pwnel

I went through this exact route 18 months ago.  (Bought from AllAmerican, got my transition there, flew it back myself).  You have good recommendations on shops (I'm at Air-Mods which is 10 minutes away).  Only thing I'll add is that your first year is likely going to me more expensive than you thought.  It's human nature to start deferring items when you know the plane will go on the market.  Also, all the bits and pieces start adding up - safety gear, electric tug, tools, covers, chocks etc.  Easily ends up being $10k you didn't necessarily plan for.  (I'm guessing because I also don't keep thorough accounts - it'll ruin the experience of ownership ).

37 minutes ago, donkaye said:

 

I don't want to be demeaning, but the above numbers tell me you both should get more training from a Mooney specific instructor.  

For a second there I wrote off ever owning an M.  Here in the NE all the best destinations are ~2500ft.  (Block Island, Tangier, Fischer, even Alton Bay).  

PS: also why I'm not interested in ever owning a twin or a PA46 Meridian.  (Only the Jetprop makes sense and is my dream upgrade).  Wonder how many Bahamas strips you'll limit yourself out of if you don't want to do < 4000ft

On 10/16/2019 at 2:30 PM, kortopates said:

Stick to doing it on jacks rather than in the air. Sure it should work fine, but we've seen enough failures in the air leading to unavoidable gear up's like the incident mentioned above that we no longer do these in the air at the MAPA PPP's for this reason.

Oh ok. I've done it a couple of times in the air for practice.  Not a good idea then (since I have jacks in my hangar anyway). 

12 hours ago, larryb said:

Good luck with that. By the time a “forever plane” comes on the market it’ll have 20 year old paint/interior/panel and a runout engine.

I wish you a long and happy flying life Larry.  

Sometimes though life happens (loose a medical or worse etc).  These planes do come on the market and they're often hugely overcapitalized.  If you ever need to swing that Encore PM me 

On 10/9/2019 at 5:09 PM, xavierde said:

I agree and wouldn't finance anything plane related as well but that's a personal preference. My interrogation comes from the fact that I really want to upgrade the plane to make it better, specifically avionics-wise but don't want to end up loosing $80-100k or so on a sale in a few years (if I want to get a twin when my mission changes e.g. extending the family). So I'm wondering whether to upgrade very selectively and at limited cost or if I should just go full-speed thinking I'd end up finding a buyer looking for an already upgraded "forever plane", if/when the time to sell comes.

Some of us will just wait until some of these "forever planes" come on the market.  :-)  (no disrespect meant)

I had my Sarasota panel, Hawk paint job and Hector interior all planned out.   Recently I'm getting back into motorbikes and realized you can buy a brand new shiny red sex machine Ducati Supersport S for the price of a single Garmin 750.  Puts things in perspective.   My 231 flies just fine without all the other stuff.  I'll keep a couple of Ducatis in the hangar before I upgrade my 430W :-)

16 minutes ago, ValkyrieRider said:

I am considering signing up to allow Blackbird Aviation lease out my aircraft, but have ZERO experience with this.  Talking with the gentleman that contacted me, it sounds like a real win/win situation, but I am looking for input from anyone that has any knowledge about it.

 

Interested to see what aircraft they go for.  I see lots of tupperware.... the Mooney experience is different.  I'll also never let a non-M20K pilot fly mine. Insurance needs  500hrs total, 100hrs retract, 25h on type.  And insurance may very well block you from doing this.  

Interested in whether I can monetize my Com license through them though.... 

4 hours ago, PTK said:

What evidence? Is there direct evidence showing that using camguard will assure reaching TBO any more than not using it? In any plane? Flown regularly or not? 
There is, on the other hand, ample direct evidence that the best method to reach TBO is 100LL in the fuel tanks! So according to the evidence I’d rather put my money in avgas! As the late Henry Weber wisely said to me once: no sense in owning an airplane and not fly it!

Actual controlled experiments measuring the metals in oil samples.

(but if you're an anti-vaxxer there's little point trying to refer to the scientific method I guess :-) )

3 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

LOL, I've been fortunate that I've always had super easy access to JD and his team at SWTA. So no, I didn't pull the injector myself, but they did.

I remember, thought this might have been after your move upcountry :-)  Can't seem to find the TCM X30091 fuel injection manual as referred to in my service manual. Which means it's probably something I need my MSC to do.  (Last time it was done was actually JD too).  

21 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

I've gone to only pulling mine for cleaning when I notice a change. For example, on a recent flight, my GAMI spread was way off. One cylinder seemed to be different than usual. So we pulled that injector, cleaned in and put it back. Problem solved, GAMI spread back to normal.

Paul, is that the royal "we"?  My Savvy report is showing an overly rich #2 on the GAMI spread and before I contact GAMI for a better injector I want to clean and gap spark-plugs and clean the injector.  Never done the injectors though.   Part 43 Appendix A does mention "fuel lines" in general, so I assume one could do it as owner preventative maintenance.  If so, are there good instructions around for doing so?  Want to save myself having to take a day off to get the plane to an MSC. 

On 9/24/2019 at 10:29 AM, Yetti said:

some latch doors have a "thickener" where the latch engages the non door part of the cowl.   Many times that thickener has disappeared.   The thickener looks or seems about the same as a piece of cabinet Formica like you would find on a kitchen counter top from the 1970s.

