smccray

Reasonable price for that bird. Biggest unknown is the availability of the current round of pending upgrades (G5, Dynon, etc) on a known ice plane.

I’m not aware of a Mooney for rent in DFW. James- you may think ‘we’ are over thinking this, but I’m fairly confident that gsxrpilot isn’t part of the ‘we.’ I suggest you do a little more investigation on aircraft insurance and how your suggested arrangement would affect an owner. Insurance for rental aircraft is substantially more expensive than owner flown aircraft. Even if an an owner added you to the policy as a named renter, the rate would go up substantially due to your low time in the plane. I’ve heard of a few Mooneys for rent elsewhere in the country. Your best bet is to travel to one of those planes.

Why are you And he apparently has a woman in a GA airplane for a 7 hour flight. My wife wouldn't last that long... he must be doing something right!

Okay- I'll bite... I agree with you on the second door. I would have liked a second door but it's not a primary driver of any airplane purchase for me. The keypad is a big deal though- I wish Garmin would offer that in their retrofit systems. All things being equal I would choose the door vs the climb in and shimmy across, but it doesn't really matter as I'm not a new airplane buyer anyway. I do think Mooney should have tried to put the Mustang gear on the ultra aircraft. Useful load- It matters. The lack of useful load probably doesn't dramatically affect most missions in 4 place piston aircraft. However- we can't on one hand advocate the old adage that you never have too much fuel unless you're on fire, then say that we don't have to fly full fuel. You don't have to, but not being fuel limited offers nice flexibility when planning. The lack of useful load in many 4 seat piston aircraft is a problem; it may just be a problem of perception, but it's a problem nonetheless. It's a bigger problem selling against a SR22 turbo. I'm definitely a mooniac, but if I were looking at a new single engine piston plane I would have a hard time not buying the Cirrus. For my own upgrade, I considered a Mooney Bravo, but price tags didn't make sense to me considering the incremental operating cost. Some of that is being based at a high cost airport (fuel north of $7 per gallon). I was about to buy an Ovation primarily to address my own transportation need, but my wife wanted to be able to load up and go somewhere in the plane. My wife and a child, (days away from our second) presents a challenge in the Mooney to make the trip from Dallas to Denver where her family lives. Any Mooney, particularly any long body Mooney, would have a hard time making that flight staying under the legal gross weight. That's a different problem, and any Mooney would have had a hard time fulfilling that mission (4 people and bags 600 miles). Nevertheless, the question isn't whether the Mooney is a fit for me- it's a question of whether useful load matters. Humbly, I suggest that it does matter to most buyers... useful load is always on the list of questions to ask when making the first inquiry on any Mooney. That sounds more like it, although I would have expected 195-200. Either way- the economy numbers in the table looked a little low. Book on my new bird is 180 ktas at 12k ft which is probably correct. I'm still getting comfortable in the plane. Similar HP, lighter weight, lower drag coefficient- it makes a difference.

I noticed that too. I had a fair amount of vibration on my J- the 6 cylinder continental in my bonanza is a lot smoother than the J. No comparison. I suspect the 6 cylinder continental is part of the difference. The practical performance table- 200 ktas @ 16K ft on 16 gph... that's pretty familiar performance/fuel burn coming from a guy flying a TN A36. Surprised it's not faster. I'm sure it climbs better than the A36, particularly at 2700 RPM.

+1 My home made shades for over the top of the scoop just fine. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if they didn’t fit, but that cut is a perfect solution.

I installed one on my J last fall after seeing this thread. It made a big difference. I would install one on the new plane but I keep the windows and doors closed at all times...

Appears to me to be a strategy to access more corporate flight departments. Garmin is slowly growing the aviation business to go after turbine aircraft. My bet is that they're going to integrate some of the capabilities of FltPlan.com into Garmin Pilot and to increase the attractiveness of Garmin products to corporate flight departments. Garmin supported the GNS480 for a long time, although the GNS480 is certainly being abandoned before the GNS530w/430w. Based on my limited experience with the 530w compared to the 480 in my J, the 480 is the better navigator. That said I'm not comfortable with the 530 yet so I'm definitely still biased. That said- we have to give Garmin credit - they did release new firmware that permits using the 480 as a WAAS source for ADSB. My bet is that Garmin keeps much of the FltPlan.com platform in its current form free. I would also bet that Garmin releases a series user interface improvements to a very antiquated existing platform with a fee associated with the new UI. Perhaps it will include some sort of interface with Garmin Pilot for dispatch communications for corporate flight departments.

