UteM20F

BTF is a good choice. But they are doing construction there and ramp space is very limited. They will charge you a nominal nightly fee of $5. They are friendly and fuel is considerably cheaper than at SLC or PVU. U42 would be my second choice. Ute

Welcome to the Mooney party! I'm based in Provo with an M20F, and would love to show it off and talk Mooneys, insurance, useful load, etc. Feel free to DM. As for the wait lists... We got on the U42 waitlist when they first started the list 2 years ago, and last I heard (they still haven't updated the web site) we are #76 for a T-hangar. They're building new hangars at BTF and SPK, but you'll have to mortgage the house to be a partner in one of those. Good luck on your search! Ute

@FlyingVAceWill KBMQ have places to tie down for a day or two? It looks like the local hotels are already booked. Is it acceptable, and are there places, to throw down sleeping bags? Like others have said here and elsewhere, I don't know what to expect to find at any given airport for the eclipse. We had an annular eclipse here in Utah a few months ago, and we drove to the middle of nowhere (Delta), and were surprised to see a dozen airplanes at KDTA, the sleepy airport there. On a normal day you would see one or two planes there. Thanks! Ute

One 'good' thing out of all this, is that you had your magneto inspected, which you likely would have done in the near future anyway. I'm glad it all worked out in the end for you! Ute

One 'good' thing out of all this, is that you had your magneto inspected, which you likely would have done in the near future anyway. I'm glad it all worked out in the end for you! Ute

We are all co-owners, not a club, so not necessarily apples to apples. We do not have 100 hour inspections. Our plane is just coming out of its 2nd annual since we bought it, and it will be almost 10 AMU. The first wasn't too bad, but we realize now that the A&P didn't do much. This is the 2nd time we've had to assess everybody, with the 1st being with the panel upgrade that cost WAAAAY more than we were expecting. You mentioned that you're planning on $50/hr dry. We are at $55, which includes engine/prop OH reserves, $20 for maintenance, $9 for oil, and $3 for 500 hr mag inspections. We also paid enough at startup to pre-fund the engine and prop overhaul funds based on the hours since overhaul at that time. We've used that cash to help even out the unexpected costs along the way. Ute

This sounds similar to our setup, though we are just 4 owners. Two suggestions: 1) Investigate insurance options early. Most insurers don't want to insure more than 4 named pilots. Avemco will go as high as 5, but you pay 20% extra. 2) Be sure to collect enough up front from each member to cover a difficult annual. This could easily cost upwards of 10 AMU. You don't want to have to assess everybody a bunch of money in that first year. Or ever! Good luck! Ute

A quick update... @fuellevelresponded to me yesterday that they know what the problem is, and I spoke with CiES (Danielle) today. CiES has resolved the problem in the software on the circuit board, and will update our senders when we send them in, and will overnight them back. Interestingly, although we have 4 senders (2 bladders per wing), they only need the inboard sender from each wing. As soon as we have a reason to have work done at that shop again, we'll have this taken care of. Ute

Thanks gentlemen, that's exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. I agree that selling it as a core makes the most sense. Next, where do I go to sell it as a core? Just advertise on trade-a-plane and other such places? Ute

While having never accidentally entered IMC, I have encountered ice in IMC in a plane without deicing capabilities, on three different occasions. And all these cases I was with a passenger(s) (different each time) that already had a fear of flying. I calmly explained that I was either climbing or descending to get to ice-free air, but their nervousness was palpable. Each time I ended up doing a 180, and landing at a nearby VFR field. On one of those 180's a passenger started puking. I was telling myself, maybe even out load, "Fly the airplane!". On that one ATC noticed my turn before I even called to tell them I was turning around. The point of this is that things can get stressful when you're in IMC and something goes even a little bit wrong, and we should all practice similar situations. I liked Utah20Gflyers's suggestion: Another idea is during a dual cross country with an instructor, maybe half way through the flight the instructor hands the student a pair of foggles and and says “put these on, you just flew into a cloud by accident, what are you going to do now?” I'm sure most of us fly with rated friends occasionally, and throwing curveballs like this to them. and vice-versa, when they aren't expecting it would be great practice. Ute

Hello friends, We have a Comanche 180 that suffered an off-airport landing that totaled the airframe. The only good thing is that we would not have a Mooney if the Comanche wouldn't have been lost. We kept the fuselage for a play area for my grandkids. We suspect the engine is fine after the NTSB inspection and report. Knowing the cost of a new or overhauled engine, and the time it takes to find one, I wonder if it would make sense to send the engine off to be field overhauled and once finished, sell it. The other option is to sell the engine now as a core. I'd love to know your thoughts on the chances I'd have of making a few bucks vs. the risks involved. Here are the particulars: O-360-A1A. 2400 hours SOH. Engine last ran May 2021, when it had a no-power windmilling prop strike. About 400 STOH. Airplane was stored in dry climates after the incident, near Boise ID and now, near Salt Lake City, UT. Thanks, Ute

I agree with the others that I'd first make sure the readings are correct. We got all new Garmin instruments, including the G3X engine analyzer, and immediately the oil pressure was going red occasionally. A new pressure transducer fixed the indication problem. We are still seeing a bit of weirdness, like CHT instantly jumps by 40-60 degrees when there is large electric load (gear, fuel pump, etc) then just as instantly drops down to normal when the load is ended. We have since been told that this is a problem of 1967 wires being in the same bundle as the new wires, and that they should be separated.

I agree with LanceCasper that the insurance company will handle the removal of the carcass from the field and will likely ship it to the shop of your choice. A big concern is if the repair shop will be willing to store it waiting for the NTSB and/or the insurance company to release it to be repaired. Our previous plane suffered an off-airport landing (sheared gear, etc.) in Q2 2021 and the NTSB just barely inspected it, and still has not issued the final report. I wish you the best!

