Jimmyred

You have no idea who is actually doing the work. Christa is the gatekeeper. Everything has to go through her. So, if she calls you back, it will be second hand information. Other than the logbook entries I was not given any information on what they did to my plane. When I ask Don, while I was writing out a $26,000 check, what they did on my fuel tank he said, "I don't know but they fixed it". That's it. They gave me the keys and I had to find my plane. It was while flying back to Oregon I found out that the tank wasn't "fixed". It did exactly the same thing that it did before. And when I called him and told him that, and that they had grinded into my brand new panel, and that the fuel selector wasn't fixed he said, "I am done with you" and hung up! That's the service I got at Don Maxwell Aviation.

What you are saying is what I was hoping for. Communication. Maybe it's unfair but I had worked with Paul and Sheri Lowen who owned LASAR. Their shop foreman was Robert and he was the greatest. I really felt like my Mooney was in good hands and that I could keep updated on the work being done. I was hoping to get that kind of service from Don Maxwell Aviation but that definitely didn't happen. I was not allowed to talk to anyone who knew what was going on on my plane. Even after I spent $26,000, nothing! In fact Christa, who is the gatekeeper, said that most people "just throw down their credit card on $150k bills". So I took that that I was just some small fish and should just shut up and be happy that they would even take on my plane! All they did was take my check, give me the keys, and send me on my way. I was on my own to find out that the tank wasn't "fixed". That the fuel selector wasn't fixed AND they grinded into my brand new panel!

I have to say that I can not recommend Don Maxwell Aviation. I wanted them to look at many things on my Mooney M20J by, who I thought, was a premiere Mooney shop. One of the things that I wanted them to look at was a fuel leak in my tank. I would call to see what they found out but I wasn't allowed to talk to the mechanic on what they found or what they were doing to my plane. It was only when they said that the plane was "finished" that I could ask Don what they had done to repair the leak. He said he didn't know what they had done but that it was "fixed". That is all I got for my $1500 of service! I spent over $26,000 on so called repairs. On my flight back from Texas I found that the leak had not been fixed. It did exactly the same thing that it did before spending the $1500. I also found that they didn't fix the sticky fuel selector valve. It was so bad that I had to use two hands to switch tanks! But the worse that they did was to my new panel! I requested that they replace my throttle since the old one was sticky. To do this they grinded into my BRAND NEW panel! I spent almost $100k on the avionics and the brand new panel now has been grinded so that above the throttle is says "ottle"! Nobody called me to tell me that they were going to grind into my new panel! And since no one went over what was done, other than the bill, when I got the plane back I didn't find these things until the flight back to Oregon. So when I called today to talk to Don and told him of these things he said that the fuel tank repair wasn't guaranteed. I said that I expected more from a premiere shop. Then he said, "I am done with you" and hung up!" So I can not recommend Don Maxwell Aviation for their service or communication. They have many Mooney's so maybe my experience doesn't represent what others have experienced. But I would say buyer beware because after the check clears they may be "done with you" too!

This is what I am starting with. Here is the tentative list going in. Garmin G3X 10.6 PFD W/ engine monitor. Garmin GTN 750Xi Primary com/gps Garmin GMA 350 Primary Audio Garmin GTX 345 Primary ADS-b transponder Garmin G5 PFD Back up. Garmin G5 DG Back up Garmin GNC 215 Back up com Garmin GDL 51r XM receiver Garmin GMC 507 Autopilot control head Garmin GFC 500 Autopilot New panel cutout While doing this the whole electrical will be replaced. Also: Aeroleds Nav/Pos/Strobe New LED rotating beacon New LED panel light New LED dome light 2 - New USB ports for I-Pads. 2 - Cigarette lighter ports New throttle, mixture, prop. controls This is what I am starting with.

First I had a E. Sold it and no plane for some years. Then the Bravo. Sold it then five years without. Then now I bought the J. The Bravo was great in the weather but you had much more complex systems. So it took a lot of maintenance and it burned a lot of fuel. Since I am now retired I don't have to get back to work so I don't really need the all weather performance. I really loved my E and even used it more than when I got the Bravo. Even did more hard IFR without a auto pilot in it. Since I upgraded the window, cowl, and alternator it just made since to get the 201. The paint isn't as good as it looks in the picture and the engine has 1500 hours so it does leak some oil. I am hoping to get another 400 hours before a overhaul. I am going to completely gut the panel since this is going to be a commuter between Bend and So. Cal. I got really spoiled with the panel on the Bravo.

