Utah20Gflyer

Good idea!

I’d be laughing to except this happened to me. I flew up to Logan Utah with my wife for her friends wedding. Everything is wrapped up and we get back to the plane and no key (this is before I had extras made). We went and grabbed the crew car again and retraced out steps, eventually we ended up at a grocery store I had stopped at and they had it at customer service. Apparently it had fallen out of my pocket when I took my wallet out to pay. That was a big relief but next on the to do list was getting 3 extra keys made. Now I keep one in my flight bag, one in my car, one on my key ring with all my other keys and one at home. Never again!

I addressed this issue at my last annual. I used a brass bristle brush and maybe wd40 (can’t remember for sure, but I use wd40 for cleaning a lot). Unfortunately I did remove a fair amount of chrome plating in the effort but it did look better after than before. So my results were similar to yours. Has anyone ever powder coated the handle instead of chroming?

At the price point you are talking about corrosion is the only real deal killer. Anything else can be made up with the price differential between what you might normally pay and what your are paying. The biggest issue with training in a Mooney is insurance. But that is also going to be a issue with a C210. I honestly would be surprised if an insurance company would green light a student pilot to solo in a C210. Keep in mind a rental plane will have insurance to cover the owner but not you. Non owned aircraft insurance is generally in order to cover your potential liability. In the case of an accident it’s highly likely an insurance company will come after you for the full value of the claim. Between the two I would suspect a Mooney would be easier to insure than a 210. I would investigate the insurance situation before purchasing.

In my 1968 M20G my headrest tubes are 1/2 inch diameter. When I bought my plane the two in the back were missing so I made new ones from 1/2 inch aluminum tubing and a tubing bender. The padded headrests slip over top of the tubing.

I did a trip last summer from Utah to Washington State, going up I averaged 175 knots ground speed and topped out at 185 knots. Coming back a couple days later the winds were still coming from the south and I was doing 115 to 120 knots most of the way back. The winds giveth and the winds taketh away... fortunately when I crossed the Utah border the winds changed and I jumped up to 150 knots for the last leg. I couldn't imagine trying to do that in a Cessna 150. You'd be jealously watching the highway traffic pass you.

It might be because it's much easier to add fuel than remove it if it turns out you need extra weight capacity on your next flight.

I second no lube and instead replace your seat rollers. I did mine last annual and the seats slide as smoothly as I could imagine.

I'd love to have more screen but went with a mini because it's the "correct" size for a Mooney yoke. I know others have done it though so sorry I am not any help. The difficulty is getting the correct angle without interference with or obscuration of other things. Seems like you have to space it higher than the yoke by maybe 2-3 inches to get it right.

I had a bunch of extra keys made up at Home Depot.

I listened to the whole thing and felt similarly, I get it would be awkward to fly with the passenger side yoke but you just got to make due with what you have. Also you can often just fly with the rudders since we have a strong interconnect between the rudder and ailerons. My main thought was "What the hell is going on with this plane?" We got yokes coming off, gear that won't come down properly and a seat that won't lock into position. Was this a plane on a ferry permit? I'm also surprised if this was a J model, I had assumed it was an older Mooney that had the AD on the control shaft and the shaft had come apart. If it really is a J model that's a 2x WTF

My 68 G model has a clamp on one exhaust, I think #4. It came up during my annual because the IA commented it didn't look right. Ultimately we decided since it wasn't causing a problem and there were no leaks we would leave it be. Sounds like it's supposed to be there? I have the O 360 A1D engine.

Your plastic interior parts are ABS plastic so ABS pipe glue like you find at home Depot used in conjunction with fiberglass tape works well to affect repairs. I had some badly stained carpets that I would say were 2/10. I bought a carpet dye kit off Amazon and dyed my carpets after a very thorough cleaning. I think I brought them up to maybe a 6/10. Not perfect but a huge improvement, and the cost was only 15 or 20 dollars.

I didn't renew recently, I don't like the woke/PC stuff they've been getting into. I expect an aviation organization to be about aviation and not pushing social revolution.

