KSMooniac

Dave, you have discovered the absolute *best* part about Mooney ownership vs. all the others... a Mooney will always get the XC job done on dramatically less fuel than any other single, and often times it will be faster too. Some of the bigger turbo planes might do some missions faster over longer distance, but will use a lot more fuel. So far my banner trip is Las Vegas (Henderson Field) to Wichita in 5:51 on 49 gallons of fuel total. My parents, bro and sis-in-law and I all left the hotel at the same time. They went to the commercial airport and I cabbed it to Henderson where I needed to flight plan & fuel before leaving. They went to Dallas and Aspen, respectively, via the airlines and I beat all of them home. I love my Mooney!

If you trust that whatever W&B sheet you have in your POH is current and correct, you could simply weigh the old and new starters and make the new calcs to update the W&B. You could probably find the station for the starter in the maintenance manual...maybe. Or you can find it from the TC data: http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/13012ab9c19caf3686257340005666d2/$FILE/2A3.pdf

Bodie, I went into Lost Village (40AR), about 7 nm to the east of KROG. The cabin we were in is almost walking distance from that strip, so it is very convenient. It is also quite a challenging approach! I have some pics I might have to try to post.

I might as well throw my July 4th story in as well... flew from Wichita to Beaver Lake, AR (1.2 hours vs. 4 on the road) and landed *right at the lake* and had friends pick us up. Took a buddy and 2 girls that were rookie-GA flyers and they loved it...and are now spoiled on quick and easy Mooney travel. So many great things about owning a Mooney, but at the top of my list is the expanded range for a fun weekend trip.

Taking their word for the condition of the plane isn't a crazy idea, especially if they do/did an annual as a PPI. I visited with Bruce a bit when I was up there, and heard some stories. He even dug up the original bill of sale for my plane from the Mooney factory to Willmar back in 1977 and gave it to me. He showed me pics of failed Mooney parts from over the years after he heard that my gear failed to extend when I came in the night before. Fortunately the crank worked as it was supposed to he, but he said I was lucky and showed me why. He used to put on presentations like this for Mooney gatherings, and is quite the expert. Their mechanics are great, and intregity even better IMO. I don't think he has anything to gain by mis-representing any of the planes they're helping move, nor would I expect him to. In this instance I would be inclined to fly up there and be prepared to fly it home, unless it needs an annual soon as Jim mentioned. Bruce could also do your transition training before you leave, if needed.

Thanks for the update! Good luck with the continued work.

Great shop. They did my tanks and took care of my landing gear motor last year (crapped out on approach into their airport). Bruce and the gang and competent, honest, and have been in the Mooney business for a very long time.

Nice find! I also have the original bill of sale from Mooney to Willmar for my plane, who then sold it to the original owner in Wisconsin. What I find most remarkable is the cost of the autopilot relative to the rest of the cost of the plane! ~15%...wow.

Any good news from your shop yet John?

George, generally speaking I think your view is the correct one for our owner-flown Mooneys when the primary mission is XC travel. We don't rack up the landing cycles like a primary trainer, so our tires will age-out before the tread is worn down to the point of going bald (unless a bad landing flat-spots a tire). On the MAPA email list several people pointed out the potential dimensional problems with retreads being slightly oversized to the point they simply don't fit into the wheel wells of a Mooney, so that is a risk I absolutely will not take. I think retreads make sense on a fixed-gear trainer, but not a Mooney.

I went with an aluminum Precise Flight 22 cu. ft. system and am happy with the capacity and especially the weight. I try not to carry any extra weight as a general rule...

FYI, Goodyear is offering a rebate on their new tires in celebration of some anniversary...and it expires today, so act fast if you want some new ones! I would jump on it, but I think I'm still a good ways away from replacement <knocking on wood> and I don't want them sitting around the hangar growing a beard.

