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Some of you may remember that I toyed with the idea of converting my M20F back to Johnson bar about a year ago. It was produced as a J-bar in December of ‘66, converted to electric for the first owner in ‘67, and stayed that way until the Coronavirus lockdown. The conversion back to j-bar went well, very straightforward operation and was a great opportunity to strip and repaint the control and gear pushrods, clean and lube all the rod ends so they are like new, and also super clean any oil and dirt from the underside floor. It was a really satisfying annual with gear conversion that stirred up lots of comments and questions from the airport drive by experts. I’m really enjoying the manual gear, it’s a big enough change that the airplane feels ‘new’ and exciting to me. Such a simple and wonderful design and the old girl dropped a few pounds as well. You all know what a Johnson bar looks like but I’ll post some pictures later because I’m really proud of the work. If anyone is interested in a complete conversion kit to electric gear, everything you need will be posting in the classified area soon!

I was in love with Mooney in my early twenties when I first got my PP. Unfortunately/fortunately life happened; wife (#1), two kids, 28 years in USAF, did not allow anything other than drooling. Fast forward wife (#2) sees me drooling over pics of Mooney, reading MS, and talking about a home built. One day she says “why don’t you just buy a Mooney and get it over with”. I think she was trying to give me a heart attack, almost succeed. Going on three years now, best decision she ever made for me.

From the overkill department, I bring you a homebrew powered towbar run by a cordless drill. I couldn't stomach the $1,600 for a commercial version, so built this one. It's s bit on the heavy side, but gets the job done. Wish there was somewhere to fly to these days..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Guys, my wife tells me that I should tell you that she is right one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I knew I had a keeper when on her single day off per week she came out to clean my plane

I finally got my plane back after the avionics upgrade. This is my panel prior to the upgrade: Here is the scary midpoint of the upgrade...It was quite unnerving seeing the panel in pieces and I was wondering if they could put it back together: Luckily for me, they knew what they were doing and here is the panel today when I picked it up: The upgrade was precipitated by a failed KI256 during an IFR flight late last year. After much research and a pause due to the release of the GI 275 earlier this year (I briefly contemplated 2 GI 275s instead of the Aspen but opted to go with the Aspen unit and a GI 275 as backup as I felt the presentation and features on the Aspen were more complete and fit my flying better - and since the G5 was not TSO'd as a backup and would need a field approval which I did not want to risk during these uncertain times). The KI 256, KI525, RC Allen backup AI, magnetometer, KCS55A remote gyro, vacuum pump and electric backup vacuum pump and related wiring came out. This was replaced with the Aspen Pro Max with an EA100 for interfacing directly to the KFC150 and a GI 275 backup ADI . I also upgraded the 430 to WAAS to better talk to the GNS530W. This install saved 27 lbs!!

Mooneyspace members are doing a hellava job improving the fleet, as the process evolves comparisons to other brands seems futile. Solid sleek efficient fast technologically improved frames are tough to beat. Line up the competition do a complete evaluation our product it tough to beat. Take Bob’s E, Chris’s F Don K’s M many others the cross section and diversity of the fleet is awesome. Only if the company knew how to effectively advertise the greatness of the fleet they most likely wouldn’t be in dire straights. We need a few companies to take tired Mooney’s and properly upgrade sell at appropriate price points the sit back and watch them takeoff. Take Bob’s E compare to a SR20 including price point there is no comparison, do this from model to model you get the picture. As Anthony says GO MOONEY

