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Hello, I am posting this in the hopes that I can save someone major headaches and frustration in the future when it comes to bleeding the brakes; specifically, the copilot side brakes. From what I understand, not many of our birds have these installed, and mine happens to be one of the rarer ones that does. I've spend 8+ hours in the past few days trying to get it right so here is my writeup so hopefully it may help someone in the future. So, annual time on my Mooney. I removed the leaking parking brake for cleanup and rebuild, as well as replace one of the brake lines. Before removing these components, I decided to simply open the bleeders at the calipers to let the system completely drain. Figured I'd give it all new, fresh fluid while I was at it. After completing my work I bled the brakes as per normal procedure, ie pushing fluid from the caliper up through the system to the reservoir. My friend reported no more bubbles, cool, switch sides and complete procedure again. Afterwards I climb into the cabin to test the brakes. Pilot side feels great while copilot side goes straight to the floor. I won't bore you with all the details of the troubleshooting but it was several head-scratching hours of frustration. Rebuilt the copilot master cylinders thinking that maybe they were letting in a small amount of air (I got this idea from someone else's past post here on Mooneyspace), which did not fix it. Eventually I removed the belly panel I'd previously installed, thinking I was nearly done with my annual and didn't need access above it anymore, and traced the brake lines back to find two shuttle valves that I had previously not known existed. Apparently, part of the installation of the copilot brakes is to put these shuttle valves in; with these valves, whichever set of brakes is depressed will push the valve over and allow fluid to go to the calipers. This, of course, means that both sets of brakes cannot be used at the same time, which really doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe its purpose is to protect the calipers from too much pressure from both pedals depressed at the same time...? I don't know. But anyway... I removed the shuttle valves and made sure they were not seized/frozen. Replaced the O-rings while I had them out. Reinstalled. So here's when all the pieces came together on why the pilot brakes were bleeding fine but copilot's were not; in order for the shuttle valve to move, the pressure has to come from the pedals to push it over. Pushing fluid up from the caliper is putting pressure on the wrong side, so the fluid all goes to whatever side the shuttle valve happens to have open at the time; in my case, the pilot side. So we bled the pilot side like normal, then I took an air nozzle and shot a quick blast of air into the shuttle valve where the line to the copilot brakes should be connected. This air pushed the shuttle valve over. So then I reconnected that line and we bled the brake again, this time the fluid was directed to the copilot side. Repeat entire procedure on the other caliper. Now the brakes all work great. In my searches for solutions to copilot brake bleeding problems on Mooneys, I was not able to find anything that helped, so I really hope that someone who needs it finds this writeup someday.

Just to expand on what @EricJ said. The heat rarely does any damage. The UV from the sun is what kills everything.

General aviation has been on a slide for a long time, and, indeed, a core mission of the AOPA has been to increase interest in GA. Witness what's happened to automobiles. Sure, the American passion for cars hasn't really diminished, but a manual transmission has become the new anti-theft device. People can't read maps anymore because they depend on their smart phones to do their navigation. My own son loves his Tesla with its auto-driving capabilities. I suspect auto-flying aircraft taxis will become a thing if/when the technology becomes practical, so that might increase people using GA, but fewer and fewer people will want to accept the challenge (and risks) of flying little airplanes like Cessnas and Mooneys when it does. But back to Cliffy's point (which I agree with), maybe we can look to something like the Navion community. Only 2634 total were ever built; less than 200 were built between 1960 and 1976 when they stopped production. And yet there's a pretty strong community keeping these birds in the air. There are a couple beautiful ones on my field with maxed out panels and show paint and interiors, probably in the $200K value range. Why? Because they offer something unique and offer a high-end flying experience at an "affordable" price. Our Mooneys will slowly tread the same path. They are wayyy more affordable than just about any new light plane. Even the last production Mooneys look pretty cost effective compared to a new Cirrus. And the old ones look very attractive. The humble M20C is a serious competitor to a Cirrus SR20 at a fraction of the cost on the used market. So I expect our fleet to dwindle as Cliffy suggests, but I also expect them to continued to be highly valued and increasingly updated as the years go on. I'm already seeing the trend, as more and more 'humble' Mooneys get new paint, new engines and new avionics. There are a couple of M20C/D/E/F/G models with killer panels in the $100K - $130K range on Trade-a-Plane. Yes, right now those are 'expensive' (and probably slow to sell), but their owners decided to update them because they wanted the performance those upgrades offered. No, they aren't the bottom-of-the-barrel bargains, but they are and will be serious competitors compared to more 'modern' airplanes as time goes on.

