jelswick

Excellent couple and site with beautiful pics!

Lancaster Aero did mine in 2009. I think they did a great job on it, but have one bubble around a rivet I need to have fixed; that was my only issue. They had just switched to PPG paints I believe because they said they had adhesion issues prior to that which might be why the less favorable N4352H had. I get nice comments on the paint everywhere I fly 45T. The best in my opinion here towards the East coast is Dial Eastern States Aircraft Paint Inc (DESAPI). They painted my '63 for me around 2001-2002 and it is still one of the best quality jobs I've seen. We also sold a few aircraft that had also been painted by them and I swear one was 12 year old paint on a Warrior that looked like it just came out of the paint shop. They too are very pricey though. I guess you get what you pay for. And I'm very glad for ArtCraft; wonderful people, very nice meeting them at OSH and sounds like just about all rave reviews from our Mooney forum.

No knock at AeroComfort as they did my yoke covering impeccably and I've seen nothing but great examples of their work on other people's interiors. I do think as an option for people that might not live in that area that there are others that can do great work. My favorite is Air Mod (www.airmod.com) in Batavia, Ohio, same field as Sporty's. With that said, I haven't used them because they are very pricey and couldn't justify the price difference, but we sold three aircraft that had their interior work and it's instantly recognizable as theirs the minute you open the cabin door. Their fabric interiors actually outshine most leather interiors I've seen. I've not seen Mooney's with their interiors although they have samples on their site, but I think they have the richest looking interiors of any I've seen for those where money isn't as much a consideration or if I ever hit a mini lottery!

I had the same symptoms, not on a recently overhauled engine, and it turned out to be the prop seal leaking. I don't recall the amount, but do remember it wasn't as expensive as I thought it might be to replace.

The GPS in my iPad is definitely not reliable or accurate enough. With the Bad Elf connected, it's spot on in agreement with the IFR and Garmin portable, but prior to getting the Bad Elf for it, it showed me literally over a mile from actual location. It is just a backup, but it would be a distraction I wouldn't want if IMC seeing that much disagreement between the 430 and the iPad. I don't have any experience with the other portable GPS' you can attach to the iPad, but at about $100, I think its well worth the addition for the accuracy they bring to your iPad.

I love the Bad Elf attached to the iPad with Foreflight as it seems always in agreement with my GNS 430, but I'd offer a word of warning on relying on the iPad's internal GPS. I flew with it a few times prior to getting the Bad Elf and it was literally over a mile off showing the plane quite a bit north and east of the airport as I was on final. We all know the iPad isn't a primary instrument, but that would be a distraction I wouldn't want if IMC and see the 430 and the iPad disagreed on position by that much.

All three here as well. I get the least from EAA, but it's required to be able to camp at Oshkosh and I do like supporting what they do with Young Eagles (I participate in those rides each year), aircraft restoration and their general support to GA as a whole.

I'll agree GPSS is a nicety rather than a necessity, but glad to have it as it does add a level of precision to the AP even though I turn it off 1/2 the time because I like hand-flying as well. The AP though in my opinion is more a necessity. I'm sure noone that has a spatial disorientation accident planned for it to occur. I consider myself lucky to have never really encountered it, but with my family or I guess even just me on board, if it were to ever happen, i like the idea of being able to punch the wing leveler mode or whatever to give myself time to get myself back together. Have to have it? No, but I think of it as a real insurance policy.

Sounds like my J (or it's pilot) is a heavy drinker of 100LL compared to others on here. I typically see 155-160 KTAS depending on weight at about 11.5 GPH running 25 squared, 75-100 ROP and cowl flaps closed. Typical altitude for short hops around Ohio or neighboring states is 5,000-8,000 MSL for me, higher altitudes and better fuel burns if going somewhere like the beach.

My J had a Century 21 when I purchased it and it was limited function (heading bug) only. It worked fine for the first few years, but then quit going left when commanded (if you wanted to go from 360 to 270, you'd have to go the long way around using the AP heading bug!). As others indicated, they can be very expensive to trouble shoot and if old enough that something has failed, they're likely to find a lot of other components nearing failure, so I just had them replace it with an STec 30 during my Aspen install which also provided GPSS. I love the setup. I was also very happy with the STec 20 with GPSS and GNS 430 I had in my C model previously. I love having the altitude hold with the 30, but hadn't missed it in the 20 and a nice thing with the STecs is their upgradeability in the future.

I found the same thing with my 1981 J when prepping for my BFR recently. I always use 90 knots, but the POH was in the aircraft and me at home, so looked at many generic checklists on line that varied quite a bit, not so much in speed range, but just differing numbers. One point seeing all of those did remind me of though is that the number is going to vary by weight and it's actually a range based on that rather than a fixed number. The range again though is as pointed out by someone above not a substantial swing.

