Greg Ellis

Thanks. I was able to take a few showers in between photos.

Thank you.

Thanks very much.

Thanks. I notice you are from Burlington, ON. I was born in Hamilton but my Godparents lived in Burlington. My whole family is from Canada however we moved to Texas back in 1977 when I was 8 years old.

The avionics shop said there should not be a problem with installing another G5 above the HSI. I, however think they may have to cheat a little and widen the top of the hole to fit it in and the bracket around the G5 will cover up the enlarged hole. I did not install one this go around for a couple of reasons. One, is I now essentially have 3 Attitude indicators. The vacuum one, the electric one and the G5 HSI can be changed back to an attitude indicator by a couple of clicks of a knob. And the other reason is a long shot but I am hoping that Garmin gets their act together and certifies the GFC 500 digital autopilot for Mooneys next year. If so, that will be my next install and it can run off a G5 Attitude indicator that I would install then along with the autopilot. This is a LASAR panel. They had them in stock and were at a great price compared to other people that wanted to design them from scratch. Even though LASAR told me that it should not require modification, it did. They had to shave off some from the upper left side of the left panel to get it to fit properly as well as take off some from along the bottom. The right panel was a blank with no holes cut in from LASAR. It also had to be modified slightly in size. I have a back up AI on the left lower where you could fit a clock there.

Nothing planned as of yet.

Well, I started this project off with just trying to get ADS-B compliant. Airplane is a 1963 C model. As they worked through my airplane they found so much wrong that I am surprised I could fly IFR at all. As you know a 1963 airplane probably has had a lot of work done to it and mine is no exception. But as things were removed and replaced over the years, the wiring was never removed. There were hot wires going nowhere. Other wires that should have been removed long ago that went nowhere. There was a static leak that I was unaware of...etc...etc... So I took the plunge and did quite the upgrade. Garmin G5 HSI, Garmin 530W, Garmin GTX 345 transponder, Garmin GMA 345 Audio panel, JPI EDM 900, new panel. The only unusual thing is that the Attitude Indicator is not centered over the yoke but that was due to the small area on the left side panel that you have to work with on the C-model and the number of instruments trying to pack in there. The panels were pre-made and available from LASAR if anyone is interested. Here are the pre and post photos for your amusement.

Not sure about Flightaware. My Dad and a partner owned a Cessna 340. It had a gear collapse about 8 years ago and has not flown since (very long story). I know this for a fact. When you check the FAA website the tail number and registration is for a Cessna 340. When you query Flightaware it says it is an Aerostar which last flew 7 years ago in Florida. Which it definitely is not even according to the registration with the FAA.

Maybe at the 11th hour he got a better offer.... so be it. There are plenty of nice airplanes out there. Good luck on the hunt.

Up until a few weeks ago I flew with a GNC 300XL for 12 years. It is not upgradeable to WAAS and is not supported by Garmin anymore. The databases are still available from Jeppesen but have gotten large enough that the downloads are split into 2 (Eastern US and Western US) so I have multiple data cards for it. I am actually keeping it in my panel as a second radio after the upgrade that I am currently doing. It is a good GPS and you can fly the LNAV approaches with it which usually gets you down to 400 to 500 feet AGL. It is relatively easy to use as well. Coupled with an auto pilot it should serve you well. If ever I needed a lower approach I would fly into an airport with an ILS. In Texas, that is not very often.

His tail number is N1960. There is no alpha on the end.

Dave Morris lurks on here. He has a 1960 A model. Before Bill Wheat passed, he had him sign the oil access door on his cowl. Bill was the test pilot that signed off his Air Worthiness way back in 1960.

When I first bought my C model, the A&P ran it on the ground without the cowl after some work that was done. The engine got hot very quickly so I would second Mooneyflyer’s recommendations.

I would not worry too much about having Mooney time when going into a C model for insurance purposes. I purchased my C model when I had about 70 hours. No Mooney time. I did have a high performance, complex endorsements as well as my IR. My insurance premium was about $1400 at the time. They required 10 hours with an instructor and 10 hours solo before taking passengers. 1700 hours later my premium is right around $600. But if you are unsure about a Mooney and not sure if you want one (which you will once you fly it) some Mooney time may be money well spent.

Just to add...I have used the Claw each time I have gone to Oshkosh. it is easy to put in and easy to get out but holds the airplane very well. There is some very useful information here.... https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/eaa-fly-in-flying-to-oshkosh/ground-operations/tying-down-aircraft

AVWeb just did a video on these. They are marketed to jets and turbine pilots who fly in quieter airplanes. They are not going to do as well in our piston planes and this is according to the Bose rep in the video.

N6018Q — Read through the topic on this forum entitled Fuel Servo Replaced—Everthing Changed. some of the responses sound a little like what is happening to your airplane.

Same thing happened to me. He took my money and did not send me the part. His website is down. Tried calling his number and it is out of service as well. Live and learn.

I have used Aircraft door seals but I may give the MD weather seal a try.

You can find the video version of Rod Machado's article here if you wish.

I fly a 63 C model and I have absolutely no fuel smell in the cockpit so in my case any smell is a cause to stop and make sure everything is okay. I have had fuel odor in the cockpit before but that was due to two very bad things happening. One was a fuel leak from my left fuel tank. They are notorious for leaking into the interior behind the pilot's seat. You will see blue stains on the carpeting. The second was something very unusual. I was flying home one afternoon and got a tremendously strong fuel smell in the cockpit. I mean it was very bad. Giving me a headache, etc... I was a few minutes from home so I landed. The next day I flew the plane to my mechanic at the time. On that flight there was only a slight fuel smell. While trouble shooting the problem it was discovered that there was a metal fuel line coming into the cockpit down near the pilot side rudder petals. When the mechanic turned on the fuel pump, fuel started pouring out from the firewall in this area. When looking down by the rudder pedals fuel was pouring into the cockpit. The mechanic was able to remove the metal line. Over the years vibrations in the metal tube had worn a thin slit in the tube where it was vibrating against the firewall. There should have been a protective grommet there but it was not in place. So over the years it just made a nice narrow slit in the metal tubing and eventually broke through allowing fuel to leak into the cabin.

It is the ultimate VFR panel. No reason not to be looking outside. And you can't beat the air conditioning.

Don't think I will be flying over there. Last I checked in with my airplane, this was what she looked like.

He is also doing some stuff for www.pilotworkshops.com

I use the CIP and FIP on aviationweather.gov when planning a flight. I think this maybe what you mean when you say NOAA. (the site seems to be down right now) There are very good subscription type talks on icing to help teach you about it, when it occurs, how it occurs, etc. I personally have used workshops on avwxworkshops.com Scott Dennstaedt is a meteorologist and a CFI that does some really nice weather workshops. I also subscribe to pilotworkshops.com and they have some nice workshops on weather as well.