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A complex endorsement is required to act as PIC of a complex airplane such as all Mooney M20's with the exception of the D model (if a fixed gear one still exists). Additionally a high performance endorsement is required to act as PIC of all post J Mooneys as they have over 200HP. So is there any way for a not yet HP/Complex endorsed Private Pilot to log PIC time in a Mooney? Yes! As long as they fly with another pilot or instructor who is qualified to act as PIC in a Mooney (including BFR, current, medical, and Complex/HP endorsements). More about that and the story of how I got kicked out of a flight school for knowing more than the instructor here:

During our last visit to Marathon, I filmed the approach from the cockpit of the Mooney M20F. Most of the instruments, including my Aspen PFD and the Garmin GTN 750 are visible. Due to the later evening, and the low sun, the outside view is ok, but could be better. To make the visual approach against the sun easy, I selected the visual approach to runway 25 in my Garmin GTN750. With this setup, I got an ILS-like vertical and lateral deviation indication on my Aspen PFD. Also you can see on the Aspen the AOA function and the synthetic vision.

While my bird is still down for annual, I went in to get some video of the gear swing and to practice the manual gear extension. I don't practice it in the air but I try to do one every year while it is up on jacks. Here's a video with the whole process and detailed shots of electric and manual extension from different angles at the end. I did screw something up some things and learned some. A more minor one was letting go of the gear override button before the gear was fully retracted. So I realized it's a "hold" button and not a "push" button. I think I knew this already but I wasn't sure so there was a moment I let it go and the gear stopped retracting and that confirmed to me that I'm not holding it for no reason the whole time. Ran into a few issues during the manual gear extension. Certainly I followed the checklist and all but there was something the checklist would not help with. First one was just yanking the cord too hard. I remember from last time that it takes a bit of effort but my mechanic made a memorable comment to me, "you're not trying to start a lawn mower!" The bigger issue was how I did not go far enough to lock the gear down on the first try. I was staring at the mechanical indicator and kept going until the green lines lined up. I was using the indicator for cues for how much more to go but I also ignored the annunciator panel figuring one of the reasons for a manual gear extension is an electrical failure so this is how I would be doing it. When I thought I was done, the mechanic pointed to the annuciator and said it's not locked yet! Sure enough, the "Gear Down" light was not yet lit. One more pull and it was. I learned a valuable lesson. Look for the light, feel for the click. Duh! I feel for the click every time I do a normal gear extension but for some reason I felt like manually moving it will be more subtle and smooth. No, the click is still there at the end. So even if the light doesn't illuminate and the indicator tells you you're down, feel for the click before assuming it's down and locked.

Has anyone installed a video camera inside their cowl? For some reason, I cannot keep the CHT's for #3 & #4 below 450 with the cowl flaps closed. The baffling looks okay on the ground but would like to see what it does in flight.

