bonal

It seems no one mentioned the summer temps. The worst days are high 90's with occasional days in the hundreds however the humidity is very low and light afternoon breezes keep things very comfortable. The CA Sierra foothills are a great place to live or visit. Sonora is a nice small city for most things needed. Columbia is a real nice base location. Oakland executive pretty busy but NorCal approach and Oakland center are real good getting folks in and out of the SFO bravo. The weather here permits VFR almost all year long if you are IFR you won't have too many days stuck in traffic. Your biggest problem will be Bay Area fog at Oakland. Also Top Gun Aviation is only about 15 to 20 min from Columbia and they are a big time Mooney service center. There is also a shop that can do eddy current inspections on site. Best of luck

It's kind of hard to know for sure but imagine if there never was an AOPA there might not be any non com aviation. Sadly there are fewer pilots and as our numbers shrink it gets harder to for any organized lobby to make its case in DC. So I don't know the answer to the question and frankly I don't care. I'm in for good.

Ok I'll give it one more try, just a little story. When I was a teenager my folks had friends that owned a Bonanza and that was my first experiance flying They had several aircraft over the years. any way one day he gave me an AOPA sticker that I put on my first car and I was always proud of that sticker because I knew what a great man this fellow was and how much I loved to go flying. this was back in the late 70's. but i never did anything to deserve it (not a pilot not an owner) well fast forward to 2009 i own my 150 and in 2010 I receive my PPL. the first thing I did was join AOPA I got that sticker and on the car it went only now it means something very special it's not about the organization it's about flying and aviation. Best wishes

All points well taken. I'll just keep flying and learning the best I can. I think I have my nephew hooked and my wife's best friends daughter says she wants to get into aviation after I took her on a couple of trips from school to home. I am always spreading the advantages of GA every chance I get and sometimes my enthusiasm gets the best of me. Later

OK I got spanked for starting a new line on this subject. And as a newbie to mooney space I guess I need to learn how you guys like to play. Just reading mooney flyer and I see where legislation has been introduced in congress to reduce the requirements on the 3rd class. What organization do you think may have been responsible for that. Oh and who do you think has been keeping the EPA and air resources board from eliminating our precious fuel. The way I see it if you don't like the way things are going you can take your jacks and go home or you can stay in the game and complain get involved and be a part for changing things. I'm sure most of you guys are not the quitting type and a lot have been advocates for change within AOPA and other pilot associations. I have great respect for pilots and have made friends with some in my area but hear is an observation I have made. It seems as a new pilot 4 years I have the enthusiasm of a young kid but I see a kind of jaded perspective of many of the long timers. Every one seems to agree That aviation needs lots of new blood but if you aren't willing to welcome that new blood then perhaps that is part of the problem. I speak mainly of pilots I have met and come to know personally. I hope I haven't offended anyone cause I really like mooney space and I know I will learn lots from all of you.

We don't , sorry

I did not know that. See its not just about money to them.

This post ties to the AOPA thread. All the points made about membership value are valid but if it hadn't been for a training video I might not be able to tell the tale. I think the re enactment videos are very helpful. As with most pilots in training if you have a loss of power on take off look straight ahead or a little left or right for the best place to do an off field landing. Sadly my home base there are no good options out there. A couple of years ago my wife and I were departing for breakfast in our c150 (no mooney yet) and we were at about 200ft AGL on departure when I lost a cylinder. The engine was running but I had to pull power to keep it from vibrating itself to bits. I remembered the Re enactment of the guy in a MOONEY that was able to make the impossible turn so I pushed the nose over and started to make my reverse turn. The engine was still making some power but. The best I could manage was about minus 100ft per min. Long story. We made it and landed safely on the runway. If it had not been for the AOPA training I would not have had such a good result Cause was a stuck valve.

Just made the return trip from o22 had a great flight not a single bump a little hazy but still you could see 100 miles. Had a 6 knot headwind that's typical when flying NW in California was still getting about 165 to 170mph on the GPS.

Financially I am probably at the lowest end of the spectrum of aircraft owners. And believe me this current administration in DC will do any thing to create class envy. There are many members of congress that do support GA and I know that the AOPA has influence with them. They are a voice not only for pilots and owners but also manufactures and FBO's I agree that it would be nice to see more articles on real world aircraft in fact most of you guy's blow my doors off like each month do a feature on a basic single that costs less than a Lexus or Cadillac SUV don't get me wrong I admire success and even more when it ends up in aviation.

Just a note to brettinlj I fly out of northern CA any time you are going to go north or north east stop in at Nut Tree Vacaville 100LL is 4.79 a gal there. Whenever we fly long trips we will stop and fuel there. Also think about parts availability best choice might be the 182 the Grumman could be a real problem if you need most airframe parts. And I know that annuals are more costly on the beech.

Around 90 mostly in our 20c some in my 150 to keep it fresh. I've only had the mooney for 8 months.

Dec 31 went to KLVK met my bro and Nephew took them on a short hop for lunch then made trip home. Today my wife and I flew .9 to Columbia o22 and are staying at a great little b&b home tomorrow. Cool calm and so smooth air.

Sitting here in an old b&b in Columbia . Flew into o22 in 14U not a single bump in the air. Made good speed and all the controllers were wishing every one a happy new year!

