Kyle Koukol

2 minutes ago, Niko182 said:

Found your plane on aircraft spruce. did you end up getting a BK autopilot?

Interesting! Nope, we still have the S-TEC. Funny enough, I came across this same picture on a bulletin board at Lincoln Airport in California. 

Hi @spitzfyre

Great question and welcome to the Mooney world! I would love to help you out in your search for your first Mooney. Just sent you a private message. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kyle Koukol

On 10/12/2021 at 7:19 PM, ZuluZulu said:

Nice looking plane.  Somebody must have been pretty proud of it to put enclosed wingtips on a '78!  I wouldn't be surprised to see similar attention through the rest of the plane.  

What happened with Kyle and Latitude, didn't he just announce he was brokering there this year?  That was fast.

Hi @ZuluZulu, good question! Neal (of Latitude) and I are still working together. He is an amazing mentor that took me under his wing to allow him the opportunity to build his business as well as help me start my own. 

On 10/12/2021 at 2:10 PM, eyes_skyward said:

Greetings, Mooniacs!

As of today we are the proud owners of a very-well-taken-care-of J, and we even have the Mooney baseball hats for the whole family to prove it. I wanted to thank many of you for all of the indirect help you've supplied to me over the last several weeks. You haven't seen my username before, because although I've certainly had plenty of questions, I really didn't feel the need to make any new posts because of that little search box on the upper right part of my screen. That and some in-person help from a few key people made the acquisition process pretty darn painless. I've already made a donation to help keep the site running.

Are plugs allowed? I'll try one and see what happens. One of the guys who made everything easy for this first-time aircraft owner is @Kyle Koukol of KBK aircraft sales. He also owns a 201, I believe, and was able to spot a good one for me and knew what it was worth. He also didn't mind answering a million questions even before I formally retained his services. Think about contacting him if you are looking to acquire a Mooney or list one for sale.

I've got a bunch of plans for this bird, some of which my wife even knows about and supports! So maybe at some point I'll have a unique question I'll need to ask. But for now, I'll continue to mostly lurk until I feel I have enough Mooney experience to comment on such important topics as in-flight urine collection devices and how many 5-knot multiples are acceptable to add to our claimed cruise speeds.

Now can I please get my big first-post welcome from a certain somebody who is rather fond of ellipsis...?

Congratulations Bob! So excited for you and your new J. Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you in this acquisition, I look forward to following your adventures with your new machine!

Hi @MooneyPoor,

Do you mind adding me to the list as well? CFI based in San Francisco Bay Area. I also have a CFI, CFII, MEI brother that is based in the Sacramento area. His name is Keenan Koukol and is also happy to help anybody in need of a Mooney instructor.

So this photo does not really give a good view, but the new windows are in. I went with the UV grey tint all the way around after reading some of the suggestions from this thread. It does not look too much different the clear glass, but the temperature drop is significant. I would estimate that the airplane is at least 10-15 degrees cooler in the cabin than previously. It was very well worth the investment. In addition, I also bit the bullet and bought a Redline Side Winder tug. It fits my mission perfectly and moves the airplane extremely well. I will say, it is a paint to get in and out of the nose gear though... 

Finally, I am excited to announce that I have joined Latitude Aviation as an aircraft broker. Many of you are familiar with Neal Schwartz at Latitude Aviation as he is well-known and highly respected in the aircraft sales/brokerage world. I have been fortunate to work with Neal in the past in several different capacities, and he recently asked me to join him at Latitude Aviation as his business is rapidly growing.  As an experienced pilot and Mooney owner/operator, I look forward to providing other Mooney owners with the same high level of customer service that Latitude Aviation has been providing to the general aviation community for years. If you are interested in discussing our aircraft brokerage services please feel free to contact me anytime.

1 hour ago, Nick Pilotte said:

Congrats on the new wings!  And I love the paint on your J.  I had to really look and see that it wasn’t an Acclaim.  In fact, I just looked at your build thread. You have quite the panel and interior as well.  

Thanks Nick! It has been a ton of fun to renovate over the years. The projects continue to build, which is always fun to manage!