Well, I sold my Bravo about 5 years ago. I thought that plane ownership was over. Nope, bought another one.

Thanks, I am done for awhile. I am going with the Whelen 650 and 500 LED nav/strobes at annual in October. Who knows how long until paint and interior. I want to paint the maroon black and leave the original white, save some money. The interior maybe I can dye the seats black and do the carpet gray. I would also like to replace the leather trim with carbon fiber trim.

I just got back from Lasar it is great to know that their service in is as great as ever. I had them put in my new Sandi Quattro and remove all of my vacuum system losing 18 pounds in the process. They also did some general maintenance and oil change. I helped with the oil change and will be doing it myself from now. It is really easy now that the vacuum pump is gone. Much easier than with my old E model.

No, just had to flow it every week or two. My plane is in the shop getting the EDM 900 put in. The shop sent a picture.

Didn't know that my plane was on the cover of Flying magazine and I am having the EDM-900 installed. I will post pictures when finished.

I just got back from Redmond and I had a productive trip. I tried to download the data for the two GNS 430s the first night but one card wasn't recognized. The next morning I went by Bend airport and bought 15 gallons of TKS fluid and was able to download the data and we determined that the Jeppesen card reader was defective. I will call for a replacement after the holidays. Hopefully they will send me a free replacement or the updated reader without a hassle. I then went to the airport and installed the data cards, signed up for XM weather and radio and hooked up the gopro, and installed a couple of foldable cup holders on the lower panel. I then decided to fly to Skagit regional in Northern Washington. The weather had been great so far. Rain, drizzle and low ceilings. I filed and picked up my clearance. On departure the ceiling was 2000 overcast. I got above the weather at 9000 feet and leveled at 14000. I was cleared direct kichikan, which was the first solo certified gps direct, that I have had. I look forward to many more. I had topped off the tanks and oxygen so that I could use my fuel computer to have accurate fuel calcs in the long range tanks for tomorrows trip with the instructor and the oxygen to test out the flight levels. I then requested flight level 20, which was incorrect, since it's stated FL 200. This is why I like training flights to pick up how the system works and get a better understanding when it is less critical. By the time I made it to FL 200 the clouds had cleared and the view was awesome. I went to mask and titrated my oxygen to 95%. The flow was at 15000. I had been using much more oxygen than I needed. The pulse ox will save me a lot of Os. The price is only $32 for a Fill up but it is a hassle. I will probably get my own system for convenance. On my decent I did go imc but the airport was visual which is fine since I will be spending plenty of time with the instructor to improve my approaches. My landing was perfect if I say so myself and I have the video to prove it. By the time I filed my flight plan it was dark and I got my clearance through flight service and was as filed. About half way back I went IMC and turned on the TKS when some very light rime started forming. The normal and maximum started going yellow/red and the overpressure went on. I turned off the system and then turned it back on and it did the same thing. I used a pen to reset it with no change. I turned the system off and left it off since the ice had stopped forming. I had primed the system when I preflighted but maybe I sould have reprimed after takeoff. At twenty miles I had Redmond in sight and cancelled but put the approach in the autopilot and started it. While turning off the pitot heat I accidentally turned off the autotrim and the autopilot turned off and the trim light went wild. I turned the auto trim back on but the trim light was going wild. I remembered that the autopilot needed to be tested before use so I pressed the test and after the test it engaged. As I got close to the airport I turned off the autopilot and used the electric trim that didn't seemed to work. I turned that off but found the trim to be stuck. I stopped using the trim so that I didn't break anything, remembering the airline that broke the jackscrew. I determined that I had enough travel and made a good landing. On taxi to the hanger I knew that it would be unlikely that I would be going with the instructor tomorrow. The next morning I took off all the side panels, including the rear pivot cover. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary although the back boot looked a little wrapped up but couldn't tell for sure. The jack screw looked fine and I called Eldon over in Prineville. He had tuned up the mixture and repaired my electric fuel pump. Luckily for me he was working on Saturday. I called Professional Air and cancelled for both days. I flew over to Prineville without trimming. It was a good lesson in using power to keep the nose down when adding power the pressure to keep the nose down increased significantly. So I used only enough power to keep a adequate climb. When entering the pattern the force made it hard to make good turns. So I exited the patter climbed above the pattern so that I could make a decending pattern this took off the need to push down and increased control. I remembered reading how a run away trim could exert up to 40 pounds of force. This really brought it home and I have been playing out different scenario's of using power in a stuck up or down trim. Good stuff! I met Eldon and his wife for the first time and found them to be great people. He will be my mechanic for all the time in Redmond! We put the plane in the hanger and closed the doors and turned on the heat it was great. We took off the belly panels and side panels, I asked as many question as possible without being annoying. Unfortunately, I saw the electric gear motor but didn't think to look for the clutch. Anyway, we tried turning the rods by hand then disconnected parts until we narrowed it down to the bearing under the electric trim motor. We lubricated it and that solved the problem. It was better than when I got it and now know the lubrication points of the trim system. By the time that we where done it was raining and I flew back to Redmond. Since the problem was solved I rescheduled with Pro Air for tomorrow. The next morning I flew to Bend and Shawn and I decided to fly to Eugene. I used the excel program to do the weight and balance calculated that we could carry 65 gallons of fuel for a 47 minute flight. The weather planning was easy icing was a given, just how much and agreed upon exit plans. Once that was done it was time to fuel up and take off. After take off it was to put it on autopilot, pitot heat and TKS. This time everything worked, but the TKS didn't take all of the ice off the wings. Some areas were clear but other had up to 1/2" even at maximum. It didn't seem like it wasn't keeping up but more like some areas were not getting enough fluid. With the incident before I knew that I would be calling CAV for suggestion and a new filter. On the decent the controller turned us late and we flew through the localizer and I turned off the autopilot followed the localizer down and broke out at 700'. I would have to say that I was way behind the airplane following the glideslope was easy with the G600. And the landing on a rainy runway was awesome. We fueled up and put more tks fluid into the tanks and took off for Bend. They gave us the whole procedure into Bend and the autopilot start the procedure turn only to breakoff and start flying straight to Bend at the last second suspiring both of us. By the time we turned off the autopilot the turn looked pretty bad. After that I hand flew it and felt more in control and ahead but there is plenty of room for improvement and I look forward to the next training flight. I flew back to Redmond and the controller cleared me back to my hanger without requesting it and I towelled her down and cleaned her up getting her ready for the next flight when I get back to Redmond.

