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My F450 gets 11 MPG, makes the 18 in my C downright economical. The F450 has a slightly higher useful load though. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

In other discussions, it's been mentioned that adding just a touch of carb heat will sometimes even up fuel distribution and get the hottest cylinder a little cooler. Might be worth a try. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

The guy I got this plane from put about 100 hours on it in a year. I've put 150 on it in the last 11 months. This girl doesn't sit much, maybe a couple of weeks every now and again but it usually flies at least once a week. In the last couple of months, they've all been 3+ hour XC flights, with a couple of exceptions. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

We've done some maintenance recently and I've learned a few things that I thought I would come back and add for context. The first is that I have chrome cylinders, which I think at least partially explains my oil usage being a little on the high side. I discovered this when I cleaned the plugs, I went ahead and bore scoped the cylinders and valves while the plugs were out because it was convenient and I have a bore scope. Valves all looked really good and the cylinders were in good shape with just a little bit of carbon on a couple of them. The other thing is that I did have a little bit of oil on the belly when we did the brakes last week. It's the first time I've really looked for that (I kept forgetting to) so I don't know how long it took for it to build up. I wiped it all down and will keep an eye on it to see how quickly the film returns and get a feel for how much I'm losing out the breather. The exhaust pipe doesn't have any oily residue in it and the oil that came out when we changed it looked pretty clean, not brand new clean but, not black. Filter had some carbon in it and we sent a sample off to have a look at it. Last sample showed chrome on the high side at 6ppm but, now that I know the cylinders are chrome that makes perfect sense. Funny thing is that a couple of weeks ago I flew from Prescott back to Kerrville and only used about .75 qt in the 6 hour flight. We flew about 3 hours this week from Kerrville to CC and back, I haven't checked the oil again after that trip. It'll be interesting to see where it is and if that last flight was an anomaly or the start of a new trend. I'm less worried about it suddenly using less oil than it has been but, at the same time I always get a little concerned when a trend changes because there has to be a reason.

That's just to check for diabetes, it's not a drug test. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I applied a little left brake inadvertently on landing once and almost went off the runway to the left. In recovery I lost control to the right and ended up in a runway I wasn't cleared to be in via a taxiway I wasn't cleared to enter. Fortunately the runway was closed but, it was still technically a runway incursion so I have a slip of paper from NASA thanking me for participating in the voluntary reporting system. I have since moved my seat back one notch and keep my feet down further where only my toes touch the rudders with no chance of inadvertent braking. Funnily, we rebuilt the calipers and put new pads on this week and while the plane was on jacks, I noticed a flat spot on the left main. I think I know where that came from.... I have had a little swerve on a landing with significant crosswind correction if I don't straighten the rudder and nose wheel as soon as the mains are down. That was exciting but, not as exciting as adding a little brake on just one main. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I was in Chandler last week with my C, wish I'd seen this then. Chandler Air at KCHD works on lots of Mooney's, they may have something you can take a look at or an owner you can talk to. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I've been known to send an invoice back and ask them to put more time on it because I didn't think I'd been charged enough. If they spend 2-3 hours helping, supervising and teaching them I want them to get paid for it. I'm not really trying to save money by doing my own work, I genuinely enjoy it but the biggest thing is that it gets done sooner when I do it myself. The extra bonus is I know how things work so if there are problems away from home, I can usually get it going enough to get back home and make a permanent repair. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I would love to get an A&P, the requirements are just prohibitive. I only want to work on my plane, I don't need to learn about fabric repairs or turbines and I have a decent amount of mechanical knowledge already. It would be nice if there was a limited certificate to allow maintenance to piston GA planes and a way to test out of some of the requirements based on previous knowledge. Rebuilding non-aviation air cooled engines, or other mechanical repairs should be counted as experience. I don't expect it to happen though, so I work under supervision. I'm EXTREMELY grateful that I'm allowed to do that by my shop, every time I have something done at a shop where I'm not allowed to be involved (when I'm away from home), something gets broken or missed. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I hear what you're saying and I've sold enough vehicles, boats, real estate and heavy equipment thorough the years to know what a hassle it can be if you aren't thoughtful about it. Over the years, I've learned how to qualify buyers so I'm not wasting time with tire kickers or people with no ability to close. I would expect it to be similar when selling a plane, after all the actual process of selling a $100k excavator or boat shouldn't really be all that different than selling a $100k plane, other than the excavator being more difficult to move. Once you have a contract and a deposit, you know you're dealing with a serious buyer and can act accordingly. Personalities have a lot to do with this also though, a seller that's acting like he doesn't want to sell and isn't cooperating with buyers is going to have a lot harder time than one that isn't. Really, selling something that's a discretionary buy and someone is purchasing because they want it and are excited about it should be easy and fun for buyer and seller. I've bought and sold a few boats, some small, some bigger offshore boats and a lot of this discussion reminds me of the argument boat people have about sea trials, especially with bigger boats. Sellers, understandably, don't want to give a bunch of joy rides but on the flip side, there are a lot of things you can learn as a buyer by taking a boat for a spin. I always expected to be able to do one with a boat purchase, even a new boat, and I was always willing to give one to a serious buyer when selling. I gave a few joyrides before I learned how to qualify buyers but once I figured that out, I didn't waste much time on tire kickers. The post that started this gives all the indications of a serious buyer. He was willing to spend a few grand on a PPI with a well known MSC, I think the seller screwed up here and lost a sale because of it. The other alternatives are they don't really want to sell but they're being forced to by a spouse or something or, they know there's something wrong with the plane and they're trying to hide it. I can't see any other legitimate reason for not letting a serious and qualified buyer take the plane to a quality shop for an inspection. The argument about the cost to put it back together falls kind of flat when the buyer has paid a deposit, that's part of what it's for, to give the seller protection against something like this. I know this shop though, they're not going to hold anybody's plane hostage over something dumb. They've got plenty of work already and wouldn't want to sacrifice hangar space playing games like that.

