Greg Ellis

I wasn’t sure where to put this topic. However, I had the GFC 500 installed and the electric trim as well. I have the up down switch on my yoke. The electric trim is not working well when the autopilot is off and needs manual assistance when going nose up. Nose down it seems to be okay. The auto pilot is working great with no issues and reports no faults at all. I printed out Garmin’s trouble shooting page on if the electric trim does not run and will go through it this weekend but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to look. I was thinking that maybe the trim system needed lubrication which I think is a big job. Do the belly panels have to be removed to do this? But if the autopilot flies well then is it a lubrication issue or something else? Any advice would be appreciated so I can try to guide the correction of this process with my maintenance shop. Airplane is a 63 C model. Thanks.

Glad it worked for you, however, on my Garmin Pilot I have the logbook set to M20C and the Aircraft for filing set to M20P and it works just fine.

I did not have to replace my ailerons. Nor should you. Look at the supported aircraft which includes the 1962 C model. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/604257#additional

Yep. And looking at my logbooks it was actually 18 years ago. February, 12, 2005 was my first flight in my Mooney. I followed your advice and never looked back. I thank you for helping me make that decision so long ago that has brought so much happiness and excitement and fond memories into my life.

Your title says a 1953 C, not 63 but we get it. There is no alternate air in the cockpit on my 1963 C model. Also, when I bought my C model 17 years ago, there was no ELT switch in the panel. I have since had one installed when I upgraded the ELT a few years ago but originally mine did not have one either. My climb is a bit different than yours. I do not pull the prop back, nor do I pull the throttle back until I am leveling off at whatever altitude I am leveling off at. I do have to lean a bit as I climb and prior to 4000 feet because I have the richer version of the carburetors that were available for our engine and to avoid running a little rough in the climb with an overly rich mixture I have to begin leaning sooner than 4000 feet MSL. By keeping my prop and throttle full, I can climb at a shallower angle at a higher airspeed and my cylinders stay below 400 in the climb unless it is just a blistering hot Texas day.

Not exactly near Santa Barbara... But probably the best!!!

That does seem very high. I just looked at my invoices for my GFC500 install. For the install itself, labor was 50 hours. They installed a G5 Attitude indicator and removed my vacuum system for another 10, moved my EDM 900 over to the pilot side, relocated my audio panel installed and new Mid Continent Clock/timer/OAT and fabricated a co-pilots panel to fit the relocated instruments and that was only 20 hours more. So I got all that for 80 hours labor and they want 120 hours to just put in a GFC 500. Yep, seems a little high.

I don’t think it was an option in 63. I think it was first installed in 1965. Don’t quote me on it but I remember seeing that somewhere.

I did just this when I purchased my Mooney about 17 years ago. It went a long way in helping me make my decision. Although I don't think we changed seats because the 63 C model has brakes on the pilot side only and he wanted that control, as well as the fact I had never flown a Mooney before.

If you go to mooneypilots.org they say they are under new ownership on the first page.

Does that subscription to Jepp include obstacle and terrain? I was stuck with Jepp for a while because I had a GNC300XL and the Navdata was only offered for it by Jepp. When I went to renew after updating my navigators, I spoke to a guy at Jeppesen and he stated that it only included the NavData and not obstacle or terrain. I switched to Garmin charts because for my two navigators I was able to get Nav, obstacle and terrain for $669. For just Navdata only from Jepp it was $663 for two navigators. I would have had to add Obstacle and Terrain from Garmin individually which would have raised the price for the Jepp considerably more than Garmin. Also, I plugged in the MX20 into Jepp and they said it was not covered.

And how does he reattach the scat hose that attaches to the side of the lower cowling with one hand holding the cowling and the other holding the screwdriver? It is one thing to take it off because you can just loosen the clamp and pull the cowling away but reattaching it is another thing and he fails to show that.

I am not sure who this would be marketing towards. A glance at controller.com I can get a 2007 Ovation with a full glass panel and all the bells and whistles for $319,000. I am not sure I personally would go for an E, J, K for $500,000 just because it is new, if I can get something with so much more for so much less. This is just one example. So, if I have the money burning a hole in my pocket, and saw two panels, side by side, one with what you suggest and the other with full glass, autopilot, and comfortable interior for $200,000 less, even though it is 16 years old (at first glance it looks newer than your example) I think I know which I would choose but that is just me personally.

