Jeff_S

I've seen photos of a Cherokee on floats, but it has the advantage of starting with a fixed gear. It seems like it would be a heckuva mod to do the same with retractable. And the Mooney wing is already so low to the ground that you'd have to put some serious extenders on it to have a margin for safety. There's a reason most floatplanes are high-wingers. Even just getting to the dock so you can get in and out safely seems to require it.

Can you actually do a retrofit with a G1000? I thought that was OEM only but I could be wrong about that.

Since that information is publicly available on the FAA website, I will tell you it is registered as a co-ownership to Ellis and Kaye Davis. Their address is listed but for privacy I won't repeat it here. If you go to the main FAA website page you can do the inquiry yourself.

Quote: Piloto Overall the M20J model is the most cost effective and reliable. Mine (82 M20J) can do 155kts at 8gph/2400rpm/LOP at 10,000 feet. [Remainder of post deleted for brevity.] José

Having just bought a J within the last year, I will say that it performs the mission as others above have described very well and I would agree based on your mission profile that it would seem to be a good fit. The only thing that gives me pause is when you say you want to take along the 2 kids during the next few years. One thing I know about kids is that they don't stay small for long, so it's just a consideration for how long you expect to keep this plane before you may need something with more passenger capacity.

The current thinking is something I borrow from The Bard: Much Ado About Nothing. I took it to the prop shop this afternoon and we pulled the spinner. There's no evidence of any grease leak or oil leak. What there was, was some residual grease around two of the zerk fittings, probably from when it was greased at annual. Since the two blades that showed stains were consistent with where this residual grease was, the theory is that once that blade starts spinning at 2500 RPMs the centrifugal force was atomizing the oil particles and shooting them out onto the blade. So they cleaned it all up, and I'm just going to watch it for the next 5-10 hours to see what happens. I did notice that after I got back, there were no additional stains. So, it's always sumpin', eh?

So here's what I've learned so far. Talked to an MSC and a prop shop and got the same story. The seals are going bad, but this is just grease from the bearings that's splattering, not oil from the engine. Many of you may have known that already but it gives me a bit more security about flying it, although both said I shouldn't wait too long because if the all the grease gets out then it could be an additional $1000/blade to replace the bearings and races. Now it's just a logistical question of whether to leave my plane at the prop shop or have the prop removed at my home drome and have them pick it up. I'll post a final report once I get it done. Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and ideas.

Thanks all. David, I had Sensenich do a prop balance in the spring so I'll give them a call on Monday and talk to them. I'm not sure what the potential dangers are of flying with the prop in this condition so I ended up driving to see my parents in Clemson today. Any guidelines about how much leakage becomes a non-airworthy condition?

Hey all. Lately I have noticed what seem to be oil stains on the back of my propellor blades after a flight. It seems to only show up on 2 of the three, although I can't say for sure it's always the same two. The stains seem to start at the prop outside the spinner, and streak out toward the tips. And this is only on the backs of the blades. This is the first constant speed prop I've ever had so I'm still learning the ins and outs, and what to be concerned about vs. what is normal. I've checked around the hub of each blade and there are visible leaks or residue there. And the prop cycles just fine at runup and in-flight. I'm wondering if it couldn't even be picking something up from the oil breather tube or something, but can't figure out why that would flow forward onto a prop, against the prop stream itself. Anyway, photos attached from after my short flight today. Any ideas/thoughts are appreciated. I will of course consult my A/P as well, but thought I'd see if the group here has any wisdom to share. Thanks.

I liked the rounded windows so much it was part of my purchase criteria. I only seriously looked at models that had this as a standard feature. I realize I probably overlooked some quality aircraft because of this, but I still got what I wanted in a price I was willing to pay. It's pure aesthetics to be sure, but that was just me. I think the rounded windows look a little sleeker. My Warrior had rounded windows, which probably helped set this idea in my head.

Although for those with a sense of nostalgia, you can still get your fix. I fact-checked my post above before I hit the "submit" button (that's the value of a college education!) and noticed that on Google Maps, in the satellite view, if you zoom out to the 2mi scale or greater the photos still show the Miegs Field runways plainly visible. I wonder how old those pics are. Once you zoom in greater than 2mi scale you see the lovely greenspace that has now taken over.

I agree with Dave's points about the economic requirements that would have to be scrutinized before anything like this would be possible. While we all enjoy the romantic notion, and this issue was glamorized for us aviators in the movie One Six Right (it's the first time I heard of it, because I wasn't really into GA when the event first happened) the fact is there is nothing on that land anymore that even resembles a runway, an airport, or anything of the sort. It would be a total rebuild. Not very likely in today's economic climate, and probably very difficult to justify from a business perspective.

Hmm...my first reply got lost somewhere. So if it shows up, sorry for the double post. What I said was I also found this webinar enjoyable and learned a few new things, although most of the information is available on various AvWeb articles and even a few threads on this forum. It's not 45 minutes, though...more like an hour and a half for the main content, plus an extra hour of Q&A that I chose to miss.

