INA201

I like the line on the inside cover of Mooney's ad, "We are hand-crafting new Acclaim Ultras and Ovation Ultras today, and you can take delivery of your dream machine this year. So, if not now, when?" Mooney, if you are listening, buy yourselves a hand crafted sports car like a Lamborghini and paint it to contrast with the new Mooneys for demos and static displays. I never thought of our planes as being hand crafted in the same vein as an Italian Sports Car until reading this ad. Pretty cool! Mooney really seems to be defining themselves better.

Even with a panel using for example, a 650/750 and other goodies, I still plan on carrying a handheld comm(which Ive had to use when alternator failed), battery backed up stratus/iPad combo as peace of mind. I won't have a G5 or other battery backed up item in the panel just yet. A Seamless transition with a failed item is the ultimate goal. When my alternator failed I somehow missed the annuniator and let the battery run dry. It was relatively easy to grab the handheld, call ATC and let them know the situation. We were halfway to our destination and elected to just turn back and replace the alternator at our home base. We had a 295 plugged into the cig adapter and it went down with the battery because I failed to keep fresh batteries installed. All in all having the backup comm to me is essential and gives you many options that are unavailable when you are unable to communicate.

Mine is in the shop now getting a 650 and 750 installed along with adsb and some other things not pertinent to this thread. Originally I was going to do either a 650 or 750. Most of the MS folks love their 750s and highly recommended them due to larger screen size, plates etc. etc. The choice was made and the 750 was going to be the replacement and upgrade from the 430w already in the panel. We were going to move the 430w down and keep it as the secondary nav comm and sell off the old Original King Nav and Comm radios. Well, why not sell off the 430w, kY196, and the KN nav, and put in a 650. This became a "while we are at it," situation or WWAAI. WWAAI is a deep psychological condition(usually temporary depending on cash flow, wealth, 401k value, w-2s, 1099s...etc.)allowing a "normally," CB pilot to circumvent normal practical reasoning and financially justify spending more AMUs for a particular objective. Anyway, dang, we are going ahead and putting new antennas along with rewiring everything to the center stack in hopes that we don't have any issues with range, GPS signal loss, connection issues, etc. All kidding aside, having modern avionics for navigation, communication, redundancy, simplifying updates, extra screen, etc., will hopefully be money well spent.

Any merit to rubbing TKS on prior to flying? Sounds pretty obvious that a proper preflight is the best tool for flying through cold clouds. Is colder better? For example, If temps show no inversion and temperatures are progressively colder as you climb is there a zone where ice won't accumulate because it's simply too cold and everything suspended in the clouds is benign/frozen. I'm guessing that's what an icing forecast attempts to predict. Sorry to act dumb but that's because I am.

I live in SC so not a ton of icing problems most of the year and I have zero experience with it other than knowledge of sorts. What exactly are the conditions to avoid for icing? I'm aware of the freezing level, icing forecasts, super cooled droplets, etc. When should you just plan on not going? It seems to me that if the freezing level is at 3k, clouds at 6k with a temp of 25 degrees F or so(or even lower), that whatever is in the clouds should blow around the plane. How do you predict when super cooled droplets exist or not? Do you always avoid clouds in freezing conditions? Hopefully this brings about some good real world pointers that are difficult to read in books.

I'm in the process of installing fuel flow(jpi 900)and you've peaked my curiosity. What kind of numbers are you seeing with these flows, altitudes, mp, etc? I never entertained the idea that 5.5 was in the toolkit. 1000nm nonstop? I'm in a 78J btw.

I'm certainly no expert on aerodynamics but I'll go ahead and chime in. Someone with more scientific knowledge may can help with this, but doesn't turbulence created behind an object cause a fairly significant drag to otherwise smooth airflow?

Seems like the 2amu range would bring a ton of interest vs $3490 that Lasar wants. I never understood why certain items cost so much. The certification process must be crazy expensive.

Any merit to trying a group purchase on these?I'd like to see one mounted first but really looks nice and solves the LED strobe wish list issue.

I heard the same thing! Seems like they are 3 1/2 months out on new orders. Good news.

The passion may catch on again!

I think it will be 10 AMUs+- I bet all in for the 500. http://www.chiefaircraft.com/avionics/garmin-aviation-systems/gfc-autopilot.html

I used Super White and looks to be close to what original was in my 1978 J. This color from SEM was recommended on MS as well. As a Pirep I found both Amazon and TCP Global as good sources to order from. The SEM took about three or four light coats to cover well and quite a few cans. I followed the SEM system. My opinion was that the original color was too white but nonetheless one of the lighter whites may match up to OEM for your project. The Super White is very close as one of these photos was in full sun and one is in the basement with low light. Good luck with your project! It's a lot of fun working on your plane. http://www.tcpglobal.com/SEM-VCS-CC_3.html#.Wg4UU7FOmf0

Never flew a Tiger but bought a J moving from a Piper Archer. No comparison! Interesting article on the ties between the Tiger and Mooneys. They are cousins to a certain extent. http://airportjournals.com/all-in-the-family-lopresti-builds-the-perfect-airplane/

I'm in a 78J and am upgrading to similar avionics. It has Good paint and interior. I insured for $105k. I couldn't buy and upgrade a J to this level for $105k but could probably buy one similarly equipped in the $100-$120k range. You could probably get a very nicely equipped F for $80k. Hope this helps.

ATC: "N1235Y say Altitude" N1235Y "Altitude" ATC "N1235Y say airspeed" N1235Y "Airspeed" ATC "N1235Y say, cancel IFR" N1235Y "8000 feet, 150 knots indicated"

How do you make copper wire? Give a pilot a penny.

39 when I started flying, now 48 and it still ain't too late. Jump on in! You'll only regret it if you don't give it a go.

Ok FS 510 on order. I gotta get this plane back before coming up with more add ons. Thanks for the feedback gentlemen!

Getting closer to the upgrade being finished up and looking for some opinions. We are now going with 750/650/JPI 900/GPSS/remote audio. Should I add the flightstream 510 to the 750. I'm currently using foreflight but was just curious if I should do another "while we are at it." Its getting expensive but heck its only another 2.5%. I don't wanna regret not doing it right. Thanks Scott

What's the approximate total costs to buy and install tip and tail strobes? Is it a DIY with supervision kinda thing or somewhat tricky?

I'm surprised no one has strapped a turbine on a Mooney.

I have seen a few Bellanca aircraft at various fly ins and was just curious if anyone has any experience with this aircraft. Looks pretty cool! I watched the Mooney Ambassador video and recall how they spoke of the fabric covered wood wings on the old Mooneys had an almost perfect airfoil surrounding the wood. Anyway, maybe some folks who have experience with these older wooden wing aircraft will jump in. I know there are some good stories from the wood wing days.

I used Gila static cling and had been great. Went by these guys recommendations. I've read a couple of places that you want the "static" film. I did the back a couple of months ago and will do the rest now that it has held up. http://csobeech.com/windowtint.html