Not if it was well repaired- not in this market.

The details matter- it’s worth a call to the guys who specialize in this area. I have heard of situations where an aircraft are moved years after the original purchase and the new location of the aircraft triggered a use tax bill based on the original purchase price.

$75K isn't enough to buy the plane he wants to buy. Maybe he'll get a taker, and it's reasonable that beating the bushes he'll find a plane that needs to go, but it'll be difficult. If a buyer wants a discounted price, the buyer needs to make it easy on the seller. It's difficult for a first time buyer to make it easy on a seller.

In general- states with fly away provisions permit a transaction to occur within the state boarders free of sales/use taxes as long as the aircraft is removed from the state in short order. Timelines and required paperwork are different for every state. Different requirements must be met depending on how a transaction is structured. It's not as simple as pick a state on that map and buy an airplane. This is not tax advise. Talk to a professional or risk a big bill.

I talked with the approach fast stack folks about redoing my panel in stages rather than a full makeover all at once. I was thinking the approach fast stack would make it easier to redo the panel in stages. They told me that if an EFIS is part of the panel then the EFIS becomes the hub. They didn’t recommend the system with a G500TXI that was professionally installed- better to build a custom wiring harness.

That's exactly what I would install if I had to pull the trigger on a new Mooney panel right now. Add a 255 radio, and a GFC500 and get on down the road. I'm exploring the possibility of installing a GSU470 (7" G3x display) as an MFD in my bird as part of a panel makeover. Right side only and doesn't have the same capabilities as a G3X, but it adds good capability to the airplane.

This is a topic where expertise matters. Paying someone who knows what their doing is generally worth, particularly for aircraft north of $100k. Yet another Deleware Corp saving taxes... I’m not aware of any structure where ownership by a Delaware Corporation, by itself, avoids sales taxes. It’s all over the Internet, but most of what I’ve seen is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. It makes it difficult for the taxing authority to find you, but it doesn’t change the status of the taxes due.

Big fan of Hard 8 at Stephenville. Easy walk to the restaurant. When the golf carts were there, I was always happiest when I took the golf cart to the the restaurant, then someone else drove it back. After filling up on BBQ a walk back to the airport was preferable to riding!!! I'm not a fan of Coopers. Heresy I know... I'm okay with that :).

+1 Even if BK has new offerings for the GA marketplace I wouldn’t buy them. I don’t have any confidence that they will support the product long term.

