HRM

I am a huge fan of Bruce and have his "Spatial Interior" in my E. With his setup you choose where to mount the armrests. I spent some time deciding where to locate mine and am extremely happy that I did. Don't forget that you can angle them if desired. Mine are very customized to me I did not like the feel of the wood rests, even though I loved the look. I wound up covering mine with leather scraps from my seats and am a very happy Mooniac.

I'm in. That said, it isn't always good to let an engineer hold a soldering iron...

I like to think there is a method to the madness Many here have so much money (how they have time to post makes me wonder) that they are always going on about replacing one 10 AMU gizmo with another, or how their bird will be in the avionics shop for months, while others are charter members of the cheap basterds club (I am a card-carrying member). So my thought, even riddled with atherosclerosis as it is, is that the FAA took a look at everything and said "How can we motivate the largest group of aircraft owners, and potentially the most dangerous in the air (ignoring that special group, the 20-something fighter pilots) to get their birds fitted with ADS-B?" What I like, again being a cheap basterd, is that the rebate verification process is independent of an avionics shop install. Now we ask how effective this is going to be. Well, I don't need ADS-B until they force me; i.e., 2020. I can wait them out. Like when the airlines have an overbooked flight and they keep upping the flight coupon value for those who will wait until the next flight. Frankly, $500 does not pique my interest just now. On the other hand, the limit they set probably has to do with budget and there may not be any budgets for inducement a year or so from now. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I am wondering if this will only apply to those who have an avionics shop install it. Even with the least expensive hardware option, that is double the cost of the equipment. I plan to install mine myself and then get a sign-off. Jeez, it isn't rocket science.

Exactly! There is a free lunch,but often I get junk mail that offers me a "free steak dinner" if I listen to a spiel about retirement investing or some other nonsense. This is not free because it comes with a catch. That is my beef, the "free" with a catch.

You missed my point. Free means free, period. What invariably happens after a fee is imposed is that the bureaucracy begins to expand to fill the space and the fees just go up and up. I think GA should ride free on the tails of commercial aviation.

For some more than others "I resemble that remark!"--Curly Howard, stooge.

Keep in mind that my LXC was in '86. I am getting the picture that you are loving flying the way I do. Don't lose that sense of adventure. Know that nothing flys like a Mooney. Also know that nothing provides more excitement than an old Mooney. Night landings without the landing light? Shoot, those are almost expected

I remember my 'Long XC' like it was yesterday. Needed to fly KSFB (home base) to KFPR, then on to KVNC. I flew down to KFPR and enroute I lost a mag. I was able to land and they called my CFI. After I waited an hour or few, he flew in with another Cessna (and a mag to fix the one I flew down in) for me to complete my XC. By the time all this happened it was getting late in the afternoon, but I took off anyway and headed across the great (narrow) State of Florida. As I neared Lake Okeechobee, my mind flashed to a newspaper article that had appeared the week before in the Orlando Sentinel about how alligators were making a comeback and that Lake O was full of them. At that point I decided not to cross over the middle of the lake as planned (keep in mind I was on my second A/C), even though it's average depth is 9', and skirted it instead. This put me into KVNC after dark and that was quite exciting until I remembered that you turn the lights on by keying the mike. I don't know where I stayed that night, but I got up bright and early to fly back. On the way, a fighter jet from MacDill AFB flew underneath me at high speed such that I could see the top of the jet with perfect clarity. When I landed back at KSFB my instructor came running up and I asked him, "Has the FAA called yet?" Then, "You should have seen my night landing," to which he exclaimed, "But you don't know how to land at night!" I do now

Are you Craig Steffen?

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone...

I forgot to add...my wife would say it's more infantile...

Well, I didn't mean to imply just Mooneys. I think it's more penile than scatological. Don't get me started on the manual gear...

I question this. I have always been fascinated by the Mooney tail (you really can't get away from cockpit humor when discussing Mooney's, can you?) and my understanding is that it provides more rudder authority, but is it tied to the trimmable tail, or are they independent? Aeronautical engineers? Please weigh in.

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose...

I have for many, many years ranted that the most misused word in America is the word free. When I was younger I was quick to jump on salespeople who would say '...and you get a free ______ with that.' So whatever it is you were getting wasn't quite free because it came with a condition. Now I am reading up on the STRATUS 2S and the following from the description at Sporty's raised my 'free' alarm: Get subscription-free weather, GPS information, ADS-B traffic and backup attitude – all integrated with ForeFlight Mobile. Frankly, I think once 2020 rolls around flying (without fees) will be the next thing to go in the US.

I thought that you could not get traffic unless you had out. But GCA says (Stratus 2S): Stratus 2S includes a dual-band (978 MHz and 1090 MHz) ADS-B receiver and displays traffic information right on the ForeFlight Mobile Maps page. See your aircraft’s relative altitude, climb/descent rate and projected track. What this tells me is that you can have it all except out notification (and compliance). Yea? Nay?

Well, at last annual I asked my IA if he had dropped my nose cone as I had discovered a dent in it. He snorted and said with aplomb, bird strike. Then his helper pointed out some feathers stuck in the wing root. BTW, now you know why some call it "Bat City". Frankly, I like that better than the "City of the Violet Crown." Lastly, they renamed the Congress Street Bridge after Ann Richards. It still gives me a chuckle to think how a bunch of Republican politicos in a smoke-filled room at the capitol probably said, "Let's name the bat bridge after the old bat."

Wouldn't take much to square it off

2020, so far away and yet so near...

...but no fat chicks.

Well, I am an AOPA member and proud of it, but just like the good old US of A, it has issues. I like to keep the plane separated from the pilot. In both instances, there is nothing wrong with the plane, but the pilot could use some work.

Good god, all this panel-porn...