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My C is 2025 SMOH and running great with no plans for OH anytime soon. I wouldn't be bothered at all by 1400 SMOH if it's been used regularly and is running well. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

The TBM is metal? I'd have sworn it was composite. I saw an 830 on the ramp today. Still, it's much larger than a Mooney. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

You guys are missing the spirit of the post. I know airplanes already exist that do this. Most of them are significantly larger, the Evolution is probably the closest in size to a Mooney. It's not about what options already exist, it's about what would be required to do it similar to a Mooney. To me, that also means metal construction. The TBM, Epic and Evolution are all composite. I don't know for sure about the PA46, the ones I've seen looked composite from a cursory glance, I didn't look at them too closely though. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I'm talking a scratch build as an experimental. I agree, modifying an existing model wouldn't make sense. By the time you were done, you'd have essentially scratch built it anyway. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

This is just a thought experiment to see how feasible people think this would be. If someone had the tools and skills to build their own plane from scratch, modeled on a Mooney and wanted to power it with a turbine, say a PT6, and pressurize it to say 6PSI, what would the challenges be? Would the design of the airframe support the higher altitudes and speeds? Obviously the pressure vessel would not be trivial but, is it doable in such a small airframe? Forget the cost, if we're considering that then the answer is a PA46, TBM or Evolution but, I like to work through the engineering challenges in my head sometimes. So what do you guys think? Doable? Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

When I first seriously looked into learning to fly, the CFI I initially contacted said he wasn't instructing because he had a Mooney and it wasn't a plane to learn in. This was a very rural area without any rental options. I knew nothing about them at that time so started to research, it didn't take me long to realize it was all I wanted. It checked all my boxes, fast, efficient, sleek and retractable ate just sexier than fixed gear. In a little over 300 hours with my C, I've averaged right at 8GPH, block to block and I'm typically at 138 - 140 TAS. That's really hard to beat. 160MPH on 8GPH averages out to 20MPG, my truck doesn't get mileage anywhere close to that good. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

New mags are running great, the plane is even a little faster. It starts easier as well. Timing kind of sucked but, I'm glad they're done. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

Thank you for the recommendation. We got them from a shop in Ok sent overnight for AM delivery. I have to go to Corpus tomorrow and I'm hoping they show up early enough that I don't have to drive, that'll add 5 or 6 hours to the day. I know, first world problems... If I wasn't trying to make that trip in the plane instead of the car, I'd have probably sent these out instead of doing an exchange.

Didn't say it was impossible, just that the wear wasn't consistent with what they've seen when one fails. It was an educated guess. We were going to test them but, once we pulled the rotor out, there really wasn't much point. The repair kits all had new caps in them, if they were in stock, and I'm getting completely different mags that someone already has on a shelf. One is a factory reman and the other is an overhaul so either way the caps are being replaced.

We talked about the cap possibly being an issue, the guys didn't feel like the damage was bad enough for that to be the cause. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I agree, Avidyne would be a good option as well. It's got a fantastic app for the iPad that basically doubles the screen. I don't know if it talks to FF though, I've only flown behind one a couple of times. I really like them.

They were actually inspected March 2022, 352 hours ago. I would have expected them to be in better shape, not sure why they aren't. D&B Aircraft Engines did the inspection, based on the logbook entry though I don't know what, if anything, was replaced. Maybe they just looked, said they were good and sent them back. It was about 5 months before I bought the plane so, I don't know for sure. I'm happy to have a verifiable cause, I don't like mystery problems that "fix" themselves.

