New member - howdy, y'all!

[airmocha]

Merry Christmas and Happy "get thee behind me, 2020," everyone!

I'm a little tardy in doing so, having bought my '85 231 in October, 2019, but I want to introduce myself and maybe begin building an identity here in 2021.

My day job's being a mid-seniority captain for a major airline whose name I'll have to try to keep a secret, but, as is also the case about much of my other background info and history you can see on my profile page if you're that interested, I want to say: I mention it all not to convey how in love I am with my own history, position, or identity, but because, after more than 40 years of flying so far, I'm just still so in love with aviation that I have no better way to express it than to cite how, how much, and for long I've been "plane crazy," which is, in all truth, longer than I can remember.

I have a great wife (obviously, if I get my own Mooney!), we have two sons from her previous life and another of our own, all gainfully employed and/or married and/or out of the nest, but I'm still the only pilot in the family, unfortunately.

With that brief sketch, I'll sign off with a question, hopefully to get a conversation started...

 

What, if anything, do you feel is missing from this community or do you wish you could see more of here?

 

I ask because I enjoy writing almost as much as I do flying, and writing about flying is the best of both. I've long wished to have a column in a magazine, but my tone/tenor/subject matter is apparently largely out of step with whatever the editors of the major aviation magazines seek for content, and I just don't want to be under a deadline for any fly-by-night and/or digital-only outlets. If I have to produce on a schedule, I want to know that some significant number of people are actually looking forward to reading me.

My union has a forum that's absolutely toxic, in which I rarely dare post even a single cold, analytical thought, which will predictably be torn apart by the hyenas which dominate that pit, let alone bare my soul about anything as sublime as most of what about flying compels me to write. Facebook and most other social media have clearly become propaganda tools working (rather well, sadly) in opposition to my hopes for the country and world, so I quit them, and that leaves me kind of searching for a community with which I might be able to interact and be a little of what used to be considered human now and then, without (much) fear of running afoul of the trolls and sociopaths.

If you're old enough to remember Gordon Baxter and Richard Bach, they're two of my larger influences and what I feel the aviation "literati" are sorely missing today. If you just want more Martha Lunken or another Richard Collins, you'll definitely want to ignore my stuff.

Interested to hear any thoughts from anyone, but especially those who've been here the longest. Can MooneySpace use some more "heart," or are y'all hopeful to make or keep it more/much like many other online/aviation communities, a place where pilots come mostly to talk nuts and bolts and switches and knobs, and take the touchy-feely stuff elsewhere?

[Hank]

Welcome aboard, Mocha! I like to think we have lots of heart here. Several MSers write for various publications outside of their regular job. @Skates97 has a really nice aviation blog documenting his experiences entering aviation and Mooney ownership. Some of us periodically write article-length posts here. Anthony just writes here all the time . . . .

There are some threads here for daily flights, should be getting the new one for 2021 later this week.

Our friends at The Mooney Flyer are always looking for articles [themooneyflyer.com]. Some here contribute there, too, on topics ranging from engine operation and analysis to fun places to fly. 

Looking forward to getting to know our newest member.

[aviatoreb]

Welcome Mocha!  Howdie!

[Hank]

P.S.-- @airmocha, do you prefer light roast, medium or dark? Lotsa milk, little milk or none? Sugar or not?

I like a strong brew made from light to medium roast beans, straight from the pot. Dark roasts like Starbucks taste burnt unless loaded up with sugar, syrups, creme and other add-ins. 

[airmocha]

Hank, my taste for/in coffee came, and changed, a lot like my taste for/in beer.

Mom's coffee was weak, light with 1/2/ 'n 1/2, and sweet as marshmallows with sugar or saccharin. Dad's was a little stronger, barely lightened at all and only with milk (yuck!), and lightly "sweetened" (if you can call the twinge of saccharin that) with that awful, carcinogenic concoction. I got sips of both growing up, have escaped cancer thus far, and preferred mom's, but when I flew the nest in '86, I began to make my own with dad's strength, mom's 1/2 'n 1/2, just not so much of it, and a tsp. of SUGAR, of all things, per 12 oz.

Tried going black in college, for simplicity's sake, but, just like with whiskey, could never stand the taste.

Then, in '94, I came to California, and met Starbuck's. Hated it at first (eww! It's BURNED!), but it was the only legal source of narcotic stimulants around, so I acquired the taste.

Met my Jet City woman in '98, (my email was EmbizoFlyer and hers was gotmocha...so...) and our tastes in coffee, as with so many other things, are identical. So yeah, for us it's Starbuck's French, Italian, Komodo, Gold Coast, or Sumatra, with enough 1/2 'n 1/2 to fill the cup to the rim, 3 Sugars in the Raw for a venti, 2 for a grande for me, and about half of a stevia packet per cup for her.

