Amelia

After three years of fussing with broken leads, inop probes, and more, with the UBG-16 in my M20K, expensive repair after repair after repair, you can put me firmly in the NeverAgain column for that EI instrument in my airplane. I originally chose EI over JPI because their customer interface was so good. Super nice guys, for sure, but the expense of keeping the thing running finally got to be too much. Now I have a JPI- 730. It's only ten or so hours old, and so far, I like it. Pretty colors, says my inner child. It's taken some fussing to figure out how to program it properly, but easy to interpret at a glance, quick to respond, making leaning much faster than the old gauge, and the fuel flow- when I remember how to 'add fuel' is nice, too. Its compact size fits my panel nicely. The good news for the budget is now there's not room for a single new thing.

If we manage to skirt our way around several nasty weather situations, we'll be flying to a wedding in NE Ohio this weekend, an excuse to hang out with fun family. Currently watching the clouds gather over the Albemarle Sound in advance of Earl's visit tonight. Got fingers crossed, small craft secured, hoping we'll get nothing more than some rain and a brisk breeze, but could be obnoxious, depending on last-minute jogs to the west.

Just stopped in Elba on the way southeast last weekend- nice airport, good service, great avgas price. Highly recommended. Too bad we're headed in the other direction this weekend, Earl permitting.

Thanks, all, for the replies-- I just sent the KI525A off for repairs, hoping a little 25c gear is all it needs. Riiiiight. We'll see how that goes. And I understand taking it out was the easy part. I'm probably going to need a double-jointed dwarf with very long fingers and no bifocals to get it reconnected.

Might want to pick up one of those folding cupholders at Amazon.com. They're cheap, sturdy, easy to attach, and very handy. Mine is currently holding the screws that came out of my HSI...

Those of us who have dealt with a certain sleazy Florida Mooney scam-operator who shall remain nameless, can guess who you're talking about. Once burned, twice shy. So very sorry to hear of your troubles. I'm not a fan of lawsuits, but in his case I'd happily make an exception. How I wish somebody would take his obnoxious, overstuffed backside to court!

If it ain't one thing, it's another- and another. Just got (most of) the new JPI EDM-730 installed, except for the fuel-flow hoses that FedEx, bless 'em, lost until after I had to go home. As a result, I'll have to make another trip to the avionics shop, 600 miles sw. Now the heading bug has broken; the word, if I understand it, is that I'll need a whole 'nother HSI, because despite the cost, they're all plastic inside. Anybody recently bought a nice Aspen or Garmin glass panel and want to donate () their perfectly-good HSI to my favorite charity? If so, I'd like to hear of it-- and how much I'd need to donate to YOUR favorite charity. Thanks! Amelia

Aren't they a pleasure to deal with? That's just beautiful. I know how pleased you must be.

I found the 2" Oregon Aero seat cushion to be very helpful- they're made of stiffer foam and don't compress as much as regular pillows- comfortable, and add much-needed height. If your airplane has the original upholstery, that may be your problem, they having flattened over the years. With my newly re-foamed and upholstered seats, I find that I don't need my OA booster anymore.

I keep a log of flight time in the airplane. Every flight I enter the Hobbs time before and after, when, where, any approaches, night landings, and also, once a month, I do a VOR check and change the GPS data base, and make a note of it. I also scribble on the sheet when my last IPC/biennial was, and when the annual and oil changes were last done. Every six months or so, I bring that sheet home, enter the appropriate numbers into the Excel spreadsheet that now passes for my pilot's logbook, and file it away. Don't know if that's according to Hoyle, but it's at least a way this scatterbrained granny can keep up with it.

Why wouldn't you do your BFR in the airplane you fly most, the one your family rides in, the one you're most likely to encounter a pucker-making experience in? (she looks puzzled here. seeking enlightenment) And another thing- at low speeds, especially close to the ground, my hand is ALWAYS on the throttle, except for momentary departures to adjust flaps, put mixture and prop rich, lower gear, etc. Not the plan??

I think I have some that may have gone in a Toyota, but fit my 1980 231's seatback holes; they slide all the way down, no way to adjust that I know of. They work, but little primitive, perhaps. You'd want to recover them, unless you have a fondness for red and navy tweed. You'd be welcome to them- no charge.

Otherwise, why would I be considering spending yet more money on this foolish hobby? Here's the thing: I've just about had it with my EI-UBG-16 engine monitor. I've spent a fortune with half a dozen different mechanics and shops, highly regarded people, all. I've spent a lot of time on the phone with EI's truly nice tech support people. And still, the thing isn't reliable. Keeps breaking those tiny leads, and even when those appear OK, giving faulty, erratic readings on one cylinder in particular. Anybody got a JPI 730/830? I'm hoping to find something that will withstand whatever is breaking the little wires on the current gadget. And what about GAMIjectors? Worth the thousand bucks in a Mooney 231? I've been timid about flying LOP because I don't really trust the engine monitor I currently have, but might be worth doing.

