SkyTrekker

Congrats on your very nice ride! Your F was born within a few weeks/months of my E. :-)

Thanks for this info. Trying to clear up my understanding...So, on the previous page of this thread, I see the official HDX C172 STC announcement, and it seems to include the autopilot. But in @Bob - S50's post here regarding the info found on Facebook, it says the a/p control panel is not included in the STC. Is the thinking that the a/p capability is only STC'd for the 172? Or does this suggest that the a/p does not require the a/p control panel, which seems more than a little counter-intuitive? Or is this simply a gap between Dynon marketing and the HDX's actual anticipated practical abilities (within the next year or so) for our Mooneys? Or to put it more simply: Does it sound like a/p capabilities will be part of the initial STC for Mooneys? Seems like the answer could be 'no'? Also, based on the pricing speculation so far on this thread and other sources, it's looking like $20k for the full system, $2k for the STC and maybe $8k for the install, for a grand total of ~$30k for the complete system installed. Does this sound consistent with Mooneyspace's evolving consensus? -Sia

Hey there Mike...my 1970 M20E Chaparral is only 15 serial number digits older than yours :-) Good luck and I hope someone is able to get her put back together and flying again. Mine has been a joy to own and fly so far! -Sia

Registered!

What a timely thread! Just two days ago my door started giving me fits. It has always needed a gentle touch and a very specific sequence to open. But once I had that figured out, it never gave me any trouble...until now. For seemingly no reason, it started acting up two days ago. I worked on it a while and it seems like the pin is sticking out further than it used to in its "at rest" position. It is getting caught/hung on the edge of the door frame and keeping the door from opening from the latched position, as well as closing fully from the open position. Pulling the handle back hard (feels like too much pressure to me) and giving the door a good shove at the same time opens it (again, too much for my taste). And the opposite process closes it. But way more force is needed than before, both in terms of the handle pull tension and the push to open/close motion. I'm wondering if the process that worked for @Dream to fly might work for me as well. I'll be flying later today so I'll try that approach. What really hurts is that in the process of opening the door the first time after it became difficult, I cracked my newly repaired and repainted door panel

Got it. Thanks!

I just checked this site (www.vintagemooneygroup.com) and am confused. While the url/domain name seems clearly enough to be about vintage Mooneys, when you get to the site, it seems to be all about "doing research papers quick" (aka buying research papers when you don't have the time to do them yourself). Maybe the domain expired, got snagged and re-purposed? Shame, since from the sound of the url, it seems like it might have some useful information on our old birds! -Sia

I also video and audio record all of my flights and for the same reasons.

My PPL Checkride is scheduled for February 28th, so I don't even have my VFR rating yet. But we have started the "under the hood" training and I am really enjoying that. Either way, once I've finished my PPL and have enjoyed the freedom of being a full-fledged pilot for a few months, I'll be planning my IFR training timeline. I don't plan on looking for hard weather to fly in, or to push the envelope on risky situations, but having the experience and the ability to deal with unexpected weather when it arises is so worth it. Not to mention, I really enjoy learning about flying and continuously working on becoming a better pilot. -Sia

Complete my PPL Complete first annual Fly the Mooney at least 150 hours

I second everything that @Hank just said. For what it's worth: I started my PPL training last November (2016) in my CFI's J3 Cub. After 9 hours in that I moved into the FBO's Cessna 172 rental and did 8 more hours there before I bought my Mooney M20E in May. I'm at about 56 hours in my Mooney now, and I have a few more solo maneuver solo practice flights between me and my PPL practical test. As others have suggested, my transition to the Mooney did take extra hours, but I wouldn't give any one of those hours back! I really love flying this plane :-) This approach worked really well for me, since I knew that it was going to take me a year or more to complete my training while I juggle a 60 hour work week with a lot of travel plus family responsibilities. Once I was soloing in my Mooney, I was able to make flights to other airports in a 150 mile radius of my location to enjoy flying, get familiar with the plane, the region, practice navigating, landings, etc. as often as I wanted on the weekends without having to spend the bucks to rent, not to mention coordinating access to the Cessna with other renters. I know this approach is not for everyone, but I planned things this way for specific reasons and it has been a really good fit for my purposes.

Thanks takair. I guess I didn't read the site carefully enough. The phrase "if it'd been a snake..." comes to mind :-)

@N201MKTurbo That is what I thought! But I can't find anything in the POH or on Brittain's website that explicitly states it that way. Is that referenced anywhere authoritatively, or is it just common knowledge?

Thanks @N6758N and @Browncbr1. So in the event of an electric failure, the turn and bank indicator is inop.