Lasar

[IvanP]

2 hours ago, dkkim73 said:

FYI I got a call last week from Lasar that the wing gauge capsules marked for my tanks had come, it sounds like a batch of 25 or so arrived and they were calling the "let us know when you get 'em" list. They might have been a bit more than I'd remembered but not absurdly more. NB the price is intrinsically a bit wacky for such a small part, as discussed previously, but explained by the small #s and custom order (for the label marking) from the actual gauge manufacturer. 

 

 

 

I just got 2 of these for my Bravo after being on the waitlist for about a year. Paid $350 for them (incl shipping). Not a grounding item, but annoying enough for me to see the broken gauge every time I fuel the plane that I justified the expense. 

Edited Monday at 08:04 PM by IvanP

[dkkim73]

41 minutes ago, IvanP said:

I just got 2 of these for my Bravo after being on the waitlist for about a year. Paid $350 for them (incl shipping). Not a grounding item, but annoying enough for me to see the broken gauge every time I fuel the plane that I justified the expense. 

Yeah, I really like them and am often cross-checking them in flight. Or asking my wife to. One has condensation I wasn't able to bake out and the other is my ghetto special remarked dial (which I will say does work, and the price is right, but it's just not as easy to read). So I bit the bullet and got a couple. And they're the bees knees on the ground, too, for a quick range assessment and refill assistance. 

DK

[IvanP]

44 minutes ago, dkkim73 said:

Yeah, I really like them and am often cross-checking them in flight. Or asking my wife to. One has condensation I wasn't able to bake out and the other is my ghetto special remarked dial (which I will say does work, and the price is right, but it's just not as easy to read). So I bit the bullet and got a couple. And they're the bees knees on the ground, too, for a quick range assessment and refill assistance. 

DK

Now I just need to find the time to pry tho old ones out witout screwing up recent paint job and glue the new ones in  

[1980Mooney]

3 hours ago, IvanP said:

I just got 2 of these for my Bravo after being on the waitlist for about a year. Paid $350 for them (incl shipping). Not a grounding item, but annoying enough for me to see the broken gauge every time I fuel the plane that I justified the expense. 

I purchased one wing gauge capsule from Don Maxwell in April, 2023 for $119.72 including shipping.  That would be $240 for two (2).  So LASAR has jacked the price 46% over 2 years.  And that is made by Rochester Guage.  Mooney/LASAR add ZERO, NADA, ZILCH value to the gauge.

For those that want to blame Rochester and not Mooney/LASAR, you can buy the same Rochester gauge (same internals, same construction, same materials) on Amazon for $41 each or $82 for two (2) plus $12 shipping.  That is $94 vs $350.  That is a 272% markup to add the Mooney gallon markings.

https://www.amazon.com/Rochester-Gauges-5323S01792-Size-Capsule/dp/B0BR2GPB27

Sounds about in line with everything that they are proposing and doing.

Edited Monday at 11:21 PM by 1980Mooney

[Schllc]

To be fair, interrupting the production line for a run of 25 would dramatically increase the  cost. 
also, the gauge you spec’d (I just looked at and put it in my basket.)  

if you were to offer 5000 of them I bet it would cost them 10% of what they paid each  

there is nothing to these gauges, a magnet paper and plexiglass   

is all plastic, and the wing gauge from Mooney is metal. 
still a punishingly high price, but not completely the same. 

[MDMooney]

I was on that waitlist myself. Would have loved to buy them even for the same price sooner. Why not buy these remark the dials and resell for a bit cheaper then Lasar then? I guess there must be something preventing someone from turning a quick and easy profit… 

[1980Mooney]

5 minutes ago, Schllc said:

To be fair, interrupting the production line for a run of 25 would dramatically increase the  cost. 
also, the gauge you spec’d (I just looked at and put it in my basket.)  

if you were to offer 5000 of them I bet it would cost them 10% of what they paid each  

there is nothing to these gauges, a magnet paper and plexiglass   

is all plastic, and the wing gauge from Mooney is metal. 
still a punishingly high price, but not completely the same. 

Wrongo.... The old ones had an aluminum back case.  The new ones are all plastic.  I bought some New Old Stock (NOS) on ebay a while back which had aluminum backs.  The one from Maxwell is plastic.

