gsxrpilot

It can't be said any better than that! Why a Mooney? There it is.

You should talk with @"Chocks" about this. I'll bet he could get you a new piece that has laser etched lettering for a few hundred $$ and you could do the work yourself. Just get an A&P to sign it off after your done. I think a weekend would get it done and as you say, would make a huge difference in the overall appearance of the panel.

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. It was the purpose of my original post, and makes for an interesting thread. While I'm not retired, I don't fly for business and this is certainly just a hobby for me. When I do fly, I always make sure I have the flexibility of plan B. Having said that, I'm interested in how many own Mooneys but don't travel in them. Both @Godfather and @bluehighwayflyer mention owners (not necessarily themselves) who fly for recreation only, or stay primarily in the pattern on sunny, VFR days. And maybe my premise is flawed, but if I was in that camp, I think I'd own something other than a Mooney? Hmmm... maybe I need a poll regarding cross country travel by Mooney. Completely agree, and I used to fly a C with steam gauges. My brother, a Southwest Captain, flew my C regularly and said it was as well equipped for IFR as some of the 737's he flew. But an autopilot and GPS certainly do enhance the enjoyment of cross country flying. Again, thanks for all the replies...

The NOTAM for Airventure 2017 is available here https://www.eaa.org/~/media/files/airventure/flyingin/2017-airventure-notam-final- 03-29-17.pdf. It's worthwhile to download if thinking of going this year. Your information is incorrect regarding IFR departures. If the field is IFR, all aircraft movement is prohibited unless on an IFR clearance/flight plan. If the field is IFR, you just have to have a clearance like any other field.

You need to attend a formation clinic and become proficient flying formation. It's not difficult and actually can noticeably improve your flying. The Mooney Caravan hosts formation clinics every year around the country. Watch the Caravan section on this forum, or visit the Mooney Caravan website for dates/locations. There are a couple of other ways to get proficient as well. The B2OSH Beechcraft clubs also run clinics and welcome Mooney owners to participate. We accept their recommendations for proficiency. You can also attend a FAST clinic hosted by a number of different organizations such as the Red Star Pilots group. We have a very active Texas Wing in the Austin/Houston/San Antonio area. So if you're ever this far west, we'd be happy to introduce you to formation flying.

I had the same CYA-100 in my C that @Bob_Belville has. It worked really well, was easy to calibrate and very small/light. It doesn't take any room in the panel which is nice. I haven't thought of putting on in the K yet. I found a picture. It's the small horizontal item just above the right most AI.

No effect that I've seen.

Yep, and my A&P/AI has a passport and isn't afraid of either Mexico or Canada. Ya gotta take care of the guy/girl who takes care of your plane.

Well said.

@"Chocks" helped me make it. We used something like this. https://www.amazon.com/SCOSCHE-Magnetic-Mount-Universal-SmartPhones/dp/B00ZQO3UFW/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1492380907&sr=8-17&keywords=magnetic+ipad+mount Send me or @"Chocks" a PM and we can send you more details.

I won't disagree with you. My post was meant to raise issue with those who spend the $25K but spend it on the wrong things, in my opinion. I'm making a few assumptions here, so feel free to disagree :-) I believe most planes will be up for sale by the owner at some point. @Marauder and @Bob_Belville would be the exceptions here. And there is certainly a market for vintage birds that are priced accordingly. But if one is going to spend 10's of AMU's on upgrades, there are some upgrades that give a better return on the investment at time of sale, as well as pay better returns on enjoyment prior to the sale.

iPad 2 is a problem, that's why I use the iPad Mini in the cockpit. Here it is in my M20K. It doesn't block anything and with my magnetic mount, is easily and instantly removed.

I bought my first Mooney with a PPI from DMax. It was about a 1.5 hour flight to his shop. Don produced a list of AW issues and sent it to me. But as nothing had been put in the log books, the plane was not grounded. The seller could have flown the it home at my expense (fuel), deal is off, deposit returned. The plane was still in annual. Seller and I negotiated over the estimate for the AW issues, I bought the plane, Don fixed everything on the list. There was never any risk that regardless of Don's recommendation, the plane would be grounded at his shop.