I began my career in aviation insurance just over 10 years ago in April 2010. It now appears that light GA is more or less back up to rates seen in 2010. Some cases have higher rates, some cases have lower rates, but overall the numbers are about the same. What's interesting is while the rates are back to 2010 levels, there's definitely more stringent underwriting than I saw in 2010. Back then we could still get some crazy transitions done (low time, no instrument, no ME rating buying a Baron). Today I could get maybe 1-2 quotes for the more unique transition scenarios, and they would be very bare-bones policies, sometimes with significant coverage gaps - the kind where I have to put all kinds of **asterisks** in my communications with clients. The good news: Rates like these are more or less sustainable where you won't see carrier after carrier leaving the market, forcing you to change companies. The bad news: it's just harder to get stuff done. Companies want increases on their existing book and aren't too concerned about picking up new business. As always, feel free to reach out if I can be of any help or provide any insurance advice. Another *important* item: Now that the agency insures about 1% of the registered Mooney fleet , my wife and I say a big "Thank You" to MooneySpace for your support of Airspeed Insurance Agency. Our small business continues to grow and are hopeful to add a couple other producers over the remainder of the year (need some state insurance testing centers to open up!). Despite the uncertain times, we continue to add policies to the books and I'm glad that so many of you have deemed it fitting to trust Airspeed with your business. There are some exciting developments in the works that I hope to report on later in the year. I'm trying to piece together as many Mooney owners and MSCs as possible to get the best consideration possible and bring more value to our unique group! Parker Airspeed Insurance Agency 214-295-5055 (office) Parker@airspeedinsurance.com

I'm sure everything is removable... with the proper tools It's just that these particular bucket seats in certain year models are designed to be easily removed without any tools. I have these bucket seats in my Mooney. It takes me about 60 sec per seat to install them and half that time to remove them. You can have one or both seats installed as you need. When the seat or seats are removed, the frame of the seat back, folds into the floor leaving a perfectly level flat carpeted floor from the front edge of the spar to the back of the baggage area. For those of us who use Mooneys mainly for two people, these back seats are super convenient. It makes it easy to carry luggage, larger items, dogs, dog crates, etc. Also the seats are 13 lbs each so removing them is almost another 5 gal of fuel. I almost never have the back seats installed in my Mooney. They live on a shelf in the hangar. But if I need one, or both. It takes two minutes to install them. Now that I have a Mooney with these seats, I would hate to be without them.

My wife's and my first kiss was after her first flight in my F model Mooney. Later, after an accident in a Mooney while I was recovering in a level 1 trauma center in ICU, she arranged to marry me so she could stay with me instead of leaving her job after her vacation and sick time ran out. She has tirelessly volunteered to administer the Bill Gilliland foundation for downed Mooney pilots, consul and comfort widows and to help in all kinds of ways with the Mooney Summit. Alice, I love you sweetie!

I say getting into a partnership is the easiest part, everyone excited, it will only get harder. The hardest will be when someone wants out of the partnership or the person is asked to leave the partnership, I find this true in most contractual agreements. Have rules that are Very easy to understand, The exit strategy needs to be very simple and clear, you should NOT need an attorney for someone to exit the partnership. have partners that can easily afford the agreement, everyone follows the rules always, no exceptions, contingencies for people not following the rules( Not paying the monthly costs, not paying the hour rate, not filling airplane, not cleaning the bugs off, leaving trash in airplane, leaving on 1 day trip that turns into 2 weeks, not filling tires, not filling oil, working on airplane when not certified to to that work) It all needs to be written down and agreed upon. if you find an A&P to be a partner treat them right, that A&P is very important, needs to be paid or credited the Very close to the going shop rate that you would have had to pay had they not been a partner(its a cost your going to have either way) dont be a CB here My .02 No airplane partners but have HAD business partners and many written agreements with people.

Mrs Brown 1.0 was not the right one. Mrs Brown 2.0 is the best thing that ever happened to me and my kids. About six years into the marriage she made it even better. She suggested that since I've always dreamed of flying I should get my license and buy a plane so I could fly her to see the grandkids. I started lessons immediately. That was almost four years ago. I still think she's the best thing to happen to me and my kids.

It arose out of a combination of an online discussion and me trying to find things to occupy extra time sitting at home. If you are equally bored, you might like it. It compares the GTN, GNS, and IFD in a single task - holding where the holding fix is a point some distance from a navaid or waypoint.

WOW - that stuff is AMAZING! So quick and easy to use and the effect is out of this world. Paint job is already clean and almost new - but this stuff makes it just that much better.