I have had the great fortune of having quite a few memorable trips, so much so that I am struggling to decide which story to tell! I think the one that stands out the most was a trip in late May to see my college best friend up in Boise, Idaho. The 201 was certainly up for the three-hour flight from Novato, CA (DVO) to Caldwell, ID (KEUL). It was great to catch up with Dylan and he fired up his Traeger almost immediately upon my arrival, always a welcome treat. I did quite a bit of research both on MS and the Idaho Backcountry website to see if/where we could fly for some light backcountry. Garden Valley, Idaho (U88) fit the bill almost perfectly. It sits at 3,177', is 3,800' long and is very well maintained. Dylan and I packed our lunches and headed out for a long day of exploring Idaho. I did quite a few T/O and landings to get a feel for her soft-field performance. After spending a few hours exploring along the river, we took off for Cascade, ID (U70), overflew Johnson Creek (3U2), and landed McCall, ID (MYL) for a little picnic on the wing break. After a few more days of flying around, I decided to head east to meet up with an old high school buddy in Darby, Montana (6S5). I fell so in love with Idaho on that trip, that it called my girlfriend and I back up for a trip a bit later in the year, which will be another post! Little did I know, I would fly my last trip on the beloved 757 a few days later, off to a new Boeing!

On 8/10/2020 at 4:52 PM, Hank said:

My new-to-me black car with dark factory tinted windows is much cooler inside than my white truck with "normal" windows parked beside it in my driveway at home. I also run the AC less and at lower settings than in the truck. The joys of life in the Sunny South.

I highly recommend tinted windows, and there's no reason to not make the back windows a little darker.

Old memory coming through:  I tinted the (completely clear) windows of my el cheapo college truck with no AC. Really made it much cooler, almost bearable in summer! School was right here, ~40 sm from where I live now. Go window tinting! 

Hank, great point. I decided to go with the tint. I also tinted my dark grey Subaru with the ceramic tint, and it must keep the temperature in the car down at least 25 degrees in this hot Sacramento summer- so I totally relate to your experience. Thanks for the input.

@gsxrpilot@tmo @Skates97 That tint looks excellent, great blog post too. That is the first I have come across that. I did decide to go with windows all the way around, as these windows have been in the airplane for a long time, it's going back to the paint shop for touch-ups, etc. However, I think I will use this technique to go darker with the rear windows, it really looks amazing. Thanks for the heads up, guys.

1 hour ago, ArtVandelay said:

Yes, .25” all the way around. Don’t know if cabin is cooler but it makes reading my iPad a little easier because of less glare. I still have to used auto shades on pilot side windows.

Good to know, thanks Tom. Will advise if I decide to go with them.

1 minute ago, ArtVandelay said:

If you decide to do the side windows, you can get extra dark tint on the back windows, would look good with your paint job.



Tom

Tom, 

I am seriously considering it. Did you do the .25"? Also do you notice it being significantly cooler than the non-tint? My side windows are currently in decent shape, but the tint would be nice to have all around. It looks great on your airplane!

Kyle

Hi all! Just a few pictures from some recent flying with friends in the Bay Area. CT has been busy with trips to Idaho, Montana, up and down California (even Truckee, where she performed like a champion). She is in her annual inspection right now getting a few more upgrades. New windshield being the primary one (.25" UV Grey), I am excited to see it with some fresh glass. Finally, Golden Retriever puppy Charlie came along in March... maybe she needs a brother, Tango??

10 minutes ago, Bike_rider said:

I saw the pics of them on your plane and called them.  Damien had a pair ready to ship, so I jumped on it.  They look fantastic but unfortunately they won't work.  My wife and I were wondering how they would fit once we looked at them and we were right, they didn't.      I guess we got the wider hanger for nothing!  Ha!

Yep, just had this same experience yesterday. It's too bad, they really do look nice. Oh well, we are moving forward with our original plan of installing the Whelen LED lights instead.

I also forgot to mention in my original post that we added the Precise Flight Speed Brakes to the airplane during the upgrade. I know speed brakes are a hot topic on this forum, I typically only use them for assisting in descents when left high (typically IFR). They have been a great addition.

On 2/15/2019 at 11:24 AM, Bike_rider said:

I'm in Santa Maria and since we are all helping you spend your money, I can show you what the LoPresti cowling looks like on a 1978 Mooney!  Might as well add that with the new wingtips, which BTW, is making me think about spending too!  Gotta love aviation, if we aren't flying, we are dreaming and scheming but I love them both! 

Oh yes sir I would love to see that! I am bringing 7CT down on 3/7 (tentatively) to SMX. I'll reach out before heading down... that cowling is gorgeous!

6 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Your winglets will look more modern than a Mooney Acclaim

 

@LANCECASPER, @gsxrpilot, @carusoam, you guys are bad (read: great) influences... I am talking with the US distributor again tomorrow about ordering the AVEO winglets. Emailed the paint shop about having the airplane come in for the winglets to be integrated into the paint scheme. Will keep everyone updated as to the progress. 

