gsxrpilot

First of all, we're comparing Mooney aircraft. So the vespa doesn't apply. There are lots of ground transportation options that are more fuel efficient than air travel. But I'll submit that even a Cessna 150 is not as fuel efficient an aircraft as an M20J. It burns less fuel per hour but will take more hours to get there... Secondly I started the entire post with "If efficiency is measured in MPG". There are lots of other ways to measure efficiency. But if MPG is the measure and we're comparing Mooney aircraft, I believe my math holds up.

If efficiency is measured in MPG... then depending on the day, either a J or a 252 K is going to beat the Rocket. If the wind gives an advantage at higher altitudes, the 252 will be more efficient. If there's no wind advantage up high, the J will be more efficient than the Rocket every time. You can always get there faster burning more fuel. But if it's efficiency you want...

The PMA450a is the one and only piece of kit in my plane that my wife knows how to run. She is quick to isolate her headset and switch it to her iPad or other entertainment source. If she wants to talk to me or to hear me, she'll switch it back.

But as @Bob_Belville says... do you want an airplane that flies or one to look good sitting in your hangar. I'd still take Bob's over this one. I know Bob's is in good running condition. This one hasn't flown in quite some time. Not saying it's worthless, just not as desirable as Bob's E. It is obviously a total restoration... but not all of their decisions make sense to me. And so I'm not inclined to pay top dollar for thing's I'd really wished were done differently.

I have an Avidyne IFD540 acting as the GPS source for a G5. Garmin won't tell you it works, but it does.

If that's not success... I don't know what is.

No attorney in my cockpit... no checklist either ;-) Flows...

I would argue its less safe because of this. Also the fuel and oil lines running into the cockpit. Finally, there is no emergency if I lose engine instruments. Losing any of them, tach, MP, oil temp, oil pressure, OAT, Amps, fuel, etc. doesn't constitute an emergency. If I'm flying, I can still complete the flight or turn around and go home, or find a suitable airport and go land. It's not like losing the Attitude indicator or other flight instruments in IMC, for example. So having a "backup" MP gauge, for example, only serves to confuse the situation as I wouldn't know which one to believe. This can cause one to actually be using bad information which over a couple of hundred of engine hours, could turn into a safety issue. No thanks, I'm very happy with my upgraded engine instrumentation and the accurate and detailed data it provides. Which contributes to the safe running of the one and only engine I have.

Wow!! What great pictures. I got nothing... these are all amazing!

+1 for the PMA450. I have the older (a) model and not the (b). But it's one of the best decisions I made regarding my panel. I use the charging port regularly to keep my iPadPro charged. And the BT is much more user friendly than BT in a headset. I've taken phone calls in the airplane where my iPhone > BT > PMA450a > Halo headset. The person on the other end of the call couldn't tell I was in the airplane. My entire cockpit is quieter with the 450 eliminating a lot of the electronic noise and interference I had before. I'm realizing as I get older, preserving my hearing is important. And not the least of which is so I can hold onto my medical. A good audio panel along with a good headset will go along way to preserving our ears from hours spent in a very noisy environment.

Yep, this one could easily be brought back... and maybe even economically. Just so long as you're an A&P/AI, you already own a shop/hangar with all the required tools, jigs, etc. have the expertise so you don't have to pay for it, and be halfway retired already with some time on your hands... otherwise it's scrap.

That's what I was thinking, but I can't imagine it would be anywhere close to a break even proposition for the owner to buy it back.

I'm curious as to why the owner is selling this plane? Was it not insured? If it was insured, I would expect it would have been totaled and the owner has a check and is out looking for his next Mooney.

I took advantage of the window of time between the wrong one and the right one to get my Private and Instrument tickets while there wasn't any filter on the checkbook.

If you got the plane for free... it will undoubtedly still be cheaper to go buy a nice one that is airworthy, current, and flying.

So it would seem to me, a short hop for lunch would cost... maybe the $5 security fee and nothing else. Just tell the front desk you'll go get self-serve fuel.

http://www.mooneypilots.com/mapalog/

@jetdriven does any of this apply to the Continental hanging on the front of my K?

As I've said before, I hope that if I'm ever in such a position that for whatever reason I can't fly my plane regularly, I'll have enough sense to toss the keys to some young up and coming pilot and say, "just keep the fuel and oil moving through her."

Yep, both of ours are out of the nest and aren't welcome back ;-) The Mooney is a lot more useable with only two of us and the dog.

