DaV8or

My question for Mogas users is, how do you know for sure there isn't any ethanol in the fuel? Here in California, it's a moot point. I have no idea where you would buy ethanol free gas.

Quote: KSMooniac I'm afraid it might be time for that plane to be parted and recycled... the corrosion is likely everywhere and unlikely to be an economical repair.

Wow. WingX just took on a lot of liability. IMO, they are making a bit of a risky jump from just providing situational back up information, to actual primary navigation. All in a device that is known to be unreliable. I know they say that their new synthetic vision technology is back up info only, but you know that there are VFR pilots out there will become confident in it and start flying in the soup. If your old plane has just VOR needles for navigation, but on the yoke you have an iPad with GPS and synthetic vision, which one is going to become your primary nav system? It's one thing to pin point your position on a map and quite another to say here's what it looks like outside your darkened/grayed out windows right now. On the flip side of this, it is about time that synthetic vision started making it's way into every man's cockpit at an affordable price. Maybe now the certified versions will come down in price.

Quote: Antares Another commenter had to be a douchebag and made some statement about doctors killing themselves in airplanes.

Quote: fantom and without innovators like Aspen, Garmin products would be more expensive and they wouldn't be coming out with rival offerings IMO.

I don't get this idea that the MSC will find too much wrong with the plane and so go with somebody that will over look defects? No MSC will ground a plane. If they feel it is a serious safety hazard and the owner insists on flying it, they may report it to the FSDO, but I think this almost never happens. If the plane is that bad, you don't want it anyways. What happens is, if airworthy issues arise, you and the owner are made aware of it and you decide what to do. If you don't want the plane, the owner flies off in it. AFAIK, there are no logbook entries for a PPI, only if an actual repair is done. So, the plane is put back together and it is as if nothing ever happened. This is exactly what happened with my first PPI. The plane was delivered to SWTA at my request and during the inspection, a crack in the crankcase was discovered. This was an airworthiness issue. The owner and I couldn't come to a deal that worked for us both, so I passed on the plane and the owner flew it home to be repaired later at his home field. Russell at SWTA fully understood both of our positions and made no attempt what so ever to impound or ground the plane. If you really want to stick with the local A&P, then at least have him do some research on Mooneys and their common failure points. Maybe have him speak with folks like Don Maxwell or Paul Lowen about what to look for. What you are most concerned about with the PPI is not the common parts like engine, prop and avionics, it's all Mooney airframe specifics that are more troubling.

I don't know the answer to this question, but I just had to post that that is one nice looking B!! Like the colors.

Quote: Saltaire How did they do it? Unlike today, rivets and all, GA manufacturing employees worked on the same parts and assemblies day in and day out. All the tools, equipment, jigs and fixtures were loaded and building parts every day. The repetitive nature of the work drove the learning curve thus driving the man-hours down.

Quote: alex This is definitely getting very creepy. I'm glad my wife is oblivious to all these accidents.

Do the MSC if you can by all means. Most importantly, if at all possible, be there when the pre buy is done. This way they can show you all the things they find while it's open and you can decide how critical each item is. They will turn up a list, but much of it will be optional and/or just cautionary. You definitly want to know as much as you can before you buy. Don't be discouraged if the first plane you pre-buy isn't "the one". It took me two tries, some here many more than that. Good luck!

Maybe I was already biased, but by the first time I actually rode in a Mooney, I had already made up my mind I was buying one. I rode right seat as a passenger in a few, but the first time I actually flew a Mooney as a pilot was in mine after I had bought it. No disapointments at all. Handling is perfect for my mission and the much talked about landing characteristics are a non event. Coming from a Piper Arrow, it felt more cramped inside at first, but I soon adjusted to the different sight picture and there is in fact plenty of room. I was just impressed with how well it met my expectations.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff True... The sad part is an M20F is one of the least expensive "complex" airplanes to keep running...I'd take one over a Piper Arrow from the same model year any day...

Quote: Parker_Woodruff I'm more concerned about the poor owner care in the 30-45 year old birds...I've witnessed one too many 5-digit annual inspections recently and some flat out dangerous repair work.

Well, my personal experience is that I would like to get a 40:1 gear set for my electric gear actuator and they are not available anywhere from anyone AFAIK. These are Mooney specific parts that are not made by Mooney. An outside contractor makes them for Mooney and they require a minimum order to make them again. MAC at this time does not want to pay up front for another batch and so, no gears. They are probably a little outside the realm of owner produced parts. What I have heard is that a number of the more famous MSCs are talking about solutions with one another. I feel confident solutions will be found, it will just take time. P.S.- I should also point out that should my current 20:1 gears fail, (they haven't) I would be covered. Several MSCs have serviceable 20:1 sets in stock. All is not lost.

