The-sky-captain

It looks like a good class, I may see you there. Thanks for the info Scott.

Does anybody know of any good mountain flying instructors in the Colorado area? I am planning on taking a mountain flying course in early summer and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Avcheck- Jimmy Garrison is a stand up and honest guy that knows his Mooneys. I had a plane under contract to purchase from him in June and he always returned phone calls and emails. The only "hitch" I had with him was that his ferry pilot didn't put enough fuel in the plane when they flew it here for the pre buy and it ended up in a field 5 miles north of the runway totaled. It had a new engine and new paint and was a sad site to see the beautiful bird crumpled in the field.

I agree with the above comments especially about the advice of steering clear of Mooney Mart. Past posts will give you the various reasons from different members including myself. I got my insurance from AOPA and they beat the nearest quote by 600.00 per year. Good luck in your search!

Rustler- Here in NW Ark we get all four seasons. The summers are pretty hot from late June through mid September for and the humidity can get up there too. Overall it's pretty bearable though. Another good place for some fly-in fishing is Gastons if you land on grass strips. It's not a live in community but it has a great resort and restaurant right on the river. The river is about 100 yards from the tie down area. If you decide on coming to Holley Mt let me know and I'll try to meet you for lunch. There is a pretty large aircraft boneyard located at the Clinton airport which is just a few miles from Holley Mt. I needed some plastic for my emergency gear extension and actually got it off of a Mooney that crashed on the way to my prebuy (fuel exhaustion) last June before I purchased 1PX. It's funny that you mention having a closing on Thur. I too am closing on my personal house that we have just completed.

Holley Mountain is a very nice area. It'a bout a thirty minute flight from where I am based in NW Ark. Good fishing in the immediate area too.

That's a good list. FYI-I've got the parts and maintenance manuels for a 77 J on CD if anybody needs them.

Sweet golf cart. I may head there for a little golf.

I've got the strip under the glareshield and it works great

No problem Jim. The trip was something that he has wanted to do for the last 30 years and he said it was the best experiance of his life. I'll let you guys know when he gets started on his eastern leg and you can follow along. He claims after he finishes the eastern section he's selling the Cherokee and getting checked out in the Mooney:)

Jim- Thanks for the info.

I was under my plane today on the creeper and saw something I haven't noticed before. Deep in the wheel well where the rod disappears into the airframe I noticed a material that was attached to both the well and the rod. For lack of better words I would describe it as a cheesecloth looking material. Anyway, the left gear side was intact and the other one was pretty ragged looking and only about half of it was still attached. Two questions: What is it and what is it's significance?

Here is the blog my father created last fall when he took his 140 around the Midwest and Western states. He plans on doing the eastern section this spring. There a few pictures of my Mooney being delivered towards the end of the blog. http://myflyingadventure.blogspot.com/

Very interesting story George. I was recently reading about the many misconceptions about the Mooney on another forum and was amazed at how far off base most of them are. It's the usual misguidance about them being hard to land, tiny cabin, expensive to maintain... Most of the guys that are making the comments are going off what they have read or what a buddy told them. Hardly any of it was first hand knowledge. It's good to see someone of another "faith" being so impressed with our wonderful line. I recently brought a life long Cherokee owner up and he was very surprised at how comfortable and spacious it was.

I'm going into Pagosa Springs, Colorado soon and was just curious to see what the highest strip any of you have departed from and what the conditions were like (weight, temp...) The highest I've been out of so far is FTG in Denver (twice) which is 5512' with a 8k runway. Both times were near gross weight but in the middle of winter.

Heres the article about Microsoft shutting down the studio that produces their Flight Sim X. By now, many of you have heard that Microsoft has closed Aces Studio, the publisher of Microsoft Flight Simulator. This was not a reflection of the quality of the products Aces has developed, the sales performance of the games, or the quality of the team at Aces. This difficult decision was made to align Microsoft’s resources with our strategic priorities. Microsoft Flight Simulator X will remain available at retail stores and web retailers, the Flight Sim community will continue to learn from and encourage one another, and we remain committed to the Flight Simulator franchise for the long term. Microsoft Game Studios is investing significant resources in many exciting and new areas of gaming and entertainment, including Windows games. We believe these future investments will push innovation, community, and collaboration to unprecedented levels and will provide more synergy with our ongoing investments in Games for Windows - LIVE as well as other Windows entertainment technologies. We have nothing specific to announce at this time, but stay tuned for more information. We are humbled and proud of the passion and support that the Flight Simulator franchise has developed over its more than twenty-five year history. This includes you, the large community of flight simmers, as well as the vibrant third-party ecosystem that has developed around the game. We will continue to produce, sell, and support the latest version of Flight Simulator as we plan for future versions of the franchise. Thank you for your understanding of our decision and for your continued support!

