231flyer

I attended a talk given by a retired controller in Colorado (Rocky Mountain fly-in) and he preferred "EM TWO ZERO PAPA (or TANGO if turbo like me)". I also own a Piper Mirage and controllers in the DFW area refer to it as a "P A forty six" (PA46-350P official type) but the Mooney is refered as above so not sure if there is exact nomenclature (except M20P or T).

I am based in TX (KDTO) but have a house in Granby (KGNB). I am up atleast once every six weeks and spend most of the summer and Xmas in Granby. I will be there w/o 11/28 if you want to come checkout my 231. Granby also has a very active pilot community and EAA chapter on field and atleast another Mooney jockey (I think an F). Btw my 231 is for sale and advertised on this board.

Allsmiles: Potential solution for mounting your iPad. Works great for me. http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?page=3&mainaction=posts&forumid=1&threadid=3412#post46167

Per FAA panel discussions at Sun-N-Fun this year an EFB (like Foreflight) is perfectly acceptable for us private pilots (did not press on the requirements for 135 operations) to replace all our paper charts (VFR and IFR charts, Approach Plates etc.). I use Foreflight on my iPad and have a backup on my iPhone (no additional subsscription for the second copy). Foreflight on the iPad does have geo-referenced approach plates and they are great for situational awareness when combined with your GPS/ILS. Given the pain of keeping paper charts upto date I have gone all electronic for the past year and find I use my charts more effectively. Updates are a breeze with Foreflight - you get auto reminders and downloads are the press of a sigle button. Combined with my Garmin Aera, I now have all the functionaly of full glass panel navigation on my 1980 231. Btw I have a backup AI on my iphone and ipad (iHUD from Aero Visions - a $10 app I think). Although not an official backup AI, it can come in handy if your electrics or vacc go TU (has happened more than once in my 19 yrs with the 231 and its single alternator and vac). I usually have Foreflight up on my iPad and the iHUD on my iphone when I fly. The iHUD is surprisingly stable and accurate (with accelerometer smoothing). Just plug into your ships power and have 6 hrs battery backup if your alternator decides to bite you that day.

I am sure y'all have seen this before. Fly smart, fly safe:

Jack: Beautiful pic of the rockies. I love those severe clear days especially after a snow dump the night before. I understand the mountains already have a nice coating of snow. I plan to be in GNB w/o Nov 28th and will get some pics for the board. Thanks for sharing.

Astelmaszek: I agree. GNB or 20V gets you to Winterpark, Sol Vista, Steamboat, Breckenridge, A-Basin, Keystone, and Copper Mountain without having to deal with 1-70/I-25 or any high mountain passes. Kremling (20V) to Breck is 50 miles and a direct shot on US-9 (no high passes). I am working on acquiring a hangar at GNB so I can fly in directly rather than stop in the Denver area during winter. Shoveling snow off and around your plane is absolutely miserable ( I guess I have gone soft in my old age).

Thanks again for all this useful info. My brother-in-law and I will go diving and get outfitted at Brendal's. Really happy to hear the island airport is secure. My favorite "secure" island airport is San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) in Belize. They have a prominent perimenter fence with an equally prominent hole. The locals ride bikes and such across the runway to get to their houses on the other side. Scary to see all the "crossing" traffic on approach. Local pilots seem to be at peace with it though. Great diving at the "blue hole" and the national reef parks.

I had 20 hrs and no ticket when I bought 231NJ. She sat in the hangar for a month till I finished my ticket and started my IFR training immediately. I built a Lancair IV with a LS1 engine and bought an Eclipse Jet and a Piper Mirage. Finally got rid of the Eclipse last year (VFR only non-Fiki jet restricted to 18,000 FT due to Avionics/cert/PW 610 issues). I have really enjoyed my 19 years with the 231. Always trusty and gets me home. A fast little no fuss machine.

Thanks for your help. Very useful info. We are staying at the Bahamas Beach Club for the week and hope to get some island hopping done. Looks like we will get assigned BR1L- Freeport- BR10L to MYAT. I checked on Foreflight and the they do show up on the low alt IFR charts (VFR too). No app charts though......I think I will get the Bahamas Air Guide app for $60. Btw is the Airport secured and safe? I have always been uneasy about Mexican airports but Nassau and Freeport seem to be ok. I am flying in our Mirage so will stick to the hard surface airports - nothing too adventerous!

GNB is plowed on a regular basis but I don't have a hangar there. Its a pain digging out after a snow dump especially compared to BJC and their nice heated hangars. Its a 90 minute drive to our house from BJC and the drive is beautiful too. Traffic does get quite heavy to the mountains starting Friday afternoon during ski season though.

