bigmo

Mike is spot on, the AIM is not regulatory, the AFMS *IS* regulatory. As far as I know, all Avidyne navigators share the same language that you cannot use the unit for IFR for any operations with an expired DB. Older Garmin owners have some leeway (with homework). I'd be curious if the newer Garmin touch navigators have the same language allowing enroute and terminal use if data is verified. All this being said, it's not realistic to think one could validate waypoint or NAVAID data with each flight. I get sent to random spots all the time by ATC - not sure how I'd respond "Please wait 15 mins while I verify that location please". I see the back-end of this NASAR data and I can tell you the changes with each cycle are significant. Yes, airfields stay put and NAVAIDs are rarely changed, but as we're hitting strides with Performance Based Navigation and free route airspace, waypoint changes from cycle to cycle are significant and system wide.

You can download the complete FAA data now: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/aero_data/NASR_Subscription/ I do this for a living, so I'll warn you without significant time and effort, this will not be a super easy tool to reference. Yes, this is the source data that commercial vendors will use or their own navigation data (for US data). But, it IS all there. If you want to explore this data, I'd suggest you start with a tool that can read AIXM and choose the 5.1 option. There will never be a way to ingest data into your navigator beyond what you have now - that's a choice made by your navigator and has nothing to do with the vendors supplying navigation data. But, this would allow you to easily compare your data and authoritative FAA content. This will require a little peek into your navigator's AFMS - this will tell you what you can do and cannot. For my era Garmin, I can operate legally in IMC with an expired database for terminal and enroute. I do have to verify my data and the current FAA data (easy with the NASAR data) agree. Do I do this? Not a chance. I pay my annual subscriptions as (dare I say) it's a bargain in aviation terms for what it provides for me. I try not to look, but I think my Jepp costs are around $700-800 annually. Knowing the enormity of work that goes into this data validation (ever AIRAC cycle), it's frankly a bargain. Avidyne users, you might want to read your AFMS. I've only seen a couple, but both prohibit any any IFR use on expired database (including terminal and enroute). Garmin may have started doing this too, but the older Garmin navigators do grant you that option if you do the homework.

I took the good advice here and added a set of clamping shaft collars on my jacks. A set of nice stainless collars was around $35. I put them on the jack, lifted 1/2 my truck (about 2000 pounds), released the jack valve and let it sit all night. All good, didn't budge a single millimeter. They take about 30 secs to set once the jack is in place. Kind of a no brainer. I had intended on building a set of sawhorses to size and place them on the rib Mooney specifies (as an emergency). But the collars will suffice as my backup.

I have the exact same plane 1970 F. Trues out at cruise (7k-10k) at 145 knots using 21/26 and 9.8gph (fuel is 9.6-10.2 depending on pressure). Have you flown another similar year F to see if something feels really different? If you were chasing down 3-5 knots, I could see lots of investigating…but 20 feels like power. The only other possibility to me is the CG wildly out of whack and a really odd angle of attack…and I can’t see that impacting it that much. I’ve had my wife choose the back seat a couple of times on trips when she wants to work on her laptop. Even with her back there, and our luggage in the rear, I see 2-3 knots faster…and the plane still feels the same. The comparison flight might really help you realize where your issue is - ie a ‘oh my plane doesn’t do that’ moment.

For you guys using ADLog, what’s the ballpark price in the initial setup? My plane is 54 years old…I’ve got them all in one master excel, and it’s about 98% complete, but there’s a few really old items that just can’t be sussed out. Modern (call it 1990’s to current) record keeping is all good.

This is no joke. I’ll do it this winter, but with my last a/c I had a car detailer clean, buff, and apply a ceramic coating. I knew my cruise math well and it picked up a solid 4 knots. It wasn’t cheap, but it sure made summer bug cleanup easy.

I’m hangared at KALN. There are actually 4 at our airfield (all different flavors). I’m flying (away) for the next two weeks, but will be home the week of Thanksgiving and the week after. Stop by any time.

