Joe Zuffoletto

Damn! I rolled over my right foot walking down my driveway this past Friday night and broke the 5th metatarsal bone clean through, right up near its root in the mid foot. So now I'm stuck with a big boot and crutches for 6 weeks! No pain, luckily, but damn inconvenient. I can't even drive! A completely unexpected and freak accident. The timing isn't entirely bad as my Acclaim goes in for its annual next week. Still, looks like there will be 3 or 4 weeks after the annual is done where the plane will sit idle. Not to mention the RV-8, which will be idle the entire time. Step carefully, my friends.

Don't be put off by the vernier (push/pull) engine controls. My Acclaim has verniers and my RV-8 has a quadrant. I'm comfortable with both but my personal preference is the verniers.

I'm no engine guru but I love the TSIO-550G on my Acclaim. It starts up quick and easy, idles smoothly, runs very smoothly LOP, and gives me pretty consistent CHT's across the board at all power settings. I've had the plane for just over 2 years and haven't incurred any unusual maintenance expenses, but then again the plane and engine are almost brand new.

In this clean-shaven era we live in, should we still call them "bush" pilots? On the other hand, maybe he had one, two or three landing strips to choose from.

Wish I could be doing that right now!

On the ground! I've gotten lucky up high like that, but it's a crapshoot. One time I managed to place a voice call to customs from 16,000 feet over Guerrero Negro on the Baja Peninsula. I considered that to be a bona fide miracle.

+1. Arapahoe Aero is not only a fantastic shop, but Scott Utz, the proprietor, is as straight a shooter as you'll find anywhere. I would have Scott do the pre-buy if it were me, but only because of our longstanding relationship and the trust he's earned from me. You don't have that experience so a third-party evaluation might be better for you. If you end up buying this plane, or any other, I highly recommend you have it serviced at AA. BTW, I don't think a K model is too much airplane for a first-time buyer. My first plane was an Archer II, but I only had it 8 months before I traded it for my K, which I owned and flew very successfully for 11 years. Good luck!

Randy, Congratulations on your impending retirement to Arizona. Ironic that you wrote it on our first day of snowfall here in Denver! I think the people on this board, several of my friends and even my employees have "talked me off the ledge" when it comes to giving up flying. I'm going to keep my Mooney at a minimum. We'll see about the RV-8. For me, thinking about giving up flying wasn't about paring the expenses, it was about wanting to do other stuff. What I didn't mention in my previous post was that if my wife and I were to retire to CA, where we both have families, I'd definitely get another Mooney. It's the only way to travel up and down the west coast. But I already have an awesome Mooney, so I might as well keep it. Part of the reason I put up my "goodbye" post was that I was pretty damn conflicted and wanted to hear some other opinions. I'm not so conflicted any more! I think airpark living will be a blast for you once you get settled and find another Rocket. I'd love to fly down and visit you at that time, and see what Pegasus is all about. All the best to you as you move into this next chapter of your life! Joe

Yep, that must have been ugly. I love the way this TV show, which I've never seen, makes the business of ferrying aircraft sound more dangerous than a mission to Mars.

No experience with this kind of thing so the best I can do is wish you luck. FWIW, I love venison....

Most of my legs are pretty long so this is something I've always been careful about! I eat and drink very little in the 24 hours leading up to a flight, and since many of my departures are in the morning, I also try to do my morning business before departure. Then I pack plenty of water and dry snacks for the trip. Your story is a good one for the relative newbies to hear. We all learn eventually to watch what goes down the hatch before and during a trip!

I've never had any problems with my Acclaim. The issues I had with my Encore took place during the first 4 years I owned the plane and boiled down to either pilot error or poor maintenance by a reputable Mooney service center that I was sure was trying to kill me. Once I switched service centers the problems magically went away and I flew the plane trouble-free for 7 more years. Pilot error: * Cabin door opened in flight (I allowed the pax to latch it; have been doing it myself ever since) * Baggage door opened in flight (apparent preflight oversight on my part). Maintenance issues: * Repeated voltage regulator failures, leading to lots of popped circuit breakers and partial panel ops in VFR. * Alternator failure during IMC descent from High Sierras towards Stockton, CA. Received an IFR clearance all the way to Napa from ATC before the battery died. Did not declare an emergency because I knew conditions were VFR from Stockton to Napa. Landed uneventfully in VFR conditions at Napa after manually lowering the gear. * Alternator failure in VFR conditions causing all the oil to go overboard. My first and only flight in a glider. Had 5 airports within gliding distance so I did not declare an emergency. Successfully dead-sticked into Palm Springs airport.