Well it has been awhile but I haven't been resting. I have signed up at Fullerton's AFI sim club, one month unlimited use of their g-1000 simulator for $400, and have been using it almost every day. I don't think you can beat the price, I have about 50 hours so far. I have finished my IPC and am ready to go up to Redmond and get another instructor to do real IFR in Oregons perfect rainy/snowy weather! I want to get training using the TKS and stormscope in real weather. I am looking to install some cameras to document the ice protection since I haven't seen a lot of use in real weather on youtube or training videos. I will still be using the sim to practice emergency procedures until I can use the back up as easy as the primary. I found it hard not to keep looking at the primary FD even though there were big x's on the screen. I am also getting my 4x4 van rewired and tow my car with it up to La Pine, where I have a cabin. The cabin needs work, too! I can then fly commercial to Redmond, take my Honda 185 to La Pine and have my van to use and stay at the cabin. That puts me up to date until I go back to Oregon.

Thanks for the reply.

The other thought would be a oil pressure or prop govenor problem.

P.s. I had the manual switch on at runup since the full power auto switch was misalighned, I have been told this is a common problem.

Did you get your problem diagnosed? I had my plane die at run up, Tom from topgun thinks that it could be a hole in the fuel pump diaphram leading to a flooding situation. The next day it ran normally. I am having a Annual AD test performed, maybe its your problem. I am told that that problem led to a enroute engine stall fatality.