This is our Ovation, we had only a few hours on it. I am a newbie so don't trust anything you see here. Its a 280Hp (derated from 310Hp, Europe as usual ...) The numbers are not impressive and we don't get even close to book numbers but it has FIKI so that will be a penalty of 8-10Kts; maybe also I am not doing things right. What's impressive is that with our Monroe tanks 130USG and that fuel flow we could easily do more than 2000Nm weather and bladder permitting. In Europe it IS very important to be able to go high for many reasons that don't belong here.

Continuing my interest in how the Germans managed this in WWII, the Daimler DB 605 V12 engines that powered things like the Me109 made around 1800 hp with a design spec fuel of 87 Octane. On that fuel they could run 43.4 inhg MAP, and with the later 90/100 fuel they could make nearly 60 inhg MAP. If the 90/100 fuel wasn't available and they had to run the old spec fuel (which happened a lot), they were restricted to 43.4 in MAP. I don't know how they did that, but clearly it's possible.

Well the time has come to sell my Mooney M20C. This is a VERY clean airplane….truly one of the nicest C models you’ll find! Low airframe time, NDH, mid-time engine, very nice panel. 1966 Mooney M20C For Sale 3293 TTAF 1160 SMOH New Scimitar prop/gov (no AD) 75 SNEW 2/2025 Annual inspection Recent New avionics include: GNX375 (Nav-WAAS/adsb-in-out) LPV appch Weather Transponder Traffic Bluetooth to your iPad Garmin 225 com Garmin audio panel 345 4 pl Intercom KX170B nav 2 ILS capable / glide slope KN 64 dme Co-Pilot PTT Mooney PC system / wing leveler New metal instrument panel V nice paint Many mods— -Cowl closure -brake disc reverse -New Scimitar prop/gov (no AD) ----- 75 SNEW -Flap gap seals -alternator conversion -newer battery -LED wingtip lights, tail light, ldg light and strobe/beacon -power flow exhaust (creates up to + 10% more power) -Electronics International fuel flow/totalizer Total fuel / gph / fuel remaining -EI egt/cylinder head temp/OAT -EI Volts / AMPs -One piece windshield -Minnesota-Wisconsin-Az airplane -Mooney Specialist maintained -Bruce’s engine cover -Tanis engine heater -NO known damage -More! My Mooney (66 C model) got its real makeover about 12 Years ago. Very nice paint; v nice interior; engine oh’d in ‘08 / ‘09; recent new scimitar prop. Several mods including: Power Flo exhaust (+ 10 horsepower) so it’s a bit faster than a lot of C’s1 Asking $ 93k -- Let's discuss! If you have a C140 or a Champ/Luscombe, etc. we can work something out

Attached is the information to figure out how much fuel is in your tanks. My plane is a 1986 252 with Monroy aux tanks and speed brakes. The main filler is placarded at 37.8 gallons and the aux fillers at 14.5 gallons. I ran the right tank until the engine sputtered. Then I added fuel 2.5 gallons at a time. To measure, I used a Universal Fuel Hawk and a Fuel Stik. The Fuel Hawk is the clear plastic tube you stick in and cover the end with your thumb. The Fuel Stik is a tube with a float that you insert and then read how much of the float rides up. I also measured the Fuel Hawk level in inches. I also have the sight gauge readings for my airplane. I will be sending the Fuel Stik info to the company, as the offer to generate a custom scale to insert in the device. I found that I could see fuel at 7.5 gallons, but I could not get a reliable measurement, so the chart starts at 10 gallons. I could see a wash of fuel in the aux at 25.0 gallons, but could not get a reading. Notice that even though I am placarded at 52.3 gallons useable, I got more than 54 gallons in the tank. I set my JPI to show fully fueled at 104 gallons useable, so I will have a bit of reserve in my pocket. One other interesting thing was, even when the fuel was almost full at the aux filler, when I added fuel, I could hear air bubbling out of the main. I would have thought that the main would be filled a long time before the aux got to the top. Universal Fuel Hawk - https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/1177?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo8eww-ic_QIVBrjICh10RQJAEAQYASABEgIdLPD_BwE Universal Fuel Stik - http://fuelstik.com/product/fuelstik/ Enjoy Fuel Measurements.pdf

If you have the data from the engine monitor, you can calculate your GAMI spread (the FF at which the leanest cylinder peaks - the richest cylinder peaks). Anything 0.5 gal or lower is ok and will let you run LOP smoothly. GAMI spread is what really matters to know how well "tuned" the injectors are.

