Upgrading Vintage Mooney's

[dmc]

I will confess that if my DG goes out a new garmin G5 might be interesting instead of overhauling my old gyro.

[Roger O]

Paul, your list is great and right to the point.  What we all need to keep in mind, is that most of us fly for fun, and it is a hobby not a business.  If we want to get the upgrades, and can afford them, go for it.  If not, relax with your vintage "steam" gauges, and manual everything and enjoy the ride!  Non of the fancy upgrades are necessary to fly safely and leisurely.  

Those of us who do fly for fun are also able to sit in the hanger and wait for good weather, so in essence, the IFR flight plan and their associated instrumentation might only be an aid to get into and out of certain airspace, and to fly in those marginal VFR days and conditions.

For those who fly for business and must get there now, please disregard the above! You NEED the best of the best, and probably wouldn't be getting a vintage Mooney anyway!

[MBDiagMan]

Great thread Paul!

I am very happy with the condition and configuration of Joyce as she sits right now with only three exceptions:

1.   I would like the ASI to have a clear lens.  It is very foggy looking.  I plan on taking care of that at annual.

2.   I would like a fresh underlayment that is sandwiched between the panel and the individual switches and cables.  It really looks bad and brings the otherwise nice looking panel down to a point of looking ragged.  This will be more of a challenge than the air speed indicator because there would be so much work to remove all the cable and switches, not to mention the expense of having one made and lettered.

3.   The interior is not totally ragged, but it brings the appearance of the plane down considerably.  Not only the upholstery, but the metal work needs re painting and detailing.  Not sure what direction to go on this and not sure when to tackle it.

[gsxrpilot]

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. It was the purpose of my original post, and makes for an interesting thread.

While I'm not retired, I don't fly for business and this is certainly just a hobby for me. When I do fly, I always make sure I have the flexibility of plan B. Having said that, I'm interested in how many own Mooneys but don't travel in them.  Both @Godfather and @bluehighwayflyer mention owners (not necessarily themselves) who fly for recreation only, or stay primarily in the pattern on sunny, VFR days. And maybe my premise is flawed, but if I was in that camp, I think I'd own something other than a Mooney? Hmmm... maybe I need a poll regarding cross country travel by Mooney.

6 hours ago, Sherman18 said:

What we all need to keep in mind, is that most of us fly for fun, and it is a hobby not a business.  If we want to get the upgrades, and can afford them, go for it.  If not, relax with your vintage "steam" gauges, and manual everything and enjoy the ride!  Non of the fancy upgrades are necessary to fly safely and leisurely. 

Completely agree, and I used to fly a C with steam gauges. My brother, a Southwest Captain, flew my C regularly and said it was as well equipped for IFR as some of the 737's he flew. But an autopilot and GPS certainly do enhance the enjoyment of cross country flying.

Again, thanks for all the replies...

[gsxrpilot]

4 hours ago, MBDiagMan said:

2.   I would like a fresh underlayment that is sandwiched between the panel and the individual switches and cables.  It really looks bad and brings the otherwise nice looking panel down to a point of looking ragged.  This will be more of a challenge than the air speed indicator because there would be so much work to remove all the cable and switches, not to mention the expense of having one made and lettered.

You should talk with @"Chocks" about this. I'll bet he could get you a new piece that has laser etched lettering for a few hundred $$ and you could do the work yourself. Just get an A&P to sign it off after your done.  I think a weekend would get it done and as you say, would make a huge difference in the overall appearance of the panel.

[gsxrpilot]

Just now, bluehighwayflyer said:

It hard to find a single plane that can do both missions both as well and as economically as my 201 can.  

And also, damn it looks good sitting either on the ramp or in the hangar!

It can't be said any better than that!  Why a Mooney? There it is.

[MBDiagMan]

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. It was the purpose of my original post, and makes for an interesting thread.

