DaV8or

I've been watching this thread and I have noticed that most seem to assume that cruise means a trip of hundreds of miles. My trips tend to be more like 60, 80 miles or less. Climbing up to 12,000 ft is kind of silly for me most times. I have been told that if you want to make TBO for sure, you should run at 65% power. At 6-8,000 feet, WOT is not an option for me. I use the POH numbers, so my numbers look more like 21" and 2500 rpm. I have a printed card with percentages from the POH @ 65 and 75 for altitudes from 3,000 up to 12,000 and I refer to that for my settings. It seems to me that percentage of HP for long engine life is the most important factor, so cruise settings totally depend on altitude.

Quote: sleepingsquirrel It may be that everyone involved in this interstate flight could benefit by some gradual conditioning...

Quote: skyking So its like when i told the wife my plane only cost me 10 grand and she believed me! only next time i just say 10AMU's..... Got it

It sounds like you are good to go with any of the shops you listed. If price is all about the same, I would be tempted to pick the shop that is easiest to drive to, or the shop that is the least busy right now. It's nice to check on work in progress and it keeps shops motivated to finish your job on time rather than putting you on the back burner. Also, a busy shop will just put you in line and you might end up with long down time. Other than that, just visit each shop and go with the one that you get the best vibe from.

I can't even imagine how deafening the sound must be to a cat!

Good to hear! You're going to learn lots about planes and particularly Mooneys. I hope you can share pictures of your progress, because we'd like to learn too! I know there are a couple of other guys on this forum that are doing nice rebuilds on their Mooneys too. If there is one plane that is worth the effort, it's the Mooney IMO.

Quote: sleepingsquirrel Three of my favorite pass times,sailing ,sleeping,flying

I think the Swift fuel alternative is an awesome idea. I fully support them. However, I don't think they will prevail because they don't have manufacturing and distribution on their side. Right now their fuel is just a lab experiment, not a workable solution. First, they have to prove they can scale the technology up and then somehow get funding to build a huge production facility, probably several facilities, then they have to build a distribution and retail network. Let's face it, the people selling us AVGAS now aren't going to help them one bit and in fact will be using their considerable influence to push their lame 94UL or some ethanol blend. The best hope for Swift is, if they can get connected with the military. Right now the US military is putting a lot of research money into biofuels research because they can see the advantages even if the US consumer can't. They really don't like being dependent on foreigners to supply them their fuel. If Swift can work with the miitary, they can go a long ways towards solving the manufacturing side of the problem using defense dollars. The military is looking for a JP8/diesel replacement, but my understanding of biofuels is that it is similar to crude oil in that the end product, be it Jet A or AVGAS, is just a matter of refining. I really, really, really hope they succeed. I hope we don't get stuck with 94UL of some sort of ethanol.

Since the prevailing opinion here so far and on the AOPA forums seems to be run it until it won't run no more, I thought I might offer an opposite view point. I consider the TBO to be sort of the engine's annual. It's about getting inside and see all that is going on, or has gone on. Do we really need to annual an airframe once a year? Has anyone ever taken their well maintained airframe in for annual thinking they are going to ace it for sure, only to have the mechanic say, "come here, there's somthing I have to show you"? Engine annalysers, oil annalisis and oil changes can't tell you when something is about to crack and break. Your engine won't talk to you and tell when the cylinder is about to depart the block. There are way too many stories out there about sudden engine breakage for me to be all warm and fuzzy about my latest oil annalisis. Something to consider might be, how many hours does the engine have in total time, not just the last rebuild. The high stress of an airplane engine combined with the wide temperature ranges does bad things for aluminum. The more cycles the worse. The manufacturer and the FAA don't feel comfortable raising the TBO, I'm sure they have their reasons. Finally, do you fly mostly by yourself, or with friends and family?

I used AIC title service for escrow. They are recommended by the AOPA and couldn't have been happier with them. I think it cost just under $500, but everything went smooth, easy and correct. I also got an awesome record search for everything Oklahoma City had.

Quote: pilot716 the plane is in Pineville OR, here is listing, any thoughts? is anyone nearby to take a peak? i do believe it is hangered. http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/1170881.html

A good idea might be to cajole a fellow Mooniac on this forum, or others, that lives in the area to go and give your prospective bride a once over. A quick, objective look could save a lot of $$$.

Quote: takair It's amazing they have never been resealed.

Quote: eaglebkh Here are some full panel shots, before and after, of my '64 E. I like the "clean" look, The co-pilot side looks bare, but there is room for JPI-730 in the near future. I currently suction-mount my Garmin over there, though I like the idea of mounting it on the center post. Still to come: 430W and JPI-730 Also, for anyone looking for ideas on mounting switches on factory yokes, check out my A/P switches.

I guess it depends on how long you want to keep this Mooney, how soon you want a Mooney and how perfectly it matches your criteria. If you're thinking that you're going to keep the plane a good while, it meets everything you wanted nicely and you don't really want to wait until a similar nice one comes up nearer you, then go get it. The trip back will be a trip of a life time.

My wife calls my Mooney Community Property!

Quote: flyby201 To me the original worst case quote should mean the worst case (everything replaced). When I asked about the original worse case quote, he said well, we didn't know the muffler would need to be replaced, blah, blah, blah and indicated he had no intention of honoring the original quote. They may do good work, but I'm not happy right now.

Quote: FuriousPhoen1x Wow! Are you looking at the airplane at Barnstormers too? I just checked wikipedia and they can qualify for light sport? That's pretty awesome if you ask me!

Bit far out in the future, but I will try my best to go. Oceano will be fun to go to again.

Those are very cool! I hope you didn't scare the crap out of your wife. Trust me, to continue flying, you need her support!

Quote: scottfromiowa Absolutely Dave. Your panel will be looking fantastic with the MVP AND the 696. That will indeed be the ultimate Pre-J panel when complete. Looking forward to seeing your pics when you get her completed. Scott

Nice to see you doing the trial 696 fitting for me! Good to see that it will all work out fine.

Quote: tony http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/KleinBernhard/5429.htm

Quote: jezzie Just wanted some feedback from this group, I just posted a photoshop picture of what my avionics shop suggested. They have positioned the MVP-50 right below the G530. I originally thought of having the avionics stack all together with the EI to the right side. All suggestions are appreciated. Eldon

Quote: Hank I have the airline eyeball-style vents on both sides up front, and the flat ceiling vents. Should I take some pictures??