DonMuncy

You might consider joining MAPA. Their monthly magazine has a column by Jimmy Garrison, who does up to date Mooney valuations. He generally alternates between the various model groups, so every 3 months you should see the latest word. IMHO, he is the most knowledgeable person anywhere about what they are worth. He and his partner David McGee are brokers and also a very good source for looking for a plane. If I were looking for a Mooney, I would call one of them (All American Aircraft), and tell them what I was looking for. If you don't want to go that route, PM me and I will pull out the latest column from Jimmy and send you a copy.

Call Aerox. I presume you have nothing but the built in tank through the regulator to the cabin outlets. My opinion is that you need (for each user), a valve (which plugs into the cabin outlet), the hose from the valve, a flow indicator and a nasal canula (good for up to 18,000 ft). I personally like the Aerox Oxy Saver which is frugal with your oxygen supply. If you anticipate flights over 18,000, you will need masks. I don't have masks and am not qualified to recommend one over another.

Check your PMs.

To avoid hijacking the other thread: Becca wrote: "But I am also going to blame the local flying community for discouraging young aviators. I can't even begin to count how many social flying events that I've attempted to attend that could qualify as a bunch of old guys (I mean older than my father). Apparently you have to volunteer for CAF for like 20 years before they let you near the controls of one of their planes. The MAPA convention was just plane weirdly old. I love flying like they do, but its really not enough in common to have a long lunch conversation, let alone feel like part of a community". I agree that we have become a community of old men, but for my part, I, and I sincerely hope, most of us, do not want it that way. I was extremely glad to see the number of new younger people at the MAPA convention. I tried to go out of my way to meet and talk to as many of them as I could. I have to admit, I didn't buddy up to the women there, mostly because I don't wnat to appear to be hitting on them. (Yes, I know at my age, I am unlikely to be considered a threat by anyone, but I still a little careful about it.) But believe me Becca, I would enjoy talking flying with you as fast as I would with a male pilot. AOPA has heretofore had a student pilot mentoring program encouraging us to introduce non flyers into the process of obtaining a license. I have attempted three times to utilize the AOPA mentoring program to get people who expressed an interest in becoming a pilot, into flight training. Not one of them started. Perhaps if I could concentrate my efforts on those already in training, I might have better results. I therefore intend to, and encourage all pilots to consider, contacting a flight school at the airport. I will ask them to seek permission from one (or more) of their students to furnish me with contact information so I can call or email the student to offer to meet, mentor or otherwise make myself available to try to keep them interested in pursuing flying. Perhaps showing them around my hangar and plane, taking them for a $100 hamburger, or just plain talking flying with them will reinforce the belief they are part of our community. I challenge all other pilots to give it a try. And, Becca, if you have any ideas about what I (or we) can do to make the female Mooney folks feel more included, please let us know.

Use Hank's idea, but if you don't want to sandblast, one layer of scotch tape over the lens gives the same effect at virtually zero effort and cost. Because I wear reading glasses for seeing the instruments, I bought a cheap pair of big reading glasses and used scotch tape. But I did have to build plastic side shields for mine.

From what authoritative source did you get the information that they had sold off tooling.

I looked in the Overnight catalog listing inder J type sensors but did not see one for the spark plug. Is it someplace else.

I have the same problem and am thinking about going with either the 3/8 washer type probe, or the spark plug one. Do either of you know the identification of the J type spark plug thermocouple. I see one at Aircraft Spruce, but it does not seem to be identified as a J or K. Thanks

In my experience, batteries fail whenever they please. I have had them last 2 years or 7 years. That being said, I would wait until I began having trouble with the battery, such as slow cranking before replacing it.

A few years ago, the company I worked for bought me a voice operated document system. The length of time it took me to straighten up the errors it made in my dictation far outweighed the value of having it do the typing to start with. Perhaps this system is just better, or perhaps the limited number of fixes or victor airways makes this system workable.

I spent a lot of time working as an attorney in insurance companies, although not in any claims involving aviation. All the ones I dealt with generally only considered 3 factors in whether to file a subrogation suit. First, what is the anticipated cost in bringing the suit. Second, what is the likelyhood of prevailing in the case. (How sure are you you can establish negligence against the other guy.) And third, what is the likelihood of collecting on a judgment. Here in Texas, with the extremely liberal exempt property status, a guy who is renting a light plane is extremely unlikely to be able to pay any judgment.

