Wayne Cease

I thunk he meant 14 g/hr. I fly a SR22 with a IO-550. Wayne

The Baron I used to fly had a Sidewinder. It was a little underpowered for getting it into the hangar, but it would work, unless the ground was wet. We had two batteries, which was nice. I'd bring it with me and use it to move the Baron around at self-serve. Way easier than moving it by hand with full tanks; 166 gallons. Wayne

There is a Twin Cessna group, an Aerostar group and COPA for Cirrus. All independent of the manufacturers. Wayne

Part of it is different software. That way if there is a bug and the G3X has an issue both units could have the same issue. A different model will have different software and extremely unlikely to suffer the same problem in the same situation. Wayne

The hardest part of the Mooney after of flying Cessnas will be getting in and out of it. That's not a big deal, but definitely different. You will need learn to adjust the prop pitch and to _always_ put the gear down. Another item will be the speed. Depending upon how high up you are cruising you may be surprised at first on how far out you start a descent. Just some adjustments. If you want to travel a Mooney is a great option. Wayne

That's funny. They all look like planes to me. The paint jobs on the newer Cirrus planes definitely look nicer. I've never heard a non-flyer refer to them as "plastic". They like that they are smooth like their cars and not riveted; shows how little they know about planes. Only pilots with aluminum planes refer to them as "plastic". That's not limited to Mooneys in any way. Some Beech folks feel the same way. I like Mooneys. I really wanted one originally. The rental I've flown was a beat-up rental and not close to home. I knew my wife wouldn't be pleased, as she wasn't wild about the Arrow with a bad interior (really bad). I got a great deal on a 2002 SR22 with a 6-pack, only bad part was it wasn't as close to home as the Arrow, but way faster and roomier too. We might like one of the new Ultras with two doors, but that's a bit more coin than I have to drop on a plane. For those that haven't flown a plane with two doors, it really is a nice feature when you have 2-4 people flying. The barn doors on the Baron 58 I flew for while were nice too, but if some numb-nut (i.e. me) forgot the chocks my wife would have to get out so I could get out to pull the chocks. Even outside of that uncommon event it's just nicer getting in with two doors. I moved our middle daughter out of her freshman year dorm with that Baron. I like lots of different planes. The Cirrus just does a good job of the type of flying I do. We travel and I do Angel Flight missions. Now that the kids have graduated college I really only need 3-4 seats for Angel Flight missions. When the kids were younger we flew with all four seats filled regularly. Having room for that is helpful. I've even been thinking about building an RV-8 or Velocity when I retire. Need to have something to fill my time.

Not sure about "ramp appeal" to non-flyers, but they love flying in them. I fly Angel Flight missions; in 172s, Arrow, Seneca, Baron and SR22s. Passengers love the wider cabin, two doors and no yoke in front of them. While the passengers are all appreciative for the flights, the SR22s get far more compliments than the others. It seems many people think if they touch the yoke the plane will fall out of the sky. *sigh* Wayne

The first is almost impossible to truely answer. A number based on averages could be used. Too many people think they can land engine out safely, but don't. Not all of them die, some are merely maimed. Crazy part is people seem to increase their risk because they have a safety device. I've heard everyone that used the Cirrus chute inside the envelope (altitude, speed) has lived except for one accident; I forget what happened in that one. Some outside the envelope have lived as well. Would all 220 have died? No, but that's marketing for you. Plus it's used to get people to use it when they need it instead of being macho and dying or being maimed. Not a bad trade. Wayne

Old wives tale. The Cirrus doesn't have a spin problem. The Europeans didn't accept the chute as a replacement for spin testing, so Cirrus showed it could be recovered from a spin for them. There are places where landing engine out is not safe. There are many pilots each year that try to land engine out and don't do it well, some to the point of fatalities. The chute is merely another safety option. Wayne

I thought it would take some time to adjust to the side stick. At the end of the first flight I realized I wasn't even thinking of the difference at all. I love how my hand rests on the grip when my arm is on the armrest. Comfortable and a natural feeling position for me. LOL. That's why options are good. Glad you found one you like. Unfortunately you are in the minority in a niche market (general aviation). Sad that some people have a negative view of a safety device. Wayne

I set the iPad (current one is the latest iPad Air) on my left thigh, kneeboard goes on my right thigh (right handed). The kneeboard holds a piece of paper, a dorm I created on Word, that holds frequency numbers for the airports on my flight, plus lots of room to write down my IFR release, ATIS, frequency changes during the flight. The paper is a regular 8x11 folded in half with the form on both sides. Having all the frequencies written down is helpful to make sure I got them right, and really helpful on an out-and-back flight as I use them in reverse. I bought a case with a strap for the prior iPad, but only used it a few times. The iPad sits on my lap easily without moving. This set-up works fine in my SR22. Not sure how well it would work with a yoke instead of the side stick. Wayne

Wow. Very nice. Wayne

We were in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago, and heading home. Prez TFR for Trump was nearby. ATC was giving fast left and right vectors moving me closer and closer to the inner circle, then directly at in and close. I asked if they were going to turn me soon as I was heading directly at the inner circle. Now it was "on tape", but they did turn me and worked me away from it. I was ready to declare an emergency and turn away on my own if needed. I'd rather be arguing over if it was really an emergency with the FAA later than witht the Secret Service over a bust of a Presidential TFR really soon and face down on the pavement. Wayne

