flyguy241

I'm with you on the single Comanche. My uncle flew a 180 for 20 years and got a long with it great. I put about 100 hours on it myself and credit it with the easy transition to the Mooney I fly now. The twin Comanche, I don't know. Two O-320's. That's then engine my Cherokee had and it struggled on hot days in Amarillo (3600 ft). I believe two of the accidents that I referenced were where they lost one engine on takeoff and tried to get back to the airport, which goes back to your point on pilot error rather than the airplanes fault.

There was an accident in Amarillo this morning involving a Piper PA-30 in which the pilot and sole occupant was killed. The reason I started this thread was to point out in the last ~three years, that that makes three Twin Comanches whose flight originated in the Amarillo area that ended up killing the occupant(s). I'm not necessarily indicting the make and type, but it does make you think. http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2013-07-25/plane-crashes-home-s-mirror-st

I will bet the insurance cost on the 177 RG is higher than a Mooney due to the Cessna retract issues. I had an insurance agent tell me to steer away from anything Cessna with retracts because it will be much more expensive to insure. I'm sure the newer aircraft do not have the problems the earlier ones had, but deserved or not, that is the stigma.

Quote: smccray We have this trip on our short list as well due to proximity to Dallas. As a low time pilot with zero mountain experience, my plan (on paper- no further investigation) is to land at las Vegas, NM and drive up to Angel Fire. It's only 60 away miles and it keeps me east of the Rockies.

DP

I have taken our J model into both airports. If the weather is nice and there is no ice on the runway, try Angle Fire. It is a very pretty area and a fun approach. Land to the South and take off to the North and you should be fine. If weather is an issue, go into Taos. It's a nice big flat area, the runway aligns with the prevailing winds and you will feel really safe going in and out. Taos is also about 1300 feet lower. I have been flying into Taos more often than Angle Fire. It always seems like Angle Fire has it's own little weather system and we have been stuck under a fog bank while everywhere else in the world is severe VFR. Angle Fire will almost always have a crosswind and if the runway is icy, it could get challenging. When flying into Taos, if it is very windy we will fly over Sante Fe and then go North to Taos. If it is nice and calm and early in the morning, you can shoot straight across from the East. I climb to about 12,000 and feel comfortable at that altitude. Be sure to avoid the Taos Pueblo nature conservancy area if you go that route. Pack light and be cautious, mountain flying can be pretty unforgiving.

Quote: DaV8or I use the 1300 RPM shut down method. When you know there is going to be a hot start, set the throttle to 1300 RPM, then lean cut off. When you want to start up again, make sure there is fuel pressure, so boost pump on until the pressure's up, then off. After that, don't touch anything except the starter switch. When the motor starts to fire, push the mixture in followed by pulling the throttle back. Works every time for me and starts just as easy, if not better than cold.

I have the bad elf and it seems to work pretty well. It agrees with my 496 every time I check the two. I don't like how the bad elf sticks out from the IPAD, I always think I'm going to knock it off. I took a long cross country a couple of weeks ago and after shutting down it takes a while to find itself again. Don't know if that is the IPAD (IPAD1) or the GPS and I just wonder if the bluetooth GPS would not have that problem since it would stay on even though you shut down the IPAD. Regardless, the IPAD with Foreflight and a 496 with weather are a pretty good combination.

Quote: jetdriven curious why would you major an engine for a cracked cylinder? You can just replace one.

For the guys that have had Aero Comfort install an interior and have posted pictures, could you tell me which package you had installed. I requested a price list from Aero Comfort and they came back with three options: Economy, Standard and Executive. Just wondering what you chose. They all look gorgeous!

Weatherford (Stafford) is pretty close OJA, they have a pretty nice museum on the field and the cheapest fuel I have found anywhere.

Or you could just pay cash and tell those guys to stick it.

Quote: pilot716 why the J? bigger engine I assume, since all the bodies were the same? what were the "best years" for either?

Quote: Parker_Woodruff Yes, but if you can afford the M20J, get one.

Actually, I find the real airplane easier to fly than MSFS. I also have the Carendo M20J MSFS add on. When I decided to finish my instrument rating, I just flew instrument approach after another on MSFS, when my instructor and I finally went to fly an ILS approach (in the real airplane) I nailed it the first time. I think it is good for keeping your instrument scan current, but nothing can really replace practice approaches in the real airplane.

Jim, I had the same thought, but I honestly don't know what you get into when you start digging in that area. I did not look into it after I realized what Mooney was suggesting to make that upgrade and it is more of a project than what I need to tackle.

