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Not necessarily related to our Mooney’s, but I just installed a PAR200B radio/intercom in my Citabria. I chose this radio because of the panel space limitations in the Citabria. The radio is remotely mounted which saved space. Of course I knew the PS engineering intercom would be good but I have been presently surprised at the quality of the radio. It sound better than the radio in my GTN650. - end of my product review- Lee

Sounds like the person doing the inspection caught the items. Repair estimates vary widely depending on who does the work. You classified the fuel leak as a seep which according to the Mooney Service and Maintenance Manual is not an airworthiness item. Cost to repair could be small or large depending on a lot of factors beyond the scope of a pre-purchase inspection. You characterized the aileron as having minor trailing edge damage. Even if it has to be replaced, used ailerons can be had for a few hundred dollars. I would say that the pre-purchase inspector correctly identified the issues but perhaps underestimated the cost to rectify and it sounds like your current IA isn’t very familiar with Mooneys. Finding a fair and capable mechanic you trust and can work with is one of the more difficult but crucial factors to successful ownership in my experience. Since you are new to all this, you might find SavvyMx a worthwhile investment https://www.savvyaviation.com Skip

Today, 18 Year old Reece Gold passed his private pilot license check Ride in his 2009 Acclaim, #31-0127. Those who have attended the Mooney Summit in the past will recognize the DPE, Max Gurgew. Congrats Reece, It was a pleasure to work with you and a shout out to Mooney Pros Sam Lindsay and Corbin Holloran for helping along the way. Im curious, has anyone else took their PPL in an acclaim that anyone knows of or is this another first for Reece?

Finally remembered to take a picture while on the ground. Replacing the dim incandescent with a bright LED has made the task of checking the gear so much easier.

my son is also a pilot. here he is exercising the privileges of his ATP

I was 120 miles south and this is what it looked like. I was able to watch it until Mission Control stated that it was 450 miles downrange.

The maintenance manual shows how to classify intensity of fuel leaks and tells you which do and do not constitute a flight hazard. Is your A&P referring to the manual when making these decisions?

A view not seen for 50 years since the final Apollo mission. From a new generation….. the Artemis generation! Photo courtesy of an iPhone 14

Orion on its way to the moon! Wow!!! And know we know what those young brilliant minds were doing locked away in their bedroom on their computer!!

It's not uncommon to have the G/S pointer stick on the KI-525. If the pointer gets stuck you can take the palm of your hand and bump the panel around the instrument. After bumping the panel they will drop into view and respond correctly until it gets stuck again. Only way to really fix this is have a instrument shop open the indicator up and clean/repair the G/S pointer assembly.

This is absolutely correct. And if it is out of annual getting a special airworthiness certificate (ferry permit) isn't that hard. but you will need an A&P to certify the plane is "Airworthy for Flight".

My understanding (I'll let the A&Ps in the group correct me if wrong) is that as long as you're not past the last day of the month in which the annual is due, the airplane is still airworthy. For example, if your annual is due in December, you bring it in Dec. 1, shop begins it and says on December 7th hey, these 5 things are not airworthy and we can't sign off on the annual until it's fixed, you can take it to another shop as the plane is still airworthy until December 31st. If they got back to you on January 1st, then the airplane is unairworthy because it is no longer in annual.

I was researching this a bit and came across a quote: "If you want an engine that doesn't suffer from cracked cylinders, buy a jet"

