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mikebroady

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  • Reg #
    G-BIWR
  • Model
    M20F

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  1. Hi all. I know this is a late post but it's the best thread I can find for this question. I'm a UK pilot and I just had an engine failure but managed to get the aircraft down, wheels up, into a field with very little damage. The engine (IO-360-A1A) is destroyed and I'm looking around for a replacement. One contact has an A3B6BD available, which I could possibly afford to O/H. I know the difference is the mags and counterweights but has anyone replaced one or has any advice on the practicalities of swapping. Currently I can't find a used A1A in the UK and a new unit cost makes it uneconomical. It had a 3 blade Hartzell fitted before I bought it btw.
  2. Nothing new but I did look to see if the Autopilot would slide out easily over another issue before the last flight. Maybe it moved or pulled some wiring or something behind the panel in the process. Worth a look from underneath I reckon. Thanks.
  3. Good post Skip. Yes, It was the Alt breaker and I can see sense in all you say. Thanks.
  4. Correct Andy, but normally they are referred to as Scousers. Scouse is a meat and vegetable stew which I think came from the Nordic regions via sailors, became popular and gave way to the term Scousers for a Liverpudlian. Think it's also called lobby too. The Liverbirds are two statues on top of a building overlooking the River Mersey, and also a TV comedy series way back!
  5. Hi Andrew, thanks for your post and I'll return to that in a moment. I think I gave too much information in the initial post and frankly I was looking for any technical pointers before referring to the engineers, those that may have experienced a similar situation or have a more in-depth knowledge. For those interested in commenting on my actions perhaps I can put your minds at rest. When the main breaker tripped in 2012 I was downwind at Liverpool John Lennon when I noticed some smoke on the passenger side panel area and the main breaker had tripped. I declared an emergency, ATC stopped all traffic, deployed the fire tenders and I landed immediately with no further problem. I never attempted to reset the breaker. We had the panel apart and the engineers spent several hours looking for the fault. All they could find was a pen lodged behind the panel but with no evidence it was the culprit. I've flown a few hundred hours since with no further problems until Feb this year when the main breaker tripped shortly after take off following several touch and goes. Again, because it was the main breaker I made no attempt to reset it and landed immediately. When I reset it on the ground it gave no further problems. I had the engineers look for the problem on the 50hr inspection the next week but they could find no evidence of an issue. Intermittent problems like this are a nightmare, but I know from my automotive experience that all the information you can possibly gather helps to solve the issue in a reasoned and logical manner. I'm not saying these are definitely connected to the last incident when the landing gear breaker tripped, but two of the electrical operations are landing gear and flaps on both downwind and take off, so just maybe there is a connection. Re the landing gear breaker trip on Thursday. We were after hours at the local airfield so the option of getting someone in the tower or on the ground to check the gear on a low pass didn't exist. The manual indicator showed the gear down but the light showed unsafe, so I had two choices. Carry on and land, but the gear may not be locked and I could suffer a collapse on landing with no emergency facilities, or divert. I decided to climb and try to assess the problem knowing we were right overhead the field and I had the manual gear option. Mindful that there was a slim chance we could end up with an electrical fire I asked my passenger to make ready with the fire extinguisher and in this event resolved to turn off the fuel, vents and masterswitch and get her on the ground post haste, either gear up or down. Resetting the breaker solved the issue thankfully and the gear and warning lights functioned properly through a couple of cycles. I am comfortable with all my actions and don't think I would do any different if faced with the same set of circumstances. I'd like to keep the comments to technical advice if that's possible so hopefully this reply will put the others to bed. Andrew. I'll check the worm drive link, thanks. Whilst I learned to fly at Liverpool and based WR there for a few years I live in Shropshire and have her in my hanger at Sleap now. I wasn't being disrespectful to my maintenance facility when I said I doubted a Mooney gear specialist existed in the UK and your comments bear this out. However, they have done a good job of maintaining her over the years so I will refer back to them in the first instance. They know the plane. If I don't feel confident I'll consider trying your recommendation. BTW, I thought Troyes Aviation were also a MSC, I've contacted them a couple of times for parts but on the whole find Lasar exceptionally helpful. Regards, Mike
  6. Not sure either so I'll ask them to check. Having ploughed through the manual I see there are gear up/down limit switch striker arms (but no illustration of the switch) and a tolerance from the bumper pads. Maybe if this is incorrect it could mean the motor running on after the cycle has completed causing the breaker to trip. By the way, if anyone knows who is responsible for Windows 10 theyhavemypermissiontoshootthem!!! That's what my keyboard is now doing following yet another out of the blue mid sentence shut down-god I hate it.
  7. Not sure but I think it's an airspeed switch. The thing is the landing gear lowered fully, confirmed by the floor indicator, so that's why I thought it could be a sticking relay perhaps.
  8. Fully intend to but always useful to go with any info/experience from the MS community. I'm not convinced the main breaker trip 8 years apart is the same issue as the recent landing gear breaker trip but you never know. As regards a Mooney landing gear "expert in the UK" I doubt one exists! I have to trust the guy's at Liverpool who have looked after it for the 12 yrs I've owned her unfortunately.
  9. I have a 1976 M20F and have experienced two incidents with breakers tripping when operating the landing gear. First was back in Feb doing circuits and on the last (6th) circuit just after climb out and retracting the gear we noticed a slight burning smell which I put down to maybe the front tyre rubbing or not tapping the brakes properly. I think I noticed a whirring noise too but the cockpit is so noisy I couldn't be certain. A few seconds later the low voltage light illuminated and I noticed the main breaker had tripped. Once reset all was ok and the gear let down with no problem. 2 more flights, 5 landings and no repeat of the problem. A 50hour was then carried out but the problem could not be replicated and checks found nothing. It also happened once back in 2012 on downwind so I didn't think the chances were high of finding the cause. I've flown 7 times now with no issues then on the 8th flight on Thursday lowering the gear tripped the landing gear breaker. The manual indicator showed the gear was down ok but the unsafe gear light was illuminated. I climbed out to give time to assess and investigate but resetting the breaker solved the issue; the gear retracted and lowered ok. The three events may well not be connected. I'm no mechanic so any advise would be grateful as I believe there's always a reason for a problem. I've spent a little time checking on the forum and note a couple of issues may have some bearing. I've added an old pic of the panel to show the gear switch and breaker panel. First, I need to check the manual gear handle has not been inadvertently caught and out of position but I think I would have probably noticed this. Gear grease may be old, so I'll check with the engineer. My discs could probably do with changing but not sure if that would affect lowering of the gear. Could it be a relay sticking or switch problem causing the gear motors to continue trying to operate perhaps until the load tripped the breaker? Mike Broady.
  10. Hi guy's. I have a 76 M20F (which I love to bits) with an Astronautics Pathfinder M2A wing leveller which has never worked since I bought her in 2008 (it pops the breaker and is labelled inoperative). Having the benefit of my own hanger now and a maintenance organisation next door I thought I might have a go at trying to bring it back to life. Does anyone have a manual for it or know where I might be able to obtain one?

     

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