201Steve

Has anyone tried the Element Fire or at least made the purchase? I read in the Vans forum that someone pointed out that it only ships via ground. I'm wondering if anyone has taken it up to altitude. No idea if there is a correlation there, but if you've taken it up and it hasn't popped or anything, I guess it's reasonably safe? I've had a heck of a time selecting a suitable fire extinguisher with the poor reviews (leaking) on the very small PRT (Spruce), high cost of the "good" halon, and the burden of a big bottle somewhere. Really like the Element Fire idea. From all that I've gathered, the biggest issue thus far is the inability to shut it off. As mentioned somewhere above, I guess you could either vent it out the pilot window or either just throw it out.

I saw this on another forum. If not allowed, so be it. I’m always interested in doing business with people that have similar interests. It’s all about relationships and I’m typically closer with customers/vendors that like the same things as me. Topping that list, Mooney! In an effort to potentially connect with other Mooney flyers in a professional capacity, post below what you do for work! ************************************** I am in the trucking business. We operate in 48 states and Canada, specializing in oversized/overweight cargo. We typically haul industrial machinery, heavy equipment, silos, transformers, generators, asphalt plant equipment, as well as your typical flatbed freight.

Roger that, I just came out of the hangar. Update is done. Easy peezy. From here on, I won't wait 9 versions later to keep it up to date.... Thanks for the help!

@bradp I’m going to pull up the info tonight, but is a recalibration required when updating software?

@bradp thank you for the helpful info. I believe the software is v2.4 if I recall correctly so there ya go... I’ll have to look into the install calibration. it came with plane, now have 150 hours with it and this is the first time I’ve suspected an error. thanks again, great feedback

Hey guys, so I was flying today on a short hop home and had my Garmin G5 showing 10 degrees bank to the left while my vacuum driven AI and the visual horizon itself was reading straight and level. I had the Century ii on a heading bug, and the conditions were quite gusty, so I initially thought it might be banking into a Xwind a little, so I changed direction a little bit and moved around some, and same thing. After I landed, it was showing a very slight left bank on the ground. I turned the unit off and back on again and it seemed to recalibrate correctly. Anyone have experience with this? It was very annoying, during my instrument scan and essentially had to ignore it on approach. No big deal in VMC, but jeez, no bueno if the conditions are imc. Thanks for any input. I did have one thought, I cranked and taxied a little quicker than normal, since I only stopped briefly for lunch. It’s probably not the reason, but I thought maybe I started taxiing before it finished calibrating and it stayed jinxed up. Anyway, fire away. Thanks

I’ve put KBOW on my calendar, try to join in.

Mine was similar last year. Cut it in half putting time on the bird and getting the IR

It never ceases to amaze me how common it can be for two separate issues to show up around the same time. After valiant attempts to prove they’re related, you just end up concluding it was just coincidence.

@carusoam you da man! Water built up about 2” in front of the drain valve

Hello friends, I just had my first experience with a pitot static failure. For the first time since I’ve owned my ‘77 J, I was forced to leave it outside. :( Had a little bit of rain, etc and it hung out on the ramp for 3 days. Hopped in to take off, airspeed came alive and kind of stuck at 55knots next thing I knew I was airborne so after cleaning up the airplane and keeping a shallow climb rate to build speed, it only climbed to about 68 - 70 knots. After confirming gear was up, flaps were up, I went to GPS ground speed which read about 115 knots so felt comfortable that it was indeed not reading correctly on IAS. Climb rate was showing crazy and altitude also acting erratic. Long story short, I went to alternate static and everything stabilized. Where do I start to trouble shoot? I did not see any obvious obstructions to pitot or static port, but it seems to me like there is blockage somewhere. Thanks for any feedback

Just figure out how your going to cover the extra $30k now. You’re going to do it anyway, might as well consign to it now and be looking in the correct pool. =)

Also cool!

Just curious, does anyone around here have Serial Number “1” for any model? I have a J, would be cool to have S/N 24-001.

I’ve heard of people using LLC so they can sell the airplane by way of selling the LLC instead of the a/c and therefore, offering incentive to the new buyer that there will be no registration change and depending on your local situation, no sales tax. The biggest disadvantage to this is making sure that the LLC (the airplane) does not have any debt associated with it, which is difficult to confirm absolutely. You buy the LLC and you buy the LLC’s debt, if any.

I hear a lot of people say things about insurance being higher and longer training, so get a Piper/Cessna, but it’s less talked about that the acquisition costs of buying two airplanes instead of one you’ll keep indefinitely probably exceeds the higher insurance/longer training time.

Good to know, thanks for the link. While I don't disagree, it's still only theory. I've been trying to find "accident rates by aircraft type" but all I can find is stats for commercial models.

