Bennett

-originally posted by parker woodruff

Weird! I only hit submit once, but my message seems to have posted multiple times, and somehow merged with another topic and thread. I hope I didn't cause the problem. My apologies if I did.

Thank you for the kind words. This M20J project has been great fun (although a bit frustrating at times), and I still have the panel to modernize. The questions was asked about why I am now flying a 201 instead of my former 231/261/262. She was (and probably still is) a great airplane. I flew her many, many times across the country,(I'm based in San Carlos, CA) to Alaska, to most of the islands in the Caribbean, and Mexico - mainland and Baja. I was involved in Columbus landfalll research in the early 90s, and flew her a number of times to the British West Indies, mostly to Grand Turk. I owned her for about 1700 hours, and three engines - the original 231 engine, the replacement in the 262 conversion, and after Mobil One destroyed that engine (long misserable story), a very custom engine built up by LASAR. With all my mods she was a one person airplane with 115 gallons usable, and the rear seats removed to hold all sorts of rafts and survival equipment. When I experienced (ultimately good) lifestye changes, this airplane no longer fit my flying needs - moved from business flying to purely recreational flying. In fact I stopped actively flying for a few years, and then started up again with Cessnas; a 172, and then a 140 to restore to better than new condition, two Pipers, and then a Czech Republic built LSA with all the bells and whistles. But none of them was a Mooney. I missed Mooneys. I'm 76 now, and I really don't want to fly hard IFR as I did in the past. I just want to fly for fun, when the weather is good, and when I feel like going somewhere just because I want to. I intend to fly, provided my heath remains good, until my 80th year, and then "hang up the keys". A M20J fits my goals. Do I miss the turbo? Yes, but I know me, and I would soon be heading back into the flight levels, and doing many of the nutsy things I did when younger, (and immortal). I do miss the speed of the 262 - she had every speed mod known to the Mod Squad, the Mod Works, and Lasar. In fact I raced her in the Columbus 500 and won - 500 miles of WOT from Freeport to Provo, with a dog leg around Stella Maris, and also won the production class at Sun and Fun in the 90s. She also won Best of Class at the Mooney Homecoming in Kerrville one year. But the expenses -fuel and upkeep of the 262 was very high, and I want something that I can enjoy without thinking too much about operating costs. Hope this makes some sense.

Thank you for the kind words. This M20J project has been great fun (although a bit frustrating at times), and I still have the panel to modernize. The questions was asked about why I am now flying a 201 instead of my former 231/261/262. She was (and probably still is) a great airplane. I flew her many, many times across the country,(I'm based in San Carlos, CA) to Alaska, to most of the islands in the Caribbean, and Mexico - mainland and Baja. I was involved in Columbus landfalll research in the early 90s, and flew her a number of times to the British West Indies, mostly to Grand Turk. I owned her for about 1700 hours, and three engines - the original 231 engine, the replacement in the 262 conversion, and after Mobil One destroyed that engine (long misserable story), a very custom engine built up by LASAR. With all my mods she was a one person airplane with 115 gallons usable, and the rear seats removed to hold all sorts of rafts and survival equipment. When I experienced (ultimately good) lifestye changes, this airplane no longer fit my flying needs - moved from business flying to purely recreational flying. In fact I stopped actively flying for a few years, and then started up again with Cessnas; a 172, and then a 140 to restore to better than new condition, two Pipers, and then a Czech Republic built LSA with all the bells and whistles. But none of them was a Mooney. I missed Mooneys. I'm 76 now, and I really don't want to fly hard IFR as I did in the past. I just want to fly for fun, when the weather is good, and when I feel like going somewhere just because I want to. I intend to fly, provided my heath remains good, until my 80th year, and then "hang up the keys". A M20J fits my goals. Do I miss the turbo? Yes, but I know me, and I would soon be heading back into the flight levels, and doing many of the nutsy things I did when younger, (and immortal). I do miss the speed of the 262 - she had every speed mod known to the Mod Squad, the Mod Works, and Lasar. In fact I raced her in the Columbus 500 and won - 500 miles of WOT from Freeport to Provo, with a dog leg around Stella Maris, and also won the production class at Sun and Fun in the 90s. She also won Best of Class at the Mooney Homecoming in Kerrville one year. But the expenses -fuel and upkeep of the 262 was very high, and I want something that I can enjoy without thinking too much about operating costs. Hope this makes some sense.