When I first got my Mooney and really knew nothing about anything other than flying it, I thought my battery was great because it always started the airplane. It was going on 4-5 years old but the plane still cranked over in one or two blades and felt strong so I thought I was golden. One night, coming home and almost at my home airport, I lost my generator (now an alternator). Well, suffice to say, 5-10 minutes later I landed dark. No lights, no radio, no nothing. Thank the Lord that our engines have magnetos so the engine kept running. I really thought I had a great battery. It lasted 5-10 minutes. So anyone who is happy that their 6, 7, 8 year old battery still starts their airplane, do a capacity test on it and see just how strong it really is. My $.02 which really gets you nothing these days.

One of the greatest pilots to have ever lived and one of the greatest fighter pilots of WWII was plagued with motion sickness when he began his flying career. The man was Bob Hoover. He got through it by doing exactly this....flying and flying a lot. Not saying it will work for everyone but apparently it worked for him. He did it by pushing himself through aerobatic maneuvers and flying at the edge of the envelope in his airplanes. Not sure I would suggest that to just anyone but maybe if you just keep at it and fly as much as you can, this too shall pass.

Aerotouchups.com. They are expensive though. I think $54.90 for a spray can of Matterhorn white is a little expensive but it is for an airplane, afterall.....

Maybe time to find another shop....

This may not matter but the original post mentioned he had a Battery Minder 12V-8A-CEC2 and has a Concorde battery. There are three types of Battery Minders with this designation. There is the 128CEC2-AA-S5 which is specific for Concorde Batteries and the 128CEC2-AA-S2 which is specific for Gill batteries. There is also the 128CEC2-AA-S3 which is specific for Hawker Odyssey batteries. I am not sure how important it is to use the correct one for the application, but it must be for Battery Minder to develop three different units depending on the battery model. With that being said, it does sound like what others have said and there is a charging issue after the airplane is started.

Not sure if it was just a mistake but the photo that is Captioned Mooney 301 in the article 70 years of Rocky History is not a 301. It is just another photo of a TBM 700. There was only one Mooney 301 ever built and flown and that was the prototype, and that photo is not it. Great articles though. Thank you for posting them.

Thank you!!!

I looked through the manual on the G5 and could not find how to switch from single cue to dual cue. How do you make the switch?

Since I fly by myself I guess I could consider something like a Curtiss P-40 or a P-51 in the same mission category.... But I think maybe a Pipestrel Panthera, even though I know nothing about them and they may be terrible airplanes...they look cool and fly fast. Or maybe a Lancair of some sort. I would avoid the Vans Aircraft line of planes just because I don't want to look dorky with my gear always hanging out...

That may be the same kind of price point that is keeping him from getting a Piper Cheyenne.

When we were younger and my Dad still flew, we had an E-55 Baron. It was great when myself, my sister and my brother were smaller and much younger and it would carry six and baggage and fuel with no issues. As we grew older and got bigger we quickly outgrew that airplane. It did not have club seating and was difficult for larger passengers to get to the rear seats. When I was 9 I sat in the very back because I could crawl through the baggage door. Same with my sister. When we outgrew that, my Dad got into a 340. It was comfortable for 6 and could haul a house if you needed. It liked to fly in the flight levels and was a fun plane. Very solid airplane as well especially for IFR flying. He was in a 3 way partnership with it and it made the expenses quite reasonable. I write his because be wary that you will quickly outgrow a Baron unless you get the club seating with easier access. The Baron is a terrific airplane though. It got us through a lot of flights without one hiccup. The day my Dad sold it, the new owner pushed it back into the hangar and bent the wing.

The point of taking the regional job was not as a final career but to use it as a stepping stone to gain the experience to head into a more lucrative flying job. Yes the pay may be lower but it is not as bad as some may think and for a young twenty something kid with no wife/husband or kids it may be a good deal to leap into a higher paying job. This Mooney flying job will not give you the experience needed to fly corporate if that is what one wishes to do. You need multi engine turbine time for a lot of corporate flying. This Mooney job is not that.