1980Mooney

Better excuse to not wash it.... After all, what is the point after every flight? It is rare to fly Mooney's out of muddy fields. Mine is never going to roll or taxi off of tarmac. If you spray water up in the landing gear you are just going to push some into the wheel wells and some will get into the drain points under the wing. All bad news for a Mooney. You really only need to clean the leading edges to get the bug splatter off. And many airports no longer have wash racks for GA.

Did you look 6 topics down the page? or already passed on this one?

Some were newer pilots. Some were longer owners.

Although not a popular subject here on MooneySpace, the recent spate of gear-up landings by Mooney's have caught the attention of BeechTalk (BT). Four (2) had been mentioned here, but BT found two (2) more N2RH, a 1996 M20J that landed gear up in Naples, FL N1163, a 1982 M20J that landed gear up at Tuscon. And these are the just the ones that attended airports reported - there may be more. And they reference the very sad two fatalities. "April was a rough month for Mooney gear-ups" BeechTalk - BT - April was a rough month for Mooney gear-ups Initial post: Going down an ASN rabbit hole I noticed a lot of Mooney gear-up incidents in April (there’s still a couple days to add more…) https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/495812 https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/495805 https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/497149 https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/500642 https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/500635 https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/501503 That’s six, and I didn’t see many other gear-ups on there for April, though there was a Comanche, and a C335, an L-29, and a J35 bonanza that had a “landing gear failure and landed gear-up.” These were just in the US, I didn’t look elsewhere. There were a few gear collapses of some other types, plus a couple Mooneys that crashed as well (at least one of these has been discussed on CT). Disproportionally rough month for Mooney.

"Shoot heroin in the middle of the street"? That sounds like something out of the Reagan era. Why would anyone do that when Fentanyl, much of which comes in from Canada, laced into opiates is so much cheaper, plentiful, available and easy to consume? The US leads the world in drug use, illegal and prescribed/legal drug abuse, for a reason. Americans of all walks of life are willing to pay for illegal drugs and drug abuse. Just because it may go on in suburbia or small town rural America, much of it white and affluent funded by "mom and dad's" wealth, doesn't negate the fact that it is destroying the economy, youth and local neighborhoods. And if you don't like people with guns in local parks, then you will not like anywhere in the US. They are more plentiful and easier to come by than drugs. Not trying to be a smartass, but it sounds like you are looking for the "Hallmark Movie" version of America. @Steve Dawson may be right.

Can you please define "WOKE" since it is your #1 priority (and the only one in all caps.). And can you kindly explain what a "woke" state or "woke" town or "woke" city is in order to help us differentiate candidates for you? I don't think I know what that is. How do you measure it?

Registered to a new owner in February of this year. However, FAA Airman shows that the owner is Commercial with Helicopter (Type rated in a Blackhawk), also a CFI (current - aircraft and helicopter) and Mechanic.

From ADSB-Exchange playback, no other aircraft show up in the vicinity of KSRB while N242RE is approaching. https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?replay=2025-04-26-16:47&lat=36.020&lon=-85.587&zoom=12.4 Also if you look at FlightAware arrivals and departures at Upper Cumberland Rgnl Airport (Sparta, TN) SRB on April 26 around 11:47 AM CDT, there is no activity at the airport. https://www.flightaware.com/live/airport/KSRB/arrivals https://www.flightaware.com/live/airport/KSRB/departures

The second one, the Bravo is actually still in the MooneySpace Classifieds. The OP who posted it has not returned since February. It was posted in ASO.com at the beginning of the year but it is no longer there. Unknown if it got sold.

