Tweet
I wrote the below about the first 6 months of owning my Mooney. The first article was published in The Mooney Flyer online magazine in the September 2022 issue - https://themooneyflyer.com/issues/2022-SepTMF.pdf
The Xmas trip was included dinner with Tom and flying his J-3.
First Six Months
I previously wrote about becoming a Mooniac. So I thought I would provide an update.
Today (as I write this) is has been exactly 6 months since I first saw my Mooney in person.
During that six months I have managed to fly my plane 58 hours. This was despite work travel, a cruise, and some time in maintenance. And I survived the first annual without any major surprises. Most of the maintenance was due to upgrades. In my first article, I alluded to liking fast vehicles, at least fast for their class, but I also believe that any vehicle can be made to be better for me and my tastes. So, I started before I even touched the plane to gather some things. It also helped that it was around the time of Oshkosh, so I was getting sale prices. I got a pair of Whelan G3 landing/taxi lights. These put out an amazing amount of light. I also got a set of inertial reel harnesses for the front seats from Alpha Aviation (advertisers here on Mooney Flyer). I checked the ones in the plane and the tags said they were the original install in 1986. So, they needed changing. The inertial reels make reaching down to the fuel selector easier, and as a bonus, they pull the seat belt off the seat so you don’t sit on it when you get into the plane.
Another addition was the MicroKit Solutions Landing Height System. This device is a laser based height finder. It gives you a call out at 200 feet, 100, 70, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1, making flaring and landing much easier. But the main reason I put It in, was the new LHS-200-C version hooks to your gear switch, and if is sees 200 feet or less and the gear switch is not down, it says, “200 feet, Check Gear.” So, a good safety tool.
Another larger upgrade, and the cause of longer than expected stay in the shop was to switch out the JPI EDM-700 for an EDM-830. I wanted the more information and the ability to log the data, either for my own perusal or to input to Savvy Analysis. Supposedly, the probes are the same, so it is just adding the probes/sensors for the new functions. But it seems that at some point, the plane had a GEM, as some of the probes were not JPI. The 700 can use GEM probes with an adapter connector, but not the 830. So, some probes had to be ordered and installed with wires run. Also, I have a hot prop, which means the oil temperature sender can’t be installed without pulling the prop.
I thought I had a perfect setup, as I had a two week work trip, so the plane could be worked on while I was away. But due to the various issues, it was in the shop an extra week.
Then came the first trip to use my Mooney for what it does best, go places. I have a long time friend who lives about 5 minutes from KCAE in Columbia, SC. So another friend and I flew down, had dinner, spent the night and then flew home. Even with fall winds, about 3 hours each way. SWEET, got to love 175 KTAS in the mid-teens.
Next up was a smallish avionics upgrade. The airplane came with a Garmin GTN-650, which is very nice. But the 650 has been superseded by the GTN-650Xi. Normally, I would not have bothered, but the timing was such that a used 650 is worth a good bit. Sarasota Avionics offered to swap for the difference in price only. I did not have float the cost of the Xi. A nice six hour flight from NE MD to Sarasota and I now have a GTN-650Xi. But I have ONE question. The GTN-650 scrolls the menu up and down. For some reason the 650Xi scrolls the menu left and right. WHY???
While I was there, I asked about of couple of issues with the KAP-150/KAS-297B boxes. The KC-191 autopilot computer had a burned-out light for NAV. And the KAX-297B was always in the Dim setting. Sarasota Avionics was able to fix both in about an extra 2 hours in the shop. And for a very reasonable price. I then did a two leg back home, with a stop at KPDK to have dinner with a friend.
Next up (other than some local flying) was the annual. I have heard and read of many horror stories about first annuals. These include very expensive annuals and months long delays getting major repairs done and even aircraft scrapped due to missed corrosion. But the annual went well. There were a few squawks that I had postponed for the annual. Only things found was the need to install the aileron rattle kit, reseal the windshield, replace one sump drain valve, and two valve cover gaskets. They also replaced the fuel cap gaskets with the blue ones.
One issue that they were not able to address was the angle of the brake pedals. When I picked up the airplane, I noticed that there was no way to use the rudders, without applying the brakes, unless I moved my feet down under the brakes. The tops of the pedals were too far aft. I am not sure when this happened as it seems I have the 3” pedal extensions, plus I have the Encore update, so new master cylinders. But someone installed the wrong, fixed length, links. I did find one proper adjustable link at LASAR, but for a second one, Maxwell Aviation had to order it from Mooney. They took about four weeks to fabricate it, and it was twice the price of the one from LASAR. Overall, the annual was more expensive than I would have preferred, but not bad, but it did take a bit longer than expected. But I am very happy with RPM Aviation Service at KGAI. Byron and Jack really know Mooneys.
