Space Saving Inventiveness in Short Bodied Cs and Es

[ELT]

Hi All,

I would like hear the inventive ideas that owners use to make best use of space in our fitted airplanes.  The collective genius of this forum must have solved some the space issues better than I have.  Examples of space issues:  How do you store your seat belts and harnesses so they are not tangled ?  How do you store headsets and their cords?  Fire extinguishers have been covered well in other forums.  How do you store your TSO pvc fuel selector tool ?  What do you use for a tool box?  Do you have better ways to secure iPads and iPhones?  Any ideas and pictures will be greatly appreciated.

I secure my seat belts and harnesses with a clip on the upper window plastic but this will eventually crack the plastic.  The control box, excess cable for my Zulu 3 and back up iPone power bank are in a pouch attached to the pilot side panel.  My pvc fuel selector tool is attached below the pouch.  My wife's in-ear headset dangles from the sun visor.  I found at Lidl a zippered cloth fishing box that holds tools, first aid kit,spare fuel cap, spark plugs, spare batteries, chargers, fuel tester, operator manuals, led light, tie down and flight control securing devices, power bank for back up power and emergency starts, hatchet and iPad #2.  This about 1 cubic foot cloth box sits on the back seat.  I mounted an iPad on the copilot side and an iPhone 8 above the old DG and below the glare shield on the pilot side.  I feed FF and WAAS to the iPad and iPhone from a Stratus which is wired to ship power eliminating cables.  I will post pictures later.  My airplane is 66 E with original panel lay out.  I rather like the old panel lay out for it is simple like me.

Thanks for any brilliant ideas.

Eddie 

 

[David Lloyd]

I would fit my C a lot better if I lost 20 pounds.  No hope for the size 12s.

[Rwsavory]

My tool kit consists of a Leatherman and 2 credit cards.  This saves a lot of space.

[M20F]

2 hours ago, ELT said:

Thanks for any brilliant ideas.

 Buy a cigar and step up to the Executive. 

[DXB]

The short bodies are funny birds.  They can carry a lot of weight but not a lot of volume - having higher density possessions may be the way to go if you own one  .   Aside from opening a portal to another dimension from within the aircraft, I'm not aware of any other solutions.  

Oh - one exception - Some of the old ones didn't have hat racks, and it is possible to install one.  Mine was installed during the troubled final days of the Nixon administration. I rarely wear a fancy hat that needs storage, and you can't put much weight back there (10lbs), so its utility may be a bit limited.  I use it to store my canopy cover, life vests, and aircraft documents. It's best to put stuff back there that wouldn't kill you if it were to hit you in the back of the head someday...

 

[hmasing]

18 minutes ago, DXB said:

I rarely wear a fancy hat that needs storage, and you can't put much weight back there (10lbs), so its utility may be a bit limited. 

Spare headsets, life vests, and old moving blankets for when I'm transporting animals.  That's my hat rack in a nutshell.

[gsxrpilot]

1 hour ago, Rwsavory said:

My tool kit consists of a Leatherman and 2 credit cards.  This saves a lot of space.

That's about perfect. I've added a few zip ties and a roll of electrical tape.

[M20F]

1 hour ago, Rwsavory said:

My tool kit consists of a Leatherman and 2 credit cards.  This saves a lot of space.

Quoted for truth.  People carry way too much crap for the most part.  Almost anything you need somebody will have where you land, crash, etc.  

[Pasturepilot]

Banker’s bag to hold pens, flashlight, and any small loose items. It and my iPad or iPhone are the only loose items normally when I fly. Everything else lives in my flight bag.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[drapo]

Most of my tools fit in a section of my Jeppesen flight bag. This includes a multihead screwdriver, duct tape, flash light and preflight stuff like a fuel sampler and the very important ViseGrip that you will find very helpful if the plastic door handle on your 1966 Super 21 breaks...

I have a backpack to carry my survival kit for two, including first aid, fishing rod, axe, lighters, candles, folding stove and anti-mosquito mesh clothing. During winter, I add sleeping bags and snowshoes, a must in case of emergency up here.

These will all fit in the bagage compartment.  My flight bag is on the back seat, passenger side, so I can easily reach it. I rarely carry more than 1 passenger with me, never more than 2 except for local flights.

[Shadrach]

15 hours ago, M20F said:

Quoted for truth.  People carry way too much crap for the most part.  Almost anything you need somebody will have where you land, crash, etc.  

This depends on how adventurous your destination, whether it’s a holiday or weekend and to what degree fate smiles upon you. I have had problems at a desolate field. While I did need and attain the help of a very generous strangers (one on site and one far away), I was greatful for my soft tool bag. That experience has inspired me to carry a nose and main gear tube. As luck would have it, there happened to be a old 201 at the field that had not flown in many years. Its care taker was more easy going than most people and allowed me to scavenge a left main. I’d have been in a much more difficult place without the people I found and the tools that I brought. Anecdotal as my experience may be, it’s smart to have rudimentary tools. You can fit a lot of very usable items in a small soft bag and the weight is trivial.

