TWinter

Now this would be a great idea for a Fly-In. Land at Tunica and take a short shuttle across the street. -Tom

Sure.. Check PMs. Dyersburg Avionics. I'll send you the contact info in the PM.

No I don't remember anything special about it. I just remembered it being one of the higher price gas stops I made. I just stopped in, fueled up and headed out. The only reason I picked it as a stop was because it was right along my flight path and geographically worked well. I didn't check prices prior to stopping, but I was surprised when I paid the bill. -Tom

I stopped at KAOO for fuel last year on my way to New Hampshire. Nice clean place, pretty quite.. Fuel was expensive though. -Tom

When we first started the upgrade I was not considering the Aspen. When I finally got down to business and decided that 41M would be a keeper for a while I added the Aspen. This morning my avionics shop reworked the first quote to backout $ from the extra GPSS box bringing the cost of the STec AP down some since we had the Aspen in the game plan now.. I know it gets confusing since I started looking at just upgrading the auto-pilot. Funny how 10K turns to 30k+ in heartbeat... I need to stay off this forum and away from all the fancy ideas..We always enjoy spending each others money..right? Sorry for the late reply..I was busy checking the couch cushions for loose change -Tom

Chris, This is too funny..I honestly have watched this twice. Once a few months ago and again this afternoon. I watched a few others as well that were posted. Great video I'm not ready for the quiz just yet.

Ahh, Yes, part of the inspiration for sure. Beautiful! -Tom

http://www.aspenavionics.com/rebate Good until the end of the month

I'll have to fly to Delaware to have him teach how to use it, or spring for some good Memphis BBQ and get somebody over here to help me w/ the ins-outs of all of it.

Bob, Yes I am. I did the 750 and GDL88 last year. Once I get this work done I'm hoping this will be it for a while. -Tom

As I look down the order after we got done haggling this morning the Aspen portion ended up being $8755 installed. I'm sure he made it up on the other end somewhere. The whole upgrade is just north of $30k. I guess I should have my initials embroidered on the headrests because at this point I'll be keeping her for a longggg while.

Just got back from the avionics shop.. Aspen is doing some kind of promo this month because he said if we are doing it, we needed to do it this month. Went with STec 30 A/P with GPSS STec Electric Trim Kit JPI EDM 930 Garmin Remote Audio Panel Aspen Pro+ My avionics guy was extra nice and in a pretty good mood today..wonder why? Going to be long 4 week wait for the equipment to arrive. STec is currently 4 weeks order time..

I guess I didn't phrase it very well..sorry. Yes $9000 is the installed price. The STec30 w/ GPSS is $13000 installed.

Has anybody recently had a the Aspen Pro installed? I've gotten a quote along with the other upgrades I was looking at doing from my regular shop. The shop says normal pricing is $10,500 to $11,000. He did say since I was already looking at installing the STec 30 autopilot with GPSS that I would save a few bucks on the Aspen install because I would not need a separate DG for the STec. He told me the Aspen would be about $9000 installed. For anybody that has had it one installed recently does that sound about right? I would think there would be more savings since they will already be in there with much of the avionics already dissected while putting the STec AP in. I've looked on the internet and see Sarasota and a few shops that publish their prices are all in the 11K range on a cold fresh install, but is from fresh install. Mine will already be opened up..Maybe I'm being a overly "Cheap Bast@@@" thinking it should be cheaper since they are already in there. -Tom

I know Phil and thought he might chime in with his thoughts...must be keeping up with those orders I may send him a PM and see what his thoughts are. Not sure how dad would do with Halos. I have a set in the hanger that I use on hot summer Tennessee days. I might have him give it a try next time. Tom

Right now PS6000. Making some panel changes within the next few months to the Garmin remote audio..Good idea to see what Bose tech suggests though. I really think it may just be the electronics inside the headset not playing well with the electronics in the earpiece of the hearing aids. -Tom

Wondering if anyone has read any articles on this topic. My dad wears hearing aids (in his 70s and the 25 military career pretty well ruined his hearing). He does okay wearing the Bose X or A20s, but with the hearing aids in they do cause some slight distortion. He also tried it with and without the hearing aids. Without it's not as distorted, but he misses some of the coms. He is far from deaf and can hear without the aids, but they do help a lot. Has anyone read any articles on what headsets work well with hearing aids. My folks don't fly with us very often, but if there are any headsets or combinations that work better with hearing aids I would like to hear them (no pun intended). I'm thinking next time we will let him try a set of non ANR and have him try it with non-ANR and while using the hearing aids, might be the electronics in the ANR is interfering with the electronics in the aids. Any thoughts? -Tom

A common dilemma. There is a lot to be said for knowing every nut and bolt on your current plane when you are looking at a marginal upgrade. Mine is a 74 with the 200hp and I shopped the idea of trading up for the extra 6" leg room or keeping my E and making it as nice as your budget allows. I also like the comment regarding the sales tax made by Andy,. with the difference of sales tax alone you can make some nice upgrades. Now if going to a Bravo or O then you are looking at a whole different comparison, you better be shaking cushions for loose change. -Tom

Industrial Velcro- ... Ipad Air is feather weight. CB technique. Lowes $5 dollar vs. Price: $199.00 -Tom

This quote was just a small excerpt from the FAR. If you continue reading through it goes into more detail with exceptions to the FAR. It was painted at Mena Aircraft Painting..That's all they do is paint airplanes day in and day out. When I first posted the new paint job yrs ago the same question was asked on the forum and there were several follow-up posts with all the FAR and the exceptions. These numbers are 3". If I remember correctly there is some stipulations with respect to flying to Mexico and out of the country. Just checking in with MS and finishing my morning cup of java and I don't have time to search the topics, but it meets the requirements. There are several planes at my field that have gone with the smaller lettering.

It's interesting to hear people talk about difficulty or becoming familiar with uncontrolled airports vs. a controlled field that they are being taught on. Then on the flip side you have some students getting PPL that get apprehensive talking to controlled tower fields. Just depends on what you are familiar and how comfortable you are when you start. Hopefully what to expect at either field eventually becomes second nature.. -Tom

This is a good point.. I've learned the hard way and am currently having to remove several upgrades I did just a few years ago just so I can pursue IFR. I had STec Alt Hold only and upgraded my wing-leveler to Brittain AccuTrak (just flys a heading-no approaches etc).. Now I've decided to go for full STec 30 A/P and a few other pieces..It was kind of a waste to put just the altitude hold in when I did, as was the Accutrak w/ just the heading. Several have suggested I upgrade the Accutrak, and that's a fine option, but I still lost money in the Altitude Hold on original AccuTrak install and labor..At the time I really was content with my local VFR flights with a few VFR x-country every know and then. As time marched on I decided I wanted more utility out of my plane..I could have saved lots of $ if I had thought further down the road and future goals..Just my experience.

Or on the ground vs. in the air

We are always proud of what we have done and the upkeep on our planes. I've seen this on other forums and it's always interesting. Lets see a pic of when you first took your Mooney home and what it looks like today. Some folks like to stay nostalgic & original, others like to polish and tinker. Some just want to enjoy flight. Lets see what it looked like the first day you took it home and present day, have you added or kept original? Does not have to be exterior pictures, could just be avionics etc..Lets not bog the site down with tons of pictures..Just two pictures, when you got it and what it looks like today Here was what we jokingly called "Green Bean" when I first got her. A little paint and polish and here she is today.

I think those are factory..or at least the mounts are. Mine are identical. Right down to the tabs being "greenish"..what was up with that? -Tom