Houman

Peter, that yoke look amazing, can you give me a bit more detail on how you did it, what kind of leather you used and any other info, I would love to get yokes like yours... you can email me or here as you wish. Thanks !

Well I will ask the local shop doing my seats if they have any idea, they do all kind of leather work for the seats and benches, so never know...

thanks, replied back !!!

Looking to refurbish the yokes on an M20K as part of my interior redo project. My complete interior redo for the rocket is now all aligned to be done somewhere in the next couple of months, with all the suppliers aligned, only part remaining are the Yokes. I know aerocomfort has a process of covering them up with leather, but it seems pretty labor intensive to remove with all the wiring and then putting it back on, and A/P costs are pretty high... So wondering if there are any other ways, maybe something like powder coating or a process developed by some ingenious company in this field that dos'nt require their removal. it's specially the pilot yoke, co-pilot yoke is pretty clean for now. Any suggestions would be most welcomed. Thanks !!!

Congrats, what I would recommend is getting into a very good set of ANR for the baby and also protecting the ears even more with earplugs under the ANR headsets. At that very young age, the hearing damage can be substantial. I have switched my 9 year old son's Kids quality passive head sets to a nice Bose ANR and he sleeps during most of my flights... When I had leased a Beech C23 Sundowner before buying my Mooney, we would go into the local flight school exercise area and he would have at the commands and make it like a roller coaster at the six flags( with me always on the controls as well ), he even flow once a 35 minute flight all by himself, beside the takeoff, landing and occasional ruder touché since he is not tall enough to reach them. I haven't done any of that with the mooney, too afraid of letting him have his way with the laminar wings and the speed of the Rocket.

Ok, I dropped my Citizen Eco-drive wrist watch a week ago and it has stopped working and the glass is shattered, so I was thinking of replacing it if it is not repairable ( it was a gift from my parents almost from 10 years ago, so has sentimental value ), anyhow, I have been looking at Citizen pilot watches and other brands. I know it is a bit crazy, but with today's Apple Iwatch introduction, it got me thinking, can we get some piloting app on it, might be worth trying it... wondering how usuefull would it be ?...

I'm wondering if one can install gages on the wing tank, any supplier and pricing idea ? I have problems with my right tank instrument panel gauge, even when it is compltely full, it still only reads 27 g, where it should be reading 32 and my left tank reads properly... I always cut my tripps to less than 3 hours because of my lack of confidence in the gauges and my personal blater

How much did the product cost and do you really need someone professional to do the job ?

Bob, amazing panel, I wish I could convince my Rocket's co-owner to invest into the panel. I'm looking at either a JPI 830 or 900/930... It looks awesome and so much better than my EDM 700 without Fuel Flow... Thanks !

Well I'm doing my ground school using Pilottraining.ca, it is actually very well done. As an instructor in my own field (IT), I find the their online videos to be very well done, their instructor is good at relaying and teaching the materiel. I have done more than 50% of it and hope to finish the GS in March and write my IR exam in April...

Weather has been very cold up here in Canada ( near Montreal ), but amazingly I have been able to rack up 14.4 hours on the Rocket since January 1st. 3 tripps, NY, Boston and Pittsburgh and I have been really lucky that my flights have been in preety good weather for the most part, cold but clear... The only exception was my landing monday on a 18g28 cross wind... Working hard on my IFR written for march so that I can be IR for next winter...

to be honest, I have been bugging my friend CFI to give me cross winds training, I used half flaps and came in very slowley, so it worked out at the end, but once on the ground, I had a lot of trouble keeping it straight, crabed in all the way and probably brought it back a bit too late, but still was pushed to the outside... I really need more cross wind training...

Yep, they had restarted their radio and contacted Saracuse since they were not hearing rochester... but it had taken a while for all that while I was looking for them and calling them on the Rochester's frequency as asked by ATC...

Had a long and my most eventful flight in a long time from Pittsburgh to Montreal Mirable today, 1st over western NY had to participate in a bit of search for a US Army airplane gone 7600 and try to reach them and look for them, since they were in the same path and area as me, then had to land with a cross wind of 18G28 and drifting snow at my intermediate (customs checkin airport ), almost went off the side of the runway, scary moment but all ended well, Then surprise visit from Canadian Customs, usually here we just call them and get an authorization number so my son and I are both CanPass, so it was quite a surprise. With all of that, decided to leave the plane there and not chance it at my home airport 5 minutes from there, with a much smaller and shorter runway and same crazy gusty winds and drifting snow. What a 2h30 flight, glad to be home and no dammage to the plane or anyone hurt !!!

