EtradeBaby

I'm not a dentist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Think of timing as an adjustment for cylinder pressure. Fuel is designed to burn not explode (exploding fuel is called detonation. Very harmful). Since it's not exploding it takes time for the flame front to propagate to the cylinder walls and build sufficient pressure to force the piston down. Because of this you must ignite the mixture at a point prior to the the piston reaching TDC (top dead center) this is referred to as degrees BTC (before top dead center). The maximum amount of power to be achieved from timing would be to set It at a point early enough in the cycle to achieve maximum pressure just after TDC. Many things contribute to your cylinder pressure however and I don't believe any two engines in existence should be treated exactly the same. I.e. Just because this guys is 25 mine also needs to be 25. Also, You are not burning more fuel. You are using the fuel you burn more efficiently. The price you pay for efficiency in any engine is heat. Since you are converting more heat into motion by advancing the timing your engine will run at a higher temperature.

255k according to it's listing on trade a plane. http://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20R+OVATION2+GX&listing_id=2250760&s-type=aircraft

Some may remember my post about purchasing a Mooney, a Cessna, or just keep renting. I would like to thank everyone that posted on that thread. I couldn't believe the response and I learned allot. I thought I would take a moment to fill everyone in on my descision and share my experiences from Friday the 27th. My planned 172 flight was cancelled early in the morning due to some scheduling conflicts. Since I now had a beatiful day with absolutely nothing to do I decided to make the long overdue phone call to the folks at Don Maxwell Aviation. At this point I was pretty much dead set on a Mooney, but still had only maybe seen two in person. Both of which were before I even had a clue as to what I was looking at. So with fingers crossed I made the call. I was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Don Maxwell himself answered the phone. I explained my situation and expressed my interest in at least seeing some Mooney's in person and maybe getting a flight with his instructor. He informed me his instructor had moved on to flying jets and he could rarely get him to fly Mooney's anymore (understandable) so he couldn't guarantee me a flight. However, he had just about every model at any given time and I was more than welcome to come by and check them out. An hour and a half later I was pulling up to his Hangar. I really don't know what I was expecting. I was doing this all on a whim. No prepared questions. Hell I don't know enough about the individual models to even know what to ask. I knew I was at the right place though as soon as I made the right hand turn by the control tower. There were Mooney's Parked everywhere around this single kinda lonesome hangar. Holy shit I thought. I must be at the right place. I had to be buzzed into the building and the lady that greeted me looked puzzled when I told her I was just there to meet with Don. He was busy at the moment trying to get a part ordered for someone's plane but said I could go look around while I waited. So look around I did. When I opened the door to the hangar I had another one of those holy shit moments. I was thinking I was going to find 3 or 4 planes in some immaculate well lit space. Nope, there had to be 10 planes at least in the main area. All in various levels of repair. It was like a maze just walking around. Reminded me of what my garage looks like when I'm working on a diesel truck. Yes, there are parts everywhere. Yes, I know where every screw goes. Please don't touch anything. Knowing full well what that feels like I made sure not to touch anything. I think I kept my hands behind my back most of the time. Leaning, peering, I had to look like a "planeofile" ( yes I did just make up a word ). Finally one of the mechanics approached me. I guess they had seen this sort of thing before. He just started talking to me about some of the models, and answered what few questions I had come up with at this point. He got back to work and I got back to whaterever it was you would call what I was doing. Learning? Maybe. I made my way outside thru the crack in the main doors. I was greeted by a very uncomfortable looking guy elbow deep in someone's instrument panel. I avoided him for now and made my way to the line of planes parked just off the concrete. If I had to give it a name it would be "the row of dreams". I don't think you could bring a child to this place. To this spot on a piece of concrete and he not instantly want to grow up and become an aviator. These planes just sitting there on this beautiful day looked like a million bucks. Hell, they prolly were worth way more than that. You can really tell these airplanes were designed to fly. And that's really all I could think about doing at this point. Flying. To bad that wasn't in the cards today. So I kept walking and staring, and walking and staring. I eventually made my way back to the uncontrollable guy working on the instrument panel. This time hoverever there was a new guy standing there. One who very obviously didn't work there. An owner! Perfect that's who I need to be talking to. So I wonder over and continue my creepy pattern of just staring at airplanes. (You know the more I think about it I should google "planeofile" it may actually be a condition.) I hear the mechanic ask the owner " who is that?" "Probably someone wanting to buy a plane." He replied. "Is it that obvious?" I said? So we chatted for a while. I got his take on the different models which ones he thought I should be looking at and why. He told me allot about his airplane N205MH. He introduced himself as Scott and offered to take me for a loop in the pattern. Hell yes! It wasn't long and I was climbing into a Mooney for the first time. It is a bit tricky to get into but Wasn't terrible. I now understand the sports car analogy. You really sit down into these airframes. There is a ton of leg room though which I loved. We look off and ended up flying south of the airfield. I am still amazed at the fuel burn. 8.2 gph at cruise. I'm still just trying to take everything in when I hear " your airplane ". Whaaaaat I thought. I get to fly after all! It was at that moment I knew I wouldn't be looking at any other manufacturer. The controls were heavy but crisp. I swear the rudder pushed itself while banking to keep the ball nearly perfectly centered. It just felt automatic. As if the the plane was an extension of me. Even if I couldn't hold my altitude very well. That sight picture will take some getting use to. After a few more minutes we headed back to the airport. Scott and I ended up going to lunch together. On the way I told him of the post I had made on Mooneyspace and how surprised I was at the response. " I remember that post." He said. Turns out he was actually one of the commenters. I want to say what as small world but I shouldn't be very surprised. I was at Don Maxwell after all. We ended up having a nice lunch and learning about each others careers and families. All in all I set out that morning to learn something, anything really, about the Mooney brand. I accomplished so much more than that. I am amazed at how nice most of the people are in the aviation community. It is amazing to me that strangers are still willing to go out of their way to share their knowledge and their time. Especially with someone to whom they owe nothing, and have zero ties. I want to give a huge shoutout to Scott McCray (SMccray on the forum) and the folks at Don Maxwell Aviation. I had a great time. I learned allot and I look forward to seeing everyone again in the near future. When I'm getting a pre buy on the Mooney I decide to purchase!

