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Welcome to the 

This page has been a long time in coming and I will try to get time to fill it up with Happy Mooneyland Customers and a blurb about them and their new MooneyMachines.

Hi Richard,

          I honestly believe you have no idea the people and pilots you have helped over the years. I've spent over 1,000,000 dollars on my 4 Mooney airplanes (that number might be low) and travel across America including the factory and haven't found anyone yet that knows more about Mooney's and is as helpful as you. Id bet my life any day on your advice how to fly my plane. You are a great friend and wonderful aviator!

                            Tom Leonard

Below is Toby Zyroll's new Mooney Rocket. Toby flies out of the Houston area at Sugarland Airport where he treasures his new "Rocket Ship". Toby is a successful business man, husband and father and soon hopes to fly his new Rocket on a "Diner's Drive-ins and Dives" tour. There goes his teenage figure! The only down side to his upcoming trips to Triple D's is that he will have his seats full of buddies and no room for me!

Toby was not checked out as yet in the Rocket so I flew him and his new Mooney to Sugarland in the Houston area. That took us 56 minutes. On my return flight back to SAT on Southwest Airlines; it took only six minutes less plus the 2-1/2 hour check in, security, and wait. Oh how I love private flying! So little hassle comparatively.

So; Houston Texas has added one more Rocket to its inventory!

Above is Walter Kuhnel and the gorgeous low time "original" condition 1990 Mooney MSE Mooneyland was charged with Locating for Walter. This fabulous example of a loved and babied MSE is over 18 years young and kept in near brand new condition by its previous owner in a climate controlled hanger in Indiana. Walter is new to Mooney ownership and the pride for his new airplane was nearly not able to contain in flight, and you should have seen Walter riding on the tug when Landmark had to move her due to a Lear on the way in to that FBO. He was watching the operator of the tug like a hawk to ensure his tow limits weren't exceeded. My type of guy! He should be proud as this airplane is as new nearly as the day it was out of the factory! Please read below my observations and comments to Walter as a "de-brief" from flying her together and my teaching him the ropes of high performance Mooney operation. Perhaps all pilots may find at least some of the information helpful and we encourage you all to read. Meanwhile Walter has a beautiful hanger for her at Georgetown Municipal Airport just north of Austin Texas where we took her apart to discuss the various systems and to double check that even though she has had a fresh annual by a Mooney Service Center, there will nearly always remain items of improvement and we even found a couple of missed items during our examination of the airframe together, and we corrected them. It was a pleasure spending all say Sunday with Walter as he was an enthusiastic and willing to learn subject. Fly her a lot Walter, but above all, FLY SAFE! Rich

Above is Kurt Iswarienko and his new Mooney TLS-Bravo. Kurt does not have all that much flying time, but he is coming off of a Diamond DA-40 that he owns, but Kurt wanted some speed for a change. Speed he got! You should have seen his face this morning (July 21, 2008) when we poured the coals to that 270 HP Lycoming! He has never felt that kind of acceleration in a small airplane; well now he owns one! Blammo! We sailed down the runway for the first time and Kurt reminded me of a statement I had made before he flew in his new plane, that with the TLS, it's like having a Tiger by the Tail. He said I had described that feeling to a "Tee" once he flew her. There is a lot for Kurt to learn and he will during his week stay here at Mooneyland before he sails back to his home in Los Angeles.  Kurt a former lighting specialist for motion picture production, is now a professional photographer well known to the industry. You can see Kurt's work on his site at: http://www.iswarienko.com/.

Kurt just finished up a photo shoot at Matthew McConaughey's home, shots of Matthew's new baby to be used in the periodicals. Coincidentally, Kurt lives just down the street from my son Michael's house and the two haven't met as yet, but will soon as Michael is an art director in the production of TV commercials, so they no doubt have a lot in common not to mention that there is only a year difference in age between them. Small world! Meanwhile after flying all day with Kurt, I turned him over to one of the finest instructor's I've ever seen; Willie Bolton, and the two of them will fly more tonight and more tomorrow. Willie and I will kind of take turns with Kurt so as to make him the best all around Mooney pilot he can be.

Do you know what's cool? I've been doing this for nearly 20 years now, and I still get as excited for the new Mooney owners just like it were me buying the planes. I suppose I'll never tire of that feeling and I credit my wonderful Mooneylanders for that. Pilot types are just a great bunch of people!

More Mooneylanders  coming as I get time to add them.

