smccray

Quote: pmccand I will not be flying...driving again. Worst thing about it is that I won't even get a 5 minute break to leave my 10x10' booth for the entire week. (y'all feel free to stop in and giving me a break once in a while) Sleeping in a SUV...ah, the life of a vendor! Phil McCandl.es.s

Hi all- I'll be down for 1 day on Saturday. For those of you with experience at Sun n Fun, how would you recommend the travel? Fly to LAL late on Friday night and find a hotel, depart after 6PM on Sat (how do we get transportation?) Fly to within 100 miles of LAL and fly in first thing Sat morning, depart after 6PM Fly to Tampa/Orlando Friday night and then drive to LAL on SAT morning I've never been to a large fly-in and I'm a little concerned about the amount of traffic. I've watched the arrivals on youtube and they're very helpful- just how crazy does it get out there? I assume I need to bring tie downs? I have ropes, but does anyone have any recommendations for anchors?

So it looks like the Mooney Mite is for sale in the Sun N Fun Auction: http://avbidaircraftauctions.com/our-inventory/1948-mooney-m-18l-absolute-sale/

Call me crazy, but I'd include a Beech Debonair with the 235 horse engine to your list of options. Run some scenario W&B calculations as the Bonanzas & Debonairs can be loaded beyond their aft CG limitation. Personally I liked the efficiency and handling of the Mooney, but to each their own. Just make sure you fly in the plane you're looking at before you buy it- plenty of people like their Arrows. The Mooney felt small when I first got in it, but as soon as we took off the first time I flew in it I completely forgot the lack of headroom. If it doesn't work for you then buy an Arrow. I read all the studies on cabin size, but this isn't one of those decisions you can make on paper.

Quote: Comatose Of my squawk list, which was brake pads, wing sumps, mag 500 hour service and nav light breaker, only nav light breaker got done. I'm furious. Am I overreacting, or should I just collect the plane from these chuckelheads and drop it off somewhere where they have a vested interest in my prop continuing to turn?

Quote: Hank I may be easy, but I pride myself on not being cheap. The word I like is "frugal"! [so why do we call it 'the cheap b@st@rd club? I dunno, I didn't name it, I'm just a member.] Be careful disparaging us Appalachian Americans! I'm not from WV, work brought me North . . . . .

Quote: Hank Go to a hardware store, Sears or any industrial supply house. Buy the cheapest visitor safety glasses they have. [Mine were $1.75] They are designed to fit over glasses, if you wear them. [i do. Be careful who you say that to! ] This also makes them fit over sunglasses for use on sunny days. Sit in the plane with the seat pulled up to where you fly. Draw a line on the outside of the lens where the panel goes--use a magic marker. Put masking tape over the inside of the lens below the line you drew. Then sandblast the inside of the glasses, including the side shields. If you don't have access to a sand blaster, and don't know anyone who does, you can cut sandpaper into strips about an inch wide, wrap it around the end of your finger, and apply texture manually. It is surprising how little 'clouding' of the lens will prevent vision wearing them. When I bought the Mooney, I gave my old pair to my CFI, since they were for the 172. Now I have a vintage Mooney set of foggles that live in the plane [in an old Crown Royal bag for protection]. Quick, cheap, and won't cause problems with side vision or panel cut-off, etc. Store-bought foggles have the texture on the outside, meaning when they eventually get scratched, there is a blinding starburst effect wearing them. Textured insides are protected from this effect.

Quote: Mitch We use The Best IFR Hood! http://www.billweder.com/hood/ It does a great job limiting our view, very lightweight and easy to store.

I did my first 2 hrs for my instrument rating last night. It was a great flight, but I need to do something else with a view limiting device. I have some blockalls (worked great in a 172) and my co-owner had a pair of foggles but neither one worked for me. The foggles didn't cutoff enough on the left so I could see the ground which was disorienting. The cutoff at the top where it goes from clear to blocked was dissimilar between my eyes which was also disorienting. Flying the plane was enough of a challenge- I don't need the view limiting device to add to that challenge. I'm considering buying one of the big hood styles, but I"m not sure how well it will fit in the Mooney. Any recommendations from those who have been down this path before?

http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=54329&hilit=lemo $30 for the whole kit is pretty thrifty .

Last August @ age 32.

5 hours since July, and 20 years on the engine. Why did it get a new prop 780 hrs ago, and why did it need to be overhauled in July? It needs an engine monitor. The infrequent use would suggest that the engine likely won't go much longer, and depending on the state of the assessories the overhaul could run in excess of $30k, particularly if you upgrade the mags to a dual mag setup. There aren't many J models on the market right now- it looks a little slim.

