Leaderboard

Guys - I'm needing to remove my right mag but my A&P is having a devil of a time. He's saying that the angle bracket that the prop control cable is connected to is up against the mag making in almost impossible to remove. I'm sure most of the 60's vintage C models have this same issue. If anyone can share their technique on how they remove their right mag, I'd really appreciate it!

My father let loose with some Mooney factory stories last night and I couldn’t wait to share some of them with the board. He was hired into Mooney as a draftsman (didn’t know that) out of Embry Riddle. He had his PPL and A&E ratings. Not sure what an A&E is but I guess similar to A&P. One of his first accomplishments was a small redesign of the Johnson Bar. He said every plane starting in ’65 has a better “mechanical advantage” than previous years because of his rework. Something to do with a ‘slot’ he incorporated into the existing handle design that made it easier to get the gear up and locked. Evidently it was a known issue of the difficulty getting the gear up and they put him to work on it soon after he came onboard. Another early design change he said he was completely responsible for was converting the retractable hand crank step to a vacuumed design. He said it took him a day to conceive and draw out plans, but took some time to make it a reality. He said he worked on the boot for awhile to make it reliable. He said the wing leveler boots, and the step retract boot were from the same company and he worked with them on the application and manufacture to make it reliable. He tried hard to remember the name of the manufacturer but couldn’t. He gave out names, which I didn’t write down, of chief engineers and others and how they would work on M20 refinements and said they could roll off the assembly line a plane a day in 1967. What got my attention the most was when he started to talk about the M22! Evidently there were two departments working on the design. One was Power plant and it systems, and the second was airframe and its systems. The big question/issue was the voltage. 28 or 14 volts? He said he was not happy with the 24 volt decision but it was made so he had to work around it. He said it added weight and complexity that was not needed. He gave an example. The landing gear motors on the M22 were the same motors as used on the Lockheed Electra. A known proven part at the time and readily available. Problem was, they were 14 volts. They had to be rewired for 24 volts. This equaled one of the cost overruns that stressed the project. Another was the rectangular frame on the 22. As he says it, “we had to use a lot of dupe for it to hold pressure” which added weight. He submitted designs to the chief engineer more than once to make a tube design out of the roll cage as opposed to the rectangular design. Those designs were rejected as he was told they were not “Mooney enough” for management. I thought that was interesting that my dad could have changed the course of the Mustang if the plane would have performed just that much better. If, if , if……. Anyway, I found this Mooney history very interesting as I had no idea how involved my dad was with Mooney. I always thought he was on the floor, not upstairs actually putting pen and slide rule to paper helping to define the Mooney experience. On a side note, it is amazing to me how he almost has the memory of a computer. Names, dates, and details he pulls right up. I can't remember what I had for dinner! I am jealous. I guess that is why he is the engineer and I am not

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. Side note...I too can remember things from the 60's clearly. It is what I did yesterday that is a challenge. Getting old aint for sissies!

McStealth, Please send my thanks to your dad for sharing this. I am actually one who flies Mooneys today due to my Dad. I will share more on this with you on another post... Regards, Yves C-FQKM

Since the NA plane makes sense for your intended machine... Have you considered the M20S Eagle, w/ Screamin' STC? M20R Ovation 1,2, or 3 M20J Missile These all have one thing in common, go faster while staying NA simple. Since looking is free, you may want to look these up to round out your decision. Some of us, me included, found the others while looking for a J or stepped up from a J. Best regards, -a-

Beautiful machine...

I just disassemble them and blow them out with compressed air... Just be careful and take a good look at the water pump , as they can leak coolant from the seal on the shaft that drives them that runs through the distributer on that engine (if I remember correctly) .....

Oh -- as for your question on the 750. The 750 has a much larger screen and if he really can offer it for $2k more, I would jump on it. The big differences with the 750 is that the audio panel can be integrated into the 750 (750 controls a remote audio panel -- which brings up another question, can he interface your existing audio panel?). Both 650 and 750 can control a remote transponder. The 750 also is able to display the approach charts for airports. Also -- if you haven't seen my thread on the database updates, you can expect to pay around $500 to $900 for database updates annually for a 650. Good luck with your decision.

I was hoping that (for some crazy reason) you wanted to trade your MSE for a gently used '67 C Model so you could fully experience the famous manual gear system. If that was the case I was going to make the sacrifice to help you out...