TonyK

I would like that post twice if I could. Well done.

Third time was a charm. AT-150 off the shelf of spares cured the transponder and lapping the drain valve slowed the leak to 50'. I have added the new drain valve to my list of squawks to be resolved at annual and my ADS-B upgrade is going to happen in a month or two depending on their schedule.

I grew up a USAF brat surrounded by pilots and airplanes. My family history had me wanting to fly for as long as I can remember. Great Grandfather WWI Founding member of the CAP Grand Father WWII / Korea U.S.M.C Uncle VTANG Father USAF

TonyK. KRUT Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport.

Yeah, I noticed that as soon as I saw the video.

Not alone tonight. I took my wife up for the first time in the new bird. IMG_2060.MOV.mov

I think you would be hard pressed to do that reliably every week in any month that has an "R" in it. But don't take my word for it go take some lessons and see what you can accomplish.

Welcome Gerbil. I'm too new at Mooney ownership to offer much more than a hardy welcome. There is a treasure trove of knowledgable people on this board who are willing to help with just about anything.

I launched VFR into uncertain weather with a nagging feeling that I was making the wrong choice only to be proven right. I was forced into landing at some very small airport in GA in the middle of nowhere. Upon landing I tried to walk out of the airport in the driving rain to find a place to eat and a hotel only to again be proven wrong and ended up sleeping in the airplane, very wet and very cold with plenty of time to reflect on how stupid I was.

Comfortable? I don't know yet :-) After the third hour I could feel the rust starting to chip off. As of now with a whopping 12 hours the mechanics are all there but none of the polish. You all know the feeling when everything is flowing and smooth in the cockpit? That is not going on in my cockpit right now.

After a 15 year hiatus from flying I jumped back into it with both feet. 2 months ago I purchased my M20F and since my timing is always impeccable I have been trying to get through my BFR and transition time while dealing with the spring weather patterns and my work schedule. I finished up on Sunday April 30 flying around in unsettled skies with rain and even a few ice crystals thrown in. The only upside was that afterwards I had a new scratch in my log book letting me know that I was now on my own. Yesterday the weather and work patterns intersected again and I headed out to the airport. After a careful preflight I was sitting out on the run up area talking myself through all of the checklists and getting ready to go when a thought occurred to me. I said to myself "Holy crap you are alone in this thing. Don't do anything on this flight that will make the news." I flew around in my Mooney for 2 wonderful hours with no particular direction other than whimsy with just me to keep myself company. The flight was uneventful and memorable at the same time. I hope I never get to the point in my flying where I lose the feeling of awe while cruising around alone in the sky.

Gotcha. If you could do a top ten list who would you put in and where?

Why so?

I bought one when I got my F to upgrade a older Denali set I had from my previous airplane and am happy enough with it that I just ordered two more for the passengers. The ear seals need to be worked over when you first get it. They are stiff from the factory and need to be broken in before they seal well to your head. IMHO the ANR seems to give additional noise canceling on the low end of the advertised range but the phone interface works well and they sound good with my PS Engineering PM3000 stereo IC. I noticed one of the online retailers had them on sale right now for about fifty dollars less than I have seen elsewhere.

Everything forward of the valve and aft is pretty solid now. We bypassed it and were able to get a 52' per minute leak down. There is very little doubt that it is the drain valve at this point. I spoke with the owner of the shop and he was going to go out to his shop today. He said he thinks he has a working AT-150 on a shelf that he will let me use until I decide to do the ADS-B upgrade. Other than the frustration factor of fixing something and it staying broken I really can't complain.

Day two of fix the static system ended much like day 1 did. The new drain valve o-ring and spring failed to resolve the leak. I am going out tomorrow to give it one more try with a miniature valve lapping tool I have and if it fails to fix it then it's coming out and I will order the Lasar part. One last kick in the..... knees was my ancient Narco AT-150 also failed a bench test and was deemed not worth the repair costs. Upside is I might push up my ADS-B upgrade.

I wish I had found and read this thread prior to my cert testing yesterday. It might have saved me some time and money. A rusty drain valve with a bad oring and a few other minor leaks caused a testing failure and now we are headed for day two of "Let's fix the static system" fun. I should have done a forum search to look for possible issues before I scheduled it but I have been out of airplane ownership for a long time and just spaced it.

WX900 operators manual View File WX900 Weatherscope manual Submitter TonyK Submitted 04/20/2017 Category Avionics

King KLN89B manual View File Operators manual for the King KLN89B Submitter TonyK Submitted 04/20/2017 Category Avionics

I would be interested if I hadn't just bought a upgrade for my ancient radio stack.

My friends live in Red Bank. I looked at Monmouth because it showed to be closer to them but I am open to suggestions.

I am planning on heading down to see some friends over Memorial Day weekend and the closest airport is Monmouth Exec (KBLM). I was looking for information on ease of access, services and associated fees. I cruised the website and sent an email to them but I was looking for some third party intel.

Great pictures. Being local to Sun - Fun is one of the few things I really miss about leaving Florida.

Mine is ground adjustable only at the moment. It hasn't been high on my list since the ice just went out on the lakes.

This story takes place in the early 70's and used to be told every time the brothers were together and usually later in the evening after a few beers loosened them up. My father flew B52s out of Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC and my uncle was flying out of Burlington, VT for the VTANG in F102s. One night my father was supposed to be doing a cross country low level run starting up in Maine and ending someplace out west. After getting on station over Maine he was informed that the mission was scrubbed and he was done for the night. While planning his return back to NC he received amended orders to fly over to Vermont and loiter around the state so the VTANG F102 pilots who were out on maneuvers could get some practice doing air intercepts and simulated missile runs on a live bomber sized target. They headed on over and set up in a large fat duck holding pattern and rang up the flight leader of the VTANG guys to work out how it was all going to go down. The flight leader rang up my dad and instantly my father knew that he was talking to his brother who was formed up on his wing just a few hundred yards away. My uncle then explained that this was going to be scored and used in their air combat proficiency review set for later that week and it would be great if he could just fly along and make it easy. Being brothers and somewhat competitive they both went off to duel it out in the sky over the mountains that they grew up hunting and fishing in and may the best man win. While the VTANG guys were going out and getting settled in for their first run my father called up the EWO on the comm and informed him that if one of those blankity blanking VTANG guys score as much as one hit on them that he would make his life a living hell until such time as he could figure out a way to get him transferred to Guam and turned him lose on the unsuspecting VTANG guys who were thinking this was going to be a walk in the park........They never scored so much as a single hit on them. I was reminded of this story a few weeks go by my father who retold it at the service for my uncle who had passed. The men may pass but the stories live on. In memory of Brig Gen USAF Rich Kenney Ret.