A couple thoughts- I believe Garmin wouldn't open up the GTN because opening the GTN wasn't good for Garmin, it was good for Garmin's customers and Garmin's competitors. I would like to see the equipment open, but it probably makes sense to Garmin to add the capabilities of openness only if you install Garmin equipment. The GFC500 autopilot is a game changer- that level of capability at a dramatically lower price point. True, the new Stec autopilot has a lot of capabilities, but on a new install it's not competitive with the GFC500 (price point is similar to the GFC600. Furthermore, I doubt you see the same level of integration between the navigators and the Stec autopilot as you will between a Garmin navigator and a Garmin autopilot; I doubt Garmin will open up the lower end system without regulatory pressure which I don't expect will happen. Commentary from people much smarter than me has said that the G1000 was a big step forward for integrated avionics, but the GFC700 is really the bigger deal. The quality of the flight characteristics was unmatched, and the ability to push buttons and auto sequence the flight plan represented a significant step forward from the Stec55x. If that's correct, and it makes sense to me flying into busy DFW airspace, then I don't see the same level of integration coming using the Aspen. I suspect the Stec digital autopilots are top notch at their ability to control the airplane. I question the level of integration with the navigators, but I'm admittedly out of my area of expertise, but time may prove my doubts to be unwarranted. Will the Stec autopilot with any GPS navigator fly full route lateral and vertical navigation? We'll need to give Avidyne time to catch up to Garmin, but if that capability exists soon then there may be a good competitor. However- that competition is only good for airplanes that have pre-existing Stec installations; the fresh Stec install is twice the cost of a GFC500. TruTrak? I may be wrong, but I think of the TruTrak/Trio autopilots as competition for the Stec 30/50 autopilots which probably won't be sold for much longer if at all. They're great options, but it appears to me that the market moved past their products. Nothing wrong with the products, but tough to compete with a basic GFC500 installation, albeit at a higher price. The question about the Aspen isn't whether an existing Aspen customer should upgrade, it's really a question of how competitive the Aspen is to the competition for a new install. As I noted before, the the Aspen has more capability than the G5, but if you're an aircraft owner with a king/century autopilot the Garmin system makes a lot more sense to me. It's even more obvious to me if the airplane is either already STCd for the GFC500 or is on the development timeline for the GFC500 (e.g. Mooney aircraft). G5, GTN650, GFC500 is an insanely capable setup for a traveling airplane; entry level integration in a way that is tough to beat- and tough to beat at the price point. Don't get me wrong- I'm rooting against Garmin even though I'm going to write a big check for Garmin equipment. They're milking me for GFC600 money instead of GFC500 because they can (A36). Fortunately for Garmin shareholders Garmin continues to develop new products rather than staying content as the market leader like Bendix King did years ago. New product not in the wild- let's give them the benefit of the doubt

Great idea but it’s not enough. Aspen had the right idea with their connected panel concept but it doesn’t seem like it really came together. Aspen is going to get squeezed by Garmin at the high end (TXi), Garmin at the low end (G5) and Dynon at the low end if it ever materializes. The Aspen is head and shoulders ahead of the Garmin G5, but the integration with an autopilot and the navigators brings capabilities that the Aspen doesn’t have.

I hope they're successful. Aspen is, in my opinion, responsible for the introduction of the G500 from Garmin. We need competition in the avionics market. However- I don't believe either company is doing what it takes to be a viable competitor to Garmin. I hope I'm wrong, but I've been saying it for a couple years- Aspen will not survive; Avidyne will end up swallowed up by Dynon or will disappear altogether. I hope I'm wrong, but stand alone avionics are going to be a tough sell next to an integrated system. Dynon is still in the best position to compete with Garmin, but there hasn't been much progress over the last year. I hope they're able to get installs under their belt over the next 12 months. Me? I'm putting my money where my mouth is- I can't stand how Garmin has positioned their autopilots milking A36 owners for GFC600 $ instead of GFC500 $, but you won't catch me putting money in any stand alone panel box other than PS Engineering. I'm torn between the Garmin EIS and the JPI, but I'm leaning towards the integrated option from the evil empire rather than the stand alone equipment.

only one minor issue: From the news release: "Aircraft owners can soon pair the economical GFC 500 autopilot with the G500 TXi or G500 flight displays, offering a fully-redundant, all-glass cockpit when paired with the G5. "

so you're buying a C310?

When I was looking at a change from a J to an R I actually met the underwriter from Old Republic- he said all I would need is a checkout- nothing more. When I actually bought the A36 all I required was a checkout. I had ~450 hrs in the J. Biggest concern I would have is your ability to perform a manual gear extension with your shoulder injury. It’s a different motion than the J bar so perhaps it’s not a concern. It’s not my area of expertise so I’ll express the concern and promptly shut up if it had been considered and addressed.

Unloads the wing...

So they're saying $30-40K of value for a $7K autopilot and a $2K attitude indicator? $20K install? I wouldn't say that $12-15K for 6 months on a $150K airplane is unreasonable by itself, but Garmin's number doesn't pass the sniff test. I'm sure there isn't a firm deadline at 6 months either. 35 hours on the engine is $1300 of engine value ($75K / 2000 hrs). Many circumstances where the arrangement would make sense such as a long over seas trip (or work assignment). If I were Garmin I would seek the same arrangement, but calling it $30-40K of value, IF we have the whole story, is insanity.