fantom

I'll be at Barnwell early Sunday afternoon. I don't care about the very reasonable fuel price. It's the good donuts that bring me back! ;-) How LOP are you willing to go, George?

George and Jim know what they're talking about.... Back in the "old days" we went through the altitude chamber every two years. One of my many additional duties was "life support officer" so I had a lot of exposure to it's impact, both on me and on squadron mates. Hypoxia is a fast killer, and by the time you figure out what's happening at 25K, it will probably be too late. Lets face it, the oxygen systems in our planes are jury rigged at best. I'm not going over 17.5, not matter what!

Not to long ago I took advantage of using FlyDave's identity also.....what some guys do to pad their post count ;-) Must be a bug in the system, somewhere. Sad end for a pilot and his plane. Our wonderful media right on top of the story, bugging his family and his business. At least they didn't obsess about a flight plan. Stay on top of your plane, your equipment, and yourselves. Fly safe out there!

....and you'll be able to keep them on all the time, without worry of melting through the plastic lens if not turned off on the ground. Think about pulsing them like this new LoPresti product: PowerPulse Concept It’s simple, lights in motion attract attention! Emergency vehicles, strobes and airport rotating beacons all use pulsing light systems. This system is a perfect complement to our already powerful BoomBeam HID lighting systems.

Hope the finished product is all you've dreamed of, Aaron. Now, if you plan on attending the LSU Florida game next week, you may need an orange and blue plane cover, even if Tebow can't play. ;-)

Parker....I've replaced one recognition light, and couldn't believe the price. Now I rarely use them for fear of burning through the protective lens. Count me as very interested, and good luck!

Given a recent trend, and before it gets out of hand, shouldn't we have a seperate forum for commercial messages, like paint jobs, A&P's, the Mooney factory, and planes for sale.

Quite impressive, George. Did they recover ALL (front, back, baggage, headliner) the interior plasic with the premium duraweave fabric?

Another vote for A....

I'm soooooo close, I can smell the paint!

Scott....do you know the exact name and code of that maroon, and is it Sherwin Williams? I used the same designer....he does excellent work, is a pleasure to work with, and is much less expensive than his more well known competitor.

Some of the "other work" includes re-calibrating the engine gauges, and modifying the oil cooler. Just reporting what I was told.

Lycoming was at MAPA and gave us an update on the IO-390 A3A6 STC for the J model. It should be ready next month and the E and F, I believe, will following shortly thereafter. The conversion however, will require a Hartzell 2-blade or 3-blade propeller, work on the governor, new hoses, new motor mounts, and maybe some other re-configuration work. Cost of the engine alone will be around $36K, and given a new prop, the other work, and installation, it sounds like a $50K+ job. Ouch!! For that you"ll get roller tappets, angled valves, Slick mags, tuned induction, 10 more HP, another 4 knots, about a .5 GPH increase, and a 2 year warranty on labor, parts, and accessories. Your exchange core must be in operable condition. Email your questions and comments to wgierke@lycoming.textron.com As reported by the Cezzzzna Pilot's Association (CAP), Lycoming's Mike Kraft was quoted as saying "You *can* run your Lycoming engine lean of peak. And Lycoming wants to help teach you how!" Lycoming plans both an updated Service Instruction 1094 on leaning, as well as an interactive online training course in the near future. Until then, their "don't do it unless you know what you're doing!" admonition stands. But their progress on this issue is heartening. Incidentally, the new iE2 series of electronically controlled Lycoming engines will run lean of peak. Will wonders never cease?

MAPA was fine, and a bunch of us (15) got together at the Cowboy Steak House. I even got in touch with David, who keeps himself busy as a single father of two teenage boys, handling marketing for the Steak House, and looking for a Mooney to buy. The steaks and service were superb, as was the company. We even got to meet David and his parents. His father shared some memories of working at the Mooney factory "way back when", and what Al Mooney himself was all about. I believe a fine time was had by all.

Maxwell can patch that for you, Parker.

Design and paint job look great, Scott. Encouraging to know you can get a very good job at a reasonable price. I think just having a smooth new paint job should give you an extra knot or two

Not to worry, Don, we will find each other. By Thursday night we'll probaby know everybody and I'll make it a point to find you. Figure 7 PM for dinner but we'll post something on the Message board. I hope David is monitoring this........

Ice Cream Social is on Wednesday, but dinner that night is open, unless all you want is ice cream ;-) Trey and Lela are up to their necks with last minute details, I'm sure. Here's the schedule from the MAPA website: http://mooneypilots.com/forms/convention/2009%20Tentative%20Agenda.pdf Open night is Thursday, so let's plan it for then, and I'm in for 4 people. Hope to see you there, Don. BTW, I sent a PM to David several days ago, but no reply yet. No matter, as we can set it up while we're in Kerrville, and we know where the Cowboy Steak House is. I'll have a car.

Quote: Mcstealth If any of you make it to Kerrville for the convention, make sure to visit me at my families restaurant in Kerrville, Cowboy Steak House. I at least can buy the first round for some of ya

Do you normally paint the non GPS antenna's, Chris?

Quote: Parker_Woodruff From what Lycoming told me about the 390, that is correct. It will probably burn another half of gallon per hour, and yield no more than 5 knots per hour more. They also said they would have a favorable initial offering where a new 390 would be priced just a bit more than a factory reman 360. We'll see.... Seems the STC won't include McC props which is almost as odd and hearing them call my J a "legacy" model.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff From the specs it sounds like the IO-390 weighs about what our IO-360s weigh.

Second what Scott has said. My plane is going in either right before, or right after MAPA. A 60% up charge for a hopefully excellent paint job, over a assured very good one, is too high a premium for me, and I don't skimp with my plane. Arron's bird has a number of special items, that Mike is taking care of in his all inclusive price, so his choice is more understandable. Good to have you with us Ronnie, as we all love Mooney, and have a strong desire to have the factory thrive. Until the factory has a longer track record, high end pricing may be an issue. Best of luck, in any event.

two panels at 29.95 each, fan was about $8, suction cups were a couple of bucks, carrying pack was about the same. ~ $$75 total. Maybe in volume, could knock it down to $50 cost. Bought everything at Harbor Freight.

Well, things have changed at the Mooney factory. My factory new paint job was crap 15 years ago, because Mooney put their least experienced people into paint prep. When I asked about it at the 1997 MAPA, the Mooney V.P. said: "If you get a good paint job from the factory, it's an accident", and for me, and many others it was TheTruth. The $20K grand the factory quoted at this years SunNFun, for a paint job, is more than "a bit more" IMHO. Very glad you're satisfied, however.