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From retro to basic


NJMac

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Got the official Mooney insulation installed. Absolutely would not buy that kit again. I honestly only used it because it was in my hands. But at least I can sleep tight knowing there will be no issues with corrosion on the tube frame. 9b1049b4ec3ece7132e67b9df6e684c8.jpga0979512968ef2fbbf81d4fa95d962ff.jpgfa59a46927f31dea85c050f0f6beaf84.jpg5f964696ca16b4e37ece21959311243b.jpg

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Got the official Mooney insulation installed. Absolutely would not buy that kit again. I honestly only used it because it was in my hands. But at least I can sleep tight knowing there will be no issues with corrosion on the tube frame. 9b1049b4ec3ece7132e67b9df6e684c8.jpga0979512968ef2fbbf81d4fa95d962ff.jpgfa59a46927f31dea85c050f0f6beaf84.jpg5f964696ca16b4e37ece21959311243b.jpg

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You need more avionics! Your rat’s nest isn’t very large!

4b58ac8b78aea1d39397df606c775dc2.jpg


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Lol. Give me time. I'm only 8 months into owning this ship.
Speaking of 8 months, my wife saw it for the very first time last night. I introduced it as "our bleeding money hole".



You need more avionics! Your rat’s nest isn’t very large!

4b58ac8b78aea1d39397df606c775dc2.jpg


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New headliner and carpet is *finally* installed. Was supposed to be doing transition training this week. May be lucky to get one lesson in this week and one this weekend. Have an 8 hr drive or much shorter flight in 2 weekends to Atlantic City NJ if i feel good in it by then. Would love to fly to NYC at night on a hot date w my wife if we do fly to vacation. e8d816db461f655a1b8d00be5fd79798.jpg60861a79ae7a7c6d4802827604172b25.jpg895f4fc25622337672c49e5e08e11956.jpgde378bdb6bb8685b0308005427c441e6.jpg3321ae6ac1db6f3bdd10e0dd02f09af2.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was finally able to get this plane out of KSCA on Saturday, July 14th. Mechanic said initially Mid January. Only 6 months past due.

New home is at Aviation Sales at KDAY. I was really intimidated going to a class C facility not having hardly any communication experience with such a large field but its great. Glad I did.

Lined up Jeff Schnabel as my Mooney CFI. Found him thru the mooney flier or foundation. Really, really cool guy and a great pilot. We flew Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for a total of 10.3 hrs. Insurance asked for 5 instructor 5 solo. He signed the complex endorsement too. 99.x hrs in my logbook and I'm now a mooney pilot!

I can't say enough good about this plane. I've been giddy like a kid on Christmas all this week. Even told my wife that I would go thru all the hassle again for this outcome.

Absolutely love the lynx transponder. The pma450a is pretty slick.  Absolutely would NOT own a plane without this EDM900.  Positioning in the panel is perfect.  Still uncertain on the ifd440 honestly. It works fine and is pretty clever. Just wondering if i should have gone with a 650 or 750 / g5s so then the gfc500 plays well. Guess i still can but that's for later, and may never come to be anyways. We'll find out first clues next week but my gut tells me my wife is pregnant with twins. 82f6bd50d6d4794fdd705f2c9c5fb950.jpgbdecbf60474f1a8aebef6819d1e479ba.jpg5a4071073cf2a2e903b70f59166a3724.jpg

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10 hours ago, M20C66Q said:

 

My 1965 Mooney M20C #3141 with a fresh new panel. Took about 90 days from start to finish & $10K. It is modern and ADS-B equipped. 

 

It's looking really good. Could you tell why 90 days? How many hours to install? I would like to do similar on my '67F but can't see 3 months of downtime, especially if designing and ordering panels in advance, completing harness first etc...

 

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It's looking really good. Could you tell why 90 days? How many hours to install? I would like to do similar on my '67F but can't see 3 months of downtime, especially if designing and ordering panels in advance, completing harness first etc...
 


From my experience through multiple avionics upgrades delays are usually a result of mixing “down” avionics work with new installations. Sometimes the “down” stuff is warranty work or fixing stuff they installed. Most of these shops are struggling to balance new installations, ADS-B installs and repair work. Occasionally you will run into shops that aren’t well stocked and buy items they as they go.

Another thing that changes the timing is the changes that may be made along the way. Owners learn of something and want that added. I’m a great example of that.


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I am very happy I did the panel upgrade due to the list of things I found behind there (e.g., loose wires, dirt, poor grounds, extra headphone jacks, and many other things that were very concerning). Overall 53 years of history was wiped clean with this new panel.

 

The new panels took about two weeks to cut and ship. I also decided to send my engine monitor to the factory for a new face to make sure everything looked pretty on my new panel (added a week). Then when it came down to rebuilding I decided to have all the wiring redone (might as well) along with all new CB's. What added the most time was deciding on what to install in the panel but I kept it simple with the G5 and ADS-B transponder (the GTX 335 W/WAAS will slave to the G5 for WAAS GPS FYI).

