Becca

Because I'm a Science Geek, I can wonder if we'll ever be flying Mooneys on Titan.. http://what-if.xkcd.com/30/

I want to be very very clear here about the decaying speed is a real issue. Byron and I were practicing short field landings and I was slowing to right around 75 mph, he wanted me right at 72 for short field on the numbers. I pulled the power completely off, but I was already so close to my desired speed and converging and didn't adjust the attitude immediately when I adjusted the throttle. The plane fell out of the sky, though things could have been worse, it was by far the worst landing I've made since I was a student pilot. That speed falls off quickly in the 70 mph range. Usually I approach at between 75-80 mph over numbers and that gives me a lot more wiggle room to adjust my speed than 72 mph does.

As I said, basic IFR panel. I guess that means different things to different people. For us, that did not include a 430W or GTX330. We were looking for a 6 pack (rather than shot gun) panel, 2 VOR's and an ILS capability. Basically what came out of the factory back when the plane was made in '77 with a few mods. We also ended up with a inop ADF (that we removed) and a VFR KLN-89b GPS. Paint was 6-7, 1200 hrs SMOH (though we found out later the tach was running fast and it was a little less... shortly after that, we found cam spalling and had to overhaul, so...) Anyway, that was $61k in early 2011. We saw one other plane we were considering that was almost exactly the same + G430W for $73k. Both were right inline with Jimmy G's valuation, not a fire sale prices. We also considered several 20C's similarly equipped in the mid-$40k range. Its nice to see plane prices rebounding though if you couldn't find something like that 8 months ago.. I think the trouble is there are more planes on the two other ends of the spectrum - run out engines with tons of inop equipment or shiny new with everything new. And neither of those end up in the mid-range price. Anyway.

When we were shopping for our Mooney two years ago, we were seeing M20Cs for $40-50k and M20J's for $60-70k (we were looking at mid-time engines, working IFR stack but nothing fancy in panel, and paint job good enough to last 4-5 years or so). That was near the bottom of the market, but I think the price trend is about right.

http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=73984&view=unread#unread

A good kharma post - a request from one of my favorite authors. Not sure it can be fulfilled, he doesn't seem well educated on the uncertainties of GA travel, but I thought I'd spread the word: http://boingboing.net/2013/01/04/looking-for-a-pilot-in-the-sou.html

So, you may have read Byron's posts about replacing the slick mags on our new engine with bendix mags. Fast forward 5 hrs of operation on our new, fresh overhauled mags later - its a Kelly factory overhauled magneto. Our partner flew the plane, and noticed 100 RPM mag drop. I took off today for south Florida and it dropped near 200 rpm. The wind was gusting like crazy and Byron brushed it off, because it wasn't rough. 5 hrs of flying later, we are in Leesburg, FL, no problems flying all the way. Put in really cheap gas ($4.40/gal), and its Byron's leg to fly. Run up the engine - BANG. Clearly the internal mag timing is retarded badly, the mags are bad in some way. We checked to see if it was tight, its tight. The plane is unflyable (its not like flying on one mag is an option, because the other mag is running, just badly and with bangs). So, hoping this community can you help us with the following: 1. Anyone have experience with the local A&P's at the Leesburg airport? Thoughts (good and bad)? We are also ok with "pickup bed" truck mechanics in the area, if you know someone reputable. We're confident working on our own airplane, but this is not something we can't do without at least some A&P assistance (at minimum, tools!) 2. Anyone know of a good mag shop near Leesburg, or anywhere in the great state of Florida? 3. A follow on of the above - anyone know where we can buy a new mag asap in Florida (faster than overnight shipping options)? 4. Most likely I can't see how we are going to make Staniel Cay, Bahamas tomorrow night as planned. I don't want to cancel our entire 4 night reservation yet. That said, they charge us the first night's stay for a cancellation. Anyway, I am open to offers if anyone wants "buy" (even at a discount?) the first night from us on last minute's notice tomorrow, maybe the second night too if anyone has that kind of flexibility in their life. I wish it were possible to invert our trip and go to the Bahamas after Christmas if we can't make this work out before, but I can't find any places with vacancy (nice places with an airport near by), but if you have any suggestions on a place, we're taking those too. All options are on the table. 5. What options are we not thinking about? Not really into the joys of GA right now, but trying to remind myself that in 2 years and 300 hrs traveling in this plane, this is the first time our travel has been disrupted (unless you count not being able to go to Oshkosh because we needed an overhaul this summer...)

I second the shop at Conroe. They have a great reputation and they've done good work for us.

I was told by several airplane owners to budget a $5-10k start up "transient" to get an airplane the way you want it and fix unexpected bugs after purchase, and that was almost exactly our startup transient. As for prebuy. We had what we thought was both a thorough annual from the dealer and a thorough prebuy by a recommended Mooney mechanic in the local Houston area. We even had pre-buy guy pull a cylinder to look at the cam. 200 hrs later, we had cam spalling and the cylinder he had supposedly pulled was pretty pitted - don't tell me he didn't see that? Thus, an overhaul. Likewise, when we went to pick up the plane from the prebuy mechanic the alternator was dead, though we had already purchased plane. We were like, how did you not see that during the prebuy? Apparently he didn't actually run the plane during the prebuy (it flew in, right?). Of course, now that it was stuck on his ramp, he'd be happy to fix it, 6 hrs of labor later (when I asked him for a labor estimate he said "honey how many stars are there in teh sky"), he installed a new alternator, which then promptly failed in flight due to arcing because he didn't tighten the contacts and we installed the replacement at which point we discovered it was a 1-2 hr job for a novice. Anyway, next time we will be physically present for the entire prebuy. Also on the engine subject, make sure the plane has flown on the oil that's in it on prebuy, no fresh oil change, and get a sample out for analysis.