When we picked up the plane from annual, we made a short trip down to Luray, VA to visit the caverns. A nice airport with inexpensive fuel. And free transport to the caverns. After touring the caverns, we flew to KLNS for dinner. Fiorentino’s is in the terminal building and has good food, and, on weekends, live music. I had to do 3 turns around the pattern to get night current to legally get us home. A quick flight home capped the day.
We had planned a trip over the Christmas and New Years week, but some appointments cut the time short. But we flew down to Titusville area to visit a friend and play tourist. We planned on flying on Christmas eve, but the winds were horrendous. So, we canceled the trip. Waking up on Christmas Day, the winds were much better, so we decided to go. We ended up going non-stop, as we did not want to get stuck somewhere when most FBOs were closed. A nice 5.5 hour flight from NE MD to KTIX, even with some headwinds. We had a great time visiting my friends. It started with them having us to their house for Christmas Dinner. And I got to fly my friend’s J-3 Cub. We visited the Space Center and even went to Gatorland. I did say we were going to play tourist. But we actually had a good time at Gatorland. The highlight of the trip though was when we got up early on Wednesday morning to watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch. That was amazing. We had perfect clear weather and could watch it through main engine cut off and even could see it after second stage ignition. We went back to bed and later that day headed home. I have to mention Space Coast Jet at KTIX. Very nice and helpful people. Got us a great rate on a rental car, had it waiting for Saturday, canceled it, then rebooked on Monday morning. Fuel was fairly cheap, and no ramp/parking fee with fuel purchase. We two hopped back home with a stop at KEYF for cheap ($4.85 a gallon) fuel, and they even pumped it.
The plane had to go back to the shop, but only for a day to install and adjust the brake pedal links. At the same time, they fixed a fuel leak on the top in the wing walk area and tweaked the waste gate adjustment.
One crazy thing I have been doing is, checking the aircraft for sale ads to see if another Mooney came up for sale that I would rather I bought. And the good news is, so far, I have not seen one I would have preferred.
One final note, my plane is now a movie star. Well, sort of. The FBO was contacted by a local large non-denominational church about filming in a hangar and airplane. I happened to be standing there, so they asked if I would do this. I met with the coordinator and agreed. They are doing some video sermons, with the theme of various movies. This one was for a Top Gun tie in. They also did Rocky. They ended up doing most of the filming in the maintenance hangar, but I moved my plane over and they did some shots of the pastor getting into the plane, then flipping switches, and some corny dialogue. I offered to do a take-off, which they accepted. They filmed me taxiing out and the take-off. The finished video should be available in April, and as long as the take-off looks good, I will share the link.
The Xmas trip was included dinner with Tom and flying his J-3.
First Six Months
I previously wrote about becoming a Mooniac. So I thought I would provide an update.
Today (as I write this) is has been exactly 6 months since I first saw my Mooney in person.
During that six months I have managed to fly my plane 58 hours. This was despite work travel, a cruise, and some time in maintenance. And I survived the first annual without any major surprises. Most of the maintenance was due to upgrades. In my first article, I alluded to liking fast vehicles, at least fast for their class, but I also believe that any vehicle can be made to be better for me and my tastes. So, I started before I even touched the plane to gather some things. It also helped that it was around the time of Oshkosh, so I was getting sale prices. I got a pair of Whelan G3 landing/taxi lights. These put out an amazing amount of light. I also got a set of inertial reel harnesses for the front seats from Alpha Aviation (advertisers here on Mooney Flyer). I checked the ones in the plane and the tags said they were the original install in 1986. So, they needed changing. The inertial reels make reaching down to the fuel selector easier, and as a bonus, they pull the seat belt off the seat so you don’t sit on it when you get into the plane.
Another addition was the MicroKit Solutions Landing Height System. This device is a laser based height finder. It gives you a call out at 200 feet, 100, 70, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1, making flaring and landing much easier. But the main reason I put It in, was the new LHS-200-C version hooks to your gear switch, and if is sees 200 feet or less and the gear switch is not down, it says, “200 feet, Check Gear.” So, a good safety tool.
Another larger upgrade, and the cause of longer than expected stay in the shop was to switch out the JPI EDM-700 for an EDM-830. I wanted the more information and the ability to log the data, either for my own perusal or to input to Savvy Analysis. Supposedly, the probes are the same, so it is just adding the probes/sensors for the new functions. But it seems that at some point, the plane had a GEM, as some of the probes were not JPI. The 700 can use GEM probes with an adapter connector, but not the 830. So, some probes had to be ordered and installed with wires run. Also, I have a hot prop, which means the oil temperature sender can’t be installed without pulling the prop.
I thought I had a perfect setup, as I had a two week work trip, so the plane could be worked on while I was away. But due to the various issues, it was in the shop an extra week.