After going trough the PPL training on the C172 that had seen much better days from the flight school, I leased a Beech Sundowner C23 for 1 year, then the oppertunity came to partner into my current Mooney Rocket... oh I love the rocket... Not sure what my next plane would be, but it can't be anything slower than the Rocket, I love that speed too much !!! If I can dream, then maybe something with a PT6 or Jet dream on...

Count me in on the North east

Thanks, it seems everyone has had a great experience and result with Spatial interior when installed by Bruce. It is most probably the route we will go, but it kind of costs more than you guys because of the poor Canadian exchange rate, it effects everything from the parts, to labor, and Bruce's travel expenses. But I think it is worth it, better than planeplastic stuff or recovering and fixing all the current panels that are 36 years old... This is my 1st airplane and at 39, it is probably one that I will keep for a long while, so at the end, the extra 1G or 2G will not be such a huge factor and recoverable in the aircraft value if I decide to sell it, at least, that is my thinking, but I have to also convince my plane's co-owner.

Yeah, I have ANR headsets for me and my son, additional and occasional passengers, well normal headset but that is not my problem. As for insulation, with the tubular structure and from what I remember in my pre-purchase inspection, I don't if it is really worth it, but was asking the question here anyway to benefit from the collective wisdom... John, where did you buy thje sounex stuff and what was the costs ?, as for the fiberglass as well, I guess both products must be aviation grade and have fireproofing papers, right ?

Hi, As for of my interior redo project, I'm seriously considering PlanePlastic's Hush Kit insulation, and was wondering if anyone has installed it in the M20. PlanePlastic dos'nt have a template for Mooney but can sell by square foot and I would have to do the cutting and fitting. Wondering if the benefit in claimed noise and vibration reduction, plus the added thermal comfort is worth the cost and added weight to the plane ?

3 shots and a beer

Thanks Tom, but what does that mean same as the basic airplane : Would it mean that if you are in the yellow arc because you can get there and air is smooth and no turbulence, then you can deploy the speedbrakes at that speed ?... I have deployed them being at the very top of the green arc and it is a hell of a slow down, the faster you go, the more air the speedbrakes encounter and create more drag I guess...

Carusoam, are you sure they are deployable up to Vne ??? I had understood that it can only be deployed when in the green arc or something to that effect... If I'm in the Yellow Arc ( which is often with the Rocket ), then I reduce the MP by 1 or 2 degrees to slow down to the Green Arc, then deploy the speed breaks... I have to read my POH again, but I kind of have fuzzy memory reading about a deployment speed limit on the speed break when I first went trough the POH after getting the plane. Thanks for the clarifications...

Belive me it reduces the airspeed, you can feel it on the seatbelt when you put it on, it reduces about 20 kias in a mater of 3 seconds.... I use it on the rocket to slow down while keeping the engine MP higher so that I can keep with the recommanded reduction of 1 MP per minute..

Hi, I'm looking to get 1st hand experience or comments from any Mooney owner who has installled Jaegar aviation spatial interior using Bruce's services. We are about to choose a supplier for our 1979 M20K interior redo and we are very seriously looking at Jaegar Aviation and Bruce for his spatial interior for Mooneys side walls. Bruce has been great in explaining the process and will be able to come to install the side panels, his price is reasonable, but with the travel expenses and everything else, we need to understand our estimated total costs... Anyone that has done their sidewalls with this Jaegar spatial interior, I would really appreciate talking to you, please let me know !!! Thanks !!!

Not really directly related to this post and not wanting to hijack it, but I have a problem with my right fuel sender, I have a M20K Rocket with a serial lower than 25-0446, and when both tanks are full to the wing overspill level, my panel gauges are at Full on the left tank, but at 27 Gallon (3 rd making on the gauge ) on the right tank. I know that it must be the sender or the gauge the problem and looking to get it fixed at the next annual. So that being said, I'm also very interested in a measuring stick, what I find difficult is that with the claps at the tank opening, it is almost impossible to see visually how much fuel is in the tank unless it is full...