This is for a similar fuel regulator on the R model. Pretty obvious what failed. Parts are in the last post. " Hey @Dominik_B -- there are two components there, the rectifier (2 legs) and the bipolar transistor (3 legs). I'll link to the ones I used below. And just in case someone is reading this years in the future and the reseller has removed their product pages, the rectifier is MUR1540G and the transistor is 2N6668 PBFREE. https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/onsemi/mur1540g/?qs=Gev%2bmEvV0iZq6LchZ03NqA%3D%3D&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Central-Semiconductor/2N6668-PBFREE?qs=l7cgNqFNU1ijRYXR1DLWNQ%3D%3D&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD Deb 1 Quote

After all my recent magneto weirdness, now my engine is running relatively cool. I cannot explained it. But this weekend I flew to Bullhead City and my CHTs were running under 350 in cruise with fairly high fuel flows LOP. Anyway, my oil temp was about 220 in climb and 195 in cruise.

Yours appears to be in the least sensitive (lowest airspeed) position, so moving it higher may make it start to trip. It may take a few iterations to get it in a useful spot if it has been moved. I marked mine before taking it out to rehab the switch, but it turns out that mine has very little adjustment room, anyway. I wound up pushing it up as far as I could and it is still only just working reasonable well.

Hmm, I can't say for certain without looking at mine, but my 'visual memory' is that yours is pointing down way too much; might just be your camera angle. I'll try and get out to the hangar today and take a couple of pictures of mine.

I switched to ALL toggle switches in my panel. I did replace the magneto/start switch with toggles. The mags are locking toggles.

Since the starter is basically an auto starter, it likely that there is a local place that can repair/rebuild.

You could use an IR thermometer or thermocouple to see if your oil cooler is getting hot. If you have access to an IR camera, you can see if all the channels are working.

Hey folks. The word "troll" comes to mind. Ten whole posts and almost all are on the idea that all of GA should replace all of its engines. Really not worth responding to.

My thought is it could contain the more useful specific G3X information and it would eliminate the need to sort through extraneous mentions that come up when you search for G3X or some combination with G3X using the search function.

In reality if we did a study of airplanes at airports we'd probably find that the "active" fleet may only be 50 or 60% of the total registered fleet. With that in mind and extrapolating to only the MOONEY FLEET it brings the total number of airframes down to a point that it may not be advantageous for anyone to supply new parts or STC articles to such a diminished fleet size. As I've said before- we are seeing the September of our Mooneys an the sun will set on them. Just think, in 20 years the fleet will be pushing 80 years old. How many airframes will remain then?

Simple round dials such as these?:

Hey guys, I thought give an update in hopes it might help some others out there, especially Will.iam who said "Rats, I’m in the same situation except my annual is not til February." We ended up sending the boost pump regulator to Don Maxwell's shop in Texas. He has a contractor who repairs these units. It worked out very well. They turned it around in timely fashion and it worked great. I adjusted it for the proper fuel pressure on "LOW" setting and the owner is happy to have it working again. And for what it's worth, they returned the bad transistor to us that was replaced. If it was simple, I could have done that myself. But after taking the box apart, it looked pretty complex in there, just to change the transistor... all this to say, if I ever encounter this issue again and the part is not available, Don Maxwell Aviation will be the first thought on my mind. Thanks Don, and keep up the good work on Mooneys! Dean Showalter P.S. On this same airplane, I encountered a challenging issue with sealing up small exhaust leaks at the cylinder flanges / gaskets. I talked about it in episode 249 of the Airplane Owner Maintenance podcast, in case anybody cares to listen to it... I'm certainly open to more thoughts and ideas from others who may have had the same issue.