Thanks, I didn't spot anything wrong but will compare it to the oil latch this weekend.  Something clearly changed.

8 hours ago, carusoam said:

Pwnel,

Got a couple of pics?

Both open and closed, and the latches...

Typically, The latches used are pretty strong and can withstand a lot of air pressure...

The concern being, if something has changed in the area, to allow this to happen...

Want to get on that fast... change is bad... 

PP thoughts only, not a turbo owner or pilot...

Best regards,

-a-

Yip, change is bad ... hence it has my attention.  Happened twice now.   Engine runs like a dream though - nothing out of the ordinary.  I do run very very lean on the ground, so there's some vibration but can't think that this can cause it to pop open.  I inspected that latch and it's solid.  You need to depress the button a substantial way before it opens.  Will inspect thoroughly next week for any heat issues from the turbo perhaps - perhaps fly with a GoPro attached and see what/when it happens.

Should be using Camguard as standard.  Mike Busch has ample evidence on this in his "Engines" book.

My TSIO 360-LB flies on Phillips 20W50 year round (NE based too).  Should probably do W100 during summer, but too much hassle to switch back and forth.  In winter you want the 20W50.

On my 231 I've now twice found the inspection door next to the turbo open after landing.  I'm really perplexed by this as the latch is tight and impossible to simply open on the ground.  Anyone experienced this?   The oil door operates in the same way with the same latch if that helps. 

Awful close to that self-serve fuel tank......

When I got my K I was referred to Jack Napoli on Long Island - six three one 806-4436.   He owns a K and has some 3000 Mooney hours.

I ended up doing my conversion with Brian Lloyd in Texas though before flying back the plane so never used Jack.

https://themooneyflyer.com/cfi.html  has the full list

On 8/17/2019 at 7:55 PM, PJClark said:

But: I'm  going to fly with either Bob Cabe or David McGee for a couple of days of training.  

Fly with both - the banter between those two is highly entertaining.  You'll need to do MAUW anyway :-)

18 hours ago, Hopsl said:

does anyone have a picture of how these reflectors are secured/attached to the aircraft?

 

You may have to grind down the backs of the new LED lights so it is square and can fit through the original hole.  

8 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

I was told that certain parts are not manufactured anymore for the 360.


Tom

Well at least two reputable shops (listed above) are still overhauling them as of yesterday.  

On 8/6/2019 at 12:54 PM, DonMuncy said:

 Remember, you have the camlocks down the side and two in the center underneath. If you forget those two in the center, you would wonder why it won't come loose.

I hate to admit that's exactly what I did .  Those bottom two in the center underneath are somewhat hidden between the cowl flaps and landing gear doors. I remembered your comment and it kept nagging me, so I checked again this past weekend.  

16 hours ago, Moonbat said:

To complete the circle on this topic AND to give a few of you the opportunity to gloat, I am scheduling the Aspen upgrade. Less than 2 years after spending the first $4500 on repairs with Century, the NSD1000 HSI, failed again. I sent it in to the Century for an estimate/repair, and when the virtually identical list of failed items came back (almost like it is their cut-and-paste knee-jerk response to any failure in an HSI of this type) and another estimate of $4500 with a ridiculous 30 day warranty. Once again, I foolishly tried to appeal to their better angels. Failure as before. 

Now I am very excited to be preparing for removal of all things vacuum-related and the installation of the Evolution PRO MAX glass. Can’t wait. Okay, this is where you get to gloat with an, “I told you so.” 

Just out of interest - why not send it to flyaqi.com or or aerospacecompi.com ?  For my NSD360A they overhaul at $1500 and $1000 respectively with a 1 year guarantee. I'm genuinely interested in your choice originally since I have a 360 that I would like to keep alive for a while longer.

30 minutes ago, Sandman993 said:

Sounds like you're trying to undress a 21 yr old virgin

These planes are all from Texas - "tight-fitting bottom cowls" are the norm .... 

49 minutes ago, kortopates said:

Like all owner aircraft maintenance, its best to get your local A&P to do it with you together the first time so that you can learn how to do it properly. This included R&R'ing the cowling, changing the oil, inspecting the cut open oil filter, checking and lubricating control linkages and looking over the plane for issues like exhaust leaks while it opened up for the oil change.

Yip, watched and helped with the process twice before, but nothing like trying it solo .  Even have the handy Oil Easy Wrench on hand.  https://oileasy.com

I attempted a solo lower cowl removal this weekend and gave up. 

(Doing the cowl flaps is easy when you now how they work as described above.) Removed the cowl flap hinges, removed the camlocks, but could only get the one side loose and was too worried about dropping the whole thing to the floor when wiggling the other side.

Would be great if someone can shoot a YouTube video of how to do this properly solo.  (Including exactly where to use painters tape etc for protection). And yes, I know it's ideally a 2-man job.

9 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

I missed the part of the video that showed the bottom of the plane or the dipstick?

I missed the part where the pilot saw the bottom of the plane and the dipstick before pulling the chute 

11 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

 

Awfully clean airplane for one that "blew oil".

Exactly.  

I'm not arguing that BRS doesn't save lives in some situations - as explained by @Austintatious above.  My contention is one of potential over-use for which insurance (and rescue services) foots the bill.  At least you get to shoot a viral YouTube video when it happens ...