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I hadn't seen that site before, looks like a great resource, thanks for sharing!

Looking at the last ADS-B ping, I think it landed in this dirt road

You’re right that it’s probably lean of peak on all cylinders, but you don’t know unless you’ve checked each cylinder as it peaks. If your fuel distribution isn’t good, you could have some ROP and some LOP. It won’t hurt anything at a low enough power, but it’s not a good place to run at higher power settings.

just read the AD carefully and be ready because it’s written in FAA speak designed to confuse the heck out of everyone! Your IA might not want to read it the three or four times it takes!

Yes, excellent job! And a question for anyone that knows.... Where did the plane come down in relation to the airport? At first I thought it was the plane symbol on the map in the accident report to the right of KEBG, but when you zoom in, that is really Omni Ranch Ultralight Flightpark.

Isn't that type of wire also available in higher versions for a deterrent and used for something other than keeping sheep in? Not that a deer can't leap over that height, but they often just move on if they can find food on their side of the fence.

Chris Kevin Westbrook here I worked at Brittain call me 539-292-0474 and we can talk about the system!!!!

Interesting experience, I guess (to say the least). Was the engine toast, or did it just need a new cylinder? For the experts out there, is such a valve failure caused by high operating temps, or manufacturer's defect? How many hours were on that cylinder?

My ‘64 M20E had engine failure in flight a couple of months ago. No warning, in cruise at 4500’ there was a loud “POP” followed by sad engine noises and partial power. After the ensuing forced landing at nearest airport (itself quite a story) we identified the proximate cause, #3 exhaust valve lost its head.

Depends on why the engine stopped in flight…

Thanks! I'll run in by my A&P. Appreciate the perpective

Like many have mentioned in other PC related posts on Mooneyspace, Kevin Westbrook is the remaining most knowledgable person regarding the Brittain Autopilots. He's a member here. If you decide to troubleshoot or restore, he should be able to help even if over the phone. He's helped me keep mine operational. As a mechanical engineer by degree, and someone who loathes software updates, it's a design I still admire. There are schematics available if you wanted to start with basic troubleshooting and check your vacuum lines and servo boots for leaks. https://mooneyspace.com/profile/48565-kevin-westbrook/

Anderson plug on left side of baggage compartment hard wired to #1 battery with fuse to run B-cool icebox, that thing is awesome, pre-cool in hangar, keep running while pushing airplane out, get into cool airplane, start engine on #2 battery, keep running B-cool during taxi and climb, runs about 1h when filled large ice blocks, turn back on for landing and taxi

The AD allows for inspection and re-use of the clamp until July 17. There's a procedure in the AD for it that involves looking at it with 10x magnification, and as long as there are no cracks and as long as the band's inner parts do not touch when tightened to the proper torque spec, it can be placed back in service. This inspection becomes required after 500 hours in service so maybe your A&P is a little confused on what "timed out" means. I've attached the AD. I previously talked with some A&P's who said they are in fact inspecting and reusing clamps that pass, since new ones are not available. AD_2023-09-09-compressed.pdf

I am considering getting a hangar set up as well once I fix the leak. It is not much, but still annoying. The fill port access is not very well designed and I had to change the fill port in the past. Fortunately, my local FBO guys are nice enough to bring the O2 cart to my hangar when I need a fill and I will connect the hose to the port myself. That way, I can only blame myself if the port gets messed up again.

factory flap gap seals are the simplest thing to do, they have a small gap unlike the lasar seals, flap hinge covers get knocked off, gain of 1-2 kt cruise, and maybe 100 ft climb, call Lasar or your favorite MSC and ask for factory flap gap seals, to my best recollection the long wingtips on were required to make the stall speed of 61 kt with the flap gap seals, not sure if the regular Acclaim has those long wingtips

You are aware that they have 8' fencing to keep deer and other animals out of the crops..are you not?

I've emailed the shop, they're a 10 minute flight away, so conviently close, but I don't want my plane down for longer Either way thanks for the insight

make sure none of the cold air hoses are leaking on the right side, none of the WEMAC valves are leaking, no cold air getting in through cabin floor, heat valve in front of firewall opens completely, the heat valve in the control box in the passenger footwell has bleed holes in the the butterfly, I closed those, cozy cabin down to -30F ambient in cruise, climb different story airflow insufficient, need all heat for defrost, the real critical part in really cold conditions is taxi, even with full defrost blower windshield starts icing up internally, I run alien heater in the cabin in the hangar and keep clean microfiber cloth handy to wipe off frost internally, once airborne defrost blower has plenty power and heat, I typically climb on full defrost and slowly switch to cabin heat during the climb, in cruise no defrost required everything she got goes into cabin heat, all air vents closed, still, fur lined boots and warm coat help

Interesting. Id have to read the AD again, but I thought that part number (same as mine) could continue to be used until July 17th as long as it passed inspection every 6 months. Did it fail inspection?

I literally had nightmares about this scenario and I did not have any active leaks, nor history of them. I waffled for a few months to reseal or not I eventually gave in and they are getting sealed right now, paint to follow as soon as they are done

We have a fully working Brittain PC/B-5 system, and it's nice for what it is (75-year-old technology). But at this point, I think the question of resurrecting a non-working Brittain system has less to do with cost and workload - which are manageable - and more to do with the availability of mundane parts: vacuum lines, servo boots, etc. http://www.brittainautopilots.com/ is still online with a listed phone number, but it's my understanding that people who have recently tried to obtain parts either never get a response, or get a response that the company is "in limbo" with little or no legal ability to actually make parts. That leaves salvage items, kludge fixes, and under-the-table deals, which is a frustrating scenario for an aircraft owner. It is not difficult to debug why the system isn't working, but once you identify the problem(s), you may find it difficult to resolve them in a satisfactory manner. In our case, we have a small cache of spares, but maintaining the system has begun to feel more like maintaining a warbird than a certified airplane.

I had a similar leak in my Bravo, very slow, right at the gauge, found with water throwing bubbles, tightening the fitting just at tad fixed the leak, no leak since and that was 3 or 4 years ago, have an O2 tank on a cart in my hangar which I treat with great respect, annual rental costs about as much as refilling the tank, use one or two tanks per year, swap them when they are down to 700 psi, main reason for having tank is that FBO usually bent my O2 door, financially owning the tank and the equipment is a wash at best at the slow rate that I am using tanks

minor leak that nobody noticed, easy to fix, white paint easy to blend, work it out with the paint shop, they overlooked the leak so the paint is on their dime, the leak is on your dime unless they want to take responsibility because they overlooked it, chances are remote that this leak was caused by paint stripper

Unless you can do all of the work yourself and don’t mind spending the time to do it the Brittian system is not going to be cheap to fix. It would be more cost effective I think to install the Aerocruze auto pilot. I worked on my PC system some when I first bought my plane but kept having problems and eventually ripped out everything including the vacuum system. The PC systems in our planes are 50+ years old, if you want it to work properly it’s probably going to require replacing and rebuilding everything in the system. Not worth it in my opinion. If I had a system that worked I’d run it until it stopped working but not worth the investment in time and money to rebuild it. A Mooney flys great without an autopilot. I’d say as good or better than any other light airplane. That being said I’d still like one and plan on getting one in the next couple of years.