Max Clark

For single ownership in an LLC, anything specific I should be aware of with an operating agreement?

Real men don't use tow bars

Hi all, I'm looking for a mobile A&P for supervised owner assisted maintenance. Basically I want to learn more about my plane, and how to do maintenance myself. But I want someone that can show me how to do things the right way vs. figuring things out on YouTube. Thanks!

Really excellent tip

Agreed - I have the same thought

I punched my instrument ticket in October. Almost all of my training was S22T w/ Perspective+ flying what I called the video game. The Garmin autopilot is a dream to fly and even in real IMC was no problem flying down to minimums. Learning how to program (and more specifically reprogram) the avionics was way more complicated than I expected at the beginning. And of course remembering to switch the CDI based on the approach being flown has busted more than one check ride. I ended up with 20 hours in an AATD and was forced to "hand fly" in the sim a lot of the time. I'm so glad that my instructor did this with me. Was the main reason I was able to get ahead of the aircraft in the real world. Holding course and altitude while fumbling with the flight plan get's you task saturated in no time. My DPE had me setup for an ILS, then vectored me to a hold and had me re-setup for a VOR approach with Circle to Land. Oh and he failed the autopilot and PFD during this. Let me tell you I was happy I had the training I did, and hope to never have this situation in the real world. When I went to the Mooney Safety Pilot Proficiency Program my instructor made me hand fly (VFR and IFR) my plane. It was some of the best couple of hours of instruction I've had and really highlighted how dependent I'd become on autopilot during my instrument training. Now I make it a point to setup the autopilot but hand fly the plane more. I've been talking with instructors based in DFW and a big part of that is to hand fly instrument under the hood. "You don't rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your preparation." I hope to never need to hand fly an approach in hard IMC, but I want to be ready if that ever happens.

So what the heck am I supposed to use then?

Interesting thanks!

Looking ahead in my schedule I’m going to have a ~70 period where I won’t be able to log any flight time. Anything specific I should do to prepare the plane for this? First thing that comes to mind is a battery minder - do I need one or two for an M20R? Is the BatteryMINDER the best to buy? Thanks!

I'm really confused as to what you're already done, and what you're trying to accomplish? For clarity, do you have any flight training logged? I'm reading that you haven't yet started, but are looking at complex retract to purchase as a trainer for you to get your PPL in, but put into some sort of business entity to try and get a tax advantage, and maybe/probably not try to rent it out, and when you get 500 hours then go out and buy another plane. If this tracks my feedback below, otherwise ignore: Do not buy a Mooney to train in. Do not buy a plane to start your training - start your training first, when you get past solo then start thinking about buying a plane. Have > 100 hours before you think about buying something fast. Decision making is a skill that you have to develop when flying. Staying away from unnecessary risk and situations that can kill you is a great place to start. My $0.02 - take it or leave it.

I just revisited this thread and thinking about buying the same table... the size and capacity (500 lbs) feel like a bit much. What about a motorcycle lift instead? https://a.co/d/4yleIyN Similar thought just smaller.

What is lowest green range mean?

Stock ovation = 2500 RPM Max I’m going to get the HP STC at next annual, but pretty sure the seller had this dialed back a touch to “save the engine”

What MP/RPM settings are you targeting and when? For example, what do you target for cruise and descent?

I went to the Mooney Safety PPP last year (well worth it). One of the points that was made (and is reinforced in their manual) is flying "by the numbers". Aka understanding what configurations will give you what resulting performance. This has stuck with me and has been helpful as I've been working to be a better M20R pilot. The POH is full forward except for set performance profiles or in descent: Takeoff (2500 RPM) Climb 2500 RPM Cruise 2300/2400/2500 RPM (Section V Performance) Descent 2400 RPM Approach 2500 RPM Something that was taught to me early on (by multiple people) was that it was unnecessary to touch the Prop in flight (I do not have the HP STC and max at 2500 RPM). In my case leaving the Prop full forward results in 2460 indicated in cruise. Dialing back 60 RPM just to push it back in never made sense to me. I'm curious if you adjust the Prop in flight, when, and why?

Not really surprising, but big news. I'd expect subscriptions will go up as a result - this might finally get me off Foreflight and onto FlyGarmin BREAKING: Boeing announces $10.55 billion deal to divest Jeppesen, ForeFlight, AerData and OzRunways to Thoma Bravo in an all cash transaction. Earlier reporting suggested the sale, which attracted multiple bidders, would be closer to $6 billion. Deal close expected by year end.

When this topic comes up in conversation it tends to be centered around a) liability, and b) taxes. On liability; if you own an airplane and are the pilot flying it and there is an incident LLC, Trust, Personal ownership, etc... isn't going to matter one lick. You are going to be sued personally as the operator. If you are leasing or renting the plane out as part of a business then absolutely, you need it in an LLC to provide the separation in the event of a liability claim. But people who are purchasing aircraft to lease them out already know this, that's not what we're usually talking about. Liability as the operator is why you need a good insurance policy that gives you proper coverage for your unique situation. On taxes; some people think buying the plane via an LLC will help them avoid taxes, or to give additional tax benefits on their return. Heck this is what my CPA thought - except the structure he was proposing would have required a Part 135 charter operation and a commercial certificate. Sales and property taxes are treated differently depending on how you purchase and hold the property as well. You might think you are gaining an advantage when in fact you've just opened up a can of worms.

I have a living trust and a will, the will places all property not in the trust into the trust at death. Easy to manage this way without having to title everything.

I use 70-75 KIAS as my final approach speed - it's easy to remember and easy to track in my scan. As soon as I'm over the threshold I'm removing power to idle, couldn't tell you what my actual touchdown speed is. The POH will tell you speeds for normal operation, but in the performance section you'll find the landing distance details. Weight effects everything, including the speed you should be landing at. Personally I'm not trying to calculate my landing weight on the fly and use the 70-75 target. I don't have enough hours/training to be the authority on this, but my guess is that part of what your experiencing is this.

Congrats!

That is such an important and easily overlooked point. It's made me think about my landing technique reading it.

Good reminder for me to test this with the CB next flight.

Looking for a digital copy of the Illustrated Parts Catalog aka MAN262 for the M20R. Is this available via the Mooney website or other download by chance? Thanks!

Just went through this on my install (GTN 750xi, GNC 215, GMA 35c) The coms are wired to the GMA "backwards" (com 2 to GTN, com 1 to GNC) and then in the configuration on the GTN inverted for the display. If the GTN fails the GMA failsafe connects the pilot to com 1. This is the normal installation.

Awesome - figured as much just haven't tried it yet.