Mark89114

I second the sidewinder tow bar. Not super powerful but portable and if you go somewhere where you need to move the plane you can.

Why don't you show us some pics? Just for %#¥?! And giggles.

I have a relatively new ovation, to me and had a vacuum pump fail recently. The issue is that the gauge was reading 3.0" before I started engine, I probably should have realized that was incorrect and I am trying to remember if it ever read less than 3.0". The vacuum system ran fine until the pump failed enroute about 2 hours. I did not get the annunciation panel lights at any time except for when pump failed it dropped to 3.0", and no annunciation panel indication. Maintenance is working on it, but as always I am trying to learn what is going on. I do have the maintained repair manuals but they are not with me, otherwise I would look it up. thanks for your input. Will let everybody know results of repair.

I am guessing some type of CNC cutter.

Still doesn't look like it is worth $470, much less 1 amu.....,

A bunch of my college buddies and myself are heading down to CLL for the big Western North Carolina game....... Camaderie and drinking will be more entertaining than then the game I think.

You are never an ex-Aggie. Although I am completely disappointed in how this season turned out, hype over substance yet again.

I am by no means defending this broker, but what I am finding is this sloppiness and casual regard for doing it right, on time, and at the right price doesn't matter to anybody, and by anybody this is my short list of people I pay to do work, lawyers, contractors, mechanics, employees, etc. the list is long unfortunately.

Well thanks for all of the replies, it appears all is normal.

My Mooney Ovation is new to me and learning all of the quirks. I certainly understand the concept of a trimmable stabilizer. However my thoughts would be that if the plane is trimmed and in C.G. the elevator should be aligned with the movable stabilizer, right? That is the point of having it movable? It stays aligned and minimizes drag. As you can maybe tell from this picture the elevator is up, as evidenced by the counterweight being below the stabilizer. The AP is flying and when I turn it off there is no weird pitch deviations. I have noticed that the engine does appear to point "down" from axis of the plane. The MSC prebuy said nothing to worry about and my reading on MS also implies not an issue. The AP does hunt nose up and down a bit, imperceptible altitude change, but visually it goes up and down. Flies fine otherwise. What do I need to look at check, etc. I am looking for speed and efficiency and if this is costing 20 knots I want to know about it. Joke people. Thanks, Mark

I am not sure that our methodology of using bulldozers and mechanized equipment is any faster. They took 6 years and $60 million + to build 6.2 miles on a bypass near where I live. And they wonder why the roads in this country are falling apart. I think the only people who support the current model of road and bridge building are the civil engineers and construction companies who fleece the taxpayers. I will ignore any quality differences as I have seen the work in China and it doesn't impress me and I am wondering about the work done here as well.

Deb, as you said the big issue is cost but I think you are missing a zero on your costs. I was looking at a Mooney with G1000 and it had been upgraded in the past with the GFC700 but the G1000 boxes required new GPS WAAS receivers and those alone were over $20,000 plus installation, antenas, cabling, etc. I have since forgotten the rest of the details but needless to say I moved onto something else. Good luck.

I blame the Internet, or more accurately electronics, social media, TV, etc. all mindless things that require zero effort. Aviation generally speaking is a hobby, my guess is all hobbies are in a down turn, model railroads, scratch built models, woodworking, car renovation, etc. maybe I am wrong, but my 9 y.o. Son would rather watch you tube all day, if I would let him, but I don't. He has no interest in airplanes, the RC helicopters/drones, trains, etc. stuff I would have killed to have when I was 9. Anyway.

Another thought, does the switch control a power relay that might be sticking?

Change it on Sunday evening.

It is showing 26 gph on t/o. Again. It seems to work perfectly on cold start and after a couple of minutes after hot start does it come alive.

I have a new to me Mooney Ovation with 310 STC and a Shadin fuel totalizer. The transducer is mounted in a little box attached to firewall. Engine starts and runs perfectly on first start of day with cold engine all indications on FF are normal. Hot starts is where I am having issues. After shutting down for short period of time and attempting hot start, boost pump on high or low indicates NO FLOW. I was at gas pumps, so I swore a bit and tried the different techniques for starting and did get engine started, ran like a top, but no initial fuel flow. By the time I taxied over to hanger the fuel flow started working. I had this issue during initial annual/prebuy, MX looked at it, checked pressures, gascolator, etc. they said nothing wrong. I flew it home and next hot start, same issue. I had local MX look at it, they checked wires and canon plugs. Didn't see anything. I can't image it is vapor lock as the transducer is mounted on firewall and far away from all of the "real" heat. Someone else on MS mentioned fuel deposits and cleaning the thing as I guess it is simple. Any thoughts?

Where have you seen stratus 2 at that kind of discount? My admitted half ass searching on eBay shows them selling for what I consider almost new pricing. I guess I should look harder.

I am in the final stages of purchasing a Mooney Ovation and I need to find an experienced instructor to get me up to speed. I have internet searched but haven't found anybody close and also called the flight school. Any direction would be appreciated. Mark

Just to update everybody for their own future knowledge. Talked to Jeff(sales), then Larry(engineer) and finally Tom(A&P/IA) at Cav icing. There is no standard for dents as long as the panel is working properly. So as long as your mechanic is willling to sign off as airworthy it is OK. There is a standard for Cessna Caravans if you really wanted to know.

Probably down at the local Home Depot or Lowes......

To clarify, I am about to buy this airplane, it is in prebuy/annual. My question is how much is too much dent? The coat to replace is about $9k, this shop says it is OK, but what does mfg say? I don't wAnt this to bite me in ass at next annual or when I sell it the next A&P says this is too much and then I am stuck. Personally I don't have an issue with it, but I am just CYA on this one for down the road. The contact information has been sketchy but I will call j. Holden as referenced. I just wanted to see if anybody had some previous experience.

I am in final stages of purchasing a Mooney and one of the outboard panels has a tiny dent, less than .100". Tryon to contact factory, but I guess they are in UK for the allowance on this type of issue. Since I really want to know, does anybody have any documented references Thanks.

I am looking at an ovation that is G1000 equipped with a GFC700 autopilot. To get the WAAS upgrade is about $30k. Seems ridiculous to me. The avionics shop said that mooney was probably marking it up. No idea what it would cost for the STEC versions.