That is true, better to find it in my hangar than at a remote airport on a trip. I got the pump out and there is blue staining on the outside. It is a bit easier to pull the fuel pump on a Piper, but it was still easier than creating the shipping labels to send it to Aeromotors on the UPS website...

Ready...

The in-wing RCA Weatherscout radars could, on a good day, see a cell at 10-15 miles. The small antenna had especially poor performance in the vertical axis so ground clutter obscured most cloud returns. I doubt many remain in use. Some Bonanzas also had that radar option. Early PA46 Malibus offered that system 1984-88. PA46 Mirages were fitted with the pod-mounted Honeywell Radar starting in 1989 which usually can paint embedded cells 30-40 miles out and isolated storms at 80-100 miles.

If your objective is to be able to shoot WAAS approaches and already have a GNS-XXX what is available new that costs anywhere near $4,000? A quick look and an IFD-440 retails for $10,989 or almost triple. It only goes up from there plus install if you're going the GTN route. Is there one I am missing? it is not like they are charging $4'000 just to slap a software change to it, alot of the hardware is better and new. Are the Garmin GTN and Avidyne IFD series better? I think so. Are they worth the money? Only you can decide. To the best of my knowledge there is not an approach in the world that the latest and greatest navigation boxes can shoot that a GNS-XXXW can't.

I'll see if I can get a list together. If I had it to do over again, I think I'd downsize the steel tubes a bit. It's a little on the heavy side, although that helps hold the drive wheels against the nose wheel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi there, The following is my understanding and approach to leaning, and I would be happy to get your comments on that: I refer to the M20J and the Lycoming IO-360. (The airflow in turbocharged engines is different, therefore the thoughts below do not apply). Rich of Peak EGT Lean of Peak EGT Combustion process limited by the air/oxygen flow into the engine. Combustion process is limited by the fuel flow into the engine. Air flow is proportional to power. Fuel flow is proportional to power. Air flow is approx. proportional to the product of MP times RPM, for a given engine displacement. For the IO-360, fuel flow (in gph) times 7.5 yields power in % of rated power. (The lines of constant MP x RPM are almost identical to the lines of constant MP + RPM/100. The latter is easy to compute and is called the "key”.) (To multiply by 7.5, simply multiply by 5 and add 50% of the result). A given key is a "code" for power. 57=100%, 54=90%, 50=75%, 47=65%, etc. With a given fuel flow, a higher "key" from the ROP just means more air and thus a cooler engine. Excess fuel does not participate in the chemical reaction and thus cools the engine. Push the mixture in, you get a cooler engine. Excess air does not participate in the chemical reaction and thus cools the engine. Push the prop and/or throttle in (and readjust the mixture for the same fuel flow), you get a higher “key” and thus a cooler engine. With that in mind, I fly LOP like this and get a cool and clean, hopefully long-lasting engine: Below 4000ft with full power (typically in climb), full rich. The following applies only to 4000ft MSL or more, when %BHP is <=75%. Full throttle, RPM as desired, and use the mixture to control power. Tune it to a fuel flow not higher than that indicated by the table. A quick and easy way is to push the throttle wide open, read off the available MP, choose RPM as desired, compute the "key" RPM/100+MP and then look up the corresponding LOP fuel flow from the table at the very bottom (the two rows in the bubble). It's just important to keep below 10.1 gph as that corresponds to 75% BHP. Above that, go full rich. I do not check EGT for leaning in cruise anymore, instead simply use the table. And watch my CHT. I usually end up with 300-340°F in cruise, cowl flaps closed. Remarks: At Peak EGT, the chemical reaction is complete, no excess air or fuel leads to a maximum thermal efficiency. I do not believe that a faster prop shortens the engine lifetime, at least not for the IO-360, where 2700 continuous RPM is permitted, and because faster means lower forces. Nevertheless, I don't like the noise with 2700 RPMs continuously, so I typically use 2600 in cruise and even lower when flying low. When flying LOP, you should also get less CO (since the combustion tends to be more complete) and thus also lower risk from CO intoxication in the cabin due to a broken heat exchanger or cabin leak. While I do not use EGT for leaning in cruise, it is critical for something else: the mag check at runup. When switching from both mags to a single mag, EGT must rise on all four cylinders. If it doesn't, check the mag and/or the corresponding spark plug. Feel free to comment on this approach. I hope I'm not preaching to the choir.

