someairforcedude

For my personal situation insurance is a non factor as well. It would go up another 50% if I were to switch. Hull value is going to triple. I guess I am paying out the wazoo for being a low time pilot so its only a 50% increase for me

So I have an opportunity and trying to figure out if I should take it or not. I just bought the M20E just over a month ago and have an opportunity to trade it for a 305 Rocket and some cash. I am only 60 hours in, only 5ish in a Mooney so far but have decided that a Mooney is what I am going to keep going long term. That panel I was going to get put in my M20E made me look at newer planes as another option as I plan on keeping a Mooney for the foreseeable future. With all of that said, should I go from a 65 M20E to a 83 M20K 305? I would like to know the pros and cons if you all don't mind sharing. I have read the way earlier posts from people but would like to get some opinions with anyone that's been flying them over the last 2-3 years. All things being equal, I can tell you the fuel usage isn't going to bother me in terms of ownership over long term. Tell me if I should or not and why! Thanks. Mission: Going places from Ohio to anywhere on the continent really and getting there fast. Carry myself, wife and 30lb kid for now - with 60-120lbs of luggage depending on how long we are going for.

All done with that replacement. Went over to the A&P at my airport and he gave me this paste to use and let me borrow his screwdriver. Worked wonders! Didn't take too long, just had to figure out wiring - had power and ground reversed the first time as the wires behind the bulb weren't labelled but got it swapped and working. Did not have to pull anything out other than 4 screws in the front.

OK, one more question. I need to get some wire to run to the wingtips for strobes. Where do you guys recommend I get those. Should I get different colors or just white and label? Thanks in advance.

New to working on the Mooney and I do not want to damage anything. How do I get these screws out without stripping them, if that's not possible, what alternatives do I have. I got a nice new LED light itching to get dropped in there but some smart person decided to paint these screws instead of swapping in SS ones.

Final design, now just waiting for the shop to approve it or make me move stuff around... This is with the equipment the shop recommended. I guess I was spending money for no reason on the 540 for my usage - foreflight flight planning to both the IFD 440 and the Dynon - no need for the larger 540/550 units. Also since I won't be doing anything complicated in terms of the number of waypoints etc... they told me to save my money for a rainy day. Good advice from an avionics shop so far. Just a note - this will become a single panel - no more 3 pieces like it is in the drawing. The major pieces I am using are listed in the picture. I hope Dynon really gets their autopilot for the Mooney's taken care of soon enough - really like what they have to offer price point wise at least. The autopilot controls and the D10 locations are not decided yet. That will be finalized when everything is in and they can sit down and put it all together. I think the autopilot controls will be moved to where the D10 is right now but we will see. Thanks for your input everyone, looking forward to getting this project started and getting it knocked out.

I used XPanel

15 months and just one.

Lol, I will post the actual drawings from the avionics company when they get done. This was just me messing around with the panel building app. Edit, well if you need this to get some good sleep...

I will be doing that soon once I get to the hangar this week. I think this is what I am going to go with to be honest. And permanently mount a stratus to the plane so that if anything goes wrong, I can pull my phone or tablet and use foreflight to navigate. Otherwise, I think price wise all in around 65k for this isn't too hateful.

I'll have the avionic shop figure it out beyond this. I just want it to work and look good :). And to not get anything extra that I don't need right away.

And just to be clear, I probably won't put that second GPS in until later. For now I will more than likely have that Dynon Comm in that spot. Use the plane for a few hundred hours and see how things go.

I mean so thats the thing right. each of those screens will work with power out. Those screens should not only run but they would receive GPS data still if I am not mistaken but again, I haven't taken one for a test drive just yet. This is I think a happy medium, what do you think? Also I always have an ipad and a stratux in my flight back, so if all else fails, I will still have that to navigate with.

Built into the Skyview system. Just going to be stuffed in the panel and plugged in the back.

What do you think of this layout then? I like the large rocker switches but I don't think they are going to be feasible for this panel. I am trying to fine some nice lit up ones to use that are not super large.