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As a "Mechanical Design Engineer" this interests me too, so I made a cardboard model. I know its nutty, but I am a nutty person. This is just a basic simplification of how the steering works in the extended and retracted position. It has the same strength properties as the gear in my Mooney

Very much appreciate the discussion and the feedback, here. Please allow me to provide a response to some of the messages. 1) I am a big Mooney fan. Flew a 67 Mooney Super 21 for nearly 2,000 hours. Commuted to and from law school in Norman, Ok. to the family Ranch (100miles each way) on a daily basis for 3 years. 2) Part I - - Some aviation fuel chemistry history: A- During WWII fuels with very large amounts of aromatics were adopted. Arguably, the Air War would have been much more costly in terms of losses for the fighter aircraft without the introduction of aromatics to aviation gasoline. The fuel approved for D-Day was "100/150" - - and used a lot of different aromatic components; B- In the ranking of the levels of "aggressiveness" as solvents, the ranking starts (most severe) with benzene. Then add a single CH3 group and you get toluene. Yes. Paint stripper you buy at the paint store. C- Add a second Ch3 group and you get xylenes (three isomers - ortho, meta, & para) Xylenes are significantly less aggressive as a "paint stripper" than is toluene. <== THAT is important. Keep that in mind. D- Many fuel bladders were developed during WWII and are labeled "approved for aromatics" or something similar. If you look closely at some of the P-51s and other planes at Oshkosh, you will see a placard that states "approved for aromatic fuels." Part II - - Post WWII. A- We had "Green" 100/130 with LOTS and lots of lead. And even purple 115/145 (with lots of aromatics) At the end of the piston airline and going into the late 1970s and 1980s, the ASTM folks decided to drop the lead content and created BLUE 100Low Lead. Still lots of lead. But much less than GREEN 100/130. B- Some of the refiners had very good "aviation alkylate" (~ 70% of some 100LL fuel formulations) with relatively high MON values for that aviation alkylate (a less than pure form of isoctane). Those refineries could make 100LL with relatively low levels of aromatics (almost always "toluene" from the paint store). Maybe 10-20%. C- Other refineries (P66 at Borger, Tx, for example) had lower MON quality "aviation alkylate" and the had to use a LOT of toluene. I can show you detailed hydrocarbon analysis (GC-FID) test results for local (Ada, Ok. FBO) P66 Borger, Tx 100LL that has 29% toluene and another 4% of other aromatics for a total of about 33% aromatic content. 3) Fleet Experience during the transition to 100LL - - A-Starting shortly after the introduction of 100LL, with high levels of aggressive toluene, A LOT of Mooney, Piper, and other airplane owners that had aluminum integral fuel tanks (no bladders) began to leak fuel out of lots of rivet holes. That started a whole new business for G.A. with companies initially specializing in re-sealing those tanks. Later, companies developed retrofit fuel bladders for those problematic "integral fuel tanks". B- A big part of the problem was the aircraft manufacturers did an "inconsistent" (careful choice of words) job of applying the polysulfide sealant to the interior (rivets and seams) of the aluminum integral wing tanks as they were manufactured. [As we have learned during material compatibility testing, the devil is in the details when it comes to the proper application of sealants to fuel tanks. ] C) Over the decades, the level of toluene from most refiners has decreased due to better quality aviation alkylate, but some refiners - - for at least some production runs - - still (from looking at their data sheets) still have a lot of toluene. 4) G100UL Avgas - - A- Uses a very high quality aviation alkylate (2-4 MON numbers higher than the alkylate used for 100LL) and then uses xylenes rather than toluene in order to achieve the 100/150+ octane/supercharge rating for G100UL avgas. The right choice of xylene isomers will have higher octane blending value than does toluene. Using "xylenes" also has the advantage of being less chemically "aggressive" than is toluene. But the high quality alkylate and the premium xylene isomers also "cost more" than the related components in 100LL. BUT - - there ends up being no lead. B- We did extensive material compatibility testing, including a whole variety of older bladders and a whole range of tests for sealants applied to aluminum. All of that supervised (in person) by multiple FAA engineers and managers and then later approved by the FAA. 5) The 100LL we have at the airport in Ada (typically Phillips from Borger, Tx) still tends to have a lot of toluene in that fuel. A- Late October of 2023, AOPA brought their 1965 demonstration Baron to Ada. Two freshly overhauled IO-520s. One fuel bladder was 46 years old and the other ~50 years old. They were supposed to have been replaced with new, prior to the start of testing, but the bladders were on "back-order". B- G100UL avgas was exclusively kept in the LH bladder and 100LL was exclusively in the RH bladder. C-Within 30 days, we noticed fuel "spots" on the hangar floor. Investigation - - we found fuel leakage and staining on the bottom of the RH wing - - which had ONLY ever had 100LL. See photographs. 