Skates97

It will get you down and lined up. You have to control speed with the throttle, but that is within her capabilities. Somewhere along our routes or in range are almost always runways that are between 6-10,000' long and 100-150' wide, lots of room for an ugly belly landing. This a marketing video, but goes through the features. For less biased reviews there are a lot of other videos out there of pilots demonstrating their experience with the GFC500. True words. As I said earlier, if my wife wanted the Cirrus that is what I would be flying. Fortunately for me she loves the Mooney.

Have you checked with Corona Aircraft Engines? I have heard good things about them and they are fairly close by. https://www.coronaengines.com/

I won't argue that is a huge selling point for Cirrus. However, if I keel over in flight my wife will be able to declare an emergency with ATC, let the GFC500 fly the plane to an approach, down to minimums at the longest/widest runway, then pull the power and slide it on it's belly. It won't be pretty, but it will get us on the ground. She took Jolie and Jan's right seat ready class, enjoyed it and learned a lot. There is still a long way to go before I think she can pull off the above scenario, but we are working on different things as we fly like learning how to program things on the GPS, etc... The GFC500 goes in at the end of April.

When we were down to two kids left we sold the Suburban and that was the down payment on the Mooney.

I just always run the trim all the way forward and that puts it well out of the way for whoever is getting out. As far as the panel goes, I don't even notice the yoke over there when I'm looking at the right side, after a bit the brain just tunes that out and focuses on what you want to look at.

Thread drift...... It was cool to see it there. My D is three rows back, almost in line with the CAFE plane. This was the sun coming up through the smoke the morning we left. But this one is possibly my favorite, turning base, my wife took it.

I wouldn't, I love my Mooney. It is everything I need for my mission now and as I see it through retirement. In the almost 4 1/2 years I have had her I have gotten to know her inside and out. I have redone the avionics to be what I want, and about a month from now when it has the GFC500 in it I will have spent more on the upgrades than the purchase, but everything that has been done has been to either improve the safety or the enjoyment or both. and I don't regret spending any of it.

Or maybe just two strapped together? They did it with the P-51 to create the F-82....

Nope, I'll have emails going out most likely tomorrow afternoon/evening with instructions.

I sent you a PM.

The first time I flew my Mooney and pulled the gear up I felt like I was really flying. I took a friend to Catalina Saturday. I think his only time in GA planes is the three flights I have taken him on. We were walking around and he was asking about the different planes there. A Cirrus pulled up and I was telling him about them and that one of the biggest points for the person in the right seat is that option of the parachute, it makes them feel safer. His response was, "But with the parachute you don't know where you're going to land, right?" However, if the only way my wife would be comfortable flying was with a plane with a parachute that is what I would own. Flying is better than not flying, and if she wasn't on board with the flying I probably wouldn't be doing much of it.

I don't remember, but it was not long... I should have gone back with a tape measure and measured the skid marks, it was easy to see where they started and stopped.

I have the brake reversal. About 2 1/2 years ago I had the exciting experience of landing with both mains locked up, some of you may remember the thread on here. Both tires definitely flat, holes through the tires and tubes, no damage to the calipers.

No, there is a lead that comes off the sensor. At the end of the lead are two ring terminals where that connects to the harness. Check those connections.

My AP/IA uses a super high tech method. He makes a couple marks with a sharpie so he knows how to line it back up again. I have similar marks on the edge of the spinner so it goes back on the same way it came off.

It's really easy to check the connections between the sensor and harness. Snip the zip ties and slide the shield back. When I upgraded my 830 to the 900 I found that some of them did not have the star washer between the terminals as the installation manual calls for. I would check that and make sure that they are tight.

I'm a believer that it's just as if not more important to pre-buy the seller than pre-buy the plane. With Tom selling it I wouldn't have any reservations about buying it.

I flew last Wednesday and Friday evenings and thought I should get this posted before my planned flight this evening. We filed IFR, got clearance, and flew to San Bernardino KSBD on Wednesday and Palomar KCRQ Friday. On Friday's flight everything felt like it was starting to come together. There is still a long way to go but it felt more comfortable flying on the instruments. I put the camera under the wing as the forecast was for 1,000' overcast at Palomar and I was hoping to get a little actual time, but even though the marine layer was over the west end of the airport during our pre-flight briefing it had moved away before we got there. However, coming back I did end up with some of the best views that I never saw in flight. On reviewing the video at home I saw that when we were routed back out offshore the sun had just set, there was a thin marine layer with the lights of the many container ships glowing up through, and the clouds looked like waves. https://intothesky.com/2021/03/24/ifr-training-filing-and-flying-ifr/

Better pricing than the first time around, and I felt like I had a deal then. I would say that anyone who hasn't had them replaced in the last 20 years should at least get the down lock and replace it.

He may love having a plane, but he doesn't love the plane. Two different things... My hangar neighbor has a Beech A36, he loves his plane. Up until he and his wife were in a bad car accident in December he flew 2-3 times a week. After every flight he wiped down the wings and prop for any bugs, took a look under the cowling for leaks, etc... He not only loves having a plane, he loves the plane, and it shows. Find someone who loves their plane and buy from them. A difference of even $5-10k will make a difference and save lots of money. It is said often on these forums to buy the best example of the model you can afford. About 4 years ago I bought a converted D, it had old avionics, no autopilot, no engine monitor, but it was regularly flown and the owner was only selling because he had purchased an Ovation. I put shoulder harnesses in it right away, then later an engine monitor and a "newer" radio. In the meantime I was putting 100+ hours a year on it and loving every minute of it. There have been no big surprises. There have been incremental upgrades with a major one last year further updating the engine monitor and adding G5's, GPS, and a new audio panel. Then end of April it goes in to have a GFC500 installed. Once that is done I will have spent more on upgrades than I did when I bought the plane. I don't regret any of the money I have spent and know I will never get it back, but I am spending it because it makes my flying more enjoyable. I also don't regret buying a plane without an autopilot or engine monitor. Those things would have been great, but I couldn't afford it at the time, so I bought the best, currently flying, loved plane I could afford and went from there.

If you are looking for tubes with the 90° bend the only ones Aircraft Spruce had a couple years ago when mine were replaced are these. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/gy_tire66.php The description lists "A, B" but the part # 06-05-305 is the ones with the 90° bend.

After postponing flights on Wednesday and Friday due to an Airmet Zulu, Convective Outlooks, and storms in the area we got to take another training flight yesterday. We flee the approach into Hawthorne and the missed approach with the hold. Some mistakes made, the radio work was better although I still hit the task saturation point a couple of times. Small steps forward, a long way to go still, but still enjoying the journey. https://intothesky.com/2021/03/14/ifr-training-small-improvements/

To Anthony's point, here is my down lock block, along with a new one from the first batch. Note the shelf worn in the old block

This isn't a comment about doing your own oil changes, but I would encourage everyone to take a look under the cowling on a regular basis, even if you have no idea what you are looking for. I can see a lot with a flashlight just looking through the door to check the oil and up through the cowl flaps. I didn't know much of anything four years ago about what to look for, but I would look anyway. I take a look during every pre-flight, you just don't know what you may or may not see, and if you look at it enough you will know when something just doesn't look like you think it used to.

Alex, thanks for sharing. I have loved following along on your journey and looking forward to more updates. Congratulations.