I've only flown with the IFD 540 exactly twice. And neither flight was more than 20 minutes. So give me a month of flying after I get the plane back out of the shop. :-) But if I understand you correctly, you can configure what's shown in the "DataBlocks" at the top of the screen. There two "data blocks", one in the top left corner and one top center. You could have GS in one and AGL in the other. That way they always show when on the Map screen. Again, I might be mis-understanding the question.

Good question, it's still in the avionics shop. But I was quoted $1800 to install both. Both the AXP322 (remote transponder) and the Skytrax 100, I've had mounted in the tail. That involved removing the interior to run wires from the tail to the panel. Of course, mounting boxes in the tail is much easier than mounting in the panel, but it still probably doesn't even out.

I was there on business and didn't fly the Mooney. I'll probably be back in July with the Mooney. I was there for two days and according to the locals, it was the best two days they'd had in about 9 months. It was sunny, blue skies, and about 65 degrees both days. Almost no one was in the office. Everyone took the day off, or called in sick, just to get out and enjoy the sun.

Do you have a link for Mike's position on this? I'd like to understand the context. If my annual is due the 31st of July, and I have it in a shop for the annual in June. The annual has started and compression checks are done and oil has been changed but nothing else. The IA comes down sick and will be out for the next two weeks. Are you telling me that I couldn't pull the plane out of the shop, pay for the work done, and fly it to another shop to do the annual? I would think that I could. On a somewhat related note, I had an A&P (not AI) tell me my airplane was not airworthy. It was still within annual. On the advice of three other AI's, I went ahead and flew the plane to another shop for some repairs. As the owner/PIC, I believe it was up to me to declare the plane airworthy or not. (I'll refrain from posting the details here)

I'm looking forward to testing this all out when I get my plane out of the Avionics shop. I'll have the IFD 540, AXP322, SkyTrax100, and IFD100. I'm hoping I can dump my Stratus 2. The SkyTrax100 should feed both the IFD100 and ForeFlight, depending on which one I choose to use.

Now that most of us have added Tommy to our Ignore lists, maybe we can get this thread locked as well. Come to think of it, the ability to Ignore an entire thread would be a nice feature.

Pictures??? This sounds like a great idea.

An annual's not an annual until it's signed off in the log book. There might be a case to be made for getting your bird in for annual before the last one expires. That way if you need to move it for specialized work, or just a second opinion, it's still up to the owner/PIC to determine airworthiness. If the annual has expired, I don't believe it can be declared airworthy until an AI says so. Regarding a PPI, I'd consult with the shop ahead of time and let them know that assuming the PPI goes well, that'd you'd like to come out with a fresh annual. Therefore as they are going through the plane for the PPI, anything that would also be done during an annual should be noted so it doesn't have to be repeated for the annual sign off. Obviously there will be PPI items that don't have anything to do with an Annual. Just as there are also items required by the annual that are not part of the PPI and will have to be completed after. But a good PPI and Annual should overlap enough to make it worth while to combine the two in many situations. The last plane I bought was done this way. It was out of annual and therefore couldn't be flown without the AI sign off. I paid for a PPI moving toward a full annual assuming everything went well. The shop quoted me the price of the PPI/Annual assuming no additional work was required. I instructed them to call me if they came upon any additional work required. In the end, I paid the base rate plus costs to re-certify the O2 bottle, and some brake pads. At any point I didn't like what was happening, I could have stopped work and paid costs up to that point.

Yeah, you certainly wouldn't buy a new audio panel just to get a charging port for your iPad. But if you're upgrading certain components already, it's a nice bonus. I fly a 28v bird, and I've got a 2 port USP charger in the cigarette lighter port as well. Just make sure its 2.1 amps on both ports and you're good to charge iPads easily.

Some of the modern versions of panel standards such as the IFD GPS units (2.1 amp) and the PMA 450a audio panel, include USB charging ports to keep portable items charged. Both have the 2.1 amp ports required to charge an iPad, and the PMA 450a has a USB-C port that "rapid" charge an iPad while in use.

http://www.flightenhancements.com/linear-actuatoratis-whizyoke-mount.html