DrBill

Bought my first plane at 53 when I wanted to get my Instrument Rating. 8 years later bought the Mooney. First ride 7/4/70, PPL 8/23/70 (no typo....7 weeks) IFR in 2003. Took 28 years off to raise a family.

I have a mini-Mag lite with red lens (primary) and in the bottom of the bag is a 3D Maglite white lens. Only needed once when the field wire broke on the alternator on a flight from CLT-RDU. Told ATC I was returning to my home airport, shutdown unncessary load, and landed w/o incident. Used the red lens one to see the instruments. Bill

Am Flying to OBE on the 2nd for a long weekend with my Brother-in-law. Anything going on that weekend ? Bill

Quote: mschmuff Is it just me or is everyone asking top dollar for their aircraft? Every time I find a M20F for under $50,000 it needs paint, interior and doesn’t have an IFR GPS. Seriously, $45,000 for a plane that needs paint ($8,500), interior ($6,500) and a 430 ($9,000 used) I’m looking at over $70,000 – why not just buy a “J”?!?! Does anyone know of a M20F for sale that the owner isn’t living in a dream world? It’s winter, the economy sucks and it’s a buyer’s market!!! East Coast only.....not flying to Calif to look at a plane!

Looks like a 78 J at KLHZ. just E of RDU. Bill

My last plane needed a new battery and I got a Concorde Worked great. I'll get a Concorde when mine needs replacement for sure. Bill

The requirement states that it must be in an operation that requires a co-pilot. For most single engine activities that is only when doing IFR practice work with view limiting device on the pilot. Unless your a CFI and then there are other "activities". BILL

I use the Garmin 430 WAAS simulator to practice.. Just last night I practiced changing approaches. Really good. I set the default start location to my airport so it's quicker to get set up. Bill

I was in a partnership on my previous plane. We got along well. A good deal for both of us. With my Mooney he was no longer interested in flying, so I own it myself. I'd get a partner if it's the right person. Bill

I emailed AOPA member services and got a reply today. They are switching me to standard version AND sending me a copy with the Mooney on the cover ! Now THAT's customer service. BILL

Yes over 4000. When I remember it. 65 E BILL

WOW,, NICE COVER.. Mine has a CESSNA TWIN on it but the article is inside. He's got the Johnson bar movement wrong.. Raising the gear on my A/C I take the bar from the panel and lower it to the floor. Wonder if he has any time in a mechanical gear Mooney ?

Fellow Pilots, I am writing an article on using a spreadsheet to create a computer based logbook. I have been using mine for over 10 years and felt it's about time to spread the news. I'ld like to include spreadheets for the most common logbooks. (mine is 40 years old,... don't laugh it is ALMOST used up). If you would like a spreadsheet of your logbook and a early copy of the article, scan a copy of a blank page in your book and I'll put it in my databank. After a few days, I'll see which pages are exactly alike and the style with the most submissions will get done first. I'd like scan'd copies of your logbook blank pages if possible so I can include them in the article. Please include the make and model. The model is usually found on the first page and the make is usually on the second page or the last page (my case) in the copywright statement. E.G. Mine is a model AP-3, Aero Products Corporation, St. Louis, 1969. Just send it to my email, N5612Q at bellsouth dot net. I don't make any money on these articles as I submit them to type clubs for publishing in their magazines like our MAPA LOG. Thanks for your help BILL

I have a 65 E and a 3 blade prop. Like Gregg indicated, previous owner had gear up. It's really nice and quiet and I feel that I climb a lot faster than a 2 bladed F on the field. I'll keep it ! BILL

The previous posts are right on. Get your PPL first, then start shopping. Have an idea of exactl what you want as a minimum in avionics. For most cross country work a GPS is almost becomming a requirement. My first plane (purchased) was a Beech Sundowner so that I could get my instrument rating. I bought it knowing that I need to add a IFR GPS and another radio ($7K). After 7 years I decided to move up and bought the E after selling the Sundowner. The Mooney is MUCH MORE airplane than any Cessna or Piper training aircraft Searching for the E I made a spreadsheet of all those that met my requirement. I was really looking for something within 2 hr drive but soon expanded that to 2 hrs of commericial flight. I finally found it about 1 hr drive away and after a thorought prebuy by my mechanic, I bought it. You can find E's in the 30s but with older avionics. Mine had a total upgrade 6 years ago ($40K) and I paid under $50K for it. 3000 total hours, 900 SMOH. Was advertised for Low 50s but I knew it was on the market for more than 4 months and hence we came to terms. 6 monhts now and I'm still happy with it. Good luck in your search. BILL

I got an Vizio Tablet with internal GPS (no external needed). and a shirtwith the Mooney patch and my name on it. Bill

I have flown to RDU (Raleigh NC) on several business and personal trips. Sometimes I use the "crew car" and mostly not. When I do get good sevice or when they opt to not charge me the "landing fee". I call the local pizza place and order 2 larges for lunch the next day to be delivered at 1145. I have them mark the boxes with my N number. The next time I get there--- red carpet treatment. Well worth the $20. BILL

I have to balance 2nd Amendment and aviation support. They usually go toghether tho. BILL

I loooked for the same reason prior to my purchase. Then a local 20C owner took me up, and the mechanic let me sit in an 20F he had in for annual. I was sold. Bought my 20E and that was 30 hrs ago. BILL

Quote: DaV8or Darn... I didn't think about that. I guess I'll switch back to the sealed beam then.

I had about 100 hours when I got into my Sundowner. The Insurance was the big thing. No time in Make and model so the cost was $1500 for the first year. Then I was required to log 10 hours of dual and 10 hrs of solo before passengers. Over time the insurance dropped to $700 ($55k- constant) and 300 hrs in type. The biggest drop came when I got my Instrument rating the first year. Had the plane 8 years. In July I got my Mooney E model and same $55K, same $1500, same 10 hrs of dual and 10 hrs of solo. I felt that the first 5-6 hrs of dual were well worth it. As I pass 100 hrs in model I expect it to drop $200-400. Bill

I got the Mooney Flash drive for I think $270.. Well worth the $. From MOONEY direct-

Quote: Mazerbase I would like to remind people about the Rocket crash in Augusta, GA in 2011 that looks like a gear up landing followed by an improper prop installation for a ferry to repair several months later that killed the pilot. All this talk about ferrying a broken plane makes me very nervous.

Quote: Jamosu72 Thanks much everyone. Perhaps I am losing my mind, but did I read on here in the last three days about someone buying a plane form All American and flying around Texas for some training? Was that on a different thread? (I'm looking for the salesman?) Thanks. And if I have distilled this information correctly, Coy Jacobs might be suspect?

I bought my Mooney in July. I looked for about 3 -4 months before I found what I wanted. I had co-owned a Beech Sundowner for 8 years so I kind of knew what I wanted. I followed 4-6 websites daily. I wanted one within driving distance so I could go look at it without spending a lot of $. I watched Barnstormers, MAPA, Controller, AOPA, and a few other smaller ones including All American and another one in TX. I found my hit on Controller. It was listed by a broker in Ky but the plane was in NC. Only on the Controller ad was that specified (not even on the ad of the broker site !). My prime interest was avionics and hours (tot and smoh). I made a spreadsheet of all interesting planes and when I came upon a new one I'd add it to the list, rate the categories 1-5 and the sum up the ratings. After a few weeks, this plane stayed on top. So I went to look at it and the rest is history. The categories were avionics, price, location(i stayed away from salt air environments), general exterior condition, interior condition, color, total hours, smoh hours. Worked for me. BILL