Hank

Have you thought about owner-manufactured parts? Or is that possible on your side of the water? I have 201 wingtips, and had to replace the light cover from hangar rash. I bought it from LASAR, I think, for $135. Not bad for an airplane part, but then I had to trim it to fit, mark and drill the screw holes, etc. All $100 auto parts fit right out of the box. I could have one made nearby out of Lexan for much less, I'm sure. As our planes continue to age, that will probably become the only economically viable method to stay in the air.

So how is it fair to compare my C against your K, much less against an Ovation with double the HP, double the altitude, and a fraction of the drag??? So he'll only clock 240 kts instead of 242, let's see, that puts me an even 100 knots behind . . . . . .

Quote: DaV8or Thinking of making this cup holder mod for my F. It would be vacuum formed Royalite type plastic with similar grain and incorporates a side pocket for things like check lists or a POH. Below is a before photo and a crude photoshop of what it would look like. Only would work for guys with electric gear and would have to be adjusted for J and K types. Any thoughts or ideas on it? Anybody want one?

I've heard some people complain of their low 105 mph flap speed. My 70-model flap speed is 125, and gear is 120 mph. When transitioning from my training aircraft, a large part of my transition time was spent learning how to slow down to pattern speed; I still often drop initial flaps while rolling into the downwind, decelerating through 120 heading towards 90 mph. Mooneys of all models and years are slippery little buggers, and just pulling the throttle back will do very little to change your speed. Pull the throttle, watch the altimeter, inch the yoke back, and finally the airspeed needle starts to crawl. It can take some distance to slow from descent [~160 mph] down to flap speed . . .

Quote: DaV8or Here's a good follow up question to this thread; how many here have actually launched, gone up to see how bad the weather is and then actually turned around and went back?

Quote: jpusser Just bought a 62 c model and wanted to get thoughts on a few things. Every where I researched said the c would burn about 9 gph but I can't get it below 11gph. I normally fly at 055 or 065. Any Ideas?

And I was happy last Friday, southbound towards Charlotte, when my C hit 183 knots . . . The trip to EQY was 1.6 hours and 15.1 gallons. No complaints at all! Maybe us carb guys should start our own thread?

My 70-C has your rotary-type vents overhead. I have airliner ball-vents in the footwells.

I survived the airline jumble into O'Hare, late, on Tuesday, and home again on time on Thursday. Friday afternoon the wife and I went to Charlotte, with an Airmet for moderate turbulence below 10,000 msl. We had a great tailwind, with groundspeed sustained at 175+ the whole way, initially 180-183 knots. Even descending at 160-165 mph indicated, the ride was very, very smooth. oops, battery is dying. Time to go get the cords out.

Check with our friends at LASAR, Plane Plastics, etc?

You're right, our birds fly great, and can be flown with great precision if you so desire. I transitioned from my C-brand trainer, and found slowing down to pattern speed was the problem, not slowing her down to land. The ability to descend at cruising speed on reduced fuel flow is a great thing, but I don't want to blast into the pattern that fast. It took some repetition to get comfortable slowing down to flap speed, since my gear and flap speed are essentially the same. Your newer bird has higher gear speed, so you have the luxury of dropping them to use as speed brakes. Congratulations on your new purchase, and may you have many happy hours generating wonderful memories for your family!

Time requirements vary tremendously by insurance company. When I bought into my C-model with 62 hrs on my damp certificate, my broker received everything from "not insurable" to 15 dual/10 solo, right on down to 15 dual including 5 IFR with a Mooney CFI. Then came the bill . . . But hey, it has Tires and Transistors, so it ain't gonna be cheap!

Congratulations! Spend a few months just having fun and enjoying your new plane. Take the time to get comfortable, learn how she handles, and how to slow her down. Once you feel good and know the plane's abilities and your own, THEN grab a safety pilot and start experimenting with your power settings. Don't try to start your IFR training until after you learn how to fly your new Mooney. It's a fun ride!