I guess we all know about this but it made it into AOPA's e-pilot email today Mooney in 'superhibernation' Sources indicate that another round of layoffs has occurred this week at the Mooney Airplane Company's Kerrville, Texas, factory. From a high of some 400 employees just a year ago, Mooney now has a skeleton staff of a mere 50 or so employees. The exact extent of the layoffs has never been released. Mooney production has ceased, and the company has gone into what it calls "superhibernation." Mooney is adopting a wait-and-see strategy until the economic situation improves.

Yeah, i just read the article about the light bulb concept today in AOPA. I've seen guys using the light bulb to keep the avionics toasty but never warming the engine. It seems like it woulld take a while to get the entire engine warmed up enough to start in fairly cold temps. BTW I saw a heater pretty much like the one that George and I made that was retailing a little shy of $500 on one of the online aviation sites.

I did briefly talk to Mooneyland in the buying process and the owner seemed to be proud of the fact that he walked away from three or four airplane wrecks that he was ferrying or picking up to sell. It made me wonder about the quality of planes that he was representing. His website was hell to navigate too.

I have not dealt with Richard Z with Mooneyland other than a few phone calls so I have no feedback there. I purchased my plane from Coy Jacobs with Mooney Mart in Venice, Florida. It was the worst possible experience I could have imagined. I posted the problems earlier but be sure to stay away. A few other members have PM'ed me with similiar problems. I would recommend Jimmy Garrison with All American down in San Antonio. He is an honest, straightforward guy with a lot of Mooney selling to his credit. Good luck, Mooneys are great planes.

George- This is the EXACT setup I have been using all winter and it works great. I run the hose up into the cowl flaps and use a blanket and cowl plugs to keep the heat in. I bought a smaller sized heater that I put in the cockpit to warm up the interior and avionics while I do my preflight. I'm in the process of getting the Reiff system but for now this seems to work pretty good.

Magna Labs is also ran by Coy Jacobs of Mooney Mart. Their service is up to par with everything else he is involved in.

My overhauled prop sure does look pretty though!

Aaron- I was raised in Hammond, LA I agree with you 100% on your opinion of Mooney Mart. I bought a plane from Coy Jacobs (Mooney Mart) upon closing on the loan I got a bill from the Venice airport for a three week ramp fee. Come to find out after I closed the loan he kept my plane on the ramp for weeks while he pushed the ones that had only given him down payments ahead of me for interiors, avionics… It’s crazy how phones and email quit working after a deal is closedJ He talked me into letting his shop do the pre buy being they were a top 5 Mooney shop in the world. I believed him since he is known for his Mooney knowledge. In short, it was a disaster. I am not mechanicaly inclined but here’s what I found the day the pilot ferried it to my hanger: 1-The engine would cut out and run rough on taxi and while airborne. Upon further inspection we found the induction tubes were very loose and wouldn’t tighten. The gaskets were found to be so rotted they crumbled when removed. 2- The ram air door was in backwards and wouldn’t close using the ram air handle in the cabin. It would open but I had to manually push it closed from the outside of the plane. The door was open when the plane landed…. Not good! 3-A hole the size of a half dollar was in the cabin heat scat hose. 4-The prop seal was leaking oil which was obvious when looked at. The seal was beyond repair so I had the prop rebuilt at annual. My mechanic said it looked like the spinner had not been removed in years, must less at the pre buy. 5-The plugs were filthy. They had to be gapped and cleaned immediately which makes me wonder if they even pulled them for compressons. 6- On a smaller note numerous dirt dauber nests, missing screws and camlocks were found under the cowling. Not a big deal but it shows they don’t really care about the condition of the plane when it is delivered. 7-I had him do the interior along with the 430, A/P... The headrests had fallen off by the time the plane reached me. The leather above the armrest and sidewalls had pulled away and had fallen off too by the time the plane got to me and dried glue was all over the royalite. Bad first impression of my new interior. 8-I don't see how a highly regarded Mooney shop could miss all of these things if a pre buy actually took place. When I talked to him about my concerns he proceeded to drop a few verbal “bombs” and told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. He than continued to rattle on about his expertise. All in all the plane is very clean. It has a good overhaul from G&N and has no corrosion. I’ve been very happy with it now that I have the squawks worked out. If any of you are looking for a Mooney broker I recommend you steer clear of this guy. It was by far the worst experience I have ever had buying something and I am in the buying and selling biz. HORRIBLE customer service!

My logbooks show WW did a reseal on 1PX five years ago and they are still in great shape.