mooneygirl

Hello All We have new T-shirts and sweatshirts available for the Ambassadors. Our new slogan is: Inspire the Love of Flight. If you would like to purchase a shirt just drop me a PM or email to: MooneyAmbassadors@charter.net. It makes me crazy that I cannot seem to upload photos to a post no matter how small I make them. Oh well, check out my Gallery for photos.

That is so strange. How can that happen? Makes me concerned about the Ambassador website being vulnerable. Any techies out there who know how to keep your website safe?

Actually the updated video link is here:

Here is our promo video: This year's event: December 3rd, 2011 Make a child smile at Christmas. Join us for our annual Toys for Tots event in cooperation with the US Marine Corps. Bring a new, unwrapped toy and enjoy the fun. 10:00 Arrivals and holiday beverages 11:00 Live holiday music 12:00 Central Coast Smokers BBQ $15 includes all the fixins and dessert 2:00 Event ends There is no admission charge. Model A Car Clubs, Antique Motorcycle displays and Aircraft on display. Banner Airways: Take a ride back in history in the 1943 Super Stearman Yellow Bi-plane. SkyDive Pismo Beach is on hand for those wishing to skydive with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Oceano Fuel providing a $.25 per gallon discount with an additional $.25 going to Toys for Tots. Please bring a new, unwrapped toy. Cash donations also accepted. For more information about the Friends of Oceano Airport, go to our website: http://www.FriendsofOceanoAirport.com

Mitch and I were headed to Livermore, CA KLVK a couple months ago. There was a Bonanza inbound as well. We had to slow for him three times. The Bonanza was audibly irritated. Oh well, gotta love that Mooney SPEED

New video combines both events.... Porterville Air Faire, California Columbia Father's Day Fly-In, California New Ambassador video features: Karen Torres,Mitch Latting, Quinn Walton, Peter F Holm, Ed Mandibles, Jolie Lucas, John Ready, Grant Christensen, Rich Hill, Kim Mason Hill, and so many more. Enjoy:

bump

After the G.A. News article and the Ebrief picking it up, we have gotten a lot of interest in PGA Squared, our presentation on promoting general aviation and protecting airports. So we made this little ditty:

I am headed up to Jackson/Westover to spend the weekend with my Dad. Flying my beautiful Maggie. Mitch and Gabriel are staying home. Both have Halloween parties. Gabriel is going to be Sora from Kingdom Hearts [don't ask me] and Mitch has decided to use my Glinda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz. I don't believe the original Glinda had a mustache, but it was before my time. Everyone have fun out there this weekend. Fly those airplanes if you can. As usual, not able to put the fun PHOTO on this post. So look in my gallery if you like.

Perhaps we just need to complete this thread and move on to something a bit more positive and Mooney related.

A friend of mine asked how the "convention" was. I told him that we had a wonderful time, but it really felt much more like a family reunion. I imagine that many of you who attended felt the same way. It was so nice to meet new friends and see old friends. Trey and Lela and all the rest did such a remarkable job of making each one of us feel welcomed home to Kerrville. Mitch and I tallied up our hours on Maggie, 21. [We did go to Dallas after Kerrville for the day, so that added 3 hours]. The airplane performed without a hiccup. We even had 145-150 kts on the way home which was super for heading west. We stopped in Deming, NM. We stayed at the Hacienda across from the airport $32 total. Was it the Holiday Inn? No, but clean and we got a good night's sleep. We met Bert the next day from Desert Aviation. What a remarkable example of an ambassador for General Aviation. Of course, all FBOs are struggling. But he believes in rolling out the red carpet for his customers. Good fuel price $5.50 [compared to over $6 in surrounding area], discount for paying cash ten cents a gallon. No tie down charge, he will put your plane in the hangar for free, and has a crew van that is free. Any military that comes in eats for free. He said they spent $7000-8000 per year feeding our military, but thinks it is worth it. His wife is an elementary school teacher, and every year he takes the 35 students up for an airplane ride. He believes, which may be true, that this ride might be the only time the children are exposed to general aviation or airports. We flew on to Lake Havasu, and stopped at D2 Aero. $5.15 was the fuel price. D2 has always been very hospitable. They have an "island" themed FBO complete with free slushes and popcorn. They gave us a couple of frozen water bottles which was great for the trip home. The owner said she was looking through photos from 2009, the fuel price was $3.19. She said they used to pump 1200 gallons a day and now they are lucky to have 120. They did have an event to honor veterans last year with a big band and folks dressed up in 1940s garb. This next week, they are hosting a wedding reception. We left Havasu and thought we would have to go into Santa Maria IFR: I follow roads, route 166. But were pleasantly surprised when the sky opened up and was solid VFR. As a person who puts on events, I keenly understand what it takes to put on an event. Trey and Lela, my hat is off to you two. It was just lovely. We will be back next year. Thanks so much. Jolie Lucas Mitch Latting

Thank you Don. It was so nice to meet you in person. We are doing our best to inspire folks to DO something at their airports, or in their airplanes for the good of G.A. and to inspire the love of flight. Everyone can do something, even if it is a small thing. I met Bert today at Deming NM FBO: Desert Aviation. His wife is an elementary school teacher. Every year he gives a ride to the 35 students in her class. He says that this ride might be the only time the child will be at the airport or go for a ride. What an example for us all.