6- Oshkosh, the leakage from the LH wing tank (G100UL Avgas) was ( based on Eagle Fuel evaluation) caused by pre-existing damage to the tanks and the gaskets associated with the access panels. (In addition, there were pin-hole leaks in both fuel bladders). 7)-G100UL Avgas is NOT a threat to normal aircraft paint. A- Embry Riddle did extensive certification testing of G100UL avgas. They used G100UL in their C-172s for over a year, at Daytona Beach. They had no evidence of any fuel leaks and they had zero staining on the wings. B- As part of our due diligence, wee have deliberately spilled a LOT of G100UL Avgas onto various painted components from the many Bonanza aircraft that come through the TAT shop for turbo systems. That includes LOTs of wing tips and the lower cowling access panels, both of which are removed and replaced (with tip tanks and newly louvered lower access panels.) C- Some of that has been allowed to dry on those painted surfaces and then the process was repeated. NO SIGN OF ANY LOSS TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE ADHESION OF THE PAINT. D- We have even soaked a couple of those side panels in G100UL for a week or more. The paint was fine at the end of that. E- What does and will happen - - is if you do not properly clean up the spilled fuel, and allow it to dry, it can and will leave a light tan stain on the paint. If you do properly clean it up, it will not stain the paint - - even after repeated spills in the same location. But, to date, we have never seen any evidence of any type of "paint striping" activity to any of the dozen or more aircraft parts that were removed from our customers Bonanzas and used as "test articles." See https://g100ul.com/dl/Refueling Hygiene G100UL Avgas.pdf F- An aside - - some of the recent crystal and graphene coatings improve the resistance of aircraft paint to any damage from any variety of 100LL or G100UL - - but that is not a cure all. See the link Refueling Hygiene! 8. So "what happened" on the bottom of the Mooney wings ? A- In one case, the sump drain appears to be leaking. Likely the fittings inside the wing are also leaking. B- In the other case, there appears to be some kind of leakage from inside the wing. Not sure from the photographs. C- Almost certain that old drain valve has a "nitrile" set of O-rings. D- The paint on the bottom of the wings has likely had many months of exposure to steady drips of 100LL. In California, probably with only ~ 15% toluene in the 100LL . . . maybe. E- No information about the age of the paint on the bottom of the wings, but from its overall appearance and the multiple rivet holes that are bare and which have lost their paint - - it is likely a they are rather old paint jobs. The paint on my personal Bonanza, N11RT is about 35 years old and it is in much better condition than the appearance of the paint (away from the damaged paint). F- It would be good to know the age of the paint for each of those two aircraft. 9. What to do ? A-There is a long standing FAA / maintenance bulletin (20 + years old ???) that tells mechanics that when they find fuel leaks or deteriorated fuel lines or gaskets or O-rings, they should replace those components with parts that are made from chemically resistant materials (viton, fluorosilicones, etc.) Those types of materials are specifically stated to be for use with a wide variety of fuels, including aromatic based fluids. A lot of mechanics have ignored that recommendation over the years. Last . . . 10. I would like to have the chance to borescope an older Mooney fuel tank that has not been converted over to a bladder. A- If anyone on this forum would like to bring their plane to Ada we can do that here. You might find it interesting. If you have the STC you can probably leave with some G100UL in your tank, if you want. I hope this information helps to bring some clarity and understanding to these issues that will be the subject of conversations during the transition away from leaded avgas. Regards, George Braly gwbraly@gami.com