Friday, I was in Fairhope, Al AOG with a rough running engine and no EGT on 1 or 4. Continental had one of their guys take a look but, only had time for a quick fix so I posted looking for another A&P option just in case but, moving the plugs around (not cleaning or anything, just moving) seemed to resolve the issue so, I deleted the post, to the disappointment of some. I flew a little over 5 hours home and everything seemed fine until this morning when I went to the airport to fly to Dallas. Fired it up and same thing, very rough and no EGT on 1 or 4 so I taxied over to Dugosh. We pulled and tested the plugs and they were all good, which I expected since the problem was on the same cylinders and the plugs have only been in for about 10 - 15 hours. Next I got the high voltage lead tester and tested the plug wires, all good, again expected since they're both new Maggie's harnesses replaced about 10 hours ago. Borescoped the cylinders and valves were moving fine and looked good, although 4 had fairly heavy lead deposits and and 1 had them less so. We speculated that maybe the lead was falling into the plugs and causing them to not fire consistently so I cleaned up the plugs, reinstalled and ran the engine. Initially, it fired up and sounded great. I planned to taxi into a less trafficked area and do a full power max lean run up to burn some of the lead off the cylinders however, as soon as I started to taxi, it started running rough again and the EGT on 1 and 4 dropped off. At this point, we figure it's got to be the magnetos so I go ahead and pull the right one off and open it up. Sure enough, the points and rotor have pretty good carbon buildup and there's oil in the mag. Pulled the left and it's the same except to a lessor extent. I was going to replace the worn parts except that the repair kit for the right side mag is unavailable anywhere so I instead ordered a couple of overhaul exchange mags and we're going to just swap them out. If you've never seen the guts of a magneto, here they are. This is the right mag, the worse of the two, and you can see the buildup. What you can't see is that when you open the points, it had lots of peaks and valleys and was also pretty black. Anyway, now that we've found the actual cause and it was information I thought might be useful to someone, I thought I'd share the results. "We moved plugs and it ran ok" didn't seem all that useful to me, which is why I deleted the original post. As it turns out, it was just coincidence that it "solved" the problem anyway. Once again, the airplane decided to really break down at home, it's done this to me several times now. First with the starter, then the alternator while we were en route to home, then the stuck valve that bent a push rod at home and now the magnetos finally not working for good. I consider myself very lucky that these things haven't happened far from home and I've always been able to just pull the plane into Dugosh when things do break down. I hope that luck continues, I'm grateful for it. Sure the breakdowns suck but, I'm running 80+ year old technology in a 61 year old airplane so, those are going to happen. If they keep happening at home, I've got nothing to complain about. ***EDIT TO ADD*** The plane had gotten a little harder to start in recent months, not enough that it concerned me but, enough that I noticed it. I found that a couple of extra pumps of the throttle with the fuel pump on more or less solved that though, which is why I wasn't too worried about it. Lesson learned though, engines talk to you, next time something changes I'll dig into it more thoroughly.

If you replace the 430 with the GNC, you won't need the Flightstream, it'll connect to FF over Bluetooth. Otherwise, I think you'll like it. I'd go ahead and put a GAD13 in as well, it's nice having OAT, winds and TAS on the G5. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

It is at Fairhope.

While they were moving my spark plugs around yesterday in Alabama, the mechanic told me to go take a look at an engine on a hoist. This is what I saw when I went over there. The mechanic says it happened to the guy at 2800 feet on climb out and the engine ran and made some power long enough for him to turn around and get back on the ground. It's amazing to me that it did. Some of the parts that came off ended up putting a hole in the cowling. I'm not sure how long it took them to remove the seat from the pilot.

I'm still carrying him. He doesn't go far if I put him down, only 3 months old. We're working on the leash still, it's mostly me dragging him around at this point...lol. He likes to sit on my shoulders though, that works well. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

We did KERV to T82, picked up my repaired AP and then back to KERV. Stayed below 3,000 and kept the flights short. He likes meeting new people and got lots of attention at the avionics shop and when we stopped by Dugosh to say hello. I think he actually had a good time, he never seemed stressed to me. You can see his ears were perked up and he was completely relaxed in the pic.

I took GJ the Adventure Kitty on his first flight today. He did really well, didn't complain at all and never seemed to be bothered by the noise or the altitude. We only went up to 3,000 and it was a short flight. I think he's going to be a fine traveling companion based on his reaction though.

Fair, I should have looked more closely...I overlooked the I. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

Unlikely yes but, I always run through the basics first. I can't tell you how many times I've wasted hours on something because I didn't bother looking at something simple that I thought was unlikely to be the cause. Of the 3, air is the easiest to verify, then fuel and finally fire. It's not the only way to do it, just what works for me. I try to be methodical in troubleshooting and rule out one possibility before moving on to the next. So, if it was me, I'd start with the easiest, is the air path unobstructed? Next, I'd crack a fuel line at the carb and verify I had fuel and that it's not contaminated. Then I'd start on fire, bomb test the plugs, test the leads with a high voltage wire tester. Or, if you're really brave, turn off the fuel and pull all the plugs and touch them to the engine one at a time while cranking to see if they spark. Be sure you're using really well insulated pliers though, it hurts when they bite. My uncle did that once on an outboard when we were offshore and it wouldn't start, he had his feet dangling in the water when the motor was cranked and got a hell of a shock. We, of course, all laughed our asses off at him. I'm not well versed enough yet to know how to troubleshoot the magnetos, check timing or check the shower of sparks, if installed. So, if the above didn't solve it, I'd have to ask for help. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

Or air... Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I think the issue is that there isn't really any way to show traffic in the air without making traffic information available to the public. I want to be able to see traffic when I'm flying so I'm ok with my location being shared. I guess they could strip the N number and just show a type instead but, it does need to be publicly available information to some extent to be useful to us when flying.

Well, that didn't work but, none of us correctly predicted where the problem would be. The plate height worked fine with the 2 different sets of wheel pants I looked at, the problem came when winching the nose wheel on. As soon as there was real tension on the rope, it started bending at the hinge instead of pulling the plane up the plate. I should have seen that coming. I need to enlarge the plate a little to feel comfortable with this and I'm going to have to relocate the winch to the part that the plate is on so there's no option for the winch other than pulling the plane onto the plate.

The FBO and shops I've seen using these always attach to the gear above the wheel pants. They just wrap that strap around it. Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk