Leaderboard

For your entertainment and viewing pleasure, I will be presenting Anthony @carusoam on display at the Dean of Mooneyspace Lunch Fly In at 47N Central Jersey airport at noon on Saturday 4/20/24. Free autographs on a first come first serve basis. You might even have the opportunity to buy him lunch. $5.35 100LL self serve. Park on the main ramp and a very short walk out of the airport to the restaurant on the corner of the road leading into the airport. Don't let the name "Pizza 'n Pasta" fool you. This place has Stromboli's, Calzone's, and other Italian delights such as Anthony Caruso. Need I say more?

Mooney N58089 $170,000 OBO *** UNDER CONTRACT*** 1985 M20K 305 Rocket Serial 25-0872 Based at: KHEG (JAX area) and 6D6 (Hastings, MI) TSMOH: 602 TTAF: 4824 TTE: 2000 Prop: 602 Annual due: 11-2024 IFR Cert Due: 04-2025 Empty Wt: 2230.4 Empty Wt CG: 42.87 Useful Load: 969.6 Avionics: Garmin GI-275 Engine Monitor, Garmin GNX-375 GPS w/Transponder, PMA-8000 Audio Panel, Garmin GTR 200B VHF Com, Garmin G5 HSI, Garmin GNC 255 Nav/Com, King KAP 150 Autopilot w/297 Altitude Preselect. Full IFR panel makeover 9-2022, USB port included. Detailed Description: 1985 Mooney 305 Rocket. 4824 TT, Turbo Continental 520, Garmin GI-275 Engine Monitor replaces all engine instruments, Garmin GNX-375 GPS with Transponder, Monroy Long Range Tanks, Speed Brakes, Four Place Oxygen. Misc: All logbooks digitized, extras include instruments removed from panel upgrade in 2002, LED landing light installed 2021, nose gear landing pucks replaced 04-2024, Mike Busch books, customized aircraft cover & accessories, 2 lightspeed headsets, and various other aircraft consumables. Currently subscribed to the Savvy Aviation maintenance concierge program which is transferrable. Additionally, I have a Garmin database subscription that expires 10-2024, which may be transferrable. Extra SD card included for database updates (handy!) Note: I bought the plane 3 years ago and installed the new panel, as well as cleaned up some deferred maintenance items. The plane is a beautiful, fast cross-country IFR platform that burns approx. 18 gal/hr at cruise of over 180kts. It has a 100+ gallon fuel capacity, and 4+ hours range. Unfortunately, due to health issues in the family, and a change of mission, I need to sell it. Google drive link for all logbooks, pictures, etc. More pictures to come! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oTd_xgbmIGT7MtCUBK49v5czTQ8zBwwZ?usp=drive_link

Take it off and clean it real good by scrubbing it with a tooth brush and comet cleanser until it rinses off clean, inside and out. Then get some 1oz fiberglass cloth and cut it into patches a little bigger than the hole. Apply a thin coat of black RTV around the hole, on the outside and stick on a piece of fiberglass. Then apply a little RTV over the patch and work it into the cloth till it is saturated. Massage it until it fits the shape of the boot folds and doesn’t protrude into the boot. Now apply another piece of fiberglass and cover with RTV. Let it cure overnight. If there are any fringes of fiberglass, trim them with a surgical scissors. Then add another thin layer of RTV to make it look good. All RTV work should be done with rubber gloves on. The RTV layers should be as thin as possible while saturating the fiberglass. The RTV will only bond to the boot if the boot is clean and dry.

I recently sold some pedal extensions and some other loser tried to get payment directed to him. And a month ago I sold some brake masters and the buyer got scammed out of a deposit. There are bad guys amongst us, sometimes its easy to spot, sometimes not. Don

I hate being “that guy”, but you’ve got one glaring error that needs to be addressed so no one gets hurt. It’s wintergreen, not peppermint.

Hi Don, I find the ground situation completely different now that I have a wood wing Mooney. David

[Sigh....] And I really do know how to read... really!

I have a hole in mine and I don’t think there’s any repair that I’m comfortable with. I’ve had three inflight emergencies (one declared) in 30 years and don’t want another one. I think I’d rather suck unfiltered air. Suggestions welcome. New part on order.