[1980Mooney]

5 hours ago, Schllc said:

I also see that I am not in the minority of opinions here, their own website says only 8 people have elected to "join".  Here is the kicker, while mooneyspace is a small sample of the ownership demographic, we are a much more relevant example of engaged owners who actually do think about the future of the company.  I would venture to bet that 70% of owners are completely oblivious to this situation and if they got something in the mail asking them to pay monthly to support a business they do not currently need anything from, that mailer is going directly from the mailbox to the garbage can.  If people who are engaged and care, cannot figure out the benefit, how to you expect to convince the rest of the fleets owners?  At least a prepaid credit toward future parts as a capital raise is simple and quantifiable.

I have been optimistic/hopeful, and very open to hearing them tailor this proposal to make more sense, but it appears they are not going to go this direction.  

If I am missing something and there is a benefit here, I would love someone to explain it to me.

 

I bet that 95%+ are oblivious.  I suspect that only a minority of active Mooney owners belong to MooneySpace and read this.  A miniscule fraction of those owners actively participate on MS - maybe 50? And on Facebook Mooney Pilots, there seem to be a lot of actively commenting members, but the announcements and discussion of "LASARAviation/Mooney" got a few comments and that was it - Facebook Mooney Pilots discussion has moved on.  The "Future of Mooney Maintenance is Near" video got two (2) comments.  The "but we have never stopped turning wrenches" video got three (3) comments.  The "LASAR & Mooney — Building the Next 50 Years of Mooney Aviation " video got two (2) comments. Some of the comments are from "cheerleaders"....not the typical owner.

[dkkim73]

3 hours ago, IvanP said:

Now I just need to find the time to pry tho old ones out witout screwing up recent paint job and glue the new ones in  

Yeah, man, me too! I hope I will patiently extricate them without a mark. I am also hoping to acquire musical skill, vocal skill, and looks and then become a rock star. Then there are my business ideas...

I think it was Skip who advised me to aggressively fill the pockets with RTV. I.e. not just a dab which risks creating a void that will allow freeze/thaw cycles to jettison them over Eastern WA or northern Idaho. Also putting clear 100mph tape over them is cheap insurance. 

Any tips on deftly extricating them welcome by me and probably IvanP. 

[Schllc]

52 minutes ago, 1980Mooney said:

Wrongo.... The old ones had an aluminum back case.  The new ones are all plastic.  I bought some New Old Stock (NOS) on ebay a while back which had aluminum backs.  The one from Maxwell is plastic.

Never seen one without a metal back but it doesn’t surprise me. 
but interrupting a production line for a small batch absolutely cost a huge premium. 
Can’t say for sure that it warrants 120 bucks, but it is absolutely a factor. 
I would put either in the plane if I was missing one, and would buy the Amazon one and grind off the tabs before I’d pay 120 bucks. 
 

I was told that if Lasar is unsuccessful the Chinese will buy Mooney, keep the tc active and take all the engineering to china and shelve it. 
this would be far worse than bankruptcy. 
I still want Lasar to succeed, I just can’t be persuaded by this current plan.

they need to recalibrate. 
 

ps, I have t seen my plane in a while, but don’t the modern mooney’s have 45 gallon as the high end?

[Hank]

1 hour ago, MDMooney said:

I was on that waitlist myself. Would have loved to buy them even for the same price sooner. Why not buy these remark the dials and resell for a bit cheaper then Lasar then? I guess there must be something preventing someone from turning a quick and easy profit… 

Nothing except the threat of FAA punishment if you do that without a PMA certificate. You can make a set for your own plane, but not for anyone else's. The ways of the FAA are arcane, murky and as difficult to understand as they are dangerous to violate.

Now if you make some extra to have on the shelf in case one goes missing, and one somehow turns up on another plane . . . .

[Schllc]

7 minutes ago, Hank said:

Nothing except the threat of FAA punishment if you do that without a PMA certificate. You can make a set for your own plane, but not for anyone else's. The ways of the FAA are arcane, murky and as difficult to understand as they are dangerous to violate.

Now if you make some extra to have on the shelf in case one goes missing, and one somehow turns up on another plane . . . .

Does this apply to every single thing on an airplane?  I mean are wing gauges an MEL item, or an airworthy item?  

