preinke

I have been attempting to upgrade from my J and Cessna 180 to a plane of this caliber. Buying is easy, selling not so much ! Paul

Will the panel not be flush with the retainers ?

What retainers are supposed to be there. I don't have a single one.

Scott, What did you use for parts and paper work solution ? Thanks, Paul

My inner gear doors have seen better times and we removed them a couple of years ago. Are there any non metal alternatives that would be "log book" acceptable? Paul '77J KIKV

I replaced the whole interior of a '77 with Plane Plastics' parts. There were a couple parts like the rear headliner and I think the slotted vents where you had to send in your old parts so they could send you new ones. Quality was good , fit could have been better. Paul '77J KIKV

+1 for Bob Bramble. He did my KG258 a couple years ago. Very professional with quick turn.

Bob Bramble +10

Bob, Alpha Aviation helped convert my '77J to shoulder restraint (inertial reels.) Super helpful Paul

Seems like Owensboro has BBQ . The old Midwest Mooney ( Mike Elliott ,etc) club used to frequent there. Bill Scott is on the field - He has the o-320 150 -> 160HP STC. Very Lycoming knowledgeable and a RC stunt pilot. Will look at KUMP Paul

My inner gear doors are bent and cracked and not installed . What is required to replace them with non aluminum ? Paul '77J KIKV

I think most points were covered above. My trim was stiff when I purchased the Mooney. Bu cleaning and greasing the jackscrew and cleaning and greasing the initial gearbox and lubricating all places along the torque tube helped a lot . If it is hard to turn the trim wheel when the master is off or if the trim clutch slips when moving it with the trim switch. then lubrication should fix it. If it is easy to trim with master off and no clutch slipping then some part of the automation circuit to minimize elevator torque isn't working and needs to be addressed as it can be a big pucker when the autopilot disconnects.

I went with Tempest and added the clearview filter. The previous Rapco was only good for 150 hours. Seemed like there was carbon dust in the AI Paul '77J

This plane is back on the market on Barnstormers for 59K. I wonder how much work was done on the aux spar. Armbuster is the seller, not a good omen. Paul '77 J KIKV

My interior refurbishment was a several year process. I completed what was necessary but really didn't enjoy the plastic work and would fly instead The back seat was out and the A&P used to refer to it as a station wagon. I could inspect the spar every time I flew. I kind of miss that view as I have all the interior installed There were several inspection panels on the top side under the seat. I didn't think that space was accessible from below but could be wrong. It would be hard to get Jimmy in there in one piece. Paul

KIKV to KPAO shows 1340 NM I flew there from Iowa in my younger days in a Grumman Cheetah. Flew up the coastline - most beautiful scenery ever - probably illegal now

It just about sold this January . It went through a prebuy which became an annual. It had about $500 in squawks and we replaced the battery with a sealed Concorde. It went to the avionics shop to be IFR certified and the altimeter failed. The buyer got cold feet after shop quoted fixing . I took it to Spencer Avionics and Quint replaced altimeter and wired it to existing TransCal encoder. He also replaced HSI head to fix calibration issue. I can't say enough good things about his shop. We are also addressing the tach and autopilot - both could work better. When this work is finished I will update asking price. I took my two children with me to Corpus Christi last week in the Mooney and was reminded again what a traveling machine it is. I am still trying to find a partner to share the Mooney and the Cessna 180 Paul

The carpet came from a K that I was going to use for templates but ended up putting it in. Is the indicator in a different place on a K ? Thanks for the responses - I think I have a buyer and this one of the swawks Paul

The carpet in the front of my 77J between the two seats doesn't have an opening for the gear indicator. Is there a plastic piece to finish this or is the opening stitched ? I removed this carpet piece so I could see the indicator but was wondering how to finish it Paul '77J KIKV

I think it is priced fairly but the offers are considerbly less. With the stock market up I thought the airplane values would rebound a little. You couldnt build an experimental as robust and efficient for 60K without fabricating everything. I am thinking of keeping it another year to see if the medical issue gets resolved Paul

Lou did my first annual on 201PL in Danbury. I hung out there for a couple weeks and took lessons from Mike the cop and Tony. Great memories...

My '77J is available ( Barnstormers and here) for low sixties

Greg Harrison from Winterset Aviation proposed to the FSDO to put a Williams turbine on a Mustang but was met with the expected bs. I think he has one for sale - it was in my hangar before I moved in and he maintains one for a retired military pilot.

Here is a picture of the gears on a 1977 M20J (3500 hours) . The coupling and both cables were replaced this year .

What is the thought about flaps on grass ? Start with none to accelerate then apply take off ? I agree landings aren't the issue - actually are better, but the takeoff is the pucker factor. Trying to lighten the nose costs in speed. Other planes seem to work better with the ground effect technique. Flew the Skywagon last night - off in < 500 ( concrete) Slow as hell but smooth Paul