Thanks for the diagram, that makes it a little easier. 12, and 13 if you need, to lube the rod ends for the aileron pushrods. 15 to check the end of the gear assist spring attachment and spar. Once in a while, or if leaks are evident, the forward 16 to see if there is any staining inside or evidence of fuel travel along the leading edge. Also whichever 14 is just off the end of the tank (which one depends on the tank configuration), likewise to check for any leaks, condition of the fuel sender gaskets, etc., if issues are evident. For a pre-purchase inspection, or once in a while in an area where corrosion is a concern, the rearward 16 gets you a look at the attachment point of the wing and steel cage and the rear spar caps. This is a common area for corrosion. Corrosion isn't an issue here, so my previous IA only ever wanted 12, 13, and 15 off. I do the same now unless there's reason to do more, like fuel stains or something. Looking in either or both 16s once in a while is not a bad idea, especially if corrossion is a concern.

A few years ago, I found some oil in the bottom of my #4 cylinder and engine oil was fouling that bottom spark plug. I did a ring flush of that cylinder using straight MMO. Worked very well for me. I look hard at that cylinder every annual and it still looks good.

I use the same delta parameters from peak for TIT as are recommended for EGT. Both are proxies for where peak ICP occurs and TIT correlates directly with EGT. Here's a chart I put together for my Bravo. Its an amalgamation of data from a number of different sources, Savvy and COPA among them, and serves as reference for the edges of the "sort of bad" (orange fin) and bad (red fin) places to be. The granularity of the numbers in the chart may be misleading in that they are general references for adjusting the temperatures and not definite prescribed points to adjust to. I primarily use the 70% line at 30"/2200RPM and TIT ~45d LOP, which well exceeds the orange fin 25d LOP minimum from the chart. To get the red fin boundary numbers, subtract 50 from the ROP numbers and subtract 40 from the LOP numbers. In reality this is way overthought, in my true engineering fashion. In practice I set 30/2200, adjust FF to 13.2, and check that my TIT is <1600. I built the chart to have references should I choose to do some experimenting with different power settings and fuel flows. EDIT: I should mention my CHTs are in the 330s - 350s in cruise. As @802flyer points out above, maintaining the CHTs lower than 380/400 (Continental/Lycoming) is the real objective, referencing CHT as a closer proxy to ICP. My TIT runs about 1585-1600, well below the recommended 1650 redline and nowhere near the POH 1750 redline. Cheers, Junkman

As I understand it, the difference in the battery time specifications is partly due to the fact that requirements are different for TSO (GI 275) vs non-TSO (G5) instruments. However, it takes a lot more current to run a GI 275 than a G5. According to the installation manuals, the GI 275 draws 0.75A @ 14V and the G5 draws 0.2A @ 14V. That nicer display, brighter backlight, and additional interface capability isn't free. On all the units, turn the backlight down as far as possible when running on battery.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I may have been over thinking it in terms of salt getting everywhere inside the airplane.

I would call Hector at AeroComfort and sweet talk him into letting you ship him your side panels (not heavy or expensive to ship in the grand scheme). He will cover them in Ultraleather and stitch the seams. It's the closest thing to a new Mooney interior you'll find. BEFORE: AFTER: This is from a ‘93 Bravo that I had him do. I took out the panels - he did them and I re-installed.

Let me know when @carusoam does his Texas tour.

I have this one w/ 5” screen. Amazon ~$100

Non of mine are riveted. If I removed them all that would be >30 wing panels every year…NFW. We remove the panels needed to inspect and/or lubricate aileron control tubes, rub blocks and bell cranks. I did a very extensive inspection of the wings in 2021 as we went into annual a month after the Victoria, MN crash. It reaffirmed my confidence in the airframe. I won’t feel compelled to do anything that in-depth again anytime soon.

I’d like to thank my fly-in buddy, Mikey! (add thick Bostonian accent here…) Let’s get this party started! Best regards, -a-

Well all those non-hypothetical hypotheticals definitely make me wonder more about tearing out that vac system. I have definitely considered a g5 over a 275 for the battery life alone.