My seller didn't actually ask for the deposit, I offered it because he was bringing the plane from Abilene to San Antonio. The take away from you, me and a few other posts here I think, is that there are reasonable sellers out there with good planes for sale so a buyer shouldn't waste time with the "not leaving my hangar" types. I really don't understand the mentality, I guess some folks are really attached to their planes. I love what mine provides me but the plane itself, at the end of the day, it's a thing that will never love anyone back. When the day comes for me to sell it, I'll qualify the buyer and then let them have whoever they want to look it over wherever they want as long as it's not more than say 3 hours away and they pay to get me home. They will be on the hook once the plane changes hands, they need to know what they're buying. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Every time I see one of these threads, I feel really lucky with how easy my purchase was. Seller sent me logbooks and I went through them, nothing looked bad so I flew up to see the plane and we took it for a test flight. We negotiated a price and signed contract, I wired him a deposit directly, no escrow, and he flew the plane 1.5 hours to the mechanic for a PPI. I had them look for the deal killers first, nothing turned up so I had them do a full annual. Once that was completed, I wired the balance and he sent me signed paperwork. There was a lot of trust from both sides that the other was an honest person but, we both were and everything went smoothly. As to the post that started all this, I'd like to remind all those that are saying "no random mechanic is touching my plane" that he was having Dugosh do the PPI, the very first MSC who is located right across the airport from the Mooney Factory, not some random mechanic. I'm based at ERV and Dugosh works on my plane, these guys are not going to screw something up inadvertently and if something did happen that was their fault, they would take care of it. If as a seller you can't let Dugosh or Maxwell or one of the other very well known and respected MSCs have your plane for a PPI, you're not serious about selling. Honestly, as a seller, I would be far more concerned about the mechanic that can afford to take the time to travel and do a PPI in my hangar than I would be about taking it to a reputable shop like Dugosh. As busy as mechanics are these days, anyone that has that much free time on their hands is immediately a bit suspect to me. M20Doc alluded to this as well. I understand a seller being concerned about the plane being taken apart but at the same time, you're selling the plane and a serious buyer's need to know what they're getting really trumps that concern. Use a good contract, get a deposit, do whatever you need to do to know that the buyer is serious but once that's done and terms are agreed on, it's really more the buyer's show to run than the seller's. Don't blow up a sale over something stupid like not wanting to move the plane for a PPI to the very first MSC who is located on the same field as the factory and has an excellent reputation for quality work and honesty. Doing that just makes you look like a shady seller. OP, I think you probably dodged a bullet here. If the seller is being this difficult about getting a PPI done, to the point that they're back-peddling on an agreement that they made, just imagine how much trouble you would have if something serious came up in the inspection.

