TWinter

Well, week one down..The 750 install will be finished by Saturday afternoon. The shop has been busy getting other annuals and misc repairs done on a few guys plane going to Osh. My annual is also due now so they will start the annual Monday after buttoning-up the 750. The S-Tec Alt is ordered and they will work on that the middle of next month after Osh, this will also give me a few more weeks to get my pennies rolled. We went back and forth over the GDL88. The coverage in my little part of the world is still really hit and miss. I'm holding off on the GDL88 and going to use the Zaon 1090 module w/ my current XRX and just keep my XM weather. After coverage fills in I swap to the GDL88. I'll give a Pirep on the Zaon 1090 when I get it back. As it stands I'll have the Garmin 750 and 696 next to it. Looking forward to getting it back. Ironic that it seems like some of the nicest days to fly are the days the planes in the shop. Been a great week here in TN to fly..go figure.

My 696 is mounted this same location as well. I've tried every possible location and this was the best. I used the suction mount to winshld and a longer extention. Fits nice and does not cover the view of the fuel level, OP or Tach/Mfld. I've tried it all over and this has been the best and most user friendly.

Not to jump the post, but quick question. My planes in for annual so I don't have access from work. I'm thinking of getting the "Aeroled' landing light w/ pulse. Does the 73-74 M20E have a 36 or 46 landing light? orrrr do I need to drive to the shop and look? Anybody know off hand? Thanks, TW

Just buy a Mooney and don't look back. You won't regret it .

Hey guys and gals. I just got 2 sweatshirts and 2 T-Shirts. These look great and the material is very good quality. Not the cheap stuff that shrinks. I plan to pick up a few more at Osh. Get them while she has them. I'm very pleased. Thanks J. Tom N7741M KDYR

Love seeing the passion. When I bought my Mooney I must admit I did not realize the personal relationship and following that the Mooney brand has. I puchased based on the build and specs, not so much the brand or following, I have had the plane for over a year now and have been consumed with the passion of Mooney and its history. When somebody asks me what kind of plane I fly? Well, I puff up and with a big grin say, "MOONEY". The longer I have the plane the prouder I am that I fly a Mooney. As long as we can get parts and service I will always be a Mooniac and support the Mooney passion . I'm always looking for Mooney "stuff". My mancave, license plate, keychains, wall banners etc are nothing but Mooney. I'm anxious for the final DVD production. Great job

That was a concern I had as well, but I had also heard they actually worked well in the summer. In addition to the positive feedback to the thread I have noticed that many commercial airline pilots use them regularly. My plane is in for annual and upgrades. Might be a good time to order a set and give it a try. Thanks for the input.

I know the topic has been discussed, but there were not very many replies. With temps here in TN well into the 90s in the summer and some pretty good cold snaps during winter I'm considering the sheepskin seat cover route. I called Aero Comfort today and they are not making them anymore, but Hector gave me another company. Question is for those of you that have used them. Do they really make a difference during the extreme seasons?. My hanger-mate swears by them in his twin. I hate to cover up this new leather upholstery, but I'm to the point in life were I'm function/comfort is as important as the newest avionics or paint. How about just the sheepskin seat-cushions? work?. I think I would prefer the full cover though to prevent constant re-adjust everytime I slide in and out.

Very, very nicely done!

EBay right..I've been tempted. Very nice

Cody Stallings here on the on the forum works at a prop shop in Arkansas. I saw him at the shop one day and I asked was the three blade better or worse than the two blade for my E (IMHO the three blade does have a cool factor), but performance wise he said stay with the two blade. Just a pass on of info told to me. No tech info from me to back it up. I'm sure he will chime in sometime today.

Dyersburg Avionics does my work. They installed the JPI830, Strobes, various other things at the start of this year and kept up with ADs and annuals. They have also had been my shop for my prior Cherokee. I'll drop you a call in a short while. I'm finishing up on some things at work, but I'll give you the scoop later. I had a written quote from back in first of the year, but it did not have the auto-pilot and the quote was on the GTN650..It's probably my fault the shop quotes as I have changed my mind several times..Heck, just look how many times I've changed on this thread..LOL. It's all good though. I'll touch base later. Thanks TW

Marauder, Thanks..got the PM and number. Bob, Thanks as well. Here is what the deal was or is: My shop had another Mooney in a few months ago and was thinking mine had the same auto-pilot. I do not have any AP other than the wing leveler system. That was the problem. When I called him this week he was thinking of Mooney #1 when he quoted, not mine. He quoted the GPSS based on the other aircraft, honest mistake. He was placing the order this morning and called to double check everything so he would have what he needed. I told him I had just a wing leveler. He said "Oh Sh**, I thought you had the XYZ A/P system. I said nope, just wing leveler. In his defense, it was just an honest mistake. He said it would take much more to add the GPSS. I told him I would post on the forum and see if there something he and I missed. I also called S-Tec and spoke w. tech support (nice guys). Looks like I would need STec part ####601 to add GPSS with the STec 30 ALT Hold unit for full GPSS w/ alt. It lists for an additional 9K on top of the original quote for the S-Tec30. Too much $green$ for me. Thanks again for quick replies, Tom N7741M Bottom line.. No GPSS, but adding the STec 30 Alt Hold, the GTN 750 (yes the 750, not 650) and the annual. Oh well, all in all still gonna be a big change and very excited about the upgrades.

