1980Mooney

I just reread the Tailwind Dawley press release and after thinking about my A&P's comments - I now understand their strategy. "Dawley Aviation supplies repaired, overhauled and remanufactured exhaust systems, utilizing excellent welding techniques. And Dawley Manufacturing provides custom metal fabrication, tube bending and metal finishing parts, most notably to Cirrus Aircraft." My A&P said " they can buy new Cirrus exhaust pieces cheaper (from Cirrus) than sending to AWI for Overhaul.". Those new exhaust pieces were coming from Dawley Manufacturing shipped in a Cirrus b

I spoke to my A&P about Dawley. Missiles have a known corrosion weakness on the tail piece. They would send that and other pieces to Dawley who would do an IRAN in order to save me some coin. They said that they would not send it to AWI because they would only quote and do full Overhaul. This particular A&P is a very active Cirrus shop and they said that they can buy new Cirrus exhaust pieces cheaper than sending to AWI for Overhaul. They said that they are not sure what it will be like on future pricing with Mooney exhausts at AWI. Tailwind Technologies adds capabilities of

Cirrus sold 347 piston aircraft in 2020. You included 73 of the Vision Jet. GAMA General Aviation Shipment Report 2020 - Year-End.xlsx The sad fact is that only 1,155 single engine piston planes were manufactured and sold in the entire world last year (851 of those piston singles were manufactured in the US). In 1978 there were 14,398 single engine piston planes built and delivered in the US alone. Add another 2,634 piston twins (vs 157 in 2020). Yes a few will always be able to afford a $700,000 - $1 million single engine airplane. But back when planes were more affordabl

This is not a depreciation curve. It is a curve that shows the accelerating unaffordability of the planes that the industry choses to sell. In 1977, the first year of the 201, an M20J sold for about $45,000. Median household income in 1977 was $13,570. That Mooney was 3.3 X household income In 2020, the last year of the Ovation, an M20R sold for about $700,000 Median household income in 2020 was $68,4000. That Mooney was 10.3 X household income. Bonanza, Cirrus, Diamond, Mooney, Pipistrel, etc. - it doesn't matter - new high performance complex single engine aircraft are m

He is probably talking about landing gear fairings. Look at #30 - Right Hand and Left Hand Fairing on 32-11-00, Page 0, FIGURE 1 - MAIN LANDING GEAR DOOR ASSEMBLY (NONENCLOSED WHEELS) There are numerous threads on Mooneyspace about this: If anyone needs landing gear aft fairings ... - General Mooney Talk - Mooneyspace.com - A community for Mooney aircraft owners and enthusiasts Best way to repair landing gear fairings - Modern Mooney Discussion - Mooneyspace.com - A community for Mooney aircraft owners and enthusiasts Replacement parts available: Aft landing g

Really?...If it is generating that maximum voltage while cranking then just where do you think the current (load) is going?....To charge the battery! The electrons are just round tripping. Except for line losses (resistance) there should not be any additional load on the battery. Now if you have a 2 alternator setup I can see that you need a switch to isolate which one is not working or to force the backup to show performance. But on most planes that's probably why there is no reason to have a switch to turn the Alternator on or off. Eliminates one more thing to go wrong, reduces

Who is hovering over A&Ps to make sure that they log everything completely and right? The owner probably wishes it never happened - he may not have filed an insurance claim in an effort to cover it up with cash - and may be complicit. It's all self policed.

Simply spending money is the vibe to solve most problems in every plane....the only difference between brands is a little more or a little less!

Seems like everyone wants something a little different - more speed, climb to FL25, more UL, more HP, more fuel capacity, "barn doors" for luggage and maybe people, more efficiency, steel vs composite, more elbow room, more cushions to sit on in order to see over the panel, more affordable low initial cost like a 40 year old plane rather than an unaffordable nearly $1 mil. rapidly depreciating asset, CAPS/BRS, etc, etc.... It highlights the challenge and compromise in design - performance, efficiency, size, UL, materials and cost of manufacture. Piper, Cessna/Beech and Mooney have been nu

It is a very light aircraft. It is currently certified with a MTOW of 2,900 lbs. and a UL of 1,100 lbs. (and that is with the standard CAPS/BRS chute) They are applying for an increase to a 3,000 lb. MTOW and 1,200 lb. UL. That will allow great load even with lots of options like TKS. Don't know about luggage space. The Diamond 50RG is a complete pig weighing 3,175 lbs. EMPTY without options and it does not even come with CAPS/BRS!

The better alternative is the Pipistrel Panthera - a true "Modern Ovation". It is not a heavy pig and it doesn't have the oversize wings that require a costly "twin" hangar like the DA 50NG . And it has CAPS. Its Lycoming will also still be running when 100LL is phased out. And it costs less than a Diamond or Cirrus or a Mooney.

You are prescient. Listen to LiveAtc.net - select KTUS and under "ZAB Sector 46 (Tucson Low)". Pick 24 March and 0600-0630Z to reach file ending in ktus/ZAB46-Mar-24-2021-0600Z.mp3. At 0618:53Z the controller says to 786 "Did you say that your engine just quit?" Later at about 0623Z he asks another plane to try to contact 786 and repeats "says his engine quit about 15 miles south of Lordsburg". Flightaware shows that he was climbing at over 14,000 ft. and flying slow around those times. Engine out. Night IMC. In the soup. In the middle of nowhere rugged New Mexico. Lordsburg doesn'

I have seen certified deployment speeds of 140 knots - not sure what happens if you are faster. Their Vision Jet is equipped with CAPS so there is likelihood it will be deployed at higher speeds. But you are right, CAPS has a limited envelope......just like seat belts. Flying Magazine says GA aircraft seat belt's only need to be certified to 9 G's. Crashing CFIT at or above 140 knots is probably close to 100 G's. And if so how would seat belts help either. Perhaps we should question the value of all safety devices. Restrain Yourself: Inexpensive Restraint System Options | F

I suspect both occupants and their families wished that they were in a plane with CAPS or BRS. They would have walked out instead of being carried.

Wait a minute...I believe the "man with little experience" ended up with both experience and got his money back. He made one insurance payment and then totaled the plane. The pics and logs look great per your description so the insurance company likely paid out what you would consider to be an inflated "full value" to the "man with little experience". The guy makes one payment and gets everything he invested back...perhaps more depending on "market value" and the terms of the policy. Sweeeeeet. So who "lost their money" to the "experienced man"? You and me...in higher insurance prem