I'm not in the practice of commenting on behalf of anyone else. Sounds like you have the bull by the horns. Build a better mousetrap and, well...you're a smart guy, you know the rest.

Going from memory here so take it for what it's worth, but I'm pretty sure it was someone at Brittain and the Beech uses it as a yaw damper or AP servo. In any event, no urgency has been demonstrated in the glacial pace of getting the new mold. Every time I've spoken with them, it's always another month or two. That's been going on for at least 1 1/2 years.

If not from Brittain themselves, I've heard that the retraction servo in a Mooney is the same component used elsewhere in Bonanzas and that those guys are gnawing for relief as well. I have an ebay salvage servo sucking my step up at the moment but I'm guessing there are more than a few paying folks waiting for Brittain to get the mold issue ironed out.

Everyday I wonder what country and, for that matter, in what universe I've awakened in. EVERYONE is bothered by something and whatever that something is, it must be regulated or curtailed. Our liberties and our property rights are being attacked and successfully diminished with alarming regularity. In real estate investments, I avoid subdivisions/communities with HOA's or binding covenants as you might as well be renting. Then come the hysterical (historical) societies which usually manage to convince enough owners to form a district and now everyone is pretty well effed when they want to replace the decking on their porch, replace windows, doors, siding or even select paint colors or roofing material. But this is an airplane forum. My Mooney now rests in a hangar which is, by practical standards, too large for such a small airplane. I own the hangar though it is on ground leased from a municipality which has little stipulation under the current Lease Agreement as to how the hangar is to be used. I have been surreptitiously informed, however, that various persons in the employ of the FBO and elsewhere have been asked to report to the airport administration incidences of storage of anything unrelated to aviation, even if these are merely in addition to an aircraft or other items supporting the operation of an aircraft or if a hangar owner is renting the hangar or space in the hangar even though the latter examples are specifically granted under the current lease. It is also worth noting that the field in question has many developable hangar sites available, hangar space for rent and multiple hangars for sale. It is largely a ghost town where the personal end of the GA spectrum is concerned so demand is not relevant. Now, we all know that anyone with a hangar on a field which receives funding from the FED's is going to be subject to scrutiny depending on the determination of the various administrators. The standard, however, is so maligned that I cannot even build an airplane (the completed parts can be assembled but not constructed) in my hangar as it does meet the approved uses as it applies by their definition in the use of property which is not theirs. Frankly, I can't imagine a better use for a hangar. As for the poor miscreant with a plane in his driveway, I feel his pain and wish him luck while dealing with everyone else's freedom to deprive him of his. At least he didn't go lion hunting...

Come on! I don't usually engage in this kind of discussion but that reference to the NRA is absolutely ridiculous! As long a s the launcher and the rockets are in separate cases and not accessible to the passengers; what difference does it really make? Seriously. I can't fathom what interest ALPA might have in this issue except cronyism. I'm sure that point has already been made but that outfit is anything but beneficent. ALPA has never taken a dollar... right?

I can't speak to trip-kits but I maintain a subscription to a number of sectionals, TAC's & an AFD at mypilotstore.com. I haven't shopped around for awhile but they used to have the best deal and I think the shipping is free on everything but the AFD. 100% reliable so far which is more than I can say for the iPad, BadElf, ForeFlight combo which recently necessitated use of the 'ol paper standby for use as primary for more than a couple of months. Hardly missed the electronic distractions.

I was once a conscripted ALPA card carrier. One of the greatest pleasures when quitting the airlines was parting ways with that crooked outfit. Not surprisingly, I continued to receive bills for dues since I had never allowed them access to my paycheck and always wrote them a check. I ignored the bills for some time after leaving my last job and I started receiving threatening letters. Fearing they might start collections proceedings but still irreverent of the so-called organization, I wrote "DECEASED" across the face of one of my statements and returned it. They then required a mountain of supporting paperwork from my "widow" to let me off the hook and RIP. I never responded and the bills and requests eventually subsided. I detest those contemptible money grubbing @$$holes!

Many years ago, I developed a close friendship with an aspiring professional pilot that I tried to mentor who always completed his logbook with a very descriptive detail of each flight without regard for how many lines on the page it consumed. At the time, I thought this a useless exercise as it wasted time, would appear unprofessional, would complicate examination of the log by a potential employer and might potentially volunteer some evidence of an unintentional (or not so) violation. When I bought my Mooney and started flying after a long hiatus, however, it precipitated a want to review some of the "old days" and formative experiences when I was learning to fly and instructing others. I've found that I wish I had been more like my anal-retentive friend and recorded, if only for that posterity for my own review, the details and essence of those flights rather than the mere facts with a brief notation of who the student or crew was. I started simple new logbook when I got a BFR after eight years without flying and have since recorded over the last couple of years not only the relevant information to demonstrate recency of experience and compliance but the little details which make each flight unique. I've no one who would care but it may color a memory or two as the 'ol bean is failing and I'm trying to grope ugly nurses at the old folks home while awaiting rendering into Soylent Green.

