FloridaMan

Really not trying to give you hell about this. I would love to have small numbers on my airplane as well. This thread on ar15.com shows an issue a pilot found himself with. You may want to get a letter to carry around with you in your plane stating the approval in case you get ramp checked. I know that '67F owners have issues sometimes with the location of their data plate above the door, which meets the regs that state it must be visible from the ground, not that you have to be able to read it. Here is the thread on ar15.com that shows the problems one pilot had in regards to his numbers: http://www.ar15.com/...7/982093_.html Added: oldcatdriver in that thread, who is now banned from ar15.com, is one of FiFi's pilots (the only flying B29). I would recommend that you just get a letter from the FAA and that you keep it in your airplane in case you run into an inspector like the guy in the thread.

The missing digits in the N number are 2914. I didn't want it in the pictures where I hosted the photo. The lack of tension is that I had to tie the rear strap to the other side of the cover and wasn't able to get much tension out of it since the belly strap was too short. In the close-up picture of the baggage door, I'm showing where they placed the wear patch for the baggage door handle far forward of the baggage door. The baggage door is covered, but the strap seemed to want to go in front of the step or be tensioned against it. My Mooney has the power-retractable step and I'd rather not have a cover that puts any load on it, nor am I sure that it should put a load on those fairings that extend from the trailing edge of the wing. Edit to add: I sent them the same photos here, this is the response that I received: "We've been having a few discussions here on this end regarding the pattern selected for your aircraft, and because of the long-slope windshield modification we're pretty sure we selected the correct one. We acknowledge the patch looks like it is in the wrong position, this is likely because we based the pattern off of an older model with a slightly different positioning, and just didn't catch the new location. Besides playing with the positioning of the cover, and constantly adjusting the straps until you have a good fit, its very important that the cover is pulled tight in all directions (the cover can handle the pulling). This is especially important in windy conditions. If the cover still is not fitting correctly, then if you let us know the length of the rear belly strap, and how much you think you will need to have it buckle correctly, we can send you a replacement strap free of charge. Please let me know!" I'm unable to get the belly strap to attach across the underside with the front snaps completely disconnected.

Previous owner put a foot from a walker or a cane on my button. I have a 3D printer and am considering designing a more attractive selector switch.

UPDATE: The folks at Bruce's did everything possible to make me happy with the service that I've received. I would highly recommend Bruce's to anyone interested in an aircraft cover for their Mooney or any other aircraft. As is the case with the Internet, once you say something, it's there forever and any comment that creates question in the quality or service deserves a follow-up once things are resolved. So that there's no question about it, I am exceptionally happy with the cover and the service that I've received from Bruce's custom covers; I would buy from them again. Also, the initial issue that I reported was my own fault in how I routed the rear strap for the cover. I initially attached it from the right side and tossed it under the plane. The strap was routed ahead of the rear step, where the aircraft body was larger. My aircraft cover just came in for my '67 F with the LoPresti cowling. I've been in discussion with Bruce's Custom Covers over it. Since I have 201 glass all around and the LoPresti cowling, I ordered the cover they had listed for the "201, 205, 231, 252 and MSE" and had my tail number included on the cover. Shortly after ordering it, they called me and said they changed it to an "early M20 with sloped glass" pattern. I didn't understand how that was different from a J, questioned it, but they were adamant that it would fit better. The belly strap would not go completely across the bottom and the patch for the baggage door is against the rear window instead of the handle on the door.

Simply put, creating a "no fly" zone for a period longer than is minimally necessary to keep aircraft out of the area when a VIP is landing or departing goes against our rights to travel. It's the equivalent of shutting down the I-95 corridor and the Turnpike for the days while the president is visiting.

I think I saw your plane at Willmar when I purchased my F back in May and remember hearing the story that a gear up landing with the gear transitioning was about the worst time to have it happen.

Let's not forget that there was a supreme court ruling on freedom of travel. None of us want to be the test case, but TFRs go against this.

The only thing that I'll pick on is your lack of a backup attitude instrument. I've now lost two vacuum pumps. The second one was in my Mooney after flying all morning in IMC. It does happen. I had a Dynon D1 backup EFIS in the panel and it was VFR when the pump died, but up to literally minutes before, I was in solid IMC. The condition that triggered the pump failure was when I advanced the prop on my approach. On our return flight, we tested some of the various iPad apps for attitude, just to see. They are worthless. Added: Pump failures are not as friendly as when you're doing your training. And unless you have a post-it available to cover your attitude indicator, it will do its very best to throw you off. Both times the AI took about five minutes to stop working after the low vac light came on.

