Seth

Alex- Here is the link to the controller page. Glad it's up there now. http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20C-RANGER/1970-MOONEY-M20C-RANGER/1252199.htm Also, as you know, for the better description, it's still up with Bob Gawler at: http://www.treborav8...anger_M20C.html Hope you're getting some bites - great value for the performance. -Seth

Austin- I'm glad you're safe and I'm sorry about your bird. Don't let this discourage you from attaining your instrument rating. As suggested, you may want to get it done in a rental aircraft while you are trained up. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and hopefully repairs won't take too long. However, do not rush to conduct the repairs. Be patient. There is a thread on AOPA (I'm sure many of us have read it) about an arrow with a complete engine failure and how the owner was patient in looking at all the posibilities. He ended up out of pocket much less than he orginally feared with a lot of work and dollars spend fixing his airpalne. You may want to read up on it. Good luck with your IFR - you're Mooney will be fine, and glad you're safe. -Seth

Yes - Interested in the group buy.

Correct - it is not TCAS. Good technicality. But I'm seriously considering it.

José- I've was waiting for you to chime in about the ATD-300. You've been a supporter of this equipment for a while but now that I know it can be tied into a Garmin 430 for additional display - I may have to seriously conisder this as my TCAS system option. For the price point, is there anything better? That as well as a link to the IPAD with some sort of portable and you've got a very nice complementary set up. -Seth

I smiled for a half second, and then realized it was April 1st. -Seth

PM Sent. I want them. -Seth

Didn't a rocket owner put a four blade prop on for a test flight? -Seth

At fields I plan to visit with closed towers, similar to stated above, I'll check NOTAMS, use the AFD for the correct closed tower operations frequencies, transmit on the correct frequency, but then monitor both CTAF and Unicom to make sure someone is not using the incorrect frequency. My biggest issue will be if there is an RCO at the field for IFR departures and cancellations. Obviously we can just use a phone, but it's easier with an on field frequncy and not all fields have them. Also, certain fields do not have pilot controlled lighting as the tower was 24/7. -Seth

I actually see both sides of the argument. That being said, I do carry a small knife/tool on me nearly everywhere, and when I fly the airlines and don't check a bag, I feel naked not having a tool/pocket knife on me at my destination. -Seth

I'm looking to purchase a portable Oxygen system in the next two to three weeks for a flight to depart in 60 days. If you are looking to sell your system, contact me as I may want to purchase it. Otherwise, I'll purchase a new one. I'm looking for a 2 or 4 place system, haven't decided on steel, aluminum, or carbon fiber yet. PM me and we'll see if a deal makes sense. If we make a deal, we can ship it or schedule a Mooney meet up depending on location for the exchange. Thanks, -Seth

I'm planning for my cross country flight and should have jumped at the chance to purchase a portable O2 system that was availalbe on MooneySpace about a month ago. Please let me know what type of system you use, the positives and shortcomings, and what you suggest for me to get. I'm thinking 2 place system, but does a 4 place make sense? Have you ever used a four place portable system? My current mission: Flying the Mooney Missile from coast to coast. On my last flight around the USA in my former F model, I did not have O2 and felt the effects when flying at 10,000 - 12,400 for extended periods out west as well as fatigue after the flights. I would have been better off with O2 to be higher for potential mountain waves and mountain flying, as well as fatigue and headaches after the longer legs. Most of my flying will be during daylight hours, but not all of it. I will have at least one other person on board for some portions of the flights on the west coast (between Los Angeles and San Francisco), but only 3 or 4 people for one day and that will be in the Souther California region to visit Catalina (where I landed in the F model in 2010). Very neat airport - good buffalo burgers. Most of the flight will be solo accross the counrty, and yes, I'll post my plans for the Mooney coast to coast may flying in case we're able to meet up anywhere. Future Mission: I'd like to have O2 for at least 2 people for trips where I can take advantage of winds up high to lessen my fuel burn. The mIssile will easily climb to 17,999 legally, but the 300 horses will fall off the higher I go. I'd love to be able to cruise in the teens and get a tailwind at low fuel burns when possible. Most trips are 1 or 2 people. Occasionally there will be 3 or 4, but that's rare, and I'm not sure I want to spend the money now for a four place system. I'm looking at the EDS 02D2 equipment which is expensive but evidently saves O2 - not sure if I'm going to make that much of an investment yet, as this flight will be the first where I really use the O2 in great quantities (I'll practice first to make sure I know what I'm doing). Aerox, Mountain High, and Air King are some brands I've looked up - I've just started my reserach. I think the thread I created before was lost when the bug hit and we had to restore MooneySpace and lost a few days of threads. I already have a pulse oximeter that I picked up rather inexpensively a few years ago due to the MooneySpace bulletin. Works great and I already have my baselines up to 11,000 feet. Thank you in advnace for the collective wisdom of Mooney Space. -Seth

Watch out for the landing fees/takeoff fees late at night at BED - I got hit with quite a bill from the automated service for detapring at 11:15 instead of 10:59. NO one in the FBO told me about it either, whcih bothered me. It was either $40 or $72 or something like that - just to depart after the tower closed. -Seth

Because I've never thought about it before, until now, and some have mentioned it in this thread, can it hurt your engine to feather it on the ground? I though you were not supposed to turn off your engine except for with the prop knob forward. -Seth

