kortopates

++1 Although there were many reasons I upgraded from a 231 to a 252, one of biggest reasons was for the Dual Alternator. I would pass on any that didn't have the dual alternator feature since IMO its not a very serious IFR platform with only one. Adding a second full size alternator after that fact is prohibitively expensive since it requires a different model of a starter adapter and the little backup alternators are well .... still better than just one, but won't make an alternator failure a non-issue. There are few out there too where a prior owner has removed the prop-heat rather than maintain it. Given the cost to re-install it, its yet another reason to pass IMO.

With gear up's happening in the Mooney fleet 2-3 times a week, at least before this era of COVID, geared up Mooneys are in the majority especially in the older planes that have seen more than one. Although many longbody's are still young enough not to have seen one yet, the fact is all the damage is repairable with new parts removing virtually all damage. When "properly repaired" I wouldn't have the slightest concern with a Mooney that happened to have some new gear parts like the one piece belly pan and other assorted parts replaced.

I had two Savvy clients last year go through the Encore upgrade - nobody this year yet. One of my clients decided to do it when he sent his engine off for overhaul and figured he might as well get the engine overhauled as a -SB for the Encore before he had any idea of airframe/brake upgrade requirements - which is where the real cost lies. Parts prices have been going up significantly the last few years yet I was still very surprised when he got back his invoice for the brake upgrade parts alone at $18,000! Unfortunately since he wanted to get his Mooney flying again he did have to source all his parts new. To give you an idea of parts price inflation, when I got my quote for the brakes parts kit about a dozen years earlier it was only $4K for DUAL brakes. By now I wouldn't be surprised if the cost has doubled again. It used to be you could source master cylinders but original spec's Cleveland have been unobtainable for years leaving us with a Mooney retrofit kit that was nearly $2K a pair alone about 5 years ago when I broke down and gave up finding the original salvage and bought new ones from Mooney. Now the only non-mooney parts you can source from Spruce are the Brake Calipers and Disks - everything else will come from Mooney except new brake hoses which aren't on the list but you'll want and need them and can get from PHT. Any MSC can do the job and will have access to the drawings. But now things are much different and as Paul said above, any part that isn't on the shelf now at Mooney is going to take some time to either produce or find salvage. Luckily the Encore brake parts where first used on the longbody Bravo before the Encore was produced.

The inserts on the LA TAC has been a deficiency for years since the GP roll out. We've had TAC maps in GP for as long as I can remember but not the inserts. Same goes for TEC routes in SOCAL and NORCAL (and east coast as well). Work arounds get us by for the missing TEC routes although its a pain. But there are no good work around for the missing LA TAC inserts, I revert back to WIngsX but making the LA TAC a separate doc accessible from GP Documents is another way.

That would be my plan as well but would like to have a better idea of future cost new servo's would run. It also concerns me about future support that they're still not yet offering complete install packages but I guess this is just taking them time to certify all the existing fleet first which does make sense. It does really look good on paper.

yes, lots of great enhancements. My wife was in the same boat with an older ipad, I had upgraded to the new Mini when they became available. But with the incompatibility of older IOS with new GP 10 I had my wife finally get a new mini for GP and she is glad she did - got the pencil too.

Anybody find out what new modern brushless motor design servo's will run to replace our existing cost? Or how much to add on the yaw Damper servo? When I've inquired in the past I never got answer back but that while certification was in progress.

I don't think there is any better interior than Aero Comfort. Hector does amazing work! Not just seats either, as he can resurrect badly sun damaged glareshields as well.

Check with Spruce - it’s usually been cheaper to order the upgrade through them. You’ll see a rebate when you put into the cart too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Definitely not OEM and I suspect folks are right above that it is the JPI warning light, but that's not the size they ordinarily include with their unit unless its an older version. So could be a warning light from another unit as well such as a Guardian CO or another. Technically every light and CB is required to labeled - so good to get this taken care of. Nice Mooney!

By far, the gravest risk to a pilot’s proficiency is an over reliance on their autopilot. GPSS just takes the pilot out of the loop even more. If the term "GPS" is used to suggest reliance on the magenta line on the moving map is also at the cost of instrument proficiency then I agree whole heatedly. But that's not "GPS" but navigating by moving map which neither wise nor legal. GPS approaches are arguably more complicated than conventional ground based approaches with respect to fully understanding them and perhaps require more effort to maintain proficiency; even though they can be easier to fly. As far as GPS outages go, absolutely a proficient pilots has to be able to switch from GPS to VOR airways - I've posted about a couple of GPS jamming events i lost GPS from including one when IMC in turbulent weather. But in all fairness its much more common to see VOR's go out of service for significant periods of time. But I couldn't agree more though with your concluding remark that we need to make a larger effort to smartly master our automation capabilities without becoming solely dependent such that our safety is significantly compromised due to an automation or other system failures.