Thank you for the kind words. This M20J project has been great fun (although a bit frustrating at times), and I still have the panel to modernize. The questions was asked about why I am now flying a 201 instead of my former 231/261/262. She was (and probably still is) a great airplane. I flew her many, many times across the country,(I'm based in San Carlos, CA) to Alaska, to most of the islands in the Caribbean, and Mexico - mainland and Baja. I was involved in Columbus landfalll research in the early 90s, and flew her a number of times to the British West Indies, mostly to Grand Turk. I owned her for about 1700 hours, and three engines - the original 231 engine, the replacement in the 262 conversion, and after Mobil One destroyed that engine (long misserable story), a very custom engine built up by LASAR. With all my mods she was a one person airplane with 115 gallons usable, and the rear seats removed to hold all sorts of rafts and survival equipment. When I experienced (ultimately good) lifestye changes, this airplane no longer fit my flying needs - moved from business flying to purely recreational flying. In fact I stopped actively flying for a few years, and then started up again with Cessnas; a 172, and then a 140 to restore to better than new condition, two Pipers, and then a Czech Republic built LSA with all the bells and whistles. But none of them was a Mooney. I missed Mooneys. I'm 76 now, and I really don't want to fly hard IFR as I did in the past. I just want to fly for fun, when the weather is good, and when I feel like going somewhere just because I want to. I intend to fly, provided my heath remains good, until my 80th year, and then "hang up the keys". A M20J fits my goals. Do I miss the turbo? Yes, but I know me, and I would soon be heading back into the flight levels, and doing many of the nutsy things I did when younger, (and immortal). I do miss the speed of the 262 - she had every speed mod known to the Mod Squad, the Mod Works, and Lasar. In fact I raced her in the Columbus 500 and won - 500 miles of WOT from Freeport to Provo, with a dog leg around Stella Maris, and also won the production class at Sun and Fun in the 90s. She also won Best of Class at the Mooney Homecoming in Kerrville one year. But the expenses -fuel and upkeep of the 262 was very high, and I want something that I can enjoy without thinking too much about operating costs. Hope this makes some sense.

Thank you for the kind words. This M20J project has been great fun (although a bit frustrating at times), and I still have the panel to modernize. The questions was asked about why I am now flying a 201 instead of my former 231/261/262. She was (and probably still is) a great airplane. I flew her many, many times across the country,(I'm based in San Carlos, CA) to Alaska, to most of the islands in the Caribbean, and Mexico - mainland and Baja. I was involved in Columbus landfalll research in the early 90s, and flew her a number of times to the British West Indies, mostly to Grand Turk. I owned her for about 1700 hours, and three engines - the original 231 engine, the replacement in the 262 conversion, and after Mobil One destroyed that engine (long misserable story), a very custom engine built up by LASAR. With all my mods she was a one person airplane with 115 gallons usable, and the rear seats removed to hold all sorts of rafts and survival equipment. When I experienced (ultimately good) lifestye changes, this airplane no longer fit my flying needs - moved from business flying to purely recreational flying. In fact I stopped actively flying for a few years, and then started up again with Cessnas; a 172, and then a 140 to restore to better than new condition, two Pipers, and then a Czech Republic built LSA with all the bells and whistles. But none of them was a Mooney. I missed Mooneys. I'm 76 now, and I really don't want to fly hard IFR as I did in the past. I just want to fly for fun, when the weather is good, and when I feel like going somewhere just because I want to. I intend to fly, provided my heath remains good, until my 80th year, and then "hang up the keys". A M20J fits my goals. Do I miss the turbo? Yes, but I know me, and I would soon be heading back into the flight levels, and doing many of the nutsy things I did when younger, (and immortal). I do miss the speed of the 262 - she had every speed mod known to the Mod Squad, the Mod Works, and Lasar. In fact I raced her in the Columbus 500 and won - 500 miles of WOT from Freeport to Provo, with a dog leg around Stella Maris, and also won the production class at Sun and Fun in the 90s. She also won Best of Class at the Mooney Homecoming in Kerrville one year. But the expenses -fuel and upkeep of the 262 was very high, and I want something that I can enjoy without thinking too much about operating costs. Hope this makes some sense.

