John Pleisse

Dig in now and don't stop. You will never be sharper than now. Don't let it fade.

NBAA membership is an annual $450. Just say "yes" to the corporate ownership questions when joining. As a member you can have your Flight Aware blocked. Flight Aware will charge you $750 per year to have it blocked. The NBAA is geared toward the jet crowd, their website is useful and they have a periodical ragg. Think of all the celebrities, marriage cheaters and tax evaders who don't want anyone to know their travels. This blocking, however, provides no legal protection. A good attorney can get your info in 2 minutes.

VFR to IMC without an instrument rating at the age of 17. In adulthood, severe turbulence (was never bothered by turbulence until this incident). Mountain flying on a windy day. My ground speed enroute at 9k was 88 knots...that should have been the red flag. I decended to 4000 over the Appalachians and literally could not control the plane. This event was greatly exasserbated by (at the time)having recently studied vertical gusts and g-loads in a turbulence advisory circular. I literally thought the plane was going to come apart and to this day, while not bothered by turbulence, I no longer think a Mooney is impervious to big bumps. I power back and take it easy.

I was based GAI for 10 years. Good transient service. You have to be IFR to transition the DC ADIZ. I am now based FDK. Better transient service, top knotch FBO, later hours, maintanence, on site rental cars, 4 runways, 8 approaches, AOPA on site. GAI 32 mins drive from DC, FDK 45 mins from DC. Whichever you choose, you should complete/read this: http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/notams_tfr/media/tfrweb.pdf You'll need to know the status of P-40 (Camp David), keep two way radio communications and don't squawk VFR if going to GAI.. I usually travel west to east from the Detroit area, along the lake shore Akron, PIT, D-FDK in 2.5.

Personally, I avoid anything modified, with prejudice. J's were flight tested for thousands of hours with an IO360A3B6D. It was your mechanic who told me over a decade ago to "always go stock"......Tommy's exact words. I gotta figure a nice Missle of that vintage would go in the $170-$200k range. There are plenty of certified, unmodified Mooneys you could buy in that price strata with similar performance and never roll the dice. Just my $.02 . To turbo or not? Throw raw horsepower at it and have fewer headaches.

I have spoken with this broker and he seems well liked by customers. Fully produced videos and ALL logs .pdf for every plane he sells.....standard presentation. Some people are good at what they do. Others, not so much. http://www.wildbluellc.com/

Quote: meddesign LLC, or corp the only way to write off an aircraft That means aircraft as a LLC or Corp. I assume. and what you said is total costs and write off the % flown for business. here is another little glitch, I do not depreciate the "paid for private aircraft", and do my own maintenance. An allowable per hour rate would be better is that is a possibility.

I think Aspen has upgrades forthcoming to address Stec FD options and Alt preselect requiring fewer external Stec boxes to drive these systems....you should check with them. I also owned an Stec 30 for 3 years. It's remarkabley simple and reliable. One must be watchful and constantly monitor altitude hold trim annunciators. You have no interest in a 55X?

Great thing about a Mooney is, the cost level permits your mission to change. My wife doesn't like flying and I have three kids....we outgrew my 201 years ago. I use it for business, proficiencey, hobby and teaching my kids to fly. Go use it yourself and don't push. If it'll happen, it'll happen. Great news is, you own the perfect plane for mission flexibility.

My S corp owns and operates my Mooney. I use it to go from DC to NYC for jobs. I accomplish this backwards. My corp. pays for everything...hangar, insurance, gas, debt service, etc. If I use it for persoanl reasons, I keep a seperate log to account this use and demish my deduction accordingly. I doubt you can deduct fair market rental rate for a Mooney, you can only deduct your commensurate... expense and usage, whatever that maybe. One word of advice and I think most will agree. An aircraft is a red flag for an audit, particularly if your income to support it isn't overwhealming. In official documentation, refrain from words like "aircraft" (M20 transportation vehicle), "hangar" (business storage), "aviation training" (recurrent correspondence), "avionics" (GPS or computer equipment), Maps and GPS data cards (dues and subscriptions) etc. Be honest, but don't light flares. Make Uncle sam do the work. Keep records. Also, understand the IRS's very clear definitions of "ordinary and necessary" as it applies to business travel. Sporty's sells a book on this entire subject. Good Luck My Friend!!!

I have found if somebody has a nice plane, they do what ever it takes to hang onto it. The market is flooded with the unfortunate byproduct of lots of people who sell instead of fix. I am jaded. I look for run-out engine sales. This way, you have a basis of negotiation and a third of the aircraft's valuation is a known quantity. Flying an OH or REMAN engine after purchase gives peice of mind and is worth the time and agrevation..

Quote: rorythedog i don't mean to inject cynicism into this very utopian thread.....but to all of you who doubt that used airplane sales is not a business of negotiation, then just try to sell your recently purchased plane back to the same broker that you bought it from....then you'll get an accurate representation of it's condition and value. and i'm not referring to the normal dealer markup either. or better yet...get a quote on what those folks in texas will allow you on your pampered bird as a trade in.