That's insinuating that the proportionate accident rate in a Mooney is higher than the average rate in other types of the same class, which would be news to me. This kind of highlights my point that, FLYING is dangerous. I don't know that there is any more inherent risk in flying a Mooney wing than a Piper wing. If there is data on this, I am curious. I'm not here to de-value or scoff at type specific training but it's simply not possible for the 4 people listed above to train everyone who gets in a Mooney. I know there are more than those 4, but you get the idea. What do we do with rest of them? Tell them it's too risky? Is that reasonable? Use the best training available to you, sure. For some of us, it's not available immediately.

For the record, I also, would love to fly with these guys. I also value expertise. Very much so. I disregard “expert testimony” from people all the time because it isn’t type specific expertise (not just aviation). I think the easiest way to say it is, a good instructor is a good instructor- and that includes their determination of whether they are capable of the job. How you make that determination early on is a little more challenging. Scoping them out, so to speak. @carusoam I agree mostly. My thinking is a little more broad, not necessarily specific to this one post. It would be challenging for sure to add the extra performance of one of the high performance (over 200hp) Mooney’s during primary training. What really bothers me are people discouraging less experienced pilots from Mooney. I don’t think it’s there intention to guard the airplane, and I’m sure it comes from a place of safety concern, but if you read some of the rhetoric, it can be depressing! I can say this from recent experience, that it had me wondering if I shouldn’t just stick to a skyhawk. Thank god I had some people in my corner telling me to work hard at learning and go for the Mooney, because I would be stuck in a slow suv if I didn’t! Lol I absolutely love my J model and I’m glad I had people tell me It was OK. We are all terrified of screwing it up, I am for sure. I have great respect for the airplane. It’s serious business, but it’s depressing seeing the discouragement. And honestly, it’s really not one person. It’s more of of the compounded information leads you to: this is going to kill me. I guess I’d just like to see a little more encouragement amongst our own. The media does just fine on its own making aviation seem like a death sentence. As for MAINTENANCE, I’m still guilty of Mooney expert fever. I hired a guy to diagnose and repair an ignition issue in my Jeep CJ. A very good and knowledgeable general mechanic. I just didn’t have time to fool with it. He just ended up swapping out the distributor. A couple weeks later, when I had more time, I took the distributor off playing with the timing, and realized the drive gear on the distributor he installed was a hardened steel gear. He’s a good general mechanic, but he had no idea that the gear on the Camshaft was iron and is cast into the cam itself. Hardened steel on soft iron trying to turn together, well you know what’ll happen. I changed the gears, but I only knew it was problematic bc I’m more knowledgeable about my 258 i6 than he is. A way better mechanic no doubt but he didn’t know. (As I type I feel like I’m making a case against myself on the instruction part ). Well, I enjoy the conversation. Let’s be encouraging. =)

I can’t figure out why there are so many Mooney drivers that act like a Mooney is an SR-71. “Make sure he’s an expert in Mooney instruction” “if he’s not a Mooney master, you’ll probably die” “Ensure that his soul has been christened by Al Mooney”. Ok, relax... I’m just being dramatic. I’m way less experienced than most people and I accept my position in the dish pit. I equally love the passion, but I am finding it very over the top that so many people are consistently making a persons situation more difficult by insinuating these scenarios that somehow an instructor in Idaho who also happens to train tail wheel is too far removed from the ability to fly a Mooney. It’s an airplane. It has its own characteristics. They all do. I would hope that any CFI would know that. If he didn’t, god help us. A well rounded instructor that has flown various aircraft Should not be type limited because they don’t have 2,000 hours in a Mooney. I say this from experience. I felt like people were making me think if the instructor didn’t have a Mooney tattoo on their forearm, I was doomed. I ended up doing my complex endorsement when I got my J with a CFI that had about 2 hours of Mooney time because there was no Mooney god available to me within reason. We went up in the airplane, learned it’s habits, and whaddya know, we were able to fly the airplane! I was shocked based on what I’d read. ****It would have been nice to use someone with a Mooney tattoo, and I actually look forward to the opportunity, but it’s a process of fine tuning...which is true of anything you fly. I’ve also done a lot of homework on my own. Asked questions, sought out other owners.... but for crying out loud, it’s a complex airplane not a skunk works developed rocket ship. I’ll probably draw eyebrows from this, just know that I respect you, this is just my position.

Whoever/whatever you use for help, it goes a long way in being part of the process by doing lots and lots of reading.

+1 for getting it now. +2 for the username.

Mooney’s get better MPGs than big trucks. We should all receive a medal from Al Gore for our noble contributions.

How does one test said connector? I have a similar problem on my com2. Zero radio experience but trying to learn.

Seems like spending $3,500 on a TKM, I'd almost rather find a used 430, spend an extra $1,000 to also have another GPS. I don't understand why basic radios are still so expensive.