Welcome to the world of aviation… 1) Did you notice that there is no standard for a ‘pre-buy’…? 2) What gets covered in the pre-buy depends on the person asking for it… 3) The person that did the pre-buy, pointed out the issues you are asking about… 4) When he gave you prices to fix them… did you ask if he could fix them for you? 5) What you do with the information is up to you… Often, when you write a purchase agreement… you capture things about the pre-buy… and what happens when AW issues are encountered… and define how the pre-buy comes to an end… Like who fixes what, and who pays for it… 6) Often people get real quotes for fixing stuff, before they commit to buying the old machine… 7) Kind of a know before you go…. Kind of thing… 8) looks like You forgot to post pics of what you are talking about… 9) One way to get help around here… describe things as accurately as you can… or post pics… 10) Real challenges come with things the mechanic missed… didn’t see… didn’t know where to look… If you had a conversation with your mechanic… 1) What procedures are you going to follow for the pre-buy…? 2) What things often get missed…? 3) What insurance does he have to cover things that got missed or damaged…? 4) How do we handle things that can get found down the road…? (Check your warranty on the back of the pre-buy brochure…. ) Know that there are a bazillion mechanics out there… 1) The mechanic’s opinion that matters the most… is the one signing off your annual… 2) If your plane has dents and dings in it… you want to know your mechanic’s opinion if it is an AW issue or not… 3) If he finds it’s an AW issue… expect to fix it, or find a different mechanic… 4) are you saying the pre-buy mechanic doesn’t know your regular mechanic? You didn’t mention if the pre-buy was done by a Mooney Mechanic… 1) The best chance of getting a good pre-buy… is getting one by a guy who knows where to look…. 2) Going to the best mechanic… know that things get missed by him as well… 3) Proper repairs of a Mooney… come from the maintenance manual… A Mooney mechanic is familiar with that… If the guy that gave you bad numbers on the cost to fix things… 1) You can ask him to honor that price and have him fix them… 2) You will quickly find that you weren’t familiar with the things he is not familiar with either…. As PIC of ownership issues… 1) Hang out here often… 2) Read up on all the things that can cost a mint… 3) Learn from those that have gone before you… 4) Be happy your first annual hasn’t uncovered inter granular corrosion…. that your pre-buy missed… 5) you have plenty of reasons to be disappointed… 6) don’t waste time and effort being disappointed… 7) There is soooo much to focus on to keep from being disappointed again… 8) See if you can find the consumer protection agency for buying planes…. 9) The amount of effort that goes into pre-buys often is related to the cost of the machine… Some are more serious than others… some cost more than an annual inspection…. Some don’t get pre-buys… and risk management is the discussion that follows… Lets start with pics… Some fuel leaks are easy to fix… and often don’t require draining tanks… plenty of MSers can point you in the right direction… Some hangar rash can be made better… reskinning is a common way to fix those things properly… plenty of MSers can point you in the right direction… For research… somebody had a similar challenge… he publicly went about a solution in an interesting way… the thread was titled something like F… the FAA…. The FAA wasn’t very impressed with his approach either Don’t fight the Fed! - Marty Zweig Get to the pics… let us know if you need a hand posting… Stay focused…. PP thoughts only, not a mechanic… the first year of ownership is the toughest… sooooo much to learn… Best regards, -a-

Thanks for the nice words guys. JohnB, yes, my visors fit all the models with the mounting point on the upper outside of the windscreen, and I am virtually certain the M qualifies. They articulae to virtually any position. PM me if you want a set.

Paul! Ok I also have to give a +1 as I had some of the fears I saw posted above about flying my Mooney into Mexico, but I did a flight with you moons ago, and you showed me, was not only not a big ordeal, was great fun, to be able to fly into another country without a lot of AvGas! My advice if you can is to go to Mexico the first time with someone who is experienced (like @kortopates) and then, it will be no worries! (The scenery alone along the coast changing from major development North of the border to complete vast unspoiled beaches was worth the flight alone!)

Get out the sewing machine….

LAC in San Jose towed my plane to their hangar last Monday. I got it back late Friday. All issues seem to be resolved including my problem with the avionics master always being on, as of a few weeks ago. The problems were probably inter-related. but I won't know exactly until I see the work order. From verbally talking to them, it appears a strap became loose along with screws on some circuit breakers. The issue is still very disconcerting, but probably shouldn't be, as the plane does only have a single bus. Still, I am amazed that the whole electrical system can be taken out so easily. This whole thing confirms the decision to put the Aera 760 on the yoke with its battery, and the GDL 52 on the glareshield with its battery. With the G5, the Aera 760 and the GDL 52, I have Attitude, Navigation, ADS-B In with traffic and weather (although not Out), and SXM Weather. I performed the G5 Battery test, and with a 3 year old battery it indicated over 7 hours available power. At the time of my upgrade I was talked out of putting in a Comm antenna switch for a Handheld, since it would add a point of failure to Comm 2. That's out the window in my mind, and I had LAC order the Kit to add it. So, that would add extended range on the Handheld Comm I have. If it was going to happen at some time, I'm glad it happened when it did--on the ground. It called my attention to the possibility and gave clarity to the process I would need to follow to orderly transition to the backups I have and safely and comfortably land. BTW, all databases updated properly after the fact.

Lakeland FL Jan 27-29 Henderson NV Apr 14-16 Lexington KY Jun 9-11 Westfield MA Sept 8-10 TBD Oct 13-15

I just wanted to give a shoutout to @DonMuncy for the great looking and awesome fitting visors. I had the privilege of getting to hang out with him and others a little bit at the MooneyMax conference. We had a fabulous time. I mentioned to him I had been looking at contacting him about making me some of his visors. He just happened to have an extra set that he had brought with him to the conference. I purchased them and just got the chance to install them today. They look and function much better than the originals that came in my Eagle. If you're in the market for replacement visors I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these. Way less expensive than the Rosen visors and the quality is at least as good and maybe even a better. Thanks for a great product Don.

