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I was thinking about purchasing a salvage engine or core and having it overhauled while I was still flying my plane. When the overhaul is complete just an engine swap. Plane should only be down a week or so. Then you can sell the old engine core. Anyone here with experience doing it that way? Pros? Cons?

I’m not sure what the plan is to relocate the plane.

It wasn’t nearly as low as it looks.

My wife took this picture several years ago on my first approach in actual after I passed my check ride. We were coming back home from Myrtle Beach and had to shoot the RNAV approach. I still remember how happy I was when those PAPI's showed up.

It dried out enough for them to start pulling the engine yesterday -

When I purchased Myrtle a few years ago she had a L3 9000. I flew with it for several years and I loved it. It would display - Traffic, Weather, METARS and it would display weather on my Ipad as well. I never used the GTN for weather but I know some folks that do. I thought it was great and the traffic display was excellent, in my opinion. I can't tell that it was any less accurate than the Garmin system I use now. My L3 is still sitting on a shelf, I need to list it for sale.

Same. I clean Myrtle's wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers after each flight with Blue Wash Wax all to keep the bugs off. I clean Myrtle's belly with the red stuff a couple of times a year.

When I am traveling I ALWAYS check the gear during preflight with my finger to see if the tube is crushed.

What a pleasant time I had listening to all the details from the man himself. He is a new owner of a Mooney and took great care to tell me what an amazing plane it is. The plane had been flown 30-40 hrs / year for the last several years. He purchased the plane a few weeks ago and was getting instruction for his insurance. The engine is an IO360 with approximately 1000 hrs on it. He was flying with an instructor at approximately 3500 ft when the engine seized without warning. It is locked up. The propeller did not windmill at all. They found a nice place to set it down in a farmers field and there it sets. It is unharmed in any way except for the seized engine. They are waiting for it to dry out before pulling the engine.

I am scheduled to have coffee with the pilot/owner on Saturday. I hooked him up with the instructor. He is a new owner. Great plane and apparently undamaged after the off field landing. I am looking forward to hearing the first hand account.

On my 231, I typically run LOP @ 65% power, 28” MP (with intercooler), 2400 RPM, and fuel flow is 10.0 - 10.2 gph. TAS - 170-175kts at 17,000 ft

I installed the Turbo Plus intercooler in Myrtle a couple of years ago. In the summertime I will occasionally still need to run with the cowl flaps in trail. I typically fly in the mid-teens or lower flight levels and rarely can I keep the cowl flaps completely closed in the summer. With the cowl flaps closed the temps will get above 380, but in trail they will typically run around 350 degrees.

That annoys the heck out of me. I can’t get mine completely stopped from leaking. I think it must be a Continental thing.

In my experience, Private Equity firms are totally into slash & burn. They could not care less about the destruction left in their wake. Many solid former companies can attest to the same.

I have actually had to use my tie down ropes on two occasions, and both times it was not really what would be considered “out in the boonies”.

I have changed my reservations to Ft Worth….the airport has not been confirmed yet, but I am hoping KFWS. I have been in there several times and the gas is way cheaper than Meacham.

Apparently a new owner forgot to put the gear down on his C model at my home base - KLXT - this week. Don’t know the N number but I saw the curled up prop tips on the plane where it is sitting in Hangar 1. Allegedly only had 35 hours on the engine.

Hat rack - Gats jar, microfiber cloths, travel john(s), funnel, cowl plugs, pitot cover Baggage area - tow bar, chocks, 1 or 2 qts of Phillips XC 20w50, Cam Guard, 50’ of tie down rope, tool pouch, plane cover.

For value, ie speed, efficiency, and useful load, I believe the Encore is the best choice. You can fly fast, far, high, using very little fuel. Barrier to entry is greater than older lower performers, but you get a lot for your money with an Encore.

I fell in love with Mooneys in the early 1980’s. Finally got my Mooney in 2020. Guess that’s the cure.

I was in a similar circumstance to you a few years ago. I had a nice well maintained 1982 vintage 231 in great shape but with a panel that had been upgraded several times over the years with a variety of different brands of equipment. I chose to go with Garmin and have absolutely no regrets with a little over 100 hours flying with the new equipment. Other than potential cost savings, I don't understand why you wouldn't want to choose a suite of products that were DESIGNED to integrate together, rather than piece stuff together and hope it works. I went with (2)G3x for the display, a G5, GTN650xi, GNX375 and a GFC500 autopilot and a few other gadgets. Everything works great together. My flight plan automatically cross fills to the GNX375, and I have functional VNAV capability which is quite convenient. There is no functionality issues due to incompatible equipment.

The checklist editor can be downloaded free from Garmin. The interface is kind of clunky but it gets the job done.

I have a buddy that took off VFR from an uncontrolled field during a Presidential TFR a couple of years ago. He flew VFR cross country to his destination and was given a phone # to call when he reached his destination. The FAA made him take several hours of refresher training with a CFI in pre-flight planning.

There are some pretty significant dead spots for comms down south of Memphis. I lost comms with Memphis Center a couple of years ago and came darn close to a UH-60 Blackhawk while flying back IFR from Florida.

I personally think a Piper Cherokee is a great first plane. You can definitely fly IFR in one, and they are much slower than a Mooney which will help immensely in an IFR environment. If you are flying an Archer now, why not stick with it until you get a couple of hundred hours? It will make transition to the Mooney much easier after you get that experience. I would recommend not moving to a complex aircraft until after you get your instrument rating.