Mite of the Month, February 2003

N4168 is an M-18C-55, serial number 333, built in 1955. It is owned by Larry Dale of Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Click on the photos to enlarge)

Larry flies from Meadow Lake, a typical high altitude Colorado airport, at 6840 MSL. This photo was taken on January 12, 2003 at  on a cloudless, snowless winter day.

N4168 has a C85-12 engine and McCauley metal prop, the STC for which was obtained by previous owner, W. Bilquist, in 1960. Larry got FAA approval for the cylinder cooling baffles and spinner installations.

Larry has owned this bird, his fourth Mite, since 1974. He named it Therapy IV for the good feelings he gets when he flies a Mite. N4168 won second best Classic award at the Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-in at Greely, Colorado in September 1984.

The instruments are standard with additions of rate-of-climb, manifold pressure, electric turn-and-bank,  and carb. temp. and EGT temp. gauges. It also has certified XPDR and altitude encoder and a KX-99 radio for com, nav, and WX. At last annual, he was asked to remove the marine LORAN which had worked like a charm for a decade because it was not FAA approved gear.

A couple years ago, he bought another of Al Mooney's creations. This Culver V is a "museum beauty" named Superior Satellite.

Larry has logged about 1600 flying hours in the four Mooney Mites he's owned during the last 37 years. He has also accumulated several hundred hours in a variety of other aircraft, including seaplanes. Many of Larry's flight stories were published in issues of the old MMOA (Mooney Mite Owners Association) newsletter which he and Fred Quarles hosted over thirty years ago.

When attending a MAPA (Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association) homecoming, some twenty years ago at Kerrville, Texas, Larry had the pleasure to visit with Al Mooney and Gordon Baxter at Al's then mobile home while they were putting together material for their book, The Al Mooney Story, (which can still be purchased from MAPA in San Antonio, Texas). He was able to get Al to pose for some photos and sign the aircraft log book.

The Mite Site records show that N4168 was once owned by:

W.P. Bilquist of Independence, MO in 1963
George Haynes of Shawnee Mission, KS in 1967