WaynePierce

If you trust yourself and your Mooney with grass strips, Gastons, is a great place with a restaurant and cabins on the field. I flew in there in a Cherokee but I'm not good enough to take my Mooney in there.

Teeny-tiny! Now someone that is smart and not just a smart a$$ will chime in soon I'm sure.

I might. I used to use Signature when I came in but last time I used their competition. My Avionics shop said the same thing but evidently it’s a crapshoot on what you get and when you get it.

I can't help but think, and smile a bit, about the use of technology. You can fly around fat, dumb, and happy all day on the way to the shop to have that fancy gadget installed, then worry about what it's saying all the way back home. What is that saying, not used in flying.... Ignorance is bliss? Good luck with your heat and carb heat issues.

Nice panel… I’ve already discovered that the plate to cover the vacuum hole is 50.00. Plannning on it going away. Probably the only legacy I’ll keep is turn and bank. Are you based or GSO? That’s one of my main go to’s. Three grandkids at High Point.

I actually already have a dual usb port installed for charging and my IFD 550 has a single usb port that works as a slow charger. I contemplated getting the Garmin usb port with one usb 1 and the other a usb-c port for my iPad Mini6 but I just bought a cable that is USB-1 to -c and it works nicely. The panel mounted one would be more convenient for the iPad but when the kicked up the price 100.00 for the -C I decided I didn't need the convenience... Plus, when I updated my panel two years ago I replaced my audio panel with the Avidyne AMX 240...

Well, I bit the bullet this morning and decided on the dual GI275s. The shop had one ADAHARS unit on the shelf and I ordered the second one to go with it. I'm getting the AI with AP as well as the HSI unit. We'll see how long it takes to get the second unit in to the shop. Of course I'll also be getting a single GMU 11. I elected to not invest in the USB panel plug installed, we'll see if this was a good idea or not... Thank you again for your time and guidance on this big, to me, decision.

You and I are a lot alike, CMM. I started when I was in my early 50's after the first grand child was born and we were driving 12 hours back from that I said, "There's a faster way to do this..." I got my PPL and bought in to a 4 way partnership on a PA28C and put about 250 hours on it when I decided I needed to get my forever plane. My forever plane has, since I was a teenager, been a Mooney. I got on Jimmy's early list and saw a J I was interested in. I drove out to Kestrel and spent a miserable weather week there getting the plane annualed/prebuy with Jimmy's on airport A&P. Never did I feel pressured, I did have preapporval from a bank through AOPA so I new ahead of time there would be no issues with the purchase and escrow was through AOPA but the same company that Jimmy recommends. Jimmy had some beautiful planes at the time as well, there were a couple of K's I was very interested in but I had already made up my mind that my mission would be just fine in a J. Nice write up. I hope more people learn this lesson in Mooney purchasing in the future.

thank you all for the thoughts and guidance. This will probably be the last "big" (to me) upgrade on this plane. (Knock on a Mooney M20As wing...) I just want to make sure I don't screw it up, now that I'm on that retirement fixed income :-)

I'm especially interested in those that have made that decision and installed one or the other? I used to be in the Aspen frame of mind but as much as I dislike the Garmin Monopoly, I'm starting to lean towards the GI 275s. I currently have an Avidyne 550, Lynx 9000, and KAP 150 in a 1985 J model.

I wouldn't mind owning a Tiger, if it was given to me by AOPA.

I actually do have an issue with the HSI, it isn’t showing the glide slope correctly. It’s scheduled for replacement when the avionics guy gets it done. He’s been going to do it for three weeks now. I never even thought it might be related to this.