While I'm not retired, I don't fly for business and this is certainly just a hobby for me. When I do fly, I always make sure I have the flexibility of plan B. Having said that, I'm interested in how many own Mooneys but don't travel in them.  Both @Godfather and @bluehighwayflyer mention owners (not necessarily themselves) who fly for recreation only, or stay primarily in the pattern on sunny, VFR days. And maybe my premise is flawed, but if I was in that camp, I think I'd own something other than a Mooney? Hmmm... maybe I need a poll regarding cross country travel by Mooney.

Completely agree, and I used to fly a C with steam gauges. My brother, a Southwest Captain, flew my C regularly and said it was as well equipped for IFR as some of the 737's he flew. But an autopilot and GPS certainly do enhance the enjoyment of cross country flying.

Again, thanks for all the replies...

This is why I have decided to keep my Cessna 140.  It is great for shooting landings on a nice afternoon or tooling around the local area and flying over the home place to see what the grass, woods and ponds look like.  Being a high wing, and having a very low stall speed, it is great for surveying the ground at relatively low level.  It also is fun for short hops to meet friends for a quick visit.  Out here in the NorthEast Texas boondocks, people you know in the next county are considered neighbors.  It's a little too far by car, so ducking over and meeting someone at a small strip is a fun thing to do on a pretty day.

Also the Cessna has a custom panel with six pack and center stack and is an IFR plane.  I plan on logging some hours under the hood in it because I can do so on about 5 gallons per hour.

So... I agree, if I didn't want something for longer distance travel, the need and justification for a Mooney would be difficult.

[Marauder]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. It was the purpose of my original post, and makes for an interesting thread.

While I'm not retired, I don't fly for business and this is certainly just a hobby for me. When I do fly, I always make sure I have the flexibility of plan B. Having said that, I'm interested in how many own Mooneys but don't travel in them.  Both @Godfather and @bluehighwayflyer mention owners (not necessarily themselves) who fly for recreation only, or stay primarily in the pattern on sunny, VFR days. And maybe my premise is flawed, but if I was in that camp, I think I'd own something other than a Mooney? Hmmm... maybe I need a poll regarding cross country travel by Mooney.

Completely agree, and I used to fly a C with steam gauges. My brother, a Southwest Captain, flew my C regularly and said it was as well equipped for IFR as some of the 737's he flew. But an autopilot and GPS certainly do enhance the enjoyment of cross country flying.

Again, thanks for all the replies...

Paul -- I was allowed to fly for years on company business until some idiot employee (and a pilot at that) mentioned in a corporate magazine that he doesn't fly for work because he considered it too risky. That led the lawyers to ask how many people flew on company business using their own plane, which then led to a $5M insurance liability requirement, which then led to an outright ban of using personal planes for company business. 

Fortunately, my wife is an avid GA traveler and this has kept us on the go for the most part. It has even gotten better since technology advances (VPNs, VoIP, etc.) have allowed us to work remotely if need be. But I do wait for retirement and the additional freedom to set my OWN schedule instead of the MAN's.

[Ned Gravel]

11 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Paul -- I was allowed to fly for years on company business until some idiot employee (and a pilot at that) mentioned in a corporate magazine that he doesn't fly for work because he considered it too risky. That led the lawyers to ask how many people flew on company business using their own plane, which then led to a $5M insurance liability requirement, which then led to an outright ban of using personal planes for company business. 

Fortunately, my wife is an avid GA traveler and this has kept us on the go for the most part. It has even gotten better since technology advances (VPNs, VoIP, etc.) have allowed us to work remotely if need be. But I do wait for retirement and the additional freedom to set my OWN schedule instead of the MAN's.

It is always easier if you own the company. No need to wait until retirement.  

[HRM]

10 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

I'm interested in how many own Mooneys but don't travel in them.

I plan to travel in mine--in retirement, fast and through clouds 

I'll return to a patent response, it all depends on mission. What you do to your Mooney and what it does to you. I can't trust the old bird I don't mind getting stranded, I just have to be retired when it happens.

[Yetti]

There is something between not leaving the pattern and hard IFR with glass wizbang for bizness.  After I get done with taxes I will do the "Vintage Mooney's for the CB.

And one programming note. The Congress decided that the corporate and LLC filing dates are switched this year.  How in the world is someone supposed to know that?