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Hi gang. I hope this messages finds you well and safe. I did end up getting the big sailboat, a Privilege 39 catamaran (https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/privilege-39 ) and am refitting it for full time live-aboard starting mid 2023. I have a bunch of mooney/aviation stuff for sale that I need to get up on classifieds here and probably will be doing so soon. Kind regards, Stephen

M20_345.pdf

If you're running at 65% power or less it won't matter. Leaner is cleaner. It may take some fiddling to get smooth lop operation, gamijectors ect. For right now run reduced power for cruise and learn the airplane. Do a bunch of instrument work. Instead of running the engine hard to go fast look for the tas gain from altitude. 10 to 12k should work great. Above the cloud bases is always smoother. Cht's 325, 350 in cruise are fine. Its usually the climb where things get hot. I dont like my cht's much over 400 anytime if i can help it. I dont know what green range is on your plane but top of green is usually too hot for my liking.

Romulans.

It also seemed to be coincidental with the advent of the 201, and I wonder whether it didn't have something to do with stiffening the surfaces to be able to resist flutter at higher speeds...pure speculation on my part. Also, I don't have an IPC that covers F models, but it might be useful to look in the IPC and see what serial numbers of aircraft used the part number for the elevator weight shown in the SB. That might help people determine whether they're likely to have it or not.

Yes, that is a "smooth" elevator, as opposed to those that have the deep stiffening dimples along their chord. And, yes, the SB is not well written. It's fairly confusing, actually, imho, compared to what one normally expects for these. It appears to be primarily focused at M20F models (sorry), and requires inspection of the weight to determine whether it has the plug in the end for the "hybrid" style, apparently identifying it as a particular part number. You might need to scrape some paint off the end to see if that's what you have or not. All that said, right now this is a Service Bulletin and compliance is not required for Part 91 airplanes in private use. Definitely a good idea to make an inspection, though. If your weight looks like the one in the pic in the SB I'd probably want to do something, but otherwise discretion may be applied. Fingers crossed Mooney comes up with suitable replacements for those affected. This is a "non-smooth" elevator:

Update: bought a 231 and will forgo FIKI until I step into a multi. 231BV.

⬆️⬆️⬆️. Total agreement with Mark. If you file more than one flight plan and you get cleared “as filed”, how can you be 100% sure which flight plan they’re clearing you for? I’d rather read back a long clearance (that I’m expecting due to FlightAware) and be sure.

I use the foreflight expected route feature. Shortly after you file, it gives you the option of using your filed or expected route. I switch to expected, then after I have my official clearance, send that to the panel via flight stream. I was flying PTW-K09 a few weeks ago, 201nm. My expected route sent me over BUF and doubled the distance to 409nm. I thought, “no way ATC would do that to me.” Sure enough it took me a couple “unable that route due to fuel”plus about 5 min of back and forth with Allentown approach to get them to fix it. The expected route in foreflight seems to be whatever the ATC computer spits out to the controller, so IMHO it’s a good chance you’ll get that routing. But it’s obviously not a clearance until it’s a clearance. I’ve also heard foreflight and a few others are trying to come up with a system where you can actually get your clearance and IFR release from ATC through the app at any airport. We do it via datalink (PDC/CPDLC-DCL) all the time in other aircraft. PDC is available through foreflight (performance plus or business performance), no matter the aircraft type. But it’s only available at a limited number of airports. https://foreflight.com/support/pdc/ https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-05-11/mitre-foreflight-test-mobile-ifr-clearance-delivery

I really don't care about that so long as I know what to expect. Copying and reading back a long clearance you already know is not that bad. OTOH, given some of the system glitches that happen, I am suspicious of an "as filed" clearance when I file one thing and shortly before the flight, it is amended by me or anyone else. And yes, I've seen that latter one.

Before: After:

I had a terminal break off the back of a gear light after doing some panel work. Replaced the lights and rewired. Much cleaner. Spade connectors, vinyl tubing, and tie string, all gone now.

