kevinw

I think what he is trying to say is all accidents are personal to us as pilots. This one especially so because two people lost their lives in a Mooney. I think many of us agree this particular accident angers us because it was preventable. No one here is being a dick. It's just really hard to stomach that these people died because the pilot wasn't able to control the approach to landing. I'm no expert but he was on his second go around and that tells us a lot. He was clearly having trouble controlling the airspeed, angle of approach or both. Point is this one hurts and we're all just trying to understand it and prevent it from happening again. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just a thought but it's possible he retracted the flaps as he was trying to touch down to reduce lift sooner. No way of knowing this but one possibility.

Very true but now we're talking about smart decision making versus proficient piloting skills that come with flying more often. I think a good owner will still utilize the opinion of a CFI, especially if it's a go/no go decision based on weather. I take full advantage of the free advice of my 10,000 hour CFII.

Those are good observations. I would be very interested to see a breakdown of accidents and what percentage are owners versus renters. It's my belief that most renters fly less frequently than owners. This is based on my personal experience and from other pilots I know. I fly my plane about once a week. One reason is to keep the engine lubed but the other is to stay sharp. When I was renting I tried to get up once a month and that didn't always happen and it showed in my piloting skills. Ownership for me made me a better pilot.

As we all know correct airspeed is crucial when landing a Mooney and someone who occasionally rents this type of aircraft probably doesn't understand this completely. That said, a Mooney probably isn't an ideal rental plane. I came from a Piper Archer and transitioning to the J took some time. I received 10 hours of dual but I don't think I was comfortable and proficient until about 25 so I didn't take passengers until then. From there I got better and better just like everyone else and now I have about 200. My point to all of this is the Mooney is a different animal and an unforgiving beast. I told my instructor once if I fly the airplane the way I was taught, there are no problems. You can get away with a lot in an Archer because it hides your mistakes but in a Mooney there are consequences and unfortunately this is one of them. Prayers to the family; this is terrible.

Funny how things work out. We were supposed to close on the airplane this coming week and now there's a problem. After all the paperwork was drawn up and ready to go, the buyer, who was the previous owner, backed out of the deal. He said it was a little more than he wanted to spend and also not comfortable with all the technology in the panel. I never felt good about the sale and described to others that the last time I felt this way was after putting my golden retriever down seven years ago. So after this deal went south my wife and daughter told me to keep the airplane. I thought about it and decided that's what I'm going to do and that sick feeling in my stomach immediately went away. I'm going to chalk this up to an episode of temporary insanity. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The story I was told is he had some medical issues back then and that's why he sold it. Those issues were resolved and he regretted selling it ever since. He contacted me a year ago asking if I was interested in selling it back but I declined. When I decided to sell it he was the first person I emailed. At first I didn't get the feeling this was going to work because of all the upgrades but it did. He flew 51V for about 15 years so he's one happy soon to be Mooney owner!

Perhaps it was. I tried to price it very close to what I thought was a fair price and I was able to get it. Oddly enough, I sold it back to the guy I bought it from in 2013. Not a MSer as far as I know.

Well that didn't take long. 1151V sold today. I feel like I just gave one of my kids up for adoption. I want to put a big thank you out to all the MS members that educated me over the years. I don't have plans to buy another airplane at this time but in 3 years or so I just may dive back in and if so a Mooney will be at the top of my list. 51V is an incredible airplane that I had total trust and confidence in. She will be missed...

The day has finally come. I purchased 1151V mainly for business travel but thanks to the internet that travel has gone away. I simply don't fly it enough to justify it so I'm offering it for sale. 1151V is a truly unique M20J and someday I may regret selling it. It's a 1982 by serial number but manufactured in 1981. It has less than 200 hours on the engine and prop, TKS ice protection, ADS-B compliant with the new GTX345. The vacuum system was removed so this is an all electric aircraft with a useful load of 900.35 lbs. It's always been hangered and flown several times a month to keep the engine lubed. Complete logs and no damage history. Details can be seen by clicking the .pdf link below the last pic and more photos are here https://goo.gl/photos/yR8BvdD1DHnTGchm9 . Asking price $129,000. 82 Mooney M20J.pdf

I never thought I'd appreciate such a simple upgrade to fine wire plugs. Easier starts and they don't load up on the ground (although I still lean aggressively during ground operations out of habit).

