gsxrpilot

It seems to me that an F with all the speed mods that were added to a J, should be as fast as a J. Whatever that is...

Avidyne just includes wifi and bluetooth interfaces in their navigators. That means less boxes, fewer wires to run, less weight, and less installation cost.

That's what I would have thought. But evidently the math the insurance company did, looked a little different. Supposedly it was close, and if the hull had been insured for $56K instead of $50K, it would have been repaired.

This is so true. It would be miserable to be flying and find out that you have a gear problem. You work on it for an hour or so, and then come to the realization that you're gonna have to land it gear up. Insurance makes that situation much easier to stomach. As long as you're not underinsured... My first Mooney, N6XM, was underinsured by the next guy, and a simple gear collapse on the taxiway, totaled the airplane.

I ordered a couple as well. Thanks!

A vote here for Avidyne. I've been using the IFD540 in my M20K for several years now. And while I'm not a CFI, I do get to fly a wide variety of Mooneys. The interfaces and workflows are quite different between the Garmin and the Avidyne navigators. And of course, you'll get use to which ever one you have. But every time I fly with someone who has a GTN navigator, I appreciate my Avidyne even more. I recently flew as a safety pilot for @ReconMax. He's got arguably the nicest late model M20J flying with a GTN 750/650 stack. He's as quick on the GTN interface as anyone I've seen. And was flying through the pages almost without looking at the screen. He certainly made it look easy. But I couldn't help but notice that so many actions that took 3 or 4 clicks on the GTN, only take 1 click on my IFD. Everyone knows that touch screens are miserable to use in any kind of rough air. And while it's true that you can do ALMOST everything on the GTN using the single knob, it adds even more steps to each task. The buttons on the IFD mean that for each task, there is a touch screen option and a button driven option and both are equally direct with the same number of steps or clicks. Avidyne says that nothing you do on the navigator in flight, should take more than two clicks or steps. Someday I'll get around to upgrading my Mooney to the GFC500 autopilot, and by then, Avidyne will have likely cracked the Garmin code and include the VNAV functionality. But if not, I'll take the IFD interface over the GTN in spite of that function. Just my $0.02 on the subject.

Give me a call, I'm happy to talk you through it if you like. It's super easy and quick. Austin area code + five one two, 0670

It's AATG in Greeley, CO. We've talked about it a bunch around here.

If you're an A&P, possibly with IA and would enjoy small town Texas life with a great Mooney shop, SWTA is hiring. JD and Laura are looking for help in their hangar at 84R. They've got a hangar full of Mooneys with the occasional Cessna, Beech, Piper or Cirrus stopping in for service. Please pass this along if you know anyone looking for this type of opportunity.

They were original equipment installed at the factory.

This is an interesting conversation. I just took my cargo straps out of the plane. In my M20K, there are two straps, four pieces, that are bolted to the floor of the baggage compartment. I didn't get them unbolted while the belly was off, so I just cut the straps and tucked the ends back under the carpet. I'd never once used the straps and It cleaned up the look of the baggage area

The G3X requires a backup AI, but it doesn't have to be a G5.

And.... it's finished. Well almost... Sept 30, 2020 to April 11, 2021 The 252 Encore is back in my hangar in Denver. There are still a couple of minor squawks that I'll work through over the next week or so. But all in all, it's running strong, not leaking/burning oil, and now has 1060 lbs useful load. I'll try to get a full PIREP out this week to detail the reasons for the length of time, the mods done, current squawks, etc.

I'd vote for @PJClark's panel every day. Maybe it's more important with our turbo engines, but I want to see ALL engine parameters, at ALL times, in front of me on the left side. I'm hoping to see a G3X with EIS flying in a turbo Mooney soon. But Garmin's approach of showing just the important stuff isn't enough for me. My 252 Encore is finally back home in Denver tonight and with the flight from Austin to Denver today, the PFD/MFD could have been on the right side. I never used them. But was glued to the engine monitor for the whole flight. Of course I'm breaking in a fresh overhauled engine. And this was the first long flight. But even under normal circumstances. 98% of the time, the autopilot flies the plane and I'm the Flight Engineer monitoring and continually tuning the engine.

We were all newbies once in this airplane ownership game. And we each had to get educated. Some just pay a lot more for that education than others. I'm very glad that I listened to the advice when I was buying my first Mooney. I was looking for a cheap E or even J that I could afford to buy. In the end I was convinced to instead spend the budget on the nicest C I could find. The difference was I got to spend two years flying and logging 400 hours traveling around the country and two trips to Oshkosh, in a very nice and capable Mooney. That was as opposed to two years of fixing, writing checks, and waiting around wishing I was flying. In the homebuilding community they talk about people who are in it to build, and people who are in it to fly. Typically builders have completed not one, but a few airplanes that are all flying. Flyers on the other hand, often never finish the first build as they really just want to fly. @Skates97said it well. We are all constantly fixing up, repairing, upgrading, and improving our airplanes. But being able to fly while doing so, makes it palatable. If the OP wants to build, this is a good opportunity. Not as good as building a kit plane of some sort, but good enough. But if the OP wants to fly, this will be an expensive lesson in how not to approach airplane ownership.

I've never landed a hang glider or paraglider cross wind. It doesn't matter which way the wind is blowing, I'm landing directly into it.

When I get back to Denver I'd be happy to give you a ride in my 252 to/from SBS. I'm based at BJC and can depart 30R and fly runway heading all the way to SBS... on a hot summer day. I've departed APA when the DA was nearly 12,000. No big deal. I know a bunch of NA Mooneys that fly in and out of SBS and other airports in the mountains, but not with the same disregard for DA and terrain that a turbo affords.

I don't know anything about the Lycomings, but my experience with the TSIO360 Continental has been great. I went past TBO without any new cylinders or turbo overhaul. Over all, it's been very reliable and maintenance free.

Somewhere between 120 and 100 knots. I usually don't pay much attention to the ASI, preferring to keep my eyes outside the cockpit once in the pattern. So I fly whatever speed looks right based on that view.

If I ever am in this position, as I've said before, I will make a set of keys for someone to keep flying my airplane even if they only pay for the gas they burn. I'm holding all of you responsible to hold me to this pledge. I'll thank you later when my plane sells for it's full value rather than slightly better than scrap.

+1

This.

Ross, what your call sign? I'm KM0ONY.

Usually just a few days.

It's a good attitude to have and why I'm backing you on this project. But I'll put up a tank of 100LL that you'll not get 100 hours out of the engine. It's effectively been sitting for 16 years, in a hangar. But humidity doesn't care. If there's been dew on the ground, or it's rained a few times, or there's been some humid summer days... you're gonna need an engine.