My GAMI spread is like Lance's.... typically 0.0 GPH up to 0.2 GPH on stock injectors. George, I think the rule of 46 is used to limit your power output before leaning...nothing more, and it is quite silly. You can run high power LOP safely so long as you lean enough! Conversely, you must be rich enough to run high power ROP safely too. The GAMI folks and now Cirrus have shown that using 87% power (30" MP, 2500 RPM) is a very good hi-cruise setting at 17.5 GPH on their TN-IO-550 installations. That is 70 or 80 dF LOP, and those engines love it. So, we could make up our own "rule of 55" if we wish too. Regarding detonation, it really cannot happen on our normally-aspirated engines no matter what we do, unless we get a mis-fuel or something is gravely wrong with the engine. If you are running 100LL (on-spec of course) and everything is behaving as it should, you will not get detonation. The Advanced Pilot Seminar course showed us this quite well. We should be more concerned with internal cylinder pressures and CHTs to ensure longevity of the engine.

I'll add that my friend's O3 is also a 2008 model.

Good luck John. Since you mentioned all of those other symptoms, I really suspect you have a wiring harness or connector issue! My friends O3 was looked at first in a Garmin service center, and after they gave up it went back to Kerrville, and the loose connection was an accidental discovery that fixed his problem. I'm not familiar with the G1000 system enough to give you a specific recommendation, but if it were me, I'd power up the plane with aux power, and start wiggling every single connection behind the panel AND at the remote boxes in the tail, and look for changes in the displays. You should probably wiggle the mechanical connectors as well as the wire bundles in case there is an insufficient crimp on a wire's pin, or a pin that is not fully seated in the connector. Those things are still assembled and installed by humans, and out of a few hundred connections it wouldn't be too crazy to have one or two defective connections.

You might try having the shop check *every* connection behind the G1000 panels. One of those might not be fully seated and could be causing havoc with a seemingly unrelated system like your fluid indicator. A friend's Ovation had all kinds of issues and it was eventually traced to an audio panel input connector or something like that...

Bodie, do you been the baffle seals? I replaced my entire set of seals with a pre-cut kit that I got from Willmar...it was probably a Mooney part number that could be ordered through any MSC though. Alternatively, you could just get a 3" wide roll of the silicone stuff reinforced with fiberglass from Aircraft Spruce or similar and cut your own using the old stuff as a pattern, but if the old stuff is worn too much you might not get the full pattern and you would have to guess a bit.

I think basically they need an ultra-thorough inspection to make sure they fully comply with the Type Certificate as well as all the normal annual inspection items, ADs, etc. Not impossible, but painful.

Damn, that does look really nice! Impressive that he (presumably) got 1930 hrs on that engine too.

Adam, I like the idea of flying it to OSH as-is for judging! Might be pretty fun since it isn't that far away, and then go about the modification and updating. I grew up in the back of N5822Q, a '65 C, that had the same paint scheme except for lovely brown/beige/gold colors and brown vinyl seats. Ick. My dad still has a KX-150 radio just like 32Q!

Very good, Michael. I can see why you went with them if you didn't get up-charged on the D vs. non-D core, so that is very nice. I think you're wise to disposition all of the accessories yourself, too. Good luck with the swap next week! I hope it goes extremely well.

Please keep us updated! After reading a saga with a crappy Western Skyways overhaul on the AOPA Forum I hope yours turns out well. Pay special attention to all of the accessories and make sure they're installed correctly before you hang the engine... I'm a bit confused with what you got...I understand the switch to the non-D engine, but you did get the roller tappets, right? I thought all of their overhauls get the upgrade, but I could be mistaken. How about all of the rest of the accessories like starter, alternator, mags, etc?

The previous owner of my plane replaced all of the interior plastics, and I think he told me to take care of the vents he ended up cutting a thin wrench out of some sheet/plate material to slide in there...of course he owns a machine shop and has a water-jet machine so it was easy for him!

Dugosh is handling the new smooth belly option, and their # is 830-896-7550. I'm very interested in this too, but haven't called yet to get the nitty gritty. I've read that the benefits are easier MX access, and a slightly improved climb rate and quieter cabin. It shouldn't help cruise speed at all. After doing two owner-assist annuals, I cannot wait to add this mod to my plane! Dealing with all those panels and screws is a PITA. I'm also interested in overlapping gear doors because mine are worn, and I'll need to do something prior to paint. I haven't pursued those yet.

Hmmm...I don't have firm plans for OSH this year but the thought has crossed my mind.