Don, Jolie has some photos of your Mooney. It's a great plane for sure. Mitch

On our tour we got to see the shiny skins for the elevators and wings that they are making for an order. Impressive to see all those machines. WOW.

Hello All We are having such a fab time here at MAPA. For us, after arrival we went on a two hour tour of the factory. It was so much fun to see where my airplane was "born" in 1965. There are folks working, manufacturing parts, and making skins for wings and elevators. Although there isn't anything directly in the hopper, word is that there are folks touring quite a bit. Perhaps there will be a reason to celebrate in Kerrville again next year! The workshops have been well attended and quite informative. The ice cream social last night was a smashing success. I think everyone was out there enjoying a scoop in our Mooney mugs. Bill Wheat shared his expertise with us for over an hour this morning. That was so awesome. Such a piece of history. The E model is the best airplane he believes for speed and efficiency, so of course, I even like him more for that. This morning was the EFB discussion, very lively and lots of great choices out there. Mitch and I had a fun time with our PGA Squared presentation, and there looks to be about a half dozen new Ambassador events now on the books. Next month: Port Escondido Mexico with Jorge as the point person. Details to follow on the Ambassador website. We are now in afternoon sessions learning about taxes and implications for aircraft, and then on to Garmin. The judding for the beauty contest was earlier today. I have my fingers....crossed. This evening is the farewell banquet, awards and door prizes. Trey and Lela have done a wonderful job making us all feel very welcome and special. I adore meeting people in person, that I have met on MooneySpace, MAPA list, or Facebook. Our new project for 2011-12 is Mooney Ambassadors Care. We encourage Mooney owners to have a Toys for Tots event in 2012. We already give of our aircraft, fuel and time. But T4T is a lovely way to show we, as a family, care about other families who are struggling at the holidays. In the coming weeks I will have a "how to" video on YouTube to talk about Ambassadors Care. A little cloudy today but lovely. Sad to have to say goodbye...

Hey David, thanks for the offer. I am thinking Thursday early evening dinner so we can get back to the hospitality starting at 7. What time do you open? Anyone else want to join Mitch and I??

Hello All Mitch and I have been asked to present PGA Squared: Promote G.A.; Protect Airports at MAPA. Our multimedia presentation will be Saturday morning at 10:30. Please join us and get ready for some fun and great ideas. I am even told Mooney M&Ms might even be available for those who must be bribed! HA

I wish we could come, it looks like a fun time.

Mitch and I are doing our flight planning to KERV. What a fun time we will all have. There are still limited registration spaces. Come join the fun!

Congratulations and welcome to the Mooney family! Come see us at Oceano Airport December 3rd for Toys for Tots, that would be a great little flight for your new bird. Way to go.

From Don Maxwell Aviation: Just wanted to post a little update about the factory. Parts are becoming more available. Mooney has brought some of the employees back and machined parts, such as bushings and such are available again. Welded parts are available and last week they brought back a sheet metal guy and they are now making wing skins and such. Stamped parts are still not available but will be very soon. These parts are items like gear doors and such. The word has not reached all of the MSC's for some reason but be sure and pass the word. They are working on the back orders now but they need new orders soon to keep these guys on. So if you've been gripping you can't get parts, now is your chance. If your local MSC can't help you, there are about 6 of us on this list that will be glad too. Mooney requests that you order parts thru the service center network and to please not call the factory. Stacie is helping with mfg parts and that leaves Frank to himself filling our orders. If you must contact the factory , please email them at serviceparts @mooney.com. I think Trey is working on a more detailed list of items available now and what will be available shortly. Don Maxwell

Our friend Bob Keller has a 1976 F model and wanted to have a stars and stripes type of feel for his plane. He mocked up several versions and took them to ArtCraft. They put the design on the plane, and then worked with him [all part of the price] to find the exact scheme he wanted. Teresa was particularly helpful with the placement of the stars on the tail. This is annoying but I cannot seem to get the photos to attach to this post. I will put them in my gallery. As some of you know, I have a custom paint scheme on my E model. I simply looked at others I liked and then incorporated the design elements. I used one of our Mooney coloring sheets for the kids and took it to Tony and Teresa. The result was just spectacular. In my opinion there is no need to spend a lot of money on a professional scheme, when their help is included in the price. I will load photos into my gallery since I cannot get them to add here.