M20BE, try refreshing the page, and potentially clearing your cache. If your browser has cached the error message it may not let you in until you clear that out.

I've used Bruce's for two different planes now and will give them another vote. The covers are nice, tight fitting, and well made. And their customer service is excellent, generally refurbishing them for free. They have full wing covers as well.

Be that as it may, what the hell do you do with this?

I grew up in Wichita, watching F4s and B-52s, and later B1s fly out of McConnell AFB, and driving by the Beechcraft Factory almost daily. Olive Beech was a family friend. (Cessna was on the other side of town so I didn't see it as much...maybe why I've always preferred low-wing planes!) Who can forget Pappy Boyington on Black Sheep Squadron? To this day, the F4U Corsair is my favorite WWII airplane although a P51 only loses by one rotation of a propellor blade. I tried to get into the Navy AOCS after college but even though I passed all my tests, they noted flat feet on the physical exam. Given that Top Gun had just come out, and every red-blooded aviation wannabe was in the recruiting office with me, that was enough to cancel me out. So instead I taught skiing for a few years (actually great training for flying, as it too teaches the concepts of maintaining control in three dimensional space) and ended up in business. But I guess that gave me the funds to get back to aviation eventually. The dream was always there. It took a copy of X-Plane as a Christmas present, and a colleague/mentor with a 172 and a big heart, to get me to my first lesson. The rest was fueled by 100LL!

Hey Mike, is this event still happening this weekend? Looking for a reason to go fly someplace, as always!

Yeah, I challenge you to get a dog crate big enough for a Lab into an M20J! I finally hit on the solution for the next time. You see, I've got the right rear seat removed to give me some more space in general, so that allowed him to move more freely about the cabin. But I realized that even though the seat is removed, I can still raise the platform that the seat-back slides onto, and that would effectively seal them in the baggage area. And yes, there was a bit of "induced turbulence" as he moved around but we were never in CG danger even with him all the way at the back of the compartment, so no big deal. Just gave my autopilot-autotrim a bit of a workout!

We're all Mooney owners so most of us will say "go for it!" But at the risk of sounding wishy-washy, no one will either be right or wrong, it's just that we've all had personal experiences. I bought a great Piper Warrior right out of my PPL and used that to get my IFR and flew it for about 400 hours, even all the way to Denver and up to OSH. I had it tricked out a little bit so I could reliably get 125 KTAS, but once my wife decided flying was a good way to get around I knew I could get the Mooney I always dreamed of. So when I transitioned into a complex airplane with a market value of 3x my Warrior, the flying part of the transition was easy. Even though I knew it was coming, the tripling of insurance rates and property tax took my breath away a bit. I know those will both come back down, but it's just something to consider. On the other hand, the smile I get dodging my Mooney in between the popcorn clouds on a summer day at 160 KTAS is well worth it. Others have really said it before: think about your mission and get the plane that suits it. I do think running off a bumpy grass strip increases the odds of fuel-tank leaks and even a prop strike, depending on what kind of Mooney it is. But others seem to accept these risks and deal with them.

Chuck, just sent you a PM with another instructor for you to investigate from the same stable. Kerwin Day could be an option...I just don't know how much Mooney time he has, vis a vis how important that is to your mission.

Bosco definitely had more energy than his years would imply. Once I got him in the back, we used a thin nylon leash that I tied to the clothes-hanging ring to try to secure him back there. But being a Lab, he would have none of that and wanted to make sure things were going okay. Not five minutes into the climb all of a sudden this muzzle appeared next to my head accompanied by a cloud of dog breath, as he had chewed right through that leash. He spent the rest of the flight mulling around, looking out the window, sticking his nose up in the ceiling air vent to capture the breeze...typical dog stuff!

I'm with those who prefer to listen to the plane and make sure I'm paying attention to ATC, as on most long flights I am either IFR or at least have flight following. And I'm not a big music junkie anyway, generally preferring peace and quiet to some constant background noise. On long car trips, once we get out of range of my home radio station, I'm as likely to just turn it off completely and get lost in thought.

Chuck, call Michael O'Neal at Skybound Aviation. His cell phone is on the website...I don't want to post it here but here's the link: http://www.skybnd.com/instructors.html He's got a ton of Mooney hours and is one of the best instructors around the area. You can tell him I sent you.

I think I was the one who brought it up before. I did take the course from FAA and it helped, but mostly I just flew IFR on the way down and then didn't have to worry about anything. I didn't have to take the corridor, but just flew through one of the cold MOAs. Leaving Destin was a bit more interesting. I wanted to depart VFR and take the eastbound corridor along the coast for some sightseeing all the way to Panama City before heading back up to Atlanta. I filed IFR from Panama City but had to call in my VFR clearance from Destin. They got everything all confused which made me sit on the ground longer in Destin than I liked, but what's 5 minutes between friends?