The roof vent in my 70-C works well, but the plastic piece under the headliner that send scooped air forward to the vents was demolished installing the new WAAS antenna, and the tape used to rebuild it apparently is too sticky and won't open up. Neither LASAR, Plane Plastics nor anyone else has any ideas. I did buy an aluminum piece once that's not right, but it matches the number in the Parts Manual. The biggest problem is you have to remove the rear headliner to get to it, and that requires removing the front headliner . . . I'm open to suggestions, drawings to make my own, or salvage parts from your back lot if you have them. Winter is approaching, so it's less important now, but summer is going to come around again. Thanks for any help. Maybe if you strip the moving parts out of your spare fuselage, you can also get this non-moving piece for me?? :-)

I have an older Strike Finder. It's useful for weather avoidance, and does not carry a monthly fee like XM. It is also pretty much real time. It works by measuring the difference in [electrical] potential, and as such will show most significant atmospheric disturbances, with or without precipitation. Just make sure to twist the knob to the range you want to see--mine has Off, 50 nm, 100 nm and 200 nm. The unit is panel-mounted, the wires and antennas are all permanent and hidden from view. If the weather is changing rapidly, press "Clear" from time to time. XM weather provides recent satellite weather, but the refresh rate and data lag also relegate it to weather avoidance. It shows precipitation and lightning strikes over the moving map. Monthly fees are continuing to rise, the XM antenna needs to be put somewhere with a wire, and the unit itself needs to be put somewhere visible and secure. Since it's only available on handheld GPS units, and I have a 430W, it's an investment I have not yet made. Others can comment on its full functionality separate from the included GPS. Having the weather on the map itself would be nice if trying to find shelter from something accidentally blundered into, but the whole point of either system is to see what's around so that you don't blunder into it unknowingly. If you knowingly go where you shouldn't, there's not much an instrument is going to be able to do.

It takes a while climbing out of Georgia to hit 10,000 in the summer. I once took mine to 15000 msl on the altimeter, but the temps were still 60+ F; I don't remember the number anymore, but did the math afterwards and the DA was something like 18,750. Climb was very anemic the last several thousand feet, but the A&P in the right seat was happy with it. All he did was lean the mixture a little bit "by ear" instead of by the EGT way down low on my side that he couldn't see. We spiraled up, flew a few racetracks, and spiraled back down just because I wanted to, and had just finished up my IR. It was a combination O2 checkout and altitude/performance check for the plane. I cross the Appalachians to see family, and the straight-line route is off airway with MEA of 8600, so it's either 9000 or 10,000. Haven't had to go higher yet, but have made the trip VFR as low as 4500 msl, wishing I could go a little higher. We'll see how it does this winter as temps aloft drop. Aside from a slight cramp from holding a bank for so long, the flight went well, and I was surprised at how light the controls are at that altitude. Responses are pretty crisp, too, except to back yoke. Isn't the sweet spot 7000-10,000 for our wing, anyway? P.S.--My "Owner's Manual" doesn't mention a service ceiling, but has climb data up to 18,000 [230 fpm at 82 mph indicated, 2200 lbs; 25 fpm at 82 mph indicated, 2575 lbs]. I assume those are takeoff weights, as there's no legal way to hit 18,000' still at max gross. That's Full Rich, Full Throttle and Flaps 15º; we were Full Throttle, leaned some, and Flaps Up.

Can't you do an owner-manufactured replacement part, and run the piece of fiberglass you don't like through your local machine shop? Just specify 6061 aluminum, thickness equal to what's on the cowl.

