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This is not another Bladder V/S reseal thread. That grounds been covered, and covered, and covered...Long Body Mooney's with a leak must get a reseal as Bladders are not an option. This post is to inform anyone who, for whatever the reason, decides they are interested in getting a reseal performed. I've been nursing a very small fuel "stain / seep" (Category 1) coming from the bottom of my left tank for the past several months. A small stain would appear after sitting for a couple of days with full tanks and high head pressure, but it wasn't too bad. After flying down to FL recently everything warmed up and the leak stopped completely. No stains at all, even with full tanks and several days of sitting idle. I was happy, its always nice when things fix themselves - but I know that never lasts. After bringing the plane back north I topped both tanks. After a couple of nights with temps in the single digits the plane got a good cold soak and my very tiny "seep" got worse. With full tanks, the leak from the left tank now falls somewhere between category 2 and 3 I de-fueled the the left tank in 5 gallon increments until it stopped. Turns out keeping the fuel below 20 gallons in the left wing stops the fuel from coming out of the drain hole, so the area of bad sealant is above that level. Problem solved - sort of I knew it was time to address the problem. During my research, I found that options to fix leaks on latter aircraft are very limited as O&N bladders are not available for long body Mooneys. ARRRRGGG! So my only option is a strip and reseal. So that's what I decided to do. Fingers crossed. Currently there are a few well known and several less well known shops that perform fuel tank reseals. A quick google search brings up the the list. After doing a fair amount of homework, research and talking with Paul at Weep No More several times, I decided to take my Eagle up to Wilmar MN to have him perform a complete strip and reseal. Even though my leak is isolated to just the left wing, there's no guarantee how long the right will last before it starts to turn blue so I'm having both L & R tanks done. I learned from Paul (and others) that 1999 and 2000 M20's have a REALLY bad track record for developing leaks. Based on Mooney's propensity to leak, That's saying something! Perhaps the crew sealing the tanks in K-ville during those years weren't as thorough or careful as they should have been. I'm asked Paul to take photo's of the process for my records and so I can post about the experience on MS. 16 April Update M20S delivered to Paul at Weep No More. Long trip with a 0545 departure. 5.5 hours later I landed at Willmar. Paul was there to meet me and we were able to chat about the strip/reseal process. He gave me a tour of the facility and showed me several Mooney's that he had there undergoing reseals. They were all in various stages of the process and it was really cool to see first hand! Paul also agree to take lots of photos to document the process. He said a full book of pictures was a normal part of the process so owners have documentation of the various stages. I thought it's pretty nice of him to provide this to all of his customers. We also discussed my posting about this on the forums. He was really supportive of the idea. Delivery Pics Enclosed The old sealant was yellowish / tan 29 April Update Paul started the stripping process and has the tanks "mostly" cleaned out. The method he uses really eats away the old sealant but leaves the metal in pristine condition. it's pretty "goopy" when it dissolves. Some touch up is required to get the old sealant out of the corners and prep the aluminum for the new sealant but it's coming right along! 5 May Update Things are almost done. Tanks nearly finished with reseal. Some final touch ups and then full of fuel for leak checks. Pics attached 21 May Update After a week of juggling schedules I was able to make it back up to Willmar MN to pick up my plane from Paul at WeepNoMore. Wow Was I impressed. The work was top notch, fueled to the brim and not a drip anywhere. That was expected. What I didn't expect was the repaint of my nonskid over the passenger side wing. It looks great. Paul was there to meet me and with a brief overview of all the things he did we exchanged some paper. I gave him a check and he gave me a log book sticker After reading a post from a fellow Mooniac who had a reseal performed which resulted in some "crud" getting into on of the fuel lines, I did an extensive ground run and put at 2-3 gallons of fuel through the lines (both tanks) before taking off. It took about 20 minutes running on the ground at 1500 RPM full rich, but it was worth the piece of mind. The flight back to the east coast went off without a hitch and 4 hours later I touched down and tucked the plane away in the hanger. The only problem that cropped up was the right side visual sight gauge was stuck and showed full with less than 25 gallons in the tank. I sent Paul a text to let him know I'd made it home safely and mentioned the problem. Simple solution. Bang on the inboard portion of the panel and the float will drop. Sure enough, I gave it a nice solid "thunk" with the heal of my hand and that did the trick. It's worked perfectly ever since. 27 May Update I've flown the plane about 15 hours since picking it up from WeepNoMore with several fill ups. Both hot and cold weather and today I took the plane up to 17K (-15 degC). No issues with leaks, the sight gauges work, and the smell of 100LL is no longer present after a fill up. I would recommend Paul and WeepNoMore to any Mooney driver who chooses to perform a reseal. He was great to work with, I am 100% satisfied, and feel like there's a lot of value in the service he provides and the warranty he has to back his service.

