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I'd install a portable GPS and paint as soon as you can.

Back in 2004 I lost power in hard IFR with a fire in the engine about five minutes after takeoff. The mechanic failed to connect the fuel pressure guage after his work which sprayed fuel into the engine and the fire started after the exhaust manifold got hot enough. The fire burned away the vacuum hoses but I still had the pitot static system and the turn coordinator. Because I was over Nantucket Sound I was forced to make a U turn and take a tailwind. I decided that at 400 ft I would turn into the wind (another U turn) no matter what. (Ceiling was 300ft.) When I started to pop out there was a golf course at angles to me and I turned into the wind and lined up with a fairway. The result was a makeshift runway 300 ft long. I landed gear up and the result was that the prop took chunks of earth and began to bend backward and helped absorb energy and slowed the plane down to a stopping distance of less than 200 ft. My flaps were down and they alternately scraped the grass and ultimately also helped slow the airplane. (This was my Beech Sierra, I don't think Mooney flaps will reach the ground given the dihedral and shortness of flaps.) I went through the top of a Maple tree that just bent over with me seconds before landing and I'm glad my gear was up for that. Given the seconds involved with the Maple I never opened the door, but the Sierra has three full sized doors. Lastly, the Sierra has two steps and each grabbed the ground and dragged the whole way helping to stop the plane and kept the nose going straight ahead like two anchors thrown off the back of a boat. - The point is, I am very glad I landed gear up.

Personally, I think it was a good article except the conclusion that more insurance involvement would have any meaningful impact on safety. IMO many pilots don't honestly ever want to admit that private plane travel is less safe than car travel. Of course everyone knows that motorcycle travel is less safe than car and bus travel, but constant awareness of actual private airplane safety and the causes of aircraft accidents is good for everyone to keep in mind. I have a son who is quite impetuous and I constantly point out to him the possible dangers of private aircraft travel and I would just the soon him avoid flying, but he has already soloed and he's old enough to decide for himself.

I had exactly, 3,090 hrs because that's how many I had before I suffered a burning-airplane crash that totalled my Beech Sierra. It was seven months of no airplane before the NTSB reprt was final and found to be the fault of the IA who had just worked on the airplane. But after seven months of no airplane I stupidly jumped into my new '89 201 without the slightest bit of instruction and flew it home. Luckily there were no surprises and that was just about 900 hrs ago.

Antares, IMHO you have the cautious attitude that will keep you alive. Living on an island south of Cape Cod I fly IFR through plenty of motionless fog, but when it comes to thunder storms use the WX info you have to avoid them rather than sneak your way between them. Remember, you can see plenty of WX info that shows where the worst weather is, but it's the weather that's going to develop where you are going to be that creates the deadly rendezvous. Fly early in the morning, keep your tanks full, don't allow yourself to blunder into an embedded thunderstorm that's about to develop and remember that your plane is small and doesn't fly above the weather. Let other pilots be more adventurous than you and avoid the white knuckle flights.

I see 18.5 on my J every time. When I had my Sierra with virtually the same engine I also saw 18.5. My field is just about at sea level. After 1,000 ft I climb at 110 kts and lean to 16. Temps always seem cooler than in cruise.

The singular true fact that comes through is that the death rate in general aircraft is very high. Of course the lawyers go for the deepest pocket they can find. I believe it's true that many mechanical failors are actually pilot errors, as in "took off with known deficiencies". Every pilot I know has a few great stories of near death flights. Our planes are small and many get caught in weather accicdents because their pilots fly into bad weather and because WX isn't just here or there - WX develops and if you are where it develops you are in a very small plane. Lastly, most of the accusations made against the manufacturers are made by the pilots themselves or their families to collect as much money as possible. Right where I live we had a pilot who barely made it alive through his accident, where he was landing on a turf runway in the wrong direction, nearly crashed into an oncoming aircraft landing in the other direction, (he was a deaf pilot) and sued Cessna for the fact that his seat slid back in his fourty-plus year old airplane and settled out of court at the last minute. We pilots, our airplane and parts manufacturers, are all in this together because of the death rate in small aircraft.

