John Pleisse

You can just see that little prick winking at his passengers listening on headsets while he shamelessly saps resources and puts himself and others at risk. They'll revoke his medical today.....if he ever has access to his ticket again, I'd be surprised. Say GOODBYE to the 500 msl bravo veil south of JFK. I have fond memories transitioning that area. Certainly no more. You gotta love NY Controllers. All business, no BS.

I can't tell you how many times I refused to file, because I knew I couldn't get on top. Likewise, I can't tell you how many times I HAVE filed and kept ammending for higher and NEVER got on top (12k msl -16"MP is where I give up in my 201). The Skew-T always lies.........East Coast Turbo Envy.

Something about a perfectly polished spinner that can transform an aircraft's appearance. It can make a #7 paint job look like a 10.

Comparing a Bravo to more efficient Mooney's is fair. Comparing a Bravo to comparably slower twins is fair as well. Also, when messing with FIKI, there is no substitute for raw, sustainable power at altitude. I think Monroy tanks and wheel barrel loads of cash are the x-factor.

One fellow on Mooneyspace (it escapes me who..pls speak up) sent his spinner to a professional polisher. He said it took several weeks. So I call the polisher and ask for a two week turn during annual. He agreed for a significant price (upper $300's). I have not dealt with him yet, but he seems fair and diligent. Also, Richard Z., the nice fellow who runs the Mooneyland website does pay per inquiry chroming of spinners. He swears by it. Most other people I talk to say it will bubble, crack and flake....even if done right. This is the guy I will try in the next few weeks. Pirep to follow: Tony Brock Mirror Finish Polishing website: http://www.mirrorfinishpolishing.com/ 100% Guaranteed Metal Polishing Services Phone: 816-529-6089 E-mail: sales@MirrorFinishPolishing.com Btw, I have been messing w/ Metall, Fltz, 1800g wet sand and other since last November. Hard lesson? No substute for elbow grease. My spinner was in bad shape. I was able to bring 85% of it back, but I have now given up and I am sending it out. I want it to look like the pipes on a Harley Soft Tail on biker weekend at the beach.

Aviation Consumer's comments re: the GTN series was pointient. Stating these could be the last of center stack MFD/Navigaotrs, with future interests being devoted to PFD's. I also think analysis should be retrospective. What are you evolving from? KX155 to a GTN 750...homerun! GNS/480 MX 200 combo? Not so much. Century H-S-I to an Aspen or Garmin PFD....giant leeps...and so on. Just dinged my pocketbook betting on Aspen and feel I may have bought a Pentium 386 w/ 64mb of RAM. In any event, the GTN are an incremental leap at the very least. I agree, perhaps far better. I'd buy an Aspen PFD and a GTN 750 and mount them left panel and get rid of everything else......seriously.

Theres was some guy in Maine who wrote a MAPA Log article some years back about the Monroy tanks in a FIKI Bravo.....the guy routinely one-hopped it from Bangor to Miami with reserves. Stunning.

Paul is dead on....you'll chase it to get it hands off. Frankly, I could go into the number of times I took it back, flew it, tabbed it, flew it again and then paid people to do it, but it is almost embarassing to chronicle. At one point, I handed the service instruction and Kerrie McIntyre's MAPA article on rigging to an independent shop and said...here...go for it...get it right. The aileron I got from repair was ever so slightly bowed from the skin being too tight. It was not noticable until my MSC guy laid a yard stick on the aileron and showed me the impefection. I couldn't begin to over emphasize, there is nothing like a factory jig. Theres a factory jig and weighting and then there's "good attempts". In fact Parker, I told Jan Maxwell what happened and she was literally stunned.

I wouldn't settle for less...especially after learning the hard way.

Quote: FlyDave But the plane had consistent right turn after the re-skin/my purchase so I flew it up to Lasar and Robert made some adjustments (see http://mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&forumid=1&threadid=1269) and my plane flys straight and level hands off. Best of luck,

Get the Bravo.........Lyc, lot's to choose from under $215k, some FIKI. No Continental cylinders, lifters and cams to replace.

Oh I know Randy.....just "jonesin" for comic relief.......point being HEMI is as much of a a non-starter as the HP-Plus STC........