Then came the first trip to use my Mooney for what it does best, go places. I have a long time friend who lives about 5 minutes from KCAE in Columbia, SC. So another friend and I flew down, had dinner, spent the night and then flew home. Even with fall winds, about 3 hours each way. SWEET, got to love 175 KTAS in the mid-teens.
Next up was a smallish avionics upgrade. The airplane came with a Garmin GTN-650, which is very nice. But the 650 has been superseded by the GTN-650Xi. Normally, I would not have bothered, but the timing was such that a used 650 is worth a good bit. Sarasota Avionics offered to swap for the difference in price only. I did not have float the cost of the Xi. A nice six hour flight from NE MD to Sarasota and I now have a GTN-650Xi. But I have ONE question. The GTN-650 scrolls the menu up and down. For some reason the 650Xi scrolls the menu left and right. WHY???
While I was there, I asked about of couple of issues with the KAP-150/KAS-297B boxes. The KC-191 autopilot computer had a burned-out light for NAV. And the KAX-297B was always in the Dim setting. Sarasota Avionics was able to fix both in about an extra 2 hours in the shop. And for a very reasonable price. I then did a two leg back home, with a stop at KPDK to have dinner with a friend.
Next up (other than some local flying) was the annual. I have heard and read of many horror stories about first annuals. These include very expensive annuals and months long delays getting major repairs done and even aircraft scrapped due to missed corrosion. But the annual went well. There were a few squawks that I had postponed for the annual. Only things found was the need to install the aileron rattle kit, reseal the windshield, replace one sump drain valve, and two valve cover gaskets. They also replaced the fuel cap gaskets with the blue ones.
One issue that they were not able to address was the angle of the brake pedals. When I picked up the airplane, I noticed that there was no way to use the rudders, without applying the brakes, unless I moved my feet down under the brakes. The tops of the pedals were too far aft. I am not sure when this happened as it seems I have the 3” pedal extensions, plus I have the Encore update, so new master cylinders. But someone installed the wrong, fixed length, links. I did find one proper adjustable link at LASAR, but for a second one, Maxwell Aviation had to order it from Mooney. They took about four weeks to fabricate it, and it was twice the price of the one from LASAR. Overall, the annual was more expensive than I would have preferred, but not bad, but it did take a bit longer than expected. But I am very happy with RPM Aviation Service at KGAI. Byron and Jack really know Mooneys.
When we picked up the plane from annual, we made a short trip down to Luray, VA to visit the caverns. A nice airport with inexpensive fuel. And free transport to the caverns. After touring the caverns, we flew to KLNS for dinner. Fiorentino’s is in the terminal building and has good food, and, on weekends, live music. I had to do 3 turns around the pattern to get night current to legally get us home. A quick flight home capped the day.
We had planned a trip over the Christmas and New Years week, but some appointments cut the time short. But we flew down to Titusville area to visit a friend and play tourist. We planned on flying on Christmas eve, but the winds were horrendous. So, we canceled the trip. Waking up on Christmas Day, the winds were much better, so we decided to go. We ended up going non-stop, as we did not want to get stuck somewhere when most FBOs were closed. A nice 5.5 hour flight from NE MD to KTIX, even with some headwinds. We had a great time visiting my friends. It started with them having us to their house for Christmas Dinner. And I got to fly my friend’s J-3 Cub. We visited the Space Center and even went to Gatorland. I did say we were going to play tourist. But we actually had a good time at Gatorland. The highlight of the trip though was when we got up early on Wednesday morning to watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch. That was amazing. We had perfect clear weather and could watch it through main engine cut off and even could see it after second stage ignition. We went back to bed and later that day headed home. I have to mention Space Coast Jet at KTIX. Very nice and helpful people. Got us a great rate on a rental car, had it waiting for Saturday, canceled it, then rebooked on Monday morning. Fuel was fairly cheap, and no ramp/parking fee with fuel purchase. We two hopped back home with a stop at KEYF for cheap ($4.85 a gallon) fuel, and they even pumped it.
The plane had to go back to the shop, but only for a day to install and adjust the brake pedal links. At the same time, they fixed a fuel leak on the top in the wing walk area and tweaked the waste gate adjustment.
One crazy thing I have been doing is, checking the aircraft for sale ads to see if another Mooney came up for sale that I would rather I bought. And the good news is, so far, I have not seen one I would have preferred.
One final note, my plane is now a movie star. Well, sort of. The FBO was contacted by a local large non-denominational church about filming in a hangar and airplane. I happened to be standing there, so they asked if I would do this. I met with the coordinator and agreed. They are doing some video sermons, with the theme of various movies. This one was for a Top Gun tie in. They also did Rocky. They ended up doing most of the filming in the maintenance hangar, but I moved my plane over and they did some shots of the pastor getting into the plane, then flipping switches, and some corny dialogue. I offered to do a take-off, which they accepted. They filmed me taxiing out and the take-off. The finished video should be available in April, and as long as the take-off looks good, I will share the link.