I would make sure your baffle seal is in good shape and not leaking air past the fins. As most above state, setting the fuel flows correctly is a must for our 231 engines. If your CHTs are getting to 460dF you will be doing(paying) top overhauls every 300-600 hours, so rethink that part of the POH. Crazy part on PoH is there are written when our aircraft was new, but they have zero updates on a better way to run your engine. This is where MS can help save you and your engine. We have learned an incredible amount over the years on proper fuel flow set up and heat control to extend cylinder life. High heat & high pressure kills our cylinders. Thank you, Mike Bush, and Paul Kortopates (he is here on MS) for helping get the word out. My GB(no intercooler/no waste gate) fuel flows are set to 25.7gpm at 2700RPM, 40inMP. I takeoff and climb at 100% power to altitude (normally 16K-17K). That gets me a TIT of ~1425dF, and CHTs 300dF - 330dF This max fuel flow is 1gpm higher than the TC SID97-3G calls out (24.7gpm) but is an accepted change first pushed by RAM aircraft and everyone that knows our engines. If my CHTs in the climb are approaching 380dF on a hot day I increase air speed. If its 110dF OAT I am climbing at ~500ft min. My engine is at 1950hrs and two jugs were changed before I bought it(@1200hr) and I have changed one jug for a crack in the exhaust (due to a casting void). Jim

What is happening at KRHV really gets my blood boiling. I started my aviation career there as did many of my contemporaries. I suspect well into the 4 figures are the number of airline pilots who started there. Having dealt with many of the politicos in SJC and SC County in the past years who were lukewarm at best to GA I am not surprised at what is transpiring. I even stopped my donations to SJSU because they rolled over on the demolition of the aviation department building at KSJC. For me, I moved in 1990, the divorce was complete when I sold the last of my real estate partnerships in 2015 and walked away forever. Until CA as a whole has a viable political opposition party, nothing of anything will happen to change the trajectory of grift that is destroying GA and that continues unabated and without end.

Hey, crew! I finally got a minute to post my PIREP of home-made dehumidifier/dryer system for my IO360. I designed my system to run 15 minutes, shut down for 45 minutes. I found this to be a good work ratio to keep my crankcase dry (25 % relative humidity) here in South Florida. Also I installed the humidity meter probe(green line) in the return moist air line (marked blue line on the sketch). The dry air (orange line) gets pumped thru the oil stick tube, the return moist air (blue line) come back through the engine breather line. List of materials: Fuse box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWQHMZJ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 Solar Controller https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075NQQRPD?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title Motor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D98KH74P?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title Humidity meter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V1P9921?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 Bottles https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09446XH8K?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title LiFePO4 battery 20AH: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKLQVGG1?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_10 Solar mounting rack: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126310204673 Solar panel 100W: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124397245729?var=425269527294 Desiccant: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TX3DNY5?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1 I hope this helps our community to stay away from those expensive SMOH because of the corrosion damage. Sorry for non-doctrinal schematic, I wanted to make something quick. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, I'm always looking to improve this system. At some point I will also wrote my PIREP on the BlackMax saga which didn't work for me that well.

Dan is a good guy and i can honestly say this is the nicest C model I’ve come across. Good luck with the sale buddy, if i didn’t have one already this would be the one i would get. I think i still have all the scans of your logs if you need them lmk! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My guess is that it was taken down by the OP to run a lower profile on the topic. There are a lot of FAA wannabe police in the owners groups that decide on their own merits something isn’t right and should be reported. We’ve seen it happen over and over. The group tries to work for collective solutions and some idiot for no other reason than self righteousness makes it their mission to criticize and (sometimes) report. Anytime I’ve ever posted something questionably not owner Mx, I get side messages suggesting to take it down. I’m sure the same thing happened to OP.

Sad to hear his passing. He was a great contributor here and clearly a great friend to many.

Fly high my friend !

This is really the only sensible approach. There’s no way that GAMI expected the fuel to eat through tank sealant and ruin paint within weeks of the event at RHV. I’ve got to think that they expected happy customers. I’m super appreciative of the time and effort that @mluvara has put into his evaluation, and I hope that it helps identify areas of concern that can be addressed by GAMI moving forward. We all benefit hugely from unleaded avgas availability, and we all ultimately want the UL effort to succeed in one way or another.

I would assume that they have a significant investment in developing this fuel. I also assume that it’s taken a lot longer for them to begin to generate any revenue from it than they planned for. I don’t think anything nefarious is going on, he’s I’m sure no dummy and smart enough to know that if the fuel caused problems that he would be worse off than he was before, so I have to believe he was confident that it wouldn’t cause problems. Lots of assuming, just I think until there is actual data we should give him the benefit of the doubt

God bless....

Total weight reduction = 85 lbs

I posted this back in October. I've used this excellent little CO detector for years. Have tested it every few months by lighting a match a couple of feet away. https://mooneyspace.com/topic/49675-cigarette-lighter-socket-as-usb-power-source/#comment-878225

Paying lobbyists seems to be the cheapest option.