Domed pistons???? Wouldn't that be called..........a HEMI? I know of a shop doing an IO-390/Top Prop STC right now on a 90's MSE...one of the first. All new, after labor, shipping, tax, title and tags.....$52,000. It'll be interesting to know how the service life of these new engines turns out.

I owned one for 5 years..inherited it from the previous owner. There is a reason less than a hundred total have wound up in Mooneys and Arrows. There are no appreciable gains (climb or cruise) and it takes an already vibration prone engine and makes it worse. I thought my panel intruments where going to fall out in my lap. The engine got up around 1500 hrs, I balanced the prop twice, went through magnetos, landing lights, lord mounts and panel mounts prematurely. Related to the helicopter pistons? Who knows. I suspected issues with it and saw no performace differences. That is not to say FWF is not a great shop.....actually they are AWSOME. The "Horespower-Plus" STC, personally didn't work out for me. I got $7k for my core and bought a factory new A3B6 (no D). Want performance? I hear the Top Prop is the way to go and required by the 390 STC. So buy the prop first...what the heck.

Moreover..........read the ensuing chat thread that follows the article.

Quote: flight2000 Not so--or at least it wasn't the case when I bought '48Q a few years ago. Have things changed? I'll agree that there are a lot of benefits to using an escrow service, and I may do that with my next purchase.

A lot of the title search companies in OKC provide full service escrow work. If you zero in on a great bird, $175 will get you (within one day-sent via pdf e-mail) the following: 1) The entire FAA file including all STC's and 337's 2) A full Title seacrh and chain of ownership 3) A purchase agreement review 4) And full escrow services Also, if you barrow money for the plane, the lender will require escrow, so get pre approved and use their money in escrow for deposits, then contribute your down payment at settlement. Also, the boiler plate AOPA pre purchase contract and an escrow account at your hometown bank are much cheaper. Baron Thomas shenanigans…that’s whacked!!!

One thing is for sure.....MAC won't make themselves profitable long-term bolting big bore Continentals on old airframes. Where is the Jet A? Six place? Maybe the old Mite Type Cert could some how be resurected for LSA? You are dead on Dave..they'll have to innovate.

Quote: DaV8or No. I think it's big step forward too. The 430 interface is cumbersome. I too await the real world results, but fear I won't be upgrading anytime soon.

Quote: FlyDave I commented on this on a thread about 4 months ago on the purchase of Continental by a Chinese company. In answer to your question, NO! I would NOT (knowingly) trust my life to an airplane or part made by the chinese. They would need to prove their on-going high quality products and manufacturing for 5-7 years for me to feel comfortable. If it came down to buying nothing but Chinese made parts for my airplane, I'd have to sell and buy something manufactured and supported by a company from a country known for better quality. If I couldn't afford it, I'd have to stop flying. If price is the primary deciding factor in aviation, then the Chinese will win hands down....but that's not the only thing the will be down.

Matter of fact I did....if you are feeling advisarial and confrontational enough, why don't you publish it for everyone to see?

I was happy to see Cirrus and part of Cessna go to China. The Chinese will bludgeon these brands and put lives at risk. Would you buy anything your life depended on from China? Piper would be a great pick-up for the Chinese. If Mooney goes that way, it would clearly be the end of an era and the end of a brand.

At the end of the day, they are salesmen. Some behave fairly. Others don't.

Quote: Cruiser Approach: turn R heading 360° you are 3.6 miles from the FAF maintain 3100 until established, best speed there is a Southwest 737 landing behind you. I was 149kts over the FAF. I rarely get to setup for a "normal" approach going into busy areas. I practice slowing down as fast as I can, that usually means pulling the MP and RPM and holding altitude until I can get the gear down then recapturing the glideslope and settling in for 90 kts to the MM then trim for touchdown.

15"/24RPM for a level 120 KIAS IAF speed. At the FAF-glide slope, no flaps... drop the gear. The nose gently comes up for two seconds and then takes 2 more seconds to nose over ever so gently to exactly -500fpm/105KIAS. With typical winds, GS almost always ends up being 90KTS. I can accomplish this without ever touching the yoke or trim. I have an awesome PAC chart I created for every config possible. I can pdf it for you. But after test flying and 13 years of completely over-doing it, I have arrived at the above. Your final power and trim adjustment happens right after your decent. All you do is drop the gear when you hit the glideslope.