She didn't really care about the chute. I kinda liked the idea of one, but as one person said: it had to have to chute to pass certification. Soooo I think I'll pass on the partnership, Pass on the cirrus, and keep looking at airplanes that were designed to keep flying in the first place.

My wife isn't to enthused with the partners thing. And surprisingly she doesn't care about looks like I figured she would. Sounds like I should just stick with Mooney.

So my flight instructor threw a kink in my plans to purchase a Mooney. Apparently there are some people at our airfield wanting a 3rd partner in an SR22 g2. 83k which is the price range I was in for the Mooney. downsides are obviously partners and they want to professionally manage the plane. that's 400 more per month. the advantages are a parachute and way better avionics than anything I will be able to afford for a while. What do you guys think?

Nice video.

So how do the manual gear lock in the down position and can it be easily actuated by accident? I remember watching a YouTube video of a plane attempting to take off of a very bumpy soft field. Looked like some sort of fly in and the gear just collapsed underneath him. With a lever actuated system that seems like it could happen easily.

How hard is it to get the manual gear up on a climb out? Seems like it would be difficult unless you nose over. Not to mention I'm an I&E technician at my primary job. Which basically translates into liking all things electronic. So I was looking forward to the electric gear. Is there really a significant cost savings between the two? How do you manually lower the gear should the electric motor fail? You also made me think of another question. Is it more important to find a lower time engine that hasn't flown much in the past decade or a higher time engine that see frequent usage? My background with automotive engines leads me to believe higher times are acceptable maybe even desireable if it was maintained well and overhauled recently. I've seen several planes with low time engines that were last overhauled when Bill Clinton was in office. I tend to want to shy away from those planes.

