FloridaMan

Denver is growing. I would buy if they're conveniently located.

As someone with a Mooney with leather seats and one with cloth, the cloth were infinitely more comfortable than leather. I purchased Aerosheep covers (I think these are the same ones that @Marauder has) for the Rocket and they made a world of difference. My first attempt was a cheap "breathing" seat cover. It sucked. Get Aerosheep. In the summer time leather seats will leave your back and ass covered in sweat and I believe the reason that leather has historically been desirable as an interior material is that people used to smoke cigarettes everywhere and fabrics held odor and did not hold up as well as they do today. But for comfort, sheepskin is the way to go. I also got some matching fuzzy dice to go with mine.

I'm still flushing data out. I think I've picked up a few knots since I bought the airplane. The old sparkplug electrodes looked like footballs. The ailerons were about 1 inch up in trail during flight, timing was 2-3 degrees behind where it should've been. We removed some weight from the radio stack and added 19 lbs to the back of the empennage and removed some high drag (ADF/LORAN) antennas. I'm still flushing out data with the engine monitor. Since replacing the spark plugs, I get 1-2gph better economy with the exact same TIT temperature. I believe the reason for this is that the new plugs give the same effect as more timing advance and helps to ensure the fuel has a more complete burn before the exhaust valve opens (If you ever have a magneto fail or a plug foul, you'll notice the EGTs go sky high on the cylinders that are only running on one spark plug). If I had to do it again, I would've spent the extra money on fine wires (the massive electrode plugs were fine on my M20F). The reasons is that the new plugs seem to be more prone to fouling than the old worn out ones and occasionally the engine just purrs like it's a turboprop, but sometimes a plug will foul in flight and I have to clear it out, but even afterwards it just doesn't feel quite as smooth. This might be in my head, just as you hear your engine misfire and run rough when crossing over hostile terrain or open water. I can say without reservation that she cruises at over 220kts TAS at FL240 when it's warm outside and 2400RPM/32" and 20-21gph. I think that I still have a few knots that I can pick up through changing antennas and rigging. I've only put a few hours on the plane since installing the EDM-900. I need to take some long trips and really flush out what I can achieve with economy cruise settings, max cruise and what my normal cruise should be. If I can drop 20% in fuel burn for a 20% reduction in speed, I don't gain anything, but if I can do it for a 5% loss in speed, then it would be worthwhile for saving fuel stops.

Which Signature location was this?

The KT74 is supposedly an excellent unit. @neilpilot; did King make things right for you? I had some avionics work done recently and had them add a service loop to make the KT74 installable. If you have a 650, I would think that a Garmin In/Out solution would be best since you will get your weather and traffic on your 650.

1100 hours in my 67F and never knew that was a dome light. I always just wore a lamp on my head as an emergency safety thing anyways.

I put mine in its own LLC as I understand will help isolate you from personal liability if someone else crashes it. Talk to @Parker_Woodruff about insurance if you have any questions in that area.

My GNS430W is experiencing reduced radio reception in the lower frequencies especially. At 119.65, I’m also picking up weather that I believe is broadcast in the 161.5 area. As part of the engine monitor install, I had the Loran, ADF and associated antennas removed so I believe it could be related to that, or maybe it’s this antenna. If anyone has experienced this exact behavior and knows the cause, let me know so in case the avionics guys don’t, it could be a starting place for them

I was also thinking of just changing the little window to be clear so I could have something clear to look out of or take pictures through.

Every time I fly my F I think about how nice the view is out of it. The Rocket has tint and I'm thinking about replacing it with clear. The concern is that I often fly up in the flight levels in it and that UV radiation may be much more intense up there. Thoughts?

You don’t want someone who is challenged by a Mooney working on your plane. My IA is in his 20s and did the R&R of my engine on my m20F and the engine monitor install on my Rocket and, given the nature of the install, it all went pretty smoothly. It’s like the guy takes the cowling off, waves his arms around, and the job is done.

Even worse, those have been known to clog fuel tank vents resulting in fuel no longer feeding from tanks.

You can call them and find out how far you are in line.

If I were in Raleigh I'd go to Dillon's Aviation at PGV.

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Every pilot should read this: http://continentalmotors.aero/xPublications/Maintenance Manuals/TEC-1/ Admittedly, I have not read that version. The one I read had a section called "Don't baby your engine" Specifically, look at the part in the document that talks about ring seating and it explains why it's necessary to run high power settings. This is Continental, not Lycoming, but the concepts and explanations will help you understand why manufacturers recommend operating them in a way that seems counter to what you may've learned with cars.

Always check before and afterwards. I like to demonstrate to the line guys how to inspect a Mooney nose truss and where the damage would occur that way I have a witness I also usually throw the line guy $10 because I feel like it may be cheaper to do that every time than to have to deal with damage.

I have to ask, what constitutes disabling an aircraft? I know of a guy who runs a small FBO who had a guy place his plane on the ramp for a month and run up a sizeable fuel bill. Local LEOs from neighboring counties contacted the FBO and alerted them to the pilot running engaging in months of parking his plane at different FBOs for a month, running up fuel bills, and then moving to another county. The FBO owner had the wheels booted, which immobilized the aircraft. I've also heard of mechanics removing props and holding them until the customer pays their bill as some form of mechanic's lien. I'm sure this came up in discussion with your attorney and I'm curious as to how the two things I mentioned seemed acceptable, but recovering your property was not.

I purchased an EarthX LiFePO4 battery. Lower capacity, much lower risk of thermal runaway and spontaneous combustion. I considered the risk of an unbranded Li-Ion or LiPo pack to carry in an aircraft across pressure ranges and turbulence to be risky.

My F has clear and I love it. The Rocket has green tint, which I think is important for flying up high for UV protection. I've considered replacing the little window with clear.

I’ve heard aeromotors is cheap, but also can be slow. CJ did mine this annual for my rocket and it was around $900.

KVDF

I've heard them referred to as "rodent boots" and not dust boots, and rodents in your wings can be far more corrosive.

Well, maybe next time. In the grand scheme of aircraft expenses, I'm not going to lose any sleep over not going with fine wires this go-round unless it's the direct result of the massives grounding me, which hasn't happened (yet).

Disregard my last post. I got ahead of myself and didn't see you'd posted the same chart that I went and looked up.