Mooney Night Landing (sent by a customer)

I signed up for a free SavvyMX online account and uploaded my EI engine data. Now I find myself constantly getting sucked into looking at the pretty lines and geeking out over all the cool data. I know they probably do this as a marketing tool, but it sure makes for a handy way to see and manipulate the data anyway you like.

You don't want them to ignore the problem till they have weights available do you? A loss of balance weight could result in a catastrophic flutter event - not that I've heard of any such events yet! But just say'n. But I am sure Mooney will work with anyone contacting them with these installed, to get replacements in your hands asap.

I don't think counterweight replacement requires any reskinning. It is riveted to the corner of the elevator. I believe it can be removed and replaced quite easily provided you can get a replacement part.

It would seem an over reach to ground planes where no corrosion was evident. That would be like grounding all aircraft because the spar could be corroded. If you have a corrosion issue then deal with it, if you don't then monitor the situation on occasion and proceed as normal.

"Flat Earth Model"? There is no such thing. Are you trying to be funny? Not obvious if so. The web page you cite is ancient by GPS standards, written waaaay back in 2001. Before WAAS. Anyhow, the design of the GPS system uses the WGS84 Datum, which pretty accurately defines the shape of our planet as an oblate spheroid, with something like a 20 km greater radius at the equator than at the poles. Vertical position errors tend to be larger than horizontal errors because of satellite geometry. The apparent velocity of the GPS satellites is faster when directly overhead, so that most satellites used to calculate the position solution are nearer the horizon than the vertical- they spend more time near the horizon than overhead. Small signal timing errors due to atmospheric effects on signal propagation contribute a larger component in the vertical direction when the satellite is nearer the horizon. The WAAS system provides receivers with an error model to minimize these random propagation errors and their impact on the horizontal and vertical position estimates. A contemporary reference: https://sage-answer.com/what-datum-is-used-by-gps/ A WAAS GPS system reports the expected vertical error. If the system is working correctly, it's less than 2 m. Because signal availability is not guaranteed, and to avoid problems with equipment failures, we use encoders.

Let’s hope you smooth skin guys don’t need to replace these elevators. When I was looking into reskinning or replacing costs, Mooney wanted $3k per elevator side. — And that was when Mooney was still making planes. I can’t remember who told me about the changeover from smooth to beaded. But the reason it done was it is a lot cheaper to make the beaded because it eliminated the labor to install all those little ribs in the elevator. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

My '67F (Serial 670429) is just coming out of annual. I checked the weights today with my mechanic. I did NOT have the suspect hybrid elevator weights. We logged SB compliance. Gotta wonder what time period they used the hybrid weights. Will be interesting to see who reports having them.

Yeah their “smooth” elevator picture actually has the rivets like mine I think, but it’s so zoomed in and blurry that it looks even smoother! The other thing that would be nice is if they mentioned if you could see the circular insert from the outboard or inboard side or both? The pictures seem to show outboard side but I wasn’t 100% sure. Hopefully I can look closer through the paint and see, but I’m not sure how many times it’s been painted over…

Because you can double check Flight Aware or 1-800 WXBRIEF to see what your clearance is.

A real dyno measures torque at a static RPM. But typically you need to have the engine out and and mounted to the dyno. A typical one basically has the engine drive a pump and restricting the outflow to provide the load. If you want to dyno you car, they use a chassis dyno, that current ones use acceleration of a known weight cylinder. Using F=MA, then converting the force to a torque taking into account rolling radius of the wheel/tire, and gear ratios.

The photo in the sb shows what they mean by smooth elevator as opposed to the beaded elevator. That's a smooth elevator in your photo. Not all smooth elevators have the hybrid counterweights but some smooth elevators do. No beaded elevators have them so, beaded elevators don't need to be inspected. If you have a smooth elevator the next step is to inspect your counterweight to see which type you have. That photo doesn't look like you have the affected counterweights but maybe the paint is covering it.

Ah! I read too fast... I thought the "abnormal" verbiage indicated safe to fly unless you damage was found vs. the do not fly if you have this version whether or not it is abnormal. Dang. I still maintain it is a critical safety issue, but this isn't a sudden failure scenario, so I disagree with grounding if an inspection reveals no anomalies.

