DaV8or

Quote: Urs_Wildermuth My main concern would be what happens to the type certificate. If Mooney folds, to whom would that revert? Especcially in EASA Land (Europe) this might cause horrible problems, as if I understand it correctly they will not issue a c of a for planes for which there is no type certificate holder. After all, that is how Airbus grounded Concorde and the Caravelle, by pulling the c of a. One day you had an airplane, the next day a museum piece.

New parts may be a bit of a challenge, but with aircraft values what they are now, Mooneys are being scraped at a pretty good rate right now. I think soon there will be a good supply of used parts out there. Think about it, there's the guy that has the Mooney that gets scraped because of spar corrosion and then there's the guy that has the gear up. Combine the two and there's one Mooney saved. What we need is a Mooney specific salvage operation. This is how it's done in the world of vintage cars.

Things I would consider- I too would switch places with the AI and ALT. I would put the MVP-50 under the 750 and the audio on top of the SL-30. You don't need the vacuum gauge (if that's what it is. The picture is kind of fuzzy) or the Hobbs meter, the MVP-50 can do that. I would really consider adding a GI-106A indicator to the SL-30, because it seems to me that the way you have it now, if you lost the G500, you would have very limited ability to fly a precision IFR approach. The SL-30/GI-106a combo would give you an independent ILS approach. Other upgrade possibilities would be a traffic advisor like the Monroy ADT-300, a 406 ELT like the ACK E-04 and maybe an AOA meter

Quote: mooneygirl A little off topic, but perhaps this will help get the younger generation interested in flying Dave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyTzIslEQk

Quote: flyboy0681 It sounds like a lot of people here are having trouble determining when to start coming down. Am I the only one that uses the Vertical Speed Required (VSR) feature on the GPS?

Sad. This plane again reminds us that there are way more airplanes for sale out there than there are pilots wanting to fly them. We're witnessing the decline of GA folks.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff Even at $59,900, I think it needs some work on the price. http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20K-231/1982-MOONEY-M20K-231/1190539.htm?

Also, with the IO-360 you can forget about carb ice. I asked about this conversion when I was shopping for planes. I thought if I found a nicely equiped C with a runout engine, I would do the conversion and get a nice E. I asked a could of Mooney experts at MSCs and they all said it wasn't worth it. I was just better off holding out for an E. If you really love the C you have and need a new engine, maybe it's worth it. Too bad you can't just go to the IO-390.

Quote: Stackthepilot However I am not real concerned that the old hub will detract from the value of the airplane.

Quote: allsmiles Why then would you consider buying an aircraft with items, such as high time, that cannot be changed? Personally I'd keep looking.

Quote: testwest And yes, Skywarrior "outed" me, I am currently an experimental test pilot at Boeing. More later..........

Quote: aviatoreb I am surprised no one ever hung a Walter turbine off the end of a Mooney.

I'm with all three. MAPA for all things Mooney, EAA for their support of experimental aircraft and historic restorations Oshkosh and their resent actions on capitol hill, and AOPA, because well, they're the biggest in Wasington and try to represent us all.

My F flys straight and true trimmed, hands off. However, the ball is slightly off center in this condition. When I apply a little rudder to correct the yaw, I see a decrease in airspeed. Other than rudder rigging, what other things can they adjust to center the ball? Does the ball really need to be centered for maximum cruise speed? On a related note, my motor mounts had been sagging, so at annual I paid to have the mounts shimmed. They supposedly did this, but my spinner still does not line up flush with the cowling. It is supposed to line up, right? I have probably a 1/2" drop from the top of my cowl to the top of the spinner. Could a sagging motor effect the yaw and slow me down?

Scott- If you want J speeds and efficiency, you need J aerodynamics. The two biggest are winshield and cowling. I guess you have the windshield, but IMO the cowling is just as important. Sadly, your options these days are kind of crappy. You can try for a genuine 201 cowling with a field approval (not likely in the new FAA climate) or the LoPre$ti cowling. Unfortunately, the nice compromise, the SWTA 201 "style" cowling is no longer available. I feel the days of mods are coming to a close and if we want to go faster, we have to do what many on this board seem to be doing and that is, change airplanes.

It is my super limited understanding and I really don't know anything about drag polars, but isn't it just a mathmatical calculation based on an airfoil shape and dimensions? Couldn't the Vy number in the real world be effected by other parts of the aircraft, like the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer? I'm guessing that Mooney derived the Vy numbers in the POHs by actuall flight testing. If it was me, I'd call Vy 90kts and go fly. Nice kind of average between the books and your acedemic findings. It's easy to remember and easy to see on the ASI.

The LASAR website has a buyers guide here- LASAR Mooney Buyer's Guide and a pre-buy check list here- LASAR Mooney Pre-Buy Checklist In addition, Paul Lowen, the owner/founder of LASAR, will spend plenty of time on the phone with new buyer like yourself telling you things to look for. He did with me. I used Southwest Texas Aviation in San Marcos, TX for a pre-buy on a '69 M20E and they were very good. I highly recommend them. Russell over at SWTA has no problem talking on the phone to new buyer like you either.

Quote: flight2000 This is almost as fun as the LOP/ROP, bladder/wet wing debates...

Quote: carusoam Jolie, Our ship has come in!!! Well, our christmas cards have become available at AOPA safety foundation. They have a mooney specific greeting card. Card H735 "Wintertime Flight" http://www.holidaycardcenter.org/aopa/product/2354/66 Best regards,