John Pleisse

Vref-you are dead on. Only if I were a competent A&P would I buy a damaged airplane. Show of hands all of you not adverse to purchasing a damged aircraft, how many of you actually own one (other than the "C" owner in Philly)? Was that a pin drop? 11% deduct, but the popular rub is time since damage. This is inconsequential.....gear up, start at an 11% deduct.

Richard. I agree with you, Jimmy Garrison and all who beleive a gear-up on a Mooney is no big deal, but the market doesn't. I would hope if you were considering a gear up airplane, you would drive a fair bargin of an 11% deduct.

Operationally, you are getting very little from an F to a late model J. The best value of the J's still resides in the 1978-1985 bracket. However, the creature comforts of a later model MSE are light years ahead of a mid 70's F and would intice me any day (articulating seats, baggage rear fold down, GWI, 24v electric, better engine intruments, ext battery outlet, 10-13 KIAS, newer compnents -gear motor-fuel selctor, just plane nicer). If it is a buck-52 airplane, they need to take 11% off for the gear up (I don't care what anybody says) and then another $5-8k to show motivation................I'd do it for $128,000, maybe $131k for psychologial posturing, knowing Dugosh maintenance makes it easier to swallow. Would it go for that? Who know's, probably not. Would they spit on you over a low number? If you had cash or pre approval, they'd take you quite seriously. Times are still tough.

Dugosh maintenance makes that gear up easier to swallow. Paint is awesome. Once you start paying over $150k, a lot of other opportunities start coming into play. Heavy Iron Mooney's (Bravo, etc), Bonanza 36 series, nice well equipped low time B-55 Barons, early vinatge SR-22's. Just my .02 .

For the 64 gallon mod, O&N told me to plan on 52 lbs. I found that significant. I was inticed by how close they are to my home airport in MD. But the weight increase was too much.

Last number of issues should still be on MAPA's site.

Altitude pre-select would be awesome.............problem is, they'll be software unlocks they'll charge thousands for each. But then again it'll be cheap, compared to a $12k altimeter and a $3k remote innunciator panel..............it'll be a bargin.

Yes it's resolved Parker.....for about 3 grand extra(Garmin or Aspen). KS-You're dead-on re Tru-Trak, but I have to suggest....Garmin has and autopilot and Aspen won't be served by anything unless they make an autopiot of their own....clean sheet.

Fact is, no autopilots work with these systems, unless you either buy their DA converters, reatin your Stec turn coordinator or you buy the wildly expensive Garmin autopilot. I have an Stec, I am buying a new PFD and no matter which I buy, I'll have to reatin my turn coordinator (small price to pay). These legacy autopilot's STCs only accounted for mechanical instrument standards and unless somebody pays them big money or buys them out, hunker down....their STC's will not change. Rewriting an STC is really what it comes down to and they won't do it. Example? Cobham bought out STEC, abolished their old autopilot (Chelton) and their revolutionary PFD (Chelton) and to this day can't get all three on the same page. ( I know I should change my screen name to "Avionics Junkie")

Our planes have 14v electric, one electric buss, one alternator, one battery and we operate 100 degres ROP. I'd do a Garmin 430W and an Aspen Pro. Keep your XM enabled 496. It is very good. You would spend less than $26k (installed). You'd be WAAS enabled, you'd double your redundancy, you'd put your very decent autopilot to better use and maintain the aircraft's originally designed systems. You'd have a lot more fun flying safer and for the next 5 years, you'd probably get 45 cents/ per dollar back if you sold it. What's not to like?

I am based Frederick and very pleased with Weber Aircraft (LNS). I have a decade long relationship with them.They have a good ferry service and a tenured, stable IA-A&P staff. There is a MSC in the DC area I spent 2 years with and wouldn't send anyone to. Further out, Hagerstown(MSC) is good as well.

While some do it, slipping any Mooney is ill-advised. I used to do it all the time until I read up on it and looked at the data. There have been numerous articles in MAPA and elsewhere on this subject. Tails stalls can be sharp. With full flaps, gear down, throttle choked, decent rates close to 2000fpm are attainable, negating the needless risk of slipping. I'd drop the gear or go missed. One thing about a non precision approach......it'll sharpen your judgement. I have excluded non preceision approaches at night and all circle to land approaches from my personal mins. I fugure I have negated half the statistical risk with this strategy.

I'd bet all the tea in China on the mags. My experience has been small hiccups being indicative of larger issues. How are your cold starts? Longer than usual? I too have the A3B6 (Trophy 212) and I go through Slick Mags every 400 hours. I never mess with points, couplings and rebuilding because you just end up paying full boat....now.......or later. I doubt the altitude has much to do with it.