I know someone who has Meridian and the vibration is much less. Think about it - a piston engine has parts that move back and forth against each other non stop. A turbine, they all move the same direction. That's a huge reason for the reliability, the engine isn't trying to tear itself apart (well it is, but in a different way). I don't plan to see my plane in the long term future, maybe add a small taildragger with an engine that sipps fuel, but if turbines were less expensive, that would be hard to not consider. Also, doesn't the IO-550 qualify for an STC for motor gas? I heard that somewhere on this board, but have not yet looked into it personally. -Seth

i'll have to give it a shot sometime. However, I'll make sure to have a Mooney CFI with me the first time as well as the procedures for starting a dead engine out while a few thousand feet over an airport with a long runway (preferably multiple runways). I'll look in the POH, but I can't remember if I have to crank to get it turning in order to change the pitch in the prop. I'll look over that the next time I'm at the plane (and I'll remind myself to make a copy of the POH for my files). My guess is I have to crank the starter if my prop was stopped. -Seth

Nice!

I have flown into both OSJ and CMH. OSU gave some of the best service I've ever experienced. Lane was fine. It all depends on which is closer to your destinationa and of course calling in advance to find out fuel and overnight parking costs. -Seth

Thank you. Good point, I was thinking statue miles but on all our charts it's NM. That right there is breaking a link in the accident chain.

I have an IO-550 in my Mooney Missile and I replaced the cylinders recently. I'm about 25 hours into the break in, oil consumption is fantastic, temps have settled, and the plane has been running pretty smooth. The last two starts however have been not as smooth - the engine has barked to life and vibrated more than I though in the past. It settles down pretty quickly but is not as smooth as I thought I remembered. Also, on short final, pretty much when touching down on my last two landings (one where I went for fuel yesterday and then when I landed at my home base) the EGT for cylinder #6 was low compared to the other cylinders. The EDM 830 was actually blinking as the was a 300 degree temp differential. This occured both on the landing where I was getting fuel and on my landing at my home base. Once on the ground, i did a runup at both location and everything seemed fine. In the air, everything seemed fine, on landing, the EGT is dropping off on #6. I even pulled out power to see if the engine would stumple or stop at low RPM on the ground, and it was fine. Any thoughts or reason for concern? Valve issues on a new cylinder? I think, but it was a snapshot during short final, my EGT for the clinders awas 1000 to 1200 for the rest and 800-900 for #6. Obviously hotter when in cruise. Thank you in advance for your collective wisdom. -Seth

i watched the video - that was actually pretty good reporting - I think the reporter has the bug and will be a pilot soon. Always nice to see a poisitive aviation news piece. -Seth

That is correct. My Missile has a fully feathering prop, though I have never shut the engine down in flight to test it. The glide ration according to Rocket Engineering is 16:1 with the prop feathered. Personally, I'd plan 3 miles for every 1000 feet, but I'd want to test that first on my own to see if my plane was indeed capable of the STCed 16:1 ratio. Have any Rocket or Missile owners on this board ever feathered their props in flight? -Seth

Jose- I'm actually going to give your solution a shot sometime soon. My F had a good seal but the Missile does not and with the higher speeds the hiss is indeed present. I've lived with it for a year and a half in the Missile (can't believe I've had it that long already and have't had my F for that long already) but it's time to give it a shot. I'm sure I'll have good results, and I figured I'd try the $5 fix prior to the OEM door seal fix. All Smiles - if it doesn't work, I'm going OEM. -Seth

I did lose a raido once - about 10 hours into training on my former M20F. KX-155 just went TU and a bit of visible smoke appeared (like when a candle goes out). I was waiting for takeoff clearance on the ground after a few trips around the pattern at a class D airport. I shut off avionics as soon as I saw the smoke. The small whisp of smoke went away, so the instructor and I, seeing that we were on the ground, powered back on the avionics, Comm 1 was dead, but there was no more smoke smell. We turned off comm one and pulled the breaker, switched to comm two and called the tower, we did a few more patterns and then headed to home base. I had the dead comm pulled and sent away for repair (the capacitors died, once replaced it was fine). I flew on Comm 2 for about two weeks with a hole in the panel where comm 1 was. That's when I first started thinking about getting a backup radio (which I got a year later). So, I've never had to use one in flight, but I do believe it should be part of the equipment list, espeically when operating in and around the Washington DC SFRA - F-16s are cool, but not when they are sent after you. Obviously, there are enough airports to land at that are non-towered should you lose your radios, but I still like the idea of having a portable nav/com as a backup. Practicing with it in the air is another thing - that should be a good poll topic. -Seth

Other - Financial Advisor and Full Wealth Manager. I take care of investments, Life Insurance, and estate planning for my clinets to help simply their lives, allow them to reach their goals, and ensure they retire comfortably. I work with some pilots, and as a Finanical Advisor, my first advice would be to sell your airplane. However, I love flying too much, so unless it's really necessary, I would not suggest that to a pilot and aircraft owner. That's why as a Financial Advisor I work so well with pilots. I also work with insurance carriers who are pilot friendly for life insurance. My practice in many cases uses tax advanged strategies using some insurance vehicles and other investments to grow a clients assents in the most tax efficient manner (certain investments actually give you tax write offs). I have an attorny I work with for Wills, Trusts, and Advanced Healthcare Directives. It is important to be THE trusted advisor of my clients. I work for an independend broker dealer and seeing that I love airplanes, I'm in the midst of launching a new sub division of my practice called "Ascent Financial Management" to work with pilots. I'll let everyone know once that division is up and running. Take care, -Seth