Fill out your profile so we know where you are :-) My Mooney is in annual right now. August is not the month for flying in Texas. But as soon as it comes out, I'm happy to take you up for a flight. I can also arrange a few others as well. While we're all on the ground because of the heat, drive out to Kestrel and meet Jimmy and David at All American. Let them show you a few birds. Leave your wallet at home, or you might be an owner quicker than you think. And/or drive out to Smithville and meet JD at SWTA. He can show you my M20K that he's annulling right now and several other Mooneys that are in his shop for service. After all, once you become an owner, you're gonna need a good shop. JD and Southwest Texas Aviation is one of the best in the Austin area.

I'm with Scott here @MyNameIsNobody. I wouldn't wait to save even the $5000. I spent a life time trying to save the money to learn to fly. Finally I was convinced that all I really needed was enough for the first lesson. The important thing was to find the right instructor. I didn't go to a "school" but found an independent guy, old enough to have been to the airlines and back. This meant he wasn't building time, had his own Cherokee 140 for me to train in, and was happy to let me fly as opposed to constantly showing off his flying skills, which was what the young guys tended to do. The flight schools all wanted me to buy a bunch of books, gear, headset, etc. They also wanted me on a regular schedule. They all told me I'd be wasting time and money if I didn't commit. I said "its my time and my money and I'll waste it as I like." I interviewed 5 instructors, flew with 2 of them and picked one. My schedule was a) I had $150 in my pocket, b) I had the time, c)the instructor was available, d) the plane was available, e) the weather was acceptable. Anytime all 5 came together, I'd go fly. I took two lessons just to make sure I liked it, then got a medical. By the time I soloed I knew I should get busy on the written exam. Self study and passed it first try. Then just kept flying any chance I got. As far as money goes, all you need is enough for the next lesson. So every time I'd saved up $150 I was good for another lesson. It took almost a year to get it done, but a hell of a lot quicker than waiting to save up the cash ahead of time. Fast forward 10 years. I have an instrument rating, over a 1000 hours in the log book and my own Mooney. Any regrets? Yeah for sure, I should have started 20 years earlier.

Ok I was just there the middle of July. I'd heard all the horrible stories of Signature and read all the reviews. As far as I could tell, Signature got the message as well. First the approach in and the departure out were easy. The controllers were super easy to work with and gave us easy routing in and out of the airspace. I'm in a heavily loaded M20K which is not known for it's climb, especially the first 10K feet or so. But we had no problems at all. It was middle of a July day and no issues with wind or anything else. We were in the middle of a 5400 mile, two week trip in the Mooney and Signature at AVL was one of the more reasonable places we parked. We were there for two nights. They parked us right at the door to unload right into the rental car from National which is onsite. I mentioned the towing situation with Mooneys and the line guy said they knew all about it and even got down and ran his fingers over the spots where damage would occur if turned too hard. So I was pretty sure they were aware of the limitation. I think the overnight charge was $10/night with one night and all other fees waved if we bought fuel. The self serve pump is $1 cheaper per gallon but still counts. They never told me a minimum but I just said I'd top off. I paid my bill, minus the credit for the fuel purchase and went to load the plane. We taxied over to self serve, filled up, and taxied for take off. No one checked to see how much fuel we took on. All in all, I think the bad reputation AVL had, is changing. We enjoyed our stay very much. Asheville is a very progressive and eclectic town. If you look around and get to know it, and you like that kind of thing, you'll like Asheville. My wife and I would move there in a minute if it had a bigger airport. I travel internationally full time for work and connecting out of AVL would be difficult. But the town its self suits our progressiveness well... Much like Austin but with better weather.

I'll agree with you that I don't see any benefit to an AOA when I'm landing on a runway. Hell, I don't even need an ASI. Once I'm in the pattern, I'll just look out the window and land the airplane. But in that one off situation where I've lost the engine and am dead sticking it into a small clearing in the trees, or into some other small bit of level ground between fences, trees, cars, or whatever. Or worse if I've lost the engine on takeoff and am deciding which of my bad options to use... I'll be happy to have that AOA indicating my lift situation and allowing me to bank as steep as possible or slow as much as possible without stalling or spinning it in. I doubt icing will be an issue at that point. And I won't trust my mental math enough to calculate 1.2 Vso, or have time to check my table or get out ForeFlight. Full disclosure... I have the AOA feature active on my Aspen.

LOL you gotta come hang out at better grass strips