Hank

Dab paint to cover and fill the lettering, then wipe the surface clean. This should leave the letters nicely filled. Touch up as needed before it dries

A lot of it comes down to two things: retract time, and time in type. There used to be a significant break at 100 hours--how many hours do you have?

Your infinite endurance is amazing! But your Range is zero, so are you really flying?

That's what I used to think. Then I did some work along the runway where I used to be based . . . It's not often you get a chance to wind up the car, so I did. The runway was only 3000' long, and I know where my little C usually takes off at 70 mph. So I went back to the stripe and gave the top model Accord everything it had, smoking tires and speed-shifting. I was at about 60 mph at the point where my C was at 70 mph and rotating for takeoff. On the other hand, I've never ridden in a Rocket or any Mooney with the 310 hp upgrade, but the turbonormalized A36 with 285 hp didn't bother me as being "too fast." Guess it's all a personal thing . . . .

My C has a 3-blade Hartzell, and I seem to cruise between book and book+5 mph. The extra blade helps with climb, and makes a good airbrake when I come into the pattern too fast, just push it full forward--i can hear and feel it working.

I fly with my Samsung tablet, less pricey than apple wifi but GPS is included; it was also included in my previous $105 Samsung tablet. Just refresh the data in the EFB at home or hotel; I usually enter flight info in the hangar / FBO, sometimes in my cockpit after engine start while waiting for the Garmin to work through its startup. The only thing the EFB needs the internet for is to update data every four weeks. You only need a cellular tablet if you are an apple fan, but then you also need a subscription to the EFB, too (be sure to set airplane mode before takeoff, or the battery will die looking for towers!). Avare is free, includes all charts and plates, uses rubber banding and switches automatically to airport diagram on rollout before I am able to look down at it. Foreflight is iOS only, so you need the expensive tablet; Avare is android only, and will run on any android tablet of any price.

Congrats on the step up! East Texas is a big place to cross. Enjoy learning your new ride, and fly safe. P.S.--pictures, @Yetti, or it didn't happen.

Price an OH for this engine. Just make sure you are sitting down in something comfortable, and have someone around who can help you a when needed before looking at the total cost!

At first glance, avionics look old for this class of aircraft, but very similar to that's in my C. Then there's 438 hours in the last 17 years, an average of 27 hours per year . . . How many years has it sat inflows? What shape is tank sealant in, and shock disks, and then engine hoses replaced 17 years ago, and gaskets and . . . .

Chill and relax, Rich. That sling is partly to give support, partly to remind you that your arm isn't ready to be doing things yet.

Hey, @N201MKTurbo, how're you doing? My surgery was much less invasive; I began exercises the next morning holding a can of soup. Hope you're doing well. Take the pills, they'll help your recovery. After my surgery last fall, I set alarms on my phone to take a poll every 6 hours, no pain at all. It's much easier to keep it gone than to make it stop once you start feeling it.

I did everything to avoid surgery--therapy, shots (they hurt like hell but provided 2-3 pain-free weeks each, but two was all they could give); rays, MRI, etc. This all took 6-8 months to go through everything. Then got a second opinion before agreeing to be cut on. Now, 23 years later, it feels like it's starting all over again.

Cool! Once you heal.up and finish PT, you shouldn't have any more joint pain! Ever . . .

Nice! Chipmunk or CAP?

Wow! The insurance rate for scope & clean in Dec 2001 was $12,900! I'm gonna look into this!

I generally don't push my C much more than 100 feet, otherwise I crank up and taxi. Each year it seems that my changeover point gets shorter . . . .

I'll study up on these. Both shoulders bother me a bit, the right one that had scope & clean 23 years ago is getting up to its old tricks again. Recovery last time was ~4 months . . . But I'm older now, and have a Mooney in the hangar!

Yep, what Vance said. Plus, my own minimums are flexible--as I fly more often and don't think "am I current?", my minimums decrease; fly less, needed to get current, my minimums increase. My last IFR flight was a brief climb through IMC, cruise on top for 4 hours. The forecast at my destination was scattered cirrus 25,000; when I flew past the end of the layer below me, there was a much lower layer going off into the distance left, right and forward. Approach asked if I had weather at my destination; when I replied affirmative, they cane right back with "state intentions." Conditions were 400 overcast, visibility 2 miles in mist, and I forget the winds. But one county south was 900 overcast, visibility unlimited, winds from the west but not strong. They also had an ILS. So i diverted there and let my wife drive 45 minutes to get me. Didn't feel like messing with it after a 4-hour flight where I'd left my travel mug of ice water in the Uber, and had less than 1/2 bottle of water in the plane. Naturally the skies cleared up a few hours later.

@Alan Fox has some preflown parts, and he's also scrapped out a Mooney or two. He may have some filler necks, even radios if they're the problem. Welcome to the club. Hope you enjoy your C half as much as I do mine!

So how does it handle the rapidly-growijg number of traffic circles? Or does it do like so many people and Stop for that triangular YIELD sign?

Go for it! No one gets a do over in life. @Parker_Woodruff has been insuring my C for a while now, I think the last 4 or 5 years with Basic Med. I'm just two years younger than you.

Engrave the lettering into the panel, anodize it, then go back.and fill in the letters with contrasting paint. It will look sharp and last forever!

Now there's an STC to price out development on!!

Well, if you don't have beta, he has thrust reversers, which you would see as strong headwinds . . . .

The previous owner had them put on. I'll try to dig through the logbooks, but I don't remember seeing any drawings for anything (wingtips or windshield).