This post might just show my ignorance, but I have plenty... I've owned this plane for three years now and I've updated the panel to move my Garmin 430W to my secondary audio and navigation. I've replace it with an Avidyne IFD 550 when I had the ADSB (Lynx 9000) installed for compliance. Up until I started my IR Training this January I did not have charts and plates loaded on the 550. When I bought the Jeppeson subscription was the first time I could truly test the auto pilot. I have always used the Altitude and Heading when I flew and it was flawless. Now that I have the plates and charts loaded my CFII and I decided to check the auto pilot out. Navigation did not work properly, I was on a direct to a point and when I hit Nav it started a Standard Rate turn to the right until it was about 20* off heading. When we did an RNAV approach into the airport we were going to I attempted to use the Approach function and it also did a standard rate turn until it was about 20* off heading. Both times it leveled off when it got to that wrong heading. Do I have a problem with my Avidyne? Or do I have a problem with my Auto Pilot? I'm going to take the plane to an avionics shop next week for a bad reception I have with the Avidyne and talking to Approach, my issue is a suspect bad connection, bad coax, or bad antennae. None of these were replaced when the Avidyne was installed. I will talk to them about the Auto Pilot issue as well but I figured I'd ask a stupid question here to glean your expertise and guidance first. Thank you.

I think I've gotten two in the last week. I immediately delete them.

Yea, you need friends with better taste in airplanes! I own a J and have never had an issue with getting parts. Well I take that back I did need a landing light breaker switch and it's evidently made out of the same material as a Bonanza's V tail... unobtanium. My A&P found another rocker switch to take it's place. I had to have an elevator reskinned because of a bone head move I made backing the plane in to a hangar after I first got it. No problem with getting a new skin for the facility that did my repair. Some other things your friends might have said is the cabin is smaller. It's not, it's wider (only by an inch or so) than a comparable C, P, or B airplane. One thing I have found with my J, it's a 1985 is the useful load is smaller than I wish it was but if I need the extra weight for a trip I'll just go up and burn that amount of fuel before I take that trip. The older J models have much more useful load than mine. I can take my wife and our German Shepherd and we're maxed out with full fuel. The J is a little difficult for me to get out of because the top of the door is a little more outboard than I would like but I've never had an issue, it just takes getting used to. Go find someone you can fly with that has a J or whichever model you end up being serious about and sit in it. Sit in the left seat and be sure you slide the seat up to where you can get your feet on the rudders. With the seat all the way back you probably won't be able to see over the glare shield but when you're in the proper position the view is great. Even better at 9,000 feet.

It probably makes a difference in which model you're flying... Try 15" of manifold, in my J that's pretty close to 500' pm and close to glide slope. Since I've started my IR training my CFII has me flying Cherokee speeds at 2300 RPM and 18" manifold pressure, it is easy to decend this way as well.

@PT20J thanks for you help and guidance, I found that the Alco MPE 106F was the proper switch and found two of them on Amazon (I used smile so a portion goes to Mooney Summit) the two also appear to include the cap. It looks like they are two weeks out. Thank you again.

Thank you Skip, you've been very helpful.

I have no idea why these two images are upside down!

Thank you PT, I'll contact Mouser as well. I may have sent them a text but I'll call them.

The parts list for my plane lists these part numbers: SA31SDT 12-2 for the switch SA1BV20 for the black switch I can't find the switch any of my normal places, including Google. I will call cygnet on Monday to see if their switch (CA100-14) will work in my yoke but if any of you A&P types have any suggestions I'd like to see those as well.

Unfortunately Mouser doesn't have a match to: SA31SDT 12-2 Maybe the one from cygnet will work, will give them a call as well.

I agree with A64Pilot. Three blades is sexier but I have the stock 2 blade McCauley. I think that he is wrong on the noise though, I think the 3 blade is louder (three tips breaking the sound barrier rather than two (I could totally be wrong on this)) You wont get any more ground clearance with a three blade over a two blade something I thought you would get... I think I've also read that the two blade will pull you faster than the three blade in cruise.

So, I broke my PTT switch a while back and my A&P had a replacement switch but it was sticking. He worked it pretty good and it started working pretty good again. I was on an IR lesson on Monday and it stuck 3 times, luckily I was saying something good about Approach when it was stuck open... What PTT switch or part number have any of you used? Laser is of course out of stock and I can't find anything that matches what the parts inventory for my plane has. It's a 1985 "J". thanks for any help you might have.

So which one are you all buying? Just the plain no frills "Inspector" or another one?