Bart Chilcott

I would do that in a heart beat! I love the 660! My only reservation is that I use the 496 strictly for Sirius XM stereo in the head sets and the 660 isn’t capable of that.

Thank you very much. I love flying behind it. It also has synthetic on both the PFD and MFD as well as Avidyne active traffic (TCAS) on the MFD. GPSS with the 430W and a STEC30 auto Pilot. It’s all I’ll ever want although I’d love to upgrade the 430W to a GTN650.

LOL, YES, and that completely blank right yoke badge! Ha ha ha

I’m in for a laser/ powder coated one. Please count me in. My 65 E had gold accents rather than silver but nearly all of the logo is gone. I wonder why some were silver and some gold?

Actually paint is the least expensive (barring any corrosion). . A world class paint job runs around 16K + . An overhaul, 25K, a new engine for my E (IO360 - $50K,) Avionics can easily exceed $80K with autopilot and a little glass. Ideally an aircraft that has ALL the things done to it by the previous owner represents the best value. But since avionics depreciate faster than anything else in this world, I think it’s wise to put a priority on that over polish and take advantage of someone else’s depreciation loss, followed closely by a low time, proven engine. But hey, thankfully we dont all buy on the same premises. What one person values in an aircraft may be of no value to another buyer. Such as IFR capabilities may have zero value to a VFR Pilot and so on.

I've learned that aircraft are sort of like women. There are three primary things to look for. Paint is like lip stick, its superficial and might attract you, but paint and lipstick fade over time. Try and look beyond just the eye appeal. A great engine is like a good heart, it will always be there for you and never let you down as long as you take care of it. Try and place more value on mechanical than cosmetic and you wont regret it. And lastly, a wonderful avionics panel is like a beautiful personality. Its a pleasure to be around and you'll love it more and more and wonder how you got along without it. $56,900 seems a little high for a C model but she is very pretty. Like others, I'd like it more south of $49K. Spend just a tad more and you'll likely find yourself with a really nice E or F with an amazing panel. One that you'll want to fly (date) for a very long time. Just my .02 cents.

I may PM you when I get ready to add new position/strobes if you don't mind.

I thought mine was tight too when it wasn’t. A lot of battery draining was occurring during taxi do to improper belt tension. Worth looking into. I almost bought a brand new starter because of this.

I understand. I did find a great way to check belt tension without buying an expensive belt tensiometer. I used a dial type torque wrench from Snap-on and a socket on the pully bolt. If you hold the prop still and turn the alternator pully with the torque wrench, you can pretty precisely measure belt slippage. This is one of the methods Lycomong recommends and is pretty easy to do. I set mine at 130 inch lbs. A click type torque wrench really isn’t good for this but a dial type is perfect as it will show the amount of torque required to slip. The second needle on the dial stays at the highest torque achieved. The accuracy on this type of wrench is 2%.

Tim, are you certain your battery is up to the job? I put a new Gil battery in my E and it did the same thing. It would stop on the compression stroke when starting. After more investigation, I found my alt belt needed tightening even though I was showing 14.1 V in flight. I also bought a battery maintainer specifically for the battery. After tightening the belt to proper tension and adding the battery minder, the issue cleared up.

Yes, actually a panel light is a great idea!

I’m using the ForeFlight Check List. You can completely customize it for different aircraft. It allows you to store checklists for multiple aircraft by their N number. You can also share your checklist. What I like about it is it shows me if I failed to check anything off and will immediately go to the unchecked item when I complete the list.

I bought a Honda EX350. It puts out 300W or turned down to 150W with a switch. SUPER quiet and supplies just enough power to operate my engine preheater when I’m at a remote airport and can’t get near power. Weighs 19 lbs. I don’t believe Honda makes these any more but they can be found on the used market. I bought mine used. As I recall, I paid $250.00 for it. Well worth it!

I have it as part of my check list. I use an iPhone app checklist. When I touch an item on the list, it marks it complete. I actually have the baggage door at the beginning of my preflight and as the very last item.

You’re going to love them Bob! I love mine! The extra fuel makes a world of difference. Like jetdriven said, “the best speed mod is more fuel”.

I totally get it! I’m picky too. Thin leather is one thing, I would have loved to have gotten thin leather. The shop that did my annual used a see through cloth that’s horrible looking and charged me $100.00 for it.

The shop that did my annual last year replaced mine (even though I specifically asked them not to) and charged me $100.00. The material they used is only dlightly better than tissue paper. Makes Hectors sound like a BARGAIN

I gave the pulsating one (HX) serious thought. I probably should have gone that route but as bright as the light is, it seems like it would be hard to miss even if it weren’t pulsating so I decided to stay with the less expensive version.

Very nice video Oscar! Are your shooting with a GoPro or a Garmin camera?

https://quik.gopro.com/v/4Xv1xYh9kH/ Here are some better shots of the physical characteristics of this landing light before it was installed. The Installed video can be found after this one.

I purchased this one from Aircraft Spruce. I’ll post a video of unboxing the light so you can get a better look at the physical characteristics.

Thank you Oscar!

I can think of a couple of ways. Shadow puppets on the hangar wall or silhouettes of naked young ladies dancing in front of it. The later might get me kicked off of Mooney Space though. So instead, you’re stuck with my mug explaining why I bought the thing.

Pilot Report on my Recently installed Aeroleds Sunspot PAR46 Landing Light in my M20E. https://quik.gopro.com/v/YchMh0m34l/

Is that the JPI EDM 900 you have there Paul? If so, how do you like it? I'm considering upgrading to it next year and redoing my right side panel and removing my legacy tach and MP gauges.