Nick Pilotte

Did you buy 35MD? I was eying that plane if you did. Hope you have a lot of fun with it!

Those are two different birds. One has FT on the left tail, the other doesn’t.

The good thing about “moderately priced” planes is that if they are in good shape, there is a broad market for them. They don’t tend to swing as badly on price as bad as $300k birds do. The expensive planes suffer when economies tank just like exotic cars and boats. So if you can manage to find a good step up now, go for it as it does take time for Pre buy and sorting out the details. Who knows, if you buy from Gmax they may take yours on trade too. Don’t forget sales tax implications on assets like these too. Good luck with the search. I hear early Ovations or Eagles are VERY nice.

The Thompson Fly tail makes me wonder if anyone “LUVs” Southwest enough to paint a plane in their livery.

Ok, that’s a beautiful paint job. I can’t imagine how hot it gets in the summer, but wow!

I wondered how long before something like that showed up..... has anybody ever painted or polished a MOONEY like an old warbird? Perhaps moving the nose art to the tail or doing nose art? I’ve seen some exotic cars wrapped in vinyl like that and always thought it looked cool.

I went with a friend (my wife works for him and they are essential staff where they work) in his Citation from KPWK to KGRB last week to buy fuel. It was a 45 minute flight but fuel was $2.24 a gallon versus $4.xx here in Chicagoland. Filling up paid for the trip....or so we said. Really, it wasn’t bad, stood by the plain while they filled it up, no big deal, and as far as distancing, my wife works with him almost daily, so no real other exposure. KDPA still seems to be a little cheaper but I haven’t seen the amazing drop others have.

Dan it was an excellent day to fly yesterday. I’m so jealous I didn’t get up. Beautiful pictures and I NEVER get tired of seeing the landings at LL10. I hope to convince the wife that we should be neighbors one day.......

Not only am I getting the jet rental ad, I’m getting curvy girl lingerie ads..... when my wife looks over at me on the iPad, that’s hard to explain. I’m not googling anything like that and she’s not “curvy” like that.

I’m not a hardcore foodie that requires a white tablecloth and 4 forks when I am seated, but rather like Guy Fieri in Diners, drive ins, and dives. But I do love a well prepared quality steak. You could eat in Omaha for several days just sampling the town and eat fantastic meals. There’s a brew pub near the baseball stadium whose name escapes me, but their food was amazing. Blatt Beer & Table..... that’s it. And another one in some industrial warehouse near downtown. All great food, the guys with me were reluctant because I will eat just about anything but they loved all the places I picked. Omaha is a hidden food gem.

Hmmm, Tampa, Mooney Summit? Sounds like a great idea!

St. Elmos in downtown Indy is great too. Dress nice, tie not required but you wouldn’t wear casual attire there. Reservations are recommended, as well as the shrimp cocktail appetizer. Fly into KIND, KMQJ, KTYQ, or I80.

So this week, my friend asked if I wanted to make a quick trip to have dinner at some steakhouse he wanted to try in Oklahoma. We live in Chicagoland and he wanted to do his part to support “local” restaurants by getting curbside pickup from one and eating in the FBO before flying back. That ended up not working out for a multitude of reasons, but then I read the Kerrville thread. And what better to enjoy on a flying destination for food than a good steak. Yeah, the thought of a breakfast, burger, or even flying to a coast to pick up fresh seafood is always there, but a good steak, a potato (if you eat carbs) and veggies really hits the spot. I used to travel for work and would try to find a truly special place to eat, not a chain of at all possible that locals recommended. One time I ended up in Omaha, and the dealer I was visiting advised me to try The Drover. They told me it wasn’t a fancy place but it had good steaks. Situated just west of downtown it was a short drive for me. I pulled up and it was a virtually unchanged 1970’s supper club atmosphere. The wood was dark, carpet burgundy red, and they had those red glass candle holders with tea lights in them on each table. I could tell that there were a lot of business talks going on around me when I visited middle of the week too. Sitting solo, I ordered the whiskey marinated filet as recommended by the dealer principal and the server. It was an excellent steak, just a hint of marinade flavor, the asparagus was perfect, and I enjoyed a baked potato. Finished off the meal with a neat pour of Woodford Reserve I was very satisfied. I hear that the restaurant has been renovated but the food is still excellent and on weekends it is jam packed. You can fly into KMLE or KOMA easily, KCBF would be a little longer drive but the CAF has a museum there too.

Aviation 101, Guido, Dick Rochfort, Malibu Flyer, and Air Safety Institute here. I have watched some of Niko’s Wings but for some reason I felt like his videos are sensationalized. I feel like I’ve seen him declare more emergencies than most people have in their lifetime.

Honestly, if they are still trying to land commercial traffic, I really do understand the activation of a TFR. All it would take is one NORDO fool not talking and not really watching (or narrating a YouTube video talking about how cool he is) to cause a midair or tumble to the ground because of wake turbulence and that would virtually close it to GA like KORD is.

Neil got close. But I’m concerned hypoxia made Yogi drowsy. He’s actually resting on the yoke. Or, he needed that much aileron hold due to the W&B differences from the right to left seats.

At least with LAS Vegas Approach took control. MDW didn’t have that fallback so it seems it got overrun with training T&Gs while the heavies were trying to land with what I assume was VFR self announced communication.

It was MDW that the tower is shut down at. ORD was still good to go. Though I still don’t think they’d sequence a Mooney in for a full stop.

Now I see the frame. That’s a rather flimsy one though. It would not survive the winds of a Chicago area winter. Who am I kidding, it would be stolen well before winter......

I actually thought the same thing myself.

What kind of socks or shoes are you wearing???? Back on topic: My A&P soaks them in a can of mineral spirits.

That’s a nice looking plane and a good panel. What’s the useful load on a FIKI Encore?

I’m in the CB flying club. I just looked up 40 Knots wine. $27 for their cheapest bottle isn’t quite “cheap”. Is it good? I’d consider it as a gift for some of my pilot friends if it is decent.

I voted. I’m altering my flying because I am limiting my time in the aluminum sewer pipes they call commercial aircraft. I’ll stick with GA in a plane I can somewhat control cleaning in. I am altering where I visit to minimize exposure simply because I have young kids. Not going to California or Orlando for spring break. Containment is broken, exposure likely imminent but I can delay for hopefully enough time to gain more info on treatment and/or die out when summer hits.

If that’s from Utah, is it like 6 proof? I kid.