PARTS LIST: Mooney International Corporation, Service Bulletin Parts Kit(s): N/A at this time

The AD would not ground the fleet... it would only ground the ones with cracks, which absolutely should not fly in any case.

Except if it's an AD it'll ground the affected fleet until the factory gets around to making and distributing replacements. Fingers crossed they're getting ahead of it.

I love German’s they are logical. They came and took our flight line Halon wheel mounted fire extinguishers at Fleigerhorst Airfield, well I sort of cornered one and asked what the hell. He proudly stated they were bad for the environment with a grin and must be removed. So I asked him if he thought that big helicopter burning with 375 gls of jet fuel and all the composites that give off cyanide gas when burned etc was better for the environment than using the fire extinguisher and putting the fire out. He thought about it, saw the logic and apologized and said he must remove them it was the law, but you could tell he was mulling it over. They were really big green environmentalists but pumped leaded gas in their cars and roared down the Autobahn at 150 MPH Mid 90’s they still had leaded gas for cars

Same difference: how can you be 100% sure that when they say “as filed” that they actually received your amendment? I’d rather be sure. Making amendments or re-filing simply to hear the magical “Cleared as filed” seems like a waste of time and adds ambiguity to a procedure that is supposed to remove ambiguity. That’s exactly my point. As midlifeflyer pointed out previously: “Copying and reading back a long clearance you already know is not that bad.”

Of course you can. But I think asking for a full route clearance removes any supposed benefit to amending what you filed to conform to what is expected.

If there is any doubt, you can just ask for a full route clearance.

We need to get a Mooney Space corporate rate with FBO delivery negotiated in.

Saavy Analysis is why I changed out my JPI 700 (no logging) to an 830.

There are two sides to a top quality lock. 1) You make it a bit harder to defeat, so they go somewhere else. 2) You are telling them there is something worth stealing inside.

No idea, if I were to do such a thing and I won’t as I believe there is no upside, but I’d stay below the helicopter RPM limits. But 50 RPM I wouldn’t get upset with, I’d just turn the prop out 1/2 turn or whatever gave me full RPM. I have no idea about Reno, never been, one guy here crews for a Formula 1 plane, if I have the name correct, it uses an O-200 engine. I assume they have dyno’d them and know the RPM where power is max, I know they have several props and may run different ones from one day to the next. One day I ought to go to Reno

It's electric gear. It probably is just old wiring that got pinched. I should just get it all rewired

Whelen lights require a log book entry

I would skip the video and use bolt cutters.

Checklist vs Flow is another good way to fan the flames on the usual holy wars. I think good feedback for whether whatever system you're using is working is that you occasionally find something that either stops or delays a flight, or that you schedule a maintenance task to get done based on pre-flight observations (e.g., finally decide to change a tire). Other good feedback is that you don't crash or damage something because of something that you really think you should have found before taking off. Cooking a motor due to a forgotten cowl plug comes to mind. Some people find the forgotten cowl plug when the prop catches the rope and flings it across the ramp during startup. That's good feedback that your preflight inspection needs improvement. Some things need to adapt from time to time, e.g., my prop cycling methodology has changed since the governor got swapped out. The previous governor was nice and loose and responsive and only needed one cycle to make sure it was happy. After it failed (which was caught by noticing significant behavior change during runup), the new governor needs a couple cycles to get where it responds quickly, i.e., the first one will be a bit slow, verify that the second one is quick. I use flow for preflight, a checklist for pre-start, and a mnemonic for pre-takeoff (CIFFTRS). I use the factory checklist for pre-start with a couple modifications, like verifying the hatch is closed as the first item (from experience, added first 'cause I gotta stop everything and get out if it's not right). Everybody's airplane and methodology can be expected to be different, I think.

Update to the situation! I will NOT have to go to AK this time around. Good news as I just got the plane, hangar and I'm pretty involved locally with our EAA Chapter and other things. Pretty happy about that.

