exM20K

LOL. I wish we had Jet-A at the home field, but we don't. Love the P46T a lot - probably the best bang-for-the-buck in fast owner-flown GA.

In addition to the speed, one of the amazing features/capabilities of the M20TN is climb rate. This plane will maintain 1000+ fpm all the way up into the low flight levels. That is a massive savings in time, fuel, and TKS fluid as compared to, say, a PA46. Look on flightaware: Mirage/Malibu climb rates are feeble - 5-600FPM. That's a long time to get up through WX or into the smooth air. I'd love to have a pressurized plane, but that sort of climb rate would be tedious. Out and back from west suburbs of Chicago to SE PA yesterday, and that was in icing conditions, so climb is done @ >120KIAS Here's a PA46 right now. great plane, but I'm not interested in a 40 minute climb. -de

ditto. the lack of a fail-safe full open is kinda scary. I do like the idea of demand flow as the constant flow is what is irritating to my PAX on long trips - blowing on and drying out the nasal passages. Coupled with a canula/boom system, this should be very comfortable, but w/o a fail-safe: no thanks. -de

I carry one of these with a refill bottle *and check it before every O2 flight* I have an old, original Nonin Pulse Oximeter that eats batteries like they're free, and that is my standby (with batteries uninstalled). My primary is one of these: http://lgtmedical.com/kenek/O2.html It plugs into the iPad, so I can basically leave it on all the time. If only I could get the split-screen to work, I'd have foreflight and O2 simultaneously. Levels check against the Nonin perfectly. Thinking seriously about a MH O2D2, which will alarm if you quit breathing. I just haven't figured out how to mount it into the ceiling O2 ports of the M20TN factory system without creating a forest of tubes. Any tips on where to mount these devices so the alarms are useful but they are not in the way? -de

Lots of good advice in the thread. Let me add another suggestion: be mindful of the winds aloft. Light & variable at the surface may be a significant tail wind just over the tree line - exactly where you don't want a push or loss of IAS. If 3000' winds are, for example, 230@20, I'm not taking off to the north. Glad you and family are well.

Niko, The DA40 and M20R each do some things very well at the expense of other things they do less well. Define your 80% mission, and pick the right plane for that mission. But first, make sure you fit in the DA40. Then, get a good handle on TCO for each plane - the mooney will cost more to own. DA40 Pro's: The high end of your price range will get you into a WAAS DA40XLS. GFC700 is head and shoulders above anything else out there. For distances less than 300NM, the speed difference will be meaningless - maybe 0.2 on the tach. The DA40 short field performance is much better Ingress and egress is much easier in the DA40 Annual is much less expensive (I pay $2500 ish for DA40's and just did a $7500 annual on a clean M20TN). Insurance is very inexpensive. M20R Pro's You should be able to get a G500 retrofit Ovation that is WAAS very economically. Don't fixate on the G1000 - I believe the G500 installations are in a lot of ways superior to G1000. The first time your 300NM trip is into a 50 knot headwind, you'll appreciate the extra speed! Ovation can be equipped with FIKI. In my part of the world, this is mandatory. UL is higher. by a couple hundred pounds Ride is quieter and smoother High altitude performance is better How I would decide: If my distances are <300NM, if I must operate frequently off a short field, if I don't need to carry four adults, if I don't need deice, then the DA40 is the winner. If my distances are 500+, if I'm operating off long runways, if I'm in an icy part of the country, the Ovation wins. Given your lowish time, the DA40 may be the best choice - getting your instrument rating, managing the plane, getting used to owning a plane will be easier. Will you outgrow it in a few years? Maybe. Lastly, the used market for both (I know the Diamond market better than the Mooney market) is very tight. There simply are very few good planes for sale. If you can wait until after the turn of the year, the supply/demand imbalance driven by tax buyers will abate. I chose the M20TN because it checked the more important boxes for me than did any Diamond - including the DA62. But that was for my use case - long legs, flying few people, need de-ice, no Jet-A on the field, etc. Consider carefully which boxes are important for your new plane to check, and the choice will be self-evident. -de

