MikeOH

I'm not quitting my day job, that's for sure! (My post was, apparently, a poor attempt at humor)

And, just like any other service provider, figuring out their competency BEFORE engaging their service is NOT so easy. Ah well, if shops could only be so fortunate to have the luxury to troubleshoot only problems THEY created! Frankly, unless the original shop created the problem on purpose, I'm not sure how they have any a priori advantage in troubleshooting. If they weren't comfortable in their competence to fix problems originating outside their door, they should tell customers that UP FRONT! That shop shotgunned the problem and took $1900 for NOTHING that resembled a solution.

Now, who doesn't like their MTV??

Seriously not meaning any offense, but your desire to "know" what a "fair" price to your apparent level of comfort is NOT a realistic goal. Your second sentence sounded like sarcasm, but is spot on: How ever much you are willing to pay, and the seller is willing to accept, is EXACTLY what it is worth. I can think of no other product where price is negotiated, except a home, where you have good data on what people actually paid. And, even if you did, then, as Jimmy points out, that price was a VALUE to that particular buyer with his PARTICULAR needs and WANTS at that ONE point in time. I took a VERY long time to buy my first and, so far, only plane, but GeeBee and Jimmy are spot on. If you've spent a year looking at the plane rags, and paid attention to which ones sold quickly, and which ones languished for the whole year...well, there you go! You MUST know a good deal when you find it, or it's going to be GONE! It took me TWO planes to figure this out; the third one that came along I shook hands on the deal two days after the listing showed up. Final parting thought: I was shopping in the $50K range and $5K one way or the other did NOT matter. I don't know what your budget is, but if you're worried about 'losing' $5K on a >$100K plane you are unrealistic or truly can't afford to own. Believe me, $5K can disappear in a heartbeat after you own; you need to be ready to accept that fact. Or, IMHO, you are in for a miserable ownership experience regardless of what you paid for the plane; the cost of entry isn't where the money gets spent! Good luck!

Sorry. I just can't accept that 'reasoning.'. The man paid HUGE money for a shop that COMPLETELY failed in solving the EXACT problem he paid them for. Then failed to stand behind their 'work.' And now he did EXACTLY what THEY should have done! I was an electronics tech (not avionics) for several years and looking for bad connections and chafed wires IS part and parcel to good TROUBLESHOOTING. You would be amazed how much you can fix just by LOOKING carefully. Too many techs rush to get out the tools, or swap parts/CCAs.

The only reason that cap didn't fly off is it KNEW you had a spare on-board!

What Eric said! Mine weren't blowing back, but they didn't fit well. Big CHT improvement after getting new baffle gaskets.

Thing with cars is engine condition is not based on an arbitrary number of miles (I do agree there's a 'hit' at 100K). No one, but no one, buys a car and expects the engine to be worthless based on some fixed number of miles. They buy "on condition" and miles is just one factor. Not so with aircraft engines. Always seemed weird. But hey, it's certainly worked in my favor! 100% in agreement with your second paragraph!

That's exactly the question I ask myself, "How am I going to handle if the IA at annual coughs up a fur ball over it?" Case by case basis, that's how. In THIS case I'd risk it. IA says, "Your aircraft log shows you changed out the strobe power supply and that's NOT on the list of owner tasks.". Well, I'd start out showing him the Coleal letter. If that proves unpersuasive, then I'd ask him what he would be looking for beyond the bolts are tight and the demonstrable fact that the strobes work. I'm thinking he'd have nothing beyond that. Next, "So, mister IA what are you going to charge me to look at the four bolts and move on (i.e. 'approve' the replacement)?". If the answer is >$25 he's signing off the annual with that discrepancy, I'm getting a ferry permit, posting the guy's name here, and NEVER going back to him. Maybe it's the COVID talking, but I'm getting pretty damn tired of the government telling me it's THEIR job to provide for my safety. Sorry, THAT is MY job.