[Hank]

Just now, Schllc said:

Does this apply to every single thing on an airplane?  I mean are wing gauges an MEL item, or an airworthy item?  

I dunno. All they need is a new dial with appropriate gallon markings. Should be easy to convert "1/4" to gallons, it's simply one fourth of tank volume. Pry it open, cut out a new dial, mark it how you wish and put it back together. 

 

[Schllc]

3 minutes ago, Hank said:

I dunno. All they need is a new dial with appropriate gallon markings. Should be easy to convert "1/4" to gallons, it's simply one fourth of tank volume. Pry it open, cut out a new dial, mark it how you wish and put it back together. 

 

Well when I looked at the part list for my acclaim and searched on lasar it does not show the correct gallons for my plane. It topped out at 35 gal. I have a 50gal tank

[PT20J]

15 minutes ago, Schllc said:

Does this apply to every single thing on an airplane?  I mean are wing gauges an MEL item, or an airworthy item?  

Mooney doesn’t have a MEL so there isn’t one unless you apply to the FAA for one for your airplane. So, FAR 91 and the limitations section of your AFM are what apply to your aircraft. I don’t see the wing gauges listed in either. 

[PT20J]

20 minutes ago, Schllc said:

Well when I looked at the part list for my acclaim and searched on lasar it does not show the correct gallons for my plane. It topped out at 35 gal. I have a 50gal tank

The wing gauges are for determining partial fuel loading. On my M20J, and presumably other models as well, the max reading on the gauge corresponds to the tabs, not full tank.

[toto]

1 hour ago, 1980Mooney said:

Wrongo.... The old ones had an aluminum back case.  The new ones are all plastic.  I bought some New Old Stock (NOS) on ebay a while back which had aluminum backs.  The one from Maxwell is plastic.

These are the ones that came on my J. I’m still sort of kicking myself for not buying a couple from your eBay stash — not because I need one now, but because I’ll need one sooner or later

 

[MDMooney]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

Nothing except the threat of FAA punishment if you do that without a PMA certificate. You can make a set for your own plane, but not for anyone else's. The ways of the FAA are arcane, murky and as difficult to understand as they are dangerous to violate.

Now if you make some extra to have on the shelf in case one goes missing, and one somehow turns up on another plane . . . .

Sorry I need to work on my internet overly sarcastic replies, I never was much good at it. My point was to a prior poster that the parts even if of the same construction (though this doesn’t seem the case) would have more intrinsic value by merely having approval. 

[LANCECASPER]

Well when I looked at the part list for my acclaim and searched on lasar it does not show the correct gallons for my plane. It topped out at 35 gal. I have a 50gal tank

Every one I’ve seen on a Mooney just measures the last 30 gallons, including the M20TN.

[Ragsf15e]

You guys are lucky!  Those gauges are near useless with Monroy tanks until you get below the level where any fuel is in the Monroy.  But mine are definitely taped on so as not to eject over the Western US!

[dkkim73]

4 hours ago, Schllc said:

Well when I looked at the part list for my acclaim and searched on lasar it does not show the correct gallons for my plane. It topped out at 35 gal. I have a 50gal tank

Oh yeah, only useful when in that lower "regulating range". But when you're down there it's a nice cross check ..

[EricJ]

17 hours ago, Sabremech said:

LASAR turned on the vintage Mooney community several years ago in regards to the owner produced parts. Funny how they have a short term memory and  now want us to support them? No thanks. 

+1 They lost my trust then and just keep re-confirming that that was the correct response.   

[DonMuncy]

19 hours ago, IvanP said:

I just got 2 of these for my Bravo after being on the waitlist for about a year. Paid $350 for them (incl shipping). Not a grounding item, but annoying enough for me to see the broken gauge every time I fuel the plane that I justified the expense. 

 

And I thought I was being held up, when I bought one from a place in Florida, many years ago for $50.

[Paul Thomas]

On 11/3/2025 at 7:47 AM, Sabremech said:

LASAR turned on the vintage Mooney community several years ago in regards to the owner produced parts. Funny how they have a short term memory and  now want us to support them? No thanks. 

What did they do with owner produced parts?

[hammdo]

Rumor is OPP down/up blocks were impacted…

-Don