Matt Michael

Anybody here installed an under seat fuel tank from an early model Mooney into a later M20E model?

Really helpful stuff folks. Thanks! Is data like airport info and approaches somehow updated periodically in say, MSFS2004 or are you flying approaches that were current when the program was published?

I'm looking for guidance/assistance in configuring a basic home computer flight simulator for IFR practice. I don't care about hi res graphics or realism as much as being able to build a panel that matches the panel in my 66E. I'm thinking of the Carenado M20J running in MS FS2004 for example. I have a CH yoke, Saitek pedals, and a laptop with discrete graphics card. I'm confused about how to go about custom building an instrument panel to more or less match the layout and functionality of my real one (standard 6 pack, G430, Stec 30...) I gather that it can be done but I'm not sure which software would be the easiest to work with or compatible with which flight sim. Trying to figure it out is starting to make my brain hurt. I don't really want to spend a ton of money. All I really need to do is practice approaches but, if it's not too difficult to set up something with interactive ATC and linked to Foreflight I might be willing to shell out a few more real dollars. I have searched the forums and read various posts but haven't quite been able to stitch together the bits and pieces of info into a coherent guide. Hopefully someone who has already done what I'm trying to do will read this, and reply. Thanks in advance

Thanks that's great to hear! Unfortunately my nose gear situation just went from bad to worse. LASAR shipped my parts to the wrong address, 350 miles away. In an effort to minimize days lost I'm driving now to pick them up Monday morning when UPS opens up. Then I will drive seven hours back to Wichita and try to get stuff installed by Monday evening. As if instrument training isn't hard enough...

I'm just starting week four of intensive flight training for my IR. Was planning my check ride next week but discovered nose gear turn limit damage today. :-[ I found the flying to be extremely challenging, especially the communications and procedures. There's so much stuff to learn that it's hard to imagine ever having a handle on all of it. So many things you can screw up and most of them are really important. Anyway, congratulations to the original poster and I sure hope Im making a similar announcement in a few weeks.

Are there any other ways to dent nose gear truss tubes besides exceeding limits with a powered tug? Can you do it with a hand operated tow bar? Can you do it with extreme taxi turns or a rough landing? This is in regards to a 66 E with the original style nose truss without the turn limit stops. MM

I looked at this plane two years ago. It was a nightmare. I paid an IA buddy to drive 10 hours one way with me to look at it. It had been described as good condition, no fuel leaks, hangared... The seller was late showing up and made us wait. As soon as we started looking under the wings we could clearly see fuel stains all along the spar, landing gear wells, and belly but it wasn't dripping or smelling. The interior was worn but serviceable and the panel wasn't too bad. But clearly the plane had been sitting outside for many months. Every steel part and fastener was rusted. My buddy discovered an inspection AD not completed in the tail section. He spent an hour with the local shop foreman going over the paperwork and signing it off. When it was ready to fly they pushed it out on the ramp and fueled it up. Then we had to wait three hours possibly more for his demonstration pilot to show up. We should have walked then. Finally the guy arrives. We walk out to the plane and I climb up and open the door. The wave of fuel vapors that rolled out from the cockpit almost pushed me off the wing! To this day my buddy still laughs uproariously at the mention of it. He said it looked like I got hit in the head with a baseball bat! I was not amused. We closed the door and walked - right past the demonstration pilot and to our car. The seller was friendly but nothing more than a glorified used car salesman. The plane had potential but was entirely a project. I wouldn't trust a single thing the seller said about it.

We got above freezing here first time in ages yesterday so I took my bobcat skid loader to the airport yesterday. After about an hour of moving snow and a half hour of chipping ice with the bucket (in front of the hanger door) I was able to get the plane out. 8 inches of snow predicted today. Fortunately skiing is the next best thing to flying.

Apparently, there is very little if any difference between a new versus a rebuilt Weldon pump. The pump internals are all new and the electric motors are simply replaced because that's cheaper than rebuilding them. This learned from a Weldon rebuilder who also sells new. The price difference is hardly worth mentioning. I also learned that the shelf life of a new or remanufactured pump is considered to be 10 years by the manufacturer. I found a good deal on a new in box Weldon pump on eBay. But the manufacturing tag says it's 14 years old. Weldon says it might work fine or might start leaking the next day. Through all of this research I also learned that it's extremely common for these types of pumps to leak. So common in fact that they are leaking on many aircraft without owners even being aware of it. I talked to at least a dozen different people ranging from senior aircraft inspectors with decades of experience to veteran Mooney ferry pilots and though all agree that any leaking fuel is not good and should be rectified there was ample evidence of Mooneys being safely flown many many hundreds of miles with leaking boost pumps. Additionally, I was assured by people intimately familiar with the internals of the pumps that they would not suck air into the fuel system or catch on fire. The worst I was told was that I might lose a pint or two of fuel on the long trip home. So, I drove the rental car 17 1/2 hours back to Mustang Island (with one 18 minute fuel stop), got up the next morning and flew the plane home without incident. While I could've flown the plane home with the family I'm glad that I didn't try because of the doubt I had at the time in combination with the marginal weather at departure. In the coming weeks I will install a rebuilt pump as time permits, in a heated shop.

As my girlfriend Sarah says, "Mooney is just Money with an extra zero!"

It can be really hard to find a good plane so I understand wanting to hang onto this one. But the deal does not have to be difficult and shouldn't be. When I got mine a year ago everything with the seller was smooth as silk. That was not necessarily the case with the previous eight airplanes I looked at. You learn something from every one that you walk away from. It's not wasted time or money though it sure feels like it at the time! Try to think of yourself as being in the driver seat. You can buy any airplane. It doesn't have to be this one (though if it's a really good one I'm sure it feels like that). Tell the broker you're still interested but you're sick of the Mickey Mouse and you're looking at other planes. If the seller really wants to sell he will make it happen. It's a buyers market or as I like to say a buyers beware market.

Will post fuel pump details on the other thread when time permits. For this thread I'll leave you with this.

Filled up N9345M at Sherman TX yesterday for $3.35 :-) Car gas was down to $1.67 in the Dallas area when I drove down to get the plane the day before