Where in NE Ohio? I spent a lot of hours at Wayne County Airport, Wooster, where there were decent instructors, though not specifically Mooney experts.

OK, so I quick googled KEVW, and... darn.... I have already heard good things about these people, but Wyoming just isn't on my way to much of anywhere. So where are the wonder guys on my side (right coast) of the continent?

NOW y'all tell me....That happened to me a couple of months ago. Gear breaker wouldn't stay set. What the heck? Then I found the gear lever unhitched by sheerest accident. Too much help from small grandchildren, I think. Re-fastened the thing, smacked forehead with heel of hand, reset breaker, raised gear, all was well. Live and learn.

I'm fed up with my EI UBG-16; I've spent a ton of money repairing broken leads, rewiring from the firewall forward, and in two flight hours, doing it all again. So far, 6 different and highly-competent mechanics have had a go at it, some of them two or three times; EI's response is to blame the mechanics. All of them. Bah! SO, I have a fine UBG-16- 6-cylinder engine monitor that will be for sale- cheap!!- as soon as I get a JPI monitor installed. I'll be reading this thread with great interest, as this is the one I'm inclined to go with-- if you'll assure me that the wires are lots sturdier than EI's little copper threads.

When Hector at AeroComfort.com quoted my interior job, he talked about the cloth option as being very handsome. I went with the Pleather or Ultraleather, just because my backseat pax are sticky-handed toddlers, but he does both, and would probably be willing to give you specifics.

Finally posted a photo of the cupholder I ordered from Amazon a few months back. At something like five bucks, it's the cheapest meaningful improvement to a Mooney interior ever!

One factor that hasn't been discussed is the way the seats are configured. They are quite close to the floor, and your legs go nearly straight out in front of you toward the rudder pedals, as if you were sitting on a low cushion or driving a sports car. If you like to sit higher off the floor, more like sitting in a chair, or driving an ordinary sedan, you'd perhaps be happier in a Cessna 182 or 210. If your most frequent passenger is considerably shorter than you are, her/his seat may usually be pulled forward of yours, and you won't be rubbing shoulders. Another thing is if you have articulating seat backs, if one of you likes to lean further back than the other, you won't have the crunch factor. (My husband is six inches taller than I am, and since he doesn't fly, his seat is much further back, and usually tilted back more comfortably, so I hardly know he's there, shoulder-space wise.

I had three of the finest airplane partners ever... and they were all what we politely call 'plus-sized', all well over 6-feet tall, and not an anorexic in the bunch. One was, in his salad days, a varsity fullback at OSU. They'd all pile into the Mooney and head for Fla for their annual golf trip. (Never asked how they figured the W&B, but they musta known what they were doing.) But I did ask what brand of shoe-horn they used to get them all in. Apparently the trick was prearranging whose shoulders went where. "It's a Mooney! You're not IN it for very long," grinned one.

I've flown several wheelchair-bound pax for Angel Flight, several walker-dependent very elderly and arthritic people, and one patient with a freshly-casted broken leg. I expect your paraplegic friend is in much better shape than most people from the waist up. Anyhow, I'd put the flaps all the way down. This makes the trailing edge of the wing easy to sit on. Then help the passenger, if he wants the help, to transfer his weight from the chair to the the wing walk and encourage him to scoot backwards until he's abeam the open door. Show him where the hand-hold strap is, and what bits he can safely put his weight on to move aboard. Then tell him to sit tight right there on the wing while you fold the chair if you're bringing it along, stow it, climb up and squeeze behind the passenger into the right seat. Slide the right seat all the way back, put the seat belt buckles where they're easily reached, move across to the left seat, buckle in to get your seatbelt out of the way, then help the passenger move into the seat. If necessary, reach across your passenger to help tuck his legs in. If you have a great line crew, don't hesitate to ask them for a hand. Let your passenger direct them as he will know very well what is helpful. Then you get in, get out of the way, and let the passenger and the line guys work it out. Getting out is just the same thing in reverse. Remind the passenger what he can put his weight on, and let him wiggle his backside out onto the wing, swivel around, and ooch his way down the wing (flaps 40deg down) and let his legs dangle over the trailing edge. You get out, squeeze by him, get his wheelchair out and assemble it, and then help him off the wing into the waiting and brake-engaged chair. As for the safety factor, I don't really see the problem. Getting in and out of a Mooney with speed and grace is hard for many able-bodied folk- and yet we take them along without hesitation. We're not all gymnasts, but we manage.

Some of my favorite A&Ps have a lovely 4000 foot grass strip in front of their hangar a few dozen miles south of here. Thanks to their excellent care of it, and possibly the constant pounding of their heavy ag planes, it's smooth as a pool table, and there's just no sweeter landing. I confess, I wouldn't trust my 231 on an unimproved patch of pasture, though.