After re-reading this business, it got me wondering these things; Was there a contract at all, or just verbal agreement? Did the contract stipulate a payment timeline, or a point in time when failure to buy results in voiding the agreement? Why wasn't escrow used? When I bought my plane and also when I was in contract with another, we used purchase agreements. Both clearly stated when full payment was due and how much time I had to make up my mind after inspection. I also used an escrow service in both cases and highly recommend it as my escrow company did both a title and records search for me. If they had used a standard contract and an escrow service, I believe we wouldn't be typing about this now.

Just leave this picture as an example of a runaway airplane for him.

Quote: jetdriven

Quote: Parker_Woodruff I have flown four (adults) in my M20J on several occasions and my M20K twice now. The biggest problem is getting in.

Quote: Shadrach I mean no offense Dave, but the bolded statement is complete and utter drivel... It is not factual in anyway by Lycoming's very own graphs as well as everyone else's... Rant, rant, rant...

I spoke with Lycoming reps at both Air Venture and the AOPA summit last year about LOP ops. Their position is that you can do LOP with their engines but they don't recommend it. This is because running LOP reduces the margin for error with regards to detonation. The leaner you go, the closer to potential detonation you get. This doesn't mean you can't run LOP safely, it just means you have to be very careful. They insist that anyone running LOP must have proper digital instrumentation on each cylinder to do so safely. In short, they said you can do it if you are properly equiped, but be very, very careful. They don't recommend it because they don't trust all pilots to be that careful and would rather recommend ROP because of the greater detonation margins that allow for ham fisted screw ups. Don't know what they are going to say at OSH, but I guessing it's along these lines.

I would guess that it depends on how many are being built at once. In 1977 when they were cranking out hundreds of Js I suspect they were faster build times than in 1998 when they were just making less than a dozen.

I visited AAA last year when I was shopping for Mooneys in TX. I never met Jimmy, but I did meet David and he showed me some planes they had in my budget. My impression of the outfit and David was that they were straight forward and honest. The pricing on their planes at the time wasn't even that much over private sales either. I did not buy a plane from them only because they really didn't have anything that quite fit my budget or my needs. Had they had the perfect plane at the right price, I would have no problems buying from them. The short synopsis of this sad tale between Allsmiles and AAA is, money talks and bullshit walks. Two canceled checks??!! I would have been done with this deal after the stop payment. It is unreasonable to expect a sales outfit to keep a product on hold indefinitely with no deposit. With no money down, the plane is still for sale to anybody. I see no wrong doing by AAA.

When I had a family to fly around (all grown now and living their own lives), I flew them around in several different aircraft including Arrows, Dakotas, and others. The absolute best family aircraft, IMHO, is any of the Cherokee Six variants. Either 260 or 300, original Six or Lance or Saratoga, fixed or retract, they are all great family aircraft. I had a Saratoga for years and flew it everywhere with everybody aboard and never a complaint. Fast enough, very comfortable with plenty of room, plenty of usable load, and a great stable IFR pratform too. I love Mooneys, but I would take a close look at the Cherokee Six aircraft with a growing family of four. That aircraft will be adequate when they are teens as well as when they are young children. And if you happen to have another late arrival in the child department, the Cherokee will still provide plenty of room for wife, children who sometimes need more space, and bags. Yes, you can do it with a Mooney. My recommendation is to take a close look at the Cherokee Six variants.

I'd like a Halon extinguisher, but like others here, Haven't gotten around to it yet and I'm not sure on the mounting. A fire extinguisher in the cockpit is totally useless... until you have an inflight fire. Then it's the best addition to the plane you ever made!

Since this thread is creeping... I finally had my first iPad meltdown the other day. Over heated and froze up. In addition, the sun hits mine and I see nada. I don't have an anti glare film because the one I tried turned my iPad into a pimply lepper and I had to ditch it. Total waste of $20. I swore that if I was to do another, I would have it installed by the guy selling it to me. This is now pretty much impossible because I have an iPad 1 and the only place to get anything for it is the internet. Bottom line, the iPad is a great preflight tool and it neat to have in the cockpit when it works, but I can't get rid of all my paper yet.