Thanks guys, and Jim, my first plane was a '79 Tomahawk. Bought it for $8,300 in '84 and sold it for $11,000 three years later. Very economical. I never gave a thought to how far that airplane would glide, but I liked how slowly it would land into the wind at light weights. Living near Cape Cod there was always wind.

Jim - I had hopes that the Sierra would fly again, but she never did. The wings were held together with a huge box of criss-crossing metal strips and the collective part was unavailable. The engine was toast as well as the flaps and radios too. - I did not buy the Mooney for speed. I bought her because if I ever lose an engine like that again I can expect to glide about half again as far as the Sierra. The Mooney has a slower roll rate, but both planes have the IO360 and in many ways the Mooney was a natural choice after my kids grew up and the college trips were over.

Great post Ward! I agree with every bit of it. But remember that once you get there, and especially if the best choice isn't such a great place to land, how you land in a controlled crash will make all the difference. Note my landing spot among the trees with a fire on board. I glided through the top of a large maple tree before I floated over the green, into the wind and onto the fairway. The whole time ATC was giving me vectors to the airport two miles ahead and I knew I couldn't make it.

In 2004 I lost my engine with an engine fire five minutes after take-off in hard IFR. While I find the above info very interesting, I'd have to say that sticking to the basics is your best chance for survival. If you know that you aren't likely to make it to a field then maximum glide distance is less important than making sure you get the aircraft facing into the wind and putting her down at the slowest possible controllable airspeed. Being truly prepared for a crashing landing at the slowest controllable groundspeed can save your life even if you are forced to land in the woods. Very often when pilots lose the engine the pilot will first think of getting to the closest airport and many will choose the "death turn" and take a tail wind back to the airport. Other times the moment the engine is dead the pilot will contact ATC and the plan will be vectors to the closest airport when there's no way the pilot can make the field. Valuable time is lost and tail winds accepted when "almost" just won't work. Being able to glide farther is very nice, but I go to church on Sunday and we say, "Lead us not into temptation". Many lives could have been saved if pilots didn't maintain tunnel vision as they strive for the "almost" solution. Some stall and spin very close to stretching out the glide. Others try to get back to the field and roll over with that last final turn and others are tempted to stretch out the glide while headed for an airport as they fly past farm land or golf courses, when if they had pointed the plane into the wind with gear up and flaps down at the slowest safe groundspeed they would be alive today. I know one ex-military pilot who was ten times the pilot I am who built his own Lancair and on his first day flying it lost the engine and is now dead because he made the terrible mistake of trying to save the airplane as well as himself, rather than just trying to make a straight ahead safe little crash landing. - Knowing the safe maximum glide airspeed is part of the basics, but beyond that my advice would be to determine ahead of time that if you lose the engine you are determined to take the first opportunity to have a safe ending and not pass by flat fields looking to stretch the glide to the perfect ending.

I know exactly what my Mooney looked like when original. She was the cover-girl for the Jan. 1990 AOPA Magazine. She was the first Advanced Trainer model that was built in late 1989. The Advanced Trainer paint design attracted me immediately and I bought that very airplane in 2005. Recently I had the airplane repainted and eliminated the graphics and changed the off-white color for snow-white to increase the visibility. The numbers were N900AT but that number was so slow to say that I reserved a number one digit shorter to enhance the stripes, and made sure each number and letter was just one syllable long. This was the result.

It may be a cool paint job, but when I planned it my thought was that if there was any choice of colors or pattern that ever stood a chance to save my life, that I ought to paint it that way. You saw the result. - Thanks.

My hangar is equipped with power for preheating the engine. I also have a nice sound system with my ipod music. It's also equipped with a mini-fridge so I can have my favorite beer while I polish and clean the airplane. Who could stand to clean and polish the airplane and then leave it outside in the rain and elements. What a morale-buster! Attached is my clean and polished J-model in front of my hangar.

Not much of a panel but hoping you're right that people like new paint.

I kept my second plane that I flew for fifteen years nearly every day and I kept it outside. Because it spent so much time outside anyway where I worked during the day I thought I was saving money, then I suffered quite a lot of corrosion that cost me over $17,000. Maybe I saved some money, but now I have my J in a hangar and I promise you that if you rent a nice hangar for just one year you will never go back.