Later!

zef

Update: While flying with the zef and Willie Bolton the CFII, Kurt and his wife came over for some chicken cacciatore, zef's home made sourdough bread, wine and fun:

The chicken cacciatore.

Major William Benner US Army

Zef -
 
I wanted to take a few minutes to "Thank you" for your assistance in purchasing my new plane.  Feel free to post this email on your website if you would like.
 
Bottom line is that I was very nervous buying my first airplane.  I had read hundreds of "horror stories" of people who purchased planes only to find out shortly thereafter that there was a major issue that was not found during the pre-buy.  I did not know many of the things associated with buying a plane . . . and to tell you the truth it scared me!
 
Your service took away all of the unknown and was "priceless."  From the deals you were able to get on upgrades and headsets to the A&P you put me in contact with for the Pre-Buy made the whole process early.  Bottom line, is your services were worth thousands of dollars of peace of mind and I am sure you did not make that much brokering my plane!
 
We are in Destin, Florida this weekend and are at our second 50 hr oil change in 3 1/2 months!  The plane has been to Harrisburg, PA; Colorado Springs, CO; Houston, TX; Memphis, TN; and Albequerque, NM and it has two trips planned to the east cost over the next two months.  It definitely is not going to be a hangar queen. 
 
Check out flight aware when you get a chance.  Rolla, MO --> Destin FL in 3 1/2 hrs of flight time @ 9 gallons per hour.  Can't beat that with a commercial ticket!
 
Hope all is well and if a potential buyer needs a reference, feel free to give them my number!
 
Bill Benner
N7767M
Major (Promotable), United States Army

August 4, 2008

Mornin’ Walter,

I have attached photos of you and your new MSE. Enjoy!

It was good flying with you yesterday. I know that I made you a bit nervous and kept you busy. I also know that you understand my reasons for doing that are that I will not be with you during times that the pressure will be on due to flight circumstances that on occasion can demand of you your top performance, and my goal is to see that you are ready for such occasions. We crammed a lot of information into the few hours we spent yesterday and overall you did well adapting to the Mooney. Once you head clears from so much data input, it will all come together to aid in you being a TOP PILOT!

The great news is that you are flying one of the most bullet proof and pilot proof engines out there, so don’t be afraid to experiment with power and mixture settings, etc.

What I feel you learned yesterday is:

1.   1. The need for more pilot input rudder authority on final approach.

2.   2. The quickness needed for landing and “planting” the plane by immediately reaching for the flap switch to bring them up.

3.   3. Power management in the pattern to achieve the desired speeds; that power setting numbers are not necessarily the way to achieve the proper speeds, but flying more on feel by adjusting power to achieve those proper speeds than pinning down actual number settings because the airplane is affected by winds, atmospheric conditions, etc. and in the real world actual power settings by the number don’t always get the desired effect. (Today’s technology is great, but should not take the place of the real “stick & rudder” flying by the “seat of your pants” as in the old days. So, whether you’re flying a Cessna “box kite”, a slick Mooney, or a 747; power needs to be adjusted in order to achieve the desired speeds and performance to match conditions). That is seat of the pants flying that ALL pilots should work on before adding in modern technology. Why? Because it is easy to take for granted the benefits of modern tech, but one has to consider that each and every system aboard today’s modern aircraft is subject to failing, and when that happens, a good and safe pilot has to be able to fly his aircraft competently should every piece of technology fail. FYI, I once had a total airspeed indicator fail in my Mooney 201. It was not a problem for me because I learned to fly by feel and even sound levels and landed without incident. That is true “stick and rudder” stuff and you and every pilot would do well to work toward that goal.

4.   4. You also learned why so many pilots land their airplanes inadvertently gear up. When workload is high or you get distracted, your subconscious suggests to you that your eyes had seen what you wanted them to see and even though you checked and reported a gear down light and verified that light with the mechanical window indicator were good to go for landing, they were in fact NOT because I had pulled the gear actuator breaker on you while filling your mind with other pattern tasks and you witnessed the result of that anomaly. I actually look forward to the pilots I fly with to fail that test as about 85-90% of them do! The reason that it is a good thing is that it brings to their attention the importance of moving beyond the exercise of checking something and actually ingesting the data, not just passing over the check visually while thinking the task is complete when it is in actuality not complete.

5.   5. You witnessed how an engine can be just as happy while running LOP (Lean of Peak) and saving a bundle of gas money.

