bdjohn4

Well, still waiting for one more quote, but so far all have been roughly half of the outrageous $23k quoted initially. I just did four speed mods and is part of the reason for the need for a paintjob. We put on the Smooth Belly (not as diffcult to install as expected... pretty straight forward actually, just a little time consuming. Also installed a marker beacon antenna hidden within the belly), Flap Gap seals (quick), Dorsal fin mod (with a new 406MHz ELT and whip antenna hidden inside) , and of course the Horizontal Stab gap seal mod (this was actually the most difficult to fit). Also updated the antennas to a new Modern Mooney style one for the rear and a really gorgeous Comant VHF/GPS combo antenna up front (had to mount off-centerline due to the roll cage getting in the way of the TNC/BNC connectors). Went from five antennas out in the slipstream to two (Comm2 and the VHF/GPS combo blade up front as Comm1). Hoping for some knots obviously. JML

Thanks fellas! I have called several of the shops you've noted and am waiting for quotes. I'll give a pirep later on once things are completed. JML

I've got some stock ones if you want them. I just bought some LASAR ones. You can have them. Just let me know where to ship and cover S&H and they're yours JML

Have a '69 E-model that I'd like to get painted. I thought I'd do it right after a tank reseal down at KFXE (Ft Lauderdale Exec). I thought it would be easier to just get the plane towed from the tank reseal shop to the paint shop. I just got off the phone with the paint shop and am shocked at having been quoted $23,000 or more for a custom paint job that has a few stripes but isn't all that tremendously complicated. I am based in central North Carolina. Any recommendations for reputable East Coast shops that cost a lot less than $23,000? And how much are others spending on a full paintjob? Bartow FL's shop quoted me a lot less, but that was without all the details. Thanks in advance. JML

As I remember hearing about a year ago from the well-known, well-respected aircraft designer Don Lee (who worked on the M22 back then and is now at HondaJet), the M22 designs were bought by the French I believe, and refined, and the TBM turboprop single became the ultimate result of that effort. So, the Mooney M22 lineage is in that aircraft.

Looks like it is a Whelen 90033 series. Thanks for all the help. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelenseries90033.php?clickkey=279647 I still might go with the LED though.

Hey guys, I am doing a bunch of speed mods before paint and saw this beacon on an MSE. I currently have an old GIANT and draggy-looking beacon that I'd like to switch out for something a little more aerodynamic. I've never seen one like this one (see pic) at AircraftSpruce so, I thought I'd ask. If there are more aerodynamic rotating beacons out there, I am all ears. John

Excellent looking bird. When I saw "Sangre de Cristo" mountains, I said to myself "Yikes". My business partner (and business mentor, and damn-near father-figure, the one that inspired me to buy my E-model), Bruce Dalton (in his J-model N58119) impacted the "Blood of Christ" mountains there in southern Colorado at 12,400 ft (where the wreckage was eventually found), just three months ago. The NTSB report is still pending but I had surmised that perhaps he had trouble climbing up and over the mountains. If you are getting to 15,000 feet with no problem, then perhaps my theory is way-off. Here on the EastCoast I hardly ever have any need to go above 7-8 thousand (but cruise a little higher of course).

iPad with ForeFlight app is great. No... incredible. I love it, and I've got a G430 and a panel-mounted G396 with Nexrad. Foreflight also shows the ATC preferred routing and you can even get ADS-B weather overlay on the maps (Free after buying an $800 gizmo for the iPad). Haven't got the ADS-B gizmo but looks promising. They sell the gizmo at Sportys. The iPad/Foreflight interface is also a lot "prettier" than fltplan.com, which reminds me of early websites from the 1990s. Instead of emailing you the weather, Foreflight puts the weather into Foreflight, so it is right there. You can also put your DUATs passwords in there so that it serves as your official briefing. Foreflight, however, is not free.