Same thing here in SOCAL. In normal times it can be impossible to get a request in on 124.35 which is where probably over 80 of KSAN's arrivals get their approach clearances but now one controller is working both the northern arrivals and departures and its even easier to get a request in! Ironically, a bit to our north coastal area where we have a popular commuter airport and a couple of other sleepy GA airports that get a lot of GA pilot training remains more congested. I was baffled by this till I realized its due to the different skill sets of the pilot community. The controller working the practice approaches is probably making 3 times the calls for non-professional pilots every time he/she has to play 20 questions or repeat instructions compared to 124.35 where 90% of the calls are to 121 pilots that check-in with their ATIS and approach request and are quickly cleared. Just made me realize we may well take up more ATC resources that our numbers would imply.

There are lots of independent CFI's including Mooney specific ones, ask around and you'll find one. I'll admit though that I am not instructing right now till the the risk drops, but that's not stopping all. I share your lack of enthusiasm though for joy rides. I've been flying out to the desert for hiking to fly and get exercise. Better for my figure anyway and my 6 month approach windows is good through end of September.

The 3 day weekend Mooney PPP's all provide a few hours of specific preventative maintenance from doing oil changes to changing tires to lubricating the airframe. Probably the best Mooney specific maintenance you'll find in a classroom setting. If you haven't been to one, I highly recommend them. Use to do them in Denver every other year but its been awhile now. But their will be one at near by Santa Fe the weekend of Aug 21-23 (postponed from original being scheduled this weekend).

I have complete faith that Science will provide the solution(s) and this too will pass in time. Its far from easy to remain patient, but I want to see as many of us as possible survive this thing - including my self! During this pandemic, I am just thankful that as an aircraft owner pilot, and not a rental pilot, I don't have to feel I am taking big chances getting into a rental plane that may not be corona virus free. At least airborne I know ATC will do a great job of keeping me at least 6' from any other aircraft. In all seriousness, I do believe early social distancing has been paying off in flattening the curve here in CA. Check in with your local tower and ATC controllers to see how they're doing as well. Both my tower and TRACON folks are working on reduced staff but from what I understand none have gotten sick like some other areas in the country.

Not really that much of a challenge. Does sound like the cable has slipped off or broken off at an end. But you can't be sure which end yet. So suggest begin by confirming which end the problem is at by inspecting the avionics bay first since it has easy access. Verify if the regulator arm moves freely there with the cable still attached. Maybe you'll get lucky and find it disconnected at that end but probably not if you felt zero resistance at the knob. But by doing that 10 min check first and verifying it checks out okay, at least you know the problem is in the cockpit. Its not hard to remove the plastic panel there to get access there but you won't know what you need to fix it till you can see it and you could possibly need a new wire depending on what you find.

Too funny, I've had exactly one student that could visualize holds during our instrument training - a big exception to the norm. He had taken all the college pilot classes we offered and was one of my better students. I was pretty amazed with his ability to figure them out. I screwed one up and he quickly corrected me before I could! Never had anyone like him since. A couple years later though and we were recently working on his commercial in his A36 and he had become rusty on the IFR skills, so we started finishing our commercial maneuver training flights with a hold and an instrument approach back in to knock the rust off. But now since he wasn't thinking instrument flying regularly, he could no longer visualize the hold entry and was getting it wrong. For the first time he was interested in learning the thumb method to quickly determine the proper hold entry. He also got the Pilot Cafe Hold Trainer app to practice. I thought the day would come that relying on visualizing it would become too difficult when he wasn't so focused on instrument flying. I like all the articles, most do get thoughtful introspect which is most appreciated.

The 7110.65Y is unchanged with respect to issuing holding instructions at a fix or waypoint. I can only relay my experiences with our controllers at SOCAL. Although its the biggest and busiest TRACON in the world, its not the only one. But our controllers say they are too busy to look up our equipment codes and will assume everyone is RNAV/GPS equipped when flying IFR; since the vast majority are. As a Lead FASTeam rep at our FSDO I am contact with the TRACON 3-4 times years scheduling them to give Wings seminar talks to our pilots as well as taking my students in for TRACON tours and someone always ask why they'll clear them to some waypoint when they don't have GPS and they make a point of reminding pilots that's its their responsibility to just let them know if they can't accept a clearance because they're not /G and the controller will issue alternate instructions. So at least here out west, controllers just assume we're all /G till we ask for different instructions and as a result we'll always here the RNAV waypoint name used rather than a DME fix. Afterall, a waypoint name takes less bandwidth as well.

