John Pleisse

Bad media for GA..........just drop it in an e-mail. I am in the media biz and send him this stuff all the time. He puts in calls and keeps 'em honest. CHRIS.DANCY@AOPA.ORG

Jose is dead on. I also found Mooney panel vibration caused the AI contacts to literally come loose. My avionics guy mod'ed his crimping to keep it from happening again. My C3-C eventually needed a new altitude can. I went with stec and never had an issue. Also, have the mother board opened and checked. I have heard stories of mother board corrosion from moist environment or corrosive battery gasses nearby in the tail cone. Corrosion in my mother board instigated the Stec 55X upgrade.

Quote: dico Hello, I am wondering if it is possible to upgrade from a Stec55 to GFC700 assuming the plane already has a G1000. I guess I am wondering if its "just" replacing that right G1000 display with a new one that has the A/P buttons and tying it into the existing servos? --- Sounds easy if you say it fast. However, I'm not sure what it entails, and I

AY-ay-AMEN sleepingsquirrel...... 70KIAS across the numbers. (Good Lord).

So at any one time, I have had 4 Mooneys (all 4 201's) parked around me at my home base. I did a Factory reman and crankshaft AD aside, it's kicks butt. One guy did a Mattituck and spared no expense. He is thrilled. Another did a Penn Yan and ran it past tbo....didn't do a thing. The gentleman next to me did a Zephyr (mind you we are in MD, so Florida is a problem), he had leaking seals and other issues. He said Zephyr was responsive, but geographical logistics and down time were a problem (he blew a jug flying over Florida and left it in Tampa). Valuation of your core? Do you want to retain your core or bet on a new one? If you are making metal and do a lot of flying at night, I'd pony up for a reman. It'll show up quick, no old parts (you knew were making metal) and you have a great warranty.

I have 2x 430W's. To have the crossfill function work, both databases have to be identical. I have two Aspens going in right now....of course they'll need to be updated too. For a one year subscription for the two 430's, the east only and a usb connector the ticket was $479. I find this price, Garmin's proprietary nature of data storage and the lack of fair competition completely unreasonable. Although I will say, for the money, Jeppesen has been very helpful and responsive.

What a well thought out, well planned and perfectly executed panel. Absolutely exquisite. My 201 is in for the dual AHRS 2000 system right now. I didn't have cash left over to clean up the panel. Maybe next year. And I will certainly use your photos as the benchmark. Nice job....real nice.

Quote: Immelma One thing I'd advise against is turning on the electric fuel pump. You won't see this in the POH but there is a big sticker on the dukes pumps stating that they should not be run dry. My IA confirms they don't like to be run dry. Of course, I'd turn it on if for whatever reason the engine did not want to re-start.

Benefits.....Factory trained, more time in type, accountability, reputation, availability of parts, experience on common mods, higher average tenure of A&P's, $2,000 increase in valuation on resale, more after market STC's developed and installed by MSC's than not. (probably a few on your E model)............... Call the American Bonanza Society and have them give you the name of a factory trained Bonanza Shop or ask Beech Raytheon for information on the type cert of a V35 B....they won't. If you own a Mooney you've got it good and a Mooney Service Center is a great resource. Can't apologize for, or argue that. There's qualified.......and then there's bona fide.

Quote: scottfromiowa Hey N4352H, Did you re-rig before it was out of rig? You know, "fix it BEFORE IT BREAKS?"

Quick story. I hired a great shop to rig my Mooney. I printed the service instruction and gave them an informative MAPA article. They put their "Mooney" guy on it. It turned into a one week fiasco, where they actually drove to the MooneySC to barrow the rigging boards for the job. I have 3 or 4 other stories through 15 years of ownership that are similar. There are great mechanics out there. Some work for dirt, others are overpriced. At the end of the day, my second career will be as an A&P. This discussion morphed from $35 an hour maintenance and used parts.

That's just it....don't fix it when it breaks. Fix it BEFORE it breaks. A Mooney Service Center Annual is the way to go at least every few years because nobody knows them better and you have accountablility. It's simply the best manitenance bet and value..... This couldn't be more important for vintage Mooneys. If you expect to find maintenance comensurate to purchase price, you have miscalulated. It is the difference between somebody who knows them and somebody who has spent an entire life time working on Mooneys and only Mooneys. We all owe it to each other to maintain the fleet and it's safety record. We also owe our patronage to the people who know Mooneys better than anyone. Pay now or pay later.

