gsxrpilot

One of the advantages of written communication, is the ability to edit, proofread, spellcheck, etc. before hitting Submit Reply. But obviously it's not mandatory and not everyone takes advantage of that ability.

Hmmmm... I've only been in Texas 20 year, but neither I nor Apple Maps, nor Google, can seem to find a Fort Wayne in Texas.

Have you thought of spending the money to air-condition the hangar instead of the airplane? I hate the though of spending good money to equip an airplane for more comfortable ground operations. It's not meant to be on the ground.

At SWTA, Laura applies a fresh coat of bright red nail polish to the tow limits indicator, at every annual. I always park with the cowl flaps retracted so nothing obscures the view of the tow limits indicator. I'm always sure to point it out to the line guys.

Is this Fort Wayne, Indiana or Fort Worth, Texas?

Early model Mooneys with the squared off wing tips have a large piece of the aileron outboard, that contains the counter weight. LASAR has made wingtips that can fit this type of wing without modification to the aileron. Later model Mooneys moved the counter weight inside the wing. These Mooneys can accommodate the later factory faired wingtips. As @kpaul said, even with the later model Mooneys, the counter weights inside the wing are different sizes. I had to modify the inside of my wingtips (designed for a 201) to accommodate the larger counterweights on my 252.

That would be a legit cross country coming from San Diego!

Wow! I'm pretty sure HD has them cheaper.

One of the first things I did with my 252 was to placard the Recog lights, In Op. Problem solved, no more melted lenses. Then I went and put Aveo wingtips on, which don't have recog lights anyway.

I installed the CYA-100 in my M20C. Worked beautifully. I installed the AV20S in my M20K. Piece of junk.

I bought mine on the aviation isle at HomeDepot.

You are correct. I haven't been able to match your trips yet, but I like to think I put my Mooney to good use. I can always do better and your trips are an inspiration. I particularly like how comfortable you are with weather, fuel management, "interesting" runways, etc. Looking forward to catching up at Oshkosh.

It's impossible to watch your videos or read the accounts of your flights without logging on to Skyvector... planning/dreaming. Good stuff Mike!

I've quit using a cover as well. I've got a Bruce's cover for my 252 that is really nice, but absorbs water and gets super heavy when wet. It also takes forever to dry. Of course my Mooney lives indoors unless it's the odd night that we're traveling and it's out on the ramp. I find that the heat is best mitigated by my sunshades more than the cover. So most places I just use the sunshades. I might take the full cover to Oshkosh as I'll be going solo and weight won't be an issue. I would also be interested in a lightweight waterproof cover. I just haven't found one.

@SWL has a 4 blade MT on his Rocket. He might have some insight as well.

The EDM-900 and CiES senders were the very first upgrade I made to my 252 and after many other upgrades since including Aspens, Avidyne's, ADSB, etc. it's still the best/valuable upgrade I've made. I doubt I'd fly a Mooney without them.

I noticed this as well when I was flying a C in the mountains. Everyone always says lean, lean, lean. But I found myself richening up right after take off to keep the temps down in the climb. Just let that EDM-930 be your guide. It will tell you where the engine is happy.

Oh yeah. I had this issue at KSGR as well. Weird, it's the only place that's ever happened.

Correct.

LLC seems to be a needless expense and complication to me anyway.

Phil is QT. CQ is a shameless rip off of Phil's QT's. I wouldn't do business with them even if they were the only one's available.

While I like to give advice as much as the next guy, @Bob_Belville will be just fine with his Mooney in the mountains. I'm pretty sure he's been flying Mooneys longer than I've been alive, and has more Mooney hours than all of us put together. He might not have mountain experience as we know of it out west, but he's flown over plenty of tiger country up and down the Appalachians in the east. And I'm not sure that a cool, crisp morning in West Yellowstone is any more difficult for his E than a hot and humid summer afternoon in Carolina. He's got an EDM-930 that will tell him where the engine is happiest, regardless of the DA, and he's got an eyeball that can measure AOA to +/- half a degree just looking out the window. I'll see you in Madison my friend. And I've got a home for that beautiful M20Echo if you stop at BJC. You'll have a great time.

Love your work Mike. Great job on the flights and the videos. I always enjoy them. See you in Madison.

There's no change in the gear.

No worries. I was just objecting to the perceived insinuation that the 252 was good for, as you put it "put-put around home station, small jumps for your hamburger" and the Bravo is for serious travel. I was just trying to say the 252 is every bit as capable a traveling machine as the Bravo. And in some situations better. Of course, in other situations the Bravo is better. But both are at the top of the list for traveling cross country machines.