1979 is when they changed from the rotary. I wanted to change that out in my 1978 as well, but I have the feeling it is going to be a really expensive upgrade since the air inlet in the 1978 is on top of the fuselage, whereas the air inlet for the '79 is on the dorsal fin just in front of the tail. At one point, Mooney was offering an upgraded interior that would install the latest and greatest along with the eyeball type air outlets. They mention needing to move the air inlet on certain year models.

I went from a Cherokee 140 to a Mooney 201 about 3 years ago. Your insurance cost will go up if you transition to retracts. Insurance will be better for the Mooney than say the Comanche, Bellanca or retractable Cessna. Probably similar insurance cost to an Arrow or Bonanza. Operating costs are going to be higher than the Warrior namely annuals, maybe double. I think the overhead baggage loading is better than the Piper baggage door. Stuff doesn't fall out as you are loading. I miss the Cherokee right around annual time, but if you want to use an airplane for travel, then a Mooney is a good choice.

Ok Good answer, the last time I used mine was to listen to a football game on a.m. radio.

Just curious, why did you keep the ADF?

A radio shop that really wants to sell me new garmin radios actually told me to hold off on a transponder. He is thinking they are not through with changes to ADS-B and we have some time before we have to do anything.

I have flown a M20J/201 into Angle Fire quite a few times with very little trouble. Just don't load it to max weight and try to take off in the heat of the day and you will be fine. We try to get there and leave as early in the morning as we can and fly as light as possible.

My previous aircraft was a Cherokee 140 that had an auto fuel STC. Even with the STC you could not burn anything with ethanol. As previous posters have pointed out, it does bad thing to seals etc. I would use some autofuel, but never without some 100LL mixed in, especially in the summer. When ethanol addition to autofuel became the standard, I stopped using autofuel all together. You can find autofuel without ethanol, but you have to be carefull. One more point, the configuration of the aircraft is a big issue with autofuel. A high wing gravity feed fuel system has very few problems with autofuel whereas the low wing that has to pump the fuel uphill can have vapor lock issues and more so in a hot environment. I speak from experience with vapor lock in two different Cherokees with autofuel STC's.

Dan, I was looking at the picture you posted and I think I noticed you still have the legacy autopilot. What autopilot is it and how well does it work with the Aspen GPSS?

I've had a couple of scarey events in airplanes. The first time, I was flying my old Cherokee 140 out of an airport in Nebraska. I took off on the short crosswind runway and just as the wheels clear, a cylinder cracked and fouled both spark plugs with oil. The climb performance on a Cherokee is not great to begin with, but on 3 cylinders it's much worse. I was too far down the runway to shut it down so I start looking for a place to set it down ahead of me. I never notice all of those radio towers in that direction before. Regardless, the little Cherokee was holding its own and I could make shallow turns without losing altitude, so I was able to nurse it back to the airport for an uneventful landing. Lucky it wasn't very hot that day and I was in a nice flat state like Nebraska. The next stop was the shop for a major overhaul. The second is my "dumb" confession. My father owns a Bellanca Super Viking that isn't flown very often since he is semi retired and does most of his traveling in a motor home now. He asked me to go and warm his airplane up whenever I am home, and I am happy to do that. It's a fun airplane to fly, performance is good and it's just fun to get into a different airplane on occasion. A couple of years ago, I was home and thought, hey I'll get the Viking out and buzz around in it for a while. I did a very complete pre-flight fired it up went through the checklist etc etc. Took off flew around, this thing is running like a top, perfect day for flying. When I returned to the airport, I enter the pattern and start my GUMPS checklist when I was even with the numbers. When I got to the Underpinning part, I felt the gear come down, but no green lights. Hmmm, so I extend my downwind and cycle the gear to see if that fixes the problem. I felt three distinct bumps so I knew the gear was down, but still no green lights. Back to the checklist, emergency procedures, cycle gear again those darn green lights are still blank. I had my cell phone with me, so I called dad. "Hey, I'm flying your airplane right now and I may be having gear problems." Well, he went through everything he could think of, but the results were the same. Finally, he says "It's probably down and locked, just try it and let me know how it turns out." So I proceed and complete the smoothest, most gentle landing in the history of aviation (nobody saw it by the way) and I'm anticipating the collapse and horrible scaping sound, but nothing happens. After roll out and taxi to his hanger, my phone rings, it's dad. "Hey, what light switches do you have on?" Well, just like the checklist says, I have on the strobe lights.... no wait, I have on the clearance lights, wrong light switch. Then he tells me, if the clearance lights are on the gear light will auto dim, can't be seen in daylight. Good information 5 minutes ago dad. Oh well, if that is the dumbest thing I ever do in an airplane it will be good.