I am back from Redmond and it was very busy. On the 28th I flew up and met with Craig Smith and did the paperwork and checked out the plane and log books. Everything seemed in order and I started going over the manuals. When Don flew up in his Bravo we got right into flying! It started out with a video on his landing procedures and how the Bravo operated. I knew right away that I had the right instructor since Don explained exactly what needed to be done and how we where going to accomplish them. It seemed like we did more takeoffs and landings in three days than I ever did with any other instructor. Most of the time was spent at Redmond but we also went to Bend and Prinville. I also had to do a security check with the airport before I could get my hanger and we had to fit that in. The alternator field switch broke and we had to workout getting another one and somehow get some lunch. Luckily Applebees is just down the road from the airport. By the end of the day we would have a quick dinner and I would go back and and I would do the wings classes so I could finish my flight review before Don would have to leave. At the end we did a cross country to Klamath Falls and that made all the hard work worth it. Flying the Bravo at 16,000 feet with the autopilot on and that engine purring away, looking out over southern Oregon I knew I had made the right choice! Oh, did I mention that the XM radio hadn't been cancelled yet so we had music too. When Don left I had my flight review done and I had one day left and I didn't want to waste it. It started by going to Butler and finding out that the new alt field switch had come in so Geoff started putting that in while the line guys filled the plane with oxygen. Then I was off and I did three go arounds then five takeoffs and landings at Redmond then five at Bend. I promised that I would call Don on how it was going, the phone went to message and I gave him a report on how it went so far. Then I fueled up and took off for Dillion, MT. I left the pattern and put the autopilot on and climbed to 17,500". I intentionally put in a lot of legs to see how the GPS worked with the autopilot. Center said I could go direct but I was loving that it was doing all the work! I did a couple climbing and decending 360s just to watch the autopilot do its thing. Of course I took pictures with my oxygen on while cruising at a true airspeed of 197 kts. As I decended into Dillion I activated the approach and it took me all the way down to 200 feet! I fueled up and took off just as the sun set and I started figuring out all the lighting options. The bravo really is a personal airliner and you can light it up like one. On the way back I kind of felt like I was cheating, in my E all the time was taken up with navagating and maintaining altitude and cross referancing VORs. Now I could just push some buttons and it would do it for me. I thought that I need to really work so that I know every part of this system and really think about all that can go wrong with it and not be lulled into thinking that all the technology has made flying safe because it still only does what the pilot tells it to do. I decended into Redmond and did three takeoffs and landings so I am night current also. Then I put her into her new hanger and walked to the other side of the airport and got the car.

Not yet.

The panel much different from my last plane.

My new bird.

Hello everyone, I guess I should start out with my history in aviation. I started flying when I was 14 after going to the Chino airshow. I took a lesson a week at Fullerton airport. When I turned 16 I soloed and started working at the airport as a fueler for a company named Sac Aero, it is out of business now. At 17 I received my pilots license and quit flying while persuing a career as a firefighter. After becoming a firefighter I started flying again and bought my first plane, a 1965 Mooney E model. I had that plane for 9 years and averaged 200 hours a year ie. I used it a lot! I received my commercial instrument and traveled all around the country to places like Wilksboro, NC; Memphis; all over Colorado; SFO; Portland; Seattle; Etc. It only had steam guages, no auto pilot, dual 155s, yoke mounted gps and yet I loved hard IFR! The most high tech thing I had was a DVOR and a Garmin 327 transponder. Unfortunately, After 9 years I was working a lot of overtime to buy properties and the lack of challenge, I needed tks to take my flying to the next level since Richard Collins is my idol, I decided to sell my plane. But I knew that I would buy another one when the time was right. And that brings me to today. When N1090L went on the market I knew it was the plane for me and bought it at asking price. Now it sits at Redmond airport waiting for Don Kaye to get here from San Jose to start my instruction. While waiting I am going over the manual and flight review material since I don't want to waste a minute of my instruction. The plane has: Garmin G600, dual 430s, FIKI TKS, long range tanks, tanis heater, JPI 700 and the standard Bravo equipment. Through the buying process I started getting instruction in 152s and 172s so I will have a grand total of 4 hours, in four years, before getting into 90L. My goal is to get my Flight review and VFR checkout then my IPC in a simulator, then do intensive IFR training with a CFII with all the weather Oregon and Washington has to offer! Along the way I hope to get suggestion from the Bravo group to help me along! I hope tp hear from you all, Jim

This is the site I am using to document my transition to the Mooney Bravo. I look forward to any comment to help me withe the transition and hopefully it can be used by other new owners.