TWinter

I have a whole bag of instrument lights and sockets that were removed during my upgrade. I've got them listed on FleaBay, however, if a MSer wants them I'd prefer to sell them here. I have NO idea what they are worth. If someone wants them and knows the value and can make a reasonable offer I'd rather see them sell here. Not sure what all is good or bad in the batch. Everything seemed to work fine when removed. It's just a mixed bag that they gave me when I got my old stuff back. http://www.ebay.com/itm/172447756943?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 -Tom

Thanks..My banker thanks you as well...lol

I feel your pain. When I bought my E I really liked it, but had concern over the first couple of years whether the short body was going to work for me and what I had hoped would also be used with family of four adults. Well, I'm now into year 6 with the E and I think I can count on one hand how many times I have had four adults in for any measurable distance. I guess what I'm getting to is all the opportunities that I thought we would fly as a family of four adults ended up not being near the amount I originally thought. In the first few years I was really worried, would the E end up being too small for all of us to enjoy?, I even posted it for sale on MS at year two or three of ownership thinking a J would allow for more opportunity of family flying..I ended up rethinking and not selling. So here I am and after nearly six years of ownership in my E I'm still counting on one hand roughly how many times we flew as four adults onboard. A few of us short body guys have gone over the top, but for $90K you would have a very well equiped E. Put another $40K+ in and you will never look back if your only hesitation is the leg room, you will probably find it unnecessary. My only addiction is performance..I would step up to a Missile or Rocket just because I'm a performance junky and like the idea of speed, but to trade up just for more room, well I'll keep showing love for my E and consider any missed extra leg room for four adults has having been a non-issue and probably won't be in the future. The last picture is what it looked like when I first got her.. Pea Green, right out of the 70s. Good luck..Any Mooney is a great decision -Tom

This topic has been tossed around a few times, but after my PPL I swapped to a Warrior (quadrant). I really like the way the Warrior flew way back then and got to where I preferred the quadrant. I've never thought of the point of view that a vernier takes up less space when climbing in and out of the pilot's side, but I guess in theory they have a point. The quad panel takes a little more room, but still my preference. Just a little disappointed mine did not come with "Guns" option. -Tom

Thanks for all the input..I knew it would a good topic to toss out as I was sitting here at home wondering if there was something different I could have done..like pressing on and having a big thick steak in Kerrville at McStealth's Steak House, instead I sit here in Tennessee re-evaluating the flight eating a lousy tuna sandwich -Tom

I actually had both..GDL88 and still have XM on the 560. The only areas showing any precip was much further SW of us..several hundred miles.

Good website..Unfortunately, west was worse as there was still cold temps, residual moisture and low clouds, to the east it was stalled and moving out slowly, slower than they predicted I think. Nothing was showing when we left with respect to ice..actually the forecasts were warmer along the route. Just seeing what others would have done. We've always been taught during PPL and even most recently during IFR work to get lower to warmer temps when you encounter ice.When your already on the deck there are not many options..It was just interesting how quickly nothing became full ice coverage along the leading edge. Something to take in consideration this time of year.. -Tom

I know...I called Austin at the FBO at Kerrville to cancel the rental car and told him the trip was a bust because of ice up here. I asked how's your weather was..he said "great weather" here!! All the weather apps, FF and GPilot still showed MVFR there.. I thought to myself well crap..Wondering should I have pushed on or done something different..hence the post. -Tom

I started my trip to Kerrville this morning. Was going to spend a few days in Kerrville and the Mooney factory tour. A whole different thread, this is about icing.. I've watched the weather with a vengeance, took a look at all the usual weather sources with diligence. The trip was looking "iffy" as far as clouds and overcast..still MVFR conditions with conditions looking to improve later today. We actually moved our departure time up to 10 am central giving the clouds even more time to lift and temps to rise. The route was KDYR-M18-KTPL-KERV. As we leave Dyersburg it was in the 40s outside and we knew we would be flying low altitude for a while until the clouds really lifted and parted, according to all the weather sites and briefs it was predicted to lift to solid VFR later in the day the entire route. It would be low altitude, but VFR. All is well and we are flying along at about 3000', staying below the clouds. The clouds were very tall so climbing above to get out of the moisture was not an option. There was obvious moisture in the air as we got some residual on the windshield, but still MVFR conditions. As we get south of Little Rock we start to notice icing, it was starting to accumulate on the wing leading edge pretty quickly..The Aspen was showing 32 outside air temp. There was about ( I'm just guessing), but thinking about 1/4" of ice covering leading edge of both wings full length and getting thicker in certain places. We had been in the air maybe an 1.2 hrs and still had about another 45 minutes to go before our fuel stop. The obvious choice would be to go to a lower altitude for warmer temps..we were already around 3000' so that was not really an option, the E model does not have boots so...short of returning to warming climate (back home) were I knew temps were warmer, less moisture and less clouds..was there any other options that I might have considered other than landing someplace close when I noticed the ice and waiting it out. Climbing higher would have not gained anything ( I don't think) since there was so much moisture just in the air. In the end I did decide to head back to Dyersburg and called the trip a bust because of icing. Pushing through would have been catastrophic, I'm sure the ice would have continued to build, If I went higher there was still clouds and moisture and even colder temps. I headed home kept altitude as low as legal and safe seeking warmer air temps. As we turned back we could see ice falling off the leading edges and by the time I was back to KDYR there was little to no ice left. I flown in New England snow storms as a low time pilot years ago, not a big deal. Flown through rain etc.. no big deal, but I'll admit I've never seen ice accumulate that fast within an hour and half. Pretty amazing and eye opening. I know some will suggest IFR and so forth..yes, I'm working on it, but this was in MVFR and VFR conditions. I was surprised to see the ice accumulate so quickly. I did not see any changes of the handling or characteristics of the plane. We aborted the trip and called the good folks at Mooney and told them we had icing in the area..They were very understanding and said we could reschedule when we were ready.. Any other ideas that might have helped the icing or what would you have done? Just curious if I overlooked the obvious. By turning back and getting to warm weather we missed the vacation, but live to fly another day.. -Tom