Nice! I'm on for the 18th to drop mine off for a much needed upgrade to an Aspen 2000 system. Can't wait. And, I will be removing some similar equipment, so it's nice to see that much in weight savings!

Openasapp.com is what I use. Lee

sim20-23a.pdf

I bet it wouldn’t be that tough to get to the DER approval. Would make for a very unique 252!

I almost wish that conversion was available for my 252. You gotta love a good Johnson bar

Seriously, my wife doesn't really like to fly, but nevertheless flies with me because she likes going places. So she enthusiastically selects places to go, and she fully supported me buying a Mooney. She also acknowledges that it is a beautiful airplane. In return, I am trying to always make a trip a nice and smooth flight and an overall enjoyable experience. By the way, no funny flying, no stalls or steep turns or the like, the more boring the better with a non-pilot wife.

I discovered the opposite even before the iPad. Or panel GPS. Not that I would treat it as anything other than emergency, but I used to periodically fly partial panel with my ancient 396 handheld. I always felt that my basic aircraft control was decent but my issue was the reliability of my rollout in turns. Needing to calculate degrees to turn, then divide by 3 was an oversaturation event. The little HSI page on the 396 made a big difference. It was funny. The first time I did it, my friend with whom I had a standing date for currency flights, didn't realize what I was doing and couldn't figure out how a task which was difficult for me suddenly looked easy. As an aside, I suspect the biggest problems with real partial panel come down to lack of recognition, inability to disregard the bad indications without a cover, and thinking it's OK. My three takeaways. Use the tools you have in an emergency. Learn how to use those tools before the emergency. Don't think you are so good (with or without those tools) that you don't treat it as an emergency.

Good indications from all of you...good relationships, indeed! My wife fully supported buying our '66 E last year and she's a very participatory passenger. In fact, she's more than just a passenger - she's watching our progress on her iPad, she leapfrogs from nearest airport to nearest airport getting ATIS/AWOS info, she looks up and dials in destination airport freqs, and she helps with traffic watch. I'm very lucky, too... and no pillows so far @Air pirate

25k? I would think you've got more than that in it not counting ALL the sweat equity. It's a tough call but if I were making it, i'd keep it

The flip side argument is that if you keep the 430 and it becomes obsolete or fails in 5 years, you'll only spend $2500 extra at that time, but you'll keep $4500 in cash in the meantime. If you spread the extra $2500 over 5 years, that is also easy to justify standing pat if the 430 still works and meets your requirements.

First thing I would inspect is the fuselage tubing just below the nose gear hump, to make sure that the pivot points are there for the Johnson bar, the bellcrank for the electric gear is located about 5” aft of where the Johnson bar bellcrank goes. My airplane had both pivot bushings in place and it appeared that was from new, not added on at the conversion to electric. Maybe they are all that way.

