TWinter

Very nice install. Someday maybe..

Very complete and thorough..

Thanks for the heads up. I'll make some calls for her (LOL), for me on Monday. I order, we use her (our) credit card and she wraps, but that's after it gets delivered to my business. So much for Christmas surprises. Atleast I get something I'll use.. It's a great day to get some air in TN. I'm out..Hope everybody traveling (flying/driving) has a safe vacation this week. Check and double check.

I've not had much luck finding sources for replacement carpet kits and floor mats for our pre-Js. One site had floor mats at $500..wow. My other half is trying to come up w/ a good XMas gift. She asked what I wanted for the plane. Well that was an open loaded question. I had to be nice and come up w/ something other than say maybe a new Garmin 750, auto-pilot or full leather conversion interior. So I'm letting her off easy. Anybody have any good sources or suggestions for carpet and floormats? 1973 Mooney M20E. Thanks in advance. Tom

There was a vendor on this site a month or so ago..do a search. There are also a few on EBay.

No kids, never married..I do have a great gal of ten years. I guess in some states thats married. About 20 years ago my brother was a Navy TopGun instructor and at the time he convinced me that getting PPL would be a great challenge and loads of fun (even though he called us GA pilots "puddle jumpers"..LOL). I took the challenge and got it right at 40 hrs min. It was great fun and no regrets. Only problem was at that time in my life my career was in law enforcement and earning only 45K a year, even as single guy the $50 an hour to rent was a tough pill to swallow on that salary. I was living Portsmouth, NH..about an hour north of Boston so cost of living was steep. Many years have passed now and after a 20 year lay-off from flying I've gotten the itch again and have been going full steam since last year. The other half is not as excited about flying, but it work in progress. She goes for short trips around the area, less than an hour at a time. After a vested retirement from LEO I have been lucky enough to own my own businesses for over 15 yrs now. So to answer the question..no kids and none in the future. She and I are at mid-life 50ish, the Lord has blessed me and my business during this economy and allowed me to enjoy the view from the clouds in my Mooney. Had I taken another path..no so sure I would have been able to light the fire again.

Be sure you have it trimmed for hands off flying on your final. It took me forever to figure out what I was doing wrong. Long story short I was concentrating on the landing, making sure speed was okay, but fighting the plane w/ a poor trim configuration on final. I started talking to other owners and instructors..what was I doing wrong? A suggestion was watch the trim. I started to work the trim better on final, pretty much trimmed her for hands off and have been greasy since. Just my .02. and that ain't worth much these days. Good luck.

M20E is a great plane as all have mentioned. Will carry four folks for 3-4 hr trip without too much complaining from the rear. The ladies usually take the back so under 5'8" +/- is our usual. Insurance for VFR PIC w/ about 150 hrs total with less than a 50 hrs PIC in the Mooney was $900 a year. Got my PPL twenty yrs ago then fell out of the hobby after about a year. Now just getting back into it this past year. You already have lots of input. Here are a few pics of what the Mooney view is at 3500' along the Mississippi. Not trying to set speed records, but about 25 square here in these pics. Not much wind, maybe 5 or 6 knots pushing. A great bird to fly without big expenses.

Thanks guys..I hate to actually not have it available for x-country or longer trips. Just wondering if there was a better device than the "Rubber-Band" technique. I'll check out the references mentioned. Just read all the different ideas. Looks like there are a few options. I like the toggle switch option. Thx

Okay..I'm probably gonna take some hits on the topic "It's been beaten to death", but I can't seem to find and answer. My 73/74 has the button for the Positive Wing Level System. I know somebody must have a better way to activate (or deactivate) the button. In other words..Is there not a better system then to have a tacky looking rubber-band hold my button down during local flights. I know the system does not get damaged by manual over-ride when the system is in use, but I usually don't use it unless it's a roadtrip. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks, Tom

Thanks..The paint shop took care of doing the caps. After I got it back I spent the better part of the day or so with a fresh can of Mother's Billet/Aluminum Polish and worked on all the door and hatch aluminum frames. I know it's over-doing it, but figured what the heck. We've had some pretty crappy weather lately, hoping for a nice day this weekend to enjoy some of the hard work.

I actually called FAA prior to be sure and the reply was 2" as the minimum size. I got the name and department of the individual(s) that handle these questions. I will admit it took three people to finally get someone who stated 2" on aircraft 30 yrs or older. They were also informed it was a repaint. Mena also had been painting using the smaller 2" #s on a few planes that were owned and operated by FAA and a few FAA Empoyees from the KC office. I guess I'm in OK company. It might be one of those gray areas?. After 20 yrs of being in law enforcement I have seen lots of gray areas of law and statutes. It's all good for now.

Pics to: tpwinter@bellsouth.net if still available.

To get it there I hired a pilot from Mena to pick mine up. They had a plane headed this way for a delivery. The pilot I hired hitched a ride and flew it back to Mena ($300) he charged me. Doug and Rhonda know him well. He ferry flies pretty steady. I had a buddy fly me to Mena from Dyer and covered his fuel and a tossed him some cash for a night out to eat. It cost me more to get it than it did to hire the pilot. I think between getting it there and picking it the total was about a grand by the time I filled everyone's tank and time.

Take a look at the Pre-J forum. I just got from using Doug and Rhonda at Mena. First class job..My album has lots of pics. GL with whoever you decide. Just make sure they are reputable.

Got a chance for a few more pics today. So I don't take up to much forum space here they are posted in my pic album. Like was mentioned before, I flew for an hour, landed to clean bugs and take pics for two hours. I guess I'm OCD. Upgrading avionics next month..Gotta let the checkbook heal first and take some time to just enjoy flying.