 

If you have everything ready to go I am sure you could have a new panel done in a month. I kind of made decisions along the way which caused delays and added shipping time. Plus I am not too eager to fly in Texas during the 100 degree days so not a terrible loss of flight time. If you are ever in Houston area and want to check it out, please let me know. I am happy to review the entire process with anyone. I truly enjoyed the panel re-do and now I know so much about what is behind those panels (pre J). 

 

Total 65 hours TT on the panel redo  

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Congrats on redoing your panel! Way more courage than me doing it yourself. It's great seeing money and life being breathed into these oldies.

 
My 1965 Mooney M20C #3141 with a fresh new panel. Took about 90 days from start to finish & $10K. It is modern and ADS-B equipped. 
IMG_8601.thumb.jpg.b71694bc087972f5842c91d7df66de51.jpg
1301064241_ImagefromiOS(1).thumb.jpg.77680f69c0064cd8b4ff3c1d077d769f.jpg


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  • 10 months later...

I got bit by the bug again. Ended up ditching the vacuum pump and installed the E5. First real workout was today. Did a couple of approaches, an rnav and ILS and couldn't have been more happy. Because the plane was an annual for the last month, I hadn't touched an approach in that same time. And jumped right back in without a hitch. That wind correction Blue Diamond Is effectively like cheating27e6618f4fa855e928c323b021864cbd.jpg

 

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On 7/21/2018 at 1:24 PM, MBDiagMan said:

The$18K for the 430W et al sounds reasonable, but if you will be flying IFR you really need to make an overlay or something to arrange a six pack.  

My $0.02,

This is one thing I keep reading over and over again that I think is abysmally stupid.  Yeah, if you're flying lots of different aircraft a standard six pack is a goo thing to have.  If this is your only airplane you get very quickly used to what's there.  Moving instruments around is obscenely expensive.  Folks flew these aircraft IFR through all kinds of weather for a half century with what's there.  How bad can it be to justify expenditure of coin at that level?

 

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8 hours ago, NJMac said:

That wind correction Blue Diamond Is effectively like cheating

Nice looking panel!  I really like the E5. The blue diamond is amazingly useful in all aspects of flight.  The only upgrade I would make is replacing the TC with a nice used lifesaver AI ($6-800).  I know it’s not required but I think it’s a great addition. 

3 hours ago, steingar said:

Moving instruments around is obscenely expensive.  Folks flew these aircraft IFR through all kinds of weather for a half century with what's there.  How bad can it be to justify expenditure of coin at that level?

I consider this the best bang per buck upgrade on vintage planes. Some sweat equity and a few hundred would completely change/modernize the panel. However, I feel that a single G5 upgrade to the vintage panel would make up most of the shortcomings. 

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Nice looking panel!  I really like the E5. The blue diamond is amazingly useful in all aspects of flight.  The only upgrade I would make is replacing the TC with a nice used lifesaver AI ($6-800).  I know it’s not required but I think it’s a great addition. 

 

Knowing that this was going on, I actually spoke for Alan's Lifesaver he has for sale here. The mechanic who did the Aspen installation said that that Lifesaver wouldn't fit behind my panel, said it's too deep for my E. If he's wrong, I would love to put it in. Do you know otherwise?

 

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8 hours ago, steingar said:

This is one thing I keep reading over and over again that I think is abysmally stupid.  Yeah, if you're flying lots of different aircraft a standard six pack is a goo thing to have.  If this is your only airplane you get very quickly used to what's there.  Moving instruments around is obscenely expensive.  Folks flew these aircraft IFR through all kinds of weather for a half century with what's there.  How bad can it be to justify expenditure of coin at that level?

 

I'm not sure what's "obscenely expensive" but with a little elbow grease and some sweat equity, it can be done for less than an AMU. I got a new panel cut after doing the layout and cad work ourselves, with free software, all in for less than $400. That was painted, laser engraved, and everything. The panel can then likely be swapped out without disconnecting any of the instruments. I could do it myself over a weekend and get the local A&P to sign it off. If you roll into an avionics shop and say I want a standard 6-pack panel using all the existing instruments, the full service options might be as much as $5K.

It will certainly increase the resale value of the airplane. And just freshen's up the cockpit nicely. 

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5 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

I'm not sure what's "obscenely expensive" ...

I just placed an order for a Garmin SV unlock, 1.3 amu and I’m thinking...wow what a deal!  My value meter is so far out of wack the only thing that registers “obscenely expensive” burns Jet A. 

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1 minute ago, MIm20c said:

I just placed an order for a Garmin SV unlock, 1.3 amu and I’m thinking...wow what a deal!  My value meter is so far out of wack the only thing that registers “obscenely expensive” burns Jet A. 

Truth!

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