MBDiagMan

Whoops! Didn’t think to look at model.

Is it located on the right side angled panel of a J or later? If so, the angle makes it do strange things.

Yeah, I would have never forked over the money to add the speed brakes, but they sure are great to have. I was going into Conroe a few months ago at 6,500. Houston approach didn’t turn me loose to descend until I was almost on top of the place. I put up the brakes and dropped out of the sky like a rock without getting too close to Vne. To aggravate the situation they gave me right traffic and on downwind told me to follow the Citation that was on a long final. The brakes gave me another option while I was seeing how I was going to fit in behind the jet. I felt safe and in control during the whole process. I agree with the comments about vacuum controlled devices. Brings to mind the windshield wipers on my ‘55 Chevy.

My speed brakes are electric and were on the plane when I bought it. I thought, well speed brakes, that’s neat. Since that time I’ve had a few times when they were a fabulous addition to the bag of tricks. Now I hate to think of flying a Mooney without them. if you have to change them to electric to keep them, so be it. My $0.02,

I would be absolutely beside myself if this AP were actually certified for my F. Maxwell has done a great job putting together the plane and when I bought it a year ago I just assumed it would soon have an autopilot and I set money aside for it. The only serious disappointment with the plane has been the lack of an AP. Getting the TT installed would make it everything I expected. Out of frustration I might have been unfair to TT. I am all about giving a second chance to TT after their fresh start with King. If King sets a date and meets the date at the expected price, I will be a promoter with the same energy level I used as a detractor. I will be showing people my autopilot and promoting for you.. If King gives a date and delivers close to that date, I will be writing positive things about King. Oh, and BTW, you come through on this Steve and Cliffy won’t be the only one offering a meal. Put me on that list too!

Thanks Steve! I sincerely hope that the TT purchase helps all concerned. I have gotten so frustrated waiting for the certification that I sometimes lose it and write things out of frustration. I spent most of my career in the automation software world where keeping customers frequently updated about product availability was an ongoing challenge due to rapid development. I learned from that how extremely important it is to keep people informed of ALL news both good and bad. If a delay occurs, tell the customer right away and try to be as realistic and truthful as possible. Keeping everyone updated whether the news is good or bad earns customer loyalty. Ny $0.02,

In the book “They all Fly Through the Same Air” it was said that all of the planes original fit with the Crosley were retrofitted to the little Lycoming. Some of them may never have gotten the memo.

And in what state are those airports?

I’m 6’1” and can get the seat WAY too far back. Height is no problem. If you have lots of width, that could be a problem.

I am definitely interested. If they don’t drag me out forever like Trutrak has, I will probably do it. I was over about 150 miles or more of solid overcast last week when I lost vacuum. I had over four hours fuel and was pretty sure of clear skies at my destination, so I never felt in danger, but it definitely made me think. The G5’s being a necessary part of the autopilot expense makes me justify the rest of the money. Put me down as a probably, but if they drag their feet and a miracle occurs in the form of Trutrak getting their STC before Garmin, I may go Trutrak even with the G5’s already installed.

Not officially, but the Cessna is Miss Piggy because she’s been gaining weight since new. The Mooney is Joyce because both my Mother and my wife’s names were Joyce.

In the Mooney I have a 345, and I have synthetic vision in Foreflight. The IPad was in my lap. I’ve never found a good way to mount it in line of sight where I could see it easily while scanning other instruments. I would hate to think of shooting an approach by hand with nothing other than pitot/static instruments, 430 and the AHRS on half of the IPad screen in my lap. It sure would have been better than nothing though.

Well after yesterday’s flight I am reconsidering the GFC500. I was over about 150 miles of solid overcast and vacuum went to zero. It was not a comfortable feeling. A G5, would have been a comforting thing to have. The overcast went away according to forecast, and I had plenty of fuel to go somewhere else, but what if I would have had to go through clouds?

You were right! Once cold using the cold start procedure worked perfectly. I learn something new every flight, even something new sometimes when I manage not to fly. I learned that after two minutes running it can no longer be considered a cold engine.

$14K for two G5’s and a GFC500? Where do I sign?

From what I know, that PC problem is a worn gyro in the turn Coordinator. I had one rebuilt a few months ago by the shop reccommended by the lady at Britain. I think the name is Pierce & Strait in Tulsa. Maxwell put it in at annual and I ended up needing the plane for a trip before they ended up finishing it. I expect to take it back to them in a week or two to complete this and a few other things. I will let you know how it works out. If you were to find a loaner turn Coordinator you could remove the Britain and send it to Pierce and Strait. Hope this helps.

I have been successful with my hot start procedures. I had trouble after I had run the engine a couple of minutes then had to shut down. Probably five minutes later I tried restarting the way I normally would start it cold. I could never get it to hit one lick. I then tried different things and it never hit a lick. Assuming I have enough battery will it start when I try Wednesday morning?

I will consciously try that. I think I sort of do the same thing, or something similar, but I’m just not thinking about it that way. Great discussion.

I trim for 80 on final but I am slower than that by the time I get over the threshold. I took it into a short field a few months ago and turned off at midfield which was about 1800 feet.

That’s a pretty darn fast C. My C had a number of speed mods including a J windshield and it wasn’t that fast.

My F has all the J mods and essentially flies like a J. It took a while, but I found that if I trimmed on final for 80MPH with full flaps, and then bleed off speed until it sets down it does very nicely. I don’t have nearly as much time in it as you do and like you, I feel like I am still lacking at times.

I read on here a few days ago that it would be end of year or so for the Mooney STC. They have been saying things like this for so long that I have no faith whatsoever that it will come true. Actually it might turn out to be at the end of the year if you don’t specify exactly which year. Sorry for the cynicism, but after hearing this sort of thing from them month after month, it gets old. let me say though that I hope it is ready in October for everyone’s sake.

I believe that simple harmonics tell you that a two blade better matches a four cylinder and a three blade better matches a six cylinder.

Great article! Thanks! I think that being told not to slip at the time I was told that, was a good thing. It forced me not to rely on that slip card that was up my sleeve and forced me to fly it more like a high performance airplane should be flown. As it all turned out, my C served as a great plane to transition me into the Mooney world. I not only slipped it a lot, but also landed it with no flaps. I basically flew it like my Cessna and kicked the full flap landing can down the road. When I got the F I landed it with full flaps and it was quite a surprise. An old pilot on the field who has flown about anything with wings told me that full flaps was the way to fly any complex airplane. I had to get the message of lots of nose up trim along the way. Once I started trimming for 80 on final with full flaps, I started landing it in a way that was not embarrassing. Thanks for the article and comments.