Bennett

Just sent in my check. Looking forward to having the unit installed at my next oil change at LASAR. The calibration sounds almost too easy compared to all the trouble I had trying to calibrate the unit I had installed in my DOVA LSA. Any feedback from early installers would be appreciated. Thank you.

I don't use Pay Pal so I will mail a check at the end of this week. No hurry about getting the unit as it will be a couple of weeks before I have the time to have it installed.

Yes, I bought the aircraft for $85,000, with a 300 hour SMOH engine about two years ago. Airframe was approximately 3500 hours.

When I bought my J I had LASAR strip down the airplane "to the bones" and they replaced most of the wear parts including much of the gear parts, and installed new accessories like the vacuum pump, plugs, battery, belts, magnetos, plus tires, tubes, redid the rigging, sprayed in ACF 40, and removed all corrosion. I don't think a factory refurbishment would do much more to the hull itself. The new interior was totally rebuilt, including carbon fiber window frames, aircraft honeycomb side panels etc. all new sheet metal for the new panel, and ArtCraft's strip and paint is well beyond any Mooney factory paint I have seen. Anyone can do this by finding the right firms to work with, and the willingness to spend the money to achieve what they want in an aircraft. The only thing I didn't do was to replace the engine since it only had about 300 hours SMOH, with flow matched cylinders. If I had replaced the engine I still would have spent way less than than $250,000. A new Mooney would probably soon depreciate to the point that the change in value (realistic selling price) would not be much different to what I spent over that of its market value. If I bought a new Mooney, say a J, I would just start customizing it anyway with mods and upgrades. I'm sure those of us who have refurbished our Mooneys understand this.

Last straw. According to Propwash's newsletter, AOPA chose to schedule one of their new regional meetings on Yom Kippur. They knew the date was in conflict, and went ahead anyway. How would most folk like it if AOPA chose Christmas Day or Easter Sunday for a regional meeting, in spite of protests. To me it is a disrespect and I no longer care to be associated with such an organization ( after over 30 + years of membership, and support of their air safety foundation).

Can be done for well under $200,000. My J has new paint (ArtCraft) , new panel (GTN750, GRN650, Aera 695, LifeSaver electric AI, and a great deal more, a custom interior (Aircraft Designs), PowerFlow exhaust system, LoPresti cowl, and more. Many speed mods etc. she is essentially a "new" J and far under the cost if any potential newly factory built 201. AvWeb featured her under their "Refurbished" aircraft postings. The big question: why buy new at at least three times the cost for the same performance, and interior space? With our annual inspections, and continuous maintenance, aircraft can be, and are, serviceable for many decades. Certainly no factory new airplane would have all the custom features I have had installed. Rather than build new Js, a factory refurbishment program would make more economic sense, but I don't see very many Mooney owners following my pathway. There are, of course, some notable exceptions here on Moonyspace, but not many.

I spoke to the shop manager who will do my installation as a "minor repair". They are currently installing an Alpha system on a Mooney, and feel the"letter" is sufficiently inclusive to allow this for the CYA-100 system.

Add me to the list for a group buy

I've previously mentioned the fact that I had an AOA indicator and probe on my DOVA, and that I could never get it calibrated to the point that I could trust it. The probe (heated) looked very much like the Alpha probe, and had three tubes running from the probe to the indicator. The display presentation was excellent, but as I said, I was not able to calibrate it to my satisfaction (nor could various mechanics). I like the idea of the idea of an AOA system, as one more tool that has its place in flying. At Oshkosh I spent a good deal of time at the Alpha booth, and personally, I didn't like the answers I heard about calibration. I also saw the Bendix / King unit for experimental aircraft, and while I liked the display concept, I didn't like the glareshield mount, nor the probe system, which appeared to be identical to the Alpha probe. Until I read through this forum I was unaware of the CYA-100 system. Now that looks like a reasonable (and elegant) approach. No hoses and tubes, and should be easy to mount on an inspection plate. Unfortunately the video does not clearly show the size of the indicator. I assume you could flush mount it, but what is the overall height, and most importantly to me, the width? I have very little panel space left from my refurbishment of the avionics. If I can ascertain that I could flush mount it near my ASI, I will order one, hopefully as a part of the group buy.

