Pinecone

My recent first annual was less than you were quoted (in USD) with a reasonable list of squawks to work on. Only a couple of things found during the annual. My pre-buy was more, but I did have them pull the lifters (Continental), which was a good thing, as they were pitted.

I have long range tanks. Why not a 7"? It fits without moving the whole stack (and I have the hump in the glareshield), and the 750 is closer to the right to act as the moving map for the right seat person. Plus they would probably have a tablet running an EFB. Last flight, I took my old iPad Mini 2, and using a RAM suction cut, connected FF to the AHRS in the GTX-345. Other than it showing a slight left bank, it worked fine.

Realize the the long term testing, which is the only thing that got shortened, is only to determine how the efficacy degrades over time. They just had a much bigger test group. And that testing is typically 2 years. So we are already past the end of any testing under the normal time line.

Dust tape and a wax job should take care of that. Sorry that happened. Seemed to be a BIG bird.

And at least some Mid Bodies. My 252 has two senders per tank.

Times have changed. I instructed in the early 80s. If someone wanted a check out (wasn't needed), I would do a short solo flight to check myself out, then fly with them. Not these days.

300 mile trip is just getting started in a Mooney. My longest so far has been about 800 miles. About 6 hours with head winds. Edit - That was non-stop flight.

And higher fuel flows. As for cabin size, side to side, it works great for the person not flying to move their seat back one or two notches. So shoulders are not rubbing.

Lycoming already has an SB allowing 100 hour oil changes with UL fuel. I run synthetic oil (mainly Mobil 1, but some Castrol in certain engines), and have for years. And when the cars get older, I have let the intervals go even longer. Yes, aircraft engines have more blowby. But the main reason for the oil change intervals is the lead.

Why does it need to go the prop shop? Is there something visibly wrong with it? There are guidelines for overhauls, but they are not mandatory for typical GA flying. And if there is something wrong, set up for an IRAN, not an OVERHAUL. IRAN (Inspect and Repair As Necessary) allows the shop to take it apart, inspect it, and only do what is required. An OVERHAUl requires them to replace things that might not need replacing.

I am planning my dream panel upgrade and going a similar route. 750Xi and 650Xi. Was wondering if it made more sense to put in 7" G3X on the right side, with PFD capability or an Aera 760. One purpose, I occasionally fly with a second pilot in the right seat, who sometimes flies the plane and it would be nice to have MFD and PFD over there.

One enhancement, look Left - Right - Left (in US or other left hand drive countries) before going. Traffic coming from your left is in the closer lane and more likely to be obscured. And the time to look L-R-L allows those running the "yellow" to blow through before you enter the intersection

n CA to HI is the flight where at mid point the aircraft is the furthest distance to ANY land. There are longer overwater legs, but they are closer to land through the flight. CA to Australia or JFK to SOuth Africa. I was set with 5 crews to ferry AN-2s from Lithuania to the US. They were converting the ag spray tank (removable tank on cabin floor) as aux fuel. A fuel pump would transfer to the wing tanks after you burned them down. Deal fell through as the work was not done when the principles arrived, and they had a deadline to get them out of Lithuania. I was bummed. One in that it would have been a great adventure and a great story to tell. And two, the primary pilot in each plane was going to get a Lithuanian pilot certificate, as the planes were still Lithuanian registry.

To me, LED light systems are like cell phones. Many people want the latest and greatest. But for most people, there is little benefit to upgrading every time and that skipping a couple of generations is more than enough.

And it makes it cheaper to operate as you can stop and tanker cheap fuel.

That is because you acknowledged that the 252 is the Ultimate Mooney.

$10K deductible is $10K deductible, no matter how many engines and props.

O2D2 is an amazing piece of equipment. Supposedly Aerox is working on a competing box. The owner of Aerox flies a J. I met him and his airplane at Sarasota Avionics.

Love how they show a single (looks like not a Mooney) on the downwind and short final. Then a King Air taxiing in. Then her walking from a Mooney.

As for oil change intervals, realize that full synthetic oils allow automobiles to triple the change interval. Old days, change oil every 3,000 miles. Modern oils and cars, oil change intervals over 15,000 miles. Unlikely aircraft engines will see this, but 2 or even 2.5 times would nice. If 100LL gets banned, I suspect the roll out to accelerate. And the nice thing about G100UL is, it can be blended and shipped by just about any refinery without needing segregation and dedicated trucks. And no special ingredients sourced from a single source world wide. So, if required and a market, a lot more sources and faster roll out. And remember, the US EPA is not the only thread to 100LL. The ONLY tetraethyl lead plant is in the UK, and could be shut down tomorrow due to mishap, fire, or government intervention. No TEL, no 100LL I can see the auto racing market as a good size add on based on those specs. 98 AKI unleaded race fuel is running over $8 per gallon at the track. And anything over 98 AKI is leaded. A lot of turbo cars would love to be able to have a supply of this fuel

You say you want to build time. Since you mainly fly the one trip, a slower plane means more hours. You really should buy a Champ or a J-3 Cub. That will push the trip closer to 6 hours each way, so in the same number of trips, you fly more than twice the hours. Now, if you want to TRAVEL, then you want to buy the Mooney. That one look nice. Whatever you do, do not start running the numbers for a 201/J or even worse, a 252/K. Especially the 252 if you plan on traveling out west in your later years.

I don't know. Do you? 14 minutes to melt the lenses is well within the range of serious damage leaving them on for the taxi. You don't need to get the melting point to warp the lenses. And they are $273 each to replace them. 137 minutes not so likely.

I have velcro strips on the front of the shroud for the fuel selector and under the cabin air/heat vent. What might them have been for? Maybe an air deflector to direct the air to the front seat area?

Also, cabin heat is a major place where CO comes into the cabin with an exhaust leak. You REALLY want to be able to turn it off.

"Don Maxwell Aviation along with a partner has purchased the STC from Jose and is currently putting kits together to be available by the end of the year. Our current run of kits will be a total of 30 and if you’re interested in purchasing a kit you can contact myself at Don Maxwell Aviation or Kellen Kester at (812) 240-6223." They do need to get their stories straight on the price.