1980Mooney

Did you call Maxwell?

About a year after you, I was taking a Fortran class. The school could only afford the old IBM 029 keypunch card machines. We would program and punch our program deck of cards. Then one student would take them to the nearby university to be run on an IBM System/360 overnight and printed out. One fateful day, one of the few kids driving a car (it happened to be his mom's cherry 1969 Mercedes 280 SL) took all our program decks bound with rubber bands and put them in a paper bag. He put them on the roof of the car and proceeded to drive off onto a divided 6 lane highway. The bag flew off the roof splitting open in the street. Cars were hitting the rubber banded program decks with cards flying into the air like small explosions. Amazingly many of the cards and decks which were run over, were found and picked up. Surprisingly, even though the cards were deformed by the dry New Mexico grit, dirt and sand pressed into them after being run over, we were able to clean them up and run most through the "IBM Keypunch Duplicate" feature to create suitable replacement cards for the IBM 360 card reader.

Mouse, Windows, wire?...way before that - 1969 - learned to program on a DEC PDP-8/L (for "low cost"). It was one of the hottest "minicomputers" and best bang for the buck. About $8,000 in 1968 (about $80,000 today). It was so advanced....it had 4K of memory, a paper tape reader, a tape punch and a teletype. We used a start program on mylar tape to boot it up. Programming was very "BASIC"....

At Max Gross Weight…right?

Not trying to antagonize you but if you are giving advice on spend vs "value" you might want to let this new 231 owner that it is from the perspective of someone who owns and maintains both an Acclaim and a pressurized twin Aerostar 601P. Yes owning any plane is a process of setting piles of money on fire - some need smaller, some need larger (or really, really larger). Your perspective/comfort level is about an order of magnitude higher than most "cheap bastard" Mooney owners trying to support budgets for their 35-60 year old planes. It is not a criticism - your vantage point is enviable. It is just a perspective on value. There are many owners here that have no problem and rave about the "perceived value" of dropping $100K on glass panel/avionics upgrades.

Your comments make it sound like someone or something at Walmart hurt you deeply in the past that you have not yet processed and you continue to feel compelled to spew puss on everyone. Did your family have a "small honest shop" shut down in bankruptcy because it could not compete? ...hence the comment about "same police forced other small honest shops to shut their doors" as in a bankruptcy auction "on the courthouse steps"? Why are there always 3 blank lines between each of your comments? - are you some AI "antagonistic" BOT in development?

Caveat Emptor True - if you don’t mind heaping up piles of cash and setting them on fire. Four (4) years ago @Jake@BevanAviation said his shop quotes for a GFC500 installation (in this case replacing a KAP-150 in a J) were typically in the mid $20K’s. Of course prices have gone up in 4 years. And as is well known, the “value” of reduced downtime does not fully translate to added value of the plane if you have to sell. Upgrades lose about half their value immediately if you have to sell in the near future. Major engine/prop work has a better return but you will still be leaving money on the table. Such is the nature of General Aviation and old planes.

Yes he was also on prescription Cyclobenzaprine/Flexeril muscle relaxant and Zofram which is also impairing.....so there is that.

As @kortopates highlights, getting service on any Century autopilot product if needed will be a problem. Century Flight Systems went out of business well over a year ago. You are lucky, and maybe one of the last, to have it overhauled by Century. As @Flyler highlights, it is a very capable analog autopilot. I have one also. But if something goes wrong, there are no parts available and no one will service it. You have to scrounge for used parts at best. It is better replacing at that time. Jake Bevan @Jake@BevanAviation at Bevan Aviation stated: In 2021: century 41 auto pilot - " I don't like to work on the 41 as they are full of ribbon cables and a lot of the parts are not available any more. The last 41 I sent to Century came back with a 9k repair estimate. It had a failing transducer that would produce intermittent oscillations and multiple ribbon cable problems. In 2023: Century 41 Problems - "Unfortunately, with the current state of Century Flight Systems getting a Century 41 fully operational and reliable might be a big issue. A lot of the parts are no longer available for this system. Century is no longer doing repairs at the factory to my knowledge and has very limited support. Due to this reason I stopped working on the C41 years ago and would only send the system back to the factory for repair. The last system I sent in years ago came back with a 9K estimate for repair. My recommendation would be to replace it when you can for better reliability and support with a newer modern AP system like Garmin. There still might be some shops out there trying to do bench repairs but parts will be the biggest limitation. Altitude transducer problems were not uncommon for this system."

What is the deal with you and "walmart/Wally World/Walmart"? You have been going on about them since page 1....back when the topic was about LASAR Assurance Program and the future of Mooney parts....

