KSMooniac

I concur with Rob and think that mounting an OAT probe on the fuselage is a bad idea since it will be subject to engine heat, sunshine, etc. I have a Davtron OAT gauge (multifunction instrument) and placed the probe in a left wing inspection panel, which is a mirror image of the factory location of the right wing. It is not that difficult to run the probe wires to the panel.

It is so nice to look down on jammed interstates while blissfully scooting along overhead at 3x the speed!

Cool. Good luck! I hope to hear about CFI Woodruff on Friday!

Parker, do you have a ride back to Waco? I'm hopefully heading to the area on Saturday.

KS-->TX for me, plus a day trip within TX and can't wait!

I agree that the plunging dollar is likely to blame...the Canadians are probably pricing their planes at close to what they originally paid years ago +/- upgrades or use deductions, and the plunging dollar now makes that appear to be overpriced to us. The Canadian certainly doesn't want to take a bath simply because the dollar is now weak. A US seller/buyer combo won't see the same thing since both are dealing with US dollars. (overall market decline ignored for the sake of discussion)

I have no idea why Canadian birds might be priced higher right now but would speculate that the exchange rate might have something to do with it if they're all a bit higher. Beyond that I haven't a clue... As far as repatriating one back to the US, I believe a full conformance inspection is required. Think of it as a super-annual. I'm not sure if a regular IA can sign for it or if a FSDO needs to get involved, but basically the airplane is inspected rigorously to make sure it conforms to the type certificate and any & all mods or updates have all of the proper paperwork (ie 337s, STCs, etc) in order. I've heard that it is a PITA but doable, but many folks have recommended to just find a US plane and not bother unless the plane is truly special and priced right.

The ride in turbulence is mostly a function of wing loading, which is lbs/sq. ft. of wing area. The higher the wing loading, the less turbulence will be "sensed" in the cockpit. That is why heavier airplanes with smaller wings (like jets, or Lancair IV kit plane for example) will ride through turbulence much better than a Cessna 150, which has about the same wing area as a Lancair IV and less than half the weight.

Jim, I waffled between blue and maroon for quite a while, but settled on what I got (obviously). fantom on this board is currently getting his J painted in FL with a blue scheme and I expect it will be outstanding as well. Good luck with your paint job, and definitely post some pics when you get it back!

I don't think you'll be disappointed with the heat output. One thing I've noticed, though, is that the heat will not be very strong during takeoff/climb with the cowl flaps open. As soon as you level off and close the cowl flaps, though, it will heat up nicely. For cold weather flying, you might consider "pre-heating" the cabin with a portable electric unit while pre-flight if you have electricity in your hangar/tie-down. That should make it more comfortable until you get to cruise. Enjoy! You made a great decision.

Headsets are a bit like underwear...there are lots of options, lots of price points, and at the end of the day you just need to try a pair on and see if they'll work for you. I'm a Lightspeed fan and have a 15k, 30-3G and Zulu, and all have been great.

Michael, have you done a GAMI lean test with the new engine?

I'm not sure there are any negative ramifications, and in fact Lycoming's own formula "allows" almost a full quart per hour for our 200 hp engines, so I suppose it could be worse. The low compression forced my hand, but to be truthful I had thought about changing the rings anyway to get some improvement. In your case at 900 SMOH and 200 on "your watch" I think it would be prudent to do the IRAN treatment like I did just to re-baseline it during your ownership. In my case, it was an old overhaul with the 2 previous owners running almost 1400 hours. In the grand scheme, it isn't a ton of money and should give you a greater peace of mind while flying behind the single engine...but you'll have to answer how much that might be worth to you. I understand the allure of wanting to do the more fun things, though! I was relieved my jugs checked out OK and I got thru it with just a little pain, so I was still able to paint this year. I did pass on the 1-pc belly for now, though.

There is a poster on this forum that just had some mods done on his pre-J Mooney in the KC area, but I cannot recall his name...hopefully he'll see this thread or you can try the search function.