Stay away from Coeur 'd Alene Maintenance and Aviation. Wise Aircraft Maintenance in Kellogg does all the work on my plane. Dustin Wise is thorough and reasonable. I'm close by, how can I help?

The EI works off P leads so works with single or dual mags. No sending unit to fail. Also alerts if one mag doesn’t get grounded during mag checks. Confirmation of Bendix mag switch function.

Yes, an FCU failure, none the less, ultimately, an engine failure at 500’ with no option for a turn back with the most ugly options with, literally, seconds to make the right decision to actually survive the situation. Tom

Chris, prior to my elevators being repaired, with just me aboard the trim would be near the top on short final. After repair, trim is at the top. I went over the bungee adjustments in detail with the mechanic and found the adjustments he made were in spec. Might just be a matter of adjustment at one end of the scale or the other.

I understand compression ratio, but the EFFECTIVE compression ratio of a turbocharged engine is much higher when it’s under boost than it’s static compression ratio because of course air is forced under pressure into the cylinder so your compressing pressurized air to start with, you end up with as high or higher cylinder pressure than a NA motor depending on boost, usually higher of course, depending on if your boosting to increase power or just hold sea level power at altitude. Just as our NA motors lose effective compression ratio at altitude Your chart is valid for NA motors, not forced induction motors.

Looks like an installation error to me. An unfortunate one, no doubt, but nevertheless.

When he’s buying it’s only worth $10k. When he’s selling, it’s a different story.

My A/C failed on the Lancair and I found it to be the A/C drive unit shaft. After much searching I was given the name of a machine shop in a small town called Athens, WI, just west of Wausau. I was told the shop was owned by a Mennonite with exceptional machining skills and very fair pricing. During the work process the owner indicated a fascination in the fact I built my own plane and after talking about it with his kids, he mentioned they were excited as well and commented how much they desired to ride in a small airplane someday. I told him I would pick up the shaft when completed by flying my Mooney over to his local airport (3 hour drive, 35 minute flight) and would gladly give his kids an airplane ride. He had the shaft done in one day (Wednesday), and I had him make me a new pulley as well, which he completed this morning. Looking at weather, I asked if this evening would work to fly his kids and he stated that it did. He asked if a couple neighbor kids could get a ride too, and I said yes. I arrived at a local airport and had a greeting party waiting for me. The politeness (and curiosity) of everyone was simply amazing. I did two flights, with 3 kids each flight, flying over their houses and their small little town. On each flight the oldest boy in the front seat got to fly the plane for 5-10 minutes. Upon completing the second flight, I asked mom and dad if they wanted to go and they insisted I should get home before dark and they had flown before, but were amazingly grateful the kids were able to fly. Then one of the younger girls walked up and gave me a plate of some awesome brownies she made this afternoon for "their pilot". As I flew home I thought about the impact the flights had on these truly humble kids, who clearly live a lifestyle of a much more simple means (and I say that more out of respect and admiration than anything). Sometimes we get LUCKY, sharing what we love with others and then getting the rewarding, yet humble feeling I experienced during my flight home. Pretty COOL. Tom

When I lived in Denver my neighbors across the street told me their father (wife's) used to own a Mooney. She said he loved his plane. He had lost his medical from heart problems about 10 years prior and hadn't flown sense. He came to visit one day and they interoduced him to me and said I had a Mooney. I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride and he gladly accepted. The next morning we met at the airport and after preflighting the plane I showed him the door and asked if he wanted the left seat! His eyes got big as saucers and he jumped right in. I said "why don't you fly me to Leadville?" And handed him a sectional. He said Ok, put on my headsets like he had flown yesterday and started it right up. He flew the plane expertly including all the radio calls. When we got to Leadville he got the certificate, we got some lunch in town and he flew me back. He was a crotchety old guy and my neighbor said that he was never happy, but for the rest of his stay she couldn't pry the smile off of his face. He died one month later of the heart condition that grounded him. So, the only thing better than giving someone their first Mooney ride is giving someone their last Mooney ride.