Well after a LOT of T/O and landing practice the past two weeks, today was my first solo jaunt in N43CA. Something I hope I don’t have to do after a few months, but a fuel run to Hollister nearby. I had done most of my practice there and have experience looking out for the glider and tow plane traffic. Takeoff at RHV was one of my smoothest, even with a 4 knot crosswind, but I don’t realize how fast this plane is until I’m having to avoid the trainer traffic as I’m climbing out. Landing at Hollister was a bit more of a plunk than I wanted, but not too bad. The flight back was smooth except I had to drop gear and flaps early to slow down enough for the 172 in front. That landing was one of my best so far. Wonderful planes these are, I’m looking forward to getting the rest of my hours for passengers. My son starts his training next week!

I can't come close to that number (yet), and I'm hoping they don't allow line jumpers. Somehow it makes it easier to take when you know everybody is sharing the pain. From reading blogs and looking at the Spruce web site, I thought the problems were behind us, so I just ordered a single filter -- as long as they are easy to get on short notice, I don't feel the need to stock them (or anything else). When I learned that the situation is only "slightly less dire" than before, I was able to change my order from one to six. I don't want to be a hoarder but, as you know, with long lead times, we need to order WAY before we will need them.

I have found when King needles get stuck, it is almost always the yellow tape they wrap the coil wires on the movements. After 40 or 50 years, the adhesive fails and the tape unwraps. The tape will bind the meter movement. If this is what caused it, it could have eventually unwrapped enough to unbind itself. I have never been into a 525, but I have fixed 3 king VOR heads and they all had this problem. I imagine the 525 was designed by the same folks. You have to disassemble them further than the service manual authorizes. I have always snipped the offending piece of tape out with surgical scissors.

I wonder, can anyone beat 9 months (and counting) for a single oil filter? And I love how they make it so easy to “Buy It Again” and begin a new 9-month wait…

Technically no. If you have an annual inspection performed 8 months after the last annual inspection, the aircraft is still in annual from the previous inspection for 12 calendar months.. If you were to have a disagreement with the IA regarding the airworthiness of something like a fuel seep, no ferry permit would be needed to fly elsewhere. However, if you’re wrong about the airworthiness of the fuel seeps, you are technically flying an unairworthy airplane, but that situation has nothing to do with the second annual.

This is the tracer I have. There are a number of manufacturers including Klein and Fluke. I’m sure there are others. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm guessing for Part 135 operations.

May not be hull insurance on it. Maybe just liability.

Can you post pictures of the hangar rash? Control surfaces can be repaired, so I’m suspicious of that statement. Many 50 year old planes have a little hangar rash blemishes, that’s not an airworthy item.

Nope, but dont ask...

Yup...in fact he was on top of the charts in testing at Sebring..He will be one to watch for.

Taken last weekend crossing the Mississippi River north of Memphis on a flight from Tuscaloosa to Kansas City. The Mississippi at its historical low flow since records began.

Hah ha Thank you. This was a major annoyance for me , and in talking with other Bravo Owners and mechanics, seemed to be common that didnt seem to affect engine performance, but was making me nervous to go very high in my airplane. Not a great one that I heard, more pronounced pressure drops with altitude in higher time engines, and it is recognized by Lycoming as an issue a few years ago after they changed the tappet style from its original Mooney design to the hyperbolic ones on building/ rebuilding engines.

Ditto. At the Mooney Summit in, i guess, 2020, they brought it to ECP. What was remarkable to me was the spread of hypoxia symptoms among the group in the chamber. I was playing with yarn very quickly while others were doing differential equations. No particular correlation with age/fitness was evident. eye opening for sure -dan

Theres probably enough material in one of those to make 1 dust boot

You’re right, closer inspection reveals that what you posted is a hybrid combination of water pump pliers and an adjustable wrench. Nevertheless, if you search water pump pliers on the Knipex website they show up.

I have them on my engine. They seem well made and so far are working fine. They are the old ECI cylinders made in the old ECI plant. Continental bought ECI, that’s why they sell Lycoming cylinders.