A few comments as a Retired Army Rotary wing pilot, but Retired 22 years ago but I don’t think much has changed equipment wise. 1. Some time before 1982 when I Enlisted ALL Army Rotary wing have VHF and UHF radios, we always used VHF when communicating in the Civilian world, AF I believe many only had UHF. 2. There is Military and there is Military, my world was tactical combat units, our job was to fly, this was not what this UH-60 was, my bet it was a White top, that is a pretty painted non tactical VIP transport, I believe there were likely two pilots, one I thought an LTC and a Warrant, at least the Comissioned Officer was a staff officer I’m sure, pilot barely, not with a tactical unit, but likely Pentagon. To get flight pay you have a min number of hours to fly, often put with an Experienced Warrant. If so this 60 was essentially single pilot. Don’t take me wrong you let them fly, but they are barely proficient at best. My last couple of years I was promoted out of a line unit to Brigade Maintenance Officer, so I often flew Staff for them to get their hours, usual mission was from Savannah Ga to Daytona Fl, eat at Hooters and return, they never participated in the flight planning etc, just rode. Again I let them fly if they wanted too, most didn’t. 3. I believe it’s a VFR helicopter corridor, not a Military corridor, as such at 200 ft or below what other clearance could be issued for 200’ and below other than visual? I bet if you looked it was mostly used by police, Medivac etc. but that’s just a guess. Other than VIP transport, what other military mission could there be in DC? 4. Clearly the 60 F’d up, they were high, if at assigned altitude I doubt there would have been an accident, but accidents are chains, the 60 being off of assigned is one link, ATC was obviously another, first I don’t think he told the RJ about the helicopter, then as I believe collision was imminent he didn’t say Army Left turn 30 degrees now, or traffic at 12 O’clock 1 mile etc, he asked do you have the RJ in sight and said pass to the rear. I think the poor RJ was just a victim myself, I don’t even think he had any idea there was a helicopter out there, and I think the 60 never saw the correct RJ either but a different aircraft. 5. Every Army helicopter I’ve ever seen has a Radar altimeter, when low level you always fly the RADAR alt, never the pressure altimeter. So pressure altimeter shouldn’t have been an issue 6. Googles are a poor choice in City lights, any bright light especially a red one shuts them down, yes you can look under them, but as you have been looking at a pretty bright TV screens, your eyes are not night adapted so you can’t see very well unaided. Field of view in the Goggles I flew was 40 x 40 degrees. There is binocular vision so there is distance estimation, what I flew only has one eye so no depth of field, but that can be overcome with training and experience, many people fly that only have vision in one eye. 7. Should have put this up in the accident chain as another link, but putting a helicopter VFR corridor less than 200’ under short final approach is stupid, if for example the pilot flying the 60’s googles bloomed out, and there was a startle response it only takes a few seconds to climb 150 - 200 ft or so, and most just by instinct if flying low lose vision, instinct is to climb, just one possibility. Daytime this corridor would likely be OK, but night? No. In summation in my opinion, the 60 drivers were at fault, ATC has some liability, but whoever allowed a VFR helicopter corridor that close also has blame, my opinion that was the worst. Poor RJ drivers were just victims I think. All this speculation and opinion, I guess we will know in several months when the report comes out? Oh, and except for Test Flights, ALL Military flights are training, Don’t know about VIP transport, we didn’t do any of that with Apache’s

Some fancy themselves as influencers on this site. To the point that Ioften wonder if they are receiving some sort of payment or kickback from mfers. It is loud and it is a consistent drmbeat sirening to install latest and greatest. No thanks. I am good.

I made a tow bar from about $20 worth of pipe from Lowes. Put the ring on the tractor, not on the tow bar. I'm pretty sure I used 3/4 inch galvanized pipe, but I'm not at the hanger right now to verify. Parts list: All 3/4 inch galvanized pipe 2 - 10" threaded pipe 1 - 6' threaded pipe 2 - elbows 1 - end cap (thread finger tight after attaching tow bar through front gear) One end goes through the front gear and attach the cap to keep it from slipping back out. Other end is 90 degrees opposed and is pointing down (vertical). Drop this end through the ring on the tractor. I can send pictures next time I'm out at the hanger.

I had to fix that on my old M20F. I’m not sure when it happened.

Did your machine shop manager see you hammering on his .028 gage pin?