Got my practical test done today. It's been about 3 months of rescheduling for weather, conflicts, and rental plane maintenance but we finally got it done! Passed the exam a few weeks ago on my first try, and passed practical flight portion today first try. I got home and my mind and body have completely given up on me. I am couched.

Yeah. That was me. Dead sticked it from FL210 through the clouds, icing, in the mountains, and broke out at 1500 agl. All I had was this road so I put her in nicely. There happened to be a bit of water from the left tank (just switched tanks). The water went into the fuel flow divider and froze. -36 C OAT. When the water froze, it expanded and shut the flow of fuel to all cylinders. No possibility for restart. I let the plane sit for three hours as I dealt with the local sheriff department (who were excellent btw). Fired her up. Run up was perfect so I flew it outta there. lol. Another day in the office. I’m now working g with the FAA, continental, and another shop to remedy this issue.

Some of you might remember me. Back in 2019 Signature over torqued the front gear of my brand new Acclaim Ultra and refused to pay. 5 years later, I face them in court tomorrow. They are risibly stating using a huge boom was not an issue and that it’s my fault. I haven’t cowered. I covet your prayers. These guys are nasty. On better news, I now fly a Honda Jet. This is more accountability than anything else. Cheers, tail winds, and Gods overarching presence to you and yours.

Yeah Ethan, great question. Emergency situation not much time. I wanted to go to enterprise. It was on the rum line and had a good tail wind. Pretty sure I could have dead sticked that runway no worries. Seattle Center advised not going to those airports as they were IMC and higher terrain. La grande was 90 degrees off my right wing and right into a headwind. It was a tough call, but I figured I could drop in the valley and find something suitable. So I turned for La grande. I’m my own worst critic. The one thing I didn’t do is declare an emergency. I told Seattle center that I had “loss of engine power and could not maintain FL210”. The controller and I ended up arguing a bit over a few details on the way down and it just made things mores stressful. And at 8000 feet he said the frightful words “radar contact lost”. I said out loud, “Brad, do some of that pilot shit!” Lol. I followed a canyon on the terrain page of the MFD and prayed to God that I’d break out. And He graciously gave me 1500 ft. And a dirt road with power lines and an eagles nest. Good enough for me.

As of today I have owned at least one Mooney continuously for 40 years!

I want to thank everyone for the advice given to me that helped to make this happen! I bought a Mooney! My instructor and I were flying the flight school's Warrior and flew to a nearby airport. As we were taxiing back to head back to the runway I hit the brakes and pointed out the window "wow, look at the paint on that Mooney!" My instructor was pretty tired of hearing about Mooney this, Mooney that, so she said "you're such a dingus" and we kept rolling. Later that day I pulled up Controller to drool over Mooneys, and that exact one showed up for sale. I couldn't believe it. It was way over my budget too! A few Google searches later and I happened upon Mooneyspace and a guy had a sort of "near miss" with buying it. I reached out to him and he sent me the Prebuy information that he did, as well as the local Mooney Expert's information. Really nice of him to do that for me. I met with the owners and they were just the kindest people ever. Couldn't ask for a more lovely couple. The plane is a 1968 M20F, it isn't perfect but it is WAY nicer than what I thought I would end up getting. Some faded paint and minor issues, but nothing major. It's under an hour drive from me, and the A&P that did all of the speed mods, and maintained it for a good 20 years has a shop just 25 minutes from my house. Everything has lined up so well. I'm still in shock, and so excited. Today I have the keys! The owners kept every receipt and picture, so I have some nice pictures of it as they put some speed mods on it. I don't think I'm going to get any sleep tonight...

I know some people here have much better machines, but my trip yesterday was an eye-opener to the capabilities of my E model. Took off from KRKS (Western WY) at 10am, and five and a half hours later landed at 91C in Eastern WI, crossing five states (WY, NE, SD, IA, WI). 993 miles non-stop at an average speed of 190 mph, burned 46 gallons of fuel at 13,500 feet. Of course tailwind helped (around 25kts), but I still feel amazing about it. I used oxygen all the way, and felt none of the fatigue I used to feel after flights above 10k. Here's a picture of one of the more spectacular buildups I had to dodge along the way.

Hi folks, paul contacted me and told me about this thread. I was the pilot and it’s my 252. Happy to answer your questions: - it’s a 252 with Monroy tanks, 105 gallons total - I usually fly 2.300RPM, 30“, 10.3gph LOP. However up high the MAP was between 27“ and 29“, FF on average during cruise was 9.5gph or 62% - I have a stock steam gauge sixpack with the original airspeed indicator with TAS calculator. TAS was roughly 175kt. - average ground speed was 214kt, maximum 269kt but we took a picture showing 252kt :-) - we used 73 gallons of fuel and still had 32 gallons in our tanks after landing, so more than 3 hours reserve (the king air crew we met was jealous) - we didn’t use Gatorade bottles or travel John. Would be a mess in those life suits anyway. Actually we did not drink anything until 30 minutes before landing and it was no problem at all! It was my longest flight so far and it was an experience, for sure. The whole trip was spectacular. BTW, on our way west we wanted to stay in Ilulissat, Greenland for two nights. We didn’t even think about not stopping in Greenland as we wanted to see the glacier. If you are interested, the whole story is on instagram: @flyawaywith_jz Hope to see some of you somewhere in the world! Best, Thomas

I closed today on my first Mooney, N916MP a 1994 M20R w 310HP STC. Thank you to everyone here for answering my many questions and giving me the info and opinions I needed that helped me decide to buy an Ovation. I'm flying out to Indiana to pick it up on Monday and will be flying it with a Mooney rated CFII back here to Las Vegas. I need 10 hours and 10 landing for insurance - I'll have that done by the time we get back. Monday will be getting familiar with the aircraft and its systems, pattern work etc and Tuesday the flight west. Excited doesn't begin to describe it!