 

I think Starbucks should make a t-shirt or hoodie with their logo and "Starbucks...enhancing aviation safety since 1985" on them. Bet they'd sell like, well, good coffee.

[MooneyMitch]

Let ‘er rip, y’all.........and welcome Mocha!  Looking forward to reading your writings. 

[Skates97]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you here and as Mitch, I look forward to your writings. As Hank mentioned I have a blog that I started when I started my flying. It was really for the purpose of sharing my adventures with my family that lives far away. I think they were every bit as excited as I was to see the realization of a lifelong dream. Initially I wrote about every flight. I have not been as diligent lately and have a lot of flights in the draft stage. One of my goals in 2021 is to get back to writing more consistently about the flights. Starting up a blog is very easy, and if you want to have your own url just search until you land on a name that isn't taken and buy it. Wordpress is user friendly and what a lot of blogs are built off of. 

My blog doesn't get a lot of visitors jut stopping through. Every now and then I see where someone has stumbled across it on a search engine and will read through anywhere from 2-10 posts which puts a smile on my face hoping they got some enjoyment out of it. I do post the link to new blog posts to FaceBook, Twitter, and here and that will usually result in 100-150 visit over the first 3-4 days of the post and then trail off. While writing a column sounds enticing to me, it also carries with it the deadlines you mentioned and if it was a paid gig I think would turn the writing more into work instead of for pleasure.

I have found I think the best of both worlds in writing for The Mooney Flyer that Hank mentioned. Phil @mooneyflyer is a great guy and publishes the online magazine. He was looking for writers back at the beginning of 2020 and I was fortunate that he accepted my offer to contribute. There is a deadline each month, but the deadline helps me make sure I get the article written. There is no pressure from Phil, just an email that goes out to the contributors asking if they will be writing for the month and a reminder of the deadline for that month. I have really enjoyed writing for Phil and will continue to do so until he kicks me to the curb. 

[tmo]

@Skates97 - don't sell the DIY part of your blog short I went through the hassle of sourcing the exact window tint you recommended, so you're close to being an influencer

@airmocha - like other folks wrote - whatever aviation topic you write about, you'll find a receptive and attentive audience here; it might take a while to "get" everyone's sense of humor, but each and every poster here are good, well meaning folks; most of them masters of their trade, who share their wealth of knowledge with us.

[carusoam]

What, if anything, do you feel is missing from this community or do you wish you could see more of here?
 

1) More people like you...

2) willing to write about your aviation experience

3) willing to share what else you know on a topic that might go beyond aviation... (everybody has at least one other skill)

4) happy to post a pic... from your area of the Mooney world...

5) Enjoys clicking the like button...

6) Admires somebody achieving their goals... and takes time to write... ‘congrats’

7) Admires somebody looking to achieve a goal... and takes time to say... consider looking here...

8) Understanding...  (some people may accidentally appear like trolls on their first post... they probably aren’t)

9) Many threads are pure nuts and bolts, pumps and electrons, paint and sealant... add to the discussion if able... move to the next discussion if not...

10) Send a PM...  don’t be afraid to send another MSer a pleasant note...

11) Learn about flying in formation, or discuss formation flying, or be a formator...

12) take some criticism... (let me know your recommendations... I’m still working on this one)

13) use an interesting word in context... make somebody look it up.... join the MS word of the day challenge...

14) As the years go by... Look forward to meeting people... that you have known for years...

 

MS is an interesting place...

It looks full up with nameless, faceless, people... to the first time visitors.

First, it appears to be an online community... the more you know, the more it expands into something larger...

Once settled in, you find everyone has a real name, and a face... 

MSers are interesting people... 

• There is no age limit...
• They come from many continents... not just countries...
• They speak several languages... Google translate helps bridge the gap.
• They cover a world of various expertises (?)

Every now and then... they share things like what their favorite beverage is... tequila has its own thread... Single malts another...

There is a variety of people that have a bit of excess power... with that they can climb, or share... if you have the desire to share the magic of flight... there are a few charities around here from flying pets, to vets, to patients, to supplies...

Speaking of charities... there is one that supports downed Mooney aviators... smile.Amazon.com. Ask Mike Elliot for additional info if needed...

Connect your email to your account... in the event you go off grid... somebody can leave you a message to ask if you are ok...

 

So... MS is continuously changing with ebbs and flows...

All that is needed is more good people... just like you!