I know a few of us are running GoPros on the exterior of our aircraft, some by the use of the included sticky mount. Here is a little unknown mount many people aren't aware of, the surfboard mount My girlfriend and I purchased a kayak so of course I want to get some watersport videos. I bought a floaty back door and a surfboard mount so I can do an underwater and hull shot. BUT! I happen to notice the included mounts are QUITE larger than the standard black mounts that come with our camera. How much larger? Well after some lengthy math calculation (I hate math) I've found that the standard surfboard mount (just the larger one pictured above, I'm not counting the tether mount) is 43% larger than the standard mount. Now. How does that equate into safety for our cameras? Well, I did a little research (I started this 'project' at 10pm and it's now 2am, don't worry, I'm bored at work). On the back of the mounts, we are greeted by this: A quick search turns up 3M's technical data on ALL of their adhesive products (located HERE). Lets learn us some MooneySpace knowledge! (Please bear with me, I shamelessly copypasted some 3M articles): The 3M VHB (or Very High Bond) is one of 3M's strongest adhesive material. The material that GoPro spec's out for its mounts is Product number 4991, skinned to a thickness of 0.090" or 2.3mm. This family utilizes multi-purpose acrylic adhesive on both sides of a conformable adhesive foam core. The adhesive provides excellent adhesion to a broad range of high and medium surface energy substrates including metals, glass, and a wide variety of plastics, as well as plasticized vinyl. The conformable adhesive foam core provides good contact, even with mismatched substrates. Aluminum is one of the BEST substrates that this material can be mated to. In their included .pfd of material is A LOT of good stuff. Two things we want to pay attention are these: Normal tensile strength (aka pulling vertical, as in off a desk), and then dynamic overlap shear, (aka sliding across said desk). In the above report, 3M utilizes the ASTM D-897 testing method for tensile and ASTM D-1102 for the dynamic overlap shear. In those, they test in stringent conditions for temp, moisture, and a constant rate at which the force is applied. So keep this simple the results are as follows; 4991 is rated at 70 lbs/sq in for tensile strength and 65 lbs/sq in for shear. Going back to our basic area of the above mounts, the stock GoPro mount is about 2.8 sq in, while the surfboard mount is about 4.0 sq in, both give or take a tenth or two. If I'm not screwing up my math, a simple multiplication table gives us a the following results: Surfboard tensile = 280lbs Surfboard shear = 260lbs Stock tensile = 196lbs Stock shear = 182lbs I do not have any sort of knowledge of fluid dynamics or physics, so if anyone here does and could run a calculation on how much drag a GoPro and mount produce, that would be pretty sweet. But I think it's safe to say our cameras are not producing any sort of drag number listed above. If you want the extra security, you can upgrade to the surfboard mounts (the cheapest place I found them is HERE ). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, on a separate tangent, if some of you have decided to try out the sticky mount, I'd like to highlight the recommendations from 3M as posted below: Time: After application, the bond strength will increase as the adhesive flows onto the surface (also referred to as “wet out”). At room temperature approximately 50% of ultimate bond strength will be achieved after 20 minutes, 90% after 24 hours and 100% after 72 hours. This flow is faster at higher temperatures and slower at lower temperatures. Ultimate bond strength can be achieved more quickly (and in some cases bond strength can be increased) by exposure of the bond to elevated temperatures (e.g. 150°F [66°C] for 1 hour). This can provide better adhesive wetout onto the substrates. Pressure: Bond strength is dependent upon the amount of adhesive-to-surface contact developed. Firm application pressure develops better adhesive contact and helps improve bond strength. Typically, good surface contact can be attained by applying enough pressure to ensure that the tape experiences approximately 15 psi (100 kPa) pressure. Either roller or platen pressure can be used. Note that rigid surfaces may require 2 or 3 times that much pressure to make the tape experience 15 psi. Temperature: Ideal application temperature range is 70°F to 100°F (21°C to 38°C). Pressure sensitive adhesives use viscous flow to achieve substrate contact area. Minimum suggested application temperatures is 60*F for 4991. To obtain good performance with all 3M™ VHB™ Tapes, it is important to ensure that the surfaces are dry and free of condensed moisture. Clean: Most substrates are best prepared by cleaning with a 50:50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol (IPA*) and water prior to applying 3M™ VHB™ Tapes. Shelf Life: All 3M™ VHB™ Tapes have a shelf life of 24 months from date of shipment when stored at 40°F to 100°F (4°C to 38°C) and 0-95% relative humidity. The optimum storage conditions are 72°F (22°C) and 50% relative humidity. The performance of tapes is not projected to change even after shelf life expires; however, 3M does suggest that 3M™ VHB™ Tapes are used prior to the shelf life date whenever possible.

Here is another 360 degree video of an approach and landing into Erie, Pa (KERI) today after practicing approaches in Cleveland. The video will not work in the Safari Browser. Try it on your phone for best results, it should open in the youtube app. Then, you can move you phone to look all around or use your finger on the screen to change the view. https://youtu.be/2tz-h2WBiUs Gear down 1:18 Landing 3:55

I'd like to see a video from a Mooney flight. Need not be an E. videos from a 360fly camera

Well on the East coast we do it with video! Ha! I'll let Bob Bellville and friends do all the talking

I came across this video will looking for something else. Robert Buck set the transcontinental speed record for a junior at 16 (when you could get a license at 16) and several other records, started flying DC2's for TWA, flew a B-17 on purpose through the most violent thunderstorms he could find to learn about weather, flew a 707 around the world pole to pole, and retired a TWA 747 Captain. Wrote a lot of great books including Weather Flying and his autobiography North Star Over My Shoulder. http://www.c-span.org/video/?170568-1/book-discussion-north-star-shoulder Covers some interesting topics that I thought some might find of interest.

Air Safety Institute just posted this video. Mid-air collisions fall into that “low probability, high consequence” category, but it's still scary to think about, esp if you've had a close call. In this video, ASI discusses areas where the risk of a mid-air is greatest as well as strategies for minimizing the chance of having one.

Here's a video of the Mooney Caravan's arrival at Oshkosh this year. Enjoy! Phil

Hello, all - Walking through the local Sam's Club, saw a new DSLR camera from Sony: DSCH300. It uses a CCD sensor, vice a CMOS sensor. That should mean that it uses a Global Shutter, vice a Rolling Shutter. So, it *should* be able to shoot inflight video without any propeller artifacts. Right out of the box. No filter needed. That would also give it better low-light capability. Particulars: - 720p video (hmmm, not 1080...) - CCD Sensor - $180 (ooooh!) - No GPS connectivity, like the Garmin VIRB has... - No included mounting hardware. - Don't know what the audio input story is... I'm gonna buy one, since the price is so reasonable. I'll report back...

Hello, all - Have viewed two VIRB-shot aerial videos. Very nice image quality - except for the usual prop-bending artifacts. Anyone know of a reasonably-priced small video or DSLR camera that uses a Global Shutter? One I've looked at, which will do the job, is the Blackmagic Design camera, for $3G. Errr... no. There's a rumor that Canon will soon release a Global Shutter-equipped camera, but I don't know what price to expect - though it will probably be high. I will not drop a load of cash on a video camera which depicts props as bendy, scimitar-lookin' whirlygigs. So, I have come to you folks... Thanx for any assistance you can offer, Chuck M.