Phillip, I'm curious, what do you think these people owe you? I'll help you with that answer. Absolutely nothing. And what have you contributed so far. Exactly the same. Have you ever used the words "please" or "thank you" in your life? People come on here all the time and request help and, just like with you, members jump in to see if they can provide any assistance. The only difference is that in almost every instance the person asking has enough class to be grateful for anyone's time and attention. If you don't like their suggestion, ignore it. Don't blast them for taking their time to respond. You have the airplane in front of you and you and your mechanic can't figure it out and you come on here and expect the answer on the first reply? “what did you do since the last time it started?" was one of the best answers you could have gotten. It sounds like you've done some things recently. You already said the spark plugs were new - did you check to make sure the leads were seated on the plugs? Are they gapped properly? Have you double-checked that they are the correct plugs? You said you had a new fuel pump - this wouldn't be the first time that a new or overhauled pump was not putting out the pressure it should right out of the box. Did you time the mags recently? When was the last time your mags were overhauled? Think back - if it started Thursday and it doesn't start Saturday, it's very likely that something in those two days changed. When we get frustrated we overlook the obvious sometimes. Getting basic answers from people on here and then chastising them for giving you the answers, tells them that you already know more than they do. But if that was true wouldn't your airplane be starting? I wish you the best in the search for your answers, but unless you change your attitude you would save yourself a lot of frustration by getting your answers elsewhere.

For those of you who work on your own airplane but don't always have someone present to help you remove and reinstall the lower cowl, here is a YouTube video which shows how to do it without chipping paint or scratching the spinner. This jack makes it safe and efficient and it's easy/cheap to build.

After landing I put the flap switch in up position and the flaps did not move and the circuit breaker popped. Thereafter, I noted that the breaker would pop when the master was turned on with the flap switch in up, takeoff, or down position (the airplane is a later model with the three position flap switch). I tried wiggling the flaps because some have said that got them working again, but to no avail. I'm not saying others are wrong, but the up/down limit switches ride on the acme screw barrel of the actuator which cannot be back driven due to the wheel and worm gearing of the actuator so I have a hard time seeing how wiggling the flaps can move the switches. Be that as it may, it did nothing for my problem. Removing the belly skin and inspecting things, I noticed that the actuator had overrun past the down limit and jammed the barrel. I disconnected the barrel and manually freed it and rotated it to the up position. But the breaker still popped. I disconnected the connector that feeds the motor and the breaker still popped indicating that the problem was not the motor. I disconnected the connector that goes to the up and down relays and the breaker didn't pop, so the wiring is good. Next I removed the down relay and reconnected the connectors and the breaker did not trip indicating that the short was in the relay. I took the down relay apart and found that the armature had become dislodged and that all three contacts (C, NO, NC) were stuck together creating a short circuit. The Magnacraft relay looks like a pretty flimsy mechanical design to me. I found some new/old stock online and ordered two. Hopefully this helps someone with a similar problem.

So when I sold my Cherokee 235, I had my sights set on a Turbo Saratoga - the thought of luxuriating in all that space while moving along at a decent clip…. My Wife told me I’m nuts. What do you need all that space for? It’s going to be just you most of the time. You should get a Mooney, she said. She thought they were the best looking birds on the ramp! So I took her advice. I’m now about 50 hours in to my Ovation and I absolutely love it. There’s no other piston engined single I would want. Oh, and here’s my picture from today. She was right, of course. All those empty seats….

@rturbett Take another look at my Lower 48 map! I finally got around to checking off UT on our way down to the PPP in Ft Worth (KAFW). Great overnight in Moab, UT just because it was someplace we wanted to stay.

