Gerbil

I will give the washer trick a try. Thank you. Gerbil

Hello, Does anyone have a main landing gear spring tool I could rent? Gerbil

A friend of mine might have gotten a couple shots of me. I like your idea of getting a print signed. I had already planned on framing one or two for the house but hadn't considered getting them signed. It would be tough but possible. Gerbil

I'll see what I cam do but you don't have to be subscribed to Facebook to visit the museum site..... it is open to the public like the museum itself. I know because I am not a Facebook user either. https://facebook.com/AFmuseum/ Gerbil

Thanks.... I'm based out of New Carlisle 3OH0 Gerbil

I've heard from a couple of folks that some people thought I was another Mustang. Gerbil

Hello Mooney friends, Last week the National Museum of the US Air Force had the public unveiling of the restored Memphis Belle B-17. As a part of the public spectacle three functional B-17s came in to town to land at the historic Wright Field next to the museum. The big fly-in was to be the 3 Fortresses escorted by 5 Mustangs. Of course there would be a lot of cameras on the ground but in order to get a unique vantage point I volunteered to fly a museum photographer in a formation with the warbirds. It was a good plan and I made it work. This was my second photo shoot with my new Mooney and I can say it did really good. It was everything my IO-360 had to form up with these guys but she did me proud. In order to set up my F model for photo work I installed a Great Lakes passenger window with the large vent opening. That combined with some strategic flying makes it so we can do some real good air-to-air photography. The airplane is very maneuverable and makes flying formation pretty easy. There are definitely limitations but I think it works out good. I am looking forward to doing more photo work like this. On Wednesday Bill (the photographer) and I escorted the formation of bombers and fighters into the show in less than ideal weather conditions. We were only able to make one pass by the crowd (I tried to stay away from the show line) and the planes did not land on the field. On Thursday we gave it another shot and I flew in with the Yankee Lady and a a group of three mustangs on my tail. After checking off from Yankee Lady I went south to try to join up with Aluminum Overcast but never saw her. I hung by the show to get some pictures of the ground activities. Just being able to fly with these guys was amazing but to get the great pictures we got was icing on the cake. The museum is very grateful and cited me along with Bill for the photos. I have included two shots here for you but there are more on the museum's Facebook page. The photographer is Bill McCuddy. Gerbil

Acorn Welding did some solid work for me last week and had a real quick turn time. They could probably get you a replacement or repair yours. Gerbil

I'm looking for a left rear upper exhaust riser and an inside door handle for a74 F model. Any chance you might have them? Gerbil

Thank you... I've put about 30 hours on it since I bought it and it is doing pretty good. I am really liking it a lot! Gerbil

Its not that bad. We have a pretty nice airport and a good membership base. We do require new members to be sponsored, go through a probationary period and then vote on their membership. Its actually a good thing and not as inconvenient as it sounds. The hard part is getting a hangar. We are scant on hangar space right now. I hope you like your E. (I responded to your other thread) So far I am really impressed with how my F travels. Maybe I'll see you around. Gerbil

Hey, nice plane and welcome.... I just bought an F and am not far from you. I keep mine at New Carlisle and maybe will see you around sometime. Gerbil

Thanks Seth. Our trip home followed by some landing practice at a county airport set me up pretty good. A 2000 foot strip better not be trouble for me.... That's exactly how long the runway is at my home field where I keep her. So far no sweat. No problem with encouragement to go fly. We are taking her to breakfast tomorrow morning and I have two work trips scheduled here soon. I've already got some of the bugs worked out. Overall the plane is in good shape. We'll see what turns up on the first annual though. Gerbil