I received the updated hours from the current owner and he's flown it more since buying it from me than I thought. I ran an updated Vref on it and it puts the value at about $45,000. I'm waiting to hear if he's willing to sell it at that amount and told him I'd wait for the market to hopefully improve (I literally had over $90K in it with all of the upgrades I did, but they were worth it to me while I owned it). Below is the valuation I did and I think it really is a good deal at that price, but I'm probably a little bias as a prior owner. Waiting for him to confirm whether he will keep or sell it at that amount. N6886U Valuation 8/15/2011 Item Value Notes Airframe Base Value $32,000 AFTT (4900 hrs) -$89 $.89/hr impact. SMOH (1680 hrs) -$7,480 $11.00/hr impact. Base Value $24,431 Avionics/Equipment Upgrades $20,300 $44,731 Avionics/Equipment Upgrades Detail Value Notes Like New Paint $3,000 Dial Eastern States Aircraft Painting, Inc. (consistently rated as #1 or one of the top by Aviation Consumer Surveys). It is like new, but banks won't give the $6,000 credit once it is more than 2-3 years old. Garmin GNS 430 GPS (IFR Enroute & Approach Cert.) $5,000 Includes GPS VOR/Localizer/Glideslope Indicator STec System 20 Autopilot $3,000 STec Autopilot GPSS (GPS Steering) $600 PS Engineering PMA 8000B Audio Panel and Intercom w/ Dual Music and Cell Phone Inputs $500 201 Windshield Modification $4,000 Custom Leather Interior $3,000 New Interior add is $6,000 for standard interior, but higher for leather. It is like new, but reduced the credit since bank won't give credit for it as new when more than 2-3 years ago. Precise Flight Standby Vacuum System $500 Sigma-Tek AutoPilot Directional Gyro w/ Heading Bug $200 Electronics International Digital 4 Cylinder EGT $200 Digital Altitude Alerter/OAT/Flight Timer/Clock $200 SIRS Lighted Navigator Compass $100 $20,300

Very sorry to hear this and hope it's only a short break for you away from flying.

And I don't think that would/should preclude you from using it in touch-up, but definitely think it wouldn't be a good idea to use for painting an aircraft more than that. Auto painters also don't have to worry about the weight distribution of the paint, so that would be something to be watchful about if they were to paint any sizeable surface areas for you.

My understanding is that there is a definite difference in automotive vs aircraft paint and it is based on the need for the paint to be able to flex without cracking, hence the aviation specific paints. I'm not an authority on it and that's not my line of work, so could be incorrect, but I've been told that by at least a few aviation paint shops.

Congratulations Jim! Sounds like you might already, but you are going to love it. There's a reason all of us are so excited about our aircraft that we spend the time we do on this site.

The person I sold my 1963 M20C to in 2007 is now looking to sell (just not getting to fly enough). I received comments on CTAFs and from controllers in a lot of places I flew it because of it's looks and she is gorgeous. The paint is Dial Eastern States Aircraft Painting Inc (DESAPI) and they're always rated #1 or 2 in the country by Aviation Consumer. The interior is tan leather I had put in by an interior shop in Ravenna, OH. It has a Garmin 430 and STec20 autopilot as well as a PS Engineering PM8000 Audio Panel with music and a KX155 as the 2nd NavCom. He's asked me to post it here and I believe he's looking for about $55-60K, but was waiting for him to confirm the current engine and AFTT since what I used in the valuation for him were estimated time I believe he's added to it, so until he confirms, I'm approximating that at 4,700 AFTT and 1,300 SMOH. I had about $90K in it from purchase and all of the upgrades I'd done to it when I sold it to him. I can PM his contact info if you'd like. It does have damage history, but it was from 1964 when someone flew it into trees and it was bought from the insurance co and restored and had about 4,500 hrs flying on it when I sold it to him. I loved it, just needed the J for the longer leg room in the back as my kids grew. It was a northern airplane and completely clean from any corrosion. I regluarly had Corrosion X or ACF 50 applied to it and while that wasn't my primary maintenance shop, I had some maintenance done while in Dayton/Miamisburg on a business trip and they told me it looked cleaner inside than many of the newer aircraft they'd seen. Very nice aircraft and all logs are complete. I'll add a folder for 1963 M20C N6886U to my profile's photo album on here and add some photos. I loved that it stayed on our field after I sold it and I hate to see it leave KDLZ if he sells it, but I think it will make someone very happy for a relatively low amount of money. He was meticulous in keeping it waxed and while I might be a little biased, I'd swear she's at least the shiniest aircraft on our field! - Jim