Thanks @Rick Junkin / this is great info.

I'll start off by saying I don't have any problems...well...with my Mooney F model with a low hour engine and low hour two blade prop (both around 500 hours). Penn overhaul and is smooth at all RPMs - and yet I have maybe 4-5 other IO-360's to compare with. As a fairly recent buyer, I combed through every log entry since the 2009 overhaul. It has not been dynamically balanced. There's a traveling guy that swings through the area annually and it's $350 I think - might be $300 if there are a handful at the same airfield. Our local Facebook group has several folks that claim "it's the best ever"... Trying to see if that's just a comment to validate spending $350 or it REALLY IS the best ever. I'll claim total ignorance that I don't really know what symptoms would cause me to say to myself - it's time for a dynamic balance.

My a/c is with my mechanic this week getting Nulites installed on all standard instruments. I fly quite a bit at night and find traditional lighting just awful. Ive owned 3 of these and love them. If I have a cap on, I clip it to the bill. If not, I clip it to the shoulder belt. Lots of life on quality AAA. I’d say it’s a near perfect design, however, like so many lights, you have to toggle through white first. I’m used to it so I just close my eyes for 1/2 a second for the click through. Coast HX4 80 Lumen Dual Color (White & Red) Magnetic LED Clip Light with Beam Rotation, black https://www.amazon.com/COAST-Lumen-Color-Magnetic-Rotation/dp/B002YGBJZI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_pp?adgrpid=158360153423&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OttTxB2xhguHO4xEHNFAszusQGmHyKJbnJpQOiJ2IFKXLavaI2-wIaqMBgg2J1Bk8gTmTzY1Bzbv8k99NILPu_CXwVshr0OtpsdFOjTtiOuIKcxCkvOFe3UcqlCp8bj1poaiDHJThrRUAthEjzAgw7tXih08klOtXLavyizx0S5HjScPvGW-Zki064zSlxoxn4zj1D2_hGm_sLoAB1BywQ.hBS3cjrN58DjOfFqwV2usSO0slATN5FIqEAlIWC2pLM&dib_tag=se&hvadid=692982881954&hvdev=m&hvexpln=68&hvlocphy=9022159&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=11555586282244515436--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11555586282244515436&hvtargid=kwd-1059482185198&hydadcr=17102_13425090&keywords=coast+hx4+80+lumen+dual+color&qid=1731218120&sr=8-1

I'd start with a conversation with a couple of insurance brokers. A lot of underwriters will not carry high risk pilots - and the ones that do will demand a pretty high premium. Expect somewhere around $5K a year +/- until your total time goes up and your make & model get above 100. If you fly a lot, you could "take one for the team" for one year and then rates will come way down to something manageable. One item to ask your broker is if they can write you with Beacon on a 6 month plan. I believe Beacon is the only one doing this right now, but they prorate you on a year plan, but write a 6 month policy to let you get your complex & MM up north of 50ish hours. That can really shorten the initial insurance hit. Mooneys are pretty darn easy to fly & land and while they are complex, there's nothing particularly complex about flying them. Unlike most trainers, you just need to fly them by the numbers. They don't tolerate deviations from the POH like Cessna & Piper trainers do. I own my F outright. I'd be much better off financially to be in a small member group ownership, but I'm at a point where I want to fly when I want to fly (keeping up with kids & grandkids). A clean F offers a lot for the money. Speed, efficiency, and relatively low cost of ownership. There are LOTS of good brokers, but I have had great experience with Airspeed Insurance Agency, BWI, and Travers. Those are three great places to start.

A buyer looking to expand interest in the US market (like Navblue) would be great. A bunch of private equity vultures looking to maximize and extort profit for many of us locked into Jepp would suck royally. I have a box in my F that can only use Jepp - so I'd have to buck up or simply not use that functionality (which I use heavily). Private equity firms snatching up GA critical resources is going to be the nail in the GA coffin.