I’d agree a postponement is in order - unfortunately that is the same weekend planned for the postponed Sante Fe PPP. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dave, see the “GPS navigator comparison” thread going on now. I’d give a link but can’t really do that via Tapatalk. Mark also demonstrates that in his video. But it’s my contention DME fix holds are a thing of the past except for the instrument written. At least in my area out west they seem to stick to rnav waypoint names exclusively if not just VORs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@midlifeflyer Mark, getting crossing altitude restrictions a DME distance before a waypoint or VOR like your example is routine at my TRACON. Just not for Holds and all our controllers assume that every aircraft is RNAV equipped regardless of how filed - since 90% of them really are. The rare pilot that isn't has to tell them if they can't accept direct to a waypoint ahead of them. As an example on the holding instructions, some months ago I was flying back to SOCAL from Utah about to cross over Las Vegas. A B737 had just departed and had a bird strike and was asking for an immediate return to landing. The controller cleared the B737 for any runway and started giving him vectors around while dumping everyone else off his frequency. The new controller I got was too busy for me to even check in - he was rapidly giving out holding instructions one after another to no less than 15-20 aircraft (at the time it seemed more like 30 to me). Every single one was to an RNAV waypoint. He used the same waypoint multiple times separating aircraft by altitude. You could tell after he used up his favorite or common waypoints and he was then stretching for additional waypoints that would still be easy for both the pilot and controller to position and keep separated - but he kept coming up with waypoints - never used a single DME fix. That's just one data point and I am sure different controllers do it their own way. I asked a controller friend afterwards and he said they avoid DME fixes - since pilots are so crappy at them. I do find that pilots are terrible at holds unless they do regular IPCs. They tend not to practice what they never get in the air - although rare but not out of the ordinary. I use every IPC to make sure they can do a unpublished arbitrary hold. Although many could figure it out if they had time to draw it out, but that's not realistic while flying and IMC - many don't have an AP either. So I really push the thumb or POD method if they don't already have method. I also teach an advanced IFR class at the local college which is all RNAV based and by far the hardest thing for them is figuring out how to do holds correctly without the pressure of time and can still draw it out; especially when its not a direct entry straight ahead. My conclusion is that Holds remain the single biggest challenge for IR pilots; especially when they have to do it in the cockpit with only a 3 minutes ETA to the hold. They're not trivial for controllers either - My Las Vegas controller managed to get couple wrong in that Cardinal direction didn't match the radial or reciprocal bearing he gave out in a few of them and he had pilots waiting to get a chance to ask him to clarify. (that's a nice side benefit of non-dme based holds since the cardinal direction is superfluous to the radial for a hold on a VOR or Waypoint and therefore it provides an easy check that we got the right idea of where the hold is). Anyway, first time I had experienced that in the air but its a good example of how you can even get a hold in good VFR weather. Incidentally, a tool one of my students turned me onto when he was having a hard time with holds is the Pilot Cafe Hold Trainer that runs on IOS devices (and perhaps Android). Cost $4. It will give random hold instructions and will help you learn the Thumb or POD method really well just using your HSI or DG - I find students that spend a few hours doing lots of holding practice with the tool get proficient at them right away. So now I recommend it to all my students. Many of them now have them figured out by our second session after they have practiced with it, then its just learning how to use the OBS to navigate to the hold and set the inbound course. (I only allow GTN programming of the holds with IPC clients since a number of my local DPE's insist the IR candidate be able to do it manually on a checkride). Sorry for the long winded discussion on this, but its a very interesting topic to me because I do find pilots have a really hard time with holds. I meant to add earlier, you're very right though, in that with some practice you can create the user waypoint for the hold in a minute and I agree having the magenta line for the hold is indeed golden to maintain situational awareness while your checking weather for another approach or figuring out where you may go to next etc. Keep the IFR Refresher articles coming - always enjoy your writing!

