Marauder

I chuckled too the first time I saw it. I figured it was a "rise from the ashes, Phoenix kind of thread". Went completely in a different direction.

There are a few like that at my airport as well. One enterprising young man got one of the owners to allow him to fly the plane for just fuel. It was good for the young guy since he was trying to build time (he flies corporates, but saw a big cutback in hours over the last couple of years) and it was good for the plane. I have spoken to some of these dormant owners. Sometimes it is a medical thing that they hope will get resolved, other times it is just life being too busy. Money usually isn't the problem. It is a shame to see this...

Tim -- I have scanned the pages and will send them to you via email. I have also copied Mooney Service Bulletin 196 that discusses the by-pass switch. Our vintage planes did not come with that switch, it was made available as a kit from Mooney and many of us, especially in the colder climates installed them.

Tim -- I found the section on the squat switch. It is on the left main. Interesting, it does appear that they did go back and forth between airspeed and squat switches before the J models. I am scanning the pages pertaining to these switches and will email them to you. If you need the entire gear section, let me know. I can scan it for you. With the plane sitting for 5 years, you will want to keep an eye on the donuts. There is a numerical code on them that tell you the year they were made.

Tim, the squat switch will be physically touching the top of the housing that contains the main gear donut. I believe it is on the left main gear. I'm pretty sure you have a squat not an airspeed switch. Your serial number should be in th 22-12XX range. Let me pull the service manual out and see if I can confirm where it is.

Dan -- is your Mooney considered an "Aerostar" generation Mooney? Wonder if they went back and forth between the two designs. Where is you airspeed switch connected? 47V, the plane on this post is covered in my manuals for the 1975 model year. I think the manual goes back a few years. Now I'm curious if others have different configurations.

Will do. All I know at this point is that there are a lot of modules being updated.

I got the email yesterday. Didn't have any details in it but my plane is in the avionics shop and I have sent them an email to ask what it will address. Do you know if these can be applied by the owner or is it a trip to the avionics shop?

If this this is the same plane (N6847V) that I am thinking about, he will have the mechanical squat switch. The airspeed switch as far as I can recall were installed on J and newer. There may have been some 76/78 non J versions with the airspeed switch, but I don't think so.

For me, having flown behind round gauges in my plane since I started flying, I debated the value of putting this kind of money in an older plane. But once you start seeing the cost of doing the same with the round gauges, you find that the costs mount up quickly. Having only a heading bug AP DG, for me to get into an HSI with analog components made no sense. I loved flying analog until I got behind an EFIS for the first time. Could I have continued to fly with round gauges? -- yep. Have flown lots of approaches safely for years with them. So why do it? Probably for the same reason I switch over on any technology -- because I want to...

How cold is it where you are and how long ago was the plane flown? Our planes did not originally come equipped with the gear override switch. They were installed on later models and many of us installed them afterwards. The problem with cold weather ops or letting it sit a long time is with the donuts. Our model uses a squat switch to let the gear system know the gear is down. When you take off, the donuts expand allowing the switch to activate. When it is really cold or you let it sit for a long time, the donuts don't expand and you get this indication. I flew for years in upstate NY without the override switch. And although I had fresh donuts on it and I flew regularly, I would have this happen enough that I installed the override switch.

Hi Hank. His first post shows it as a 88J. I believe those planes have the gear annunciation built into the annunciation panel. It certainly is a strange problem. The fact the annunciation test works should eliminate anything with it (bulb, panel, etc). If the plane had a faulty airspeed switch or limit switch, I would not expect him to be able to cycle the gear. My manuals don't go that far forward, but there must be a sensor that drive the annunciation for the gear separately from the gear limit switchs. Perhaps a mechanical switch that shows gear state either by gear motor position or a pure mechanical contact.

I love mine too much as well! I really wish there was more competition in this market. I take all of this stuff in stride. I find contentment in knowing that my life's hard work allows me the luxury to enjoy the experience of flying. I wish it didn't cost so much but I know that I wouldn't trade the experience of soloing a plane for anything -- okay maybe a TBM 850... As long as you got your health and can afford to take her around the patch, enjoy it.

