MBDiagMan

Prebuy inspection/annual scheduled for Monday. If no sqwauks from the prebuy, he will go ahead and annual the aircraft. If all That goes well, we will start looking for training/ ferrying weather and bring her home. Until my training is finished I will be tying her down outside. This really bothers me, but I don't have an alternative. Once I can move her around myself, I will put her in my hangar at another airport and maybe put the 140 out. It is a box hangar and I think both of them will fit. My new hangar is supposed to be finished in 90 days. I will check into one of those cloth covers that covers the entire cockpit area. Anyone ever use one? They are expensive, but I want as much protection as possible. It will be nice to have when tying down on a ramp while traveling. it really looks like this is going to happen.

I hope this forum works out okay. I saw a politics and religion subforum seriously wreck a discussion forum that previously was a WONDERFUL forum. People that interacted beautifully before that subforum found themselves on the opposite sides of political and religious issues and lost their willingness to help each other. It was very sad to watch. I have been so impressed with the folks on this forum. I hope the rant and rave has no negative effects toward the common bond we have with our airplanes.

If these contests would have required three decimal place resolution, the slide rule guys would not have been able to compete, BUT yeah, with a competent operator you can slip out most things faster than with a calculator. NOW! I guess it is time to move to mechanical drawing versus AutoCAD.:)

This thread brought to mind something fun that happened at my house some years ago: My son was/is a great mathematician. When he was about fourteen or so I was cleaning out a drawer and came across one of my old slide rules. I took it and showed it to him and he was very wide eyed. I showed him how to use it and came up with a simple multiplication or something to show him how it worked. When I finished, he ran to his room and came back almost immediately with a calculator. He keyed in the problem, looked at the result and his eyes and mouth opened wide in amazement. He excitedly said "it's correct!"

Great work Cliffy! the plane I am trying to buy is cosmetically excellent in every way except the interior is probably a 7 or 8. It was done in 1974 and generally looks good, but could stand to be replaced. I had wondered if maybe there are upholstery kits available as they are for classic cars.

Yep, I can use it. I can still use a slide rule too if one is put in front of me. I went through college with a slide rule. Scientific calculators came on the scene just as I finished college. A slide rule and CRC tables were the tools of the day for me. Giving away my age. I keep a paper chart at hand. It usually is not a current one, but I have yet to see dead batteries or electrical problems with a paper chart or an E6B.

I have been using Foreflight for over six years and have never found the need for an E6B since. I keep one in my flight bag but I have no explanation for why I do beyond the fact that I am 67 years old so it seems like it belongs there.

No, unless 2414V was in the panhandle in the fifties when it belonged to a pipeline company, it has never been based there. She was restomodified in the late seventies in the California wine country. A fellow poured TONS of money into the project and gave the plane to his wife as a birthday present. She then got her instrument rating in the plane. After him the plane ended up in Missourri and then Texarkana where I purchased her almost six years ago. I am in NorthEast Texas about a hundred miles North East of Dallas on the Red River. I am not sure if I will keep her after buying the Mooney. The big problem is finding a hangar for both. I have a box hangar currently and if I can't fit them both in the hangar, the 140 will have to go out and then be sold. I can't make myself leave her out permanently. She has been hangared continuously since the restoration project.

Thanks very much Moniac! I will keep trying to find a solution. It doesn't give a problem every time. Nothing worse to troubleshoot than an intermittent problem.

Probably doesn't mean much, but I thought it was encouraging. I put in the tail number and found a trip on flight aware that showed 155 Knots speed for the trip. I looked up the winds in weather history and they near calm at the time. Of course he might have had a tailwind aloft, but at least it didn't show 130 or something. The plane has several speed mods, so I am thinking that 150 or so might be possible. I have been awake with a cold and I wont normally fly with a cold, so there is plenty of time to get over it before the new baby arrives.

I am using an iPad and Safari. I made my living for 33 years in the HMI software world with much of that smack dab in the middle of Bill Gates stuff. I rarely go there now that I don't have to do it for a living.

Yes I was talking about a Cessna 140. They are indeed great at little planes. Fun and challenging, yet economical to fly.

I would have no qualms about buying a plane with a thousand hour engine as long as it has been run regularly and checks'out well, BUT I would expect a sale price that reflects a mid time engine. I don't know about the Lycomings, but I do know about the O200 Continental family. The O200 commonly runs to double the TBO without issue. In fact, statistically an engine in the 1500 to 2500 hour range is more reliable than a freshly overhauled engine. Within a reasonable range, the engine CONDITION is more important than the hours.

If I get an instructor to ferry it here from Kerrville and he doesn't get me proficient in a day or two due to weather, or my slowness to learn, I might ask my local instructor if he will curl up in the back and then fly back home with me. If I do have to take home the ferry pilot/instructor before I am ready to fly him home I might fly him in my 140 or gas up the car and drive. I can drive him in less time than It would take for getting him to Dallas for a flight to SanAntonio and then him driving home. Just thinking out loud really.

