DanM20C

If I wasn’t 1,400nm to the east I would fly in with you! Someone should step up. A beautiful F, good company, and a Mooney fly-in.. The makings of a great day. Cheers, Dan

+1 Sounds like a good reason to pull the trigger on Bruce Jaeger's Spatial Interior. A couple broken side panels would be all the arm twisting I would need. http://www.jaegeraviation.com/home Cheers, Dan

Yes we will have calibration equipment at the Summit! I’ll try to make it available at the airport on Friday as well as Saturday and Sunday in town. I’m also planing to bring calibration equipment to Airventure this year. I’ll keep everyone posted on the details. Cheers, Dan

I did 25+ Oil Changes on my C. Going to the 231 was a pure joy in the oil change department! Cheers, Dan

I think the 231 is one of the best values in Mooneys. They got a bad reputation in the early days do to engine management practices, much of that reputation isn't deserved today. Today we have great monitoring tools available to us and a better understanding of how to operate and maintain them (Full Throttle FF is very important). Most have been converted to LB's and many have intercoolers and Merlyns. If operated correctly with a good engine monitor there is no reason they can't be as reliable as their Lycoming bothers. It terms of just temperatures my TSIO-360-LB runs cooler than most of the IO-360s I have flown behind. Granted the Lycomings are probably more tolerable of higher temps. Engine management isn't as easy as a J, but it's not too bad. As I said above it helps the health and longevity of the engine if you watch it closely. In the long run the maintenance costs of a 231should be more than the J. But this is very aircraft specific and it is difficult to put a number on it. There are more things that could break and the OH cost is more. But I would guess the overall cost difference would be less than most would think. I do most of the wrenching on my airplane and I really enjoy the engine access on the 231. I actually look forward to oil changes, no crazy tricks needed to not spill oil. I have really enjoyed having a turbo. The additional 10K ft of optional cruising altitudes gives amazing flexibility when trying to travel XC. If you are flying 400nm legs once or twice a month I think you would get good use out of the turbo. Either way, 201/231 are fantastic airplanes. As Anthony says "Go Mooney!" Cheers, Dan

Vance, I thought all C41s had a FD, C31s did not. I have a double cue and I believe Aspen only supports single. This might be an upgrade problem for me. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it I guess. What AI do you have? Mine has a knob on the bottom left to turn the FD on and off. Cheers, Dan

A few emails to Hilton will fix that. I’ll send one. Cheers, Dan

Since you are now broke, I’ll buy you lunch for a ride behind that panel. I have flown behind everything there except the audio panel, I’m considering going all Avidyne and would like check out the 240. Maybe after you get back from SNF? Don’t let @Marauder compare his “upgrade condition” to any one else. He is on a quest to gain useful load to help aid in his other interests. cheers, Dan

Thanks for the update. I"m glad to hear good things about Century's support as I too have a C41. Knock on wood, it has been working great. I thought the Aspen could drive the C41? Am I mistaken? I'm hoping to eventually remove my AI and go vacuum-less. Do you have a single or double cue FD? Cheers, Dan

David, I think Brian said it best above. " Having said that, buying the right plane (any make) that has been taken care of is critical." I think the maintenance and annuals will be very close if the airplanes are clean and well maintained. ALL airplanes have expensive parts that can fail/break. You will have the best luck (maintenance cost wise) finding a well maintained and frequently flown airplane. @flight2000 That is a gorgeous E33! Cheers, Dan

This is the only thing I have to disagree with in Alan’s comparison. If you are tall the Mooney wins in front seat comfort. I love Bonanzas but at 6’3” I don’t fit well in the front. In the Mooney I can slide the seat back in cruise and fully stretch out my legs without touching the pedals. Alan looked comfortable enough in @201er‘s video heading to the Summit . What ever you end up with, get a CO monitor! cheers, Dan

Fantastic!

Congrats on the first year of ownership. Bigger congratulations on the baby girl! Unfortunately the baby girl will cost more to own than the Mooney, but there is nothing better than watching them grow! Cheers, Dan

Here are the ones I started making. Harbor Freight bottle jack. The color scheme suggests a December annual would be best. We were shooting the green epoxy paint for a job one day and I just added these to the que. The bottle jack is floating in the assembly, it can be easily replaced down the road. I still need to machine an end to accept the jack pad. I’m going to make a split collar the fits around the piston rod. It will not clamp on the rod, it will be long enough to transfer the load from the jack point to the body of the jack. That way I won’t have to worry about a leek down or lock collar failure. Cheers,

I’m cutting my wife some slack as we have young kids. But in a few years she better figure out the meaning of March 14th. Cheers, Dan