Bob, I was referring to the 1967 one being overpriced, not yours. Keep in mind there's some petitioning going on in regards to waiving 3rd class medical for daytime VFR flight of aircraft of 180HP or less. It won't keep you in your F, but might keep you in a carbureted Mooney.

How'd you get away with those little tail numbers?

I like that F listing in Arkansas. I think he's about $10,000 too high on the price.

I was in the area exercising the eurocopter and checked out the crash site. It looks to me like the plane augered in and death decided to not take you that day. From the damage to the trees surrounding the burned area, it doesn't look like there's any way that the plane could have been stable coming in. Also, Steve, I have your charred and melted keys that I can send to you if you'd like.

Just keep in mind that if you need a flight out to it from another airport in Florida, there are plenty of us here that can help you with that last leg.

Happy, stable, friendly clouds. You look focused. I always get a bit of an adrenaline rush going into the first cloud of a trip.

I'd like to knock out my commercial rating and, in reading through the PTS, should I be concerned with taking the test in a Mooney? Specifically I'm concerned with performing the 45 degree accelerated stalls in a Mooney. The PTS dictates that "stall awareness/buffeting" is the point to recover from and not a fully developed stall. I know that when I stalled my "F" at 9000 ft it stalled cleanly, sharply and I was able to recover without losing more than about 50ft of altitude, but I've also seen this video (start at 3:18): I've also found myself looking directly at the ground when stalling a Super Decathlon with the same level of effort required to get a clean break in a C172. Any tricks that'll make staying between the lines a little easier for the test standards?

I develop software for the iPhone/iOS. I don't believe the platform to be stable enough for a true secondary instrument. If you were to dedicate the device as a backup, by the time you purchased an iPod touch and a Levil sensor, you would only be a little shy of the $1425 price tag of the D1. I think that Levil makes an excellent product, but I went with the Dynon as an alternative to a standby vacuum system or electric attitude indicator. If Levil offered a full self-contained, unit, I would have considered it. I hope that Dynon will release their "skyview" synthetic vision product in a panel-clip package.

Where you out there signing your name on those others?

KTEB --

Be ready to put in a fair amount of right rudder when you pull up into ground effect, otherwise you'll find that the Mooney will like to drift left of centerline at such low airspeeds and high power settings.

This. To the letter. I use Rain Wipes microfiber towels and won't let one touch my glass if I've used it anywhere else. The reason for no circles is you'll see them when the sun hits it. . I also use Clear View on my leading edges and cowling to get the bugs off.

KFMY supposedly prices their fuel at $0.50 below some number. I don't think I've paid over $5/gallon there yet.

My guess is it's a disciplinary administrative thing. I don't believe that such a constant reminder belongs on any online community. A slap in the pecker from a moderator is best not lasted as a constant reminder, nor is the constant threat of a warning. On a special interest forum such as this, most people behave responsibly, even if arguments have the potential to get heated occasionally. I have yet to see anyone post anything deserving of a warning here. I've seen some baiting, but never escalation.

I purchased and installed a Dynon D1 as my backup artificial horizon. I had an empty hole between the altimeter and the G530 so I used the clip to mount it. After flying it for about 10 hours, I can say that I'm very happy with it. It seems to read true and be more responsive than the factory indicator. I have been able to get it to invert if I aggressively roll it around in my hands, but it took a lot of work and I'd say that I greatly exceeded the roll rate of any aircraft by doing so. A couple nice things about it are that it stays in my line of sight when I'm working with the 530. I also found it very nice to have a GPS heading that I could see in my normal scan when shooting an instrument approach. Hopefully sales will be good enough for Dynon to port their Skyview synthetic vision into the same form factor for next year.

I assume that's Tim Lundquist selling it. The airplane is located at KBDH, which is where Willmar Air Service is. I can tell you from personal experience that these guys are good to deal with and, had I not yet purchased my "F" model, I would be very interested in that J. Contact Brian at Willmar Air Service and get his opinion on your concerns. He put me at ease when I bought my F with a 1996 engine with 1350 hours on it. I'd also recommend speaking with Bruce Jaeger and see if he's familiar with the plane as well. He knew my airplane for 20 years and the previous owner for longer than that. Tim seems to have a good reputation among the users here, though I don't know him. Brian and Bruce both struck me as having a level of honesty that I'm not used to seeing here in Florida.