garysuperpilot

Missed the event. How was it? My son (whos getting married next Saturday) got ill and was admitted to a hospital out of town. They insisted on admitting him even though he only had a stomach virus. Long story short, we flew up with the Mooney to sign him out and take him home to our doctor. We felt like the calvary going up to rescue him. When we got back to New Bern my doctor said he really didn't need any meds or anything else and this morning he feels great and he is home. What a blessing it was for us to take a half hour flight to get get him and bring him home. It was almost a three hour drive each way. Some things you can't put a price on, and family is priceless. I thought it was so funny when they made us sign the paperwork to take him out of the hospital they wrote that Michael was picked up by His private Jet. Wow, they must have thought we were so rich, and I guess we are. I will try hard to make it to the next event and I hope everyone enjoyed it.

I thought BYOM meant "bring your own Mooney".

Only 80 miles from New Bern. I'll see if my boss will give me permission?? Oh Honey???? Just kidding, but my son is getting married next week so I might have something to take care of .... but then empty nest..yeah!!

I've had the same mechanic for the past 15 years and the avionics is not something he is well versed in though he is a great mechanic. I believe most mechanics leave the avionics to the specialists in the field. Sure they can check some basics but I don't think they check all the radios for an annual. Yeah, I've been flying IFR for eight years and still don't "enjoy" a minimum approach all that much. I remember being told to set minimums your comfortable with. I don't feel as indestructible as I did 40 years ago and try not to take chances I don't need to. Flying needs to stay something I love to do and not something I have to do.

IFR with one radio, even a good one would make me a little nervous. I lost battery power in my old Cherokee at night and since that exciting landing with no landing lights on me or the airport I keep an inexpensive handheld in my bag just in case. You need to trust what's in your plane for sure.....and then have a backup. Gotta be safe.

I was in a similar spot this time last year. I was able to pay for my F model but didn't want to invest more after laying out the money for the plane. I happen to have a 155 and a narco nav/com com but they both work well. I would look at the repair of the 155 as it is a good radio and repair may be very reasonable. What I did pickup was an iPad mini for less than 500 and got the fore flight app. Gives you gps, charts etc. and if you don't need it later you have a nice laptop. Yoke mount it and no install costs. Great backup as well. Just my 2cents.

Good to know. I was just looking at the dimensions and couldn't see a problem. Always good to know someone who has been there and done that. Thanks

My mechanic worked on the shower of sparks and both mags a few months back as the plane would not start at all. The shower of sparks was the problem last time. The mags only have about 70 hours since overhaul. All seemed great until I had problems a few days ago. Definitely worth a second look as we're doing the annual and have everything open. Thanks for all the ideas and thoughts. I'll wait to see what we find before I proceed with the starter and the battery. This is the first annual I am doing since we purchased the plane so we will spend some extra time with it. Kind of looking forward to get to know the plane better. I will be there for all of the work and do whatever I can. My mechanic is great about letting me assist.

So to be clear on the battery issue does the extra capacity Concorde fit into the standard battery box? I understand there is a 2.5 lb weight increase but I'm not concerned over the small amount. My useful load is more than adequate. I'm sure I'll end up with a concorde if not now next year.

Having the annual done this month and we'll check items that might be contributing to the battery issue. I'm going to wait till then to consider changing the starter. Probably go with the Concorde soon either way once we know cables and connections are sound. I'll let you know what we come up with and thanks for your input.

The battery is also something I'm considering. The Gill was put in last May when I bought the plane . The one year old Gill battery seems to hold for a while but by the time I get to try the flood start procedure it doesn't have the power to do much. I had a Gill In my last plane and when I switched to the Concorde i was much happier . I probably should change both but with my annual due this month I'm thinking it will be the best time for the starter change if it will help. Speaking of the battery is the Concorde with the extra capacity much better? Very little price difference. Maybe I should try the Concorde first as I never seem to get much more than two or three years from the Gill brand. Decisions,decisions.

