Mooney Dog

You're good. I know how students can be. Ive trained my fair share now. Im not sure. Mine has the battery in the back but at this rate id rather add a weight to the front to try and balance things out if its needed. Too many number, too little time Yeah I went through again with excel and got a completely different number than the "calculated" weight and balance. Im just having it scaled this coming week. It does appear mine has any extra weight in it currently, though it might at some point. I even removed the step and PC system out of the tail and still didnt get the CG back. In fact... because of this post i now realize that wasnt accounted for on the latest WB... Oh the joys of plane ownership.

The tank and parts is 26 pounds according to the WB docs. I spent most of last night trying to fix my weight and balance. I think i found the error. Im talking to my AP again today about it,, hopefully putting the plane on scales tomorrow to get it fixed since when i redid all the math its coming to a CG of 46 instead of 48.5. I didnt know about the charlie weights, ill look into that. Sadly i just got a new prop so dont want to get ANOTHER new prop yet. I think we could arrange that. Im just unsure how nice the FAA would be but Ill see what I can do. Might be how I said it. Empty the CG is 48.5. When i do my WB with me and the gf in the front seat, the plane is flyable with fuel. Any baggage at all for any type of XC instantly puts the plane aft of the envelope, either solo or with passenger in the front. There is no way i can take any rear seat passenger right now.

So as some of yall have seen. I have an aux 14 gallon fuel tank in the back of my Mooney. Today I finally was able to chase down most of the documents relating to this tank. Turns out in 1978, the owner at that time get a approval to install this one tank modification. Guess I now own (one of?) the only Mooney's with a tank in the baggage compartment. Sadly this plane is having some WB issues which makes this tank a little unusable for now. Empty I am sitting with a CG right on the after limits. Removing and replacing half the instrument panel with light new parts seems to have that effect.

Garmin has had many delays and back ups with covid this year. It took 2 months for my G5s to be shipped after ordering.

What you're really looking for on the GPS is NAVDATA. Jepp or Garmin can supply this and normally garmin is going to be a bit cheaper. the US pack is just the 50 states. The North America pack is canada, mexico, etc... A yearly subscription for NAVDATA from garmin should be about $300 for the GPS 175 series navigators. You might look into the US database bundle pack for $500 which will give you obstical, safe taxi, and terrain databases, and then downgrade to the regular navdata cycle since hopefully a mountain doesnt move and you dont need to update trrain data very often. I dont have my Jepp login handy right now so i can pull up their prices but they are competitive. I personally use garmin for my GNX 375 which is the same family of navigators you have. Some advice from a CFII. You're gonna need foreflight more than you need all the bells and whistles on your GPS for IFR training. The frequency data that jepp is sellign you for $25 in your screen shot is so your 255 says "oh this is X airport" when you tune that frequency. Nice to have, only need it one time really. Same with the terrain information and such. Get the $300 US yearly database if you need to save money, otherwise the bundle $500 US for the first year, then downgrade next year to just US navadata.

Beef jerky is always a good one and my must have for 3+ XC. M&Ms, salty things are better the higher up you go sometimes, and fig newtons. Remember, 1 hour ETE is coffee time.

check my edit of the post above

filter elements sounds like air filter to me Edit: from the FAA safety website... https://www.faasafety.gov/files/gslac/library/documents/2011/Aug/56398/FAA P-8740-15 Maintenance Aspects of Owning Your Own Aircraft [hi-res] branded.pdf

dont you just love people who have nothing better to do than complain about airplanes?

Its bugging me a lot more than it should, ha.

He wasnt. The guy wasnt even in the same state. He looked up an airplane on flight aware that was "over his house" and typed in the wrong N number. Found my friend instead, looked up the addressed, hunted down a phone number, and gave him a few calls.

It was a pretty messed up experience, thats for sure. Some people are a bit crazy

The only bad juju with N numbers is hunting people down by the registration attached to the N number. If you just so happen to find someone here that had one of the same airplanes, there's nothing wrong with asking them about the airplane. Just dont be like the guy who contact my friend by looking up his address and finding his phone number to call and tell him to stop flying over his house and spying on him....

I used to volunteer at COTA for Moto GP and Formula 1. Watching the air shows and the crazy helicopter cameraman where some of my favorite things there.

Something wrong here... i can feel it.

Not saying i've used weather stripping from home depot... but ive used weather stripping from home depot for this. you might have to cut it a bit to get a good fit but at $5 for a 6 yard roll, was worth it.

This should also work for you https://shop.jeppesen.com/All-Products/Pilot-Supplies/Navigation-Equipment-Hardware/NavData-Hardware/Blank-NavData-Card-for-Garmin-400-500-NON-WAAS-GPS/p/10024995

oops, good catch. both are good to have though!

A winning lotto ticket! Ive heard good things about CiES fuel sending from a dude on my field, though i havnt made the jump myself. If you want to go EIS now would be the time to do it. I know some electroair guys and used their systems quite a bit. The performance increases are very nice. You have an E so i think its somewhere around 3-4 grand to convert iirc. Not really needed but the electric step change over so you can completely pull the vac system if you havent already. Garmin is on a heavy delay with part right now. You could get lucky, but expect a 2 to 3 month delay in parts sending.

You can replace both mags with the electro ones for that variable timing, but the variable timing actually comes in handing for low RPM settings. We have EIS on many of our club 172s and they have little (20-50rpm) drops in the runups from this. The EIS is just way better. Ive heard rumor that cirrus is going to go full electric here soon as well.

Coming rights from Hartzell https://hartzellprop.com/are-more-propeller-blades-better/ "...the most efficient number of propeller blades for an aircraft depends on the combination of (these) factors..." and "... the 3-blade prop will be inherently smoother and therefore quieter. In general, the 3-blade propeller will have a smaller diameter than the 2-blade propeller that it replaces, which also serves to reduce the tip speed and noise." TLDR, Every prop is going to preform like its engineered to preform, and its all based on the airplane, engine, and the prop itself. Actual change in number for cruse are going to be minimal. From personal experience in a 182Q. The 2 blade normally saw 115 in a low cruise and when it was upgrade to 3 it was 114. The 3 blade was also noticeably quieter and easier to climb to altitude with. ...On the other hand.

So for reference i have a dual G5 GNX 375 / 255a nav/com set up in my plane. Ive gone full garmin since i need ADSB in/out when i got the plane. Everything i do is right off foreflight. I get into the plane, turn everything on, push a button on foreflight and the panel has my entire flight plan loaded up minus whatever approach im expecting, though i could load it if i wanted it. Im a big IFR pilot. Ive really got my head in the clouds. The pluses of the 375 for me are the fact I can edit anything on my ipad and the panel loads it automatically and vice versa. The built in bluetooth is very nice for that. I have not had any problem controlling the plane/fms in turbulence anymore than a 430 or the fms on the jet, though the physicals buttons are nice to have, i will admit. My dream set up for a plane way back when used to be some sort of HSI with dual 430w units though. Its changed a bit over the years but i still think the 430 is one of the best GPS units around. I have a feeling had i not needed the ADSB transponder the 375 offered, i would have gone for the IFD system. It seems very similar to the 430. I hope i get the chance to play around with one some day.

Whoops. Well your actual airplane looks good as well, very similar to mine. I notice a lot of people here like the IFD units. I have never used one personally but id love to hear your opinion vs the 650/750 units from garmin. I know yours is supposed to be a 430 replacement. Does it fit that bill just better?

So when are you hosting the mooney fly in bbq?

I enjoy how both sets are on your plane. Its also weird to me that the 275 and g5 are around the same size, yet somehow the g5 looks way less cramped.