This is no doubt a poor spot to make the suggestion, but perhaps a category devoted to the fly-to-meal would be appropriate for MooneySpace. I'm a foodie and, I must admit, I watch some of the "Best Eats" TV shows for ideas about someday airplane destinations for little more than an excuse to fly and eat. Some mission, eh? The bulk of my flying is already devoted to the dual pleasure of flight and gurgitation and I monitor Fly2Lunch, Tripadvisor, etc. for potential destinations already. As MS is the only aviation forum I bother with, I'd enthusiastically follow recommendations of the forum for gastronomic satiety wherever it exists.

No and yes. It was a wisenheimer (colloquial for smarta$$ in my neck of the woods) response to a seemingly silly question. All in good fun.

Planes, boats, cars & horses... and everything else for that matter. Been going on for time and memoriam.

While driving in heavy traffic or luxuriating on the porcelain throne in the "library".

Jack of all trades; master of none.

I blame my wife. She drives a Suburban with an 8.1 liter motor. Had it not been for that big car, the world would be spinning coolly in mastodon greased grooves.

You Bet! It's among my favorites for fly-to food!

Without any mental gymnastics or any mathematical prowess, I'm proof that you can convert C to F by simply doubling the value, subtracting 10% from the sum and adding 32. Example: 44C x 2 = 88 -9 = 79 + 32 = 111 deg F or, as you put it, damn hot! That's EFFING HOT in my opinion. Got out of KPGA with a belly full of Southwestern Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs today before the forecast 101 deg (f) was reached!

If you can live with the damage history and are satisfied that the repairs are competent, I'd negotiate with the seller to get a thorough pre-buy combined with an annual. You'll find plenty of good advice in these forums on items to look for such as corrosion and the like. It could be a good opportunity if the plane checks out as a solid airframe and engine.

I had read somewhere in the last couple-three years that most, if not all, late model vehicles produced had some kind of tracking device integrated into the electronics which could be used by local governments should a mileage tax be imposed. The possibilities for nefarious uses are endless. Regarding the original post, this is and has been my biggest issue with the ADS-B mandate along with the expense dumped in our laps. Flying represents the pinnacle of freedom and, in this day and age, it still amazes me that I can go out to the airport, hop in the plane and fly wherever without communicating my intentions to anyone if I don't wish to. Soon, "they" will no where, when, how fast and how high you are if you want or need to equip for the affected airspaces; even if you're just going for a hamburger. I wonder if the IRS will be able access use of likely cheeseburger routes when evaluating your healthcare participation? I used to be able to take my boat and go fishing any time of the day or year and no one needed to know what I was up to. Now that the ANS (aquatic nuisance species) issue has made it to western states with the introduction quagga & zebra mussels, you have to jump through all the hoops to get your boat on & of the water. The need for the program is clear but it's just another bunch of bureaucratic toadies telling when you can and can't go and knowing where you are. In recent years, a registration and permit program was implemented to enter a nearby wilderness area. No fees -yet. Can't even go for a walk in woods without the king's permission. I value little more than my liberty and privacy. It astonishes me how little others value theirs and simply accept as either acceptable or inevitable the erosion of their own. That's all I gotta say 'bout that.

P.S. Hope the weather's okay. We were panning on heading to KPGA, KINW, or P14 for lunch tomorrow but it looks like the weather's going to suck. Safe travels and enjoy your stay in Durango!

Your approach from TX will be relatively easy though you should carefully plan your crossing of the Sangre de Cristo's. Right out of high school I learned how to fly at Animas Air Park about five miles to the west of KDRO. Over the decades, I've flown everything from a Traumahawk to a four-holer in & out of Durango. The worst experience I've ever had in an airplane was departing what was then RWY 20 (now 21) during the summer with a CFI student in a C182RG. We suffered a power loss over the departure end of the runway and the airplane began to sink toward the Florida River drainage with nothing level but ground covered with juniper and pinion. Obviously, at least one of us survived. In fact, the bird was nursed back to 20 at about 200 AGL and it's the only time I've ever kissed the ground! Regardless of direction, the runway is more than adequate for a loaded C but don't expect to tackle higher terrain to the north. I regularly fly in & out of KDRO and always choose RWY 03 if the winds and/or traffic favor it for the options are somewhat better should circumstances force the exercise of contingencies. You will be above 5,000' so aggressively lean the mixture on the ground to avoid fouling (I have the mixture pulled about half way out after priming for a quick smooth cold start and don't need to prime at all if the motor's warm) and follow the leaning tips available here or elsewhere that you find reasonable for other phases of flight. Apply good, conservative judgment and you should have no trouble. Apart from the above, I would not venture into the hills without mountain training. You will note that the terrain gets very rugged very quickly to the north. Youthful invincibility left me along time ago and I feel I'm pressing my luck to venture further up the valleys than Vallecito or Electra Lakes when I want to do some sight seeing. I would now never go any further without another motor.

The question and also any advice is highly subjective. Proximity, however, seems to be a major consideration. I rented a hangar 35 miles away at an airport with cheap gas and maintenance but 90 miles away from my vacation home. I later bought a hangar at an airport with expensive fuel and virtually no maintenance roughly equidistant between the two homes. I now fly three or four times a week year 'round where the I flew only once or twice a week at best and discounted taking a trip or two for part of the year due to the drive from the more distant home. Again, individual results may vary.

...man-made-global-warming...