Hank

I keep my spinner shiny with Mother's polish from K-Mart. Should also be available at your local National Airplane Parts Association store. The bugs disappear from my spinner the same way they do from my cowling and leading edges, and everywhere but the windows: Mira cloth wipes. Wet it, wring it out, wipe it off, with an occasional rinse. Visit www.theultimatecloth.biz for details; I buy mine at (614) 337-0519, Columbus, OH. I suggest the five-pack for $20. No more chemicals, no more sprays, and very little elbow grease. --Hank

I really enjoy both the PC system and my Brittain Accu-Trak. I fly the heading bug almost all the time. The previous owner fixed it up, added the heading bug and interfaced it with the 430 to fly approaches, leaving me to work the radio and control altitude. It's really nice. Although I frequently forget to press the PC disconnect button, it's pretty easy to overpower, and the extra resistance makes me unlikely to overbank in the pattern. Expect your flight times to decrease 1/3 to 1/2 compared to your 172. Navmonster is quoting 1 hr 17 min BFM-AUO for my C-model, so football games will be closer. With any luck, I'll make it down for a game this fall [2 hr 41 min]. Yes, I'm an alum, Engineering 1986. Been flying the Mooney since 2007, which I bought at 62 hours. Concentrate on a good airframe, solid maintenance history in the logs, and a modern panel. This means the standard 6-pack [top row, Airspeed, AI, Altimeter; bottom row, TC, DG, VSI]. Some of the older planes have these scattered almost randomly around the panel, mixed in with VOR's, ADF, etc. Look through the gallery here and you can probably find some, especially if Dave Morris has his A-model posted.

You've probably already noticed a common theme: get a good plane, well-maintained and regularly flown. This will prevent many surprises on your first annual. Pay for a good pre-buy at YOUR mechanic, not at the sellers! Low engine hours are nice, but for high hours the purchase price comes down with a larger overhaul expense coming sooner. Don't rule out a short body. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've had back-seat passengers since I bought my C-model two years ago. If you don't have children yet, it will be a long time before regular back-seat usage will become an issue. Especially the first couple of times, do an owner-assisted annual to learn the plane. The more you know about how it's put together and what makes things work, the better you will be able to both fly it and maintain it. Moving up from a brand C renter, this has helped me very much. Speed mods are nice, but many of them help more with looks than with speed, and you will not notice 3-5 mph in reduced time or fuel burn. Save them for later. Autopilots are also nice, but be careful to not become dependent on it working correctly. Mine does not have altitude hold, so I have to pay attention anyway. Hand fly occasionally to keep your basic skills for when you need them. So far, I have not missed having altitude on the A/P, but would feel better with it in the event my [non-pilot] wife has to make an emergency landing from the right seat. Don't pass up a perfectly good airplane because you want a better A/P. Same goes for the rest of the panel. Make sure it is one that you are comfortable with--I highly recommend not buying an old panel unless it has at least been rearranged into the T-configuration. Check the galleries here, you should be able to find some of the old ones. Personally, I like having two VORs to go with two Nav/Comms. DG vs. HSI is also a personal matter. Buy good basics--airframe, engine and panel. Add desired goodies at your own pace. Aspen looks good to me, but there's always a tradeoff--what do you give up to move the AI? 430/530 is nice, but again it's presence/absence should be reflected in the price. Check back issues of MAPALOG for approximate pricing points. Whatever you purchase, get good transition training, fly safe and have fun! WAR EAGLE!

Crosswinds are easily handled by flap extension. I drop mine to Takeoff on downwind, then only adjust on final as needed to maintain glideslope and speed. I almost never use full flaps. This worked fine landing on 14, with winds 180@20G28, and it works fine even when the wind is calm. Yes, I have a short-body C model. The hard part is maintaining the flare while speed bleeds off, but with proper speed and slope control, it's not too long. [85 mph on final and 80 mph over the numbers works great.]