My love affair with flying started back in high school when my brother and I pooled our money then flipped a coin to see who got the dual and who was the passenger in an early wood wing Mooney. We both loved it and went on to be Mooney and Aerostar salesmen. Eventually we went into the airline business buying, selling, and financing general and commercial aircraft. For many years we ran freight for UPS and scheduled passenger service along the east coast as National Air.

Donna and I found N2736W by chance in 1975 stored in a hanger at Paine Field in Everett WA. I was trying sell a Mooney M-10 Cadet to a flight school when they remembered a Mooney collecting dust / moss for several years in a local hanger with an engine problem, it sounded like the makings of a deal and we pursued it. The original owner had moved to Alaska and got busy with other things, he was delighted to have us take over the problem for $11,000 and he would even pay the hangar rent until it was repaired. There was 700TT but the engine had spun the main due to the dowel pin problem that plagued the early IO360 A1A engines. Our son (11yrs) and I removed the engine and took it home to Eastern Washington for repair with the help of our next-door neighbor, an (A&P) mechanic. Unfortunately the engine didnt last long as I got stuck for a week in an unimaginable dust storm in Bakersfield in 1978. The dust permeated everything and we had to overhaul the engine and instruments. We took the opportunity to complete the first big renovation with new paint, interior and some King Silver Crown avionics upgrades. Ten years later in 1988 a valve lifter broke and sent hard metal through the engine, so we started the second renovation with more avionics, speed kits and paint and interior completed by 1990. The engine overhaul included flow matching / porting, blueprinting, balancing and provided much more power.

When you live in the northwest you occasionally deal with very difficult rapidly changing weather and 36W has brought us back safely from the edge when others structurally failed. 36W served us well and brought us home safely through thunderstorms, icing, heavy turbulence and other unusual flying challenges. Nothing can inspire more confidence and loyalty than an aircraft that has saved your bacon so many times.

We have raised our family of four children and nine grandchildren with 36W and they all fly with us occasionally. When you stop to think about it, the attachment to this airplane above all the others has gone on for 30 of the 45 years I have been flying, and by the way that 11 year old boy is now 41, a pilot, aircraft owner and the president of a corporation, maybe we will never sell 36W, just retire from flying together someday?

2736W is a 1966 E-model with a good luck history, no accidents, damage or hard landings. This airplane was one of very few that had the complete zinc-chromate treatment during manufacturing and is corrosion free. We believe it must have been built on Monday because the airframe is very straight and rigs out perfectly. 2736W is the fastest E model I have flown and thats quite a few. We currently have about 2950 airframe and 1000 engine hours and still running strong. We continue to maintain and upgrade N2736W as we feel safe and comfortable flying our old friend. Our current project is a new panel, S-TEC 30 autopilot, Garmin 430, GTX327 transponder and KX-155 W/GS backup. There just isnt any real competition for Mooneys, the speed, safety and overall economics is unsurpassed to this day.

Gerald and Donna McNamara
February 2006