TWinter

At my home airport, KDYR they are resurfacing our favored runway 4/22, so it is out of service until December. We have a secondary runway in poor paved condition. There are pot-holes, high spots, low spots and cracks that would swallow a small Cherokee or C152. There also have been two flats during the last three weeks (result of bad luck or poor runway surface-who knows), as well as a few weekly corporate flights have changed venues and are using the next airport to the north of us until ours is done. Since I know we only have about 10" prop clearance on our Mooneys I admit there have been more than one occassion lately that I've decided to wipe bugs and hanger talk instead of recreational flying. Kind of sucks, but after reading Bob's post and knowing the condition of our crappy runway it really makes you think how close 10" clearance really is. Bob, Hope you get back in te air soon, but also thanks for the reminder of how close the prop is and for us to be extra deligent on runway and taxiway conditions. Good Luck..

All sold.

Bob, Sorry to hear about the strike. Hoping for a speedy repair. No way to sugar-coat other than to say that just sucks. Hope the facility and insurance make it right.

And they say Yankees are hard to get to know..LOL. I've lived in Tennessee for over 15 yrs now after spending the prior 25 yrs living in New England. Even after 15 yrs in Tennesee I'm still considered a yankee by some southerners. That's okay by me..We are easy to warm up to after you get to know us . Bob, sounds like you are in good hands up there. Fly safe and enjoy the "Lobsta".

Remove the co-pilot lower cowling. There are two adjustment screws around the seat ring of the light. You should be able to see them very easily. Pc of cake I changed my OEM and replaced with LED. I also installed the clear plexi cover on the outside. The outside plexi cover was a SOB to get lined up right and fit flush. If you have an extra set of hands handy it will make a big difference and make for fewer swear words. Looks great when done and the LED is not only brighter, less amp draw. plus it looks much more modern.

One of those days where I can't get the computer to work with me... It is item- 171140644490 My EBay ID is: ultfit1 also a search under "Mooney" should show it as it is the description.

For my fellow Mooniacs..I have a Belly Strobe, Landing Light, Tail Position Light for sale. I have the strobe on EBay right now if you want to see a pic. I'm posting this here, but the auction is still active. If you want these let me know ASAP so I can pull the ad. As of this morning it is still up, but there is a Buy Now so let me know quick. The package price here is for the forum members. All working when removed last month. These came off of my 73 M20E (12v). All for $175 shipped to lower 48. Email me at tpwinter@bellsouth.net Thanks and Safe Flying Tom

Just relaying as I heard it . If it's any indication of their reliability in reporting and somewhat off topic they also reported that to earn a "F" in Memphis City Schools you now only need to have a GPA average of 47 to pass. As a business owner I concur with the educational report since I have not had very many "Rocket Scientists" apply for jobs lately. I think if you can spell a first name you get a 47. It was a 70 back in my days. No I did not go to school in Memphis.. Go University of Nebraska and University of New Hampshire

Just from the posts above and general overview of the poll. I would think the closest guess is about $1500 avg, my base was 2K. Then whatever you need extra..ie mine needed cylinder and valve work because of low compression, an extra $1200, also add in for whatever extras you are having installed. As a rule of thumb my guy charges $2000 for base annual . For the 2K I get a very complete and detailed annual with a very nice computer generated report and check-off list, also a written list of things we might need to address sometime in the future. Now, if I go another 35 miles down the road I can get it done for about $800-900. Not so fancy with all the computer files etc, but a very qualified, but slightly older school A/P. Knows the business very well, just not the frills of the first guy. As mentioned above..lots of variables to consider, but a base I would say is about $1500 average.

Hey folks..I'm cleaning out the hanger. I have a few items listed on EBay from my M20E upgrade. There is a landing light, belly strobe, tail recognition light, chrome wheel covers and a few other things. Just search under Mooney. You may also search under my EBay ID of "ultfit1" for other items. I have several other aviation related items that are auctioning. Amazing how we accumulate so much stuff.

