Zulee

I realize this string is about 2 years old but I contacted Hawk this week for estimate on my J and the price was $14,500. A substantial jump from the $10,500 82Mike shared on August of 2017. I've not received the written quote yet but was told this was a white base with stripes (two colors) and 8 hours of any repairs or prep included. I assume if you were to do a two color fuselage with accent stripes (more Mooney'esque) the price may head into the high teens. To be honest, when I visualized a white airplane with two stripes all I could see is an early model Cirrus...euuuuuu!! I referenced the $10,500 price on MooneySpace (no names mentioned) and that seemed like a pretty big jump, he said they moved from Tampa to a new 22,000 square foot shop, they do interiors, maintenance, etc. He didn't elaborate any further so I guess that means his new overhead is being passed on in the form of a ~40% increase for a paint job. I really like @82Mike paint job as well as @jetdriven and was ready to pull the trigger with Hawk but now I find myself back to square one. If anyone has any other recommended paint shops I would appreciate the recommendations. Thanks

Oscar, just a shout out for sharing Jerry's name and number. I needed a "part" and called him on a whim and I'll be dang if he didn't have the part and it came off the same year as my J. So, thank you! Rick

It's been a few weeks but here is the follow up on the trim switch. I tracked down a new one (wow, are they expensive) but before we replaced the old one we wanted to do a little more troubleshooting. As we began the process, it was first believed to be an electrical issue...turns out, it was not. As RobertE mentioned above, it turned out to be a mechanical issue and to answer Carusoam's question...the switch is plastic with metal tabs that wrap around each micro switch, which is what actually depresses the little red (plastic) button on the micro switch itself. After removing the switch and using a very bright light we were able to observe the mechanics of how this plastic/metal conglomeration worked. In essence these little micro switches have very little tolerance in terms of how hard they can be depressed. We noticed that 2 of the 3 tabs pushed "just enough" to hear the switch click and you could still see about half of the red button when fully depressed. However, on the 3rd micro switch depressed so far there was little to no red showing and the first indication that maybe this was our problem or at least another area to explore a little deeper. The switch housing itself has two screws that run laterally through the housing and through the three micro switches. The screw holes are perfectly round so initially we thought there was no way to "adjust" the amount of downward pressure on that 3rd micro switch. So we removed the two screws so we could get a closer look at how this puppy goes together and thanks to all the wires soldered in place, the three micro switches slid out in a cluster. Once we removed the switches from the housing we noticed a little metal plate on vertical side of the housing that had elongated holes. SCORE!!!!! While the metal plates seemed to be glued into place, with just a little force they easily broke loose and we were able to position them enough to offset the downward pressure on the micro switch button. Once we made this adjustment we could hear the click and see about half of the little red micro switch button as we saw with the other two. Call it blind luck or absolute curiosity, but once we made adjustments to the plate and reassembled and installed the old switch back in place...it worked like a charm. I'm not sure the situation/solution we found with my switch to be consistent with others posting trim switch issues, but it's worth a look-see and costs nothing versus hundreds of dollars for a new switch that you may not need.

I can't answer the plastic versus metal question...either way, its some of the most expensive metal or plastic I've ever purchased before

It worked fine last week and did not work during pre flight yesterday, with no symptoms leading up to the failure. KFC200

I guess that would help and excuse the video symbol, it's a screen shot of a video I took when the most recent one was installed. Thanks Art

I have a 1981 M20J and I've replaced one or more of the micro switches twice and I've replace the entire switch with new, twice...over the past 8 years. I find it hard to believe this is normal and I'm convinced there is something else going on that causing this ongoing problem. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your feeback Rick

I faced the same decision even with both PFD MFD. I went with the G5

After 3 months of deciding what, where and how much...I picked up my J from Ron Collins Aviation in Henderson, KY and brought her home to KSUS. The transformation was truly amazing and I can't say enough about the avionics shop, their workmanship and dealing with my ongoing questions and changes. The flight home with my friend flying right wing was VFR and I am glad it was...I have a lot to learn about this EFIS stuff Flight home.mov

Ok that made me laugh

The panel project is almost complete...

Actually the "all clear" is related to the recycle issue reported by others flying the Aspen PFD and a recent SB. Appears to be something to do with ADSB interface and software version...and flux capacitor (I think). Anyway, I "assume" Aspen has figured out the issue and waiting on the FAA to sign off on it or whatever makes that world go around. All I can say is, UGH !!

2019 Goal Pay for my panel upgrade

Junkman, I guess you could be in my situation...money spent, brand new Aspen PFD MFD and waiting on Aspen to provide the shop with a green light...who is waiting on the FAA to provide Aspen a green light. If it's not one thing, it's something else.

Just some related information regarding the recycle issue... My J is in the shop with both PFD and MFD installation complete. The avionics shop hopes to deliver my plane this coming week (Jan 21st) but that is dependent upon receiving a response back from Aspen...who is waiting on a response from the FAA. Because I have little experience with how all this works, I am speculating Aspen has provided a "fix" to the FAA and waiting on their review/approval. You can bet I will be asking a ton of questions around this issue and the fix upon accepting my aircraft from the shop. I will provide a PIREP around what they share.

It's been a little bit since I have provided a panel update, so here we go. I honestly thought I had this all figured out when I delivered my J to Ron Collins Avionics in Henderson, KY in mid November but how little did I know. First of all I want to thank all the folks on MS for providing input on how best to spend my money :-) and thank goodness there were no shortage of passion and opinion...loved it!! So at this phase of the process all decisions have been made and here are some photos of how things are shaping up. Beyond the obvious in these pictures, I am installing GTX345, GMA345, Stratus USB ports and Flightstream 210 I considered the EDM900 but just ran out of money...so that upgrade will be next on the list and probably at the time the Aspens are upgraded to Max.

We have had so much family and stuff going on I just read your message. I will call you tomorrow and we can determine if Mother Nature will cooperate. Thanks a bunch for the offer and I look forward to connecting with you. Rick

We land PHX around 9:45 local tomorrow and then a two hour jaunt to Sedona. May be cutting it a little close to make lunch and I always like to talk Mooney’s. Especially when you consider my bird is in the shop updating the panel very close to what you did, we would definitely have stuff to yak about I should have done a better job getting something posted sooner. Thanks for the offer and if we happen to pick up an interstate tailwind getting to Sedona I will post and see if you are still at Mesa. Best, Rick

Unfortunately we depart PHX Friday night at 7, so the weekend is not going to work. Maybe next time and thanks so much for the offer. And if you are ever in the St. Louis area give me a shout. We can fly the Mississippi and maybe a pass or two past the Arch...it’s a pretty nice view. Hopefully my J will be out of the avionics shop by the end of January.

Absolutely I will buy your lunch and you have no idea how much I appreciate the offer and Laurie may want to come with us if that's ok? Let me know if I need to pack headsets and what day/time is convenient for you. Thanks again, this is going to be incredible. Rick

Probably a long shot, but I will be in Sedona Christmas week visiting family and wondering if anyone is based at KSEZ. I would love to experience flying off the mesa, especially in a Mooney. I would be more than willing to pay for fuel. Thanks all Rick

You crack me up Mr. GSX, I respect a person that just tells it like it is.

Nope, a little manual effort is not going to hurt you

Again, can I borrow a couple bucks for lunch?

I decided to pull the trigger, the MFD is going in the panel...can you spare a couple bucks for lunch?