jeckford

I had to have 10 hrs of Dual and 10 hrs of Solo for insurance. I would recommend getting the most you can out of your 10 hrs of dual as Jolie mentioned. You are not going to learn as much about the plane sitting in the right seat watching someone else. You will learn something...I still enjoy being a safety pilot for my other group members, but not as much as if you are flying yourself.

Have been researching paint shops as well and will be stopping by and checking out several shops in Mena, AR tomorrow on way to MAPA Maintenance course in Little Rock. Have heard good things about some of the shops in Mena. We checked with several reputable MSC's in Texas who recommended them. FWIW the same MSC's did not recommend Tejas. Apparently their quality has been lacking lately.

Curious...Please post pic.

Just finished the King course for my IR and passed the test easily on the first try. Great course and does a good job of preparing you for the outdated FAA test....

Welcome aboard! There have been some previous threads on this before so you might search and read up on them. Here is a recent one: http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&forumid=1&threadid=4456 The general consensus is that it is doable but not adviseable. The learning process will inflict a fair amount of wear and tear on an aircraft and it is probably better to do that on a rental than on your own plane. Insurance rates will also be high for student pilots. Renting a mooney might be an option depending on your location but are rare and hard to find. Probably best to learn in a typically "trainer" geared for that purpose and then once you get your license you can move up to your own slightly more complex aircraft. A Mooney is a great, efficient cross country machine when you are ready to move up. Good luck! John

I have tried both the sporty's knee mount and RAM yoke mount. I have found that mounting it on the copilot yoke and angled towards me works best and is easy to see and use. I can still see the MP and RPM gauges pretty easy in my 82J.

Don't have direct experience but after some research this is what we are about to install in our plane. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/inpages/ei-chronometers.php

I really like my Sporty's flight gear mission bag. Holds my ipad and other accessories very well. You can also attach a couple of headset cases to it if you want. http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/15900

Jose Is this what you are talking about? http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/voicegearalert.php

I have nothing but great things to say about Dugosh. We recently did a prepurchase with them and it usually runs around $900. If everything passes on the prebuy then they can easily combine it into an annual for the normal annual cost which is usually around $2k for an uncomplicated annual. This will save you the prebuy cost if you are close to annual.

Send an email to support@mooney.com with your name, email address and serial number The Mooney factory will add you to the email list and alert you with new SB/AD's. At least that's what I was told when I contacted them several weeks ago.

Thanks for the above input guys. This is why I love this site! Avionics shop is currently correcting the heading bug and lubber line as they are off 10 degrees. Hopefully that will fix things. If not I will investigate getting the HSI rebuilt. Thanks, John

I have 2 related issues that I need input on. Recently purchased a well maintainted 1982 M20J and initially the Century 31 autopilot was working perfectly. There were some pitch related problems with it during the prebuy but this was fixed with overhauling the attitude indicator. Recently it suddenly stopped tracking the HSI (Century360). It will maintain altitude perfectly and will maintain the heading bug in heading mode but it is tracks 10 degrees to the left in heading mode. It will not track the CDI. When the course is put into the G530 and CDI is alligned, the CDI appears to connect appropriately. When I drift off track the CDI deflects appropriately. The autopilot does not seem to communicate with the CDI and the heading is all over the place or "wanders" HSI seems to be slaving appropriately. Any ideas? 2nd question is a good avionics shop in Central Texas to look at this issue. I am about to fire my current one. I dropped the plane off Sunday night and they understood that I need the plane this weekend and promised to jump right on it Tuesday. It is now Wednesday morning and they have not started on it to my knowledge and no one will return my phone calls. I left 2 messages Monday and 3 message yesterday for the GM. Thanks.

Quote: FlyWalt How about taking it to Kerrville? Any thoughts there?? Or another Mooney Service Center

Brian has a nice website documenting his updates on a '67 M20E http://www.67m20e.com/

Quote: schule Did you all have BBQ at Llano? Yep. Cooper's is worth the trip...

I have no affiliation with Flight Training, Inc however I recently had a great experience with these guys and thought it would be worth mentioning for future new Mooney owners. I recently purchased my first plane, a 1982 M20J. I am a 100 hour PPL and have only recently started flying again after a 20 year hiatus. I just completed my insurance required 10 hours of dual with Bob Cabe with Flight Training, Inc. Trey Hughes and Bob were an absolute pleasure to deal with. The transition training consisted of a full day of ground school reviewing the POH and different aircraft systems in detail. I then did 2 full days of flying, 5 hours each day. Even after such a long break from flying, I feel completely confident in my new Mooney. We visited 15 different airports and did 25 landings under different conditions. I had never used a GPS before (trained in the VOR days) and now feel confident using and love my G530W. A great experience and I highly recommend them for Mooney training. I have now flown 15 hours in the last 5 days and couldn't be happier with my Mooney and transition training. Mooneyspace has also been a great resource and I am thankful to those on this board for your advise and expertise.

The only way to completely power off the ipad is to hold the power button (top right) and home button at the same time for several seconds and then swipe the screen when prompted to power it off. I never do this...only when needed to reboot if something is acting "buggy". You can simply shut it down as you are doing by pushing the power button, but the apps are still running in the background and it uses very little battery. Have you setup email? As I am typing this on my computer my blank screened or sleep mode ipad just beeped due to an incoming email.

I know..I know...I have read numerous threads and understand the importance of a good prebuy. I have already paid $1000 for a prebuy and passed on the plane due to corrosion issues. My Question is...is it always necessary. My previous pre-buy was with Dugosh and they were kind enough to let me know about a "great" plane that they just annualled and would be for sale. This is a well maintained and well equiped J model that has been annualed and maintaned solely by Dugosh for the last 20 years. Just had an annual by them. Plane has a new engine with great compressions. Would you still get a pre-buy in this instance?

Sounds fishy to me... If you go the the CAFE website it was originally listed in June and states that it will be parted out... http://blog.cafefoundation.org/?p=3543

looks like a nice plane. My only concern would be that it has only flown 100 hrs since 2004. I would make sure you have a good check done on the engine.

Quote: m20flyer Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far! Non-compliance with 208B is a dealbreaker. Jeckford, if you don't mind me asking, where was the plane you were looking at? I think I may have found it.

Quote: danb35 SB 208B compliance is critical, as is the condition of the steel roll cage. Best bet is to find a good Mooney mechanic nearby; he'll know what needs to be checked out. Where are you located?

So sad! One of the nicest looking F's I have seen in a while....

Statement found on the web: "we might as well address the design flaw of the Lycoming IO-360-A3B6D engine (the engine currently on our Mooney). The -A3B6D has dual magnetos to power the spark plugs (just like most piston aircraft engines), however the design flaw is the two magnetos are in a single housing and driven by a single drive shaft. The whole purpose of having dual magnetos is to have two completely independent ignition systems, which the -A3B6D does not really have. Fortunately the Mooney M20J is also certified to use the Lycoming IO-360-A3B6 (without the D) which has two truly independent magnetos." I am looking to buy a M20J (first plane) which most come with the A3B6D engine. I see a rare number advertised with the A3B6 (split magnetos) engine. Are the Dual magnetos that big of a deal (i.e. risk of engine failure higher than split magneto?) It seems like a lot of folks are flying around with dual magnetos...are you worried about falling out of the sky?