Mark, Nice video. I am curious about the whole DME fix for holding aspect. In my area on the west coast, DME fixes are a thing of the past and all use waypoint names which will be in a GPS database. If one actually got a DME fix, the controller should be able to give a name or in all likelihood its going to be on their present route somewhere ahead and should be easily found on an enroute chart. Is this really contrary to your experience? But with a GPS waypoint name all of challenges go away with the modern GPS's and we merely go back OBS mode with the GNS. I am also of the opinion creating a user waypoint is too much work. With the thought IFR flying should be kept as simple as possible and with only a couple minutes till the hold, I'd rather ensure I have the hold understood and correct entry figured out while flying without needing to draw it out, and use the GPS distance to determine the holding point - just like the old school method. To me its akin to spending too much time on the automation rather than flying the aircraft. Bob is right about the differences between magnetic variation used between the VORs and GPS - but its really the GPS that has correct or most upto date magnetic variation - not VORs. which are often years out of date. But we're stuck with the VORs being off since they are so costly to periodically update and recalibrate. I'll still use GPS OBS off a VOR for a airway radial as long as I am reasonably close to the VOR to make the difference immaterial like your example. But when far enough away to make it important the issue is easily solved by adding another waypoint on the airway to define it and just activating the leg - issue solved. Thanks for the video, I learned some stuff about the IFD.

Paul @gsxrpilot gives great advice on safe power settings to promote longevity above. When it really comes down to it, its not the power setting that get's us into trouble but rather its how we lean! With a turbo its possible to burn up an engine in literally seconds with improper leaning. Can't do it that fast in a NA aircraft and you can't do it at all at altitude in a NA aircraft. With the turbo its critical to operate at full rich while above max cruise power settings which will be the full power take off and climb. Like Paul above, I prefer WOT to what ever cruise altitude I need. But if you use cruise climb power keep it full rich as well. (No leaning till % power is at or below max cruise power.) I'd rather lower the nose a bit at WOT and climb at around 120 kts to my cruise altitude than reduce power in the climb. (Operating a bigger engines like the fire breathing Acclaim I would reduce power in the climb.) In cruise (and descent) is where leaning gets critical, since to protect the engine, we need to be a certain number degrees richer than peak when operating ROP and a certain number of degrees lean of peak when operating LOP. We do that to keep out of the "red box" of harmful ICP (internal combustion pressure) when the engine is operating at 65% or above. So that is the beauty of operating just below 65% since the redbox is gone and we can't hurt the engine wherever we leave the mixture. But with a couple caveats, while meeting that target mixture setting whether ROP or LOP, we also don't want CHTs above 400F (many will limit to 380F - pick your personal cutoff) and TITs in excess of 1600F (I pick 1580F for a little buffer). So learn all about leaning at the lower power settings up into the low's 60's%. That's kinder for this engine as well since its relatively small engine for what we're asking from it afms-gamijectors rev ir.pdf - but that also results in very efficient low fuel burns at high cruise speeds when we climb up to altitude. For how to set mixture, there are many articles out there but Gami's FAA approved AFMS for their injectors is about the best guidance you'll find anywhere and conservative as well. I've attached it here. Now go read up on how to manage your mixture applying the concepts for both mixture management that you can read here in MS as well as many great articles on avweb by Busch and Deakin. Learn it solidly before venturing to cruise power settings above 65%. It goes without saying if you really are serious about treating your engine kindly and learning to be in a position to hear your engine when its speaking to you, that having a modern engine analyzer with FF and all the other sensors (at least a EDM-830 or equivalent) is essential and your first priority if you don't already have one. Incidentally above the OP says "All are for running engines lean of peak" - i think you meant All are "running at peak". That's really bad advice for engine longevity till you're at a power setting below 65% but it results in a very efficient fuel burn and long range and thus exactly what the marketing folks wanted for numbers to sell airplanes. As an owner though your priorities are different even though we all bought Mooney's for speed and efficiency. afms-gamijectors rev ir.pdf

Savvy is Making Breakdown Assistance FREE During COVID-19 Lockdown It only takes about 2 minutes of your time to sign up for FREE breakdown assistance for the next 3 months through June 30th by going to this page: https://www.savvyaviation.com/savvybreakdown-special/ Note Breakdown assistance is for when you are travelling away from home, not for assistance at your home base, and begins with any location at least 50 nm away from your home base. See the terms/conditions for further details but I believe that is the only restriction. Our philosophy behind Breakdown assistance is to get you home safely where you can use your ordinary maintenance providers with the least delay and need for costly away from home maintenance; especially now when many providers are closed due to the pandemic. Existing Breakdown Assistance can get an additional 3 months added to their subscription for Free by contacting us at https://www.savvyaviation.com/contact-us/ I am also hearing the 50 nm ring around your home base is being relaxed as well, just during this period to June 30th. Our assistance includes world wide support!

Is your ramp really on a slope of 2-3 degrees to the left as it suggest? You could put a digital leveler laterally across the seat rails and compare that to what your Aspen is indicating for a quick and easy comparison.