PTK

I changed mine a few years ago in conjuction with an oil change. IIRC it added a couple hours to remove and clean surfaces and install new gaskets.

There's no good excuse for it to be occuring at such epidemic proportions. If we are forgetting to put the gear down we are forgetting other items too. Hence my question: are we also forgetting to slow down? And I don't necessarily agree with the "there are those who've done it and those who will." In my opinion that attitude diminishes and trivializes the importance of the checklist.

I find it inconceivable to have such a high incidence of gear up landings among our ranks. Do we have better things we’d rather be doing than see to those few items required in setting up for landing? To me gear down goes hand in hand with speed control on the approach. Do folks forget to slow down too?

I was waiting for a clearance one day at my home drome when I heard on the radio a Mooney on final. A couple minutes later as I was busy copying my clearance I saw him right in front of me in ground effect with the gear up! It was a 231 based at the field. Before I could get on the radio it was too late! Belly met the pavement half way down the runway and skidded to rest off to the right of the runway into some grass. I thought I should at least thank him for not closing down the runway as I was departing...but I couldn’t! It just wouldn’t have been right!

So evidently Coy Jacobs is not very well liked?

I saw a Mooney today with the designation “Mooney 211 Special Edition” on it. I have never heard of such a Mooney! What in the world is a Mooney 211?!

Anthony, why is it in your opinion worst case to bring in power through pilot window? Just curious...

I have my battery minder (bm) wiring permanently attached to the battery and ran to baggage compartment. It’s secured down and terminates to a plug into which the bm plugs to. I have the bm wired in series to a remote gsm switch and out to power from an extension cord through pilot window. Airplane is locked with a wire hanging out the pilot window and I have instant notification of status on my iphone. This setup has served my Concorde battery well going on 9 years now. I considered adding a little access door on the avionics bay panel but decided it wasn’t necessary.

You may want to limp along if you can and wait it out until the KFC230 ap computer comes out. Easy install of computer swap and a 3 year warranty on the complete system including your existing servos.

Wow! My agent (AOPA insurance) finds this unbelievable! Are you sure? I bound coverage for my best quote from Old Republic at 1962$ for 1 mil smooth/135Κ hull. In fact according to AOPA insurance they have never seen it as low as you say.

I have a quote from USAIG at 2037$. That’s for 1mil smooth and 135k hull. My agent really likes it because USAIG is excellent from what she is telling me and from what I hear. I wonder how it compares.

Coming up for renewal this month and had a chat with my agent. She mentioned that rates are up across the board. Have my fellow Mooney brothers experienced increases?

You are right on that your typical 100K sub-limits don’t offer much protection. After the lawyers 33k that leaves 66k for plaintiffs. Not much motivation there for them to settle. Personally I carry 1mil smooth and will try to go to 2 mil smooth next month at renewal if I can get it. I know I pay extra for it but it’s worth it.

Well, I as the pilot carry liability insurance for pax injuries and third party damage which may result from my mistakes. Why shouldn’t the mechanic working on my airplane? And there’s something called “informed consent.” As long as the condition of the airplane along with the recommended course of action and the potential consequences (financial and/or safety) if I don’t follow his/her recommendations have been explained to me in great detail, I will sign on the dotted line. This is how it needs to be and you’ll never hear me complain. I’ll gladly pay the cost of admission for this level of care! BTW this is serious stuff but very simple to comply with as outlined in FAR part 43.

I don't know what their point is. But I can tell you what my point is: We need to get serious as buyers. We need to hold sellers and mechanics accountable before the funds exchange hands. Until we mature to being able to do so without any guilty feelings and tiptoeing around a very sensitive subject there will always be horror stories.

Of course the mechanic will charge accordingly. Does anyone expect the mechanic to work without proper compensation for his/her services? In an inspection everything about the airplane is within the scope and nothing is outside the scope. As a buyer I’d want to know every detail. The seller btw should be able to provide this level of detail about the airplane they are representing. This is what aggreements of sale worth the paper they’re written on are for!

Maybe we need to raise our expectations and hold mechanics to that level of accountability.

This is not about the owner or how the owner feels. The owner doesn't have to fix anything. And this is not about being conducive to any sale. This is about the buyer knowing in detail the airplane he/she is considering to purchase. The sale or not comes later.

I said nothing about money or how long it takes. All I want is a comprehensive inspection and detailed report on the condition of this airplane.

I regard the mechanic to be a qualified professional. As such my expectation is he/she be fully engaged and connected to their main paid profession. Therefore I don't find it acceptable to be casually told "...sorry I missed that!..."

Things should not get missed on the PPI. Period. Hold the party performing it accountable. Funds to fix things negotiated away are already accounted for in the negotiated sale price and in the buyer’s bank account. Nothing over and above.

I disagree with the pay to fix things. I would qualify that by saying have x$ in the bank to do things you elect to do like panel improvements, interior, etc. Not fix things that the seller should have done.

No. The G5 does not provide attitude reference to legacy autopilots.

If you’re referring to the altitude transducer, as I think you are, it’s an expensive proposition and a lot more a potential issue...for the 200, not the 150. No where near. Reason is the way the alt transducer couples to the static system in the 150 is different from the 200. I bet you the beers this can be confirmed with autopilot repair shops if you ask them when was the last time they saw a 150 alt transducer go bad. The answer may be next to never! The 150 is a very capable, solid and proven autopilot. With the exception of giving it digital attitude reference by removing it’s vacuum dependancy there is nothing else pressing that can improve on it.

All these things you mention I can accomplish with my KFC150. It even has an envelope protection capability...of sorts. It will roll to wings level on demand. Which is good enough for me. And given my Mooney is not an Airbus, I don't care much about VNAV profiles. But it will do them. vnav descents are way more useful than climbs imo.