Barry

Quote: jetmech1972 Take a look at tigerdirect.com.

Quote: Piloto

Quote: DaV8or

Quote: DC_Mooniac

Hiram ... Great plane !! All the goodies without too much extra. Just the way I like 'em. I wish it were mine. Yes, please keep us informed about the paint job. I'm in need of one, myself. Where are you keeping it ??

Taxes and inflated money have changed the landscape.

No, Antenna are resonant at specific frequencies. While odd harmonic operation will work with antennae, the frequencies don't work out in this case. While it is possible to "trim" the antenna to the correct size, the old coax would probably lose more signal than it would transfer at 400 Mhz. Bottom line, would you stake your life on a sub-standard system ?

There are a lot of suggestions here to try. Here is another. When I bought my Mooney, I had a problem dropping it in on landing such as you. The runway at Martinsburg, WV is 150' x 7815. I was also transitioning from a Cessna, which sat quite a bit higher. The sight picture was making me flare too high. The first thing I did was sit in the plane for awhile before I took off and just looked around in an attempt to get the feel of sitting so close to the ground on those short little gear. I then took off and flew the pattern. As I approached the field on final, I kept the plane @ 80 mph and as I went over the numbers I trimed back to 70. I rounded off early to level flight, pulled the power not quite off and left the plane sink until I felt that it was a few feet off the ground. I then pulled the power all the way off and attempted to keep it flying at that height the whole way down the field by slowly pulling aft on the wheel as the plane tried to sink. Kind of a two step flare. Round off to level, let the plane sink to the correct height, attempt to keep it there. What I do now, is fly the plane to the numbers, pull the power and round off, set the attitude and the plane lands itself. The hardest part for me was getting used to how low the Mooney sits to the ground. You are now driving (flying) a sports car, not a stage coach.

I second the motion for KBJC. I fly out to see my daughter who lives in Boulder fairly regular and flying into Jeffco is a pleasure. Get fuel somewhere else ...

Weighing in on this discussion, I would suggest that you learn to fly in a Piper/Cessna rather than a Mooney you own. Reason, there is less to break when you make a mistake ... and you WILL make mistakes. Flying a plane is not like riding a bike. In a Mooney you have retract gear. This gear is less robust than a Cessna gear if you don't get your crosswind landings right. The Mooney gear may collapse while the Cessna gear shrugs it off. Hard landings ... the Mooney uses a "wet wing". Hard landings will make it leak and the repairs are expensive. Speed or complexity, I agree in that they are not a real issue while learning ... but, do you want to spend $50K on an airplane, beat it up during the learning process and then keep it ?? Renting has some real advantages. I would hold off on buying your plane until you have a few hours under your belt and see if you're a "natural" or not. While flying is not a terribly difficult discipline to learn it does take some time.

Quote: N6719N I am 6 feet tall, but have a long torso and short legs. Some problems related to legs not reaching are not just limited to "short people". With the pilot seat at almost full forward, I do not need the extensions, and am just fine in Mooneys. My usual problem with a long torso is inadequate head room, in both planes and cars (can be very annoying). There have been many cars and planes I have wanted to enjoy that I just didn't fit in. The good news for me and other tall people is that the Mooney has plenty of head room. No problems here. The Mooneys are pretty amazing at being able to accomodate all shapes and sizes of people. Marty, welcome to the forum. Mooneys are great aircraft. Good luck with your search. George

Boy ... I wish you had posted here 6 months ago ...

Quote: 201-FLYER I currently have a JPI FS-450 installed and like you I count on it to provide me the most accurate data on my fuel usage. Actually, I still do it old school and flight plan out my fuel usage and use the FS-450 to confirm what it is I actually know to already be true regarding the amount of fuel used and remaining.

Quote: piperpainter wow....just wow! I have an experienced Mooney A&P IA. Not he's not a MSC but he does about 10+ Mooneys a year oh...and his own! Very good mechanic and his shop rate is great.

Quote: N223MM Well, a quick update on the day. No joy on matching up the rheostat to anything I can find on line. The thing has five wires on it and a metal cover (shielding?). Most of the stuff I am seeing in catalogues has three wires. The printing on the side of each is Hmmmm ... 5 wires and a dimmer. Well, 3 may be the rheostat and the other 2 an on/off switch ...

My last annual was $8000 at an MSC. Way higher than I thought, particuarly since the A/P called a week after having the plane and saying the plane was in excellent shape!! When I took it in, my prop would only spin up to 2600. A/P said a simple fix. He charged me .6 hr @ $75/hr. Prop still spins up @ 2600!! Plane languished in his shop for 6 weeks. He DID patch a leak I had in the left tank ... but I'll be looking for another shop next year.

Jim ... Next trip to Smoketown, try the Good N Plenty Restaurant. Family style eating of GREAT Amish food. It was (may still be) owned by Amish and the food (both quantity and quality) was fantastic. I used to be a microwave and HF carrier engineer for ATT and this was my stomping grounds. If I would stop for lunch there, the rest of the day was a gonner ... (burp !!) )

Did you eat at the "Good and Plenty" Resturant ??

Glad I could help, David ... I used to fly to the Bahama's a few times a year. Not doing it as much, now. My personal favorites were the out islands. Less "ugly American" syndrome there. The natives are friendlier and things are cheaper ... or used to be. My favorite place, Stella Maris Inn, has really upped their rates the last few years.

The AOPA website covers it about as throughly as anyone. Here's another: http://pilotgetaways.com/flight-planning/bahamas Here's a website that the Bahamas have setup for pilots: http://www.bahamas.com/bahamas/private-flying

Ya gotta quit reading that stuff !!

Just a thought. You get a lot of bang for the buck in a used Garmin 430 ... $3K when you want to upgrade. The 430 gives you com, nav rx with glide slope & gps. It also interfaces with a lot of stuff on the market. If you really keep your eye on e-bay and other places you can find some pretty good deals.

In the other direction ... about 2 hours from Columbus, is Hagerstown Aircraft Service @ KHGR ... an MSC.

Phil ... I've restored 2 planes in the past. They were a 1949 Piper Clipper and a 1960 Cessna 175. They were a LOT of work, but the Clipper I flew to Newfoundland (what a rush) and the Cessna I flew to the Caribbean twice a year for almost a decade. It is a real blast flying a plane you've brought back from the dead. The plane becomes part of you. You will get discouraged ... I did on occasion, but if you keep plugging away it will eventually be completed. There is a lot of satisfaction in what you are doing.

Frankly, I think it looks SUPER SHARP!! What do you charge to do mine ??