Rhumbline

I just read an article in The Mooney Flyer( http://themooneyflyer.com/ ) discussing the matter and offering guidance. As I recall, there was a correction to one of the tolerances in a subsequent issue. What I don't recall in which issues this appeared in but I'm almost certain it was on of this year's. Hope it helps.

Have you tried www.esscoaircraft.com ?

...and all things being equal, I suspect that 2020 will substantially boost the inventory of available airframes and parts.

"The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them." Robert Frost This is drifting a bit, isn't it?

My top picks when I bought a plane were between a Comanche 250 or pre-electric gear/flap Mooney. I recently read somewhere that Al Mooney, at Piper's behest, did the original design work on the Comanche. Can't remember where I saw that but it made sense to me why the two planes are so attractive.

Ditto.

This is of no help to the original poster. I earned many of my certificates at Wings of Denver at Centennial (APA) and earned some salt instructing at Rainbow Aviation/Airwest at Jeffco (BJC). The contrast between now and then is striking. Back then, the sofas and chairs at both locations were covered all-day-every-day with eager wannabe professional pilots who sat for hours waiting for the scraps the "Full Time" instructors hadn't the time or inclination for and the ramps were lined with an array of comparatively affordable late model airplanes on lease-back. I regret the reminiscence is of no assistance.

The commonality of a tornado and divorce in Arkansas... someone's going to lose a trailer. An hoary and tasteless joke that I could not resist.

Ditto. I'd have your radio reconditioned or shop around for a good exchange on a reconditioned unit.

For comparison, I recently had very similar work done on my plane with the replacement of the MLG shock disks and removal and replacement of the nose gear truss for/after overhaul and update by LASAR. The job was bigger than either the A&P or I anticipated and the mechanic consulted with LASAR to get an idea of how much labor is usually involved before billing me. He split (so he says as I think it greatly favored me) the difference between the actual time and that which LASAR estimated. A couple of other mechanical discrepancies were resolved at the same time and the labor bill still came in under $1k. No question in my mind that I came out way ahead and I still owe him a lunch which is all he would accept in addition to payment of the bill. Point is, he had the conscience to check with someone familiar with the job as a basis for his charges.

Probably varies from state to state. Driving a car or motorcycle in my state is definitely a privilege but registration information is not publicly available. Imagine what some loon who's still pissed you cut him off this afternoon might do if he could look up your address on his i-thing before he cooled off. While collecting data for days-on-the-water to apply for a master's license, I found that boat registration records are not publicly available in my state either. However, airplanes and the meat servos steering them operate under the benevolence and beneficence of the Feds.

Assuming your rental is currently insured under a dwelling policy attached to a homeowner's policy; could you economically buy a commercial policy for the rental and insure the hangar under that policy? I HAD to go the commercial policy route some years ago as the number of rentals I was insuring crossed the underwriter's threshold for coverage under my homeowner's policy. Doesn't sound like the addition of a hangar creates a quantitative problem nor does it alter the structure being located on an airport, but it might be worth a call to your agent. It's an interesting question as I'm preparing to build a hangar and gave insuring it no thought except that it ought to be cheap since it's essentially a barn.

I spoke with Brittain recently to see about getting the servos for the PC system and the step overhauled. PC servos are no problem ($140 a pop) but they are having trouble getting the rubber bellows (my nomenclature) for the step servo. I was advised it would be available at some point in the future but not presently. For anyone interested, the associated turn coordinator overhaul is $450-$600 depending on what's needed.

...Skywagon...

When all else fails, check with Lake Aero Styling and Repair (LASAR). www.lasar.com

Your response beat my most recent CWM20f, so please disregard.

I am often amazed at the number of folks who visit this and other forums for direction on serious maintenance issues before, apparently, having discussed the matter with a qualified mechanic. The latter is the first thing I do. Am I a kook?

I'd have been a bit less vituperative but the first respondent is correct. That's definitely a show-stopper and deserves the attention of the professionals you paid to put the thing back together.

Agreed. I relish my obscurity, anonymity and privacy. Regardless of the innocence of intent, it always seems to lead to misuse and abuse. Indeed. Appallingly, "They" do know too much already. Consider the freedom of flight; it may well represent the zenith of our freedoms. When anyone can determine when, where, how fast, how high, etc you've been exercising your freedom, well, that freedom has eroded and you're now subject to that same anyone's scrutiny.

...or rich. If money were no object, I'd even pay extra to get a stripped down example without all the glass, ice protection, etc. Then again, my intellectual deficiencies are well known to anyone acquainted with me.

All sound advice above. Airspeed control in the pattern has been sufficiently hammered but I feel compelled to reiterate the message at least one more time. Not having flown anything for eight years and a light aircraft for many more when I impulsively (15 years? I'd say your homework is probably about done. Foolishly, I doubt I gave it 15 hours of thought!) obtained a Mooney last year. I'm still struggling with the comparatively slow (very slow to me) airspeeds; particularly in gusty/turbulent conditions. I've had the worst time convincing myself that the thing isn't going to drop out from under me and that there are no cores to spool up (ie, get that GD power off!). Consequently, I still suffer some excruciatingly long (time and distance) flares from time to time.

Perhaps. The implausibility of a more affordable new airplane with a four-banger, basic features and minimal avionics has already been amply argued in other threads as well. Augmented and continuing parts support of an existing fleet spanning decades may be equally unrealistic. Were I a betting man, I'd place my money on Mooney's bumping along with tepid sales of new airplanes until there is improvement in the economy combined with an increased interest in personal aviation, the concern moves offshore or it ends up in mothballs again.

Yup. The wife and I do a lot of knocking around without having a specific destination or route and thus do not file a flight plan since we don't know where we may end up ourselves. I've never placed much stock in ELT's as they seem to fail when needed and activate when they're not -never the latter for me, of course, as I've never made worse than a perfect landing [wink]. I instruct all my passengers in emergency procedures including the manual activation of the ELT AND PLB before the plane is on the ground in the event of an off-field landing. This is not only for the benefit of the occupants of the aircraft but to minimize the risk and expense involving a search.

I wish this thread had started last month. I just replaced all the old plugs with fresh Champions (fine wire on the bottoms) during an annual inspection early this month. Had no idea there are quality issues with Champion. I can eat the cost on the massives if they don't last but the fine wires are tougher to swallow!

I'll let others debate the IFR restriction but I agree that FL180 is reasonable and if a maximum altitude substantially below that is to exist, it should be 14,000' MSL or 2,500' AGL, whichever is GREATER. Surely I'm not the only one flying in a mountainous region!