Greg Ellis

I usually call 10-15 miles out at my home airport. They are Class D under Class B. My airport is usually quite busy on nice weekends so I think the little extra time lets them know that I am coming in and they can fit me into the flow of traffic instead of me waiting until I am almost in their Class D. They do a lot of practice approaches, etc... and like to know ahead of time that someone is coming in. They also have a lot of traffic departing their airspace and like to know what they are sending them out to.

Try talking to @KLRDMD. He owned a V-Tail for a while and may have some advice for you.

I agree with this as well. And in my 63 C model, the baggage compartment is rated and placarded to only 120lbs so the other 30 lbs or so would have to be placed somewhere else.

I am one that has ran a tank dry on long cross countries many times. When I had the old fuel gauges in the cluster in my 63 C model, I would experience the same thing you did. It would keep running long past when the gauge read empty. So those old gauges weren't even close to being accurate. But don't rely on the fact that you may have reserve past when these old gauges read empty (if that is what you are referencing). The next time you fly they may read zero when you are actually empty (what they are supposed to do according to the FAA) or they may read that you have some fuel when you are actually empty. This happened to me on more than one occasion with these old gauges. From flight to flight they read differently. So the only thing I relied on was actual loss of fuel pressure and then a good watch to keep track of time and fuel burn. Now, with my EDM 900 and CEIS fuel senders, they are amazingly accurate.

It actually does not even take turbulence to stir things up. I read somewhere and I cannot recall or find the source now (so this is going to sound like anecdote) that even taxiing on the ground will stir up anything that may be in your fuel tanks. The fuel sloshes around quite a bit even while taxiing.

If you look closely at the video in the feed above it is the left engine that is stopped and feathered. Look really close multiple times and you will see the prop is not moving. If you pause it and play and pause and play you will see that the right propeller changes position but the propeller tip paint (white paint) on the left propeller never changes position. The right engine is the one still producing power but looks like it is wind-milling because of the camera shutter speeds, kind of like when you see video of airplanes starting up on the ground and it looks like the prop is not spinning. So, if this is the case then he lost the critical engine!!! Very important information. Loss of the critical engine can make it far more difficult to control due to the P factor, etc... from the right engine and the propeller producing a line of thrust further away from the centerline of the airplane.

Placed mine on the co-pilots side close to the 530W as you can see in the photo. I have no issues with readability, etc....

Canadians are just friendly trustworthy folks.... To qualify this statement, I was born in Hamilton, Ontario.

After reading the original post, and taking a Motrin for my headache, I realize I do not know jack squat about the electrics in an airplane.

I am grateful for this sentiment that you have expressed. It is truly in line with the way I feel about Mooneyspace. I lurk quite alot and contribute quite little. I am so thankful for the knowledge of Mooneys and other aviation related topics that is available to me through Mooneyspace. There are some amazing individuals on this forum. I wish I could personally get to know each and every one of you. Mooneyspace has shaped and changed to way I fly my airplane and the way I take care of my airplane. I would also like to thank the many members of this forum for helping learn to be the best pilot and airplane owner that I can be. I too knew very little about my airplane when I bought it 14 years ago or so. I think I make sound decisions when it comes to my airplane thanks majority in part of the members of this forum.

An update that some may not be aware of, I just opened my Garmin Pilot. I did do the i-pad update over the weekend. An error message in Garmin pilot came up today saying "10.2.5 Safe Taxi Issue. For some airports, SafeTaxi displays the incorrect diagram in the full screen, split screen and thumbnail views. SafeTaxi displays correctly on the dynamic maps. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and will keep you posted on a resolution." Of course, I updated the ios over the weekend when GP said it was okay to do so.

So, I decided, just out of curiosity sake and since I have been waiting for this Garmin autopilot for my 63 C model, to shoot an e-mail to Garmin to see if they would provide me any answers to why anything earlier than the 63 C model has been excluded so far. The following is the answer I received and highlights what some others on this forum have already said... Good Morning Greg, The main reason is the Mooney M20C models before 1964 are structurally different and requires a different installation kit/setup to complete. We are currently have this on schedule for early 2021 to start the certification process. Regards, Chad Aviation Support

I looked at that as well and thought surely it has to be something other than a hole to the outside. If my mechanic only worried about a stuck valve and talked about trying to fix the stuck valve, with a hole this large to the outside then I would be looking for a new mechanic.

