Seth

Heavy duty fuel tester - the one with the metal rod instead of the plastic one that always breaks. -Seth

Did that last January!! My Spot died and to buy and new one plus the annual fee, I decided to go with ResQLink PLB as well. Good choice. I still have a 121.5 beacon, so the PLB ELT is important. I'll probably keep it even after I finically update the aircraft ELT. -Seth

My original zulu had this occur after they were out of Warrenty. Call Lightspeed. The rubber/plastic compound is breaking down. Send it in and they'll replace the control unit/housing. They'll do it as it's under warranty for free. Very good customer service. -Seth

Amelia- Just sent you a PM. GREAT job getting down safely. The MSC at W00, Freeway Aviation, does a great job should you want to stay local (they are driving distance to Stafford). Call Tommy Williams 301-262-6544 or Chris. Both will be able to assist you should you not yet have made a decision. They are also available for a second opinion. Depending on the damage, they may be able to send a crew and ferry it to Freeway pretty quickly. As mentioned, Don Maxwell is great too. I'm just thinking of where the aircraft is located, where the Freeway MSC is located, and where you are located, it may make more geographic sense. Also, let me know if you need transportation back and forth from NC to the repair process if your K stays at Stafford or gets transported anywhere locally. I'm happy to help when my schedule permits. My in-laws are located near Stafford, VA, so I'm very familiar with that airport and airspace near the SFRA. Call or email anytime - my contact info is in the PM. Good luck!!! and again, GREAT JOB. -Seth

Wonderful news!!!! -Seth

Wish I could attend. Fly safe and enjoy! -Seth

Thrilled for you!!!! Can't wait to see it at a flying somewhere. 17 years!!!! -Seth

Nice looking Mooney!

Finance. Still a financial advisor and full wealth manager with my own company Ascent Financial Management, but now I'm building up 150 to 200 advisors under me in a separate venture. -Seth

The Missile has two batteries. I keep them on a battery minder in the hanger. Both are concords and were replaced in 2012. Never had an issue and since have had no issue or repeat. I've had slow turning blades on my F model before due to a low battery, but never normal, super slow (12-15 times slower motion) and then normal again. I'll read up on starter adaptors. Maybe a soft then tight cylinder as mentioned combined with no preheat 45 degree start. -Seth

Hello Mooney Space! It's been a while since my last post. I've launched a second company and that has eaten into a large portion of my time. A week and a half ago I was in Philadelphia for a conference. I flew into Philadelphia International, KPHL, and as usual, they took care of me very nicely. I've been there a half dozen times. I left the aircraft parked Tuesday afternoon through Friday early morning. Upon start up on Friday morning, it was about 45 degrees outside and I did not have the chance to preheat. The IO-550 in the Missile likes to be plugged in for a preheat, but at 45 degrees, she's always started, I just give some extra time for a warm up. As an example, this morning, I plugged in the block heater for about two hours and she started just fine. 3-4 hours is better. The issue is that when I started the engine the propeller turned once, then the second blade turned in SLOW motion, and then the third blade turned regularly and it started up maybe on the fourth or fifth blade turn (three blade prop). I had plenty of battery power (the Missile has two batteries) and it did start, but I've never had such a slow turn of the second blade. Very odd. Again, sequence went: "Clear Prop!" Blade one passes normally, blade 2 starts to pass and from 11:30 to 12:30 it slows down to a snails pace, and then the third blade passes at a normal speed and a few more blade turns later she fires and the engine starts just fine. blade 1: turn blade 2: tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn blade 3: turn blade 4/5: Starts right up. What happened? What could cause this? Is it reason for concern? Thanks! -Seth

Paul Beck is good and a new MSC as noted. However, you also have Jason Doscher who used to work at Wilmer a decade ago under Bruce. He runs his own shop in Benson, BBB a short hop away from Wilmar. He preformed my prebuy on the Missile which turned into an overhaul and annual. I fully reccomend him and when I need a reseal, I fully trust Paul. Two great shops who know each other well. http://jed-aireaviation.com/ The airports are 25 NM apart. -Seth

Meghan is indeed pregnant with baby #2, due in late April. I'll be at Mooney Summit V! -Seth

I'm looking forward to working with Mike, Ron, all the board members, guest speakers, and others involved that have made Mooney Summit such a valuable and viable success. Looking forward to Mooney Summit V! -Seth

More pilots these days prefer to give a shop electronic copies of logs. Shops don't like that. It's easier for them to flip though pages of 30+ year old logs. As more and more records are kept in a digital fashion, and the owners become more technically savvy, shops will drop the issue. Its a question or issue now. In 10-20 years, shops will have no qualms and may even request digital copies. -Seth

Yes. The acclaimed has almost mini not quite winglets on it. Supposedly helps with drag. -Seth

I agree 100% -Seth

Weather moved to ground fog at GAI this morning and our destination was LIFR. So we waited for ceilings to rise a bit, the ground fog to burn off at bit, and moved the breakfast location to Easton - ESN. We had 5 aircraft and 9 individuals at breakfast - a good turnout considering the conditions and changes. Until next month . . . -Seth

We will fly to ESN - Easton Maryland, for breakfast today.

Due to low IFR at CBE we are changing locations and I'll have the new airport up shortly.

It looks like we have at least four aircraft coming to breakfast on Sunday. -Seth - M20J Missile 300 -Tim and Fernando M20E -George M20S -Oscar M20C See you all there! -Seth

Location changed to ESN - Easton MD - We'll be there at 9:30 due to ground fog lifting at our departure point. 8:00 AM Sunday -Seth The October Mooney Breakfast Flight will take place this Sunday, October 16th at Greater Cumberland Regional Airport – KCGE. We’ll arrive at 9:00 and will eat at the Hummingbird Café – you can taxi right up to it. Weather looks good for Saturday. Sorry for the late notice. Fuel is $4.75 per gallon and I’m working on a discount. The Monthly Mooney Breakfast Flights began with the Mooney Pilots at KGAI and has expanded to the entire Mid-Atlantic Region. Each month a location in the Mid-Atlantic region will be chosen and a date will be set for the breakfast. Breakfasts will typically be a 9:00 AM arrival. I'll work to procure fuel discounts when possible. Posts to MooneySpace and the NJ Mooney Pilots Group will be made as soon as possible. Please do RSVP so I have an accurate count for the Hummingbird Cafe!. See you Sunday! -Seth

What they said is correct! Every extra knot over touchdown speee over the threashold = 100 extra feet of float!! -Seth

According to Bob Kromer at Mooney Summit, every additional knot of speed on short final leads to 100 feet additional rollout. So 5 knots over = 500 additional feet. Just something to think about when calculating. Flying the numbers is very important. -Seth

I agree George- I have a 98 gallon capacity and usually keep 60 in the wings for flexibility. When I need longer legs or find less expensive fuel I top off. Otherwise that's a lot of weight to carry around. With my former F model and 54 gallon bladders, I would top off after every flight. -Seth