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/102/2718-full.html?ET=avweb:e2718:315570a:&st=email#221236

California is a long way off, but The good folks at ArtCraft at Santa Maria have painted quite a few Mooneys. I found them to be very easy to work with, even taping and re-taping designs with me for an entire Sunday. We ended up with five different colors, mostly metallics, and some of the stripes were airbrushed simply because I like the effect. All the control surfaces were removed and very thoroughly painted and reinstalled by an A&P on their staff. Balance was checked where necessary, and I couldn't be more pleased. They even put up with me dropping in unexpectedly a number of times during the process of striping, masking, taping, painting the various colors, and final polishing and detailing. They sent out some of the metal parts for rechroming, and the final results were exactly what I wanted. Highly recommended.

Just saw this thread. Thanks for all the kind words. Photos at Bennetts Gallery. It has been a great project, and I have the Mooney I want for the near future.

My 1983 J has the two pane copilot window.

I had a tie down at Pine Mountain Lake for many years. Kept an airport car on the tiedown until I would move it, and tie down the Mooney. I seem to recall that both Columbia and Pine Mountain are under the same county jusrisdiction. Personally I think Columbia is easier to get in and out of, but I had a second home in Pine Mountain, and it made sense to have the tiedown there. Fair number of homes with taxiways to the runway. Nice community, and there was a good pilot's association.

Hayward has new hangars for lease or rent. Large, but expensive. San Carlos occasionally has non-county hangars for rent via SkyWay Holdings. Check with the SkyWay office building manager. The waiting list for county hangars at San Carlos is many years long.

When I was young, I raced a Corvette (SCCA). Now I drive a SL500 as my weekend two seater. I admit I'm old, and as much as I would like a new Stingray convertible (available next year), it is really too much a young man's ride for me. On the other hand, my Mooney is perfectly "age appropriate"

I've had no problem with progressives in flying , or bifocal contacts when I wore them. Corrections are not great, so either works well, at least for me. One thing I did with the progressives is to specify how far the instrument panel is from where I sit, and the angle between my eyes and the principal cockpit instruments. These, for me at least, are not the standard setup for the demarcation area between the two corrections. I have separate pairs (sun glasses and regular) for flying and driving. I do not use any of these for computer work, or for reading. A good optometrist can work with you to optimize your glasses and sunglasses with high contrast for flying.

I prefer the House's version to the EAA /AOPA petition, although I doubt that either one will go into effect. At least the house version would allow flying Mooneys without a medical. At 78 the thought of being forced not to fly because of some none disabling minor medical condition has a concern. I passed my last medical with no problems, but each medical is approached with a degree of anxiety and trepidation. I self evaluate before every flight, and I think this is more important than a piece of paper. I tried an LSA for about two years, but while it was one of the best designed of the group, and had excellent performance for an LSA, I was never really comfortable with the light weight skins and structure needed to meet LSA weight restrictions. I had thought that I might retire from flying at 80, but if the House bill is successful, I might rethink that decision (provided I think I am physically and mentally capable of flying). I would not mind accepting VFR flight only, and while 14,000' is low, I can still cross the country using the southern routes, and my J performs better at 8-10,000'.

Hard to independently know if it was water freezing in the injectors (that was the theory put forward in the discussions at Kerrville) or elsewhere, but both pilots reported problems that self corrected at much lower altitudes. The pilot with the engine stoppage was very relieved when the engine fired up around 15,000', running roughly at first. As I said, I used Prist, and never had a problem with freezing water in my fuel. I concur with Jose. Very cold up there, and I always wore a leather flight jacket, lined with thick fur, to try and keep warm. The side windows frosted over badly, while my feet were burning from the heater. Really never liked being up that high, but the winds were the inducement. I always had a second (portable) oxygen bottle hooked up with masks in case of failure of the built in system. I consider Prist as cheap insurance, and it is really not that difficult to use (as directed). Adding isopropyl alcohol is easier, but I believe that spraying Prist into the fuel while fueling is a better way.