Um..Did not say, but I would say the outstanding job our head government is doing is not helping. Fox News Memphis just did a quick clip saying buy your tickets NOW before the increase into the holidays etc..

There was a segment on the news tonight saying that commercial air travel prices will be up an alarming 17% by Thanksgiving. They went on to say that it would be up 51% by Christmas. This makes me really appreciate the fact that we can fuel up and go at will. We can only hope that this increase would not have any impact on our AVGas. A 51% increase is huge . I've got nothing but love for my Mooney......zooooooooooooooooooooom and sip, sip, sip.

It was almost a soiling moment and pretty instantaneous...As I remember my pitch was higher because I was too fast and trying to bleed speed by keeping slightly nose high and pulling power, just waiting for the mains to touch, hence the stall horn activating. I knew that I normally felt like my butt was on the runway, but this touchdown was just taking a long time, why had the mains not touched yet?..and I'm running out of runway. This was over a year ago and I was still getting comfortable with the plane. I was also still getting familiar with the feeling of being seated so low in the Mooney and also how low you actually feel in the seat when you touchdown. In retrospect it was good that the runway was getting too short and I decided at the last minute to pull up and go around. Angels on the shoulder that day I still get a little twitch if the stall horn sounds on landings, first thing I do is look AGAIN at the gear position. It's all good..LOL

Yeah, you may not watch it, but you still gotta have a good "feel" for what your speed is

Took just one close call for me to remember, and I assure you I check ten times over even after GUMPS.. Quick "Bonehead" story. My avionics shop called me one morning and said they had an opening if I wanted to bring the plane right over ASAP. I was getting ready for work when they called at 7:30 AM. It kind of threw a monkey wrench into my morning schedule, but I hurried to the hanger, pre-flight etc..all is good. I'm making the routine 15 minute flight over and thinking about my agenda for the day. I needed them to get done and me back to work. While flying over I'm thinking about everything I needed to do that day. What I was not doing was planning my landing correctly. It's a very short runway at the avionics shop, I start in on a straight in final. I "Thought" I did GUMPS. Flaps are down and I'm on final just above the runway flaring and continue flaring..coming in slightly fast and continue to pull power out. The stall horn is going off, I'm thinking no big deal..just pulling power from flare to slow down the stall horn does that every now and then..I finally decide at the last minute I'm too fast for the short runway and decide to go around. Full power, flaps up and......gear up, guess what, gear was never down. The stall horn was because of the gear being up and MP. What an idiot! After composing myself, letting my pucker factor relax and realizing how stupid I had just been. I thank God every single day. Could have been a bad deal. Now I assure you I check the gear at least ten times on my landings. I replay that close call nearly every landing. The worst and best lesson ever learned. Never hurry and keep your head in the game. Back to topic..I think the best design would have been different warning sounds. Using the stall horn sound as "gear not down" and stall warning was a bad design..In my case I thought stall warning was just because of the nose high landing. I repeat GUMPS many times during my landings. Live and learn and check gear on downwind, base, final x 2 and twice before I touchdown.

As Mooney pilots we are constantly watching our speed on landing. Here is a different perspective..Pretty cool to watch. http://player.vimeo.com/video/31549908?autoplay=1

Nice Cherokee..I transitioned from a 69 model with similar mods. You have it priced pretty strong, but as they say it only takes one. Good luck with the sale and the hunt for the right Mooney.

I'll second Dyersburg Avionics in Caruthersville, MO. They did all my avionics this year including GTN750 and my S-tec 30 ALT. Jerry and his crew do very good work. I think I have probably spent enough to fund him a Branson vacation home.

