ZuluZulu

I agree with all of this except using the pre-buy as a cudgel just to lower the price (not that you personally mean this, but I hear that a lot). The purpose of the pre-buy is not a discount coupon but to confirm for you whether or not you want to buy the plane at all. It’s meant to verify airworthiness, confirm the seller’s description is accurate, ensure the installed equipment all works as expected, and find showstoppers. Yes, sometimes the price comes down afterward, but usually only for airworthiness items and it’s all negotiable. Not every seller will play ball. I didn’t get the full value back for the minor airworthiness issues we found in the price adjustment we agreed upon, but I still walked away happy because we found no showstoppers and we verified the plane had been regularly flying for years. Now, 200 hours of reliable service later, I would probably gladly pay even more than the deal I got because I found the right plane for me and that’s what this is all about. Not meaning to denigrate any master dealmakers here who got better deals than I did, but the pre-buy should be more than just a price negotiation. /2 cents

As usual, Clarence is right. If the guy loves flying enough to be this serious about buying a plane, I think his chances of finishing the license are higher than average. And if he doesn’t, he can always sell the plane. It’s already close to a runout so he shouldn’t take that big of a hit. I think it’s great he’s found something he likes and is willing to spend his own money on. I say go for it! What a nice looking plane. No one has to know it’s not a J, since it sure looks like it and already has a J engine with the A3B6. Upgrade the panel and you’re done. There are worse ways to go about this and most of the J mods it has can’t even be easily found these days. If you’re comfortable with the plane and the price, get a good prebuy and go for it!

They were already doing this, and they failed. Evidently the plan was not sexy enough to raise sufficient capital, but they were already working on increasing the UL. (But they went full vaporware by announcing it long before it was ready and then disappeared.) How would you convince investors to get on board? If we accept the premise that management's plan was on the right track, how do you solve their empty pockets problem?

Bit the bullet and ordered a replacement. But hopefully, thanks to @OSUAV8TER, it'll be my last incandescent bulb.

"Used on Mooney Aircraft," right from the source. https://flywat.com/products/7030300

The wingtip recognition lights and the ones above are the only two types of exterior lights on my airframe left without widely available, FAA-approved LED replacements.

If you do this, please pursue an STC for an LED trailing position light too!

@OSUAV8TER Any news? One of mine finally burned out, so I'm eager for a replacement.

As the name suggests, Scheme Designers ARE the designers. You’re supposed to pay them to try out ideas, i.e., go through the design process. They do a lot more than just printing out your design so it looks nice for the paint shop. With that said, they do have a gallery of past designs on their site; perhaps that’s what you’re thinking of.

Buried under what it now costs to build airframes the way they do.

No, which isn’t surprising since that would make people less likely to pay Scheme Designers. (Unless there’s some hidden tool for customers…)

Forget the fuel price, give us the goods!!

I doubt it's misprogrammed since it worked fine for more than a year. Will try the other suggestions, though, thanks!

Thanks for sharing this, guys. After 13 months and almost 200 hours on my G5s, haven't seen this once. But now I'll know what I do!

13 months, almost 200 hours. No problems. However, on my last flight, it started slightly oscillating in pitch. I suspect the controls need to be lubricated but have not yet tested that hypothesis.

Wow, I think you're the only one in the country who can say they went from an M20J to a Baron to a Skymaster! What a journey. I'm glad you're taking care of your health and staying in the air, best of luck with the sale. Did you have any trouble finding what you were looking for in this market? Curious about the Baron, which model?

Already being extensively discussed, eleven pages strong.

I guess I don't understand why you mentioned it twice, then, but I appreciate the response.

Will this work with LEDs in the sockets? I would love something that gives me more control over the lights, since the "low" and "high" settings no longer work. It's either "on" or "off" with the LEDs installed.

https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/207508135/1985-mooney-m20j-piston-single-aircraft I hope you're upgrading?! @Tim Jodice

Wasn't this plane "on sale" for more than a year? Personally I'd probably let other people fly it for a while before I tried it...

You know the J's OEM two-blade McCauley does not feather, right?

I am beyond eager to see photos of your new panel...

Something not covered in my POH is the proper sequence of events for running the airplane's systems on auxiliary power. Should I turn the master on, and then plug it in? Or plug it in first, then turn the master on? Note: I have a MINDer that is always plugged in, but I also have an external power unit that plugs into the power port. Obviously I would not have both plugged in at once but I'm curious about the proper use of the external (non-MINDer) power. 28V system, Concorde battery. The unit I have is the same one @EricJ posted earlier: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/el/powersupply/portPowerCharger24ces.php

I'm under no illusion that I have all the answers. I'm very skeptical of the current management team but just because I don't think they have the qualifications doesn't mean that I do, either. But your question is fair so I'll try to answer it. I might want to pursue a clean-sheet design for the "next-generation Mooney," designed from the ground up to appeal to today's buyers that not only remains true to the Mooney brand but is profitable to manufacture. Figure out what we can do to take advantage of the Cirrus's weaknesses or at least match their offerings. With the M20 type certificate I would explore an advanced trainer to compete with Piper and Cessna, since the training market only continues to expand, and looking to avoid the mistakes Mooney made the last time they tried to market the AT. Give it a parachute and simplify the design as much as possible to help buyers lower their cost of operation (bladders to eliminate resealing, re-design the landing gear to not require expensive pucks, etc.). And to do all of this I would hire the absolute best engineers I could find, including recruiting some from Cirrus, Textron, Pipistrel, Diamond, whoever I could convince to leave for the chance to build something new. Would this work? I don't know! But I would hire the smartest and most skilled people I possibly could and listen to them. Turn amazing people loose on your problems and see what they come up with. I would also focus on only a couple projects at first. Even the two I mentioned above might be too unfocused and we might have to pick one or the other until reaching a point where it's appropriate to bite off more to chew on. But without the capital, it's all academic anyway.