To be clear, it is not an STC, but a Service Letter. It is a great modification. Undoing it would seem expensive and likely reduce the value of the plane. And if you went to this trouble and expense to reduce the load carrying capability of the M20J just so a Sport Pilot with a "driver's license" could legally fly it, how might it affect insurability or rates? Mooney M20J 2900 POUND GROSS WEIGHT INCREASE, RETROFIT KITS SPECIAL LETTER 92-1 DATE: April 20, 1992 Mooney 205, 201, ATS, MSE; SIN 24-16s thru 24-3200, 24-3202 thru 24-3217 INTRODUCTION: The gross weight of 1991and later M20J aircraft has been increased from 2740 pounds t0 2900 pounds. This increase in useful load is retrofitable to some earlier M20J aircraft. See SIN'S list& above. Five kits are provided for incorporation of: (1) the proper airspeed indicator, (2) the applicable AFM Supplement required for each listed series of S/N aircraft and (3) the inspection of the rudder static balance limits. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Procure correct retrofit kit listed below. (Refer to SIN and POH/AFM sf existing aircraft) 2. Retrofit Kit (for specific aircraft serial numbers) may be ordered direct from Mooney Service Parts Department, (51 2) 257-W1, using Master Card, Visa or G.0.D. The kits are priced at $1,750.00 net. 3. See instructions shown on field of Mooney 940071 drawing. 4. Install correct airspeed indicator supplied in appropriate kit. 5. Incorporate proper AFM Supplement into the appropriate POWIAFM for aircraft SIN In addition: 6. Refer to Mooney Service Bulletin M20-252, dated 4-6-92. The INSTRUCTIONS shown therein MUST be followed for the above SIN aircraft to complete retrofit incorporation of the 2900 pound gross weight increase for these M20J's. NOTE: When complying with this Special Letter, the instructions of SB M20-252, dated 4-6-92 or subsequent revision, must be accomplished on the above serial numbered aircraft even though the Serial Numbers on SB M20-252 do not specifically refer to the above aircraft. SB M20-252 is the MOONEY M20J RUDDER BALANCE WEIGHT INSPECTION

The STC is not "only paperwork". The plane is supposed to have the Air Speed Indicator markings changed (bottom of the Green Arc) to show the change in VS1. If you have a digital display that is easier to do but if you have the analog ASI, you will be sending it out for remarking. It also states that you need to "Remove the rudder from the empennage" and do a rudder balance inspection to determine its static limits. I uploaded SL92-1 which covers the 2,900 MGW increase for appropriate serial numbers to the Files so that there is no confusion.

It should be pretty clear where the future of General Aviation is going. This topic got over 1,400 views and 3 pages of comments in less than 48 hours. The most interest/concern on Mooneyspace seems to be in digital avionics/software development/data integration. All this "the sky is falling" concern about a company making internal business decisions on staffing for software development. Everyone forgets the 2023 announcement by Amazon "Amazon lays off hundreds in its Alexa division. Everyone thinking that it was the end. Of course the rest of the announcement was "as it plows resources into AI". Amazon/Alexa has not lost ground or dominance. It has steamed ahead crushing completion. I see figures that Amazon Alexa has 70% market share to number 2 Google Home with 20% share. Apple can't get traction.

This would be like me saying "I will just ignore the AFM for my Missile (IO-550A) STC conversion (MGW 3,200 lbs) on my 1980 M20J and revert back to the old original POH numbers for my "2,740 lb MGW Mooney M20J".....

He said his plane had been modified by STC to 2,900 lbs MGW. And that the STC AFM showed new performance numbers. You can't say "I want the STC to apply yesterday but not today....so I will just ignore the AFM today...."

Are you asking if it qualifies to be flown by a Light Sport Pilot? Or are you asking if it could qualify to be certified as a Light Sport Aircraft if it were built new again?

Fakebook….

Fair point with respect to the small minority of the Mooney fleet with TKS. But the OP previously said he has a ‘85 M20J. The stall strip is held in place by 4 screws. @Ragsf15e I would be very upset if the paint shop did not remove it for stripping, alodining, priming and painting. You can see it is an angle shape with airspace between it and the curved leading edge of the wing.

No, you’re not wrong – but they reinstall them after painting just like everything else that they removed for painting.

What A&P is going to Willy nilly unscrew stall strips and move them around requiring new holes drilled in the leading edge?

Not necessarily. More likely that they are laying off software engineers because they using more efficient AI coding tools. https://webdesignerdepot.com/the-death-of-coding-jobs-how-ai-no-code-and-corporate-greed-are-killing-the-industry/

How would stall strips get moved? I believe they are all screwed in (at least mine are). No one is drilling new holes in the leading edge of the wing during maintenance or painting and moving them around.

You should start using it to find out! If you start getting emails asking for your credit card to invest in "spectacular" time-share opportunities in North Korea, then you will know for sure........

Three days ago Apple Confirms iPhone Attacks—No Fix For Most Users (You can read without a subscription - just click "no") "As I reported last month, data suggests 50% of all eligible iPhone users have yet to upgrade from iOS 18 to iOS 26. And that surprisingly slow momentum is now driving more coverage. Yes, it’s disappointing for Apple that so many users are not embracing its latest OS, but more critically, those users have no fix for these new attacks."