I had a Mooney-familiar CFII do my initial transition and required dual hours when I bought into my C-model. 300 hours later, I got serious about the IR, and he was not available, so I grabbed a former airline pilot with no Mooney time. Three familiarization flights with someone else, and we began training. The only real differences are cruise speed and the power settings for the approach. There's a long thread on the Mooney Tech site about power settings for IFR approaches right now, but it boils down to pull your power back to slow from cruise, and manage your descent in the normal manner: pitch for speed, power for altitude on the approach. Your exact settings will vary depending upon which model you fly, how high the initial approach is, and your choice of props. I manage 90 knots [105 mph indicated] clean with about 16" / 2300, and add ~2" when the flaps go down. Once I start the actual descent towards the airport, I don't really look at those numbers any more. Spend some time with a safety pilot and figure out your settings before going out with your instructor for the following: Level flight, normal cruise Level flight, slow cruise [just above flap speed] Level flight, approach flaps at approach speed [for me, 90 knots; for others, 120 knots] 500 fpm descent, approach flaps at approach speed 500 fpm descent, approach flaps and gear at approach speed That should take you to MDA where you can see the runway, then make your normal landing from that point. The numbers you record while practicing will get you in the neighborhood of the speed you want, as winds, altitude and loading for each approach will have an effect. Move the levers to those settings, let the airplane settle down, and make fine adjustments for the speed/descent rate that you want.

Good points, Richard. And kudos for making a good, useful product! Us Vintage folks will just wait and see how it goes. Since I have no shoulder belts at all yet, installation should be much simpler, rather like putting in "normal" front shoulder belts, right? And good old owner assistance can go a long way towards reducing the installation costs.

Quote: N9937c I just hope none of our parts are made out of UNOBTAINIAM ! larry

Your next visit should be much nicer for your family, since you now know how to unlock the door from the inside. How do you get in from the cold during Mr. Friendly's unhelpful working period??? Or find a car, a mechanic, food, etc.???

I'm pondering that issue, too. There was a thread this summer on the AOPA board about this topic, and when I asked about the difference between Clarity Aloft and Quiet Tech the answers for both were overwhelmingly positive. One fellow who had used both said it boils down to user preference between the two, but everyone who had used one preferred it to their David Clamps . . . Really makes me regret missing Sun N Fun, where I could probably have tried both. YMMV, etc., etc.

Quote: Sven I didn't know a switch could turn off by itself. It moves from the up to the down position. It does that (without being haunted)?

My 1970 Owner's Manual says to climb at 26/26, but all of the performance tables, obstacle clearances, etc., were done at 2700 RPM, maximum manifold pressure. So I climb after takeoff at 2700/WOT up to cruising altitude, leaning on the way up [usually]. Lots of CFIs still teach power reduction after takeoff, so that your climb to cruise takes longer . . . No idea why.

I typed all of my checklists into Word, including abbreviated power settings [2300, 2400, 2500 & 2600 RPM only for each altitude in the POH]. Word has the ability to format and print in booklet format [search Help for "booklet" for instructions]. It will print in landscape format, on both sides of the paper from my single-sided printer [see Help above]. Then I laminated the sheets, folded them together into a booklet [3 sheets, folded in half, printed on both sides = 12 sheets, or front cover & 11 pages]. It lets me move things around to make sense to me, and include whatever upgrades have been made since 1970. This bookelt is the size of Sporty's el-cheapo VFR kneepad, and it lives there, more or less permanently open to the page for Pre-Startup, Startup and Run Up checklists. I often flip through the performance tables when climbing, to choose which power settings to use, or when making step-down descents. Blank paper lives on top for note-taking. On long trips, I scribble down the VORs, Unicom & AWOS frequencies at airports I'll pass enroute, and put THAT on top. There's plenty of room to write in clearances, frequency changes, etc. POH [such as it is] is in the right seat back pocket, along with the Garmin quick-reference and fat book, etc. Sick-sack too. Bungees for control wheels are in left seat back pocket; chocks, ropes and ground screws are on the hat rack, along with spare headset and airline blanket [my wife gets cold easily]. When you sit down and list it out, it's amazing how much junk travels around with you. Oh, yeah, the big Rubbermaid container in the baggage area with assorted tools, safety wire, spare screws, Leatherman tool, gloves, tow bar and a quart of oil. Hat rack has fuel dip stick and sampling cup just inside the baggage hatch, where I can grab them without looking. Wow, what a load of junk we have to carry! Plus the flight bag with spare radio, flashlights, batteries, plotter, E6B, pens, highlighters, fat paperclips to hold approach plate books open, post-its to mark pages in the plates, etc., etc., etc.