The 1967 Mooney M20F that has occupied my hangar for the last month and a half was sold to a very nice young man in Texas. Earlier this week I had the pleasure of flying it the 900 nm or so from Phoenix to McKinney Airport, northeast of Dallas.
The panel will be upgraded soon, but for now it has just a single KX-155 and a Tailbeacon for ADS-B out. There’s no USB charger or cigarette lighter aboard to keep an iPad charged, so I brought a couple of portable chargers hoping that would be enough to keep Foreflight going for the 7+ hours of the trip. Because of that, plus the frequent GPS jamming by the military in the White Sands NM area, I knew I couldn't depend on GPS for this trip. I planned the entire route using good ol’ VORs and Victor airways. I brought along and used all the paper charts, and even a genuine E6B computer. Old school, baby! Just like the good ol' days.
I launched from home drome GYR at 7:00 am local and headed southeast toward El Paso. My PA-32 is in a paint shop near El Paso, so I dropped in to check on the progress. The painter says it should just be another couple of weeks or so …
After squeezing through the gap between the White Sands restricted areas and the Mexican border, I passed Salt Flat and the Guadalupe Mountains.
The fuel stop was Wink, Texas, boyhood home of Roy Orbison. Not much going on there, just self-serve pumps with good prices, and clean restrooms in an air-conditioned building. What more do you need?
This was my first flight through central (as in “deep in the heart of“) Texas. Lots of oil and gas, lots of open range, and even a small, unforecast rain shower. I realized how much I missed having ADS-B weather aboard.
I arrived at McKinney (TKI) at 5:30 pm local, where the happy new owner was waiting for me.
We had dinner in McKinney with POAers JCranford and AggieMike88. John and Mike gave Nate some excellent advice and resources, including referrals to local Mooney-experienced CFIs. Thanks, guys!
The airline trip back to Phoenix the next day retraced my route, providing a fleeting view of the paint shop with my airplane inside. It’s just left of center in this photo, ahead of the engine nacelle -- the tiny white speck at the intersection of two barely-visible gravel runways, next to acres and acres of pecan groves.
I’d flown that Mooney from Bremerton WA to Phoenix, and then Phoenix to Dallas, with a couple of local trips inbetween to keep the battery charged, about 18.5 hours total. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to fly it while mine was in the paint shop.