JayMatt

I bought my Mooney a year and a half ago almost, somewhere in there. Everytime I land I think about how crazy it is that I have my own wings. If the value went to 10k in 6 months I still wouldn't care, I try not to focus on any of the silly details of money. I have enough to get by and I've created memories in this plane you can't put a price on. I've done everything from have mags go out in flight to fly a bishop of the catholic church to his destination. Now I'm painting it and I'm get close to being done. This bird isn't just some plane to me... it is me.

I would like to buy all new stainless camloc's for my cowl top and bottom. Anyone have a good idea of how many of which ones? 78' M20J. Right now I know I need the STAINLESS PHILLIPS FLUSH WIDE FLANGE SK28S3-4S but I don't remember how many. When I took them out originally, I had little tiny C clips that locked them to the cowl. Anyone know if camlocks come with that standard or what special setup I may need? Also the top ones next to the windshield appear to be larger screw heads than all the side ones. Anyone that knows what they may have bought would be very much appreciated. EDIT: I would also like to know about what volt sysem I have because it looks like I ordered the 12v LED's for the wing tips but I'm being recommended the 14v for the tail beacon. trying to figure it if I made a previous mistake or am being recommended something wrong.

It sounds like there are communications with the shop owner. If he's coming clean about an employee sabotaging your plane, I would assume ya'll could work something out between each other. It's really hard to be empathetic when you're getting screwed but sometimes a calm heart to heart conversation about how you two move forward will produce the best results. Keep in mind that the b-head in the whole situation screwed both of you. If the guy wants to stay in business he'd be smart to work out a deal with you. If he doesn't and he's a b-head also, I'd explore more appropriate actions over the sabotage of your airplane, tho that may be hard to prove.

I started out the same way with mine. After over a year of flying there really isn't any upgrades I feel like I need. Maybe a nice auto pilot but I don't think there is any advantage to bigger screens, I find all the screen to be a distraction from just flying. Plenty of pilots flew just fine on way less than I have, so I'm focused on paint and interior comfort upgrades.

When you get a pre-buy, make sure you get a second opinion. Pay someone to fly it around maybe but I highly suggest you look at it yourself with them and go over all the problems. 3 people looked at mine because I had surface corrosion. I was well aware I would be painting it when I bought it. I wanted to make dead sure there was no corrosion anywhere else that mattered and there wasn't. If I were to do it all over again I'd go out and look for myself.

For what it's worth, ( almost nothing) I completed my PPL 1.5 years ago in an archer. My Mooney was delivered the next week. I would personally finish in the Archer because it is easier to pass a test and look good in. After 10 hours with a Mooney owner/ Instructor I still felt like I didn't learn anything from him about how to land a Mooney. Flying one is easy enough but find a highly rated Mooney specific instructor that really understands how to teach Mooney things. I didn't have that and learned mostly on my own. I went up with 2 Mooney owner pilots and neither really taught me how to land. It wasn't until 6 month into owning it that I was like Oh, that's what I should have been doing. It's a dance with a Mooney and you better be the one leading... Any good Pilot can land anything in theory IMO, but even the best pilots still have landings they aren't proud of.

Could you do a picture story of all the things you've done? I'm priming my airplane right now and if I could add some mods or remove some antenna's easy enough I will most definitely do that.

What in the tarnation are you doing to get that fast?!? I can't get anywhere near that and I have the exact same plane? Is there something wrong with my plane? Flat level no cheating at the optimal elevation I can squeeze 160 kts about. Granted I've never been taught how to properly speed manage a money and have learned from figuring it out, still I don't feel like there is anywhere in the rpm prop combo that could get me to 170kts

I'd like to put Porsche seats in mine. I'm also curious what people do. I believe when you get them reupholstered if you take them to a custom car shop you can have them molded into anything you want. I know a bucket seat may be a bit harder to get in and out of but the long trip comfort would be worth it to me. by one of these and install it? https://secretlab.co/products/titan-evo-2022-series?sku=R22SU-ATLMB&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=us-google-shop&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=datafeed&utm_source=pmax&utm_medium=cpa&utm_campaign=us-pmax-campaign-nca&utm_content=pmax-nca&gclid=CjwKCAiA3KefBhByEiwAi2LDHBdT3Jcf2tO_lqpQ7KbyIqL59kwbhCbKZxr1TOnAMv5UIE0v1s5IohoCPAAQAvD_BwE

I heard it comes from bad lands...

