Skates97

My wife and I tried to watch it, she's the one that said it was so ridiculous she was done watching. Even from the beginning of the problem flight they go from a climb at I think it was around 10,000' when the pilot flops forward onto the yoke and they are now in a dive. A few seconds later they pull out of the dive just above the trees and then are back in a climb at altitude (with the auto-pilot still on despite the previous dive). There are scenes where the flaps are flapping up and down independently (I guess they are called flaps...) and a multitude of other things wrong. The movie has him screaming in over the numbers and down the runway, fast enough he would have never landed it. Reality is his speed was fairly good and he said it was one of his best. He had about 230 hours in 172's and 150 hours of recent time prepping for his Instrument ticket. The movie shows him as having only a introductory flight in a 172 that didn't go well. The real story is not as exciting, but it's a movie based on real events, not a documentary. AOPA had a good article about it when it happened back in 2009. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2009/april/14/unintentional-king-air-pilot-an-interview-with-doug-white Edit: Here's another article from NBC. He was only in the air about 30 minutes from when he called up ATC and was on the ground. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30190350

Probably not a lot of difference in the paint, but if there was body work to take out dents and dimples in the plane that can add some weight.

I ordered them through Precision Hose https://www.aircrafthose.com/ and was happy with the price and service. In February 2022 I paid $76.68ea for them. I didn't need to send in the old ones, limited down time, had them ready to swap out during annual.

I used to do the same thing. I changed procedure. I will stuff a couple old rags under it up against the mount. Remove the entire piece of safety wire to have that out of the way, loosen it up with the wrench and then spin it off quickly and let it fall into my hand. If I spin it quickly it keeps most of the oil from running down and I end up with a few spots of oil on the rag. Edit: I should add that this is after letting the oil drain so most of the oil is out of the filter. This is what they end up looking like.

I don't disagree, I was just pointing out to the OP that there is another option for the step. I didn't remove it for the weight difference. I have gained more useful load by shedding my own extra weight than by anything removed or updated in the plane. It looks like currently $295 for an overhauled pump from Aircraft Spruce, which will fail again in another 500 hours or so. I was putting in G5's and the M20D's don't have a wing leveler so there was no reason to keep it, other than for the step. I did all the labor under supervision so no cost there. I was kicked out of the CB club a long time ago, the $435 for the conversion is a drop in the proverbial bucket. One unnamed benefit, if you do your own oil changes, not having a vacuum pump makes it so much easier.

No, you don't need to remove the baggage compartment interior. You go in through the panel to the avionics bay on the left side of the plane. You don't even have to rewove the interior as you can feed the wire from the back to the front through the existing vacuum line that is no longer needed. AS-IOM-001_Rev 3 - Electric Step Conversion.pdf

Get the electric step conversion from @takair, it's an easy install and worth it to ditch the vacuum system. http://flightenhancements.com/auto-step.html

I like straight lines on the short bodies. When it came time to paint I sent the graphic designer pics of some designs I liked and what I liked about them. One thing I wanted was a dark color on the leading edge to more easily see if it is picking up ice. Lastly was incorporating my logo in the tail. There was back and forth as he refined different ideas, I'm very happy with the result.

The GFC500 was quoted at $18,864 for a 3 servo (pitch/roll/trim) install, no YD. I don't remember the final but it came in a little under the quote. The G5's were $2185 for the AI and $2995 for the HSI. I did the install myself with my IA's supervision so there was no labor cost other than my time. It was part of a panel overhaul that I also put in a PMA450B audio panel and GNC355.

My decision to put in the G5's and a GFC500 in 2021 is looking better and better. Two years and 280+ hours with an autopilot after 560+ hours with no auto-pilot has been delightful.

In the picture just showing the shaft it doesn't have it, but there is a locking collar. In the main picture you can see it, little black ring, tighten it with two allen bolts, wrench is hanging off the bolt in the picture.

Years ago I just bit the bullet and bought the Alpha Aviation Jacks and haven't ever regretted the decision. Looks like $800 for a pair now, I don't remember what I spent then. Over the course of 6 1/2 years of ownership that's a drop in the bucket, not even a rounding error. https://alphaaviation.com/324w-3-ton-low-wing-jack-24-40/

Are you sure? My laptop is Windows 11 and I downloaded it from the Garmin site and installed it. Link to the Garmin page: https://fly.garmin.com/fly-garmin/garmin-aviation-database-manager/ Direct link to the application download: https://static.garmincdn.com/apps/fly/files/desktop/win/electron/22.12.8/garminAvnDbManagerSetup_22.12.8.exe Edit: It may be the way his work has restrictions setup on the laptop, but isn't a Windows 11 issue.