It's not just the T&G's. Unfortunately this is a recently purchased plane and an even newer pilot that was in training when the plane was purchased. The plane showed up in Loveland on Sep. 9, 2024 and was registered in October. Owner got his Pilot ticket this January. You can see what appear to be some training flights in between. Yes it is well equipped. N6099Q, a 1965 M20C has been all dolled up to look like a short body M20J. - 201 windsheild, J style cowling, wing tips, J style yokes, panel and glareshield that looks like a J with the bump in it, Aspen ProMax 2500, S-Tec autopilot, etc https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/233105531/n6099q-1966-mooney-m20c-mark-21 If you look at his tracks it looks like he was always forcing the Mooney to land. Too fast, too high, diving descents and floating down the runway. An 8,500 ft x 100 ft. runway spoils any pilot - it accommodates a lot of sloppiness when landing.: The Tower had just closed a few minutes before N6099Q took off. He announced on CTAF that the was going to "stay in the pattern and fly touch and goes" On every landing he would cross the runway threshold at about 50-75 ft. AGL. Based on altitude and speed, it appears that he would always touch down about 1,500 - 1,750 ft down the runway from the threshold on the 8,500 ft x 100 ft runway. When turning Final he would initially descend at about -900 fpm. Many of the Final descents were varying between 500-900 fpm. Sometimes he would slow the descent to 300 fpm. only to increase near the runway. On the 3rd T&G, he extended his Base but his turn to Final was initially at -2,000 fpm. The rate then slowed to -1,400 and then -1.200 fpm. His speed on Final was initially 91- 103 kts airspeed with the exception of the 4th at 86 kts on a Shorter Final On his 1st T&G, it appears that he was doing about 86 kts airspeed over the runway threshold and descending at -640 fpm over the threshold. (Groundspeed was 81 kts plus weather showed a headwind straight down the runway of 6 mph). On his 3rd T&G he followed too close behind N2973B, a BE-35 that was on Final landing for a full stop. Since the Bo was still on Runway 15 and turning off, he intentionally balked the landing. Instead of immediately climbing to pattern altitude along along the centerline, he drifted right of the runway just before the threshold and flew parallel R-15 about 100 ft. to the right and at about 150 AGL the entire lenght. (He announced his intention to balk on the CTAF). The gear up landing occurred on the 5th T&G which was intended to be the last touch one. (which he announced that on the CTAF) On this final (5th) T&G, he turned Base to Final at about 91 kts airspeed and at -1,025 fpm descent rate. Rate of descent dropped to about -600 fpm then back up to about -900 fpm and then dropping to around -500 fpm while maintaining about 89 kts airspeed. I calculated his angle of descent to be 4.3 degrees to his approx. 1,500 ft "displaced Touchdown point".. Over the runway threshold he was about 83 kts airspeed, at about 50 ft AGL and still descending at about -450 fpm On the CTAF he announced that he bellied in, skidded off the Runway 15 and wound up clear of the runway and in the grass. https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a7ec50&lat=40.457&lon=-104.988&zoom=13.5&showTrace=2025-04-20&trackLabels&timestamp=1745109083

Re: Thoma Bravo. Per Wiki -" Two of Thoma Bravo's most recent 14th and 15th funds were among the lowest performing funds in Fortune's list, posting an internal rate of return of 4% and −2% respectively, while the 13th fund saw some big exits and was among the highest on the list with 27%" Considering their poor returns on their last 3 rounds of investment funds, I suspect they will try to make up for it with this acquisition. They will be desperate to juice up the profitability of Jepp and ForeFlight in order to flip them at much higher prices than they paid. And since there is no material untapped customer base no chance that the customer population will grow materially That leaves only a few options: Steal all the customers from Garmin for ForeFlight and convert all the users of US Govt Charts/Plates to paying Jepp subscriptions Convince Musk/DOGE to sell or outsource all Gov't Charts, Approach Plates, Documents and NAV data to Thoma Bravo so that they can have a MONOPOLY Sell us, the existing costumers, more/new "product" that we didn't know we needed. Or....RAISE PRICES

Huh....Arcline acquired Parker Hannifin Aircraft Wheel & Brake Division in 2022, Hartzell in 2023, Cleveland Aircraft Wheel and Brake in 2024. So far all they have done is raise prices....... You are right that we don't need to speculate about the outcome.

You missed the biggest reason. The population of potential users is too small. We always overestimate our importance in the marketplace. Of course they could add distracting pop-up ads to defray the cost. Like MooneySpace. Even ADSBExchange has annoying ads now.