I started using Prist many years ago when flying my 261 above FL230 (certified to FL 280). Several Mooney pilots who operate between FL 210 and FL 270 have had the suspended water in their fuel freeze and block the injectors causing either an engine stoppage, or major power loss. This was well reported at one of the Mooney Homecomings. Prist is relatively inexpensive for the peace of mind if operating at high altitudes, and low ambient temperatures. My cross country flights in winter were generally at FL250 or FL270 eastbound to take advantage of the prevailing winds, and occasional a dip in the lower edge of the winter jet steam. Damn cold up there. Fly safe

From: Aviation eBrief - AOPA November 29, 2013, 3:05 am 3 Comments China Eases Rules on the Coveted Pilot’s License By ADAM CENTURY Carlos Barria/ReutersA visitor sitting in the pilot’s seat of a Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft during the Shanghai International Business Aviation Show in April. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has said it will relax requirementsfor obtaining a private pilot’s license, a move that is likely to unleash pent-up demand in the country’s civil aviation sector. The new regulations make it considerably easier for individuals to acquire a license, a coveted status symbol within China’s burgeoning class of business moguls and millionaires. The announcement on Tuesday came just weeks after the Air Traffic Control Commission of China unveiled plans to open more low-altitude airspace for commercial and private airplanes in the coming years. Most of China’s airspace is currently reserved for military use, and the push to liberalize the country’s airspace has been a front-line issue between China’s vast security apparatus and its increasingly powerful commercial interests. In 2011, a senior official in the Civil Aviation Administration estimated that 20 percent of China’s airspace was available for civil aviation, including both commercial and private flights. By contrast, the official said, about 85 percent of the United States’ airspace was open for civil aviation. According to Xia Xinghua, deputy administrator of the C.A.A.C., China has 399 airports or vertipads and 1,610 jets registered for civil aviation, with a rapidly expanding consumer market for private jets. Given that the private aircraft market in the West is still rebounding from the financial crisis, some analysts say that China could overtake the United States as the largest market for private planes within the coming decade. Zhu Shicai, an official with the Air Traffic Control Commission, told reporters at the China International General Aviation Convention in October that general aviation was expected to be the next driving force of the Chinese economy, after the automobile industry. Developing the civil aviation sector was highlighted as a major goal in China’s 12th Five-Year Plan. Pete Bunce, president of the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Association, in response to the C.A.A.C. announcement,commended the Chinese “government for taking this initial step, and we look forward to the pending release of further regulations that more clearly define the altitudes specified for” general aviation operations. The previous regulations concerning private aviation licenses were released in 1996, years before the market for private flying began to take off. Under the old regulations, the requirements to obtain a private pilot’s license were similar to those for a commercial pilot’s license. In the United States and other countries, commercial pilot’s licenses are considerably harder to obtain than private ones. Under the new rules, which take effect Sunday, Chinese citizens aged 17 or above with at least a junior high school education will be eligible to apply for a private pilot’s license, which allows them to fly noncommercial airplanes. Applicants must undergo 40 hours of classroom study, 40 hours of in-flight training, and then pass relevant tests. The in-flight training requirement stipulates 20 hours of assisted flying, 10 hours of solo flying and another 10 hours of training in various situations, such as landing at night. On Friday, The Beijing News carried the headline: “In the future, getting a private pilot’s license will be just as easy as getting an automobile driver’s license.” Love the last several lines in the last paragraph.

Doesn't burn a bit of fuel, but then she is very slow

I suggest you have the aircraft flown to LASAR at Lakeport, Lampson Field. 1O2

A few answers. The green color is acceptable, but not perfect. Sending photos back and forth via the web, with different monitors makes the color matching difficult. The colors in the last set of "proof" photos looked perfect. I ordered the model at Oshkosh, and received it last week. That is about the same time interval as the previous two models. It might have been a bit faster if I didn't ask them to make a few corrections to the interior after I received the interior proof photos. I'll try and add the approved photos later. Again not perfect, but certInly acceptable for a model at the cost they charged. I believe it was about $500 with a the "show specials" Funny about the juxtaposition of the two threads. I am tying to lose a bit if body mass, but I don't think I can ever get small enough for the model.

Don't wash your Mooney in hot water BEFORE WASHING: PHOTO ONE AFTER WASHING: PHOTO TWO The model was made by Factorydirectmodels. This is the third model of owned aircraft that they have made as a custom model for me, and this one is by by far the most detailed. Good people to work with. They send you progress photos so that corrections can be made before the model is fully assembled. A few more photos: MR1 (photo 6) is the real aircraft.