The reason we (at least I) don't jump in is that these questions are so very "state law" dependent and specific fact dependent, it does more harm than good to speak beyond vague generalities. If I tell you you should or shouldn't do something, I have to put so many limitations and disclaimers on that it makes my fingers tired and your eyes glaze over. Besides which, a slight variation in your particular situation may make my advice poor or dangerous. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm evading responsibility. Since I retired, I don't mind sharing any knowledge I have, but I really only know a little Texas law, and a lot of that may be flawed.

Before you do anything like putting your plane in a corporation, check with an attorney in your state. If you are flying the plane and you negligently hurt someone, you will be liable for damages no matter what form the plane is held in. About the only protection you get is if more than one "owner" is involved and the other guy causes the damage. In that case, a corporate form may protect you. All this is pretty intricate, and a good attorney knowledgeable in the situation where you are, is a must. If you are concerned about having someone take away your plane, a corporation is also of little help. The plaintiff's attorney will just go after the stock in the corporation; ergo, the plane. The best protection is a good big insurance policy.

Mitch, Naturally, I can't say for sure, but my guess is that you are getting quotes from two different insurors. Like Jetdriven says above, I think that once an insurer issues a quote on N1234 to agent X, they will not then issue a quote on N1234 to agent Y. I have always thought it was a bit of a strange system, as you really can't compare whether broker X or Y can get your the best deal. Every year, Falcon sends me about 3 quotes from 3 different companies, and frequently they can be quite different. And my guess is that if Falcon requested quotes from every insurer ( I really do not think there are that many of them), the differences might be even greater. I'm guessing, but I'll bet that Falcon knows that these three companies give the best rates on Mooneys, and requests quotes from those 3. Come on someone. There must be people on her who know more about this than I do. Hop in with your knowledge.

You are correct that the company actually insuring you is the one who pays, but the agent can apply pressure to get them to "get a second bid on a repair", or encourage them to replace with new parts rather than repair, etc. There are numerous decisions made by the adjuster working on your claim which can affect you in multiple ways. These can include how quickly a check is issued, or perhaps if it were a really close case as to whether to repair or declare it a total loss. Having an agent with whom you have a good relationship, can give you an edge. No, your agent will not convince an insurer to pay far more than a loss is worth, but it would not surprise me if a good agent might induce them to send your plane to Maxwell or Dugosh rather than forcing you to have it repaired at Podunk.

Mitch, It is my impression (and I admit I could be wrong), that when AOPA gives you a quote, that is actually a quote from XYZ company, and if that unnamed broker got a quote from XYZ company, then (presuming XYZ was given the same information about you and your plane), the unnamed broker would get the same quote. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I know that Falcon, and I suspect, AOPA do not sell insurance. They solicit quotes from insurance companies who do sell insurance. Admittedly, an agent might be able to hype your situation a little to induce the ins co to offer a lower rate, but for the most part, those companies are basing their rates on, aircraft, hours, claims history and the like. If it were possible to get AOPA or Falcon to both get rates from the same three ins cos, (and you can't) I would bet that they would both get the same rates quoted from the same coampany. What you are really getting is an agent who will offer you good service and go to bat for you when a claim is necessary. I use Falcon, and are very happy with them, but no on the basis that their rates are better.

On moving your plane solo. If you are desperate, and especially if up an incline, get a couple of 2X4s a foot or two long. Put one in front of each main. Go out to the end of the wing and yaw the plane backwards; walk your way down the wing until you can kick the block back under the tire. Go to the other wing and repeat. It is surprising how much leverage the length of the wing can give you. This is slow and tiresome, but it will save your bacon if you need to get the plane in the hangar and no one is around.

Thanks Jim. I may well do that. I really don't use (and don't think I will be using) the Ipad for anything except flight charts.

Russ, I think I have discovered what is going on. Apparently the IPad is telling me I have mail. I didn't know it tapped into my mail (especially since I didn't tell it to). But as I was fiddling with it, your message came in on it. It's hell having machines smarter than I am. Thanks for the help.

I have been turning it off with the button at the top of the unit. It is an IPad 2, if that makes a difference. Is it supposed to be turned off by holding down the button that turns it on? Thanks.

I just got an IPad. The only app I installed on it is Foreflight. When it is turned off, at random times it will emit a beep. Is this normal. Can I make it stop. I suppose with a single beep 2 or three times a day, It would take forever to run the battery down.

To those who erroneously state that Mooney advocates against pushing/pulling on the prop; My K model POH says; "When no towbar is available, or when assistance in moving the aircraft is required, push by hand: (1) on the wing leading edges, and (2) on the inboard portion of propeller blades adjacent to the propeller hub."

These are very specialized devices. A manual one for pulling out (downhill) and pushing back in.

You know me Mitch; anything to avoid real work.