It is supposed to be in progress, but not available. One of the things the COPA crowd likes is its supposed to require two batteries, which Cirrus planes come with, so not a big change for them. Wayne

There are a lot of good reviews on COPA for the SureFly on SR22s. Many are hoping for a new STC that will allow for dual SureFly units. Wayne

I wanted to for a very long time. I looked into while in college. It was much cheaper in the mid 80's than when I finally learned, but still too much for a poor college kid; I made an oddly rational decision at that time. Many years went by. I got married. Then one day a friend was working out-of-state covering for a coworker out on maternity leave. He's one of those people that does t watch TV and doesn't read books for fun. He has to have projects to work on. So there was an airport near that location, so he took flying lessons. I heard about it from a mutual friend. My reaction? "Damn, I've always wanted to learn to fly." I went out and started lessons within a week. Wayne

Get a seatbelt extender if the back seats have the 4 point belts. Those are a PITA to belt a car seat. I've done it a few times for Angel Flights. Now I have an extender. Wayne

They are nice traveling planes. Roomy inside for a single engine 4-seater. Not as efficient as a Mooney. I fly a 2006 SR22; I own 1/3 of it. I could see buying a newer one with AC some time in the next few years. Wayne

Flying I did quite well on my plans. I flew over 100 hours, and met my stretch goal by having my most hours in a year: 132.0. I got to visit Bob and do some back country flying with him in his 182. That was part of my Big Cross Country Trip (link to POA). I flew from Atlanta to Vale, OR, hitting some extra states along the way for my map. After a few days in Vale I flew to Rapid City and my wife flew there commercial; she had no interest in back country flying. We toured the sights there and then flew home. I flew my most number of Angel Flight missions in a year, 15, and the most hours for them too, 65.4. The other traveling plans were tossed into the dumpster fire known as COVID. COVID also canceled triathlons, along with other running events. I did manage to bike over 1,000 miles this year. Our downsizing move in 2019 got me closer to the Silver Comet trail and no commuting gave me the opportunity and time to ride early in the morning. Instead of flying to Nashville in March as planned, we flew to Louisville, Memphis and Nashville in November. Not exactly how I would have imagined a 25th anniversary trip, but hey, it is 2020. We also got in trips to visit our two younger daughters; the oldest lives in town. The youngest moved to Charlotte in July, so I now have 3 landings at CLT, including one with a low ceiling. The first in August and the airport was dead other than the FBO. The third in October was vectors in IMC and breaking out to see a line of American jets waiting for the line of landing planes that I was at the end of to finish so they could depart. While the COPA Migration event in October was off we still went to Amelia Island and had dinners with about a dozen other couples that also kept their hotel reservations. Then we did a week long trip stopping in Louisville, Memphis and Nashville for our 25th anniversary. Not how I would have imagined a 25th anniversary trip before 2020. For 2021 I plan to continue traveling. We'll probably start the year with weekend trips. Not sure where as it will also still be cool to cold out. With COVID still shutting things down we can't plan on much more. I'll probably do some more Angel Flight missions in the first part of the year than travel. If the vaccines do the job, then we may do the Northeast trip we were planning in 2020. Saratoga horse races in August and visiting family and friends in the northeast. Depending on that timeline we may even swing by Cincinnati for the tennis tournament there and to see some sights in Cincy. We are also thinking of going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October. My wife, SIL & BIL may all be retired by then. We were hoping our daughter would get her next assignment in her rotation in Richardson, TX as that would be a nice stop for the Albuquerque trip, but she got Pueblo, CO. So, maybe another trip, or we go north from ABQ to visit her and some friends in Denver. I'll try again to top 100 hours, but it would be an even bigger stretch goal to top the total hours in 2020.

A better cowl designed and built by Sabremech; post on gen 2 of it.

Probably too many cheap, er frugal, Mooney owners. I would think Dyson + Sabre Cowl + 201 windshield for E and F models and J model too would make great 21st century Mooneys. They would be faster and up-to-date on avionics. They wouldn't be $50-80k any more though. Wayne

A chute? Wow. From the article on AOPA. Also saw mention of the chute in the article on AVweb. Pollack said a weight-saving carbon cowl for Ovation models is under development, but “the big thing we’re working on is a useful load retrofit. This is a big one, this is a game changer.” A useful load increase of 300 pounds to 500 pounds could pave the way for a whole-airplane parachute, new landing gear designs, and additional utility that could “change the platform” and put the company “in a position to really compete.” However, he stressed that supporting the existing fleet remains the top priority.

Rebuild old Mooneys to modern. Buy/license the Sabremech cowl STC, gut the avionics and install Dynon (get them to finish the AP part of the STC). That should lower the weight and add a few knots. They could also offer painting and engine rebuilding concurrently with that work. They have the tools and people to do the work. One stop shop to completely modernize one's Mooney. Wayne

^ This Go to Epps at PDK or Hill at FTY. The staff at both are great. PDK is busier. Wayne

There are some people in the FAA working to fix this mess so you do exactly that. But it's a slow turning supertanker. Wayne