One of the first things I did when I became an owner is to join AOPA. I thought their student pilot mag was very helpful and I look forward to the pilot mag each month. I also like to get the daily emails but most important is the lobbyist work they do. Just think what would be the status of the second amendment if it weren't for the NRA and their membership drives are not any different than what AOPA is doing. It's all about having a choice and I choose to support those that support me.

Hello to all the Mooney fans. I'm John and I got my PPL in 2010 in a C150 that I bought to train in. Started looking to upgrade last year and was lucky enough to based at Lampson field where LASAR is located so I got exposed to lots of Mooney's so I started to focus on finding a mooney. We have flown all over CA as far south as San Diego and Boulder city NV and north to Ashland OR. We flight plan for 140KTAS and always beat that. New to mooney space lots of great info and enthusiasm for these great aircraft. Ours is a 64 Converted D model with low times new paint and interior. I love to watch our Gps speed even on calm days I see up to 200mph on the Garmin the darn thing is always in the yellow arc. Love it! Next big trip to Butte Montana to visit my wife's family.

Last year my wife got me an ipad 2 with no GPS we looked at android as well. The folks at best buy had no clue about GPS enabled. Then I found out that we needed a separate GPS / blue tooth device. No matter all the reviews say that the built in GPS has trouble keeping up in faster aircraft. Foreflight wingx and garmin all have free 30 day trials. I liked the Foreflight best. I mostly use it for flight planning I like the tracking feature but we use a panel mounted 296 as primary gps. As a new pilot around 300 hrs I still like the steam gauges best. To me it's what a panel should look like. The full size ipad just sits in the left side pocket I pull it out from time to time to check progress an confirm what I already know about the status of my flight.

Thanks James I will give them a call

65% that's what he said I was very specific with my question. I think it's ridiculous that a new Cessna 172 cost we'll over 300 thousand dollars. An aircraft that was designed over 50 years ago and not much changed over the years. I still think cost is the biggest reason there is a declining pilot population. If you take out the product liability the cost would be a lot more reasonable

A couple years ago I attended an AOPA summit at Santa Rosa airport one of the speakers was the president or Vice President of Cirrus. After the event I asked him how much of the price of each plane was for product liability his reply was about 65% That's the bottom line

I've always liked these comparisons they are fun. If you tried to do that in or out of the SF Bay Area the Ferrari would have a tough time. I have found the break even distance with our Cessna to be about 100 miles. We live 15 min from the airport and that includes time for fuel. With the Mooney it's around 50 miles but we have to take mountain roads to get out of our county.

Thanks, do you know the name of the company in Texas and have you ever used them for service?

A few months ago my narco's display has lost it's contrast. I have reviewed the manual on how to adjust the setting in the start up procedure but it has little effect. Other wise the unit functions fine but its very hard to read and I have to input my codes by counting up or down from each selected digit. Is this something that can be repaired or is the unit toast. Any one with knowledge I sure could use your input. Thanks!

I agree buy a boat use today buy a new car drive it home. Get an x box and save the universe by the end of the day. One of the things I learned when I got my ppl was how much of a commitment it took to see it through and how much respect I have for those that do. Now I am starting to study about instrument. And all I can say is all you out there that have these advanced ratings well my hat is off to you. As for the boat I have owned one since the 80's it's still fun but no way I would rather go out on the boat than go flying. Bottom line though is I think the gen x,y and miliniums would rather just text and Facebook and game than do any thing that takes time and commitment And what's the point of working your ass off all your life if you don't use the money to do something great to make life worth living To each his own. I'm just glad for those rides I took in the air back when I was a kid.

Lots of thoughts on the subject. As for me well when I was a kid my folks best friends had a bonanza and I got to go for rides on occasion they upgraded to a Comanche twin a baron and then had a brand new pressurized bonanza made to order. When in high school a friend got his license and we would go out after school in a club 152 and just fly around. I grew up just outside the SFO class B in the east bay and would hear lots of aircraft on the weekends. And I love airplanes. When you think about GA keep in mind post ww2 thousands of retired pilots came out of the war and still wanted to fly. After the Korean War more still. As we know many of them have passed or stopped due to age. Modern military pilots and aviators are a much smaller population a single B2 can do the job of a hundred B17's any way flying was the ultimate and in those days there was no way to simulate things real was the only deal. Four years ago when I turned 50 I'd be looking at Barnstormers on the net and seeing there were lots of aircraft that cost less than the car I was driving at the time. My girlfriend, now wife said just go do it. I bought my 150 and started training. Earlier this year we bought our 20c. But again this came from an age growing up when flying was king. I think cost is a factor but more than that its a lack of understanding what GA is all about. Or even that its a possibility. When was the last time you saw any kind of commercial or promotion of GA in the mainstream media. Even pilot training academies only promote in flying oriented material. You have to promote outside of the choir. And the only shows lately on tv about flying we're based in the frozen north or about repossessing private jets not real good pr. I love watching the aviators but its not promoted in the main stream. I know this is a long post but for me one of the worst things I have to keep reading about is the death of GA. Man I'm just getting started. I am always talking up GA to my friends and co workers and any one that will listen. Flying is the coolest thing you can do! Best of luck to you and I hope you succeed in your return. Looking forward to lots of interaction on mooney space.