When you get the AFSM for the 275 and read it, you find, among other things, that the advertised 60 minutes is actually as little as 30 minutes. I can give you multiple courses where that would not be enough. I can also tell you from actual experience that the aircraft battery, which is supposedly rated for multiple amp hours, may actually give you about a half hour. If you suffer loss of the single alternator you need to drop the gear, because the battery will continue to drain during flight and when you get to your destination, there may not be enough left to lower the gear. You also need to switch the master off, because you may need instruments and radios when you get to your destination, but the single battery will still drain during flight, just not as bad. Now let's say, you are flying from Great Falls over the Rockies to land at KGPI. Or across the route from ABQ to SoCal. Or across the Atlantic from the Bahamas. And you are over a cloud deck, which makes you VFR for now, but you are going to have to shoot some kind of approach in order to safely land. You are going to need time to shoot your approach. Let's say 10 minutes, which is really short for something like an RNAV approach, but maybe you can get vectors and help. That leaves you roughly 20 minutes to get to an airport and the airports are all further than that. Or if you can get to one, you are shooting an approach with no instruments except you manage to get your 275's going. Now what are you going to use for the RNAV or an ILS? Well, that's your GPS that doesn't have a backup battery, so you are glad you remembered to switch off the master and save some power so you can put the approach up and shoot it. Now it is a contest between the life of the remaining batteries and the time it takes you to get through that approach. What would keep you alive is an AI that operates as long as the engine is going, whether the alternator is working or not, and that relies on a technology other than electricity, of which you may not have enough. That would be a vacuum operated AI, which you took out in your last avionics refit because it was "steam" and you wanted the 7 lbs. of useful load. This isn't a hypothetical I am giving you. I have flown all these routes. I have had the alternator fail several times, when we (my A&P and me) were installing an aftermarket coupler out of what must have been a defective lot. I have had the alternator fall off into the running engine because of improper installation. None of this has happened in years now, but having actually had it happen it very much affects my decision making. There must be redundant, non-single point of failure instruments that will continue to operate no matter what, particularly the AI. Sure, electronic tech is nifty, I love my GTN750 and my 275's. But I am not giving up my steam, vacuum operated AI.

Me too, if it wasn't for all the holes and permanent rivets I used I'd consider upgrading. You did nut plates, so go for it? Aerodon

Except that the individual units (G-5 and GI-275) have their own back up battery. So you would need to lose the alternator and the main battery and the AI battery. I may add an IBBS to power the G3X and one nav.

When our long-time A&P retired and a new crew took over the shop, we started getting the plane back covered in greasy smudges that weren't there when it went in. Happened enough times I mentioned it to them. I keep it pretty clean. Shortly after that, we had a series of maintenance-caused issues leading to almost a year in downtime and several dangerous conditions before finding a new shop. Looking back, you could see how they were treating the plane by the greasy fingerprints. Should have pulled it out of there then. I'd put new scratches and dents on the plane in the same category. Not talking about chipped paint at the edge of the cowlings and inspection panels, or an occasional chip from a dropped tool. I do understand some of that is going to happen.

Just don’t take out the fuel tank ones. It will be self critiquing. They do look different, but it’s possible. I remove them all like @Hanksaid.

I have a speed brake switch on the left yoke horn and I found that is is pretty easy to brush against it if I reach around the left side of the yoke. It's a pretty sensitive button and haven't even felt it when I've bumped it. Usually I do this when doing something on the ground and don't notice the brakes deployed until I turn of the master and hear the loud CLUNK. Regarding the trim -- a sheared roll pin would do it. The interesting question though is how it would have been sheared. The GFC 500 trim servo doesn't have nearly enough torque to do it -- it would have to have been sheared by forcing the trim wheel. Does your trim have the modified jam proof stepped stop nuts? If not, it's possible the installer jammed it when working on the GFC 500 install and damaged the roll pin when breaking it free. Here's a link to the service instruction https://www.mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SIM20-88A.pdf

Many of mine are riveted in, so I remove all of the ones with screws. I keep one unpainted screw in each; it is loosened, the painted ones are removed, and the panel swivels out of the way. Then I can never mix them up during reinstall, and cuss because the screw holes are not all perfect matches. Seems like I remove about 4 panels per wing.

Yep, you need one then. You’re pulling unfiltered air right into the fuel servo and through into the engine. There may be some temporary repairs that could work depending on your mechanics comfort level. The lead time for the new one is at least 35 weeks, so you’ll want to call Lasar asap.

Probably easier than finding MEK.

I always preferred bat wings over eye of newt, but they're both hard to find these days...especially in Kalifornia

You missed a few ingredients…like pig fat and eye of newt.

Naphtha is also another type of mineral spirits. I believe It was used for dry cleaning years ago. I have a gallon in the hangar that is probably nearly 70 years old. It is labeled dry cleaning fluid but the ingredients say Naphtha.

Aircraft Spruce is in corona and they'll deliver to the airport. Probably the best aircraft supply store one can have. I always flew to the corona airport and would get oil and other things needed there. I'd call them in the runup area at John Wayne and they'd be there 3 to 5 minutes after I landed at corona. Probably works with either Compton or 54CL as well.