I wonder if this plane sold and the post was never updated. It had been on ASO.com but is no longer there. Yesterday it geared-up while landing at KPAE in Everett, WA. FAA does not show a change in ownership. https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a3f8ef&lat=47.918&lon=-122.284&zoom=14.9&showTrace=2025-04-20&leg=2&trackLabels&timestamp=1745179037 https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N355RZ/history https://www.flightaware.com/resources/registration/N355RZ

Depends on the airport. I have seen LNAV mins as low as 315 ft and some as high as 700 ft. Precision Approaches (and autopilot coupled approaches) are limited to ILS without WAAS and those keep disappearing. Also ILS seems to be more likely to be out of service than LPV. A coupled precision approach can be a real help on a long tiring flight in bad weather. Of course we used to fly without WAAS or even GPS but I don’t want to go back…

For the Hartzell alternators, here are probably the best links for Operating Manual and Troubleshooting. The Operating Manual is for the 28 volt models but provides all the basic description that applies to 14 volt systems. No one will publish the Amp rating on the Aux terminal because they don’t want you to use it for anything other than a gauge or diode connection. So I was likely wrong about “85% of rated” nameplate but it is still enough to burn things up as the OP described… https://hartzell.aero/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ES1031-Alt-Owners-Man-Rev-New.pdf https://hartzell.aero/top-tips-for-troubleshooting-your-aircrafts-alternator/

Putting "everything else" on the Aux terminal is not just a mistake. It is a fundamental lack of understanding on a basic aircraft system. @PT20J provided a basic schematic in the "troubleshoot" chart above although it does not provide much input on the AUX terminal. Here are 2 topics that also cover this. Ther first is for a 1976 M20F with exactly the same Hartzel alternator as you. In the second one @N201MKTurbo points out "That is your AUX terminal. Was anything connected to it? The AUX terminal is a separate set of + diodes that is used for either regulator voltage sense or for the idiot light or both." The Aux terminal is internally tied to common connection of the stator (output) windings and will normally provide about 85% of the main output voltage. Your A&P just wired 85% (about 50 Amps) directly to ground on that braided wire sheath. You are lucky that it didn't set the plane on fire. You are right "Good mechanics are hard to find".

There are other factors not mentioned. What is the location of that panel and how much fuel was in the tank when you had it painted? I bet your tanks were low when painted (and no seeping) and it appeared when you filled the tank full - more head, more pressure. In my limited experience, aircraft paint shops do not repair tank or panel leaks. It sounds like you have two (2) trips/stops (and twice the down time) to get this corrected....

You could tell the FAA that you are developing an STC and put the plane into the Experimental Research and Development category. Of course you would never be able to sell your plane. Probably could not get insurance either. Take the risk and the write off - and probably don't carry pax.... That would definitely be "starting over".

If you listened to the interview with the passengers, they said the plane skidded sideways. The pax appear to be on an Angel flight for cancer treatment in Houston Passengers in aircraft that made emergency landing in Edinburg share their experience The gear appear to be collapsed under the plane (see circle). It appears that the left cowl flap door is laying beside the plane (see arrow). That would mean that the plane was going sideways (maybe spun around) while it skidded and the cowl flap door got ripped off. If ithe plane had been straight ahead on its belly, the cowl flap would be folded in under the cowl. It appears that the fence stopped the skid. What is the gray stain on the wing? Was something puking out of the engine from the cowl flap and spraying on the wing? That mark doesn't look like brush/plant strikes as it skidded through the field. (that would have more likely damaged the wing.) As far as an easy fix? Looks like the landing gear have been ripped off. Maybe not a prop strike but the engine may be toast. From an insurance standpoint, if it had been a prop strike at least he would have gotten some money towards the engine. In this case nothing.

