Seth

I had a baggage door open in 2010 on the takeoff roll of my first Mooney, my M20F, prior to rotation speee. It became a whirlwind inside and got loud. I aborted the takeoff before rotation, taxied off the active, shut down, inspected, secured, and locked the baggage door, and then restarted and departed. The baggage door lifted all the way up during just the take off roll and locked itself into the support that keeps it open. My guess is the baggage door was fully up and open on the accident 252 due to the pattern speed winds in flight. Accident pics do not show any departure of the door from the aircraft or deformity of the baggage door like in the higher cruise speed incidents where the baggage door causes damage to the tail or because a significant source of drag requiring immediate landing. Very sad accident. I didn’t know they built 231 copies of the 252. I wonder if that was done on purpose somehow. Again, very sad. Thanks to the Mooney Summit Bill Gililand Foundation for hopefully reaching out to the family and providing great support to the Mooney Community. -Seth

I wish I could be there this year. Please continue to post pics. All attending are in for a great program. You have a fantastic board. -Seth

I hope everyone going this weekend has a great time! I wish I could swing by but cannot this year. Here's to a great Mooney summit. You have a GREAT team and GREAT board leading the way. Make sure to post pics! -Seth

If you know how to work the maintenance menus inside of the GI275 (guessing) you likely can change it yourself. That said, whoever installed it set it up incorrectly so you can likely reach out to them and either have them walk it through it for you how to do it on the phone, or you can fly back to the shop, sit there while they fix the software setting, and then fly out, at no charge since they set up the equipment incorrectly. And I'm sure it's a common issue. They set it up to a 201 standard. We have the STC. Trust me, I had issues when I sent my former engine into Continental for Overhaul - they sent me back a stock engine missing all the STC Rocket Engineering parts (and couldn't find them so Continental paid Rocket Engineering to reproduce some of the parts). The GI275 should have been properly set up to your aircraft, and you have STC modifications that change what the limits are for fuel pressure. -Seth

And . . . she's sold! As of this afternoon after 15 years of Mooney ownership, and 12 years with this magnificent Missile, I'm planeless. I admit it was kind of hard watching her fly off today. She's got a great new home with a good pilot and owner who is very excited about this Missile. I hope he join's MooneySpace and attends Mooney Summit in October. Thank you as always to everyone here on MooneySpace. I'll stick around! -Seth

I'm pretty sure it's 36 per the STC. The original M20J is less. Hence the setup by the shop making 28 the max allowable. They set it up for a standard M20J fuel pressure with a Lycoming IO360 with 200 HP. The STC with the Missile and the Continental IO-550 max is 36 PSI. You're fine! That's what my former Missile used to be (former as of earlier this afternoon ;( -Seth

She's in pre-buy . . .

In order to do that you'd have to remove the engine. then remove the 8 point engine mount, then send it to a shop to overhaul it. Cost wise? costs are SO much higher now than just two years ago. I can look though my records and try to come up with something for you. If the engine is already off, it's a no brainer to do as you're looking at only a few AMU for shipping and overhaul. 12 years ago under $2,000 all in. Not sure what it would be today. But I can again go back to records and try to extrapolate. -Seth

I've had a few offers now and have accepted one. She's going into pre-buy in a few days. Very bittersweet. Need more seats for the family, but this is one heck of an airplane. -Seth

Thank you Scott for providing the info: Yes, the 4 blade MT replaced the damaged prop from Oshkosh while under Marshal. EAA insurance covered me as I was under marshal which was nice as I didn't have to make a claim to my insurance. I actually stopped and tired to go around the bad area and then was directed back into it. I learned if I don't want to taxi there I should just pull the mixture and hold up the line. Which I did (without holding up the line) in 2022 when I returned with the 4 blade. PM me for more details but while the engine was off getting overhauled (the tear down showed nothing from the prop strike) but it had been 10 years and for a bit more I was able to get new cylinders, everything overhauled/replaced, I did a ton of work firewall forward like replacing the shock absorbers/engine mounts, R&Ring the Rocket Engine Mount, sending off the removed exaust for overhaul, new block heater, etc. . . . The lighter prop also gave me some UL, shifted my CG back just a bit which took away the nose heavy feel of the STCed Rocket and Missile. She's more balanced now. I made a Oshkosh "special" type deal on the prop as I was there, so I took the opportunity. Hartzel would not budge on their price, but they would make me a new prop as there are no Missile props out there as it's a one off prop with run of one per airplane. -Seth

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-pSbZXX Here are the pics! Well over 100 and she looks amazing. Check out the link.

I have a gas tug and two tow bars. The shorter one I would sell separately. The longer/extendable one would go with the airplane. The gas powered EZ tug I’d consider selling but may use as part of a shared partnership I may move forward with on a six seater. -Seth

I cleaned up the throttle knob and repainted it. I also touched up the nose landing gear for exactly what you suggested - good first impressions. Thank you

All four seats have shoulder harnesses