Right before my KLN90B kicked the bucket, I bought 4 database updates. If anyone has an older GPS and needs an update, reach out to me. I'm not charging for it, I just hate to have the money spent be wasted. Pay it forward somehow when you get an opportunity. Make a charitable donation, take a kid flying, move a rescue dog or something. Send me a PM if you need one and we'll figure out how to get the file to you.

My daughter and I flew from F37 to ERV Sunday. When we got to ERV, it was 105°, I turned on my B Kool at about 7500 and it kept it comfortable in the cockpit. Yeah, it could have been a few degrees cooler but, we weren't sweating. I do mine a little differently, I put just enough ice water in it to circulate through the pump and then add freezer packs and frozen water bottles to fill it the rest of the way. I have the water dump on top of the frozen water bottles so it runs down it to cool off before being pumped again. Since we had 55° at 11,500 and the cabin was cool, I would rather have a longer duration of cool air that keeps us comfortable than a short duration of ice cold air. We ran it for about an hour through our descent, landing and taxi and the water bottles were still cold enough that they were pleasant to drink. The biggest thing is to not let the cabin get super hot to begin with. I don't have a hangar but I do keep my plane covered, which makes a big difference. I also just added the cling tint, which I think will help as well. I do what I can if the pre-flight before removing the cover and get the B-Kool running once I do. If I can get 30 minutes from it on the ground and another 45 - 60 when we land, it covers the critical heat. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Scan it and keep it in your FF docs? Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Ugh, that's a nightmare. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

My rear seats don't fold down, unfortunately.

If it was my dog, I would. I don't know anything about this dog though, no idea how it'll react to being in a plane, if it's going to get sick or anything else. I'd hate to have to spend a week cleaning the interior because of something that a crate would have contained. Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Thanks, this helps. The rescue group is providing the crate, they just need to know how much space is available. I doubt they're going to spring for one of the nice fabric ones and honestly I think I'd rather have plastic in case the dog gets sick or something.

I'm bringing a rescue dog from Az to Tx in my C next week and need to figure out how big of a crate I can get into the plane. Could someone with a C or other short body measure the door opening and the area behind the right seat with the seat all the way forward for me, please? I meant to do it while I was doing maintenance on the plane today and forgot. It's an hour and a half round trip so it would be a huge help.

Fair points, I still think that when I replace my C it'll probably be with a 252 but, it would be nice to have AC and FIKI and still have a 1200 pound useful load. A turbine would be awesome but, the TBM is crazy expensive to maintain, or so my A&P tells me, so as much as I'd like to have one, I don't think the TBM will ever be an option for me. The Epic looks really nice though, or even the PA-46. My wife and I are pretty small and we don't have any friends (or at least not any we'd want to take anywhere in small plane) so we don't really need more space than the C provides, the Epic or a PA-46 would be more than enough room for us and our daughter.

https://www.diamondaircraft.com/en/private-owners/aircraft/da50/overview/ The Diamond DA50 looks really interesting, a retract with similar specs and performance as a Mooney and bonus, it burns Jet A which opens up some remote fields abroad. I'm sure it'll end up Certified eventually but, right now it's still Experimental. If once could be snagged under an Experimental AW Certificate, it could be a pretty sweet plane. What do you guys think?

Davtron lists an analog probe (C307PS you mentioned) and a D307PS digital probe - https://www.davtron.com/product-detail.php?PROBE-12FT-WHT-D-27. I was just clarifying that it was the analog version.

So it's the analog probe, not the digital?

I'd love to put the 2nd G5 HSI in and get rid of the old GPSS, the problem is that my NAV radio won't talk to a G5 so then I would want to replace that as well which turns into a huge project and causes the costs to quickly escalate. If this was the forever plane, I would do it. Right now though, I don't expect it to be so I have to be more conscientious about my spending on upgrades.