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Not sure what the proper etiquette is, just wanted to introduce myself as a new mooney pilot... Just recently (last Friday) acquired this beautiful plane - M20J ‘78. About myself, been wanting to become a pilot since I was a kid, uncle was a plane constructor and always was talking about planes when I was growing up. Started to work on private in 2012, put it on hold due to work and with covid, got enough time to complete my private at the end of September. Currently have 100 hours, completed 12 hours in the plane with Krikor (awesome CFI - mooneycfi.com). Really like this plane! It is much more stable and predictable than the other planes I flew (C172, C152, Grumman Cheetah). Looking forward to learning about mooneys at this forum. The first priority, take a look at pesky oil leak, 2nd build up enough hours (20) in the Mooney to be able to take passengers, 3rd, instrument rating... And here is a picture of the plane at Mustang Island, weekend flight around the texas coast...

Hi all, Back from the real world. It's been two years since I bought & sold my first Mooney. I see @Guitarmaster (Matt) has moved on to a twin- congrats, Matt! So back in 2017, I basically lost my a$$ on a small business back in Michigan. I had purchased a M20E and was happily flying it (when weather cooperated) between home and MDW. Thanks again to Matt for all the help, tips and friendship. We sold the business at a great loss, licked our wounds, and moved to Las Vegas- or rather, more accurately, Pahrump, Nevada; about an hour west of Las Vegas. And guess what? They have a private airpark called Calvada Meadows. So, the other day, I took a drive by. One thing led to another, and here I am back on Mooney Space. I've gotten the flying bug again. Yes, I fly professionally but really didn't have a reason to own my M20E once I departed central MI. This time, I'm taking my time to look for just the right plane, under the right circumstances, because I don't want to end up giving it away like the first one. Along the way, I'll have to buy (no possibility of renting hangar space out here) a hangar lot, put up a hangar, and look around for a good mechanic- all the things I had (via rental hangar) back in Michigan. Good to see familiar posts by familiar folks here at MS and I hope to soon be (again) a proud Mooniac. Stetson20 (Roy)

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, just now getting around to making an introduction post. I'm in Owasso, OK (O38) just north of Tulsa and working on getting my PPL. Once I do that, I intend to see about finding a nice F or J for business flights and family vacations (Nebraska and KCMO mostly). I've never flown or sat in a Mooney but everything I can see about them (especially the helpful information and people here on MS) has just made me fall in love with them.

I've been trolling here at MooneySpace for many months now, and have recently made a few posts and received direct, helpful guidance. But I've never properly introduced myself and wanted to take a moment to say hello and share a little background. First, I have to echo the sentiments of so many before me and express how grateful I am for the contributions of the individuals who make MooneySpace the excellent resource that it is. The camaraderie here is palpable, and the occasional spirited debate and difference of opinion notwithstanding, the helpfulness and sense of community of this forum is unmatched, in my opinion. I've been an aviation nut since I was very young, and the first thing that I wanted "to be when I grew up" was a pilot. I was always putting those 75 cent balsa wood airplanes together and flying them, breaking them, frankensteining them back together in strange combinations, and flying them until there was nothing left. In my late twenties I had a tandem hang gliding experience that was amazing. About 20 years ago I was introduced to skydiving which gave me another perspective on flying (9 solo jumps before I moved on to other things), and then I got into the RC flying hobby. First a big gas wooden trainer, then collective pitch electric helicopters, then tricopters and quads, and finally remote audio/video piloting on all of the above (insert hundreds of hours of crashing, ordering parts, and rebuilding various flying things, oh and maybe a dozen hours of actual flight time :-). About a year ago, during one of our frequent family trips from central Texas to San Antonio to visit parents, my wife and I started talking - half jokingly - about how nice it would be to if we could fly that recurring trip and cut our transit time in half, not to mention improve the view along the way. Of course I had always fantasized about flying my own plane, and all of a sudden we were contemplating doing just that! A couple of months later we were meeting with CFIs, and in October of last year I started taking flight lessons from my excellent CFI based at ACT, about 15 minutes from my home. I started training in his J3C cub, hand-propping and learning the basics on the stick and rudder. At around 10 hours we transitioned to the C172. By this time I'd decided (thanks to all of you folks and a ton of other reading) that I wanted a Mooney. I started searching in earnest, and in May (and with my CFI's help and involvement), purchased N9440V, a 1970 M20E with ~200 hours SMOH and ~2600 hours TT. I had completed my pre-solo written test and was about to solo the Cessna when I took delivery of my E, and needed to insert 15 additional hours of instruction in the E before I could solo (per my insurance terms, not to mention my own peace of mind). So here I am, about 15 hours later, about to complete the pre-solo written again, and just around the corner from my first solo flight in my own Mooney. There is no way I'd be this far along and as informed as I am without the wisdom and guidance found on these pages. So thank you MooneySpace and MS contributors. I know I will continue to learn from you, and I hope I can give back in my own way to help others who land here, looking for wisdom and insight into these special flying things we call Mooneys. -Sia