OK, standard stuff..... 1974 M20F - injected 200hp, electric gear and flaps standard. This plane has a white and blue interior including a white panel which I am actually in love with. To me it just looks sharp. She is fully IFR ready with a VOR/COM and garmin 300xl. Mods include flap gap seals, 1piece belly, oil cooler relocation, cowl filler, and the brake caliper flip. Of course she has a Hartzell 3 blade prop too. I bought her in Colorado Springs two weeks ago. After the business was completed my wife and I started the ferry flight by going south to Clovis New Mexico to visit a friend. The next day we made a leg from Clovis to Memphis TN. That was the first real demonstration of the plane's performance and I was flying with the power dialed back a bit. We stayed overnight at Memphis and took in some food, music and tourist traps. We wanted to make a mini vacation out of this so the overnight in Memphis was in order along with a trip through Graceland. After Graceland we make a quick hop to Sikeston MO for thrown rolls at dinner. After that we made the final leg home and put her in at Greene county. It only took about 2.5 hours... Amazing! Eventually, a few days later I moved her to her new hangar at New Carlisle. I'll load some more pictures soon. Gerbil

Thank you all for the nice replays and compliments. I did a lot of research to arrive at the decision to get a Mooney and so far I am really pleased with how well it is working out. So far it feels like I made a good choice. Gerbil

Breakfast is at Clinton county tomorrow.... Come on over we'll be there. Gerbil

I'll have to ask around and look him up. I actually keep this Mooney at New Carlisle though. Gerbil

Yes she still had the GO-300 in there. Great flying plane and I did a lot of traveling and photo work with it. I could get it to do about anything I wanted it to except 150knots. Now ere is a guy in Oklahoma who is really enjoying her. Gerbil

I did it and bought a 74 Executive last week. Its a really good plane and I am excited about flying it. Since it is an "older" model I'll probably spend most of my MooneySpace time here but if you are interested I posted to the general board with a little more information about our trip home. As you can imagine I am going to have a lot of questions coming up. I am getting used to the new handling characteristics and I have some bugs to work out of her. She hasn't flown much over the past few years. I put more hours already than she has had over the last two years. I am looking forward to many years and bunches of trips with this plane. It's great! This forum has already been a huge help to me. Thank you all. Gerbil

Hello folks, After much planning and some shopping around I bought a nice 74 Executive a week and a half ago. We bought it from a gentleman in Colorado Springs and flew it hope to Dayton over two days taking the opportunity to do some sight seeing along the way. It was like a mini vacation and we started to get to know the airplane. It is pretty amazing. When I was doing my research I was looking at speed numbers, weights, fuel capacity, range and things like that. Now that I am starting to plan and execute flights the capability of this plane is just fantastic. I just transitioned from a Cessna 175 which was a pretty good traveler but this Mooney is great! It feels good that my research paid off. I have a fully IFR outfitted traveling machine that makes good time and uses relatively little fuel to do it. I'm excited! Gerbil

How much travel does it take to lift a Mooney for a gear swing? I was going to try to duplicate these jacks but my local store only has the 2 ton version that only goes up 4-5 inches. I am guessing that is not enough. Also what material did you use to make the extensions? Gerbil

Thanks for the suggestion on where to put the photo window. How many photo flights have you made with your Mooney to arrive at this opinion? What type of aircraft were you trying to shoot? Seriously, I am buying a Mooney because my research has led me to recognize that it will be the best choice for my PRIMARY mission for performance and cost. Photography is not my primary use but I will still want to enjoy the challenge of aerial photography and I will have to learn how to do what I can. Thanks for the help though. Gerbil

That's just the thing...... I need an opening. I think I am looking for a mod to get the biggest window opening on the passenger's side. I have to determine how big is good and where should it be located. The rear passenger window might be a possibility too. Anyone know what happens if you open the little window at over 132 kias? Gerbil

Once I have a plane I plan to make a couple of flights to learn where to place myself and my photographer for good shots. No doubt the wing will be an obstacle but I had a wing strut to deal with before. I am guessing my opportunities to get shots of the upper quarters of aircraft will be tougher but I should still be able to get forward and rear quartering, level and lower from the Mooney. Test flights will let me discover what sort of window mods I might like to have too. Gerbil

Is anyone doing air to air photography with their Mooney? If so what mods if any are you using? I used to do air to air photo work with my Cessna. With that plane I would take the door off so my photographer would have unrestricted visibility. I will not be able to do that with a Mooney when I get one but I was wondering if there are any window mods out there for the passenger side of the plane. While it is not my primary mission I would like to find a way to continue doing the photo work once I switch planes. Gerbil