Please keep the suggestions coming... we want to see what we can build a 1979 J model into without totally changing what the airplane was originally designed for: going fast- with minimum fuel consumption.

@ZuluZulu if a trip down to SMO occurs in the future, I'll be sure to let you know. I sincerely appreciate the kind words and look forward to sharing this airplane with our fellow Mooniacs!

3 hours ago, bradp said:

I think my two favorite parts of this project are the switches and the chamfered edges on the what is it .090 aluminum.  Great attention to detail. Solid metal switches will last... 

Where’d you source those switches? They look classy 

Also - are the avionics split into two busses thus the left and right switches? 

Wonderful job. 

Brad, 

The switches are Tyco. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/pbcircuitbrkr2.php

The avionics are not split into separate busses, however Airborne installed two independent switches for the Avionics, leading to the same bus. It is essentially to prevent a complete avionics failure due to a faulty CB/ switch. I typically fly with only the left switch ON, that way I know if there is a failure, I can resort to the right hand switch and have the airplane back in the shop ASAP. 

In addition, there is a GROUND COMM switch on the far right side of the panel, installed in the circuit breaker panel. This switch is primarily used for receiving clearances before starting the engine, programming the flight plan while waiting on pax, etc. Should the alternator fail though, this switch allows us to only turn the Garmin 750 on in order to maintain radio contact, situational awareness (location), and preserve battery life until we decide it is practical to provide the remaining electrical power to the rest of the panel.

FWIW, the only thing I feel that we missed on this panel install is a push-to-talk (PTT) installed somewhere on the panel itself. Ideally I would like to put one in the empty space on the left side. 

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

Yep, the wingtips certainly give the plane an additional "Cool" factor. And I'm sure they're good for an additional 10 knots although I have no data to back that up 

The wingtips include LED's integrated into them. 

My understanding is that they are available now for the M20J's. They were not available for the K's and that's why I'm flying around with them... testing... so that they can be added to the STC. But the J's are already STC'd.

http://www.aveoengineering.com/crystal-conforma-for-mooney/

Thanks @gsxrpilot, I figured they were good for at least 10 knots and 2,000 fpm climb rate! 

Does anyone with a J currently have these winglets installed and have some information on how to purchase?

2 hours ago, Mooney in Oz said:

At least you know they won't go brittle or crack and they'll easily be changeable.

Congrats on your beautiful restoration.

I particularly like the colour of your panel that will definitely be my colour choice when the time comes.  Is it a very light grey or a particular type of white?

Thank you! I am glad the switches are well received. I was somewhat apprehensive to see how the fellow Mooniacs would receive moving away from the classic rocker switches. The panel is a very light grey. I was concerned when I first saw it that it would produce quite a bit of glare, but it has not been a problem in the slightest. 

8 hours ago, bradp said:

@Kyle Koukol Kyle who recovered your seats ... they look great. 

Brad

Brad, we used the original seat frames but had a local shop in Auburn recover them.

14 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Thanks!  I will sleep much better tonight also knowing that the tops of your two Aspens and the top of your G5 line up perfectly . . lol

 

 

It's a lot of fun spending other people's money. Here are some winglet/leds that would look great on your 201.

http://www.aveoengineering.com/crystal-conforma-for-mooney/

Here's what they look like on a K model (still picture, not a video):

 

Lance, I love the winglets, your timing could not have been more perfect. I just took delivery of the Whelen lights, and am dropping the airplane off at the mechanic on Monday to have those installed as well as digital fuel senders. Might be returning the Whelens if these winglets are indeed available. 

@LANCECASPER, there's no sneaking past your attention to detail! You are exactly right, a few of those pictures were from early in the build out process, so the misspelling was caught and corrected. The annunciator panel was actually one of the more challenging aspects of the panel, we had no clue where to put it when we had laid the whole design out. Randy and Rich at Airborne are the ones to credit for that ingenious mounting method. Finally, great question regarding Bruce. I am not sure to be honest, I will email him and try to get an answer for you!

28 minutes ago, Bike_rider said:

That is a beautiful upgrade!  Art-Craft did a fantastic job on the paint job.  I love the avionics layout and the interior looks better than most sports cars.  I hope you and your passengers enjoy this plane for many years to come. 

Thank you very much! We have sure loved the airplane thus far, I hope that will continue!