I committed to selling my plane to Jimmy, then my A36 prebuy went sour and I took my 201 back. Jimmy took care of my plane, gave it back when I asked and to this day, I owe him for a ferry pilot. He is fair, straight forward and if a seller or buyer flakes, he is cool and remembers the big piture. We all have a compass, his points in the right direction.

Quote: peter My 530W com performance is consistently worse than my KX155. This was the case before the system was rewired last year for my Aspen upgrade, and persists today.

The Great Don Maxwell said this to me once (please image the thick East TX accent as you read)....."John, I live here in East TX, where the Skeeter Bass Boat was born and bred. I have people who come up to me and say.. oooooo, you own an airplane? That must be soooo expensive. I don't know how anyone can afford that! Then it occurs to me (Don still in quotes here)....this man owns a brand new 20' bass boat, and a top of the line Gator Trailer...and gee, you now need a brand new $45,000 Suburban to tow the thing.. Bottom line, John....it's not wha'ts practical, it's not what you can afford....John, it's what you w-a-n-t".

I know of a gentleman who said for 12 straight years..."I'm not buying one of those Garmin 430 radios...the second I do, they'll just come out with something better". Well, the did...12 years later (a third to half of a flying career for most people). The vexing question is, when does one jump in and realize the benifit? And the fact of the matter is, I have flown aircraft both VFR and IMC and have watched FCS gyros go tits up, so Garmin and Aspen cutting their teeth on new technology is not a fair analysis.

Quote; From Jim R. :personally, but I don't have either the budget nor the mission requirements of some of you guys. To each his/her own . . . I have three young kids and would never spend gobs of personal cash......my upgrades and aircraft expense float in my corporation. I could not afford it otherwise. If business is bad..the Mooney goes buh-bye.

Quote: Bnicolette I have to agree John. I guess there are many ways to look at this. Surely, in time the cost of any EFIS system has to come down especially as new competitors enter the market, but in direct relation to that, our "steam" gauges are also losing value rapidly. As more of these systems become available to the home builder market, which has kept some of our instrumentation and radios values higher, the lower the values are going to go. I don't know though that the repair costs will increase a whole lot? They have to keep the repair costs competitive or it's going to make more monetary sense to swap out to the EFIS?? If money were no object, I suppose I probably would have the latest and greatest, but being on a budget I have to pick and choose where my precious dollars go so I can continue to complete my missions. So I am more on the utility side of the equation.

I think if you have an upper end King or better FD/HSI combo, fix it (now, before it's too late). If you have older gyros, no HSI or high time equiment, get an EFD. The value of gyros goes down, while their repair and maintenance continues to increase..this is inarguable.

I just did the Aspen. It replaced a 700 hour standard RC Allen AI and a 20 year old, never overhauled-starting to slip Century NSD HSI. It's a no brainer for the PFD only. Parker's comments about what works with the G500 is correct...your KX155 won't work on the G500, but EVERYTHING you have will work with the Aspen. If you want to solve your King AI/FD issue, go for the Aspen stand alone PFD. If you are considering an EFD/MFD combo, put the time in to make your own, very thorough consumer soul searching. I spent months evaluating both systems and arrived at the Aspen 2000 EFD/MFD dual ADAHRS combo. This was the right thing for me comparing apples and oranges and suited what I personally though my best dollar would buy. In the end, it was only $3k less than the Garmin. Put the time in. I can't over emphasize it enough. John

I have a 201 FDK. I go mostly weekday and weekend early mornings. Any time....c'mon.

I was based in MD at GAI (Gaithersburg) for 5 years and now FDK (Frederick). I waited 5 years for a hangar. Where you live and where you work are critical to flying and living. For instance, if you live in VA and have to work in MD or DC, you must cross a bridge, etc. You will be charged a flat tax to bring your plane into MD, along the lines of five to ten cents per pound GW. You will be charged personal property tax in VA yearly (corporate ownership helps mitigate this). Hangars exist most places but are rarely available. Nearly every GA facility has waiting lists stretching years. Tie downs are readily available. Hangar lists as far out as Winchester, Hagerstown, Tipton and Stafford are in the years. The list at FDK has over 80 names, but with the bad economy, is purging and moving. Nepitism is your best bet for immediate results. PM me if you'd like and I'll give you the lay of the land.

Quote: JaredDavis Do you know what issue has the rigging article?

Kerrie McCintyre wrote the best MAPA article ever on rigging. It's a great read. He details quantity of aileron droop. The rigging service instruction details this too. Sorry, I don't have it in front of me, but for a "J" I recall it being -1 or -2, flaps 0. Also, aileron rod ends that are not adjusted or wearing can create some play as well.