Thanks. I like the Andalucia area and airport. Usually choose between Enterprise (EDN) and 79J as our midpoint between TX and FL. Lunch at 79J is included in the price of gas. I always tip generously because the diner also feeds our brave army reserve pilots gratis. I think one of the helo units is based around there and I have always seen a bunch of young pilots around. Extremely friendly folks. I hope one of our pilots has some recent experience at MYAT (Treasure Cay, Bahamas). I have flown into Nassau and Freeport but my first time into MYAT. I have found a big difference between actual and advertised conditions the farther I get from the mainland.

We are flying to Treasure Cay (MYAT) for Thanksgiving (Route DTO-79J-FPR-MYAT). Any recent info. on runway condition/places to tie down or general advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks

I took a full day mountain flying course in Vail (KEGE) way back in 1993. Sportys has numerous videos and books on the subject. I also found some great tips at http://www.pilotfriend.com/safe/safety/introduction_mountain.htm. I highly recommend the course in Vail (combine it with your ski trip......thats what I did). The pop up over the front range into the Granby valley is rather easy except in the winter when weather changes abruptly. You will fly over parts of the Indian Peaks and close to Rocky Mountain National Park and Lake Granby - absolutely spectacular views everywhere. I have very stringent personal minimums (Day VFR, Clouds above 15,000 ft MSL, winds at Corona Pass less than 25 knots etc.).

We have two young girls so we have done the annual Disney trip for the last 13 years. I find KISM to be the easiest and also cheapest. I do agree with the earlier post of facilities being a little run down. Friendly folks though and much easier drive if you are staying on property at Disney. My wife usually takes a "shopping" day at the outlet malls before we head home and its directly on the way back to the airport.

We have a house in Granby (60 miles north of Breck) and fly directly into the Granby airport during the non-snow months. GNB is a great airport (major upgrades to the 5000 ft runway last year) with easy approach plus reasonable SS Avgas and Jet A. We fly into Rocky Mountain Metro (BJC - formerly known as Jeffco Airport) during the winter months. BJC is closer to the "mountains" than centennial and the traffic is a little easier since you avoid the whole I-25 mess. We use Denver Air as our FBO. Nice folks and great service but you do pay Denver prices for gas. GNB is usually a dollar cheaper. Btw Denver Air will fix you up at one of the area hotels at crew rates......we have been socked in more than once over the last 12 years. Another option is Kremmling (20V) about 50 miles north of Breck. Beautiful flying country and both Mountain airports are just beyond the front range. We file DVV PENEY KGNB (or 20V). The MEA is 14500 and you will fly over corona pass(12000 ft).

I have a iPad 1 with foreflight and find the app to be great. It has truly replaced all paper in the cockpit (backup atlas and app plates only). I have a Garmin Aera on the pilot yoke and tried all sorts of mounts and positions for the iPad. I have settled on a modified suction mount that is now affixed to the handle on the co-pilot "A" pillar. The location is great and keeps clear of all the engine intruments/breakers etc in my 231. Additionally it is part of my normal instrument scan and barely affects outside visibility. After paying $75 for a RAM yoke mount I ended up modifying a cheap ebay suction mount....$12 incl. shipping. I will attach a pic asap.

This has been my trusty 231 since 1993. My girls are getting big so I bought a Mirage last year. I kept the 231 as my toy but I have struggled to get it in the air every other week. She has been great to me and my family and needs to find a good new home. The engine had one low cylinder (52/70) in 2007 so I took the opportunity to get a complete top overhaul especially since I fly from TX to the CO mountains often. My mechanic convinced me to get a "long" top so the rods we overhauled as well and all the hardware was replaced with new including the piston pins. She runs great and is a true "two finger" airplane......I have always hand flow the plane. I have complete logs and all ADs/SBs are current. N231NJ SN# 25-0324: 165 knots @ 11 gph (72 gal fuel capacity) Airframe TTSN= 3895 hrs: ANNUAL Dec 2011 Engine (TSIO360LB)= 970 hrs SFRM, 302 hrs STOH (1800 TBO) Avionics: King KY197 Comms (dual) King KN53 Nav King KNS80 RNav King KT76A Transponder (with encoding altimeter) King KMA 24 Audio Panel PS Engineering 4 place stereo intercom 3M WX900 Stormscope Davtron digital clock Century 41 Autopilot Paint: Maroon on White 7/10 (new 1993 always hangared) Interior: Tan Leather 7/10 (new 2004) Asking $82,000 (Vref = $110,000). Please make your offer. Deepak@aol.com or 817 881 3211