I agree with the thought of enjoying the plane and learning from it, then learn some more and just keep learning for a while. It has taken me over a year and I think I'm finally feeling comfortable as to what I should expect from a given maneuver and what I expect the feedback of the plane will be. As PIC I try to learn to expect the unexpected. As slippery as a Mooney is you want to feel the plane and not just fly it. Flying it is just a formality, anybody can do a check-off list, rotate and probably land. Learning the feel of the airplane is when the skill comes in. That's what I think takes the most time and practice. When it all becomes second nature is when life is good . As long as I'm there ten minutes mentally before the plane it's all good for me. Keep on keeping on. Sounds like you are having a great time I envy your XC flights and like hearing these type of stories as they are what I bought my Mooney for. Seems like you have a great feel for the plane already. Keep us posted on future XCs

I called once looking for an insurance quote..I'm still waiting for them to call me back. This was when I first got my plane, over two years ago now. I still renewed my membership this year because they do work hard for our rights as pilots, but I think they lack in many areas. When I renewed my membership this year I got a very generic renewal reciept in the mail. No real thanks, no information about whats new with AOPA..an no hat like promised with my renewal (like I really need another cap) LOL, but what I really was looking forward to was a new AOPA sticker for the back of my truck, I don't ask for much No such luck. On the same though I also sent my MAPA renewal in and did not get new replacement stickers either. Maybe they buy from the same supplier. Now, on the other hand EAA sent me a very nice renewal package and new stickers Most recently, last month I called AOPA to get a book value for a refinance of my Mooney. The rep tried to find the 73 M20E in the bluebook/blackbook and said he could not find the 73 or 74 M20E Mooney, but did see a M20J or Statesman series...urgh, after ten minutes of him searching we worked from there using the wrong model. I needed this just as a "formality" for the bank, so whatever I could get from him to show value would have to do. He was going to email me the "make do" quote of value following our phonecall..never did get the email. After not hearing back from AOPA or getting the email I decided to call my insurance agent. My insurance broker was able to locate the 73 M20E in the aircraft value books and got the correct quote easily finding the correct year, model etc including the add-ons within about 10 minutes of our phone conversation. I never did hear back or get the email from AOPA. Not trying to bash them...Just think they really lack in some areas and might be missing some potential revenue by not following up on opportunites. The good they do by representing GA is worth my dues, but as far as personal attention, financial/insurance services or any increase in future dues I may have a problem with.

Welcome Robert from a fellow Tennessian..Not to far from us:) Tom Dyersburg, TN KDYR

Finally closure to this install/upgrade.. Today I finally got a chance to really try the new GTN750 along with the STec Alt Hold I recently had installed. I really had no idea what a difference it would make having the Stec-Alt Hold. The overall flight ( 4 hrs-not terribly far) was much less tiring than holding altitude and flying by hand. Money well spent. No GPSS at this time, but the factory wing leveler worked perfectly with the alt hold. They worked in great harmony. Just turn the plane, aim your heading. It steered dead on. I also had a manual vacuum switch (from Brittian) installed to activate/deactivate the wing leveler without having to use the button-rubberband method. I nice addition, no more fighting a rubberband. Pirep on the 750 is great. I am just using basic funtions right now, but so far it does everything as advertised. Still using the 696 beside the 750 for traffic & weather, I'm more comfortable w/ my 696 while learning the curve of the 750 so I'll still rely heavily on my 696 for a while longer. No GDL yet. Just Zaon for now. Changed landing light to LED, belly to LED and rear recognition to same. All of the upgrades this year pretty well shot the 2013 airplane/toy budget...LOL Time to put some XC miles on. All that's left to do is fly and do regular oil changes. I know we are never done, but I am as close as I need to be for quite sometime. No more excuses for putting off IFR. The plane is ready, I guess at this point I am as well. I plan to start IFR training in January..

I was counting on your and Mitch's help if we do this. I'll be in touch with you soon and see if we can toss some ideas around. Lets keep an eye on the thread and see what kind of turnout we might expect. Within the next few weeks I'll get in contact with our city officials and get some city input. I can't think of a better reason to have Mooney weekend get together while supporting a great cause. Right now it's just an idea, but it would be great to make it happen.

Solemates.com has done well by me. I have a couple of pairs. The owner had a booth at Osh this year. I can see the eagle feathers while he is in the air. If he landed on my dash I would be in trouble though. Up close and personal is my problem. The ones I have are progressive and blend well. I'll be 50 this year..first the eyes, what's next..never mind.

Just changed to LED..Will be on always now