Universal Fuelhawk M20E I have a 1964 Super 21 and the fuel dipstick that came with my airplane proved to be inaccurate by more than 2 gallons. I did some research and found a 2010 post by knute that gave fuel level heights for making a dipstick using a paint stir stick. I tried that but fuel on sticks tend to wick some and makes precise readings difficult so I decided to get a 16-inch universal fuel drop tube from J-Air inc. They call it a Universal Fuelhawk. It comes with a set of instructions, table, and graph for calibrating the fuel tank on your airplane. The instructions say to start with the fuel tank nearly empty and add 5 gallons at a time to plot a calibration graph. Since my tanks were just filled I elected to start full and drain the tank 2.5 gallons at a time instead. It took me a couple of hours to set up collect my data, then I transferred all of it to the graph attached here. Here is what I did: I started with 5 clean 5-gallon buckets that I had bought previously. 5-gallon buckets are tapered, so I used a caliper to get the exact dimension of the diameter of the bucket at different heights. I extended the caliper inside the bucket at the height desired, locked it and measured it with a tape measure outside the bucket. The bottom diameter was 10-¼ inches, at 12 inches height was 11-¼ and 13 inches height was 11-5/16. From these dimensions I calculated average diameter at 0-12 inches, 0-6 inches, 6-12 inches, 12-13 inches, and 0-13 inches. I then calculated fuel amounts for each average taken. I compared the partial bucket volumes to the total volume calculated to determine how much error I had. The total average was 10.78125 dia and for 13 inches that calculated to 5.1376 gallons. Av Dia squared divided by 4, times 13 divided by 231. ((D^2)/4) x 13 / 231 = Gallons. The partials added were 2.2491 + 2.4684 + 0.4327 = 5.1502. 5.1502 / 5.1376 = 1.00245 or 0.245% error between the two methods. As best as possible I marked the 2.5 gallon mark with an equal sign so that light shining from the outside of the bucket will highlight a space between the lines. I used a 5/16 rubber fuel hose to siphon fuel out of the tank into the bucket and stopped at the mark. After doing this twice and pouring both into the same bucket I found they added to less than 5 gallons. The mark ended up being 2.445 gallons and I used 2.44 in my calculations. I measured the fuel height at 26 gallons (full) then 23.56, 21.12, and so on down to 6.48 gallons. I took 9 measurements. I put the fuel back in the tank through a strainer, making sure it remained clean. I then packed up and went to the office. Using the calibration graph provided I plotted the fuel level and gallons remaining on the graph. I then connected the dots with a smooth line. I extended the line down to 5 gallons and created a height – gallons table in one gallon increments. I put all the data on the graph and added my bucket measurements and calculated volumes. The fuel level on the tube is marked every 1/4 inch and it is easy to read to the nearest 1/8 inch. The smallest 1 gallon increment is 3/8 of an inch, so a 1/8 error would be about 1/3 of a gallon. So now when I measure my fuel level I should know within 1/3 of a gallon exactly how much fuel I have. All that is left to do is to scribe level lines per gallon on the drop tube. Hope this and the chart attached helps. PS: I am working on scribing the lines on the tube and found the scale on the drop tube is actually 7/8 of full size. Go figure! Since I used the tube to measure the fuel levels in the first place, the chart is correct as long as the scale on the tube is used. If you are using a ruler to mark the lines then 9-1/2 on the tube is 8-5/16 on a ruler. N1935Y Mooney M20E Fuel Level Measurements.pdf

Florida man, What power settings are you talking about when on approach in the rocket? I typically set about 15" and have trouble slowing down. Many times I am fully configured and speed brakes out at that power setting to stay on speed. I don't think one is supposed to pull power to idle in the rocket until the flair. Something about the counterweights being driven full deflection IIRC.

@Mooney in Oz, it's all about "close." I prefer to not be "a few kilometers" from a thunderstorm. But when IMC, they're hard to spot . . . Stormscope politely shows you where to avoid before you stumble into the turbulence. It's realtime, unlike your ADSB In, which only shows where heavy rainfall was a while ago. StormScope will also show where a cell is building before rain starts falling out of it, so you can avoid it before its old position shows up on XM/ADSB.

Nice summary. I put my comments in red above.

Constant RPM is not fixed pitch, but I guess you know that... Also, 2500 RPM on _takeoff_ is risky. The engine will not develop full power at that RPM setting. But I guess you know that as well...

Looks nice Eli. Love those very late model J's.

Well, 4 1/3 Gallons anyways.

Correct, and I'd agree... to a certain extent... The trade-in value of these GNS's have been dropping steadily. Even the WAAS units. As more and more are swapped out for new/modern GPS/FMS's. I noticed the value dropping and figured I should trade my 530W before the value dropped any further. That was two years ago. I put in the IFD540. Did the swap myself. No installation cost. Couldn't be happier with it.