Wow! $80.3K. I'd say that's full retail, maybe a tad over retail considering the hail & overall paint condition. Not a bad plane and not a terrible deal, but most definitely not an item you'd want to take a huge risk on.

Feel like it'll close for $70K or more. I cant imagine spending that on a plane without a pre-buy. Frankly, that's the normal market price for how its equipped. A smokin' deal lets you accept some risk, but fair market sight unseen makes no sense.

@Chaseford10 Does Jimmy have N4044N under contract? I know the motor is at 1500 hours, but there's a LOT of plane there for $90K.

Good timing on this as I have a move coming up in 0-3 years and there will be no hangars available (it's one of the nation's worst hangar drought areas). It would mean covering full-time on the ramp, or selling. Nearest hangars are a full hour away and simply priced out of what I consider normal ($600+). Do any of you ramp & cover full time? My plane has literally spent every day of its life covered. The thought of chaining it down on the ramp like some abandoned animal feels...cruel.

I’ll assume he wants a /G aircraft with robust approach choices. For me, a WAAS certified navigator was a must, not a want, so I understand that desire. I wound up with a GNS480 (which I now believe to be wildly more capable than any early Gen Garmin navigator). I feel like he’s realistic-ish on his budget. He might need to step up closer to $100k, but at least I’m the ballpark. The right Mooney will pop up in 3-5 months.

Contact Jimmy at Gmax. Let him know what you're in the market for and he'll start sending you aircraft that he has coming online. I gave him a needs & want list and budget. In 90ish days he found my plane. Behind the scenes, Jimmy is mailing Mooney registered owners nationwide. I'm sure he has some kind of data he targets (maybe a/c that don't fly a ton). Anyway, that's how mine popped up (ie a cold mailing). Jimmy then brokers the transaction....kind of like a dual agent in a real estate transaction. It was a very professional and well-run process. Communications were clear, and all three parties (buyer, seller, broker) walk away as friends.

Title 49 is much broader than just AVS. The Administrator doesn't approve perse, but the FAA is the authority for creating all aviation fuel standards (including chemistry). It'll be in Subtitle 7. It'll be detailed in the safety regs in the 4400's someplace.

Scored a super clean J panel upgrade takeoff VSI for $50! Thanks @EricJ for the pro tip. Plus I'll have a cool paperweight on my desk for my old one.

That authority is codified under Title 49.

My mechanic is in MO, owns a Mooney and does travel to neighboring states. If you’re interested, I can connect you.

I'll probably add a second bolt on all uprights. Honestly hand drilling through the cold rolled was way harder than I anticipated. The hot rolled channel is thicker and drills easy. That bar was unbelievably hard to get through. Luckily I have a whole jar of fresh 1/8" bits.

Not sure who said it, but thanks to whomever said they leave their beacon on all the time. It's my new thing. I climb back in the plane almost every flight to be absolutely sure I've turned off the master. No longer needed with my new beacon alert system. Why I never thought of that I'll never know.

I was going to go thin square tube, but wound up using the 3/16" cold rolled bar. You would be shocked how much strength it took to cold bend those. I practiced on one throwaway and then was able to duplicate it without having to go back for adjustments. Based on some of the lightweight jack designs I saw, this is way superior. I'd not argue a square tube would have been better, but I wanted a design that I can service or replace the jack if needed. This was the only way I could achieve that goal without getting into a much more complicated project. Remember that any lateral movement also has to contend with the opposite force on the other side. I obviously cannot calculate how much side stability this will support, but it's a lot. I see hangar neighbors with their jacks supported by conduit & hose clamps (and their plane hasn't suffered for it). I'd argue I have 50x that strength. For grins I flipped the hitch on my truck, and jacked it up and goofed around in the bed of the truck. Zero movement and a breeze to lift. But, appreciate the feedback for my next design. If time were free, I'd have welded pads to the lateral support angles and then bolted the pads to the base.