If I were going to pursue a reintroduction of the M20J I'd go with an Aspen and a DFC90 autopilot. However... The problem here is when you buy Mooney you're not buying much more than a design. The manufacturing line is essentially shut down. For Mooney to even get back up and running you have to build a manufacturing capability essentially from scratch. If I were going to choose an airframe it would be a longbody. Depending on the similarity in construction it may be easy to design both the mid and long body into the manufacturing process, but the production cost won't be all that different. The NA SR22 has a base price of $450k. I doubt many sell at that pricepoint, but it never the less, it's a target. Our resident lear jet expert probably has a better idea, but what does that give us in terms of budget for the airframe cost including paint and interior- $100k? I don't have a clue where the cost allocation is, but whatever the margins look like it's a tough sell to an investor at only a handful of units selling per year.

Quote: flyby201 I'm not positive, but I think if you want to display weather you will also need a Garmin GDL-69 (not sure that's the correct #). Last time I looked they were around $5K. If you want to display traffic you need a mode S transponder. I talked to my avionics shop about installing one of these about a year ago and they quoted about $1500 or more for the install. IMHO a 696/796 looks a lot more attractive.

Going one step further, I'd look at the airplanes that have J cowls and other speed mods. The cost for the upgrades is significant if done after the purchase but it's pennies on the dollar to buy the plane with the upgrades already complete.

I made the transition to the Mooney at ~80 hrs after doing all my training in a 172. Go for it- it's definately doable to transition to a Mooney with low time. I'll caution you on 2 things though- 1) Expect the time to get your ticket to take a little longer since the plane is a little more complex, and 2) nothing about learning to fly is applicable to owning a plane so be prepared to invest additional time to ownership over and above your training.

Quote: johnggreen Lots of pilots are going to hand carried units like the 696, but you do so with limitations. A good, panel mounted MFD is a very useful and desireable tool. Just not cheap.

Why do you want the MFD? Compare cost and capabilities between a MX-20 and a 696 or 796 in an air gizmo. I'm planning an air gizmo for a 796. It will download the flightplan data and provide a battery powered GPS backup. It's not legal, but in an emergency you could use the handheld to shoot an LPV approach. All that and you get XM too. I've read that the MX-20s are really slow- the 200 is supposed to be a better choice, but of course that comes at a price.

My recommendation- run the numbers before you buy so you have some idea what you're going to encounter. Then double the number. If that doesn't scare you away, buy a plane and stop running numbers- it's too depressing. I know what I spend, but I choose to forget.

There was a really good thread on beechtalk that addresses these concepts. It's worth reading: http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=61861&hilit=corner+speed It's another one of those threads that makes my head hurt.

Quote: rangermb ...but don't really want to glue a pad heater to the case.

Quote: jetdriven Also, does anyone ele feel he is asking "2005" top of the market prices for his other planes? 167K for a 1974 A36? 129K for a 1984 252? 160K for a 1986 252???

http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20K-231/1985-MOONEY-M20K-231/1225029.htm? Why exactly do you need a 337 for a ferry? You'll need a mechanic to sign off on the ferry permit, so it might be easier to just bring the mechanic to the plane. There's an SB for aircraft prior to ~1987 to re-up the corosion proofing. With missing logs prior to 2005 there probably won't be good records on SB compliance. The plane is at least 12 months out of annual and I wouldn't expect it's been well taken care of for at least the last year, probably the last two years+. It's 1600 SMOH, so 400 hrs from TBO. If it hasn't had a top overhaul, the TSIO 360 has a reputation of requiring new jugs during their life, but I'm sure there are exceptions. Engines usually last longer when their run regularly- I would expect this plane to need a new engine within the first year of ownership and if the engine lasts longer call it a bonus. Unless the plane is absolutely perfect for your needs or the contract price is well below market I would pass. Frankly I wouldn't put a deposit down unless it's in an escrow account and you can get out for any reason with all funds coming back to you. You might consider including a clause in your purchase contract that the seller pays for the inspection if s/he doesn't want to repair any airworthiness items, or if there's any corrosion found in the engine. Keep one thing in mind- despite what the broker would have you believe, there's no such thing as a good deal in buying a plane. Either you pay now (acquisition price) or you pay later (repairs and upgrades). If you're in FLA, take a look at the 1984 K model the same broker has listed. Yes it's a higher acqusition price... but you pay now or you pay later. After you put another $30k into N928MB you're not that far off considering the upgrades on the '84.

Quote: peter No charge.

When we designed the connection between the jack and the jack point we were extremely concerned with the possibility that jack point could slip off of the jack. It's difficult to tell from the photos, but there's a socket and ball connection between the jack point and the top of the hydraulic ram. In addition, there's a brass fitting sitting on top of the ram that would make it even more difficult for the jack point to slip off of the jack. If the third point (tail weight or an engine hoist) fails, I would expect any wing jack to go through the wing as did in that photo. Wing jacks are only designed to lift the plane- balancing the plane on the jacks is another matter altogether.