KSMooniac

Good luck Aaron! I can't say I'm a fan of your colors but the pics show some outstanding work. Looking forward to the completed pics when you're able.

The motivation for me to remove it came this year when I priced a replacement seal for the ram air/cowl interface...something like $300+. Crazy. So, I just added some more silicone to the old one and limped along until painting last month. My A&P wants me to revise the W&B so I guess I'll weight all the components today and get a good, actual number. Like you, I couldn't really detect any MP gains on my OEM gauge. I could see a 0.1 to 0.2 GPH boost in fuel flow, though, at cruise. But that tiny bit of power was not worth a difficult $300 seal and 2 lbs.

Yeah, that is what I'll need. FYI, here is their current catalog for Mooney applications: http://www.whelen.com/_AVIATION/catalog/Mooney.pdf

oops! Parker...I've confused myself on this thread and just figured out you're talking about the forward-facing white lights and not nav/position lights! You are correct in that I have nav and strobe lights only, and I was confusing nav/position lights with recognition lights! Carry on with any STC attempts for LED upgrades...I'll post when I know more about their LED position/strobe combos.

Jim, I think there are different starters that might be on our planes vs. the original heavy ones. I currently have a "Magnaflite" (I think that is what it is) and one mechanic buddy thought it was a lightweight starter. I haven't seen enough of them and just assumed mine was an OEM heavy one but it might not be the case. Perhaps the Prestolite that Michael replaced could be similar. Dave Morris on the email list has reported very favorable performance with his new Kelly e-drive starter...I know that is unusual to find a good Kelly product these days, but that might an option worth considering. I haven't started researching these things yet since mine still starts. <knocking on wood> If you want to remove a few more pounds up front, consider doing the ram air-delete Service Instruction. I'm wrapping that up now and expect there is at least 2 pounds of stuff between the ram air intake/valve assy and cable. I'll try to weigh it tonight.

Yes, I do. I have a strobe/recog light combo on my blunt wingtip, and the strobes are obsolete now, thus my desire to switch to something modern and the LED recog light + strobe combo unit is at the top of my wish list. It should fit in the same footprint that I have now.

Yes, I'm interested. In fact, I talked to a Whelen tech guy just yesterday b/c I'm trying to source a strobe flash tube for my OEM (and extinct) Hoskins strobes and the subject came up.... Whelen is working on a broad STC right now that would cover many models including Mooneys, so you might want to talk with them first before spending any effort!

I've carried one in my J with a fixed rear seat...doable but a PITA. I'm sure it would be very easy with folding or removable rear seats to carry two. Both wheels need to come off, and it is a bit of a puzzle to get them through the entry door, but doable. Sooner or later I plan to convert my rear seat, and will fab a 2-bike rig that will lay across the floor with two fork-mounts to secure the bikes in the back.

Cruiser, WAAS gets you a 5 Hz refresh rate on the screen/data vs. 1 Hz of the non-WAAS versions, which is really nice. The best part, though, is the much greater functionality if you have an autopilot with GPSS. The WAAS box + GPSS will drive the plane completely thru a flight plan and approach including any holds, course reversals, 90 degree turns, etc. without any interaction from the pilot. That is a huge workload reducer in a critical phase of the flight, and therefore much safer for single-pilot IFR work. The WAAS glideslope on a GPS approach is very nice too, of course, and I think that is all that most people think about when debating the upgrade but there are other nice features too.

Bodie, I just did this before my paint job, sorta. I had a spare spinner thanks to ebay that had paint. I stripped it myself and took it to a local polishing shop that does parts for hot rods, our local aircraft industry, etc. and they polished it for $55, plus I paid an extra $20 to expedite since I waited until the last minute before going to the paint shop. I bet they could do yours as a mail-order job if you're interested. http://www.cardinalbuffing.com/ It would have taken me many hours to get the result they did, so I was happy to pay that modest fee for the pros to do it.

Jolie, I'd be happy to learn more about it. I'll send you a note thru Facebook...

I wish y'all could move one of these events a few states to the east sometime.

Gary, it is S-W Maroon Metallic...#10700 if my memory is correct. It looks very dark on the sample sheet, but is "just right" on the plane sitting in the sunshine. Chris Floyd just got his M20R painted last week in CA and switched to the same color after seeing pics of mine. Do you have a drop-off date?

alun, not at all! Better yet, I'll pass on the scheme designer's info to you or anyone else via PM if you're interested in doing your own design. He was very easy to work with, and very reasonably priced. It doesn't hurt that he used to own an M20E and loves working on Mooney designs.

Thanks for the complements! I'm very happy with the design and execution. I really wanted to the N-number to lie in the lower color so that the rest of the plane would look a bit sleeker, and I think that was accomplished. Originally I also wanted the modern up-swoop on the tail, but I ended up liking this design better with the number buried on the lower portion. Some in-flight photos are on the agenda too...hopefully pretty soon.

Alan, hard to say in 2 flights so far. Both didn't have very still air, and unfortunately I did not do a baseline flight prior to delivery...ran out of time and the weather was not conducive to good measurements. I think it is 2-3 knots faster IAS, but hard to say definitively yet. My rigging is not quite 100% correct either, and I have an appointment on Oct. 2 with Maxwell to get that ironed out.

Today we had a fairly-impromptu fly-out brunch to K81, just south of the KC area. 3 Mooneys from the Wichita area, and 1 from Virgina that was passing thru the area this weekend. For those that don't know, K81 has great on-site BBQ (and breakfast-only on Sunday til 1:00) as well as cheap SS 100LL. It would be a great rally point if anyone is interested in doing a somewhat regular gathering for those of us in the region.

Here is the (almost) finished product! I worked with a professional scheme designer in Dallas that was wonderful, and he is a former Mooney owner and loves working on them. The paint as well as some repair work and speed mod installation was done by Crider Aircraft Painting in Mena, AR over the course of 4 weeks. I plan to get the Mooney logo airbrushed on to my vertical stab in the next couple of weeks, if I can keep the plane still long enough for the painter! There are a few more pics in my gallery here, too.