Need a compact degausser with adjustable arms that you can shape to fit in there without scratching the canopy. Did this with my IA last year, took about an hour and really makes a difference. After we got done, the compass was in cal on all headings, and has been ever since.

Here’s a clue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Same here. I now have 3 certified AIs and a backup AHRS (GDL52R). The likelihood of all failing simultaneously would probably be limited to a lightning strike or some other catastrophic electron failure.

Controllers are individuals just like everyone else. Some enjoy the job more than others. Some units have seen their traffic dwindle more than others. Some units may be in a worse staffing situation than others. I can't speak for others, but I know that I've been very bored at work lately, our traffic is down about 90% from the same time last year. I, as well as many of my colleagues have enjoyed accommodating pilot requests, letting pilots do things that wouldn't normally be possible. I can't wait for things to get back to normal so that I can work busy traffic again because that's what I enjoy doing. For now, every bit of traffic I can get helps pass the time and pilot requests for unusual things just gives me something else to do. If you fly through my airspace, request away!

Hoppe's No. 9 is specifically recommended by Lycoming (SI 1275C) for cleaning fuel injector nozzles. The SI says only to soak for 20 minutes and makes no warning about possible damage. According to Hoppe's website: Hoppe's No. 9 remains the most widely used remover of powder, lead, metal fouling and rust. Hoppe's isn't claimed to dissolve lead, just to remove it. So, because it is claimed to remove lead from gun barrels, and because some brass alloys contain a small amount of lead, we are making a big conceptual leap that it will damage fuel injectors. Before creating yet another OWT, there needs to be some authoritative reference for that conjecture, IMHO. Skip

Sometimes its the simple pleasures of life. I DO LOVE that shirt! You look very nice in that shirt but the picture of you in the shirt would look even nicer if -you were standing in front of an actual Mooney. -there were a beer in your hand. -you were wearing a Mooney hat. -cool aviator sunglasses. -A gorgeous "person of the opposite persuasion" were hanging off the arm not holding the beer. -the other arm had a Mooney tattoo - common' man I mean how committed are you? OK - OK - nuf silly-me aside - I'm buy a shirt just like you RIGHT NOW! Love it! Which color is that? That doesn't exactly look like either of the available colors, grey or royal blue.

Have I ever done something stupid with an instructor on board? Does landing at the wrong airport qualify?

Pulled right up for me...

I'll take the contrary opinion here... yes, sell the Mooney. She got you here, and has completed her job. You can now go to work and fly the shit out of those Cessnas. Get your 1500 hours and the ATP that goes with it. When you get that right seat for one of the majors, you can get yourself a nice FO's M20J. A few years later when you get the left seat, sell the J and get yourself a proper Captain's Acclaim Ultra.

I was into building a homebuilt for several years and in the begining I was very interested in auto engine conversions and after years of watching the trials and tribulations of others my hankerin for an auto conversion faded away. Its true that several auto engines make better candidates than others but I have yet to see any engines that were designed for the automotive industry be better for use in an aircraft than an engine designed for an aircraft. it always seems to be something that shows up to be that engines achilles heel. For example the covair engine which was a favorite for the group i was in was supposed to be a good one, it had a good power to weight ratio, didnt have to turn too fast to mae good power so it needed no psru. It had good heads and valve train didnt need a 50 hr valve adjustment like the VW (another good one), but after a good friend had a crank break THREE times I have decided that yes an engine built and designed from inception to live in a car should probably stay there, and an aircraft engine will probably work best in the air. These things all being said I love to see these conversions and there are lots of things learned by these brave folks, but the folks at TCM and LYC would make changes to their engines as the auto folks have if it was that easy. As for the L Mooneys left that have a FWF I do not see why a TCM 520, a TCM 470 or a LYC 540 couldnt be used. the 520is very close to what a 550 is and there are many long mooneys with the 550 out there and there are lots of long bodies out there with the 540 LYC as well, I dont see why either would be hard to get approved and they are indeed plentiful.