I have been having some issues with hot start on my 67 m20f . I know I've read the threads I could find about hot starts and I still seem to have problems on occasion. After needing a jump to get my plane home yesterday I said "I'll just get one of those high speed sky tech starters. While looking online I noticed people are not doing well with the 149-ls model that I thought I wanted . Instead the 149-nl is the preferred choice but I'm trying to figure out if that starter will do any better than the original equipment starter. Is the NL model the one people have been using successfully and has it been noticeably faster? Tired of getting stuck. Thanks

Very nice F model came up on the forum a couple of days ago. I have a very nice F model but the one posted looks really good. Personally I like the room, 64 gallon tanks, better useful load. Almost bought an E model but got a an F for about the same price. I do take four a people quite often so it fits my purpose. Like everyone said the E model has the speed by a small margin but after flying a Cherokee at 100knots for nine years, 145knots is just fine. Good luck

Britain has the button for 126. Don't know who else would carry it but they were real helpful on the phone. I may even send the servos in for 153. they will overhaul if necessary. We'll check for other leaks first.

It is the wing leveler push button that I need. The one on the yoke is what I'm looking for. Thanks

Does anybody know where I can find the valve assembly cutoff for the yoke on a 67 m20F? Mine got damaged after the yokes got redone. I believe the part number is #2960. Thanks

That's a strong E model. Probably worth a good price as well. imagine you could find a real nice one in the 50's. Looks like a 430 gps is minimum these days but I have an F model w/only dual comms, ILS, 396 and happy enough. Depends how deep your pockets are. Low to mid time engine would be a biggie for me. Good bargains out there. Just get a good prebuy . Good luck

I've been using aeroshell 100plus for quite a while. Any advantage to using camguard along with it? Don't think it would hurt but would it be best to be used with the Phillips 20/50? My mechanic is sold on the 100plus but I used the camguard with the phillips in my Cherokee before and I was pleased with it. I just feel the need to "baby" the mooney a bit more so was wondering what most of you used. I have a 67 M20F.

After calling at fxe looks like I may take the least expensive route. W aviation is cheapest on fuel (1.65 less than Banyan) and only 15 per night for tiedown with two nights waived for fuel which I will surely need to get home. I will still want want to check out the pilot shop at Banyan while I'm there. Sano also sounded good but still a bit pricier than W aviation. Hey, I have to have some money to spend on the cruise.

Thanks everyone. Sounds unanimous. I'll check it out. The great thing about going on vacation with the plane is the ride there and back. Don't remember ever getting this excited about driving 800 miles two ways. Longest trip with the Money so far.

Going down to fort Lauderdale next week to pick up a cruise with my wife. I was wondering which fbo's (looking at fxe) you may have used in the past. Not used to so many choices in my neck of the woods. Thanks

wow. Never thought about it before but my says when I get in the plane and get ready to start up I say "Want to go for a ride "Baby?" (and I wasn't talking to my wife). Guess that's her name. Must be a she cause she ain't cheap.

I seem to fly every week or two just to make a fuel run. Fuel at my home base 6.65 and there are four airports within fifty miles priced at 5.25 or less per gallon. I usually take the runs to give me and my bird a little exercise and have a little father and son time. What I save in fuel costs pays for my "little" joyrides to nearby airports. Any excuse to go flying seems like a good excuse to me.

I picked up my 67f model for 41k back in May. 10smoh, new interior, new paint, new prop and spinner. Ifr but no panel mount gps. Just to give you an idea, when I was looking the mooneyspace value said 69k and the vref was 71k. Really not too close to realistic selling price IMHO. Still, a great time to pick up the bird of your dreams. Good luck.

Called Hartzell about the prop and was told the original limitation of 2100 - 2350 is eliminated with the schmitar prop. One less thing to think about. My Cherokee never had these kind of considerations.... but it was 40knots slower burning the same amount of fuel. I'll keep the Mooney thank you.