My 1650 SMOH engine was behaving similarly to yours Bodie until I pulled all 4 jugs for IRAN work this year at annual. I bought it with 1370 SMOH, and would burn the first quart after oil change in 4 hours and it would steadily increase to a quart every 2 hours or so by the time I had 35+ hours on the oil. It also turned black within a couple of hours. I had low compression this year on two jugs, leaking at least past the exhaust valves. We pulled all 4, and I ended up with new pistons/rings/honing, seats & guides, and 1 new exhaust valve. That cost ~2 AMU to the engine shop, of which .6 was pistons alone. I did 90% of the labor to R&R everything under supervision and learned a ton. Now I add about 2 quarts over a 40-50 hour run, and the oil stays golden. I takeoff and climb at 2700, cruise at 2500-2600 LOP too, FWIW. If it bugs you enough, I'd say it would be worth it to do what I did and you'll probably enjoy a nice run the rest of the way to TBO, especially if you come over to the LOP dark side. I had perhaps 50 hours of labor in the R&R because I'm slow and methodical, and I suspect if you paid a pro to do it there might be half that amount of charged time. I used a shop in Newton, about 30 miles north of Wichita and can recommend them without reservation for the cylinder work.

I wish I could go all the way to CA this weekend! Enjoy it.

testing...KSMooniac here.

I just replied to a thread and it shows me logged in as KSMooniac. That is not who I am! My user name is Immelman. I am logging out now; I have no idea why it shows me logged in as KSMooniac and I don't have any desire to post as him/her. No one else should be using my computer to access this site, either.

I fly a '66E. A few thoughts: - 140 KTAS on 8gph (or even less) is possible if you're at altitude and lean to peak EGT at somewhere between 2400-2500rpm. At altitude would mean > 10,000 density altitude and thus you're below 65% power or so making it safe to further lean the mixture. I recently conducted some GPS based speed tests that confirmed this. - You can go faster -- closer to 150KTAS in an E but that will be at a lower density altitude and will require flying ROP by at least 100dF; its nice to go fast but now you're over 10gph; with even higher fuel flow down low. That last 10 knots eats a lot of economy but can be useful when fighting a headwind. My numbers above are based on a 66E with the usual collection of antennae, the one piece belly, and lasar cowl closure. No other speed mods. Fuel tanks: My logs indicate a couple of spot repairs/patches over the years. No full strip/reseal. Knock on wood, I have not had *significant* fuel leaks. There are different sorts of leaks that can occur. I think whether to do anything, do a 'spot' fix, or do a complete reseal depends on the number, location, and severity of the leak(s). As an example in my left tank I have a *seep* where if I top it off I will lose approx 1/2 gallon over several days out the top of the tank (blue stains visible). There is never any dampness -- the fuel simply evaporates away. Solution: Leave the tank 1/2 gallon below full when parked, or do a complete fill only before a flight. Keep in mind these are 42-year-old fuel tanks. Gear: There are several wear spots... and I suggest getting someone knowledgeable with Mooneys to go over the gear before you buy. The rubber shock discs have a finite life and are not terribly difficult to replace but require special tooling, and each disc is something like $80USD -- quite a bit for what they are, really. So having a way to estimate the service life left of the discs is useful. The johnson bar 'socket' is another wear item. I had it replaced when I bought the airplane. Another is the nose gear pivot and steering mechanism. Both of these can develop play. The 'pivot truss' can wear and an inexpensive ream/large bushing job can add to service life. After this is done and it wears further, an overhauled truss is called for. The steering horn is another area. Finally, there are neumorous bushings that can develop wear. Most of these areas should be readily identifiable by a good mooney mechanic with the airplane up on jacks by simply moving the gear legs around looking for play and determining where the play us coming from. In the two years I've owned my airplane I've replaced the pivot truss, two bushings/bolts in the nose gear, and one of the end-links used to steer it. This reduced the amount of play to almost nil. In the above notes I made several references to replacement parts -- nearly all of the gear parts I've purchasd came from Lake Aero (www.lasar.com) which offers rebuilt, overhauled, and new replacement gear parts as well as many other things to suppor the fleet. Items such as the bushings I've mentioned are available from Mooney, through the Mooney service centers, and aren't terribly expensive.

HRM, I'm glad someone finally bought that plane! It was for sale for a long time and it sure looked like a good one to me. Enjoy!

FYI, the fixed step has a big hole drilled thru the aft portion of the tube, near the intersection with the fuselage skins. They do this so that in the event of a gear-up landing, the step will fold aft and not do any major damage to the fuselage like what happened to Mitch with the retractable step that does not have such a feature.

Good luck Bill! Sorry to see you leave the Mooney family.

That whole Slingsby debacle sure makes me angry as an airplane nut and a taxpayer. The USAF sure bungled that from start to finish, and it was a shame to destroy them when they performed fine for normal GA purposes. Perhaps the AT fitted with a big engine would have carried the day...oh well.

Congrats a day early! Take some pics and be prepared for the cheek-sprain from holding an excrement-eating grin all day long.

Nice work!