MBDiagMan

Beautiful. Here’s a picture of my beloved Miss Piggy. She’s very proud of her new Transponder. The exterior picture was taken several years ago. She too, now shares a hangar with her younger sister the Mooney.

Oh! A fellow 140 owner! I just put an ESG in my 140 and getting ready for the validation flight as soon as I get weather.

Long, medium or short body? BTW, welcome to the forum!

Apple did not name themselves after The Beatles. They picked apples to earn the first money they had available for investment.

Much of my career was with two companies, that were small, innovative and agile. I had a front row seat to see what happened when purchased by mega companies. It was worse for the worker bees than it was for the customers, but over time the technologies grew stale. I didn’t complain because I benefitted, both times, but eventually customers and remaining employees suffered in some way. The good news is that the young entrepreneurs got the technology in motion and it will be with us from now on. Even if we move to different vendor, we will be flying with EFB’s from now on, thanks to entrepreneurial, forward thinking young people.

We have SEEMED to have a few times when it appeared that something was wtong because of seeing no traffic, then things seemed to correct themselves and traffic shows up normally. I have suspected it to be early testing or maintenance of some sort.

Midland is not near Dallas. It is some 300 miles away. Don Munch could probably give an outstanding introductory ride, and I’m pretty sure his is a K.

Well, it was a year ago, when I began seeing projected dates on the Trutrak. After a fifty year career, most of it in the software industry, I have experienced many missed release dates up close and personal, and we didn’t even have the FAA to blame it on. It seemed that we would get things released during the month that we projected, but it was getting the projected year correct that gave us trouble. Doesn’t make it any less frustrating. I’m ready to find someone to overhaul my PC Turn Coordinator and forget about the Trutrak. If I can find a reliable rebuilder that’s what I will do.

Well, I never saw anything about this summer. At this point, after being delayed so many times, do you think it wise to bank on it being available this summer? They have missed every date they have ever projected for the Mooney certification , so how can anyone count on their projections? It is very easy to believe that the FAA is responsible for the delay, but the result is the same. The long and the short of it is that it is impossible to rely on any release dates put forth on this product. BTW, apology accepted.

I will refrain from taking this as an insult although it seemed to be positioned that way. I still have the funds set aside for the Trutrak and am anxious for it to be installed. I am much better with my money than you imply. It’s quite interesting you can make an assessment of someone’s budgeting habits without knowing them, but I realize that some people imagine themselves possessing skills that they do not really have. You also must not be aware that it appears we may never have Trutrak in a Mooney at any price. Now it appears that there will never be a time when it can be legally installed. I need an autopilot and was planning on Trutrak availability.

This is very disappointing, actually irritating news. The Trutrak guy told me at the Mooney Max event in October it was going from November Mooney release to March. Now it appears it is going on the NEVER list. I was counting on this when I bought my plane. Now my autopilot budget is blown completely out of the water. I wonder if Brittain will be rebuilding levelers again soon. They’re now my only hope within my budget. irritated!

I got so accustomed to the dragging out of the certification date I gave up following the scuttlebutt for awhile. What is the latest estimated date for Mooney Tru Trak availability? Is it supposed to be this year?

Wayne, I am in the midst of the struggle. I will be 70 in May. I began preparing for the written in 2016 and was pretty much ready and about to take the test when my life drastically changed unexpectedly. After a couple of years I got back to that level of study and made an 82 on the written last May. I never thought I could ever be so proud of an 82 on a test, but I was. Other delays have occurred including a shoulder injury that got me out of my Johnson bar C, struggle finding the right instructor out here in the boondocks and starting over in an electric gear F, sorting through the shakedown process using even more time. I am now slowly moving along and think I will get there. I quoted Don’s post for a reason. I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting Don and seeing his beautiful Mooney as well as learning various different things from him that come from his vast experience, education and intellect. Knowing and admiring Don as I do, I feel vindicated for having such a tough time. When someone as smart, educated and experienced as Don equates IR training with some of the difficulties of veterinary school, it gives me hope and encouragement, and makes me realize the challenge of it.. I hope that it will serve as hope and encouragement for you as well. I used written material in the beginning when I thought I was ready for the written test. When I got back to it, I bought King and that helped. Then I got the Shepherd and that helped, but what really got me over the hump was the Gleim book. I think it was because it gave me a paper workbook instead of switching screens for the reference figures. That was more like taking the actual test. I really think that the whole IR process is something that requires focus. You have to get into the material and STAY in the material. Hope this helps!

Plane seems like a good one if a short body accomplishes yourmission. The price seems high at first glance, but Mooney prices are on the rise, so it could be that the price is righ5 on the money.

Do you know if the person in the picture was at the Mooney Max event last October? I am terrible with names, buthelooks like someone we met there.

I wish there was a rolling on the floor laughing icon here.:) Yeah, my Cessna has gained so much weight since she was born that she earned the nick name and if she were a girl in a bikini, she would belong in that picture.:)

I am just now beginning to use the speed brakes for one little thing. I am curious to hear when and in what situation others use them. My little thing I use them for is, when slowing down for the FAF, I deploy the brakes as I slow down to gear speed, then I basically trade the brakes for the gear down. How and when do you use them?

Please cease posting such pictures. This is an aviation forum. I fully expect that somewhere there is a forum where you can post pictures of your rotund girlfriends.

Yeah, that’ll buff out.

Yes, I’ve known people with that attitude. For me, I am completely incapable of making myself do anything illegal, immoral or unethical. I am the kind of sucker that this guy loathed.

Yes Bob, I fully expect that there are more rogue pilots than most people think. A number of years ago, a young family man bought a Beech Sierra in a hangar next to me. He took lessons for a few weeks and started flying it to job sites hundreds of miles away. One day I saw him put his 8 or 9 year old son in the plane and go. This sequence of events happened in a ridiculously short amount of time to a point that it would have been impossible for him to be even close to his Private. At least I never saw him go in marginal weather. I moved away not long after all this so I am not sure where it all went, but it sure appeared that his mode of operation was simply to buy a plane and fly. This was a remote field, so he very well could still be flying rogue. In fact given his apparent demeanor, I expect that he still is flying rogue if he is still flying.

There is MUCH to be gained from discussion, even speculation regarding an accident. About a year or so ago, there was a fatal accident in the Mooney community that involved a serious pitch up shortly after take off. In the course of the discussion that it a possibility was seat rails. It was clear that this was simply speculated as a possibility, and probably not the cause, but it led to a serious and informative safety discussion regarding seat rails. Very soon after this discussion, I had the pleasure of meeting Paul (the poster quoted above) and we had a very productive discussion about seat rails. There was a LOT of awareness shared among the Mooney community about this subject, a serious one. As I recall, the cause of that particular accident turned out to be medical, but the discussion that resulted may very well prevent an accident somewhere along the line. I fully expect that the gentleman who lost his life would not feel disrespected if he knew that productive safety discussion resulted from it. The accident discussed in this thread, as all accidents discussed here, result in positive discussion albeit considered morbid by some. There is no law, at least not yet, that prevents discussion of an accident before the Federal agencies complete their investigations. My $0.02,

I have less than 50 hours with my 900, but so far it has been flawless.

Looks like a great time. Wish we could have been there!

Thanks very much for the inviration, but how about adding a state or city to the location? People so often indicate a location by the identifier which is fine for most of the locals, but how about just adding one more phrase like a city and state?