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by Shadrach

[steingar]

One of my pals built these neat little headset hangar thingies.  I just hang mine on the yokes.  If I really feel the need for anything else it can go in the back seat.  Personally I think most people schlep too much stuff with them too much of the time.

[RogueOne]

It has been said, but I will say it again.  Lose some weight.  You will have more room.  You will feel better.  You will be more likely to live longer.  Other humans will find you more attractive including yourself when you look in the mirror.  Be like a vintage short body Mooney: A lean mean cross country machine that sips at the pump and is not to plump.

[Boilermonkey]

It has been said, but I will say it again.  Lose some weight.  You will have more room.  You will feel better.  You will be more likely to live longer.  Other humans will find you more attractive including yourself when you look in the mirror.  Be like a vintage short body Mooney: A lean mean cross country machine that sips at the pump and is not to plump.

I've increased my useful load over 30lbs since December

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[Browncbr1]

I’m not sure if the ski locker stc is available for short bodies or not?

[gsxrpilot]

4 hours ago, steingar said:

One of my pals built these neat little headset hangar thingies.  I just hang mine on the yokes.  If I really feel the need for anything else it can go in the back seat.  Personally I think most people schlep too much stuff with them too much of the time.

I use the QT Halos, so they're very light already. I made a hanger for my headset from a single paper clip. Part of it is hooked over the trim above the left side window and the other part provides a really nice hook to hold the Halo's up and out of the way.

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, Browncbr1 said:

I’m not sure if the ski locker stc is available for short bodies or not?

I think it's just a drawing. I cannot find the STC on line anywhere for any Mooney.

 

[Hank]

My flightbag also lives on the right rear seat, where I can reach it. Sectionals live between the two front seats, along with a bottle of water and sometimes my lunch or a snack. Spare headsets, tiedown ropes, lightweight aluminum chocks and bungees for the yokes live on the hat rack, along with my fuel sample cups, dipsticks and a small blanket or two.

My junk box is from Rubbermaid, and leaves enough room to stand up a quart or two of oil between it and the backseat.

The gray plastic bin is a small socket set with ratchet and two extensions; the used washcloth goes with the can of Plexus for the windows; shouldn't need to identify the Leatherman in its belt sheath. I always have a pocketknife with me, and another one lives in the seat pocket.

FYI, my C has a metal door handle, but it broke once where the roll pin goes through. Thankfully someone was nearby to let us out, so that I didn't have to crawl over the seats to grab my tools. I have gloves because I used to live on the OH / WV border, and the sunscreen should be obvious.

[DonMuncy]

Geez Hank, I didn't realize you were that old. Pocket knife? Sectionals? 

[Hank]

1 hour ago, DonMuncy said:

Geez Hank, I didn't realize you were that old. Pocket knife? Sectionals? 

While I am learning to use Avare, remembering to not put the tablet in the back is an issue. 

What cellphone app do you use instead of a knife to clean your nails, open food packages and pry on stubborn buttons? I also cut food with my knife when necessary . . . .

[DonMuncy]

I totally agree with you. I have carried a pocket knife since I was about 10 years old. I would no more leave the house (intentionally) without my knife than I would without my wallet. I probably use my knife an average of ten times a day. I really can not understand how anyone survives without one. But apparently a lot of people do. And the airlines think we should too.

[Browncbr1]

I use to carry a really good knife as well, but the TSA broke me of my habit during my frequent commercial travel days.  

[NJMac]

I had to go to security offoce to get my Charlie security badge when I moved in. First trip they took me thru the back way and bypassed TSA. 2nd trip I had to go thru security and forgot I always have a knife on me too. They were kind enough to let me stash it at the info desk for the 2 hrs I was taking the test. Would have been the 2nd knife they took from me.

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[65eTurbo]

I just brought this up in the context of interior volume and tailcone space.  I have a back seat mod that moves my seatback rearward 10 inches and changes the front seat arms to create "toe room".  I've had 4 adults in their comfortably.  However, whent the back seat is in the rear position and not removed, there is precious little volume for storage behind the seat.

The hat rack adds some volume at a very low weight limit, but anything up there makes me nervous because the vaunted crashworthiness of a mooney would be quickly overcome by a metal chock to the back of the head at 60 mph.

It seems that LASAR got some field approvals back in the day for ski tubes and extended rear baggage.  I had even been wondering if we could convert the tailcone access panel to a door with avionics access and a storage locker above. 

After looking at it a bit more, it seems like a great solution might  be to drop the bottom of the hat rack to the top of the retractable step mechanism, and put a flip down door in front of the hat rack.  That would provide extra volume, a divider for impacts, and be mechnically easy (given a friendly DER and FSDO).  

As for W&B, my plane is a little less tail heavy since I have a little turbo weight up front, but I'm envisioning things like sleeping bags and garment bags going back there.  Plus, our planes are fastest when flow at the aft CG limit because it minimizes trim drag. That's part of why a speed modded short body is faster than a J.

Seem like a good idea to anyone else?

[geoffb]

My rear seat back lives in the hangar.  Since I never fly with more than two humans, it makes my carrying capacity more flexible.  But if the dog gets any bigger we'll need a Twin Beech.