I saw that exact same issue after my engine tear down and reinstallation this fall. Having flown the plane for 17 years my first go around I knew this was unusual. I suspected it was because there might have been air in my fuel lines from the R&R of the engine. After enough starts this issue should have gone away I started looking over my fuel lines and found the line going through the rear baffling to my fuel spider was just finger tight. It wasn't leaking fuel but on shut down it apparently was allowing air into the fuel system and the fuel was running back the supply lines. My starts are completely back to "normal". I would look for something allowing your fuel to run back from the engine. Tom

That sucks, I'm sorry you're in that position. The squawks were noted, it sounds like just a difference of opinion on the severity. The A&P who did the pre-buy thought these were minor and did not need correcting for the aircraft to be airworthy. The A&P IA who's doing your annual disagrees. Unfortunately, there's really no recourse to go back to the A&P who did the prebuy and say he needs to pay to fix it - he did tell you about them. At this point, you could either get another IA's opinion, or go through the repairs.

Cylinder hold downs are a good example. The AN bolts that hold the engine mount to the firewall are another. I dislike installations that don't have a single point of reference as a spec. A castellated nut with a cotter is almost always a compromise. Torqueing fuel injectors is another, you have an acceptable torque range and an acceptable range for clocking the injector ("A" between ~4:00 and 8:00). Sometimes getting to both specs means being on the very edge of one the other or both. It's acceptable from a practical standpoint but not very satisfying.

I'm especially looking forward to it for our general liability (such as MSCs) and commercial use aircraft clients. It has been a beating of a couple years. It'll be nice to have good news for once.

While you might be able to convert your engine that simply, that does not authorize you to fly your 231 with the converted engine. That is the 220 hp variant that Mooney certified for use in the Encore, or 252 models that are fully converted to the Encore configuration. My understanding is that 231 models are not eligible for the conversion. You would have to get an STC from the FAA to use the -SB on a 231.

in all of three seconds i found the next on Nov 16 in Smithfield, NC https://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=116640&caller=/SPANS/events/EventList.aspx just search events for “PROTE” won’t show more than a month or two out though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I made jacks for the mains that can be pinned at 1” intervals, I lift the nose with an A-frame and chain hoist (can’t bleed down) with nylon strap around the engine mount, once up in the air I use an adjustable tail stand I made. With 4 points it’s rock solid and I sleep well knowing it can be left jacked up and there is nothing to bleed down

Somewhat related story. Helping a buddy with his Bonanza on jacks and the gear retracted, he sent me up to the cockpit for some reason. As I reached the door, the bolt attaching the tail weight finished slipping out and I went for a brief, memorable ride as it pitched forward, nose to the floor. My friend had been under the nose but some how got out of the way. Quite a sight with the V tail up in the hangar trusses, the jack on one wing punched through the lower wing skin. Never was sure if the bolt hadn’t been fitted with a nut or if it had worked loose. A fair amount of bouncing takes place scrambling on and off the wing. I never look at an aircraft on jacks the same. Makes me nervous. Always make sure your weight is secure.

I'll see your tail dragger experience and raise you glider experience

I have a set of Dons visors. Absolutely love them. Even my wife likes them and that is saying something.

A shout out for the Mooney Factory Service Center in Kerrville - they did an excellent job of installing my WX-500 and the Landing Height System. They found a couple other things that needed to be addressed. I couldn’t be more satisfied with the level of care and workmanship. Thanks Mike Kneese & Jeff (avionics)!!

It's annual time and I have the chance to participate in the work this year. Great experience for me. I do want to get my A&P someday. I have been authorized by my IA to perform the replacement of long overdue vacuum pump and OH'd dual magneto after which he will inspect and so forth. At this point, I have the pump and the mag installed after a few hours of figuring out how not to do things in the wrong order (put the fittings on the vacuum pump before you install it, and so forth), but I am not certain of the timing procedure for the dual magneto. It's a Bendix 10-682555-11 (D4LN-3000) with a 25-degree impulse coupling. Is this the general idea? 1) Set crank to 25 deg prior to TDC for C1 2) Set magneto to K minus a bit to magnetic neutral 3) Attach mag to accessory port and finger-tighten clamps 4) Attach timing lights to P-terms (I have adapters) 5) Rotate prop slowly through a few cycles to ensure impulse coupling is engaged 6) Expect points to open at TDC for C1, not 25 deg prior? How do I precisely adjust timing? I'm not sure how rotating the magneto a few degrees to fine-tune will work with the impulse coupling there. But there is some play in the magneto position relative to K when back-rotated to magnetic neutral, and some play in how the mag drive gear meshes with the crank idler, so it seems that some fine-tuning is required. Cliff