I spent 40 years in the industry. I retired off the A330 and I loved every minute of it. To make it worthwhile it must be something you want to do and not think of it as a job. I never worked a day in my life. 6 years after retirement I still have dreams in my sleep of flying transport airplanes. If you are not sure, it is going to be a job. If you are sure (and I was from 5 years old) it is a living dream. I survived 5 years of furlough, 1 near bankruptcy, 1 real bankruptcy, 3 mergers. I have two uniforms in my closet and I would not change a thing. Pay? Who cares when you love your job, but my retirement placed me in the top 3% of Americans. Can't beat that. Let me add, my first wife had pancreatic cancer and thanks to my airline who put out over 2 million for her she never wanted for a thing. No insurance arguments, no "if only's" they just wrote the checks. My first Christmas with my second wife I spent in Accra, Ghana. Not where I wanted to be, but you have to take the good with the bad, because the bad, ain't that bad.

It’s been some time but wanted to share with you the painting I did for last years silent auction at the summit. I Don’t know if the winner is someone that visits Mooneyspace but wanted to thank them for their contribution to the Gilliland (spelling corrected) foundation. Was very nice working with them and I was very happy with the results of my work as were the recipients. They run Cadillac aviation in Michigan. John

CAM LOBE CORROSION? A DULL TALE OF 1200 HRS SAFE LYCOMING OPERATION Surface corrosion noted on a cam lobe after pulling a jug isn’t great, but in isolation it is a terrible reason to split a Lycoming case – it may need overhaul soon, or maybe not... My illustrative anecdote: >10 years ago, a newb pilot/owner buys an M20C with a 600hr SMOH O-360 that had spent some time sitting and needs a little cylinder work at the outset. After pulling a couple jugs, the well-known Mooney A&P/IA who did the prebuy finds surface corrosion on multiple internal components and even some pitting on cam lobes but normal lobe height and lifter faces. The A&P sends pics of the extensive pitting and says newb owner you must overhaul. The collective “wisdom” of the internet also says that the newb pilot/owner/doctor must overhaul and asserts that he is just another vertical-tailed doctor killer-buying sucka. His demise in a smoking crater seems likely to all because he is arrogant enough not to accept A&P or internet guidance without asking questions. The sucka pilot then takes deep dive into authoritative literature by Mike Busch and others, learning that (1) there is zero danger in running it until cam/lifter truly spalls and (2) it’s easy to monitor the situation through the filter so that once it happens, further damage to the engine can be prevented. Armed with real knowledge, the arrogant newb pilot/owner pushes back hard against the A&P/IA, getting him to sign it off under some duress. Though this newb’s demise seems imminent to all, he flies regularly, uses Camguard, and keeps engine dry in winter by heating it uniformly and continuously. He also cuts and scrutinizes his filter nervously at every oil change, finding nothing for many hundreds of hours. He gets a good engine monitor, learns how to use a borescope, and learns spark plug maintenance, allowing him to monitor the top end as well. He does oil changes and oil analysis religiously but ultimately quits oil analysis after learning enough about it to conclude that it’s utterly useless for real world maintenance decisions on this engine. Finally, after flying for another 1200 hours over 10 years and accumulating ample instrument time, he notices a subtle but consistent decrement in TAS on recent flights. At the next oil change, he finds ample ferrous shavings in the filter (pic). He had become lazy recently and was only cutting every other filter, and so he pulls the previous filter off the shelf and also finds similar metal, realizing that he flew about 80-90 hours with cam lobe(s) and lifter face(s) coming apart. He flys it one last time to a major engine shop 3hrs away for overhaul, marveling at the aircraft’s fast and smooth performance during this serene flight and wondering if he is making the right decision. At overhaul, the suspected cam/lifter spalling is confirmed, and metal shavings are flushed from the oil cooler and governor. The prop is IRAN’d/resealed, and the hub is found to be in fine condition, as is the crankshaft. He’s finally back in the air and still (mostly) enjoying the continuous learning involved in the Mooney ownership journey….

George, I am certain it is very clear to you that there are many folks on this forum who fully support you and your products. It is equally clear that there are many who are respectfully cautious about G100UL. And there are some who are downright nasty, and question your integrity and motives. I suspect that this diversity among members/posters is probably typical of most forums. I would sincerely hope that you do not let the few who attack you, taint your view of the majority of us, and you will continue to participate in the exchange of ideas and information.

"Life is short" is a term we hear often. When we're young and say the term, I don't think most of us really grasp the concept. Life seems infinite. However---one day you will wakeup and say, "Wait a minute, just yesterday I was 20 years old and everyone around me is older. Where did the last 60 years go?" It happens just that fast. My recommendation? Don't wait too long to go after the things you want. Time waits for no-one.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/iclothwipes10.php

En route MMQT-MMOX, I got a couple of shots of Mount Popocatepetl, which is southeast of Mexico City. There was a sigmet for volcanic ash downwind of this; I flew on the upwind side.

