Utah20Gflyer

I’d say the backseat of a mid body Mooney would easily accommodate a person up to 6’4”, I’ve sat in the back seat of my plane and at 6’2” I have a couple inches between me and the front seat. How much negotiation varies widely. A plane in good condition that you have a fair amount of interest in and would like to actually purchase there probably is only a small amount of negotiation. If you are going after planes with issues and are willing to make 50 offers before you get a deal then there might be a big discount (eventually).

I think the first thing I would do is fly the plane and do the compression readings again. You might find that cylinder 3 “repairs” itself. My understanding is that cylinder compression can change drastically from one test to another. The result is also dependent on getting the engine up to proper temperature and mechanic technique. Overall a pretty subjective test. A cylinder will make full power at 40/80 so the real issue is usually oil consumption. If the engine is using a lot of oil that is a much more reliable indication that there is a problem with the rings. Sounds like this is a prebuy situation so you would be relying on the owner to tell you the truth about oil consumption. I would fly a 60/80 cylinder without a bit of hesitation as long as oil consumption is reasonable. If a cylinder is pitted then the cam could be pitted too. That would be the reason for a premature major overhaul and unfortunately that is very difficult to evaluate in a prebuy situation. If cylinder #3 did come off you could take a look at the cam, but cylinder removal is a pretty serious ask from a potential buyer.

I’d work on getting your instrument rating, by the time you complete that you should be insurable.

I also am using a piper latch, works great

All of those temperatures sound really high. Are you climbing full rich? If your doghouse really is well sealed I would also suspect your mixture is too lean. I have a G model which is the same firewall forward as a C model and I make sure to never exceed 430 in the summer while climbing but most of the time I can keep it under 400. In cruise I am around 320-330. Oil temps are normally 190-200 in climb. 450-460 on a regular basis will likely shorten your cylinder life substantially as metals lose their strength in an exponential fashion as they heat up rather than linearly. So, I would definitely figure out why your engine is running so hot.

I have several Bruce’s covers and they are a good quality cover.

I would recommend one small modification to your design. I would place one additional fastener where the 45 degree supports transition from being parallel to the 2x4 to the 45 degree angle. Most of the strength of the design relies on those supports being placed in tension so that elbow provides slack when a side ways load is applied. It doesn’t look like that type of support would do much in compression. Anyway, I’m not an engineer but that is what I would do. They look nice, I have a similar project planned.

If you are just using the buffing compound then it probably doesn’t matter whether you use straight lines or swirls, but wet sanding with sandpaper I’d recommend straight lines because it reduces the likelihood of swirls being visible later in the process (ie it reduces the total amount of work) The upside of sandpaper is it removes material faster, downside is it removes more material. In my estimation the plexiglass or polycarbonate will need to be replaced because of cracking before I run into an issue with material thickness. If the damage is minor I would probably just use buffing compound, more serious I think the sandpaper makes sense.

I’d imagine if you removed the interior trim it would be fairly evident how it is installed. I’ve never done it and I haven’t looked at how the windshield is installed but based on all of the screws around the perimeter I would assume the screws go through the windshield into a backing peice and that is what is pulling it flush against the airframe. I would be very surprised if this wasn’t the arrangement. So in principle it is very easy, in practice much more difficult because of the trimming the windshield to fit properly, drilling the holes correctly and not putting any cracks in it while doing so. Very detail oriented and time consuming work with a fairly unforgiving material.

I have used premade kits to refinish plexiglass/polycarbonate and they work fine, but you can also do it with 1000 grit wet sand paper, then wet 2000 grit, then polishing compound like you’d use are a car. Don’t do swirls, straight lines. Lots of water when sanding. The good thing about a landing light lense is that it doesn’t have to be perfect like a windshield. You just want maximum light transmission and for it to look good from a couple feet away.

Have you tried polishing the old ones? Normally you can get them to almost new condition with a relatively small amount of work. Maybe an hour or two. I’d at least try before going through the time and expense of replacing them.

I had this exact problem. The solution was to take out the front half of the ignition switch (it splits in two with 2 flat head screws holding it together) and take it to a locksmith and have them rebuild the lock cylinder. I paid 50 dollars and the new keys and rebuilt cylinder worked perfectly. Fortunately all the wires are attached to the back part of the ignition switch so there isn’t a lot involved in getting the part you need removed. It may be helpful to ask around your local area and find someone with aircraft experience. The guy I used said he used to rekey planes all the time. I think any competent locksmith could get it done for you but experience doesn’t hurt.

Another benefit of the GI 275 HSI is you can run older non Garmin radios into it. This would allow you to get rid of the CDIs as well if you wanted to. The G5 is much more limited in that area. I did my upgrades in stages and initially I had a KX 175B ran into it and it worked fine. Later I switched to a Garmin 255. I’d consider getting a new pilots side panel cut out since the current one will have to come out completely for the upgrade anyway. It’s a relatively affordable time to do it and it will modernize the look significantly.

Yeah, my instrument scan is just going back and forth between the two GI275s. The HSI is awesome. Makes holds, procedure turns , DME arcs , etc easy. I couldn’t imagine going back to a heading indicator now. Overall very happy with the upgrade.

I think the Uavionix products are acceptable with the addition of a magnetometer which I think is still in the approval process for certified planes. So maybe not quite ready for prime time but getting close. I did two GI275s and they are great. I like that two of them replaces the entire 6 pack. The AV30 and G5 you only get to replace 2 instruments and have to keep the other 4 legacy instruments. I like the idea of getting rid of things that have to be maintained. I did keep my airspeed indicator but got rid of the others and created room for a panel mounted I phone max that I display foreflight on.