Flames on Christmas?! Only if the tree catches on fire... IMHO opinion, it is all over priced. And if you really want to get to basics, why fly at all? Really, who absolutely needs to fly? Maybe if you own a business and want to see lots of customers both existing and potential. For the rest of us, it is a hobby. When you calculate out the actual costs, it would be cheaper to have a drug habit. As for the avionics cost, it falls in line with everything else overpriced in this market. Why is a LED landing light $249 and a similar set of off-road auto LEDs a third or less of that cost. They got us just where they need us, in a limited sized market with money in our pockets. If you elect to vote with your wallet and not buy, the Aspens go away and the diversified companies like Garmin survive. What do you think will happen to the prices then? When I made a decision to upgrade my F with an Aspen and a Garmin GTN, I essentially made the decision not to leave my kids too much money to fight over and certainly not to line my coffin in gold to take it with me. You only live once... Peace...

Just a note on the floor indicator. In my 75 F, I actually had that indicator fail. It is a plexiglass piece that is mechanically linked to the gear. It gets pushed and pulled in a slot underneath the window you see in the cockpit. My failure was just the opposite. I had a gear down indication light, but the floor indicator showed the gear up. Big pucker factor on that landing since it was late in the day and to a remote airport destination.

Hi Pilot. I have the 2000. I did not opt for the MFD 1000 external battery version. If I did, I could remove the AI. I still feel more comfortable with a mechanical backup (call me old fashion). Like I mentioned earlier, I had not considered the MFD 1000 until I learned of the extra functions it can do. I think with the setup you have, you will be fine. I too have an iPad for charts but like the idea of having them right next to the primary AI and navigation information. What sold me on the MFD were two things. The first being that it could be the complete backup for the PFD including the full AP functionality and the second being that with Aspen's approach and support of open architecture, I should be able to bolt on other future hardware including the ADS-B. Make sure you post some pics! I love seeing these transformations.

Be sure to keep us posted! What radios are you connecting it to? Mine is almost finished. I went with the PFD/MFD 1000 combination. I originally went in with just a PFD installation but added the MFD after the work started. I found out that the MFD reversion capabilities are pretty nice and allowed me to remove the second Nav indicator and with the updated autopilot reversion capabilities on the MFD, I can lose the PFD completely and the MFD will act as the PFD including the AP functionality. Here is a picture of the switch that was installed based on Aspen's specifications. What I love about the Aspen was the ability to integrate with my old Nav/Com. I upgraded an old KX-170B to a GTN 650 but just couldn't swing a second radio at this time.

He found out that the rudder trim sensor was the problem. The plane is rigged correctly (I initially suspected the same).

Thanks! How did you upload a Word doc? I can only find a photo upload option.

Philip -- you will need either to buy and external GPS or an ADS-B portable receiver (Stratus only at this point) for the ForeFlight to receive a location on an iPad 2 that is non cellular. I have both the ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot app loaded on my non cellular iPad 2. If you intend or want to receive weather in flight, you will need an ADS-B receiver. I would not buy the standalone GPS receiver (like the Bad Elf or GPS150) as both will not receive weather, only provide GPS signal for location. An interesting note on the Garmin Pilot. When I am using it on a WiFi system it will provide both horizontal and vertical accuracy as well as show my position on the map. It is using the WiFi location to show my position. The ForeFlight shows no location on WiFi. Before you commit fully to ForeFlight or any other app for in flight usage, I would suggest you to try them out before you buy an ADS-B antennae. At this point the antennae (for the most part) are unique to the app. Ex. A Stratus antennae will not work on the Garmin Pilot App. Nor will the GDL-39 Garmin ADS-B antennae work on the ForeFlight. At $799 per antennae, you will paint yourself into an app corner if you buy one and not like the app. If you do not need or care about inflight weather, any of the external GPS seem to work well. I have the GPS150 and a friend the Bad Elf. All work as advertised. Hope this helps.

Thanks Hank. I've got mine in Word format, printed them out and slid them into some Jepp approach plate covers on knee board. I was offering to put mine on the forum if someone could tell me how to get them there. Would love to see what your's look like. Trying to get a sense if I missed anything!

Here is another variation of a mnemonic saying that I learned for the just before takeoff phase. It is called LIFT: L -- Lights I -- Instruments (heading indicator aligned with runway heading, engine instruments good) F -- Fuel (on the fuller tank, boost pump on), Flaps T -- Transponder, Time Off (from my old VFR days)

Ok, UNCLE! Is there an easy way to download a Word document to share or is it limited to photos only?

Nice! Never seen speed brakes on an E. How well do they work?

Cool! We are only a few serial numbers apart. I have owned my F for 21 years, so if questions come up, let me know. I have seen and done a lot over the years on mine. BTW -- I'm working on figuring out how to get a source of rocker switches. Looks like your pitot tube heat switch is broken at the top. Let me know if you are interested in any. I'm going to buy a set since the majority of them are original and starting to fail. How do you like those man sized yokes?