I had this for sale but decided to keep it for the Acclaim. Super useful. Sporty's used to sell them. -de

The dipstick on the Acclaim is not great. the gradations above 6qt are very close together, and they may not correspond to what's actually in the crankcase. I measured mine after an oil change and the 7-8qt measures were rather "off". On the ground, a full 8 qts reads at the top of the 8, not at the line below. Maybe the oil filter wasn't completely full. Other comments: Filling to 6 is insufficient. While the engine will "make" a quart of so when it sits for a week, I fill to 7 or 8. Do you observe oil on the belly? When my 231 needed a top, the tail tiedown ring would drip oil in the hangar. Are the exhaust pipes coked or oily? Figure out if you are really losing oil, and if so, where it is going.

There is a SB to re-route the breather line out of the exhaust pipe. Check if this was done. If not, it may be the source of your excess oil consumption. http://www.mooney.com/en/sb/M20-312.pdf

We were 1 of 50+ ifr aircraft filed to Paducah the morning of the eclipse. I figured five vfr aircraft for each ifr meant a likely oversaturated mess. Trying to get fuel for the return etc not fun. We bagged it, and the clouds broke just in time for great viewing of our 90%.

My understanding is that it's mostly the landing gear. Note you can fly a M20TN at 3368 but it must be @ or less than 3200. Vso is 59KIAS, so there is enough wing to go to 61KIAS (KCAS?) without modification. Cirrus got their last, and significant, gross weight increase by going to a Vso of 64 KCAS. this required re-thinking the seats and some other changes. If Mooney wanted to go down that path, they could get a bunch more pounds of UL - provided the gear could pass a drop test at the high weight.. However, the runway requirements, already kind of high, would be *really* high at MTOW. Another 2-300 pounds of UL in the new models would probably be worth the development/cert spend, and I hope Mooney has a go at it.

Especially if your time abroad is more like three years and less like one, I'd sell it. Hangar, insurance, cost of money, deterioration from disuse, logbooks showing years of disuse, and so on make storing it for years an expensive proposition. Planes are easy to buy, and maybe your mission has changed on your return. Or.... is it possible to ferry it to your overseas posting? You're free to fly your "N" registered plane on your FAA certificate in most of the 1st world..

So here's a view from outside the cockpit, for a change. I am based at a very short field, and on my return flight from Air Mods annual (tweaked the rigging and bought an extra couple knots!), I had a dead calm day at the home drome. No wind days are not a bonus on short runways. I think you'll be surprised how close to the ground the flare is. This was a minimum-energy landing. I was at 71 KIAS the whole way down final and <70 crossing the numbers. My suggestions (not a CFI, but lots of medium and long body time): Test and record your Vso. Especially with TKS, I want to know at what speed the plane will stall. Do this at various weights. My stall varies from 54 - 59 KIAS, depending on weight. Make a Vref card for various weights. My columns are for Vref=1.3*Vso and Vref=1.2*Vso. I use 1.3 for big fields and 1.2 for critically short fields. These Vref's range from 65 - 77 KIAS. Get slow early on final. Hit and hold your Vref, and your landings will improve quickly. If you are not too fast on final, you will feel the aircraft enter the ground effect. It's hard to describe, but you will feel an acceleration or dampening of the descent rate. This is your cue to trim up and remove power simultaneously. I continue to trim throughout the flare. If you're trimmed for Vref, it's one less thing to worry about. You can focus on the sight picture, the visual effects Rod Machado and others have described, and bask in the satisfaction of a well executed landing. Good luck. p.s. Per Don Kaye's recommendation, speed brakes are stowed on final and used only after the mains are on the runway. Works great for me.