The first photo in this thread is of a Mooney Mite down at the Lonestar flight a Museum in a Texas. It is the wood wings and fuselage without fabric to give you an idea of how beautiful the woodworking was on these early Mooneys.

I have never met Don in person. I have been to Oshkosh when he was there (I even think we shared the same stage together at the first Mooney forum at Oshkosh), but a crowd seems to follow him wherever he goes. But for someone I have never met in person he has had such a tremendous influence on my flying that I cannot thank him enough. When I first bought my Mooney over 12 years ago (lost track of when) I was having a very tough time with landings. My flight instructor who is a Mooney guy (owned a J model for years) was trying his best with me but my landings were not something you would want to talk about. After about 10 minutes of watching Don's videos on landings, all was corrected. He is such a good instructor that even long distance through a video he can completely change my habits and make me a better Mooney pilot. I will always thank him for this. So, congratulations Don for 20 years and keep up the great work. And please never stop contributing to this forum. Your knowledge is priceless.

I don't have a dog in this fight. But I am curious, as someone who has been thinking about a GFC 500 for a long time now (now probably delayed even further according to Garmin's website), what do you mean by the Garmin installation is pure garbage? I assume you were talking about the GFC 500? I am just wondering what you mean by this with examples of what you have seen as to the installation. I am sure there are folks on this forum that would disagree with this statement (those that have the GFC 500 in their airplane) so I am curious as to what you have seen. I am inquiring only for my own benefit as a possible purchase in the future and not to try to pick a fight.

If you Google "What computer do I need to run FS2020" you will get a multitude of websites telling you what is best to run the program. This website (very ad heavy) will tell you what is minimum and what is recommended. It will also tell you if your hardware on your computer will cut it. https://systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/microsoft-flight-simulator/19451 And if you want to build your own you can look at this site: https://9to5toys.com/2020/07/17/best-computers-microsoft-flight-simulator-2020/#minimum-requirements As with all websites these days, use them at your own risk...

So, The Silver Eagle video was from 2018. This is a video from 2016 of a PIlatus being pulled out of the same hangar and taking off from the same airfield albeit with a better mowed runway.

Thanks Don.

Question from someone who does not have an autopilot, when you say the GFC 500 needs a 750 or a 650 for VNAV, does that mean it will not capture and fly a glideslope on an ILS or the glideslope on a LNAV approach unless you have a 750 or 650? Or are you just talking about the VNAV guidance I program in the 530W to tell me when to begin my descent to cross a certain fix at a certain altitude, etc.... Sorry it is a basic question but I am new to autopilots, never having flown with one in 27 years of flying.

When all this ADS-B out was first getting started I thought I remembered this company as one trying to do ADS-B out. I think they were going to do it for experimental and they were one of the early ones doing it. I guess that changed or I am wrong. With me, more likely the latter.

I am all for the ingenuity and inventiveness of these small companies. Without them things would not progress like they do. However, I am not sure I would want this hanging off my airplane. Most of what it gives you can be found in other cockpit devices including portable devices. The website is slightly mis-leading by saying you get real-time weather in the cockpit from the ADS-B. Well, as we all know there is such a delay with ADS-B that it is not real time. Real time can only be had with on board radar and/or stormscope, etc... But I do applaud the ingenuity and the story behind the owner of the company.

I have used these in my 63 C model http://www.aerographics.com/images/documents/kits/interior/Mooney_M20_Series_Interior_AeroGraphics_Placards.pdf There is also this company that may have some as well. You would have to call to see what they have http://www.moodyaero.com/moody_interior.html

So I am up very early this morning. Couldn’t sleep for some reason. Thought....what the hell...let me check the Garmin website for any updates. Certification for the C\D\E\F\G is still in progress. However there was an asterisk on the C,D,E models. I thought this can’t be good. Scrolled down to find this... *Certain serial numbers excluded, see authorized Garmin installation center for details. Initial Mooney M20 C/D/E model coverage is planned to include model year 1965 aircraft and later only. Mine is a 1963 C model. What the hell. Garmin is bound and determined for me not to have one of their autopilots. Oh well. Maybe I should buy a different plane....

I didn't realize how much I missed checking in on Mooneyspace until it was gone. Glad it's back. Withdrawals came on quicker than I would have expected.