I get a general feeling that there are a lot of pilots in the sky trying to kill me. It pays to really keep your eyes and ears open and make sure you know where everyone is. Never assume people are going to do the correct thing or what you expect. Ultimately it's going to be up to you to avoid getting killed. A month or two ago I had a guy pass me on the downwind going to opposite direction 200 feet below and 500 feet farther out. He then flipped a 180 to enter the downwind probably about 400 feet below pattern altitude and landed right after me. Worst part was it was a young eagles flight. I see stupid stuff like this on the regular unfortunately.

So, for us that fly in the mountains we follow some practical rules that help keep us safe and away from potential risks. These mainly apply to cross country flying, doing touch and goes in the pattern you can ignore some of these. Here are a few. 1. Don't fly when it's very hot. 2. Don't fly when it's very windy. 3. Don't fly when you have a lot of clouds near the level of the mountain tops. 4. Fly at least 2k over any terrain along your route although the more altitude the better. 5. In the summer and especially this month you have to be very careful about convective weather popping up in the afternoon. Generally best to fly as early as possible. Thunderstorms pop up fast and can be very intense and dangerous. 6. Try hard not to fly at night. 7. Look for longer runways, a 4k runway in the West is a short one, 3k is really short. I'd look for greater than 5k. 8. Try to fly over the lowest terrain possible even if it adds a bit to your flight time. So for instance from Denver to Salt lake I would fly north into Wyoming and then across the south part of Wyoming and into Utah. Lots more places to set down if you end up having a problem and the terrain is lower giving you better clearance. Training is a great idea, the more you know the better off you will be. Ps, not a CFI just a guy with a Mooney in the Mountains.

Why don't we form a Mooney STC group and push through certification for the Trio auto pilot. It couldn't possibly take longer than BK and it looks like it's a slightly better auto pilot. I'm willing to contribute money and time, unfortunately I don't know much, but there have to be others that have the requisite knowledge.

Congratulations, Mooneys are a big step up from Cherokees, I considered Cherokees as an option when plane shopping but I'm really glad I went the Mooney route instead.

Does the Lycoming Rep agree that all the cylinders need to be replaced? You mentioned he said it was bad but if he hasn't already given you more specific guidance I would ask for more specifics. If the Lycoming Rep concurs with the mechanic that they need to be replaced then I think that is your final answer.

For me I learned the most about my plane during an extensive owner assisted annual. I got to be a part of taking the plane all apart, looking at everything, helping fix a few things and then putting it all back together. I was involved in researching ADs and sourcing parts. It was a great education on my specific plane and also how to be an involved owner. The pre-buy I got was worthless in comparison, but that could be because I picked the wrong person to do it. I get the argument that an annual isn't a pre-buy but based on my personal experience I would take an annual inspection that you could be a part of over a pre-buy done by some one else who just gives you a report. I have no idea if what I'm talking about is an option but it's worth considering.

It had a bead already made from tubing secured with silicone. Definitely needed some sort of rounded edge for aesthetics and safety.

This weekend I spent an couple hours upholstering my glare shield in black leather. Likely not the most amazing job but leather wrapped sheet metal is a definitely an upgrade from painted sheet metal.

I'd agree with Hank that the cowl enclosure mod is more of a cooling mod which may be worth it if you have issues keeping your cylinders cool. Flipping the brakes is unlikely to make much of difference, likely less of a difference than waxing the plane. The issue is it takes a lot of money and effort to make even a small speed difference and there are already so many little things you will have to do to get your Mooney into excellent condition and set up the way you like it. I think the low hanging fruit is doing what you can to make your plane a fast C rather than a slow C. I'd focus on making sure everything is rigged correct and running smooth. Owning a plane is A LOT of work, a year and a half in I still have a sizable list of little tweaks I want to make the plane just the way I like it. Currently I'm working on upholstering the glare shield, improving panel lighting and headset cord management. In the end it's your plane and your money so you get to choose what is important and as long as you are happy with your choices no one can tell you it was the wrong choice.

Here are the speed mods I recommend for a C model. 1. Strip out all unnecessary weight, remove all inop or unnecessary equipment. 2. Clean and wax the plane. 3. Verify correct rigging of all control surfaces. 4. Verify gear doors properly adjusted. 5. Dynamically balance the prop. Pretty much anything else is a waste of money. If you want a plane faster than a C then buy a E or J, K etc.

At what speed are you retracting the gear? Has anything in your procedures changed?