Well there are lighter materials out there than aluminum. It's not impossible to make it constant speed either, all it takes is money. I found it interesting as it's been used on drones already. It's only a matter of time until one goes on a plane. The question really becomes, How much money for for what gains? If you could put one on a Mooney for 10k and it gained you 5kts... would you do it? Beats a LoPresti cowl...

Coastal Skies has a few also that were mooney owners, as a second option if needed. KLVJ Pearland.

Little off topic but what's the best way to inspect all that stuff? I've torn my plane completely apart and polished every little spec of surface corrosion off of it. I even took panels off the inside and looked at the steel frame on the pilot side just to be sure that was good. interiorly there wasn't any corrosion anywhere I could see. Granted the spar is painted green along with most everything else. Still, I wonder if there or things a more experienced eye would say to look at to be 100% sure. Soon as I'm done painting I'll be doing corrosion X on the inside.

What do you think of a Toroidal propeller on an airplane? I realize it could be significantly heavier so I would have to be carbon fiber, but would it be worth the noise reduction? Potential speed gains? Another interesting tid-bit is that electric planes really aren't much quieter than gas airplanes because most the noise comes from the propeller. This is what Steve Bertorelli claimed anyway, no personal experience. Just a thought provoking conversation for Monday to the builders and creators and engineers out there.

I think its plenty legible and it looks good.

I like seeing more outside the norm paint jobs. That must have been an insane amount of work!

Always and forever an LX7. I almost bought a Lancair over a Mooney to begin with but ultimately my better judgement prevailed. The LX7 is out of my price range but by far the best plane in existance imo. Hopefully a few year from now the older versions will come down in price.

Have you ever polished a plane? You can see spots I attempted it towards the cowl. I had a couple issues that made me scrape polishing it. I had a lot of surface corrosion. Nothing deep fortunately but still plenty of it. Cleaning all of that and getting it to match the clad portion is impossible. I spent and insane amount of time trying to do that before I just gave up. If it couldn't be mirror finish I didn't want it. I'm also in Galveston and 1 mile from the beech. The saltwater dulls a polished plane fast. I agree it's beautiful but I had to come to terms with reality. I'm doing a pretty extensive Corrosion protection process. There won't be one spec of it on my plane or the ability for it to come back for a very long time.

So My 78 M20J have a regular bulb light in the rudder. There are only 2 wires going to it. I was looking at replacing it when I get done painting. Watt seems to only have a position light and an anti collision light with the LED version. Is it hard to run the additional wire to include anti collision? My A&P/I lets me do everything I want, Just trying to figure out how much of a hassle it is.

I kinda thought it was clear i was just joking. My bad.

I like this idea. The inventor side of me is intrigued. Maybe convert and invert a cabin air scoop from the top of a wheels up landed Mooney? seems to be plenty of those around lately. Hook it to the the bottom of a J cowl and and with a little dryer duct work and some metal tape we just might get 2MP...

https://www.emapa.aero/Mooney-Cowl-Kit-p/mooney-cowl-kit.htm Seems they still may exist.

I understand. My question was more around the RAM air Mod than the cowl. I don't need an extra 5-7mph for 13k I can fly a lot of first class direct flights for that. I was just curious if I should consider putting a RAM on or not.

So, In the middle of my restoration project on my M20J, I discovered the LoPrestis Cowl mod. A few searches on here and it seems a few have done it and it does increase speed and whatever else at a pretty substantial price. The thing that peaked my interest was the fact that it discusses the RAM air or the SCRAM air on the LoPrestis cowl. My M20J doesn't have a RAM air. Is this odd to anyone? The cowl with the rectangle holes in it is the one that I have and it looks like the RAM air was bondo'd over. I can't find any linkage in the plane to indicate there ever was RAM air. So I would like any knowledge on the matter from those that know. Mines a 78. Is this unusual? Seems the LoPrestis cowl would be even less valuable seeing as the RAM air gives that extra manifold pressure. Or maybe it would be way more valuable because I would install one? Just to dig deeper in the matter, Can I install one with my current cowl and would there be any benefit to that?