I bought my M20F with 2100 SMOH and a run-out price. That was coming up on three years and 300 hours ago. Happy camper even if I the engine needs OH tomorrow But then I've never put much credence in an arbitrary number. I'm a big believer in Mike Busch's on condition approach. I can't even imagine what some folks here would do if auto manufacturer's suddenly said their engines were 'run out' at 150,000 miles! Oh, the horror

I've owned my Mooney for nearly 3 years and I've NEVER washed it with water. I use Wash-Wax-All and have been very happy. I just bought a bottle of Collinite 845 (a liquid carnuba wax) to try as a more permanent wax, but have only done the cowling, so far; nice shine and is suppose to hold up well.

Hmm, my concern would be learning bad habits before taking any lessons from a CFI. Law of primacy may make unlearning those bad habits a challenge (wasted time and money). I got my PPL way before simulators were a thing...but, I did find FlightSim pretty useful for practicing when getting my instrument rating...after I'd had some instruction from a CFII. Good luck!

Nah, I think it was the outside loop ShuRugal isn't mentioning

Having done the shoulder harness install I can vouch that while the right side isn't easy, after the 20X harder pilot side you'll think the right side is easy!

If I'm heavy I'll go WOT and 2700. Otherwise, WOT and 2600 in the climb. I'll lean above 5,000 DA to keep take-off EGTs. Cruise is 8,000-10,000 feet at WOT and, usually, 2500 rpm. I'll lean anywhere from peak (for speed) to 50 LOP (for low fuel burn). Bad headwind I'll go 100 ROP (pretty rare I'll do this).

Oh, really?? Do you have any actual proof of that? Or, just your SGOTI opinion. Sorry, but the story about a lathe falls a bit short of 'proof.'

I've debated posting this as I suspect I'm going to be lambasted by the expert cognoscenti denizens...but what the hell, here goes: I'm not terribly retract experienced, maybe a little over a decade flying Mooneys (rentals and my own), and a little time with rental 182RGs. So, not a lifetime of no gear ups but, thankfully, I'm still in the "have NOT" group My policy is to do a GUMPS three times, plus an 'over the fence' gear light check. First one is mid-field downwind where I TYPICALLY lower the gear, then on base, then on final, then the afore mentioned 'over the fence' check. Thing is, I'm admittedly a frail human that can be distracted...and, not too proud to admit it has happened. And, more than once, I've missed at least one of those GUMPS checks, maybe even two if I'm honest. Thankfully, never all of them. Without exception they've been due to distractions (traffic, ATC, wife, checking something else, you name it). Here's the heresy: Given that I accept that I can, and have been, distracted, it is my policy when approaching an airport to land (say within 4-5 miles) and the thought of the gear even enters my mind (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't) I ACT ON IT! I go ahead and put the gear down right then and there. Sacrilege not to do it the same way EVERY time, I know. Here's the thing, how would I feel if I thought about putting the gear down, but said to myself, 'oh, you can't put the gear down HERE because that's not the same place as what your process says'...and then ended up doing a gear-up because I missed all of the 'official' check points? Flame suit on.

Awesome! I loved that the CIA managed to buy the needed titanium from the USSR to build the SR-71 Probably some Soviet era trade minister still languishing in a gulag somewhere over that little screw-up!

Maybe call Don at Maxwell, or Mark/Tom at Top Gun?

This sounds all well and good, but my mind keeps coming back to: that metal came from somewhere...and why was it needed in the first place if it is, apparently, not needed anymore?

Ah, come on. I understand them there F15s can fly with one WING missing...whatcha worried about losing an engine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M359poNjvVA

I'm curious as to your reasoning why a squelch issue would depend upon the receiver frequency.

Is it sensitive to squelch? Is it present with the engine shut down? Is it present with all other avionics off?

The sport bike needs to come with a built in body bag

The way this thread is going, I think I know how to save Mooney! They need to start building sport bikes