I realize I'm late and my suggestion won't help here, but for the next guy maybe... Another option is that some prop shops will pick up props from airports on a scheduled run. Our prop shop, >300 miles distant, picked up our prop at our mechanic's shop and returned it when they were done.

It's not likely to be apples to apples for your situation, as we also removed all the antique engine instruments and fuel gauges, replaced all lights (including removing the coffee grinder) with LED, and went glass, replacing all radios. We lost over 20 lbs. Ute

We recently removed the vacuum system in our F. We don't have the PC system and our AP is inop, but we are still certified IFR. A big advantage of removing the vacuum system and heavy instruments is the useful load increase. The electric step wasn't very expensive. We wired ours to the landing gear. Interestingly, the electric step operates very slowly. We're in Provo if you want to see how it looks. Ute

Awesome! Thanks Deb! There were a lot of cars, I'm amazed he pulled it off!

Totally undamaged. Not even any damage to cars or road signs. They did a great job, especially considering it was a busy time of day, just after work.

N247AB landed safely on a freeway just south of Salt Lake City yesterday. It looks to be almost new. I wonder if this plane suffered from the new Continental retaining clip problem. https://www.ksl.com/article/50579580/small-plane-lands-on-bangerter-highway-in-south-jordan Also interesting that he didn't pull his chute. But it all worked out well, even his proximity to U42, which local news says they were able to tow the plane to without incident. I'm very happy they and the motorists all walked away. Ute

Ditto on making this sticky... My name is Merrill, and I too am a Mooniac. My love of small planes started with an uncle who took me, as a teenager, in his 182 to a wilderness strip along the Salmon River for his annual deer hunt. Fast forward 15 years to 1995, my wife and I saw a crashed airplane on a trailer at her friend's house. I asked my wife to get the story. Turns out that the friend's father owned the FBO at the local airport (KSPK) that is now named after him. I made it a point to run into this gentleman, and he offered to teach me to fly. My wife, being from a military family with a brother who was the GIB in a F4 Wild Weasel, was okay with me taking lessons. I finished my PPL quickly, and joined a local club with a 172, 182, and a Bonanza V35. I flew as often as I could afford, including my favorite flights, which were back to that backcountry Idaho strip with my kids. About 2005 we bought horses, and I quickly learned that horses and airplanes are very similar, in that they require lots of time, money, and effort. I found I wasn't flying enough, so sold my membership in the club and my flying stopped. We had horses until my kids started leaving home and I had nobody that wanted to go on my horseback adventures. So we sold the horses. Then my son decided he wants to be an ATP for his career. I helped him look at flight schools and such, and it quickly became obvious that if we bought an airplane, he could fly much cheaper as he builds his 1500 hours. So he and I partnered in an old Comanche. We only had it a few months before we lost it in a 2021 accident while a friend was flying it. (Someday I may post about the accident, and the numerous pitfalls of non-owned aviation insurance policies!) It took us a year to scrape up the money, then find and buy a new plane. This time a 1967 M20F. We had to take on two additional partners to make the money work, but so far so good, these are good partners. We love the plane and look forward to flying it a ton. The plane is based in Provo, Utah (KPVU), which is about 40 minutes driving from home. Besides my partner son who lives close, the other kids live in WA, MD, and the other will be moving to AL soon. I'm looking forward for better weather when I can start making some of these long trips. My wife doesn't like flying in little airplanes much, but I'm hoping I can change her attitude if it is to see the grandkids. I think I scared her too badly when we had to turn around and leave the plane at Podunk field, and rent a car to get home, after we picked up some ice on the Bonanza's wings. Thanks for all the great stuff you people put on Mooneyspace. I appreciate it. Ute (A fan/graduate of the University of Utah, The Runnin' Utes)

Evan, I am having the same problem. We've only seen the problem a handful of times, and we have not resolved the issue. I started this thread when it first happened: To answer a previous question, in our F that has 2 O&N bladders per wing (i.e. 4 CiES senders in total), the shop charged 20 hours for the installation and calibration. It was calibrated at 5 gallon increments. We have also noticed minor fluctuations in the amount of fuel displayed, but the amounts seem very reliable. Although we don't like the problems, we don't regret getting the new senders. Ute

If you CAN’T stop the heat you may have a real problem in an emergency. It needs to be fixed Thanks guys. I completely agree with your thinking. We're buying the CO monitor and our A&P is coming, hopefully this weekend. I hope I can report that it is completely resolved very soon. Ute

Mine is the '67. Thanks all of you for the great info, especially the pics. This community is awesome! I'll look at it next time I'm there and see if I can understand what you are telling me, specifically how the silicon piece will work. I'm definitely not good with mechanical things and seldom would trust the work that I am able to do, but I do want to be able to explain the issue to our mechanic properly. And I also agree that we need to invest in a CO monitor, especially with the flaky heating system. Thanks again, Ute

Our F model is warmer than comfortable after 20 minutes of flying, even on a cold (35F degree) day, without engaging the cabin heat. We had an A&P check it out and he said the cabin heat 'door' seemed to be working properly. We bought the plane last January, but didn't fly it April - September as it was in the shop getting all new avionics. We'd like an answer before the hot weather comes. Any ideas if this is normal, or if not, what a solution might be? Thanks, Ute

I don't disagree with your sentiment. We thought how we would word a sales contract, and everything that we came up with would have been rejected by the seller, as we would have rejected such a contract if we were the sellers. Although we liked the plane, we passed on it as we weren't willing to offend the seller with such a contract. The reason for my original post was to show my (and I think Mike's) support for the engine being good with so many recent hours, in spite of an old overhaul. Ute