What exactly are you trying to achieve? Avoid liability? That won't work - you are the pilot and it goes right to you personally, trust or no trust or even if you don't own a plane and are renting. Avoid tax? - don't see how. Estate planning? I am not a lawyer but if you are the Owner and the Trustee and the Pilot then the whole thing looks like a sham. Here are the 2 biggest issues highlighted by BizJet Law.com: There are two downside considerations regarding holding your aircraft title in an owner trust: (1) cost and (2) separation of ownership. 1. Costs As with all operations, there is a cost associated with using an owner trust. The cost varies by provider and trust type. From our experience, normal owner trust costs start at a little over $4,000 for the setup and nearly $3,000 per year. Thus, for a normal owner trust, you should expect to pay around $7,000 at the closing for the first full year and then around $3,000 yearly. For a double-blind owner trust, the setup cost tends to be around $5,500 with a yearly fee of $5,500, meaning at the closing for the first full year, you should expect to pay $11,000. 2. Separation of Ownership By putting your aircraft in an owner trust, you are placing a separation of ownership between the true owner of the aircraft and the asset. The aircraft is not registered to the true owner but to the owner trustee. Further, any communication from the FAA regarding the aircraft is sent to the owner trustee, who is responsible for forwarding the information to the beneficiary. So long as the relationship between the true owner and owner trustee is positive, this should have no downside. However, suppose the true owner is concerned about a lack of communication or a negative relationship with the owner trustee. In that case, this could be a disadvantage of holding the aircraft in an owner trust.

You didn't mention if you did a complete troubleshoot to verify that it is not an intermittent/weak solenoid issue and that it is actually the starter. This has a typical step by step troubleshoot procedure. Each step has a drop down Aircraft Starter Performance Issues | Sky-Tec

Simple question: If you were flying cross country where WX briefing showed the cells top out at 8 - 10K , why would you plan to fly through them? Why couldn’t you get on top?

Yes the Final will be interesting. There are a few issues, some that you have raised, that are troubling. "Did they brief the weather?" It may be that there were two (2) pilots, one a CFII, who could have been staying aware of the weather The plane has the latest fully integrated Garmin flat panel feeding them WX along the way If there were two (2) pilots, then that can really reduce workload. I think the owner/dad (non-Instrument) was 46 and the grand-dad/CFII/ATP (if on the plane) was 74. Who was PF and who was PIC? The voice on ATC talking for N7036V sounded older - granddad may have been working the radio. If there were two (2) pilots on board, why didn't one, especially an experienced ATP/CFII, ask ATC for more WX briefs or for PIREPS on the route? If there were two (2) pilots on board, why didn't one talk to ATC when things started deteriorating? There is an interesting CRM issue when a pilot flies with his father who is also a pilot/ATP/CFII. Does the son naturally tend to defer to the father in times of stress for better or worse? This plane had a fully integrated up to date Garmin flat panel with all the bells and whistles expect "AutoLand".. "New Custom Garmin Panel by JA Air Center including: Garmin GMA345 audio panel Garmin G3X 10” PFD/MFD Garmin GTN650TXI Garmin Safe Glide Garmin EIS system CiES Fuel Senders Garmin G5 Garmin GFC500 – autopilot w/ R,P,T Garmin GTX345ADSB Garmin GNC255A Nav/Com Garmin GAE12 Encoder Garmin USB" The listing mentioned "Safe Glide" but I think they meant Smart Glide. It had Electronic Stability and Protection (Garmin ESP™) to help prevent loss of control https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/aviation/garmin-smart-glide-now-available-for-the-g3x-touch-flight-display-and-g5-electronic-flight-instrument-for-certified-aircraft/ https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/#esp So why would they fly into a cell and why would it lose control due to convection if not in a cell? I wouldn't be surprised if an ambulance chasing aviation lawyer gets to the family before the Final and slaps Garmin and JA Air Center with huge lawsuits.

Maybe the better question is why would you file to fly into a Known Icing G-Airmet in a non-FIKI plane with passengers, regardless of whether you are not Instrument rated or you have a CFII in the right seat or not? And is it technically "legal". The POH says it is not. Flying Into Known Icing - Is It Legal? - AVweb F POH J POH