I assume Mike uses the Xylene to dissolve varnish perhaps left behind by overheated oil. I know a mechanic that swears by flushing with MMO. He claims an FAA mechanic told him they added it to the fuel in DC-3s back when they were used as flight check aircraft to check navaids. MMO is mineral spirits, TCP and a couple of dichlorobenzene isomers. Oh, and red dye and peppermint fragrance. The TCP might reduce lead deposits, but probably only if burned by adding it to the fuel. The dichlorobenzene is likely to dissolve carbon.

I don't have many pics. It's called Lake Riverside Estates. I fly VFR direct and use flight following on the way in so the various C and D airspaces aren't any problem. I'm always below the LAX B. On the way home, I usually don't use flight following, my climb let's me go direct and avoid all the spaces. I'm not IFR rated yet and need to find a CFI for it; rather than using one of the pilot mills.

FWIW, many, many competent career professional GA A&Ps disagree with Busch routinely. He has many good, reasoned opinions, and is an excellent advocate for aircraft owners, but he certainly isn't the last word in aircraft maintenance. Just my dos centavos.

Thanks for the info. I will just sub mineral spirits. I thought that I may recall having read that varsol had naphtha in it. I think that I will maybe modify Busch's mixture by subbing a quart of marvel mystery oil for a quart of the 100w aviation oil. I know that MMO was originally used to scavenge lead in the old cars back in the 30s. Whatever they put in there to scavenge the lead would probably be helpful as I do have some lead deposits, but nothing horrible. I currently have the oil drained and will run the solvent mix through and just let it go through. I plan after that to put the new filter on and complete the oil change. Worst case scenario, is that it does nothing. I can't see it causing any harm provided I don't let it get into the exhaust like he cautions in the procedure.

Vacuum pumps fail a lot more than AIs AI failure is rare Want a good power system for the AI that can't fail in Mooneys? Get it powered by a venturi If you have flying speed you have a good AI Don't talk about ice- you shouldn't be in that kind of weather in a Mooney anyway Which one of 2 AIs has failed ? Try it sometime"-) for real IMC (sim or flight I don't care) In the 121 world 3 AIs is mandated We used the 'best two out of three" syndrome. Had a chief pilot once on a CE 500 who couldn't handle the check ride when they failed his AI. Couldn't disregard his bad instrument and go small third or transfer controls to my side. I'm left wondering what the old Pan Am pilots on the Clipper Ships did around the world when they didn't even have gyro AIs back then? "Here kid, you fly this thing needle ball airspeed" They didn't piss a moan about "partial" panel because that was ALL the panel they had. No such thing partial panel then. AND in some cases they had one needle in the center of the entire panel to look at. Had several what we called "autopilot cripples" in the 121 world. Without it they couldn't get it down inside the fences at the airports- LITERALLY! Always hand flew every third approach by hand to keep sharp. Many down to CAT III mins just in case In the AB 319 I would fly an ILS by hand as I don't think their stability program is all that good. In smooth air it always seemed to wallow around coming down the slot. Autopilot dependence and "Children of the Magenta Line" go hand in hand. (If you don't know of the training film "Children of the Magenta Line" you owe it to yourself to go to utube and watch it. )

Perhaps I didn’t see it. but I don’t recall seeing George Braly say anything negative about 94UL in the beechtalk thread. If anything, he seemed critical of Lycoming attributing the recession to aromatics, which some perceived as a backhanded shot at G100UL, given its higher concentration of aromatics to maintain detonation margins. Perhaps George made the comments on a different forum, but he appeared mindful of his wording in the BT thread, which is to say that that he seems skeptical of Lycoming‘s analysis without supporting data.

Braly (GAMI) is promoting G100UL, so it's probably wise to interpret everything he does in that context. I met him and heard him speak here earlier this year, and he is not remotely unbiased in my opinion. I now look at what they do in an entirely different light. I suspect other solutions may turn out to be more marketable than G100UL.

I would add GAMI as interested party here as well, no need to seek their expertise: they will now claim that any alternative fuel (from a competitor) on lower octane than their G100UL will cause detonation and bend cylinders all over the place...