6.   6. We also went over the importance of “unwinding” the propeller as a useful tool to slow the plane down without having to pull back severely on the throttle which could lead in shock cooling an engine. You learned that as you apply a more coarse pitch to the propeller, the manifold pressure actually increases due to the engine having to work harder to push that more coarse propeller though the sky. By that you learned that on climb and cruise, heat is your enemy while on descent heat is your friend, and it is necessary to become a proper “Power Manager” in order to achieve the desired results and speeds.

7.   7. You learned that speed is your friend and not to be afraid to allow your airplane to accelerate during descent while still in the green airspeed wise. Speed however is your enemy in landing configuration. Too fast on final and you’ve messed up your landing. Too slow on final and you’ve messed up your DAY! I had observed you on multiple landings yesterday and some were way to fast and some way too slow on final. You must work on nailing speeds for consistent good landings in a Mooney airplane. Good approaches and landings are ALL BASED on getting the “picture” right along with indicated airspeed.

8.   8. You learned by actual experience yesterday to look for and react to in-flight birds and how they react and how quickly they can move toward the airplane in an instant once they pass you by. Because when flying at no matter the airspeed, the fact that you are high in the sky tells your brain that you’re really not moving that fast even though you are, so if any flying object appears in the sky, you will need to make an IMMEDIATE evasive maneuver in order to ensure not striking those objects even though they initially appear relatively static such as in a photograph and I remind you that our subconscious can convince us that what we see under workload is not always what it actually is. (re-read paragraph 4). It is necessary for a good pilot to ingest all information around him or her, and make correct snap decisions at times out of the routine in order to “categorize” the items of importance and at times makes it necessary to instantly “prioritize” the information in front of you and “step” out of the normal routine to take care of a pressing issue immediately and once that’s cared for, you will train yourself to get back into the normal “categorizing” your workload. For instance; we are all trained in the importance of answering a call from a controller in a timely fashion, however if you are dealing with an immediate issue affecting the safety of flight; one must “prioritize” the issues at hand and get to the less important issues once the one of safety if handled.

9.   9. “PIANO PLAYER”: I stress the importance to all of my “Mooneylanders” of working toward becoming a fast, efficient, and proficient “MULTI-TASKER” like a good piano player that has to make the melody or background with his left hand and the actual tune with the right hand, and at times; a piano player has to reverse his chores in order to achieve the desired tune he is playing such as the need to play the melody with his right hand and lead or tune with his right. I know this may sound complicated, but that is the goal or should be for every pilot in the sky. If one could remove the “stupidity factor” such is in the article by that name on my website; the accident rate for general aviation would be reduced severely; perhaps even by 90%! It’s just the same thing on the freeway or city streets. Stupid and unthinking moves often ruin the day for many commuters. Distractions such as cell phones for instance take away the “prioritizing” of safety from the driver. Always fly with safety first in mind, and always ask yourself “WHAT IF” in every phase of flight including the takeoff and landing roll where that “subconscious” factor can mess with you. Example: I have seen pilots continue their landing phase even though there may be a dog, deer, airplane part, or even tractors on the runway. I am saddened when I hear of one airplane landing atop another that is on the runway. Our subconscious tells us that in virtually all of our landings to date, we did not strike a runway object, therefore there probably won’t be one there in our future landings. The safe pilot is one who can discern that something is out of the “ordinary” and therefore “unordinary” actions must be required on occasion in order to achieve a given successful flight. One must NEVER be complacent about any flight, just like one should not try to memorize exact power settings, but think in terms of adjusting power to achieve YOUR DESIRED RESULTS. That is the difference between your flying “behind” the plane, “with” the plane; or the all important “ahead” of the plane. Flying “ahead” of the airplane should and must be the goal of any pilot which has the important effect of leaving less to “chance” as many pilots do because some day, some time, that will bite any behind the machine pilot square in the ass and of the “ass” of those flying with us. Human flight is an “unnatural” setting and the “defying” of gravity can get us if we leave too much to chance and not do enough to place the “odds” in our favor.

1       10.  You learned the importance of flying a wider pattern than perhaps you have been taught so that you can “leisurely” make your pattern turns at no more than STANDARD RATE. If you fly a fast and clean airplane like a Mooney, it is necessary to “think ahead” of the machine and make it do what you want it to do rather than to react each time to the situation you may have put yourself and the airplane in such as the need to make an excessive bank from base to final.