Took my J up yesterday to test a "refurbished" (thanks @Jake@BevanAviation!!!) KC-192 autopilot computer. It performed flawlessly! After I landed and shutdown, I opened the cabin door in front of my hangar. The way I felt was confirmed by the license plate on my Tacoma! I had to memorialize the moment with a picture. A beautiful evening in Alabama!

Here's what me and Mrs. OTreeLemur did last weekend. When we bought our J in late '22, I thought the tail number looked naked. We fixed that. It was a long, fun weekend!

Took our new Japanese exchange student for her first small airplane flight. We picked up @JRo at Harvey Field (S43) and flew to Bremerton KPWT for lunch at Amelia’s

Simple rule of thumb: O-360: Turn key, go fly. IO-360: Carefully read POH and 4000+ pages on Mooneyspace about starting procedures. Analyze, implement and discard. Go to bar, come out the next day and do the cold start procedure.

This morning, I took my wife to see her mother in central NC. The direct path is almost over ATL airport; ATL Approach guards the sacred Bravo airspace like nothing I've ever seen--in 17 years of flying past Atlanta (where my direct path lies inside the Bravo), I've never been allowed inside. First it was "remain clear of the Bravo," then it became "stay out of the Bravo." So with beautiful VFR conditions widespread across the Southeast, we loaded up and took off. My route was KALX-->KOPN-->KFAY, to stay out of the Bravo without being told. Well, about ten minutes after I got set up with flight following, ATL Center asked, "are you direct to your destination?" I said no, I was going via OPN to avoid the Bravo, since I'd not been allowed inside for 17 years. He came back with, "today may be your day, if any is." Sure enough, a minute later it was "cleared direct destination through the Bravo." So I turned from 092 to 073 and went with it. I changed freqs and confirmed clearance with that controller (VFR through the Bravo), and he said "you are cleared through the Bravo at 7500." My first ever penetration of the ATL Bravo! On Christmas morning!! It's a Christmas miracle!!!

I think it is rather inappropriate to state that I give "deflective" answers to your questions. What I have provided is hard data. Exposure data with controls. There is simply not enough information about the circumstances in California with the Mooney for us to be able to do any more than speculate. We are continuing to investigate the matter. That does require some time. If I recall, one of the U-Tube reports "dropped" one day before Christmas. This is New Year's Day. What I do find somewhat frustrating is that, when GAMI does provide relevant aircraft paint exposure data - - with experimental controls - - that data is dismissed by several of the participants here, as not being sufficient to further the discussion. Regardless, as stated above, we will, with all deliberate speed, continue to investigate the matter.

In 1992, I was on a cross country from Oklahoma to Texas and landed at Addison. Saw my first Mooney (no Internet back then). I was in love... My CFI and I chatted up the owner and I hopped behind the yoke and told myself I'd own one of these fine machines someday. Well, barring any pre-buy snafus...my day has arrived! A few months ago, I reached out to Jimmy with my wants and needs. "Got it", he said. "Just be patient and I'll find you your dream plane." Yes. He. Did. Stellar maintenance. ALL of my wants (WAAS navigator, AP w/ altitude hold, GPSS, "the looks", nicely equipped, low time motor, no accident history (MAN, this is hard now), and good maintenance & records. Four owner history, with one long-time owner being LASAR themselves. So it got the "money doesn't matter" treatment for many, many years (and some great mods to boot). Sorting logistics and the adventure of bring her home from the Pacific Northwest (which frankly I'm fizzing about). One of our kids just announced what will be our first grandchild coming soon. The first thing I said to my wife was "...we need a faster plane!" She agreed.

Years ago I bought this really high end Italian oscillating belt sander. It worked really well for a few years and then the oscillating part stopped working. I took the machine apart and found this helical worm gear made of bronze. I hunted for the company only to find out they had gone out of business years ago and if I couldn’t get the gear the machine was scrap. Well, a new machine of this size and quality was over 20k so I started looking… I ended up finding a shop in Columbia (the country) that would to produce the part for $75. I ordered three of them and zip tied them into the machine near the gears… I’ve used one more set of them and apparently this was a part designed to wear to spare the more expensive parts. sorry for the tangent but my ocd required me to complete the story… point being, I’m not going to retire any machine I own for some part that I know I can figure out a way to replace. I understand there are some things on the plane like a turbo housing, or a crank that are far too complex and critical to produce yourself, but the FAA treats too many things as critical, that just are not so on our little planes. Good machinists all pride themselves on being able to do complicated things, and they are extremely knowledgeable about metal and its properties, those gears are not that hard to manufacture, and I’m willing to bet if you knocked on enough machine shop doors you would find somebody willing to make them.

