Huckster79

The development is larger than just the airport, but there are some restrictions though typical of N Michigan they aren’t to restrictive, I think our cabin has to be 800sq ft and after that it’s just minor details- well heck a rustic cabin easily would be 800 ft so not many in practicality and really no restrictions on design such as multiple roof lines or other architectural features. Technically camping isn’t allowed outside of the HOA’s camp ground, but a roadside style camp ground does nothing for me…. I’d rather not camp if it has to be in a campground. But we have camped there twice, my thought is most of the non airport lots in the development as a whole are 1/2 to 3/4 acre- I understand why they wouldn’t want every road lined w campsites. But on our 4 acres not a soul can see us- from runway side or road. So we have and figure it’s kinda doing 60 in a 55….

Or a truck and trailer when folks need to move

There’s more for sale there! Wasn’t very pricey at all either… not a lot of listed property but I talked to 6 owners interested in selling :)

Hey fellow Mooniacs, My wife and I are so excited! We just bought 4 acres with frontage on 4y4, Lakes of the North airport near Mancelona and Gaylord MI. We are so excited as it's a beautiful 4200x40 paved runway very well maintained, and an absurdly flat area next to the runway for when my old taildragger buddies fly up. Just excited to have our own dirt on a paved runway. It's about a 45min hop from home (6d6) in the Mooney and a 2.5hr drive. We plan on building a cabin in the spring there and have that be a home base to explore all of Northern Michigan which is stunningly beautiful. If we go up there on a Friday night it means all of N Michigan is a quick hop on Saturday morning, and there's plenty to do there as well. The headwaters of the Manistee River start there, there are two private lakes we have access to, a public golf course (not for me but for friends maybe), etc. We have the place labeled Judith Bailey. We're very excited, and I met a fellow Mooney Driver on the field last week He was excited to have another of "us" on the field. We will probably just use it as a getaway for now and air bnb it some while we don't use it and maybe spend a significant amount of time up there once "the littles" are grown... Once we get a cabin up there I'll let everyone know they can stop by anytime!

The first one shows the deep dinge that’s in the paint from m cleaning that one spot. the other photos actually make it look better than in person. so these are befores, I’ll share some after once I get some progress. I think I’m going to do one area start to finish before moving on- like left wing, right wing, fuselage, etc.

That’s not a bad idea if the soak doesn’t make me happy…

I think I’m going for the light duty Adams advanced ceramic spray. I’ve gone back n forth more than a vfr weather prediction… the pricey stuff, I’m worried what if I don’t like it… the spray on is a more diluted same chemical. I talked to the company and they said it takes only a light hand polish to remove the spray on, the real stuff they sell in tiny bottles likely needs a machine buff to remove…. ill try to post some progress pics, its not done but the wings at least don’t look like blotchy cream white they are now looking like lightly blotchy white. i really want to redo my striping but will prob put that off a year w the hassle of needing to rebalance all the surfaces.

Very True... That's one reason I'm doing the Meguires 7 "Soak". I found a single stage painted car guru on auto geek. He shares a lot and is very well thought of in that community. He says we all too often jump to aggressive strategies, often harming the paint more. He offers a teqnique that he uses on old classics where the the person wants them restored not repainted. He said the old single stage paint dries out and is brittle at a microscopic level. The maguires 7 is a 100 year old formula for single stage paint with "trade secret" oils, no abrasives. Instead of wiping on and wiping off, he applies a heavy coat and leaves it set for a day and then buffs it off with just Terry cloth, it gives the paint time to soak up the oils and "rehydrate". He said this can be repeated 1-3 times, and once done if one wants to buff a bit the paint is in healthier condition to now do so and will need a less aggressive cut. I've finished one soak on a sample area since the original post, and it vastly improved its appearance. I think before I do any buffing, now that the sample spot seemed to work, I'm going to try it once or twice more, and if that brings it to an acceptable level of shine then I'm not even going to worry about the buffing with a machine. If it doesn't I may lightly hit it. But with what I'm seeing even from the first sample now, if soak 2 and 3 improves it more, I'm just going do do that, as the soak will be far easier than buffing around rivets and leading edges, etc.... I can't see my reflection in it, but it's no longer chalky feeling. It will still need a coat of something to protect it as the #7 doesn't have any long term protection for the paint.

Yea it was the full 15k redo at Wetwingologist…

Right, I probably could use that... Just thought if the buffer wouldn't hurt it, that I could get a deeper shine with a little power behind it, but I may just do that anyway. Little Leary after last fall, and the two events may share no connection, but if there is, I would want to just hand buff... I wonder if a true rotary buffer would do less vibration than a dual action. Obviously would need to avoid the rivets on back side of the wing but where it's all smooth seems like it may save some time. I know they are a bit more "dangerous" but I've used one a time or two before and just went careful and I didn't screw anything up... hmm.

So I just got my F back from getting both tanks stripped and resealed. Starting on getting the paint good again, I would like to have it repainted but not for a few more years. The paint was deeply dirty, more than a wash would remove. We have Clay Barred it which helped tremendously, but still leaves some inconsistencies in the white. I am currently getting ready to do a "Meguires #7 soak" its a method that an old single stage car paint guru swears by and makes sense, #7 has a lot of oils in it to "rehydrate" old single stage paint and the soak method allows the brittle paint to soak them up, some of the old school cars the guy has done are amazing- folks that do not want to repaint them but want them to look good. But after the soak they still buff em out. The test spot I did of the soak looks so much "healthier" and the inconsisencies disappeared, but it still lacks the deep shine I'd like. But I'm hesitant to get the Dual Action Buffer out on it again. Here is why and my question: My bad leaks started after I buffed a wing last fall, with decent but not great results, but I didn't do as good of prep steps last fall as I'm now trying to do. Now the sealant was old anyway, but part of me worries that direct kind of "high frequency" feeling vibration the buffer applies to the airframe may have helped that old sealant finish failing. So I'm worried about running the DA buffer on my newly stripped and sealed wings. I doubt it would make it leak right away again but might there be some credence in thinking that vibration right into the wing may not be good for the adhesion of the sealant? Or am I out in left field with my worry? I know their are vibrations from the engine throughout he airframe but the airframe doesn't vibrate when the plane is running in the same way it does when the DA buffer is on it.... Have other folks here Dual Action Buffed their wings? Did you think it caused a problem or no?

I've sewn several things for my old airplane, and probably will for the Mooney in time. I always got cheap fabric or something used, and rough sewed it, then could make tweaks and such to it, sometimes even with just a stapler in the hangar. Then I could mark the seams and take it apart and I had a custom pattern just how I wanted.

Had your gear horn gone off yet? Mine didn't go off till I was over the fence. I guess that's the one that surprises me, how loud it was, how it couldn't be heard... Yet I know we as a species, without exception for individuals, has the ability to not see or hear things in certain circumstances.

yea that makes all the sense in the world. We all have a built in penchant to want to think we’re above “it” and “it” can be many things not even aviation related. The stats simply prove there’s not one of us that’s guaranteed to be above anything.

We’ll get it on jacks tomorrow and be able to fiddle with it more… So I’m humble enough to know I’m above nothing- but man it made me wonder if it’s working how anyone could miss that beep! I had to take my headset off on final to concentrate on landing.