Thank you for the kind words. This M20J project has been great fun (although a bit frustrating at times), and I still have the panel to modernize. The questions was asked about why I am now flying a 201 instead of my former 231/261/262. She was (and probably still is) a great airplane. I flew her many, many times across the country,(I'm based in San Carlos, CA) to Alaska, to most of the islands in the Caribbean, and Mexico - mainland and Baja. I was involved in Columbus landfalll research in the early 90s, and flew her a number of times to the British West Indies, mostly to Grand Turk. I owned her for about 1700 hours, and three engines - the original 231 engine, the replacement in the 262 conversion, and after Mobil One destroyed that engine (long misserable story), a very custom engine built up by LASAR. With all my mods she was a one person airplane with 115 gallons usable, and the rear seats removed to hold all sorts of rafts and survival equipment. When I experienced (ultimately good) lifestye changes, this airplane no longer fit my flying needs - moved from business flying to purely recreational flying. In fact I stopped actively flying for a few years, and then started up again with Cessnas; a 172, and then a 140 to restore to better than new condition, two Pipers, and then a Czech Republic built LSA with all the bells and whistles. But none of them was a Mooney. I missed Mooneys. I'm 76 now, and I really don't want to fly hard IFR as I did in the past. I just want to fly for fun, when the weather is good, and when I feel like going somewhere just because I want to. I intend to fly, provided my heath remains good, until my 80th year, and then "hang up the keys". A M20J fits my goals. Do I miss the turbo? Yes, but I know me, and I would soon be heading back into the flight levels, and doing many of the nutsy things I did when younger, (and immortal). I do miss the speed of the 262 - she had every speed mod known to the Mod Squad, the Mod Works, and Lasar. In fact I raced her in the Columbus 500 and won - 500 miles of WOT from Freeport to Provo, with a dog leg around Stella Maris, and also won the production class at Sun and Fun in the 90s. She also won Best of Class at the Mooney Homecoming in Kerrville one year. But the expenses -fuel and upkeep of the 262 was very high, and I want something that I can enjoy without thinking too much about operating costs. Hope this makes some sense.

Thank you for the kind words. This M20J project has been great fun (although a bit frustrating at times), and I still have the panel to modernize. The questions was asked about why I am now flying a 201 instead of my former 231/261/262. She was (and probably still is) a great airplane. I flew her many, many times across the country,(I'm based in San Carlos, CA) to Alaska, to most of the islands in the Caribbean, and Mexico - mainland and Baja. I was involved in Columbus landfalll research in the early 90s, and flew her a number of times to the British West Indies, mostly to Grand Turk. I owned her for about 1700 hours, and three engines - the original 231 engine, the replacement in the 262 conversion, and after Mobil One destroyed that engine (long misserable story), a very custom engine built up by LASAR. With all my mods she was a one person airplane with 115 gallons usable, and the rear seats removed to hold all sorts of rafts and survival equipment. When I experienced (ultimately good) lifestye changes, this airplane no longer fit my flying needs - moved from business flying to purely recreational flying. In fact I stopped actively flying for a few years, and then started up again with Cessnas; a 172, and then a 140 to restore to better than new condition, two Pipers, and then a Czech Republic built LSA with all the bells and whistles. But none of them was a Mooney. I missed Mooneys. I'm 76 now, and I really don't want to fly hard IFR as I did in the past. I just want to fly for fun, when the weather is good, and when I feel like going somewhere just because I want to. I intend to fly, provided my heath remains good, until my 80th year, and then "hang up the keys". A M20J fits my goals. Do I miss the turbo? Yes, but I know me, and I would soon be heading back into the flight levels, and doing many of the nutsy things I did when younger, (and immortal). I do miss the speed of the 262 - she had every speed mod known to the Mod Squad, the Mod Works, and Lasar. In fact I raced her in the Columbus 500 and won - 500 miles of WOT from Freeport to Provo, with a dog leg around Stella Maris, and also won the production class at Sun and Fun in the 90s. She also won Best of Class at the Mooney Homecoming in Kerrville one year. But the expenses -fuel and upkeep of the 262 was very high, and I want something that I can enjoy without thinking too much about operating costs. Hope this makes some sense.

