Joe Zuffoletto

Aircraft found; both occupants dead. F**k. http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/11/19/missing-plane-pagosa-springs-colorado/19300151/

Does anyone know the owner of the plane mentioned in this article? I hope he's OK. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26961078/search-launched-airplane-missing-southwestern-colorado

Nice! Obviously love the aircraft shots, but also the shots of Jack Weigand at Red Rocks!

Parker, Sadly, my days of flying my Mooney to Mexico are probably over, not only for the reasons you cite, but also because the cost of parking and fuel at either airport in Los Cabos have gotten out of hand. And, no, I'm not going to land at (cheaper) La Paz and drive to Cabo as some would suggest; defeats the purpose of the airplane. But I'm sure glad I made the trips I did over the past 3 years. Those flights were extraordinary. At which beach did you have your dust-up with the cops? We have a second home down there and spend quite a lot of time in Cabo and I've never experienced anything like that. Would like to be sure to avoid that location. Joe

StinkBug, you nailed it. To each their own. I've done 6 round trips from Denver and SoCal to Cabo and it's some of the best flying I've ever done in 30 years as a pilot. But I've also flown down there commercial, to central Mexico. Leon, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende and Queretero. Beautiful places, beautiful people. It's a stunning country. Some images from my flights:

These always bum me out. And, of course, the next day was sunny and beautiful in these parts (though pretty frickin' cold).

Flew a 1998 M20K Encore with its original panel (except for a 530/430 retrofit that I did) and TKS on the West Coast for years and loved it. It was the perfect airplane for that part of the country. This plane is pretty close to what I had at the time, minus TKS: http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20K-ENCORE/1997-MOONEY-M20K-ENCORE/1327005.htm Loved my Encore when my mission was within nonstop range of its 75 gallon fuel capacity. Welcome to MooneySpace, and good luck with your decision!

I know the image is imaginary, but it looks like the trim system will change. I don't see a pivot point for the empennage.

I fly to Cabo once or twice a year. Monitor Bush Pilots International if you're not already: https://www.bushpilotsinternational.com/smf/index.php?action=recent Hurricane Odile back in September did a number on many airstrips on the peninsula so BPI is an important source for latest conditions at specific strips.

It's another awesome day today... might have to go flying again. Once the snow starts to fly in these parts all bets are off!

That big "H" sitting right on top of me further solidifies my decision to play hooky and go flying today!

Mooney came through with a very nice shirt, ball cap and microfiber cloth for my video, all emblazoned with the Mooney logo!

I said previously that I was bipolar, but like so many aviation related decisions, it comes down to your mission. Acclaim: For flying high, fast and far in all conditions, often with my wife, and soon with Angel Flight patients. The G1000 significantly reduces my workload, allows me to stay ahead of a very high performance aircraft, and adds a huge safety margin when flying approaches IMC. Flying the Acclaim on steam gauges would certainly be doable, but it would be much more challenging. RV-8: For tooling around the pattern and the local area on weekends, day VFR and almost always solo. Stick, rudder and steam gauges work just fine and I really enjoy the old school feel and the contrast with the Acclaim. That's why I bought it. I can't imagine ever putting glass in that plane.

450.

I'm reading "Fate is the Hunter" by Ernest Gann for the first time and their first trip from Greenland to Iceland was terrifying. No one can tell me that they wouldn't have preferred modern weather and GPS navigation!

In my opinion, there's always a thread of pilot machismo woven into these discussions about modern glass vs. steam gauges and "the good ol' days." Let's ask similar questions in non-aviation contexts: Would you trade your 60" flat panel HDTV for an old black and white CRT with rabbit ears and no remote? Would you give up power steering, brakes, traction control and ABS in your car? Not to mention seat belts and air bags? Trade your modern computer and Internet for a 1981 IBM PC-XT with green screen and a 1200-baud modem? You get the idea. Today's technology rocks. Yesterday's was..., well, yesterday's. Having said all that, I have a G1000 Mooney and a steam gauge RV-8. I guess I'm bipolar.

Seth, it's obvious you haven't given this much thought!

Pilot was Steven Moore, the executive director of the National Gay Pilots Association: http://www.ngpa.org/ It was a C model.

Half tanks, two grown men on board, 85 degrees outside... and an uphill runway. I also bring the throttle forward gradually to avoid overboosting the turbos. I'm having the 310hp STC from Midwest Mooney installed this winter and that should shorten my takeoff rolls quite a bit.

I was poking around the Mooney.com website just now and discovered that they're using one of my in-flight videos to promote the Acclaim Type S! http://www.mooney.com/aircraft/acclaim-type-s/experience-the-acclaim/ Pretty cool, and I had no idea!

The Denver Post just published a horrific photo of the plane on fire:

Sounds like you were flying over mountains or water.

Damn. Can't really recognize it as a Mooney (or anything else), but the helicopter pilot says it is. http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/27/plane-crashes-near-boulder-municipal-airport/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26806961/boulder-authorities-responding-plane-crash-near-municipal-airport

This: http://mooneyspace.com/topic/13192-tail-section-service-bulletinad-on-m20tn/

Arapahoe Aero did a great job and carefully drilled out the rivets without damaging my paint. Now we're just waiting for the touch-up paint to arrive for those nice shiny new rivets.