Mooneys, Bonanzas? Ya gotta find one that won't ding you on high ticket items when purchasing, then stay on top of things. Plan on paying less than $3500 for an annual? Buy something else. A typical annual, "Pass GO" and plan on $4500 or more a year. My logbook has 11 of the last 13 annuals done by reputable Mooney Service Centers. This works. You put gas and oil in your plane and you go fly for a year squawk free.

Watch out for legacy Cirrus....$10k for the ballistic parachute system recert. Both brands M and C, could cost you from $18k to $88k on some 2004-2007.5 models to upgrade the G1000 to WAAS. Mooney will have more choices for FIKI certs. $350k? It's a buyer's market over $150k, so be sure to pay the nut and not settle for less than a full cert FIKI, not an inadvertant system.

Hey Pete, I very much appreciate your responsiveness and I am excited about owning the Aspen products. Sadly, my AC is halfway through a very expensive 2000 install. Please tell me there will be a reasonable and timely upgrade path to the ACU2, which I would xpect is not going in my airplane at the present. Also, please know Dave Shelton at Landmark Aviation Frederick, MD and Todd Adams at Lancaster Avionics, Lititz, PA both run top notch shops and represent your product very well. Dave at FDK is in the middle of my install right now.

Quote: takair I have to buy a new Digital LCD unit ($1800 used), to work with the available heading module you speak of($1400). Ain't that some stink? A WX500 will go in installed for $6500.

Hey Vref....Thanks for the heads up. I will copy this to my avionics technician. Seems the Aspen is developing as fast as it is selling.

I have a first gen analogue Strikefinder boot strapped to a Cenutury H-S-I. It is priceless. It works so good, I received a complete screen cluster on the ground in Frederick MD, of a massive thunderstorm complex 165 miles away off the coast of Atlantic City. Here's something I find unfortunate. My 201 is having the Apsen 2000 system installed as I write. Aspen made no accomodation for providing an analogue output for compass bootstrapping. My invaluable Strikefinder is about to lose heading stabilization. However it is so good, I will keep it knowing it's new limitations.

Hector is Awesome....always how high on the way up. Did my yokes in 3 days. It actually cost more to have them R&R than Hector's fine work.

Hey Brian, Gold luck with your move. There is a fellow (his name escapes me) who either worked for or owned the logstanding and successful Mooney service Center in Lynchburg. How relocated to the Richmond area to work for a single private party for a number of years. He may now be back in Lynchburg at Virginia Aviation. For a while there, he was freelancing on Mooneys in the Richmond area. At one time, he was one of the IA's at Virginia Aviation.

It's very rare I ever see anyone who does 75% family mission. Many intend to, but don't. My 201 was great when I bought it 13 years ago, I had a 32 inch waste and I only had two small children. 2 more kids later and 7 inches added to my waist....well....... As long as you don't exceed 4 people, the Mooney can do just about everything you wish. While the Mooney is just a better made airplane and a safer airplane, if your mission really is as you have laid out.........save yourself regret, hassle and time...........find a suitable 210, A36 or Saratoga. I revised my mission to exclude family travel and I kept my 201, becasue it's just a better airplane.

How guys, how much noise does it make? Louder than say, your ac unit in your car? Vibration? just wondering. I have a need for one, but in a near silent application.....

Speed control, agreed is paramount. Avoid deep high nosed falring. Just land a hair flatter and if you are hot, go around. One doesn't have the tail room for a pronounced flare when needed.

While I am certain pitch issues are a reality of Aspen cutting their teeth on DA converters for autopilits, I understand the number one install issue or flaw that creates similar problems is the RMS not being properly shimmed.

Great news Mike. I have decided not to do the G500 and I will do a two teir Aspen install. I am adding a flight director to my Stec 55X and the Aspen EFD1000 this Wed. Rate based does suck, but when you loose a system, it still works. In fact, I have mine set up for on a 45 minute battery back-up with direct GPSS from GNS430W#2 and I can literally turn everthing off and the plane fly itself for almost an hour. King and Century can't.