steingar

Leaks are expensive to deal with permanently. Expensive to patch temporarily too. I'd not buy an airplane with firewall damage. That means it wasn't repaired correctly after an incident.

Damn that looks like a hoot.

If you're really serious about photography you should fly something other than a Mooney. Mooney sucks as a photo ship. Should fly something high wing with big windows.

If the OP is looking to get talked out of a Mooney methinks he came to the wrong place.

I remember that. Dude wanted ten grand for an unproven autopilot that's been delayed for years and even switched companies. I did get a nice T-shirt though.

Security theatre at its finest. Between rising insurance costs and increasing security nonsense I fully expect to be among the last generation of private non-professional (by Odin I hate the word amateur) pilots.

Its been a few years since I bounced hard enough to notice, though a couple fo those I just added a bit of power to smooth. things out. That said I was landing great big runways. If a crap pilot like me can land a Mooney I think anyone can.

Soon as the mill quits the airplane belongs to the insurance company. If me and my pax walk away I'll call it a win.

In my case my first bounce was a doozie, can't say why now. But the damage was done, thankfully I decided to ride it out. Had I put in the power I would have been dealing with an asymmetrically bent prop and a broken crankshaft. I would have been adding a bunch of energy with nothing to land in other than the little strip. Had I gone airborne again it would have been really bad. Odds are I'd have ended up running headlong into or crashing into trees. Either way it would have done far more damage to the aircraft and would have probably mangled me. What usually happens is pilots come in too fast and try and force the airplane down. The aircraft bounce a couple times, and on the third bounce you get a prop strike as well. From the sounds of it (and I hope I can be forgiven for my speculation) this is what happened to the accident pilots. That is, a proposing motion gave them a prop strike. You're supposed to put in the power and go around when these things start to develop, my guess is they waited until too late. For whatever reason the engine failed to deliver the expected power on the go around, they slowed and went into a stall/spin which sent them inverted. It is a simple fact that sometimes adding a bunch of energy to the situation is the wrong thing to do. There are times when it's better to just ride it out.

Mine doesn't fold up that easily, but I bought it on the cheap and it is light. I was more concerned about weight than anything else, since I have to heft it into the luggage bay.

You are of course correct. I was specifically referring to the cockpit dimensions, which are identical. @p51p28sorry if the Moonship isn't your cup of tea, your loss. I love mine. You more wear it than sit in it, and I'm really, really good with that.

If I have to pull off the wheels to go anywhere the bike is staying home. Its all I can do to unfold the one I got. Different purposes, mine is just to get me from the airport to something interesting. I don't fly to places and bicycle recreationally.

Not for aviation oil. I paid the same as had I ordered it at Spruce. I checked.

Yup, I fully expect to be among the last middle class hobbyist pilots.

I get mine from Amazon. Free shipping for Prime members.

That won't fit in the luggage bay of my Mooney. Thankfully I don't fly to places where I can go out and mountain bike. I mostly fly to places where I can get lunch. And I'm surprised that I'm so fat.

I think that graph represents decreased fleet size more than anything else. The penetrance of in cockpit weather probably helps as well.

I don't know what a Montague folding bike is, I guess I don't get to eat lunch with the cool kids. I have the cheapest aluminum frame folding bike I could get from Amazon. It has little wheels like a clown bicycle. It fits just fine in the luggage bay, and I could easily fit another in the passenger seat.

Coulda been me. I didn't porpoise but bounced hard. Had I put in the power it could have been the same outcome. RIP.

The first Mooney I ever sat in was an F. It had the same dimensions as my C. Can't really speak to the later models.

Take care of this guy. I sent him over here. I'd have flown my own Mooney down to help, but it is too far for such a mission.

Nice to know when I finally kick my mini to the curb I can get a replacement.

@timpercarpio, you should go with the class 3. Is there anyone looking out for you? Is there anyone who can tell you it's time to stop? Time might not yet have come, but the sad thing is that it will come eventually, it comes for us all. It could be the AME is the one who tells you it's time to stop. May that be on a bright sunny say in 2042.

Expectation bias is thinking you've lowered the gear and trying to get the facts to fit your hypothesis. I had the opposite happen once. Got a bit jangled on my takeoff by something, and took off flying a hundred miles an hour. I knew something was amiss, airplane is far faster than that. I checked what engine readings I could, checked power settings, made certain the door and luggage door were closed. I then looked down, saw the bar in the panel and realized my gear was still down.

@Parker_Woodruff You are way smarter about this stuff than me, and I'm glad you post on this board. I still don't get why the quarter billion dollar losses now. Flight schools have been in operation with the same business model forever. There really isn't much new under the sun except perhaps in flight weather than can increase safety. Like I said, I don't think they're going to recover two hundred and fifty million AMUs from the likes of us.