I second it, a great stop. Have seafood. Crabs. Yummy.

Also, i should point out they are one of the few A&P's I've ever encountered who vocally advertise themselves as supportive of owner performed maintenance, if that's something you want to do, they are interested in educating pilots on how to work on their own airplane and provide watchful supervision. They are happy to accomodate "drop it off and call me when its ready", but if you want to hang out, ask questions, or help (and maybe save a few hours of mechanic labor cost), that's ok with them too, regardless of your mechanical ability and they have a nice little community of pilots that do just that.

Ouch, a month?? Any advice on how to say enough-is-enough when you can see a train wreck like this heading for the cliff?

I think the other people covered cooling options reasonably well. You might rig the cowl flaps so they are slightly open even when in the full closed position too, I think that's a relatively simple thing to do. My advice is to get a multi-point engine monitor, in the long run it will save you more than it costs you - and I am not talking just LOP/ROP debate, but in terms of monitoring the overall health of your engine and individual cylinders and catching problems before they become expensive or dangerous.. I think you can get a used JPI unit installed for around $4000 all-included which should give you all the data you need, you don't need to get fancy. At least add it to your short-term upgrade list. (Yes, I'm a zealous convert, I didn't think this was at all important when first bought our plane..)

I have heard this sentiment a surprising number of times. Why not? Is there something I am missing about the mixture of water and planes? We had a guy in the old aero club who wouldn't wash the bottom of his plane (which was black from grease) for the same reason - not being willing to allow water to touch the bottom of his plane (he said he figured it was ok for it to touch the top, because the thing was TIED DOWN OUTSIDE!). Anyway, has any one had any experience with their plane being damaged from water in some way or the other? Do we need to be more careful?

200 miles is totally reasonable, especially if you have a purchase contract (pending inspection) and maybe put up ernest money.

Simple Green Pro HD is exactly the same formulation as Simple Green Aircraft + Precision Cleaner and a lot easier to find when the mood strikes. This isn't rumor, its on their web site: http://www.simplegreen.com/solutions_faqs.php?search_query=aircraft&search_query_backup=aluminium The only difference is you can get Pro HD for half the cost at your local Home Depot than ordering it from an aircraft supply place I agree, don't use regular household cleaners on your airplane.

Agreed on iPad. Also, since you are just buying in now, its probably worth considering the iPad mini. Though we don't like to admit how cramped a Mooney cockpit is, its cramped, and a smaller device, especially for on your lap, would really be nice. I'm not planning on spening the money to switch from an iPad to a mini, but if you were making an initial purchase, its a good option.

By the way, Byron used to be a towel dry sort of guy, it took repeated prodding to point out that for just as much time you could take a nice little flight and get the plane just as dry

Yes, dearest Byron won't admit that my USS Sedona landings were flawless despite his right seat nagging. When it was his turn to fly (we were coming back from a Grand Canyon overflight and I wanted to take photos) - he panicked that 4000' runway just wouldn't be long enough and his mental picture of our beloved Mooney going over the mesa was too much for him, and he went into 747-mode assuming our plane had anti-skid, slammed on the brakes to make the turnoff at 2000' and, thump thump thump. Then he widely disemminated the picture of the flat tire with the caption "don't let your wife fly". We found a local mechanic who replaced the tire for like $50 though, which is pretty much the best deal in aviation ever. He absolutely does owe a trip report for the whole trip - we took some great pictures of grand canyon and monument valley - and to post them here not on the beech forum. That said, the beech forum's trip report section is quite a bit more extensive than ours, we should work on that..

Ah, how'd I miss that a year ago!

(I can't believe I saw this video on the Beech forum, but there you have it..)

Try Trenton Mercer - there might be some public transit options from there. Or PNE - its probably a reasonably priced cab ride away from the city, its pretty close to Center City.

As a further "safety" thought, given their frequency of failure, running it for takeoff means you have just cycled in one more time to a failure that could occur when you need it (maybe later in the flight in an emergency). I recognize that you are accepting some small risk not running it for takeoff and landing, so when I review my takeoff and landing check list, I always remind myself of the fuel pump, so if there's even a hiccup, switching it on will be my first action.

And, little known fact, I am the swimmer and diver, Byron is TERRIFIED of fish. Even little minnows he worries will "bite him" so he basically never swims in open water if he can avoid it. And he wants to do this.

Byron is considering this trip alone, so he will definitely be lonely. I am ok with the Bahamas - short hop, on radar the whole time, etc. Definitely going to do that over Christmas (Staniel Cay, anyone been there? Other advice is welcome!) I am not ok with over Gulf. Call me irrational (yes, we also fly over forests and mountains), but that's where I draw my line. Not to mention, round trip tickets from IAH-Cancun are about $250, direct, 2 hr flight, the Mooney just isn't idael for that mission nor is it an adventure I want. Byron thinks because he bought a life raft that was last packed and tested in 1994, we're good. Oh, and because he flies 747's over the north atlantic (I remind him that has four engines). Just saying.