The Mid Continent is the best. I bought a 14v electric, lighted RC Allen. It was $1850 a few years ago. I have it coming out for a PFD install in a month. I'll sell it for $700 as-is. At that price, it is a tradable core at the absolute worst. It is in working order and will be yellow-tagged. It has provided good service. The Mid Continent and the Sporty's Lifesaver are all good, too.

Hey Lloyd, I have serial number 24-0776, very close to yours. I opted for 2 GNS 430's to make things fit better and I am pleased. I retrospect, I would have bought a GNS 530 and an SL30 Nav-Com. This would have been sufficient and saved space. There will be additional radios moved to the right panel, but it should leave you room for your 696. My avionics shop installed my audio panel as high in the center stack as possible. Your radio stack will begin about 12cm below the top of the panel. You can view my panel in the gallery "N4352H". There are no modifications to change this. Mooney fixed it starting with the 1983-4 model year.

Mine were done by a Mooney SC two years ago. It was about $1450. I am not an A & P, but it strikes me as the kind of thing that should be done in one shot.

I have been hangared GAI, (Gaithersburg, MD ...5 yrs) and now FDK (Frederick, MD 7 yrs). Frederick is 37 minutes drive to the DC line and equidistant to Baltimore. It is well served by Landmark FBO, you can tour AOPA (on site), great rental car service if reserved, 4 runways, 6 approaches, no Washington DC SFR/ADIZ, no Class B. You should review SFR for DC and you should be acutely aware of P-40. It's a closet community of DC, without the DC hassles. If you want to spend time at the Udvar-Hazy complex, Manasas is closer, but busier and with SFR-Class B headaches. Freeway is a very poor facility in a tough spot geographically. Best of luck.

Jose...with all due respect, it has nothing to do with the number of GA planes who use it. It's all about fitting more big airplanes into the system at a higher safety margin (Part 121). It's here, it'll be a done deal and it's a bargin at 2 bil. Buy a GDL 69 and pay on an XM subscription for two years and you are at 75% of the cost of a new ADS-B box. In September, half the sites weren't on line yet. Now you can fly the whole east coast and get it continuously. Is it safer or better? Who knows....They are now saying the drop in accident rates in Alaska had little to do with ADS-B/Next Gen and more to do with basic GPS navigation systems and increased situational awareness with moving maps' etc.

In terms of features both are indentical, but ADS-B is free. TCAS, TIS and/or a cheap XM WX box combined, cost far more than Garmin's first ADS-B box. And then with XM, you pay a monthly fee in perpetuity. Look, I am pipe dreaming for technology that should not be bought for 5 years. However, on the drawing board, it's a great system and in most areas, you can use it now.

Hey TLS Driver....I'd bet Aspen will have an ADS-B box soon (w/in 2 yrs). Problem is, Garmin will go out of their way to make their boxes proprietary and incompatable with the Aspen. But I'll bet you 10 to 1 Aspen will end up building a better mouse trap, cheaper and sooner.

Amen........

You guys are getting your GDL's mixed up. The GDL 69 is $2k used, $4.5k new and provides weather and XM services (100% subscription). The GDL 90 (about $8k installed and you have to have a series 200 display)is an ADS-B Data Link receiver that can display TIS-B and FIS-B weather and traffic data link, broadcast by the FAA. With the GDL 69, you pay for weather and music. With the GDL 90, you get traffic and most of the weather for free from the federal government. Any smart avionics dealer will tell you it way too early to buy a GDL-90. I have a friend (Baron diver) who used one and said he had a continuous data stream from Wash DC to Sarasota. FAA Next Gen mandates are unclear, so your investment in a GDL90 corresponds. The GTX 330 transponder will display traffic hits for many years to come and it is THE BOMB!!

Ice? Zero viz? Mountain obscuration, landing on grizzly bear infested beaches? This is your guy. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old-bold pilots. www.youtube.com Alaska Wing Men : Explosive Cargo : MON JAN 11 8p et/pt : http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel

I am 121.5 and a Spot GPS in the survival bag. I'll bet 406 resolution will happen with competing products and next gen implimentation. Unless you are flyin over or landing in a foreign country or over vastly sparse terrain, it's a non issue.

My avionics technician swears by the Apen and says any issues are almost soley installation issues. Just a PFD? the Aspen wins, hands down. PFD/MFD, the gloves are off. I agree Aspen's redundancey with the addition of the MFD is superior. However, I am banking on Garmin's ruthlessness, support and future compatibility issues. I go in for the G500 3/1. Btw, Aspen's SVT is a grand off right now and it looks pretty clever.