I would never buy a plane without a very thorough prebuy. It is worth $2000 (or more). Heck, even with a prebuy by a former Mooney shop could be overly shallow/topical and lead to a TON of money spent in the first year of ownership undoing all the little sins of various A&Ps over the decades, especially for an older Mooney. Happened to me. I put another 60% of the value of the original purchase price in the old girl within 15months of purchase. Now we have a nice old but renovated bird who's insides I know better than my own, but I regret not getting a super thorough and very critical prebuy.

1969 E-model Hello folks, Well, 40V's wiring harness is, I guess, now 43 years old. Time for a new one. I got the old engineering drawings from Mooney (seems like volumes of pages that include some hand-written stuff in there too) . I couldn't convince the local harness guy to sift through and figure out the drawings for me... Anybody have a cleaned up wiring diagram for the cannon plug fwd version of this harness? Or, a source of a new harness? Thanks in advance. JML

Some one asked why the new annual,only two months out from the first one. By "superficial" I mean that when I had a initial #2 cylinder missing on run-up 24 hours out of annual (done through an A&P that was a former Mooney Service Center and clearly knows Mooneys well), I aborted the flight and took it to the local shop, who are admittedly not a Mooney service center (why I didn't go there first), hence the need to locate an IPC (which I now have, thanks!). Although not a Mooney shop, they are good (super thorough and confidence inspiring), and are taking a closer look at everything. When they popped the cowling open we found many things within minutes that ought to have been seen at the first annual but were not (magnetos not grounded, and connectors were all "fork" connectors instead of "O" connectors, etc), most concerning of which was a engine mount tube (down low) that had almost rubbed through a 1cm^2 hole! So, I went ahead and had the motor pulled and sent the 42 year old non-AD compliant mount to AeroSpace Welding (see pic below) for the mount AD to be done. Usually they paint them black with acryllic, but I had them send it to the guys that powder coat mounts for Cirrus and it was done in white. It is a work of art, let me tell you. The #2 cylinder retained good compression (high 70s) but fouled the lower plug easily so that was pulled and found to be a worn exhaust valve and guide. There turned out to be a LONG list of squawks through the ACFT that, when demonstrated to me in the shop, where clearly out of spec (even to the naked eye) and scared me enough to basically have a partial restoration of the ACFT done. In short, I flew that ACFT in thick IMC and shot minimums approaches in an ACFT that wasn't really airworthy, but was only hours out from "annual" So, prop is being overhauled, right main tank reseal (weeping that the first A&P said was ok), PowerFlo Gen2, Empennage Main Tail bracket wallowed (yep....), wheel bearings shot, little cracks in the firewall (see photos, we are getting some custom doublers made) and numerous other engine-related squawks. Don't ask me where the first annual was done, I won't say anything other than caveat emptor and you get what you pay for. I will gladly pay for a thorough annual from here on out. Although I am a third generation Mooney owner (Dad with K model and grandpa with vintage M20 years ago), this is my first aircraft and I am learning (and spending) a lot to fly it safely. John

As you can see, my wiring harness looks its age (about 42 years) and it is time to be replaced. A local shop says they can build one easily but would spend considerable time researching the required spec of the wire. The wiring diagram doesn't apparently go into the actual spec of the wire. 1) Is there there a source for these harnesses? 2) if no source and a custom build is required, is there a source of an engineering drawing or something that anyone knows about.? Thanks in advance. John ('69 E-model)

Barons are the worst at this. Gear and flaps are on either side of the quadrant, and to make things worse, Beechcraft flip-flopped the positions of these switches after several years. Had a close call once while attempting to retract the Baron's flaps on roll-out, so I learned my lesson and keep the flaps down unless absolutely necessary (due to wind or short-field or whatever). John

The very thorough A&P re-doing a previous "overly superficial" annual would like me to get a $330 parts catalog (man1006). This manual covers the C,D,E,and F. Is there anyone out there that has one they no longer need and would be willing to sell me one cheaper than that? This annual is turning into a much bigger project than expected. John