Jeff_S

Another good option which I haven't seen mentioned is RV antifreeze. That's the general name for it, but it's not really antifreeze in the common sense of the word; it's designed to go into the water system for an RV and keep them from freezing. This means that not only does it have the de-icing capabilities, but it's also non-toxic and non-flammable so it avoids the problems that alcohol and the other de-icers have. It works great.

Barry, you should check out the TrueFlight Flight Cheetah lineup at http://www.aviationsafety.com. I've got an FL190 that I purchased about three years ago and it has been exceptional. They also have a new FL150 which runs exactly the same software but in a smaller form factor so it takes up less space. Pound for pound, feature for feature, these units hold their own against the Garmin and Bendix-King lineup. And the yearly database updates are the least expensive available.

Flying a short jaunt to have Thanksgiving with my folks, but then heading to Missouri on Sunday (weather permitting) to look at a Mooney that could soon be mine. Wish me luck!

I've never worn Bose, but I did upgrade my Lightspeeds from the 15XL to the Zulu and couldn't be happier. I have also noticed a tendency for the seal to break when you move your head a bit. I addressed this with Lightspeed at OSH and their recommendation was to lower the ear cups a little bit so they rode lower down on my head, and that has helped a lot.

Thanks everyone. Seems like there is more than one way to skin the cat, but I can experiment with all these and see what works best for me. Coming from a fixed-pitch Warrior background, the fewer settings to change the better at least initially.

Hello all. I've found some great material in the forum about power settings for climb, cruise, etc. This is helpful to me as I begin my transition from the Warrior to a c/s prop. I've got an M20J for my X-Plane simulator so I'm using that a lot to get into the flow of things...GUMPS is a lot more important when your gear isn't permanently welded! I'd like to practice some IAPs in the simulator. I have futzed around with settings at 22"/2200 RPM but am just experimenting blindly. That does seem to get me at about 90 KIAS which is what I'm used to in the Warrior, but that may not be optimal for an M20J. What do folks generally do there? I recognize none of this replaces getting in and flying a Mooney for real...I'm working on that! But just training to get my brain in a place to handle more tasks so that the transition will be smoother. Thanks.

I had a similar issue when I put a 430W into my Warrior two years ago. The GPS would just cut out unexpectedly, and then come back in a few minutes. It happened three times in flight and twice on the ground. We tried various filters to no avail. Finally the avionics shop master just swapped my unit for the one in his Comanche, and when he saw the same problem in his Comanche Garmin decided to just give me a whole new unit. That problem hasn't happened since. (However, the right-side knobs just quit working earlier this year, which required a return to the factory to fix. I try not to think about the quality control for a system upon which we place such importance!)

I've been flying about 125-150 hours a year, but that's in my Warrior. Once I get a Mooney I'll get to my destination faster so that may go down. Nah...I'll just fly farther!

I'll add my kudos to ForeFlight as well. It it my primary app for quick pre-flight briefings and "in flight" briefings during a fuel stop. As someone noted above, if you land in a remote area that isn't covered by 3G the app gets a bit sluggish, but everything still generally works. And you can file IFR right from phone with a departure as short as 15 minutes from the actual time. I ran into this last weekend while I was in rural Florida (54J) trying to get home to Atlanta. I had logged into DUAT on their computer and tried to file, but since I wanted to get out immediately it wouldn't let me (30 minute delay needed). So I just filed from the iPhone and it worked fine. Another app I use a lot is CoPilot. This is useful for planning legs and has backup GPS functions to help navigate in a worst case scenario, but what I really use it for is W/B planning. I have all my stats filed in so all I need to add is fuel, passenger and luggage weight and it shows the envelope.

Thanks for the PIREPs on All American. Glad to know they have a good rep, as I think I have three of their planes in my "favorites" section on TAP and Controller. Maybe it's time for me to start making some calls!

We posted that on the Piper forum as well. Funny how quickly that kind of thing makes its way around the web. The Piper forum seems to be a little more rowdy than MooneySpace so those choice words that Buster is thinking actually got expressed over there!

Scott, that sounds about right. As I review the spreadsheet of changes (excellent reference, BTW) it seems like a mid-80's model that's been well maintained and maybe has a few upgrades would be just the right value. The problem I see with the mid-90s that I've scanned on TAP and other sources is that yes, the price is still higher, and yet I would likely still want to do some panel upgrades to bring them into the glass age. If I can find a mid-80's model that at least has a 430W as a foundation radio, I can build that up with one of the new glass and a/p options as necessary and still not pay what the later models are asking. BTW, anybody have comments on All American Aircraft Sales? They seem to have a stable of aircraft that they're fixing up and trying to sell at a higher price with the mods. I know a few outfits in the Piper world that do this and are really just slapping lipstick on a pig and trying to make a buck. Is All American a reputable shop?

Good stuff...thanks guys. Scott, I grew up in Wichita but left right after high school and hadn't really been back since (early '80s). But I took the Warrior on a long x-country this summer and stopped into Jabara to spend the night and see some old friends. It was amazing to see how much things have changed since I left. But I could still make my way around pretty easily.

Hello all, I'm new to the Forum and am seriously looking at some variant of an M20J as a step-up from my Warrior. I've studied several sources, including the Aviation Consumer write-up on the M20J series and sniffing around in here so this has already been a helpful place. But here's where I'd like your expertise; are there some basic "rules of thumb" I can use to help evaluate the differences introduced in the various model years, so that I can more easily evaluate planes as they come up? For example, in the Piper world there are basic differences in engine, wing style (Hershey-bar vs. tapered), body length, etc. between the Cherokees so I've gotten pretty good at quickly evaluating planes. I'd like to get better at this with Mooneys, especially the M20J variants. If there's already a good article on this, feel free just to point me to it. Thanks in advance for the help! Jeff

Kevin and Jim, thanks for the offers and be careful what you propose...I may take you up on it! I started looking early this year, but held off until I could determine whether or not my wife would ever decide to try out general aviation. Well, I finally got her up in the Warrior and we took a trip to St. Augustine so now she's hooked. All the more reason to find something that does just a little better on longer x-country trips. Cheers.

Hello all. Not a Mooney pilot..YET..but am seriously looking at some form of M20J as a step up from my Warrior so I'm going to peruse this forum and probably ask a lot of inane questions while I get familiar with the model. Cheers!