I used to respect GAMI opinions on piston engines, however, they seem to have lost the track on this one? they mentioned detonation with UL94 that caused valve problems, I fail to see how this happens in 180hp NA engine like on the one in the Archer? even in their words unless you have 500F CHT with monkey holding mixture you won't get ICP that high even on UL94...I think the only "scientific reason" why they come up with this handy and predictible explanation: well now they sell G100UL right, which obviously has higher Octane rating than UL94, so we expect to hear more and more about detonation problems anytime an alternative fuel is mentioned, as always, it seems once you throw some business interest, you start to get dumb engineers Lycoming are not in the bright spot neither they claim it's the additives, which honestly does not add up unless UL94 used by UND comes from dodgy batch... In the meantime Pettersen STC for auto-fuel allow to run Pipers on EN228 where the only modifications are fuel lines and dual fuel pumps, I can't imagine auto-fuels having higher octane and less aromatics than Swift UL94?

I would not sweat CHTs in the low 400s. I don't think Mike Busch would make the statements he made in this article if he did not have a fair amount of cylinder data. I’m inclined to set CHT targets of about 380 degrees F for Continentals and 400 degrees F for Lycomings. These aren’t not-to-exceed values, they’re just comfortable targets. A good way to think of them is to imagine a CHT gauge with a green arc that tops out at these targets, followed by a yellow arc that extends 20 degrees F higher and terminates with a redline. This is different from the actual markings on your CHT gauge, which probably has a green arc extending all the way up to the manufacturer’s redline of 460 or 500 degrees F, but it’s good mental image to use to ensure maximum engine and cylinder longevity.

I have a spare one I keep right next to a gold ingot and a vac switch

There is no need to spend that much money. The trim switch, assuming it's the one that looks like this: https://images.app.goo.gl/NPnsfxHLKxHeZdUTA Is actually made up of three switches underneath. Those internal switches can fail, and can be independently replaced. They are Honeywell 1SX74-T switches and can be purchased for about $35 each from mouser: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Honeywell/1SX74-T?qs=10P5Hhl%2BD796P7tntVKlzg%3D%3D&countryCode=US&currencyCode=USD If you look through my thread earlier this year about my autopilot issue (which was just me being too hasty) there are some detailed pictures of the wiring of the switches. You can order a replacement switch or two or three, install them, and that should fix your problem. I'm happy to chat more about this if you want.

This is an NTSB URL, but I am not sure if the link is permanent or associated with my search: https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/103651/pdf I put a copy here in my Dropbox. It may get deleted if I want the space back: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7ay0mj0nok38y5eu4h8xe/Report_CEN21FA360_103651_4_17_2024-12_10_59-PM.pdf?rlkey=607r00rm871o4wq4akwxjeg4m&dl=0

Approximately 475 students x 50 landings on average = 23,750 landings with students over 32 years. Then about 2,000 landings in 4,523 hours in my airplane. Total landings made = 25,750 to a good approximation. Then one landing video made. (https://donkaye.com/landing-video} No arrogance intended, only that I've done so many landings and experienced many ways they can go wrong, that I've learned over 56 years of flying my preferred way to land and teach landings. 50-100 feet is too high to take your eyes off the airspeed indicator. Assuming I'm reading the next highlighted in red sentence correctly, this implies "dropping" into ground effect and holding the plane off until it is ready to land. While this techniques may give a good landing, it will also extend the landing many hundreds of feet, since the holdoff is occurring in ground effect. The best landings are made when attention is paid to BOTH airspeed AND slope. When practical (no obstructions), the slope should be 3° for a comfortable descent rate and an airspeed of 1.3 VSo for the aircraft weight should be maintained. The slope and airspeed should be maintained to about 10 feet agl, where in smooth no wind conditions power should be smoothly withdrawn to idle and the flare should be begun at such rate that the nose of the plane transitions from a 3° nose down attitude to the landing attitude of about 8° where the wheels are "rolled" on with the stall warning horn going off. As the aircraft descends from 10 feet at a decreasing rate of descent, at least 2 stripes on a centerline runway should always be in view--all the way to touchdown. The nose of the airplane should NEVER be so high as to obstruct the runway. The "art" of the landing is practicing the rate of flare to dissipate ALMOST all, but not ALL, the energy at touchdown. This allows for a controlled touchdown with minimum runway used.

Another point of view on that is that the G1000 is a pretty clunky system with respect to the user interface, anyway, especially compared to newer stuff. If one was going to upgrade it might be worth upgrading to something other than a newer G1000.

MooneyMax 2024 dates September 5,6,7,8 Location will be Fredericksburg, Texas at The Hangar Hotel. More details to come shortly.

I think you may have taken some liberty there that you should not have, but your point is well taken. We have become way too autopilot dependent.