While my destination was nothing special, the picture came out pretty cool bc the camera happened to sync with the beacon.

Well, I'm not going to do this in an open forum. It can be discussed via email as I stated before. This is a private forum system in which myself and the community decide the rules. This topic is being locked.

When you are in the batter's box, you swing the bat and unless you accepted a land and hold short clearance, you exit the runway when you feel it is safe to do so. The controller's irritation is because HIS plan did not work. You are not a slave to his plan unless you accepted a clearance to exit at a certain point. There is nothing here to show the airplane was at a safe speed to exit, only people irritated he did not exit when they wanted him to exit (their plan). In any event the airplane that had to go around was a T&G not an air ambulance.

Hey fellow Mooniacs, My wife and I are so excited! We just bought 4 acres with frontage on 4y4, Lakes of the North airport near Mancelona and Gaylord MI. We are so excited as it's a beautiful 4200x40 paved runway very well maintained, and an absurdly flat area next to the runway for when my old taildragger buddies fly up. Just excited to have our own dirt on a paved runway. It's about a 45min hop from home (6d6) in the Mooney and a 2.5hr drive. We plan on building a cabin in the spring there and have that be a home base to explore all of Northern Michigan which is stunningly beautiful. If we go up there on a Friday night it means all of N Michigan is a quick hop on Saturday morning, and there's plenty to do there as well. The headwaters of the Manistee River start there, there are two private lakes we have access to, a public golf course (not for me but for friends maybe), etc. We have the place labeled Judith Bailey. We're very excited, and I met a fellow Mooney Driver on the field last week He was excited to have another of "us" on the field. We will probably just use it as a getaway for now and air bnb it some while we don't use it and maybe spend a significant amount of time up there once "the littles" are grown... Once we get a cabin up there I'll let everyone know they can stop by anytime!

I'm re-reading the Mooneyspace terms of service, but I think it is forbidden for O-360 operators to smirk when reading another IO-360 hot start thread.

Hi all, I've used this forum for reference even before I became a Mooney owner 2 years ago. In June 2022 I purchased N111MR, a 1967 M20C from a fellow Mooniac and forum member, who sold me a plane that already had a lot of blood, sweat, and financial equity in it, with a dual Dynon Skyview HDX system, Hartzel Top Prop, and other great qualities, but the plane had original paint, an interior that left much to be desired, and I saw a great opportunity to make the plane 'mine.' After flying it for a summer, I decided I wanted to invest in paint and interior. I had no idea the magnitude of the project I had decided to undertake. Fast forward to June 2024 and last weekend the former owner and I picked up an unrecognizable airplane from Hawk Aircraft in Zephyrhills. N111MR (s/n 670130) is now N6767C. In the past 2 years this plane has undergone full strip, corrosion treatment and repaint in a custom livery I designed (@ Hawk), full gutting and installation of a custom interior @ GEMICO/Hawk), full strip and reseal of fuel tanks including new senders and pickups (@ WetWingologistsEast), prop balancing (@ Solano Aircraft Services in TOA), new flaps, and wing spar splice (@ Dugosh). I am incredibly happy with the results and I'm still not done. I plan to have a one-piece panel cut by Superior Aircraft and possibly add the AeroCruze 100 AP. I greatly missed flying this airplane for the 1 year and 8 months it was 'in treatment.' I logged 2h total in 2023, only flying the airplane from paint to reseal and back to paint. Since picking it up I have logged 14h and plan to fly this en lieu of flying on the airlines (within reason). As a career graphic and visual designer, and someone who used to draw cars and airplanes all over his schoolwork, it had always been a dream to design an airplane livery and have it become a reality. If any of you are race fans, you will immediately see what this livery is inspired by. I also added some modern touches to make this airplane even more unique.

