flight2000

I listed it at $69K and it sold for that... Brian

When I sold my 67E it stayed on the market for exactly 2 weeks before selling and it was only advertised on controller.com (free ad) and here. The good ones sell really quickly so you have to be ready to pull the trigger on them. That really goes for any aircraft you are looking at though. There are days that I miss it... I would routinely get 155 KTAS at 10,500 feet while burning 8.7 gallons. It was a hard decision to sell. More photos of my previous love at: http://www.67m20e.com/n597nd.html Cheers, Brian

Some of us do, but then again how many Mooney's can shove 270 pounds in the baggage compartment alone..... Everything is a trade off. Nothing is perfect out there. Not really, some Mooney's won't out run a Bonanza, just like some Bo's won't out run a Mooney. My M20E wouldn't outrun my E33A, but the fuel burn was a hell of a lot better in Mo. That's not why I moved over though.... Just remember not all Mooney's on the frequency are created equal, just like not all Bonanza's on the frequency are created equal. I've seen bad behavior from all pilots, so one over the other is just not a big deal in my book. I guess rivalries will always exist so one group can justify their baby over another....I just sit back and watch the fireworks for the fun of it... Cheers, Brian

The E model in the original post is down the street from me and I visited Sterling Air back in July to look at a P210 and an F33A. Nice dealer, honest, but he is a broker for the owner. The E model was on the ramp, so of course I wondered over to look at it. Paint looked nice from what I remember seeing and the seats were average at best. Didn't see anything that really concerned me, but this was just a cursory look at it. This was just before I sold mine in August. Cheers, Brian

I agree, it's overpriced! Should be somewhere in the $100-115K range. Being sold in California, everything tends to be overpriced IMHO.....saw quite a few Bonanza's with the same pricing theory over there. Only takes one buyer at that price though....the seller just hasn't found the golden fish yet. Brian

Except the Air Force changed their mind finally and will be keeping the A-10. Smart move IMHO.... http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-keep-a10-indefinitely-2016-10 Brian

I'm not so sure about that. ISIS wants bigger, more visible targets (malls, sporting events, schools etc)....this does not fit the bill (even with the proximity to the P&W factory). Fox News reported that the pilot was disgruntled with his parents for making him take pilot training and fought them about doing so. I've served overseas with people from the Jordan/Saudi Arabia area and know that parents over there are very heavy handed with the direction their kids go. Don't think it's terrorism as much as a selfish act of a person trying to get out from under his parents. Selfish because he almost killed another person in the plane and certainly could have taken out a few on the ground... "Flight instructor Arian Prevalla survived the East Hartford crash Tuesday. Student pilot Feras Freitekh died. The official said the flight instructor described the student pilot as disgruntled about learning to be a pilot." http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/12/fbi-investigating-if-deadly-connecticut-plane-crash-was-intentional.html Brian

+3 for Plexus...used it on the Mooney for 7 years and have continued using it on the Bonanza. Seeing a pattern here.... http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/plexus.php?clickkey=3008884 Expensive, but the 13 oz can last an entire year for me. A little bit goes a long way. Cheers, Brian

That's an interesting technique. How much did you get on the windshield (spot ice or creeping up from the bottom) and did the defrosters help any? Brian

Thanks! More of a closet ND fan since my entire extended family (to include my wife) graduated from there. I'm from the state next door and will always bleed Scarlet and Grey (tOSU)...I was not "authorized" to go with those colors in either case, so blue and gold it is..... Cheers, Brian

They were at just the right height, but I was never really comfortable relaxing that much in flight to enjoy them. Then again, my wife would smack me thinking I was falling asleep so it was kinda hard to do that... Ohh, don't I know it...he's responsible for about 90% of my grey hairs... Fully believe he's a future Mooney owner in the making. First flight in the Bo and he's wearing a Mooney t-shirt....didn't notice that until now... Cheers, Brian

So was that an after market modification? I have never seen a pre-82 bird with the split rear seats, thought they were all bench seats. Interesting... Brian

That's good to know. That was the piece I wasn't sure of when I was window shopping. Thanks! Brian

Upgrade to a cabin class twin.... For our '67 M20E, I upgraded the seats and went with a denser foam and added the headrests. The denser foam really was the big winner with making my flights more comfortable. The previous seats would give me a cramp in my right butt and thigh after about 2 hours and my back didn't take to well to the "softer" foam either. Never saw anybody use the new headrests once they were available, so thought they were pretty useless, but they did look good.... When we did the next upgrade, we went from our M20E to another E (E33A) and ended up with better reclining seats in the back... Cheers, Brian

Some more to chew on... https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/54i6qk/watched_this_entire_crash_unfold/ Brian