Got the old girl 7741M polished up for her homecoming dance back at Kerrville Wednesday/Thursday, flight plan ready..now just hoping for some good weather. I'm a nostalgic history kind of guy, going to feel kind of weird knowing the wheels of my plane have never touched the runway at Kerrville since the day it rolled off the production line nearly 43 yrs ago..I'll be sure to leave the checkbook at home. Don't need the temptation of the new ones coming off the line..the check would bounce faster than my Mooney could get me back home. Now just hoping for good weather. Wheels up at 0930 in the morning. -Tom

I'm thinking wow how lucky...Think of all that extra useful load you get. -Tom

Here is a new one that would make both of you happy.. Anyone tried these yet? I kind of like them.. http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/david-clark-dc-one-x.html -Tom

Wow..No messing around. Good for you. Looks like there will be lots of quality family flying. Good job on the PPL and new purchase.. Now the fun really begins. -Tom

Be careful if buying a Bose X that has had a hard life..If you happen to get one that has a bad or worn cable Bose does not sell the down cords anymore for the X series. -Tom

I did mention in my follow-up email last night to them that I was an "Opinionated Active Big Mouth" on MS and many were listening for the outcome or reasoning, however, I'd like to think they did it because they wanted to and realized how much we were looking forward to it, not because of MS repercussions or opinions. Water under the bridge and looking forward to the visit. -Tom

I'll see if I can find what I had leftover tonight.. -Tom

Paul, What's the amp you need? I sold a few about a month ago on EBay. I think had a few left-over if I can find them. Mine were all black though. I also thought I saw a master on EBay a while back. -Tom

Let me have your attention..Follow-up from Mooney. I just received a phone call just a few minutes ago from Vivek at Mooney Inc, well actually he was heading to a Mooney dealer up in the northeast. I was kind of caught off guard as I had just walked into work. He did relay sincerest of apologies on behalf of Mooney and said there was mis-communication with respect to tour cancellations. He said that they would gladly provide us a tour and even offered an extended hospitality of a lunch. I told him I truly appreciated the follow-up and accepted the invitation. I did not want to make them go over and beyond with the lunch offer, but would gladly accept the tour. I really would have been happy with just a abbreviated tour allowing me to stand at the entry door with my face smashed against a window looking in. He did not go into details regarding future tours, so I'm not sure of the status of that. I do appreciate his follow-up, correction and invitation. Time to close out this thread. I don't want to beat a dead horse..maybe it was mis-communication or the end of the tours. Regardless, I appreciate them following up and the special invitation. I want to post this as quickly as possible so everyone will be at peace with the outcome. Pictures will follow..I promise! Thanks for the support from MS. -Tom

I'll let you know if I get a reply. Since they did not offer any alternate dates or suggest that it might start again at a later time I'm assuming it's permanent. I'm certainly not dragging them "through the mud", I just said I was mad about the last minute cancellation (this trip was actually a Christmas gift from my mom to my father and I), good ole' mom was planning on paying for the trip for us as a Christmas gift. I thought it was crappy decision on the part of the new CEO and it was a poor reflection of customer relations. -Tom

Just sent a email to Mr. Saxena expressing my opinion about discontinuing the tours. I'm obviously disgruntled about cancelling mine, but the overall experience of actually seeing these being built is going to be missed by so many others as well. It can't be that costly to conduct tours, heck I would not hesitate paying a reasonable fee. I doubt highly it's a insurance issue (Bowling Green does Corvette tours all day..I know apples and oranges). As owners of Mooney's we don't get a whole lot of factory promotional support and media coverage is fair at best. If it were not for MAPA, Mooney Ambassadors and the various social media sites we would be pretty void..I would think tours are a very viable way to promote our brand. Just my .02. -Tom

I know..I just opened emails tonight and saw this..still can't believe it. I was really looking forward to it...Very frustrated, he and I were just talking on the phone earlier about what all we would do while there. He was as excited as I was. I have not even had a chance to tell him yet, dread passing it on. -Tom

For anyone that was thinking of taking a tour of the Mooney factory...FORGET IT! I had this special trip planned with my father scheduled for next week. Heading from Tennessee to Kerrville for a Mooney tour (lined up and scheduled), scheduled time away from work, hotels and additional plans for touring Fredricksburg. This afternoon I get this email: Mr. Winter, It is with great apologies that I must notify you that all tours of the Mooney facility have been cancelled. Therefore; the tour I has scheduled for yourself and your father is affected and has been cancelled. If you would like to express your disappointment to this new policy directly to the CEO of the company, I have been given permission by our VP of Customer Focus to provide you with Mr. Vivek Saxena’s e-mail: vsaxena@mooney.com. The email was from Lori and she sounded very sincere and apologetic. It seems to me like this decision came from up the ladder, she was just the messenger.. The VERY least he could have done was finish the scheduled tours and not schedule additional if they were changing SOPs. I spent a great deal of time making plans, car rentals hotels, not only for Kerrville, but Fredricksburg as well... Thanks for your consideration Mr. Vivek Saxena !!!. -Tom Winter

Does well at night. As I'm on final I swap from pulse to steady on. Plenty of light. -Tom

Some long range tanks and it would be the "total package"..good looking plane. Really like the cowl.

Strobes don't, but I get a slight noise w/ my pulse landing/taxi light when in pulse mode. -Tom