I've sent off an email to Mooney requesting the drawings by which others could manufacture the articulating seat frames, or at least to supply the name of the outside supplier (if any). I will post any information received to this tread. Frankly I doubt that they will even answer me, but it can't hurt to try.

For those who wanted to see interior shots:

Great idea about pursuing the Mooney drawings. I think it might be difficult with Mooney being essentially shut down, but I will try. In response to the request for more Lopresti cowl photos:

Don, Thanks for the photo. Were the extensions made to the vertical risers? This would be a very easy weldment, and a solution.

With all the interest in height adjustable seats, as expressed in this forum, and by those I spoke to in my quest to find a usable articulating seat, I would think there would be an opportunity for one of the Mooney specialty shops to modify existing seat frames to follow the exact specifications of the factory articulating seats. There is not that much difference bewteen the seats with rake adjustment and the fully articulating seat frames. Would a seat frame modification require a PMA, a 337 form, or a STC? I once spent 13 months of frustration in obtaining a 337 form for my antique Cessna 120 to replace a generator with an alternator that had been STCd in very similar aircraft. A facility that I choose not to name at this point has a used articulating 201 seat frame, but they declined a $2,000 offer to sell it to me. One would think that for $2,000 (or far less) an existing seat could be modified to make it height adjustable.

I thought I should mention that the photos I just posted were shot before we re-did the interior. New interior photos will be posted in the next day or so.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I have designed a cushion that will fit into the seat and back bolsters of the co-pilot seat, and it will be made of the same combination of smooth and perforated leather used in the uphostery. I still think this is a bit of a kludge, but a lot better than the commercial seat custions sold in the aviation shops. Tim says he can build it when I bring the airplane back to him for some minor adjustments. I think the long term, much more satisfying, solution will be to manage to find an articulating seat frame, and have the co-pilot seat upholstery transferred to it. If I have a chance later in the day I will go out to my hangar (any excuse will do) and take a couple of photos of the interior - we did the entire interior, including covering the window frames in leather, and created new side and back panels made of aviation honeycomb, and covered with leather. Tim's armrest inserts gained us about 4 inches in total elbow room in the front. The "inspiration" for the seats was a Mercedes SL500, and Tim did a great job of following this design. The LoPresti cowl (and associated front wheel doors and fairings): I find this a well done piece of work - everything fits perfectly, and the Power Flow exhaust system, while a bit tight, does fit. Lopresti has a video on YouTube tells the tale. I especially like the two inspection covers with their fittings, and the ram air design. When open at 7500' I can gain about 1/2 to 3/4" of MP. I've posted a couple more photos of the paint design. The painter at ArtCraft was VERY patient with me the day we laid out the taping. Good people. Seems that there are quite a few good painters out there. I wish there were as many avionics shops that will work with you with equivalent competence.

I tried LASAR - Old friends there, but they told me these seats "are as rare as hen's teeth". I also tried Wentworth, but they don't have any, and even Coy at Mooney Mart. I also tried some of the other salvage firms, without luck. As I said, I am willing to pay a reasonable amount - even a bit more than a reasonable amount for one. Tim's upholstery is simply fantastic, and the idea of just putting a cushion on his leatherwork is not very palatable. Sometimes esthetics becomes more important than functionality. I'm getting old (hate to admit it), and this will undoubedly be my last airplane before I hang up the keys, and so re-sale and/or recovery of expenses is not as important as the sheer pleasure of flying an airpalne you have had customized, and that you really like.

New to the fotum, but not Mooneys. I recently purchased a 1983 Mooney M20J after previously owing a M20K (231 converted to a 261/262) for about 18 years -with various Pipers, Cessnas, and an LSA in between. Love the "new" airplane. I had her painted by ArtCraft in Santa Maria - great job, and uphostered by Tim Thallock (Aviation Design, Inc.) at Pine Mountain Lake - again a great job, but for some reason only the pilot's seat is articulating, and the co-pilot seat is far too low for any of my pilot friends, I am looking for one articulating front seat - uphostery doesn't matter so long as the seat mechanism is intact. I understand that these are very difficult to find, but I am prepared to pay a fair price for one. Suggestions (other than add a cushion) would be appreciated. Thank you.