GFC700 was a big driver in my decision, and that is G1000-only. It is a vastly superior AFCS to anything else out there. I am also very familia with the G1000, having flown behind that system for nearly 10 years, and I like the system a lot: it's intuitive, capable, and keeps the cockpit&spaniel clutter under control However, if Garmin's new autopilot will play nicely with a G500/GNS750 setup, that could be the better setup. G500, while smaller, has twice the pixel density of the G1000, so it is easier to read. And since this panel mount stuff can be swapped out, you're not locked in forever to G1000. The G1000 Mooneys have a much shorter panel, and I really like this feature, especially on final and landing. If an Acclaim is what you're after, then obviously there's no choice other than G1000. Ovations and Bravo offer some choice, though the G1000/Bravo won't allow GFC700, so you're left with the inferior S-Tec. The economics of retrofit vs. OEM are a little more tricky. G1000 is known and will retain value less normal depreciation. How much of an $80,000 panel will you recover in resale on a less expensive plane? Maybe half?

-1 for me. Maintenance issue....

The Aviation Consumer came by the Diamond booth after the tornado to marvel at our tiedowns and their performance. We used (and continue to use) 3/4" steel rod with a "T" welded to the top of the 24" shaft. They are heavy and a pain to put in, but they won't budge. There's an article in AvCon from right after that fiasco describing the various solutions: Click here if you're a subscriber. "Claw" type tiedown performance is variable in their tests, and it deteriorates with very wet or very dry ground. We use the 24" rod because it penetrates well below the wet (or dry) level. At home, I use swingset anchors, available at any Farm&Fleet shop. The one near me carries lengths up to 18", and they are made of thick steel rod with an auger blade at the bottom. The only thing that will bend straight under load is the top, which is formed into a loop but not welded. They look something like this:

Jlunseth probably has it right WRT bootstrapping. A few knots of IAS will do this to MP. I'd be very conscious of CDT in the 231 running high MP especially at high altitudes.

I'll be there -dan

There will be peak/off peak/weekend/special event changes or imposition/suspension of fees, so calling every FBO will be a non-comprehensive snapshot. What AOPA is trying to do is to document the really outrageous fees when they are charged, and I believe it's a worthwhile effort.

Not for sale. Decided to keep it. This was super-useful in our 231 when the kids were little. It has lots of pockets, and the grommets on top are well-spaced for at least the 231 headrest holes. https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ubx2pes28pa8ob/IMG_1803 (1).JPG -dan

Does anyone here know how to suppress bitchin' Betty's "STALL...STALL...STALL" warning of impending doom? She is at least 5 KIAS faster than the normal stall warning, and this early warning is not especially helpful. I spent 15 minutes in the aux and configure pages to no avail. Thanks in advance.

In addition to the other good advice above: Stay upwind of the porta-potties Be mindful of the ultra-llight emergency strip; you shouldn't drive on it and definitely don't set up there. If you are south of Elm, the ultralight parade every evening is fun to watch. if there is rain forecast, look for higher ground and look at the road into and out of your row. If it won't be really hot, stay away from the 24 hour generator section: noisy and stinky. Definitely look for a spot in the 40's. Those do empty out some. The really close in stuff will be full till Sunday. This will be my 10th year in a Diesel Pusher at OSH. I did do the caravan in 1999 and had a ball, but an all-week stay really is easier in an RV. Especially with little ones... -de

It was a Concord RG24-15, and I believe it was original to the aircraft (2009), so I can't be too upset about that lifespan. My A&P said there was one or more cells shorting out - don't know much more than that, and it failed a load test miserably. Basically, it was done. -de

Update - sorry for not doing this earlier: i hate squawk posts w/o resolution... It was the #1 battery shorting out. Apparently one battery shorting is sufficient to show this sort of draw even when the faulty battery is not selected and receiving only a trickle charge. Anyway, one new battery and 35 trouble-free hours since. -de

sold and shipped. -de