I am very pleased with the people on this forum and appreciate the people who have made it available. I am, however, getting frustrated with the mechanism of the forum. Most of the time, it won't let me enter a reply. It shows a paper clip and asks to select a file. I have to fool around at length to get a field that wil let me key in a response. Makes me feel too dumb to fly a plane. Anyway, I appreciate all the comments. Yes I can indeed slip the crap out of my 140. When I am high I rarely fool with flaps. It is just too easy and too much fun to slip it down, straighten up and go to approach speed. On my last BFR, I was really close to the field I wanted to go into for my simulated emergency. I think the instructor was impressed when I slipped it down since he is the one that taught me to do it. In fact that is the same instructor that is the Mooney guy who will probably do my transition. I have lots of confidence in him and he is an experienced mooney guy. The more I think about it, the more I believe that he is well prepared to do my transition. I doubt that he has done dozens or hundreds of transitions, but he knows Mooneys and knows how to teach. He also told me about most of the things that you guys Have talked about before I came here to include: difficulty in slowing it down, slowing down before lowering the gear, caution about excessive air speed on approach, etc. I am now leaning toward getting the Mooney instructor/ferry pilot to bring it here and give me the rest of the day introduction training, then my local guy take it from there. I hope this doesn't start a debate. I GREATLY appreciate all the great posts and private messages from everyone. You have all helped me immensely. Now I am just anxious to get past all the details and get that darlin' here and in the air.

My impression is that it is a hydraulic leak. Either at the cylinders or the valve.

Sounds like a great suggestion.

I found a treasure trove on this website, the downloads. I have been reading wheelbarrowing, crosswind landing and perusing the POH. The downloads contain good information and I am getting very good insight into the characteristics of this aircraft. It looks to me as if they are very tame beasts as long as you understand the characteristics which are very well described in some of these downloads. Things are coming together. The person doing the prebuy won't be doing it until the week of Valentine's Day. I will start arranging delivery and training soon. I have already had one Mooney experienced instructor and ferry pilot pointed out to me and I am impressed with him. It is a matter of working out details. At this point I am thinking of having him ferry the plane here, train a few days and take him home. If I am not up to speed by that time, I might get my local instructor to take him/us back to Kerrville in the plane if I am not ready to fly him home myself, I will have to see if I can roll up in a ball in the back seat for that flight. I am 6'1" and 175 pounds so I don't know how possible that is. There are many variable in that, not the least of which is the weather. The long and short of it is that unless something is turned up in the prebuy, I believe this bird will be ours in a few weeks. I am hoping to be comfortable enough by Spring Break to fly it to Galveston.

I know, I know! The Mooney in my profile picture is the rare high wing model. Hopefully in a few weeks I can replace it with a new picture. My current hangar is a box. I am trying to figure out if I can fit both planes in there until my new hangar is ready. If not, I am afraid that the little taildragger will be outside for a short time.

Thanks for the explanations. Ignoring the specific speeds for a moment, and oversimplifying, what you are describing is three pointing a taildragger.

Up early this morning! I want to thank all my new friends here for all the valuable information and comment both in the clear and private message. You are obviously a great group of folks and your help and patience is greatly appreciated! By forcing it onto the runway, do you mean pitching up and losing air speed and making the nose want to come up OR do you mean nosing it over to bring it down making it touch with MORE air speed? Which of these is what you guys are calling "forcing it onto the runway?" I am trying to figure out the logistics of spending time in Kerrville before coming home. The Mooney guru said that two days of instruction will probably do it. He thinks and charges by the day, not by the hour. I am trying to figure out a way to maximize the training day effectiveness. It might be that training there until I can fly it home solo will be better than having him fly home with me. If I plan on training until I can fly home, the pressure will be on. I don't want to get stuck there waiting on weather and I don't want to head home before I am fully ready.

My current instructor also told me that it is hard to get them slowed down.

Okay, it is very obvious to the casual observer that having an instructor that has done many Mooney transitions is better than one who hasn't. The question is how good at Mooney transitions is the local instructor I have in mind? He is not the instructor that taught me to fly the 140. He taught me to fly in his Aeronca Champ 27 years ago. That does not mean that his repertories is limited to taildraggers. He has owned at least two Mooneys during the fifty or so years he. has been instructing. I don't know how much instructing he has done in them, but I know that he has. He has also instructed in other retractibles and twins. He is not a one trick pony. The things to consider are: 1. How much Mooney transition training experience does my instructor have? 2. How much more does the Mooney guru know than my local Mooney owner and experienced instructor. This can be difficult to determine. 3. How do I manage getting the transition training at an airport 300NM away from home? I do realize that the Mooney guru would be better. I do know that flying a C140 is different than flying a Mooney. I do believe that if you know the quirks of the Mooney, it will be easier to deal with on the ground than a taildragger of most any description. That does not mean that I believe that a taildragger pilot is better than a Mooney pilot. I do believe that having tailwheel time helps prepare you for taking on other aviation challenges and the insurance actuaries obviously believe that too. The Mooney guru instructor I talked to agreed that I am going about it the right way by building time, including tailwheel time, as I have before transitioning to the Mooney. I most likely will find a way to stay in Kerrville and fly with the guru. It is all about the logistics of getting there for the training, having weather for the training and training enough to fly the plane home safely.

I fully understand that "it depends." I am just trying to get an idea what is typical. I am also trying to get opinions regarding necessary instructor qualifications. Is it really necessary to get someone who has done lots of transition training into a mooney.

Thanks for the informative response. okay, a follow up question.... Insurance requires 5hours duel. I am fully aware that this will be a different amount for different people, but would 5 hours be typical? Would it typically be more?