Greg Ellis

That looks awesome. Nicely done.

I have heard good things about these folks. And my avionics shop uses them. Home Page (rudyaircraftinstruments.com)

While not the Mid-Atlantic area, I just paid $2850 for the base annual for my 63 C model. This included the inspection as well as all the AD research, etc... Fortunately it was a pretty clean annual with only 2 squawks that needed attention.

They do have a Mooney with 2 doors. You just have to find either an Acclaim Ultra or an Ovation Ultra. They both have a pilot and co-pilot side doors.

@pagirard Go to here: Advanced Pilot Download the Target EGT power point presentation. It should help understand the leaning as you climb concept. You are fortunate that it will be easy for you to put this into practice since you are at sea level. It will also give you a good reference for when you are departing from any airport at any density altitude. It is for normally aspirated engines such as your E model. And, yes, I do lean as I climb.

Same here for Dorr Aviation...I want my keyring they owe me from 17 years ago.

Less than 2000 hours TTAF for a 1959? That is less than 30 hours per year. So you may be looking at an airplane that has sat for many years. If I really wanted an A model and found a nice one I would definitely keep the wood wing. It is fabric covered with no rivets and very slick. A friend's A model with the same engine as my C model could outrun me all day long so I would not change it out or you might as well buy a C Model that is a little newer and in good shape. It would be less money than changing out the wing on an A model, even if it could be done. A few years ago, I heard that Don Maxwell was no longer going to touch wood wings. Not sure about that. But there is a guy in Houston that has worked on many A models, and Mites and even rebuilt a number of Mites including the Naked Mite that is on display at the Lone Star Flight Museum.

CAM Aircraft at Fort Worth Spinks did my panel and autopilot. I think they did a nice job at a reasonable price. The work came in at the quoted fee on all of the work. They have since gotten new owners but the new owners were avionic technicians for the original owner who retired. They bought the shop. But they were the guys that did all of the work. The owner had a maintenance side to CAM aircraft that was more of his thing but apparently that is being shut down and all they will be doing is avionics. CAM Aircraft

I had my tanks done 10 years ago at Weep No More. I have had only one small issue that was easily repaired but it was outside the warranty time that was done so my local A&P fixed it with no other issues. This leak was down around the fuel drain. Anyways, I would go with Weep No More as they do excellent work and I don't think there would be any issue if you had a warranty problem come up. With that being said, Paul at Weep No More is booked out quite far in advance so I would get on his schedule ASAP; I think it is the same with Wetwingologists.

I purchased a panel from LASAR a few years ago. It fit perfectly. They may still sell them. It was not expensive either.

Do the Avidyne 540/440's play nice with the Garmin G5's and the Garmin GFC 500 autopilot?

Says they are on back order at Airpower but a good price compared to others. However, they also say that price will only hold until stock is depleted. I would assume that since they are on backorder, the stock is depleted.

It looks like you are in Canada so the rules may be a little different but in the US the front windshield has to be either done by an A&P or done by you but signed off by an A&P. The side windows are different and can just be done by the owner.

When I did mine myself I used denatured alcohol and it worked great. I cannot answer anything else about the install because the windows on a 63 C model like mine are installed completely different than the F model in question.

Sal's is who did my last cylinder. They are good folks. I have visited their shop. No sign, no name to be seen but you know you are in the right place because of the mountain of used and non-serviceable cylinders out in the front yard. It is a mountain of them. But they have a really cool place with some classic equipment and a very nice classic Corvette (from the 50's) that I believe Sal has been the only owner of the car.

The Owner's Manual for my 1963 C model (more like a pamphlet, really) does say to Apply brakes to stop wheel rotation prior to retracting the gear. I have never consciously done this.

One thing I envy about you guys with newer models, the ease of removing cowls. In my 63 C model, there are roughly 75 to 80 screws to remove to get both cheeks off.

I have a 63 C model with the original windshield, etc. My center stack could fit a GNC355, GNS530W and a GFC500. I could not fit the transponder (GTX345) or audio panel (GMA345) in there. They are on the right side of the center stack. So you should be okay I would think with the GFC500, GMA245 and GNS430. That should not be an issue at all. The issue may come when you upgrade to the GTN650, GNC255 and GTX345 all while trying to keep the GFC500 in the center.

That could have just been cleaned up with some simple green and put back into service, no?....

I am just putting this in the general section so maybe it can help anyone that is experiencing the issue that I was. I have a 63 C model with an O-360-A1D. After a long hiatus of flying, waiting on a cylinder (since August), I was able to get the airplane back in the air. However, when I tried to start it for the first time since August, it was tough to start. The prop would barely make it over the first compression stroke and I would have to release the key and try again. While trying to start, the voltage on the EDM 900 would drop to 8 volts. If it made it over the compression stroke then it fired right up but getting over that was tough. My first thought was a weak battery. It had been kept on a battery minder the whole time but maybe the battery was bad. I also thought it could be the starter as well. So, I followed a recent thread about someone else having starter issues (the one that was smoking) and downloaded the Sky-Tec troubleshooting guide and followed it through. I did every step in the guide and everything checked out fine. The battery was solid. After 48 hours resting (not on the charger) the voltage of the battery was still 12.9 which according to battery minder is a good battery. All voltages across the battery, the solenoids and the starter itself were all within what Sky-Tec would call normal. The starter to ground resistance was .1 ohms which according to Sky-tec is fine. The battery to ground however was almost 1 ohm which according to Sky-Tec, anything greater than .2 ohms needs to be looked at. So, I removed the negative battery cable which is grounded to a stud on the engine. I cleaned all the washers, cleaned the battery cable ends themselves and cleaned the area on the engine where the ground connects. I reconnected everything. Rechecked the resistance and it was .2 ohms. The engine fired right up with no resistance on the compression stroke and no drain on the battery upon starting. I was amazed that a single ground issue could cause this kind of a problem. Mind you, I know very little about electrical stuff. The trouble shooting guide saved me a lot of money on a new starter, new battery, and just throwing things at the problem etc... It did take a while to do all of this. To access the ground from the negative battery terminal, in order to get a wrench on the nut, I had to remove the intake tube on the #4 cylinder. But it saved me a lot of money, so I am happy, and it is nice to be flying again after 4 months.

In the photo of his panel, he has 2 G5's. One in the center as his Attitude Indicator and another which is just left of the radio stack.

And when working on a Mooney, it teaches you proper wound care….

I am not sure if they offer classes for free to anyone over 60 but one of the best A&P schools around is at Tarrant County College. They hold the actual classes out at Alliance Airport. The day course is 2 years and the night course is 3 years. They also have add on courses to specialize in avionics or composites, etc... I was enrolled and started but I could not make it work. My office is in Southwest Fort Worth. The evening classes started around 4 pm. They have a very strict no absence, no tardiness policy and there was no way I could guarantee making it to class on time every day coming from work at that time with traffic so I was not able to do it. But it is an excellent program. Tons of different aircraft and engines, etc... that you do hands on work on.

You just vaulted back to numero uno!!!