11   11.   In the pulling of the gear circuit breaker thing I put you through yesterday, you learned that if something is out of the ordinary such as the problem you had slowing your Mooney down on downwind, the extra work you had to do in order to stop the Mooney from climbing above pattern altitude, the fact that you had to trim so far down to try to descend during base and final, “RED FLAGS” in your mind should have warned you that something “ain’t just about right” and now you have a new “priority” to figure out what it is and immediately do something about it. Just because your white gear knob is in the down position does not GUARANTEE that your gear is down!

12   12.   While checklists can have their place, reading one item after item while flying the plane in a high traffic situation such as landing phase can be more distracting than driving a car while on the cell phone or turned around while yelling at the kids in the back seat…………too much can happen in an instant while driving or flying and one must be prepared and able to make instant decisions followed by even more instant reactions. To me, a checklist is something you learn while on the ground and when we rely on the checklist in flight rather than make the info on the checklist “our own” we use them at times at the risk of “not discerning” what we’re reading while allowing that list to distract us from the first order of the day in flight; that being “FLY THE PLANE” first no matter what. Airliners have been lost with countless lives when those experienced pilots allow distractions to cancel out the first and foremost pilot responsibility to fly the plane. I remember one airline disaster that was blamed on the pilot’s attention being diverted to a blown light bulb! How would you like to be the relative left behind knowing that the pilot killed their loved one simply because of a broken light bulb? It happens, so I give you 3 simple rules to make your own in order to help ensure consistent safe flights: A. Fly the plane. B. Fly the plane. C. FLY THE PLANE! Upon those 3 simple rules, your life and that of others depend on your ability to continually FLY YOUR AIRPLANE no matter what and at ALL COSTS.

13    13.   You learned how to properly care for your airplane as well as things you can do to help keep your airframe as beautiful as it is currently, and also how to check for any items that should require attention such as our discovery that even though an annual was just completed by a certified Mooney Service Center, the mechanic can often be the weakest link in the chain of maintenance. By that I mean that we should be familiar enough with our airframes to see that the two spark plug wires we tie wired disallowing them to flap in the wind of flight or having them rub on the metal engine cylinders. We also learned that no matter how much we spend on annuals, not everything is always taken care of such as there are zerk fittings on your plane that have never been lubed and others that were previously lubed, were not re-lubed in this instance. While those are relatively minor things, ALL HUMANS are subject to distraction, error, and complacency which is why I tell all of my Mooneylanders to learn enough about the mechanics of their own airplanes in order to discern yourself if the plane is safe to fly or not because when it all boils down, it is THE PILOT’S RESPONSIBILITY to ensure his or her air machine is safe for operation and should never be assumed because you wrote a sizable check to the mechanic  and that everything must be okay. Experience in life dictates that we don’t always get what we thought we paid for, but few things can have the consequences of those “errors” that the “defying gravity” can expose us to.

14   14.    You learned the importance of RELAXING in flight. When our minds are relaxed, we can do our best thinking. When we have to continually wipe the sweat from our hands, that is an indication that we are in anything but a relaxed state of being and an indication that our mental data banks are overloading which is fine during the learning process when someone of experience is in the right seat to save the day, but that won’t always be the case, so it is up to all pilots during a learning cycle to discern that they are being instructed properly and to spend a lot of time sitting in the airplane while parked to ingest, discern, reflect, and make your own all of the tons of information you are given in your instruction. Learn to reach for any control blindfolded. Learn what it takes to react quickly to the unordinary. You learned that part of Murphy’s Law is that if you’re prepared for something, it is less likely to occur and if it does, you’re ready for it with immediate reaction without having to even think about it. Always do your homework and never think that you have finally come to know it all because no one ever achieves that actuality in our “imperfect” world.

As I mentioned yesterday, it will be good for you to continue practicing flight and solo for awhile until you begin to master the airplane, and once you get another 15-20 hours of solo under your belt we will fly together once again to polish and hone your skills, and even introduce you to some more stuff to learn on your way to expertly flying your more than capable airplane.

As a side note, I believe that we located you the finest Mooney MSE on the planet and it is good seeing the love and pride you have for your new machine. Mooneyland NEVER has the thinking that once the sale is made; our job is done while all the while it is just beginning because we feel a responsibility to all of our customers to help aid them in becoming as safe an airplane operator as is possible, so when you get questions, write them down and email them to me so that you will have a written response to go by and remind yourself for all time.

Once again; thank you for placing your trust in Mooneyland. We try very hard never to let our “people” down once we get some of their money as is so often the case elsewhere, and hope that thus far your experience with us is a good and memorable one. I will be publishing this article to help other Mooney “newby’s” as well.

Richard

Hey now, who's got your back? You know dats right!