+1 to Bobs post. I just installed tempest fine wire plugs and my engine has never started better. Plenty of other benefits but suffice it say the new plugs are one of the best upgrades I did. On a side note, I have the electroair ignition system and they recently began offering fine wire plugs. I did all 8 with two different type of plugs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does it look like this? I believe this is OEM and this was replaced when I added the autotrim option to my S-tec 60 PSS. I didn't get the old one back but it's possible my installer still has it.

My worst bounce was about two years ago with my wife also. Low on fuel which means well under gross. Bounced twice but was able to add power and make the landing. Wife was very unimpressed to say the least. Now I cross the numbers at 70 knots when heavy and 65 when light and haven't bounced since. I will add 5 if the winds are gusty but that's it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's yours! Glad you can use it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Getting rid of the last parts that were removed from my airplane. I have a Edo-Aire autopilot pitch trim servo model 1C373-6-523. Don't want anything for it, just pay the shipping costs; otherwise I was just going to throw it away. Probably a long shot but thought someone here might be able to use it.

Nice mystery photo. I am guessing you are taxiing at 18 kts ground speed since there is no airspeed on the Aspen (doesn't start to register until 20 KIAS). Your Sandia however is reporting 23 KIAS. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk You are correct. In this photo I just had the 830 and Sandia installed (and vac system removed). I was literally taxiing from the shop. The 345 went in about a month ago. Now I'm DONE with upgrades. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the 530W/430W combo and both traffic and weather display on the 530. I use the traffic page on the 430 and haven't tried to look at weather on it but I'm fairly certain it does as well. What I didn't expect was an additional nav page that displays METAR from the destination airport. That's handy as well. Go to garmin.com, find the 345 and it lists all compatible boxes.

Congrats on the new plane. When it comes to a panel upgrade the sky is the limit. What is your budget? That will help with the recommendations. I agree with Hyett; one of the first things i would do is upgrade to an Aspen PFD and lose the ADF. After that it's a matter of what's most important to you (GPS, AP, engine monitor, cosmetic upgrades). As far as the transponder, I just installed the Garmin GTX345 and highly recommend it. Having weather and traffic displayed on my panel is really nice. Here's a shot of my panel before and after.

I'm convinced; fluid is included in yours. I wonder if this varies from shop to shop. Some include it and some don't. I looked again at mine and they calculated the system only; it took about a 40 lb hit in UL. With full fluid my system weighs about 95 lbs.

Now you guys have me rethinking this. I have inadvertent TKS on my J and I am nearly positive that fluid is not part of the empty weight. I calculate on-board fluid into my W&B at 9.2 lbs per gallon. I'm going to check into this tonight. I too keep the fluid low in the summer; it's reading about 1.3 gallons right now.

Did not know this. They installed my engine and another mechanic at a different shop pointed out a laundry list of issues when I was getting some other work done. All were minor but incorrect nonetheless. Brian eventually took care of all of them and it runs great but it didn't sit well with me so I never went back. Started hearing bad rumors about the shop thereafter. Jason Doscher of Jed-Aire Aviation in Benson, MN (about 20 NW of Willmar) works on my plane now. He's a Mooney expert that use to work in Willmar before going on his own. You probably bought your plane through the same broker I did; Tim Lundquist. He's a good guy and was a pleasure working with.

I bought my J up in Willmar in 2013. Last I knew the MSC was operated by a Brian Negen under Maximum Cruise Aviation but I haven't been up there for a while. This is no longer the case?

Check that link; doesn't seem to work (at least on an iPhone). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The short bodies seem to have the highest useful loads and certainly payload with full fuel. I own a mid-body and sometimes think an R will be my next bird. One reservation I have is the payload. Sure, there are a few out there with 1000+ UL but most are not. I have a 515 lb payload with full fuel and 600 at the tabs and this is with the TKS penalty. I can't give up any payload when I buy my next bird and I'm afraid I will going to a long body. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk