Amelia

I caved. The cost of a 55X and panel rearranging were gong to cost far more than I wanted to spend, so I just had the old system 30 refurbished. Even so, surely not cheap, but It’s ok.

I had Hector do the interior of my 231 some years ago. He had good ideas, found leftovers from a Learjet job, combined them beautifully, and it looked like a million dollars when he was done. The old yellowed plastic interior panels were covered with pale ersatz leather, ditto. Perfect! And he couldn’t bear to send that crate of refurbed pieces back with the plastic covered glare shield, so that was redone with leather, too. To say I was thrilled would be an understatement. His shop’s attention to detail is incomparable. Aerocomfort is simply top-notch. Go with the best. You won’t regret it!

Gear head, I’m truly sorry to renege, but we ended up leaving a day early. The offer stands if you find yourself in NE NC!

I just landed yesterday at KALN, for a long weekend with the world’s best grandsons and their parents, who live in Edwardsville. Had planned to land at SET, but that was suddenly a very bad idea, with orange and lavender radar returns over it. We will be headed back east on Tuesday, so if you can get away midday then, you’d be welcome to consider the merits of a Mooney 20S Screaming Eagle. Except for its thirst, it is a wonderful traveling machine. Fast, comfortable, excellent UL, lots of room for baggage. I love mine. It might be a handful for a freshly-fledged pilot, but maybe worth saving your nickels for when you’re comfortable, and instrument rated.

I am fortunate to have an A&P, John Sanders, just a short stroll across the ramp, now. He is thorough, honorable, responsive, quiet, pleasant, knows what he is doing, has good staff, gratifyingly refrains from disparaging Mooneys— I am happy. He stays busy. And if things go mechanically really sideways in a way peculiar to Mooneys, the superb AGL Mooney Service Center people are just a few hundred miles west of here.

I was in the OP’s shoes several years ago. I had decided to buy another airplane, and the field was wide open. I loved my C172, ever so many years ago, but had caught the Mooney bug from three of the loveliest M20K partners anyone could ask for. Decades passed. Then spent a year away from aviation, and a couple of awful airline experiences had this old lady once again in the market for her own wings. C182? Perfect for my brother’s commercial photography business, grand for back country mountain airstrips. But less perfect for long continent-crossing expeditions. I had flown out to see my friend Bob in eastern Oregon, and it took us an easy day and a half from our coast to his. When we arrived, he invited us to follow his vintage 182 into a gorgeous Idaho wilderness lodge’s 1500’ of goat track far down in a canyon. . Ah, nope. We’d like to go in your shiny airplane, please! Different airplanes for different missions! I had found I could buy a lot more Mooney than Beech or Cessna for a given sum. Faster, better equipped, newer, and no stepladder required, a Mooney makes for quick trips to see grandkids. I want two airplanes, actually. One a nice Champ or Cub for low and slow local unimproved strip fun, and my Screaming Eagle to visit far flung friends. Why, yes, I do want it all, thanks.

GeeBee, you dear! Next time, if EVEr I’m desperate to allow my mechanic to order from Spruce, you’re on. Not only gas, but dinner, too!

I’m delighted many of you have had such pleasant experiences. I am still very angry. Not just because my “next-day delivery” to the tune of over $300 shipping charge turned out to be several weeks, shipped by usps, not ups, not only have I missed my trip, forfeited prepaid hotel room, but Spruce’s CS rep says company policy says no refund on their shipping, despite their own acknowledged screw-up. Because Covid. How conveeeeenient. The parts still haven’t arrived. And I’m not done with this. Alas, there doesn’t seem to be an emoji expressing the extent of my disgust with this company!

Now, if only the parts had been shipped next-day air as requested, I would be enjoying myself in the Keys, with a long anticipated - and paid- mini vacation. Well, we win some, we lose some. My highly esteemed mechanic will be ordering parts from a different supplier from now on, I gather. >:-(

Thanks, Mitch. That might be true if it were a one-off screw-up. But apparently this idiocy is standard procedure these days. I do appreciate the sentiment, though.

Thank you, dear one. I need four more lifters, seals, rods, and assorted other bits for my io550. And another 8 hours to install the dang things. Would have been easy if Aircraft Spruce had extracted its corporate head from wherever it was stuffed two weeks ago and accomplished what we paid for, including expedited shipping. But that was evidently too much to ask of a gum- chewing dimwit. Yeah...I am still just *a little* upset. But warms my heart to think there are still good folk like you eager to lend a hand. I fear we are SOL this time. Now must go unpack our bags and x the flight plan. Thanks most sincerely!,

Wow, am I steamed! What execrable service, combined with sheer blithering incompetence! The above-referenced supplier of parts listed the items as in-stock, my shop ordered them to be shipped stat, next day air. When they didn’t arrive, a call revealed they were, um, back-ordered. Finally in stock, my shop asked they again be shipped next-day ups. Two weeks later, they were shipped... spent several days in sort facilities, and now USPS, if they get out to the airport (3-miles from the PO) anytime soon, will deliver them... maybe as soon as Monday or Tuesday. My non-refundable reservations were for Saturday and Sunday. Yep. I’m angry. My shop swears it’s the last straw for Spruce, having screwed up a number of their orders recently and met with a “not-my-problem” shrug. wahhhhhh!

I talked to the mechanic, who said he pulled two more lifters. “They were garbage,” he noted, apparently satisfied that they were the cause of all the metal in the oil filter. It seems that is a common Continental issue. “You should be good for another five years,” he promised. So having written a check for shiny things to replace corroded things, I sit back and wait for miracles to be worked. whew!!! thanks, all, for the kind wishes!

So bright and early this morning, I flew ithe Beast around the patch a couple of times to warm the oil, taxied over to the maintenance hangar, uncowled it. Drained the oil. Dear mechanic cut the filter apart, and ... oops. Apparently all bright and sparkly is not a good look this year in oil filters. Lots of metal, both ferrous and nonferrous. None six months ago. So, after some worrisome discussion about reman engines and children’s’ undeserved inheritance and 10-week turnaround time for an IO550G, the thought occurred to him to check the lifters on this 1600- hour motor. Maybe they will prove to be the culprit. The crankshaft looked ok to him. There was glittery crud on the two lifters he checked. More will be learned tomorrow with all the others examined plus borescope and so forth. Blow-softening here:Tell the old bat she will be looking at a >$50K bill and Mooney down all summer, and she will be tickled with her $5K expense... she very much hopes. Thoughts welcome!

If it is vital to take it with you when getting away from it all, I agree, a great big airplane with barn door access is perhaps necessary. If it is possible to substantially pare down the cargo, you might find a certain freedom in that, and Mooney might fit your mission better than you think.You’d find dividends paid in faster speed, lower fuel bills, more nimble handling, more bang for your airplane buck. We have always chosen to travel light, no matter where, how, or for how long. One carry-on bag or small duffel each is plenty for us, even for a month of international travel. If we choose to camp, we hold to that super backpacker compact and light philosophy as well. Otherwise the logistics bog us down, and travel becomes clumsy, heavy, and expensive. Slows us down in the air, but even more so on the ground, where we seem to spend far more time tending our stuff than doing what we came to do. Special exceptions may dictate your decision, SCUBA gear is heavy, and ski bums may need to haul bulky bags. We often just rent gear like that, though, because we don’t use it often enough to look after it. We watched in wonderment at the North 40 airplane camping area at OSH as Mooney drivers spent an hour unloading massive amounts of gear from the camping equivalent of a clown car. Mentally toting up the numbers, we wondered how, even from 40 miles away and one pilot, they weren’t way over gross. And then the family minivan pulled up and disgorged yet more stuff. Amazing! Admittedly, we envied them their rocking chairs, king-sized beds, 8-man tents, bikes, and expedition kitchens, but at the cost in time spent packing, unpacking and repacking, not for us. Oh, and Al Mooney was, what, 6’5”.?

My S has the 310hp, no rudder trim. I’ve never missed it. Seems just right as is. And I’m over on the NE corner of NC. If you find yourself in this end of our state, I’d be happy for an excuse to go flying.

I found, owning the 20K, I rarely took full advantage of that turbo. It was wonderful at 12-15000, but refilling that built in ox tank was a nuisance, required landing at a big-city airport, paying substantial sum ($100-150-ish) for a top-off, winds were often unfavorable, and I wasn’t happy with the amount of useful consciousness left at the flight levels if the connector popped loose before I saw it. As it did from time to time. That said, it was lovely to accept FL220 once when requested, just to say I did. And up high, the a/c works well in July, the buildups are skinnier, and groundspeeds eastbound, as mentioned, are gratifying. I just didn’t get up there often enough to be worth holding out for a turbocharged Mooney as nice as this normally aspirated one. I haven’t found myself out of climb power on several continent-crossing trips, and 310hp gets off even a high da airport promptly. Buy the best avionics you can afford... The rest is pure Mooney magic.

On the other hand, if you find an Ovation that makes you happy, I suspect you won’t find much you can’t accomplish. I had a 231, now have a Screaming Eagle. This one is dead slap simple to fly, no cowl flaps, no turbo to baby, performs beautifully, climbs like the proverbial bat to at least 12,500. Haven’t tried higher, but now that I have portable O2, I will soon know more. Its service ceiling is way on up there, but NA might take a while to reach it.

Oh, and about the flexibility of GA: We were invited to eastern Oregon to meet internet friends and see mountain backcountry only available to hearty horsemen and aviators. On our way to a spectacular lodge deep in an Idaho gorge.” Hop in and follow me,” encouraged friend, Skybobb. “Not me,” I said. “The Beast stays right here. I want to ride shotgun in an old straight-tail 182 flown by an expert.” This plane prefers 3000 feet of pavement. But is perfectly content across the entire nation in heavy smoke if need be. And when the airport we’d intended to stop at on the way home, GPI, was closed due to wildfire, I had a handy alternate in my hip pocket, a little side trip down to Davis, CA, to visit a beloved sibling. Match that, United! And home to the Right Coast with a very nice tailwind on my own schedule. This Mooney was meant for travel!

Yep. The Coast Guard Auxiliary sent me to STL a couple of years ago, insisted it be commercial. Sighhhh. So I left home (EDE) at 0530 to get to ORF for the day’s first departure. There at 0700 for an 0800 departure. TSA ignored my military orders and not-a-security-risk designation, rifled my single carry-on and fondled this old granny. OG was annoyed. Finally to the boarding gate in time to learn the flight to ORD was delayed. For hours. Finally boarded, worried that might not make the ORD-STL connection. A six circuit hold over Lake Michigan . Finally cleared to the gate. Oh. Oh. Oh. See Granny run. Run, Granny, run, Board 1 hour flight to STL. Sit. Sit, Granny, sit. In the takeoff queue, once we were finally cleared for pushback, for well over an hour. No lie. Just after sunset, we lined up for takeoff. Go! Waited in sleet for an hour for the hotel shuttle. Finally got to the hotel to learn no dinner available at that hour. Grrrr. 17 hours en route. Time to spare? Go by air. More time yet? Go by jet. EDE to STL (or nearby) is an almost door to door 4 hour nonstop Mooney trip. No TSA dimwits. No parking hassles. No traffic to and from the distant big airports. Going by Mooney, I could have left after a civilized breakfast, had lunch with my STL son and his, spent time with dear ones doing fun things, and and been delivered to the hotel across town to my conference tired, but happy. And home with a whopping tailwind afterward. For me, too far is water I can’t cross in 7 hours at 175 kts. The joy of flexibility is why I own such a fine bird. GA from coast to coast has afforded me time with scattered friends and family, impromptu stops at fabulous and quirky national parks and monuments, legendary towns, sometimes just as an excuse to stretch legs. The geologic wonders of the west, the neat wee airstrips, the good people who run them... why in the Sam Hill would anybody go commercial if they weren’t forced to?

The noted physician/author Atul Gawande wrote a fine little book entitled A Checklist Manifesto, in praise of their utility, especially in surgery, his specialty. He stresses the discipline and useful orderliness in many other processes, with interesting stories and studies. I commend it to you. I always use my written, laminated preflight and takeoff checklist. It lives in the pocket by my left knee. It’s too easy to gloss over important stuff otherwise. The clockwise scan before pushing the throttle in, making certain I actually saw the thing I pointed to, is part of the internal checklist For landing, it’s gear-down midfield downwind or by FAF. and GUMPS on short final. I don’t usually get the written one out for that.

I had my first Moderna vaccine 10 days ago. No symptoms other than mild soreness at the injection site. So, yesterday, I noticed mild itching on that arm, which became a small pink bump. By supper time the bump was the size of a quarter, itchy but not tender. This morning that itchy raised lump is 50c size. Oh, help. Quick! Call Dr. Google! The eminent medical journal USA Today published an article claiming my delayed reaction to be COVID Rash, a mild and limited allergic response. No big deal, they assure me. Get the second injection. In the other arm, maybe. My beloved has had his second vaccine, claims no side effects. I noticed a couple days of naps in the sunbeams, though. Beats getting the Rona, at my age!

You’ll be pleased! They’re great guys, generous supporters of the Mooney Summit, and very knowledgeable.

Re: home field advantage: Don’t know if this applies, exactly, but my favorite right seater was a small-town country doc. He would advise his patients to elect to have their run-of-the-mill surgery at the local small town hospital. The surgeon was outstanding, the nurses knew you, everybody spoke fluent English, and if you ran into problems, the entire team lived less than five minutes away. By contrast, the internationally-famed Cleveland Clinic was well over an hour away. They’d be a great place to have high-end heart or lung surgery, but maybe not your first choice for ordinary gall-bladder or appendix surgery. I feel about the same way about Mooney maintenance. The hometown IA is very good, and he is right there. He makes house calls when needed. He works me in, is always available for a curbstone consult. He is conservative and sensible, talks to me in a language I speak. I feel the need to reward that responsiveness when I can, by not bothering him with emergencies and small stuff, and then taking the high-dollar work elsewhere.

Exactly this! GSXR is reading my mind. I took my new Mooney to AGL, was very pleased. Great people! But NC is a long state, and the guy who has maintained my Mooneys for years, not a MSC, but very competent, reliable, and newly relocated to 100 yards from my own hangar, gets the nod. He goes through the Mooney books step by step, does meticulous work, and I trust him. So I’ll take a nice week in the NC mountains and see AGL again with complete confidence, from time to time, but there’s much to be said for supporting the (very competent) home team, too.