I don't remember my Encore having a gear up warning system, but the Acclaim does and it's quite effective. After I put about 25 hours on the Acclaim I decided one day to simulate an approach to landing at my home airport with the gear up to see what would happen. On downwind I had to pull the throttle almost to idle to slow to flap operating speed, at which time I got a continuous "Check gear! Check gear! Check gear!" until I lowered the gear. Very nice.

Marauder, your comment about being OCD is funny to me because my wife is OCD. Yet when we're approaching to land she always says, "Why do you keep looking at the floor?" As we all know, that's where the gear down indicator is.

The Acclaim runs rough from 50NM south of Ciudad Juarez all the way to Cabo. Lots of empty desert, rugged mountains, a 110NM Sea of Cortez crossing... during which you overfly exactly three airports.

I like the way the photo in the Guardian news story shows an Airbus A319 and calls it a 737. RIP to the pilot. And carusoam is absolutely right... it can happen at any weight, age, etc. One of my college classmates was a triathlete his entire adult life, with less than 10% body fat. He died of a heart attack in his sleep at age 38.

I had speed brakes on my Encore and now my Acclaim. They're just another arrow in the quiver. I've learned to fly with or without them. For example, when approaching Denver from the west on an IFR flight plan, ATC commonly holds you at 14,000' or higher until you're about 10 miles west of the Class B, then they clear you to 8,000' and tell you to avoid the Class B. The bottom of the Class B 10 miles ahead is 10,000', so you've got to drop almost a mile in 10 miles. If I'm solo in VFR conditions and there's no more than mild turbulence, I'll drop the gear and deploy the brakes, which gets me about a 2500-3000fpm descent rate and under the Class B in time. CHT's drop from low 300s (I fly LOP) to high 200's... no big deal. However, it's more common for there to be moderate to severe turbulence over the Front Range, and for me to have my wife on board. In this situation, I ask ATC for a deviation to the south to avoid the Class B, then east to descend at a comfortable rate past the airport with no speed brakes, then back to the airport. It's a trick I just thought of earlier this summer and I wish I would have thought of it sooner.

I'm lucky to say I've never even come close, and it would be almost impossible to land gear-up in the Acclaim because the power setting to slow to approach speed with the gear up is so low, the gear warning alert goes crazy. Plus, I'm pretty anal about checking the gear 2 or 3 times after I've lowered it.

Thanks to everyone for your kind and thoughtful comments. I feel like I'm being talked off a ledge! The planes won't sell overnight. Maybe I'll have a change of heart in the meantime. We'll see. Thanks again! You really are a great bunch of people. Joe

You can see specs and pics taken by the previous owner on his website. I'll PM the address to you.

Yeah, I don't expect the Acclaim to sell very fast and that's softening the blow a bit!

After 30 years of flying, of which the last 15 were as an aircraft owner, I've decided it's time to leave aircraft ownership behind and move on to some other interests and priorities my wife and I have as we approach retirement. I do so with decidedly mixed emotions. I've been flying my entire adult life; it's part of my fiber. My Mooney and RV-8 are two of the finest specimens of their kind and it will be tough to see them go. I still love to fly, but I no longer have enough missions to justify the expense of aircraft ownership. Maybe I'll rent from time to time, or bum rides with my flying buddies. It's truly the end of an era for me, but not the end of the world. Once the planes are gone I don't know how much I'll hang out here at MooneySpace or Vans Air Force, but I'm sure it will be much less than I do now. MooneySpace is by far my favorite aviation forum and it's been a real pleasure learning from other Mooney owners and sharing in their flying adventures. With very few exceptions I find the people on this forum to be an exceptionally classy bunch. So, once the pictures are taken and the ad is posted online, you'll be seeing my post advertising a very sweet Acclaim Type S for sale. Maybe someone here will grab it, or maybe you'll be welcoming a new member to the community soon. In any event, keep the blue side up and thank you all for brightening my days and teaching me tons of new stuff about Mooneys and flying. Cheers, Joe

I'll definitely recommend "Into the Land of Bones" to my wife. She's read "The Great Game" and a couple other history books for that region, and her family are descendants of Alexander the Great. Her maiden name is Sekander and her son's name is Alexander.

I don't know much about Rockets, but I know that three soldiers with bags would be a stretch for my Acclaim, based on some of the monster backpacks I've seen them carrying at commercial airports. Otherwise a Mooney is perfect for your mission. If you find a good one and take care of it, you'll love owning a Mooney. Thank you for your service! Where are you based in Afghanistan? My wife grew up in Kabul but her family fled when the Soviets invaded in 1979.

Wow, so I guess I have two "Mooneys," and they both cost me a fortune!