I need a bigger hot tub... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I just moved into a bigger/newer hangar with an electric bi-fold door, but no insulation (same airport). My previous hangar sounds like your current one, except that the interior condition was terrible... water, dirt, BIRDS, occasional rodent, etc. All it did was keep the hail off my plane, and allow me to keep lots of stuff in my own space. The new one is MUCH nicer and should keep the plane cleaner, and of course give me more room to work without bumping into things. It is $100/mo more than I was paying, but I offset that by vacating a $90 storage unit and moving some of the crap to the new hangar. For me, the upgrade was a no-brainer. I need to put up more overhead lights, lay out my vinyl floor coverings, fans, etc. I wish it had insulation. In your case, I'd figure out how much you currently work on your plane yourself, or plan to in the future, and try to set up the nicest space you can. If the "penalty" is only an additional 10 minutes of driving time, that is a fair trade IMO. Vacating your current hangar might spur the city to make improvements to attract new customers, or even you, to come back. If you want to spend much time in your hangar, going for new and nice with insulation is an easy choice. If you just pull the plane out and put it away, then having it closer to home is better IMO.

I ceased being amazed years ago. That said, before every flight I spit into the oil fill tube. This action, and I have verified it with my MVP-50 engine monitor, has reduced CHT temps by 50º and has increased my climb out at TO by 250 FPM! Oil usage has been reduced to less than a pint per 25 hours. The EAA (Expectoration Advantage Action), as I call it, has also put my GAMI spread at 0 GPH! It is nothing short of miraculous! Try it!

This isn't a question but rather a reminder to other owners to check your nose gear before flight if your FBO tows the plane. Before I bought my M20K I read somewhere that the limited nose gear rotation made it susceptable to over-torquing by powered towing equipment. So I added it to my list of pre-flight items and made sure to check it often. I also brought it up to the FBO manager so they were aware. I went to fly the plane yesterday and while checking the gear noticed one of the turn stops was broken off. So I retraced the tow path and sure enough found the busted part on the tarmac. Fortunately, the staff quickly admitted the fault and the FBO will be covering the repairs. I bring this up because, had I missed this on the pre-flight, odds are the FBO would have plausible deniability and refused to cover the repair. Just another one of many reasons to perform a proper pre-flight.

I agree that a complete set of performance data would be useful. I would include W/B so you would have the whole operators manual in an app. you would also need some simple E6B methods to get the correct T/O and Landing numbers. I would be more diligent about running the numbers for every flight if I had an app for that. I have written software like this before. it can be harder then you might think. A lot of the stuff from the manuals is not linear and you cannot easily fit a function to the data on the charts. You have to make a giant table lookup class that has the data points from the charts. This would need to be validated to give the same results as the charts in the manuals. The software could do a better job of interpolating between the lines. I would craft the code so it could be re-used for any make and model of aircraft. Give away the app with C150 data and sell the database for the other airplanes through your own server. You can sit at home when you are bored and make databases for other airplanes. Mooney databases would cost $0.50 because you love us! King air and Citation databases would cost $100.00 Don't forget about the Android folks...

Norm wrote an article a long time ago about taping a pack of ketchup on each side of the truss. Turn it to for and it bust, leaving a trail of evidence for you to see when you return.

Geeezz! All I did was ask a simple question. Maybe I'll enter the fray with some personal observations. Here's my take after 50+ years as a mechanic both auto and airplane. Take it for what it's worth. Frequent oil changes do more for and are the engines best insurance policy than anything else you can do. I don't even like the auto 5,000 mile intervals. I do it at 3,000 with filter. I do airplanes at no more than 50 hrs with filter. Some additives have a use in certain conditions. Many auto makers use injector cleaning chemicals not found in the fuel itself if injectors get clogged. Same can said for cleaning around spark plugs with a fuel additive on Ford 3 valve engines BEFORE changing plugs at 100,000 miles!. It helps! I just did one and I only lost 1 plug. If you're familiar you know what I'm talking about. Clattering lifters can, at times, be helped with an oil additive ( a solvent type base, MMO). It does work. Some times not. Water added to the intake while running will clean out combustion chanbers and get rid of lots of built up carbon. When water injection was discovered (back at the beginning of WWII) while developing the P&W R2800 engine. It is used to cool the induction air after compression by the internal blower to draw more HP from the engine.They noticed as an after effect that the cylinder's combustion chambers were clean as a whistle when it was used. I used this on cars, mostly years ago, before newer formulations of gasoline. I used it in Mexico on pinging engines when carbon hot spots caused those issues. It's actually a chemical process between the carbon and the water and not a physical action. Some car makers specify slip modifiers for trannies and posi rearends. Can't remember which ones right now as I haven't done it in a while. STP? I used it decades ago in air cooled engines (VWs) always thought it helped but have no empirical data to prove it. I did however run VW engines 100,000 miles while flogging them at full throttle (max MP and 72 MPH on the freeway) without any internal issues. Not counting swallowing a valve that was known to let go at around the 100K mark. Not oil related. JMO

your options will depend greatly on what you already have in your panel and what you're willing to upgrade. If you don't have an approved WAAS GPS, the cheapest option would be the newer boxes that include a WAAS source and ADSB-out. This gets you compliant but nothing else. You still need an "in" source such as a Stratus/ipad to get the weather and traffic. You can also go Marauder's route and spend a small country's GDP and upgrade your panel. And then there's everything in between. In my case, I had a 430W and a KT76A transponder. It appears to be a fairly common combination. I simply upgraded my transponder to a KT74. I also use a stratus/ipad to display traffic and weather.

