David Mazer

Actually, the Halos cost less than half what the ANR headsets cost.

I'm sure you are going to hear this story repeatedly. I have been using Halo headsets for years and love them. There have been a few technical issues but Phil (a fellow Mooney owner on this site) has always been there to deal with them. Search the site for Halo and you'll see many glowing testimonials. I don't think you'll find the same for Clarity Aloft. People don't believe me when I tell them the passive noise suppression is better than the active noise suppression I've experienced with other headsets but it is true anyway.

My little dog loves to fly. He jumps up on the wing and into the backseat before I can even tell him we're going but he won't wear Mutt Muffs at all. Eventually, I just started using standard ear plugs (the kind you roll between your fingers to insert) and use the largest ones I can find. He is fine with it. Weird, I know, but I'm sure it works and he is more comfortable then the muffs.

You might want to look at this site: http://freechecklists.net/ I posted my checklist there a number of years ago. I've changed mine but the one posted is a good starting point.

This may be a better link: http://www.wbtv.com/story/15196616/report-propeller-separated-from-plane-in-deadly-crash-killing-doctor This isn't an NTSB report but it is about the particular incident.

This doesn't appear to be the correct incident. I believe the incident to which this thread refers happened more recently.

Taken in fun. No worries.

1.5 right now but 2 in a few months. I suppose you are correct but it makes me feel better to save $20 even though I have spent hundreds of thousands already. I didn't say it made any sense.

Every time I've done the math, it never makes sense to buy all the equipment. I just get to fly the plane to nearby Daytona where it costs $40 to fill the O2 once in a while.

I always wonder about comments like this. Coy threatened me once and I threatened him right back. He ran away with his tail between his legs!

If you really want to know, you might contact Sarasota Avionics. They seem to have the inside scoop on Coy since he owes them so much money and they were located right there. Oops, sorry, no Mooney Mart bashing requested but it is just so hard to resist.

Becca, I've sent you a PM with my phone number if you need it.

Oh, do you need a place to stay? I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. We are also about 45 min from KLEE if you need a place to stay. Let me know.

You might try Russel Brown. He is located at KLEE and may be able to help. His number is 352-516-8616. He is competent and honest. Even if he can't help you, he should be able to tell you who could. Also, you are close enough to Orlando that you might be able to drive in (45 min) to ORL to pick up a part if it is available.

Who would install the TKS system if one bought it off ebay? I didn't think Cav is allowing anyone to do installations anymore.

Carusoam, I don't believe you are supposed to put a heated prop on a Rocket due to the STC but I believe there are some out there anyway. Rocketman, I don't think glycol is corrosive but I'm not certain of that. I disagree that power is enough, depending on where you fly most. I flew into icing over your neck of the woods a long time ago and it was all I could do to turn around and be out of it in 90 sec without falling out of the sky. It took over an hour for the ice to sublime sufficiently for me to attempt a landing. One of the scarier flying events. I would be willing to carry the extra weight of the equipment and lose a couple knots in speed all the time for the few times I would need it and the many times I wouldn't go (haven't gone) because there is a chance of ice and I wouldn't take the risk. Living in Florida makes it less important but in a Rocket one can cover a lot of distance and a lot of weather.

I've used fltplan.com for a long time and haven't found anything as good. It is reliable, accurate, customizable, and available online easily. I also have Seattle Avionics Voyager which I use as an EFB in the plane but its flight planning isn't as good nor does it seem as accurate. I have also tried flightaware.com's planner and AOPA's. Neither is as good as fltplan.com. flightaware is just strange and AOPA's doesn't account for altitude. In a turbo, that is pretty important. I tried Foreflight a while ago and found it no better than AOPA's but, like I said, that was a while ago and it may have improved substantially. I'd wager Foreflight is ahead because people haven't spent the time to customize fltplan.com. When I started using it, it was about the only one around and it was either get it right or do it by hand. Now there are many options available that take less set up, with less accuracy as a result.

If you have hair you don't get to complain that it is gray!

I often wonder why I need hubcaps at all. They just make it a pain to add air and they make no difference aerodynamically since these are retracted anyway.

So, did you misunderstand Lycoming when they said this couldn't have come off the engine and they really meant that it came off of the engine but wasn't really a part of the engine? Or something like that.

I flight plan my non-TKS Rocket at 30" mg and 2200 RPM at 185 kts @ 12,000 ft and 17 gph, 200 kts @ 18,000 ft and 17.5 gph, and 210 kts @ 24,000 at about 18 gph. It will go faster but I rarely find it worth the gas. I have been told that TKS will slow the plane 2-5 kts depending on the installation. I believe it would be closer to 5 kts because I mistakenly painted a leading edge white stripe to cover some peeling paint and the trailing edge of that stripe wasn't smoothed out. When the plane was painted and the edge was removed, I gained almost 5 kts. I was shocked.

Probably. This is going in a local/VFR only airplane and updates won't be on a 28 day cycle. More like a 365.25 day cycle. That usually costs about $50 at one of the airshows on special. Still, the 796 is really nice.

I've been playing with a 796 that is to be installed in another airplane. I have been very pleasantly surprised by how well it works and how easy it is to see and manage. I have used my wife's iPad 1 a couple times and always find the screen hard to read. Of course, the iPad mini costs almost $400 and the 796 cost about $2,500!

I think I agree with Cris. A hold instruction that isn't published that doesn't include instructions and expect further clearance time isn't a hold instruction. I would have tried hard to get ATC's attention especially in IMC with no autopilot.

Ken, I don't believe you will find any single capable of carrying 3-5 people for 750 nm at 200 kts or so that you will be able to safely fly for quite some time. You would be safer separating your ultimate goals from your training goals. Buying a good, used trainer and reselling it when you and your son are done is probably cheaper and easier than you think. Prices seem to have stabilized a little and, if you take care of it, a trainer can probably be sold for close to what you pay for it. By then you may be ready to look at acceptable high performance singles that will do some of what you ask.