I commuted from an island to the mainland to work for many years and accumulated about 450 landings a year. Recently I went over a total of 10,000 landings and haven't forgotten yet to put down the gear. For 15 years I flew a Beech that was much higher off the ground that my J. It seems that I'm always trying to slow down the J to gear extension speed so it's hard to see how someone could forget, but as the plane settles so much closer to the ground than my Beech I feel that I'm about to land gear up!! I'm always looking from the windshield to the little indicator at the top of the panel. The checklist is in my head, but first slow down - then slow down to landing speed with the gear down.

Cliffy, do you really think it's a good idea to make the repair of this 206 nice and cheap so that this pilot can fly again quickly and take up passengers as well? - I don't think so.

Personally I'm tired about all the trash talk concerning the FAA. The one time I truly crossed paths with the FAA it involved an FAA investigation of my plane crash on the golf course in Hyannis, MA after an engine fire. The FAA paid for an IA at the accident scene who proved that the work done that day to correct a hot mag resulted in the incorrect routing of the fuel line and failure to attach the fuel pressure gauge leading to a small spraying leak into the engine compartment. As a result I received a handsome settlement and an additional sum to settle all future claims from trama of any kind. Also the FAA punished the IA who did the work that nearly killed me. - The first thing they did was require me to hand over the aircraft logs, my paperwork showing my right to fly the plane, such as my medical and info regarding my BFR and ICC. I thought they did a thorough job. Very professional and helpful to me. The liability insurance for the mechanic's company even paid for the damage to the golf course. - It's my personal view that the words we choose to use tells a lot about us.

The theory of electrical fire and turning off the juice is the only explanation. I thought I was alone remembering the SwissAir Halifax accident. Bless them all and their families.

In general high hours means more unattended details because by the time any plane is on the block the owner has left items undone and high time airplanes have more items on average that need attention. So the resulting average value is going to be less. Such items as interior appearance will show more wear, etc. My airplane now has 7200 hrs and I paid less and will end up with less but the plane looks new and there are many like mine. Of course the mechanical truth is the difference, but even with a new engine, interior and perfect paint job, high hours scares enough buyers to hurt sales prices. Personally, I have always been fearful of hangar queeens and I look for high time airplanes and have done well with my three airplanes over the last 28 years.

My son lives in Hoboken NJ and works in Manhattan and KCDW (Caldwell NJ) has got to be the best solution with reasonable fuel etc. There are several taxi companies that can get you to the Path (subway) to Manhatten for about $80. Make sure when calling around you say that you want to go to the Essex County Airport in Fairfield New Jersey. While the town is Caldwell the offices are across the town line (very close) in Fairfield. It takes about 40 minutes to get to the Path. I live on Martha's Vineyard and have made the trip many times. As a practical matter KCDW is best.

I have friends that always fly under IFR and go zig-zag all over the sky in good WX or bad. Go straight there. That's the best way to fly a Mooney. Right?

When I bought my J in 2005 I had an M20 oil/air separator installed and it was easy to see that the crank case breather hose had less than 20% as much oil stain coming out of the hose. Maybe it's only helping out on take off, I'm not sure, but I'm glad I have it. The hose is on the left side at the front of the belly so there's no one that could convince me otherwise - you can see it! I consider Camguard an additive and I've been using that too for the past year but I haven't seen any difference. I think Mike Busch is generally very engine-smart and maybe because of the installation of his much more powerful engines the air/oil separator doesn't make such an easily observable change. I think his stance on Camguard was very skeptical at first, but now he uses it. I wonder what changed his mind?

While we don't know what caused the crash we should all remember the old advice that in the case of a lost engine after take off, fly straight ahead into the wind at slowest controllable airspeed to reduce ground speed and make only shallow turns to right or left for best landing location. Twice the speed results in four times the force. If the pilot chooses to make the U-turn and the aircraft fails to make it back to the airport, and headwinds become tailwinds, hitting a stand of trees is the last mistake you'll make.