I've been using a portable SkyGuardTWX I got off ebay for $600 to provide the OUT part. I use the Stratus 2 for in.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Man, I have been waiting to say that all week! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

My hangar elf designed a system to set off an alarm when the tow limit is reached. It does not prevent it from happening, and likely not loud enough to alert a lineman on a motorized tug. But it also locks on an small alarm in the cabin. When you get back to the plane, and the alarm is sounding, you know to check for truss damage and have the ability to notify the FBO on the spot. If you are super diligent, you can do the same thing by checking EVERY TIME you preflight your plane. Do you know anyone who does this.

Just a thought....how about a removable flag/placard (similar to pitot tube flag and intake plug flags) that slides in the mechanical tow hole and says something like "warning, when towing keep nose wheel between red marks". And has to be removed by the line crew prior to connecting to a manual tow bar? p.s....Trademark..all rights reserved...blah blah blah...just kidding.....

This thread could prove to be very interesting as the tail unfolds. I'm curious what has happened to the original poster no follow ups as we normally see with this kind of beginning. With the right amount of embellishment this could make for a good movie. Note, I think it would take a lot more than 30 min's to remove and inspect every access panel and plates

He's no Peter Tork. Me, I'm a Believer...

Unfortunately I don't have any gold bars sitting around, but do have a complete Accutrac and a couple of gold servo valves setting around. Perhaps I can trade them for a gold bar?

I called Garmin. It was a server issue. Charts and plates for Garmin Pilot are now available. Bob

There are AccuFlite units available. Mine will probably be on the market in two or three decades. What's more rare than spotted monkeys are the Altitude Hold units (B6?).

Pete I find it amusing that you have NO PRACTICAL KNOWLEGE of automotive at all , NONE ... ATF quiets lifters , end of discussion ....water in the intake charge will clean the piston tops , solvents in the combustion chamber will free stuck rings and clean ring lands..... I used to put rislone in Acura engines at the dealership under manufacturers service bulletin for you guessed it noisey lifters, I used to put GM top engine cleaner in intakes under manufacturers warranty for rough Idle , BMW currently puts friction additives in transmission fluid for slippage...All additives .... All very effective......

Should ask if he has a gold bar. Better chance of getting one of those. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes mags are something that we treat now like we treat modern ignitions, but they are not. Even on Bendix mags if you're more than 500 hrs passed a good Iran it's time. All us old farts can remember how much maintenance the old points and condenser ignitions used to take. That's what a magneto contains plus it's own little generator they just don't go past 500 very well

Bearded Ladies and Siamese Twins aren't cool?

As I said - they need to make a Flightstream 310 that includes a complete GDL393d built in (attitude AND ADSB in) together with the upload feature for my GNS430. One solution that occurs to me - a second ipad mini. Doh. At least it is cheaper to deal with the Apple Inc megagiant than with the relatively small fry monopoly mini-megagiant Garmin.

I ask every time I land at a different airport. The line guys say they hear that all the time from mooney owners, but they don't mind. Anyone that works around planes realizes what an expensive problem over turning a mooney can be, and it just takes one guy to do it. I'm sure the OP's FBO is about to learn first hand. Nonetheless, I look under the nose wheel every time someone has towed it.

Wow actually broke the stop off they had to be trying to turn it 90 degrees. Hopefully at the bare minimum the guilty lineman and all others will get educated about turning radius. Sorry to hear about that but glad you caught it and the responsible party will cover the damage.

I have quite a few Brittain parts also if anyone else needs anything.

PC parts going to a new home! Thanks, David

I'm in south Houston. Considering floats for the 201....

Lycoming also says to use STP in a "potion" to lube the cylinder studs when you replace cylinders removed for overhaul. You have to use a "lubed thread" torque method to re- torque the cylinders not dry threads. I used to work in the air racing field when I was very young (19). The P-51 I worked on hired the "Miss Bardahl" mechanic crew to set up and crew the engine during the races. If anyone remembers, Bardahl, its an oil additive also. I have a picture somewhere (haven't seen it in decades) of the Bardahl crew pouring a 5 gallon can of STP into the P-51 oil tank. They said they preferred STP over their own stuff! That was back when 100" MP was a BIG deal. We blew a lot of Merlins at 90 to 95 inches of MP.

For God's sake! What is the argument? And I'm fresh out of popcorn too! Fly the numbers...all the numbers the particular flight calls for! The Mooney is a fly by the numbers airplane! Flying by the numbers will make you a good disciplined pilot in any airplane.

I was told by the folks at LASAR, that you can no longer get just the rubber part and that the only solution now is to buy the rebuilt unit from Brittain. Fortunately, the price isn't that bad and I feel lucky that they even support this part at all in this day and age.