 

One day, you will get to meet up with many MSers all in one place... KOSH, Mooney Summit, or several Mooney fly-ins around the country or world...

PP thoughts only, not a politician...

Best regards,

-a-

[airmocha]

Sounds great, y'all!

Though I'm still as-yet relatively little-to-almost-unpublished by anyone else (AOPA Pilot indulged me with a blurb about the airshow deaths of Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin once, back in the mid-2000's, and some guy who ran a good (but of course unsuccessful) e-zine published a few articles I wrote, but that's it), I too ran a blog like @Skates97 for several years. You can still peruse it at www.writingtakesflight.com, but I quit keeping it up, so it's all old stuff, mostly intended to help build a platform as an author to help me get my novel published, which never happened. Because no one in the literary world seems to think there's a profitability-sized market for an aviation-themed novel, and because they were too closed-minded to believe that, while its main characters are pilots, that it wasn't about flying, I had to publish it myself, and the result is a whole other long, sad story. But hey, I love how it came out, I tried, and I may yet finish the sequel I'd already begun by that time, and try to resurrect the damned thing then.

I'm also trying to put up a whole new site (using software) at www.flightpathvector.com, mostly just to express myself to/for  myself and to anyone else who cares to listen. But it's nowhere near done, so if you go look, please don't bother trying to comment yet. It's NOT ready for critiques.

Nice to know I have a few more readers, if/when I decide to try to whisper any of my thoughts into the hurricane of 21st century civilization again.

[carusoam]

We have a few writers around here...

Pick an aviation magazine, there is an MSer there...

Want to read engine out theory..? There is a book Written by an MSer prior to becoming a BTer...  (wonder if BTers have more EOs than MSers...)

 

You know when you are reading something from an actual writer... sentence structure, clarity, and vocabulary.... all at a much higher level than ordinary...

Best regards,

-a-

[jonhop]

4 hours ago, airmocha said:

whisper any of my thoughts into the hurricane

Poetic...

[Bluevalley]

20 hours ago, airmocha said:

Merry Christmas and Happy "get thee behind me, 2020," everyone!

I'm a little tardy in doing so, having bought my '85 231 in October, 2019, but I want to introduce myself and maybe begin building an identity here in 2021.

My day job's being a mid-seniority captain for a major airline whose name I'll have to try to keep a secret, but, as is also the case about much of my other background info and history you can see on my profile page if you're that interested, I want to say: I mention it all not to convey how in love I am with my own history, position, or identity, but because, after more than 40 years of flying so far, I'm just still so in love with aviation that I have no better way to express it than to cite how, how much, and for long I've been "plane crazy," which is, in all truth, longer than I can remember.

I have a great wife (obviously, if I get my own Mooney!), we have two sons from her previous life and another of our own, all gainfully employed and/or married and/or out of the nest, but I'm still the only pilot in the family, unfortunately.

With that brief sketch, I'll sign off with a question, hopefully to get a conversation started...

 

What, if anything, do you feel is missing from this community or do you wish you could see more of here?

 

I ask because I enjoy writing almost as much as I do flying, and writing about flying is the best of both. I've long wished to have a column in a magazine, but my tone/tenor/subject matter is apparently largely out of step with whatever the editors of the major aviation magazines seek for content, and I just don't want to be under a deadline for any fly-by-night and/or digital-only outlets. If I have to produce on a schedule, I want to know that some significant number of people are actually looking forward to reading me.

My union has a forum that's absolutely toxic, in which I rarely dare post even a single cold, analytical thought, which will predictably be torn apart by the hyenas which dominate that pit, let alone bare my soul about anything as sublime as most of what about flying compels me to write. Facebook and most other social media have clearly become propaganda tools working (rather well, sadly) in opposition to my hopes for the country and world, so I quit them, and that leaves me kind of searching for a community with which I might be able to interact and be a little of what used to be considered human now and then, without (much) fear of running afoul of the trolls and sociopaths.

If you're old enough to remember Gordon Baxter and Richard Bach, they're two of my larger influences and what I feel the aviation "literati" are sorely missing today. If you just want more Martha Lunken or another Richard Collins, you'll definitely want to ignore my stuff.

Interested to hear any thoughts from anyone, but especially those who've been here the longest. Can MooneySpace use some more "heart," or are y'all hopeful to make or keep it more/much like many other online/aviation communities, a place where pilots come mostly to talk nuts and bolts and switches and knobs, and take the touchy-feely stuff elsewhere?

Welcome! There are many current and retired airline pilots here who are also flyers of the finest general aviation aircraft man ever built! The fact that it's built in Texas is a bonus!!! (but then i'm biased)