I'll give her a call this afternoon. I can't thank everyone enough for all the wonderful advice so far. I have been looking at F's all day and TTaylor had a great point and is absolutely correct about finding a nicely equipped F on my budget. That's definitly looking like the plane for me. Now I just need to sit in one.

Well there are no plans for a second child, but the first one wasn't exactly planned either some guess you never really know. This may sound strange but sitting down low with a "strapped in" feeling I think would make me feel more at ease. Ive done quite a bit of racing and just get very relaxed strapping down into something rather than sitting upright. As for the mission really just take my wife places. I love to fly. She loves to be anywhere other than north Louisiana. We pack very light. We each own a business that could benefit in part from an airplane. We are starting to pick up some work in the Baton Rouge area and making that round trip in a vehicle in one day really sucks. I will give Falcon a call tomorrow and get another quote. AOPA said even getting my IR would only drop it by about 5%. So I definitly feel I need to shop around.

That was an AOPA quote. Who is your insurance provider I need to check them out. I don't think I'll be doing many soft field landings. I don't even have an actual soft field I can practice on around here. Most of my trips will be between Dallas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Birmingham. Even then those trips will likely only be on a monthly basis. I absolutely would consider just sticking to renting if I could at least rent a 182. But a 172 just isn't going to cut it for very long. Especially knowing I could be going 45 knots faster on the same fuel burn. That and most of my trips will be overnight. That means paying the $480 ( 3 hr minimum per day) just to sit on the ramp. That stings.

Wow, I wasn't expecting so many responses so quickly. Thank you all for the advice. I do like the pickup vs sports car anology and that really pushes me towards the M20J. I have seen Don Maxwells name come up on several occasions and didn't realize we was located at KGGG. I may try to get in touch with him. Seems like he would be the best person to put the maintenance questions to rest. To be honest the 3200 insurance quote wasn't as bad as I expected considering I only have 4.2 hours in a complex. That brings up another question. Since most of the avionics in the planes I've looked at are outdated what should I expect as a return on investment for installing updated equipment? Is it just a loss or can you expect to get a reasonable % of your money back should you choose to sell?

Good afternoon everyone, I am currently finishing up my PPL. I have a wife and a four year old. My local FBO only rents Cessna 172's @ 160hr. Wet. I expect my mission to usually include the three of us for ~ 250nm trips, but want to at least carry 3 adults and full fuel (pushing it in the 172). Above all else I want to be safe. I plan to use whatever plane I purchase to immediately start instrument training. I had originally planned on purchasing a 182, but after riding in one the other day I was more impressed with the g1000 it had than the plane itself. Im not afraid to admit this is a scary descision for me. My wife wants me to go ahead and buy something so I'll shut up about it, but it's a friggin airplane. Seems like a poor or rushed descision could lead to deadly or at least costly mistakes. Which is why I'm here. I'm confused, frustrated, and need people with experience to say you can do this, these feelings are normal, or you aren't ready. You need to back up and punt. Here is what I know (or think I know) 182: 145ktas, ~1200 lb useful, ~15 gph cruise, maintenance isn't terrible. Insurance is 1700 per yr. Mooney M20j (seems like the model for me): 150ktas, ~1000 lb useful, 10 gph cruise, maintenance doesn't seem to be terrible either insurance is 3200 per year. I had also considered 231, but keep reading conflicting articles about maintenance. Are they much more expensive to maintain? Is it worth the performance increase? One article said if you stay below 12k then buy a 201. Above buy a 252. I honestly have never been above 12k in a ga airplane, and have also read the time it takes to fill the oxygen bottles eats up the time saved on the trip. I'm looking at spending around 80k will consider going higher for good avionics. I do realize posting this on a Mooney forum will likely influence the advice but please try and be objective. I need a safe cost effective airplane that I can trust. Please help me - Travis Also, I've never actually ridden in a Mooney so if anyone is based near KDTN I'll buy the fuel!