rainman

I got an Autogyro Calidus gyroplane! It's an enclosed tandem two seater. It'll fit in the hangar right next to the Mooney! DMJ 181, that's a sweet looking plane! Put Cooper's at Llano (KAQO), Louis Mueller's at Taylor (T74), and the three at Lockhart on your BBQ list. I'm at 5C1 outside of San Antonio if you want to meet for BBQ. Ray

Not a Mooney flight, but I did fly my Mooney to get there and home. Today I took my gyrocopter endorsement check ride at Taylor Texas (near Austin). What a blast to fly!

While flying north of San Antonio Sunday, the controller commented that it seemed like "every Mooney ever made" was in his sector! It was fun to listen to all the calls.

1+ on the Puma Ferrari driving shoes. I had my heal get caught on the carpet with my other running shoes so I got the driving shoes. Very comfortable. I keep them at my hangar.

The late Richard "Zef" Zefro wrote an e-book I think as called "Those Mooney Airplanes". It had very good descriptions of all the models. The book may still be available on his website which was being maintained by his friend. It is mooneyland.com

30 years, USAF, it was the best way for me to serve. Great people in all branches of service. I was honored to have cared for them. Ray

Let's try photo again

Special thanks to MSers Mark and Andy who came to the hangar to help. The mechanic Tim did a very thorough examination testing the solenoid, relay, and each of the wires. Rather quickly Andy, Mark, and Tim found a very loose multi-pin connector that was the culprit. It was under a bundle of wires and the one with the most nimble fingers reconnected it. The photo shows 1/2 of the connector. Great response online and in person! Thanks! Ray

Thanks for the input, I'll be there when the mechanic does his diagnosis and will give feedback on what he finds. Ray

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm technically stranded in Michigan (Y47). On Friday I had my mechanic at my home in Texas change out the four year old Gill battery in my 1979 231, with a new Concord battery. When I went to fly on Sunday nothing happened when I turned on the master switch. No CBs had popped. The dome light and clock still ran. Later that day, my hangar neighbor came over and took the top off the battery box and the battery tested good, he then found a loose ground wire from the battery box and tightened it and the problem was gone. Good deal, problem solved, I thought. Yesterday I did a 0415 departure and had an uneventful flight to my fuel stop at KARG. After fueling, when I got back in the plane...wham the same problem, no power to the master switch. I removed the access panel an checked the same wire, but it was tight. I tugged on several of the wires and then noticed the power had come back to the master switch. I closed up the access panel and started the plane and flew to southeast Michigan to see my ill sister (she should be O.K.). Now that I'm here, I don't want to fly again until I know it's fixed and probably should not have taken off from my fuel stop in Arkansas. Any suggestions? Nothing seemed loose to me (not a mechanic), could one of the cables be bad? Y47 is a small airport but the staff is very nice and have arranged for a mechanic to come from somewhere else to check on it later today. Any obvious things to check or tell him? I'll report back any findings later today. Ray

Mike, we were camped right across from you in 2014 in the M20K. Cool videos s always. Ray

There are so many good 231s without question marks out there, why bother with this one at this price. For another $15K you can get an updated version without the drama.

Jack, I'm near San Antonio at 5C1, and rent hangar space from a retired Houston police officer, Eric Simpson who flies an RV-8. Welcome! Ray

I did the King DVD IR course. It worked fine for the written. Got my IR in the Mooney at a finish up course in Long Beach after some work with various instructors here. Use the system once you get the rating. Enjoy.

My 1979 231 did not come with O2 system but was added in 1980 by prior owner. I now have my own refill system not because of cost savings, but because of the hassle of getting oxygen at various FBOs. You also should get a pulse oximeter to know your oxygenation. There are many cheap, portable, accurate options. I have the OxiPro which cost about $40.

If you could consider coming to San Antonio for several days, I would recommend Bob Cabe. PM me for his number if interested. Ray

Oxipro pulse oximeter is about $30-40. Very accurate, small, fits on your finger.

$85/hr is the solo fee wet. It can't be rented as I understand it, but once checked out I can solo in my instructor's gyro. That gyro is the Magni M-16, very nice and flies great. If I had the cash and hangar space, I'd definitely get one. It's a blast.

$85/hr alternative, sweet fun ride, Rotax runs on car gas. Gyros aren't currently being certified in the U.S., experimental only.

O.K. did I miss it? Where do you order the shirts? I checked the Vendor Forum?

Chris, I stopped at Fredericksburg on the way home to Boerne from the STOL competition at Llano about 1330ish. There were several Mooneys parked on the ramp. I should have walked in the restaurant and asked "which smart pilots own those Mooneys". I'll keep an eye out for your tail in the future. Ray

Flew the recently paint touched-up Mooney (looks way better) to Llano TX, KAQO, for the STOL competitions. I was there to watch as my 231 is not much of a STOL bird. The Carbon Cubs, Huskies, Caravans, and even a Quest Kodiak. Way cool!

See my gallery, if that still exists, for an Aerocomfort example. Still looks good after four years.

Guys, who cares about the colors, it has a second door! I like that the designers responded to consumers request. Now that it has a carbon fiber fuselage, if they could just pressurize it folks may order it in even higher numbers?

Contact McStealth (David) on MS, he lives in Kerrville, flys out of KERV (where the factory is) and knows all the ins-outs.