We have two Citizen e-bikes that we like. They fit, one in the baggage and one in the back seat. We also have the bags that they go in which I recommend. Here's a trip to Santa Paula when we tried them out taking them in the plane for the first time. https://intothesky.com/2022/07/10/july-4th-santa-paula-breakfast-and-a-bike-ride/

I've seen some bad home built ones, but bad home built with extensions on top? Good grief!

The plane's limit is when you run out of rudder, the pilot's limit often is something less than that. Landing with partial or no flaps gives a higher stall speed which means more rudder authority, but like Hank says our 65's have the shorter rudder.

I can't believe something in CA would be less expensive than in the rest of the country. The basic quote from Artcraft last fall was $22k. The final came in just over $30k but that included 36 hours of body work, installation of flap gap seals, 8 more hours to remove some antennas and put in filler plates and patch smooth, plus the design of the paint scheme. I am extremely happy with the job they did. https://intothesky.com/2023/01/17/art-craft-paint-review/

I went a similar route as the OP. Back in 2016 I bought the nicest one I could afford. It didn't have any fancy avionics, no autopilot or even wing leveler, and while it was technically IFR capable I wouldn't have wanted to fly it IFR. But, I didn't have my Instrument Rating (only 58.2 total hours in my logbook) and while there were plans to someday get my rating it wasn't immediate. I spent the next 4-5 years flying it all over the southwest and once out to the east coast and back VFR. We adjusted trips by a day here and there and some departure/arrival times but made just about every trip we wanted to make. I wanted to get rid of the vacuum gages and put a GPS in the panel before beginning my IFR. When I bought the plane I knew it would be extra cost to add them after the purchase, but I was more interested in buying a frequently flown/clean airframe than the avionics it came with. A little over four years after purchase I had the panel I wanted and began my IFR training and completed it a couple months before the five year anniversary of owning the plane. I'll disagree about the 430W. I know it has been a long staple in the GA world, but compared to newer units I don't like it at all. I have a GNC355 in my plane and did a little flying in a 172 with a 430W. The resolution, menus, and functionality don't even compare. As has been said in this thread and I think every other thread where people come asking about purchase advice. Just by the best Mooney that has been frequently flown that you can afford. Have your list of must haves and wants and make sure it checks off as many of the must haves as possible. Oh, and the topic of mods. I agree with @MikeOH, I don't think they really add much. I have the SWTA windshield mod, cowl enclosure, brake reversal, and I think a few others. The cowl enclosure I think does help with the cooling, and it looks better than the guppy mouth but I don't think adds speed. The windshield mod looks nice, maybe adds some speed, but really makes the inside "feel" bigger. I had the flap gap seals added when I had it painted last year. They claim a speed increase, but I true out at the exact same speed as before. They also claim an increase in climb rate and that one is real. Before once I hit about 7,000' it would slow down and from 8-10,000' I usually saw about 300 fpm unless it was a hot day in the southwest and then it was a crawl. Now I see close to 500 fpm all the way to 10,000'. https://intothesky.com/2016/12/16/buying-n78878/

KGNT (Grants, NM) makes a good fuel stop as well. When we went from SoCal to Osh we stopped at KGNT, then east past the southern end of the range and up to KGCK (Garden City, KS) for our next stop. Agree, really anywhere across the southwest, but that's just part of flying here unless you are going early in the morning.

As others have said, use the static cling. It is easy to use and easy to remove if you want to. I wrote up a step by step a few years back. After a couple years it gets a little hazy so I just remove and replace it. https://intothesky.com/window-tinting/

No, the POH has this: The 1977 version has this:

This one gets debated quite frequently. I subscribe to the school of thought that it is referring to settings in cruise, not a few minutes on descent.

And hopefully the shop has a policy that covers fraud/theft by employees. It is a part of of most commercial policies.

I feel your pain, I still have better than 20/20 distance vision but I couldn't beat father time for near vision and by my mid 40's was wearing readers. I had a set of lenses made for my sunglasses with readers in them and have a pair of clear plain glasses that have readers in them. The break where the readers start is right at the top of my panel so everything outside and inside is in focus. The resolution on the GNC355 is very good and with my glasses it is easy to read. Without them not so much.

This stuff is pretty easy to work with. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/supersoundproofsheet.php?clickkey=59594