A pilot on another forum stated he had landed just before the accident and said winds were light with a slight x-wind from the right. He landed on the same runway the Mooney was trying to use and was putting his aircraft back into his hangar when it happened. Also found another report that claims it was in fact N526AM.... Brian

RIP. Sad and hope the third passenger pulls through with no major long term issues, but the aftermath for that individual is going to be hell from a psychological perspective. Could be N526AM...registered in Robbinsville, NJ? From a video on youtube below, the paint scheme matches..... Brian

So I went flying on Friday morning and did some experimenting with different settings just to see what the plane would do at 10,500 feet over Lake Tahoe and Truckee, CA. Fuel flow was noted with the mechanical gauge and the Shadin MiniFlo. WOT/2400, 14.7 gph, 45F OAT, 146 KIAS = 173 KTAS 19"/2300, 10.7 gph, 45F OAT, 132 KIAS = 156 KTAS Both verified with three GPS legs. I'm sure the boaters on Tahoe were wondering WTH is that guy doing up there... Cheers, Brian

When I needed to do the above, the easiest method I found to add weight in the back was using 25 lbs free weights. Throw two or three in the back (tied down of course) and viola, additional 50 or 75 pounds to help counter the forward CG issue. Cheers, Brian

Thanks Jim, great article that I hadn't seen before....and yes, they really do argue about the Debonair versus Bonanza name....mine has the Bonanza name plate on the fuselage as delivered in 1968, so I'm sticking with that.... The ABS is really a great source of information about all Beech models (they have Owners Manuals/POH's online in the members section for just about every model out there). The online courses are a wealth of information for new Beech pilots. My biggest question is why does MAPA not have anything like that for new Mooney pilots and perspective owners? Cheers, Brian

If you're replacing all the tires, don't forget to pick up new tubes as well. I've heard nothing but good things about the Michelin AirStop tubes... Cheers, Brian

Jim, if you are allowing someone else to fly your plane, they can do so with no changes to the insurance policy IF they meet the open pilot qualifications. For my Mooney and now my Beech, the open pilot clause is 500 total time, 125 complex, and 25 Make and Model. If they don't meet those requirements, they need to be a named pilot on your policy, which usually incurs a small increase in the yearly premium (sometimes it does not) based on their qualifications. For training, I was going to add my son as a named pilot on the policy and that would have caused my policy to go up by $750 for the year. Best bet is to just call some insurance companies as carusoam mentioned above and find out what they can get for you with quotes. Insurance is a very individual thing. When my son is flying from the right seat, I'm still overall responsible for the flight as PIC. Just make sure you aren't allowing them to put you in a situation you can't recover from. As a side comparison, our auto insurance went up by $1,600 a year when we added him to the policy...ouch... Cheers, Brian

So, I'm going to jump in and say, yes, you can learn in a Mooney. Why, well, why not? Every person is different and one size does not fit all. I would not have any issues putting my 18 year old son in our M20E (before I sold it...) and allow him to get his PPL with it. He already had almost 150 hours of observation in the right seat and had hand flown it numerous times. My insurance company was even okay with it and was surprised to learn that my premium would only go up an additional $750 a year to add him as a student pilot and there were no additional requirements like he must have 25 or 50 hours dual before solo. Having said that, the right instructor is CRITICAL to making it work. You don't want someone that still has a soaking wet CFI ticket doing the training. You would need to find a Mooney instructor that has tons of hours instructing in Mooney's. Really, flying a 180 hp M20A/B/C/G or 200 hp M20E/F/J is not rocket science. There are a few extra steps to work, but it's simply not that difficult. If you are taught the basics from day one, you do not learn/develop bad habits. That is why people have a hard time transitioning from the Piper and Cessna trainers to Mooney's or Beech's or what ever.....they have to have the bad habits they learned in a more "forgiving" aircraft beat out of them before they become proficient with a slicker air frame. The more time you have developing those bad habits, the rougher the transition will be. Would I put him in an Turbo M20K/M/TN for primary training, probably not. Would probably skip trying it in the long body M20R as well. Those are higher performance aircraft that need some more time under your belt to conquer, but it does go back to the same premise above, everyone is different and if taught the skills up front.....anything is possible. Just my $.01 for what it's worth. Cheer,s Brian

Notre Dame. My wife (and basically her entire family before her) graduated from there in '97. Thankfully, my kids have no interest...so our $$$ is safe. Cheers, Brian

We'll probably be moving back to the flat lands once I'm done with my assignment here in Reno, so a turbo isn't really necessary for me. When the engine is due for an overhaul, I'll probably upgrade to an IO-550 instead. Currently have an IO-520-BA on the nose. Have to say 285 hp was a big step up from the 200 hp I was used to. Brian