Need some quick help on my install..hope somebody is awake this morning. My upgrade is scheduled for next week the shop is ordering the parts etc.. He called this morning and asked me a few questions. He thought I had a Century A/P and was goiong to add the STec-30 ALT Hold and the GPSS. Now he is not sure he can do the GPSS without the the Century? I'm told him I had the auto wing leveler and that was all I had. He said well, they could do the ALT Hold, but not the GPSS. Not sure what I'm missing and I'm not that updated on how all of it works hand in hand. Especially w/ the GPSS. I told him I got the idea from the forum. He asked that I ask for some follow-up. I will also call Stec and get further info. The shop is very, very cabable. This is just not the add-on that they do everyday on a Mooney and since I have not dropped the plane off and they have not pulled panels to look at servos etc he asked if I would just touch base on the forum. The Alt Hold is no issue, just the GPSS add-on. I am going w/ the GTN750 instead of the 650. More on that later. Thanks in advance. Tom

Ditto here. Same technique

Your panel looks great and well thought out. I really wanted the 750 panel and for a few days that was the decision , but when weighing my needs (and checkbook) I had to make a few choices and wanted the most bang for the buck for the type of flying I do. On the brighter side as far as the 750 goes I can always add one later and slide the 650 down if I win the lottery. By the time I've mastered the 650 I'm sure Garmin will have something new in the works. My goal was something pilot friendly, usable for my current skill level and also fit my mission. There are many guys on the forum with experience far, far beyond what I will ever learn and they use their planes with all the newest and latest and actually know how to use it all. The 650 will keep me busy as I'm sure it will take a steep learning curve for me to figure out. I'm still learning my 696 . I just get up there for fun or a long weekend and relaxation after work. A different challenge than day to day business ops. I enjoy improving my piloting skills plus the flying gets me away from daily business routine and there is no telephone up there. I do hope to complete IFR at some point in my flying. I'll keep buying the lottery tickets for the 750 and Aspen.. .

As long as there is a safe take-off, efficient flight, everyone is fairly comfortable along the way, nobody needs the blue-bag and a safe landing. Does not matter to me if it's 135,145,155,165..it's still faster than driving and so much more fun , plus sounds cool that you flew instead of driving . Obviously I like speed, just in large increments.

Okay. You made me do some extra research on the GPSS. I found one more credit card that has some room left (just kidding), but did find a few more bucks in the budget. The order for the GPSS has been placed. Man, I better keep this bird for a very long time and pray I stay healthy and keep passing my physicals. Even more anxious now. Lets hope the annual does not reveal and unknown ugly secrets. It's been flying good and the JPI 830 shows that it is looking pretty healthy. Keeping our fingers crossed for a clean bill of health. We will get the annual done first of course just to keep priorities in line. The next week will start the good stuff. Thanks for the idea of the GPSS. Like everyone has said...plan, plan, plan first.

The GTN-650 $9065 Installed S Tec ALT 30 $8345 " " GTX32 $2181 " " Annual will be about $2000 +/- $20K +/- I'll get some credit on my trade-ins and might consider GDL. When he first quoted all of this there was a Garmin $750 rebate going..Of course I waited too long. No rebates.

When I was shopping I found that several of the smaller shops that I called had price structures that reflected the current workload and size of the shop. At Mena Airport there are probably five or more paint shops at the field. They all know each other and have a pretty good idea of what the others are charging. There were one or two that priced much higher because they were smaller and when they were on one job they were limited to just that project. A few other "Banner Ad" shops that I checked just surfing the web had the fancy websites etc..well I guess somebody has to pay for the fancy ad. They all quoted 17K and up. Just some reasoning to the wide window of prices. I think most everyone on the forum would only suggest who they have confidence in. I think you will be looking at 13K-15K in real numbers from any of the shops the guys have suggested. That would get you one solid and two accent w/ warranty. All good names mentioned.

My thoughts are I just hope they put it back after they take it

Just an update on what I decided..After going back and forth with all the great ideas and taking a look at my budget this is what I decided. I ended up going with the GTN-650 w/ the GTX32 Remote Transponder and I will continue to use the 696 as well. I had a budget of just under 20K. I really would have liked the 750, but after flying this past weekend on a fairly (long for me) long flight, about 2.5 hours out and two back I decided I would really like an AP of some sort. While the wing leveler is great, the constant adjustment of altitude gets old. So the budget was spent on the annual, GTN 650, GTX32 Remote transponder and a S-Tec 30 Altitude Hold. That pretty much ate the budget. I tried to get the most bang for the buck. Thanks again for all the input. She goes in shop Saturday. TW

I'll give another vote for Mena Aircraft Painting (Mena, Arkansas). Great price and great service. Got mine done last year. They even picked it up and I brought it home. One base with two accents $10K +/-. Turn-around was about three weeks.

After getting the necessary spending done as far as it being new to you.. I suggest find a good deal on a JPI830, or a monitor with the same features. Veteran pilots may be able to tune by ear and then pull some out. That's great, but I'm one of those who gets nervous when they say lean until "rough", then add some. I'm not that confident. I'm a fan of the JPI units. If I lean by the numbers of the JPI it is always dead on track w/ my planes factory EGT. Not an answer to your question, but my .02 on EGT. Something to think about later down the road. Good luck w/ the new plane

This is what makes forums work and fun to particpate in. Share experiences, ask advice, but most of all develope something that probably would never happen if we did not all have the same passion..plus the fact we all adore the same bird makes it even better. The trash talk and banter is fun, but the bottom line is the passion for Mooney. Very cool gesture.