Over Big Horn Canyon dam and national recreation area, SE of Billings (great local sight seeing route on the way to Cody WY). My wife's first flight in the new plane:

Many of you have asked, or been polite and not asked, about my unfortunate engine failure at 500' on take-off, Xmas morning, 2021. I said I would not discuss anything on social media until the NTSB Investigation had been completed and, honestly, I was over the pain of the loss. It's time. I have posted an extensive story about that fateful day on the Lancair Live Forum, and the link is the first one below. That said, the good news is I started the massive undertaking of rebuilding the plane and the progress since the 11th of January has been nothing short of spectacular. Considering I have spent half my winter at my Florida home, going down for two weeks every month, and we've logged well over 600 man hours on the rebuild already, I'm very happy about the progress. I would consider documenting the entire process here again (like I did on the initial build) but time on the project trumps time on the computer posting everything on two forums. The second link below is my rebuild. The third link is for the Lancair IVPT I am finishing for another builder (with his help) and it is really close to final inspection. Thanks for the patience to all my past friends on this forum. The one picture attached is my last Med Flight before my unfortunate engine failure. This little guy LOVED my plane (300 knots, pressurized and a warm cabin in the winter really helped!!). It's so sad he was only with us 7 more months after that flight. Tom Sullivan https://www.lancairlive.com/viewtopic.php?t=183 https://lancairlive.com/viewtopic.php?t=177 https://www.lancairlive.com/viewtopic.php?t=189

Okey Dokey. The front seats are done. I think they turned out well. Copy of an Audi seat…..maybe Porsche….can’t remember. All leather. I used the old Mooney Logo as that’s what was on the yokes. And i like it better. The foam is the three layer memory stuff from Spruce. Stripped then repainted the baffles in high temp/ hot rod red before reattaching the silicone. The new IO-550 is in.

Speaking on behalf of every American GA pilot , we are not accustomed to it in the US and are enthusiastic about not becoming accustomed to it.

Ordered a set of visors from @DonMuncy My '66E had the center mount visor. Mr. Muncy fabricates a fully articulating visor with nicely sized hardware and smooth joints at a very fair price. I fabricated a very crude bracket for each side and used existing Mooney hardware to install to avoid any alteration to the plane. Hopefully my bracket will hold up over time. If not, I have no problem having paid Mr. Muncy a modest sum for his hand-made engineering. My Wemac baffles above are courtesy of @Utah20Gflyer's design. I built a vacuum forming machine and formed them from 1/16 ABS. Also copied @piperpainter's backseat mod w/ a slight twist. I guess it's time for me to confess that I've been lurking on this forum for a long time saving and compiling information. I have definitely taken more than I've given. I try to database any information that I might need in the future to repair or obtain equivalent parts to keep this plane in the air. And I can't quit buying up everything that comes available that I think I might need in the future. Why am i buying Brittain stuff from Bonanza guys? And why did I buy that lot of various early Mooney inspection panels? I save instruction articles such as @Shadrach's thorough course on hydraulic flap maintenance/overhaul or @carusoam's bullet points and I've saved just about everything @M20Doc has said. I do try to buy from the folks here. I ordered @donkaye's landing video. I have @takair's electric step conversion sitting in my hangar waiting to install. Picked up a battery charger from @OSUAV8TER shortly after I bought the plane. Anyway, I'm thankful for the folks on this forum and your willingness to share your years of experience and expertise. I fly out of a rural airport in the middle of nowhere in SW Louisiana. Without the information here, I will quickly run into something that will ground me. -David

my long term project is moving along nicely. was time to fill the tanks and test the electric pump. throw the switch and just a clunk. it worked 5 yrs ago before my project started. I quickly talked to some friends and checked the forum. Aero Motors in wisconsin is the place. I woke up crazy early this morning removed the pump and drove over 2 hrs to Aero Motors. Was definitely worth the trip. I turned over my tired hunk of junk and was given a pump that looked like new with all their updates. They knew I was the Curious inquisitive type with a lot of questions so they took me through the shop and showed me the insides of a pump and their improvements. Everything except one particular seal is made in-house in the shop. They even wind their own armatures! I'm the type that likes to shop made in USA. I was thoroughly impressed. my pump happen to be $550 for the exchange. My project continues forward with a minimal delay, will be installing the pump tomorrow. Glenn 1964 m20e Aft stub spar and upper left spar cap change. might be ready to fly towards the end of the year or beginning of next year

Thanks folks - appreciate your interest. Some quick comments while sitting in a coffee shop in Kyoto :-) Marc, I had a specific window of time in which to do this - ie, starting late July and going until around mid September. Of course I was going to do Eastbound - but the Alaska bush pilots strongly advised me not to attemp the Aleutians after mid-August. (the issue is icing and weather). Had I gone Eastbound, the Aleutians would have been my final hurdle - and in September. I would have stressed about it the entire trip and not given myself the best chance to get through there safely. So I changed around to Westbound primarily because of that. And I have to say, sitting here in Japan now having done it - I'm bloody thankful I did. I STILL stressed about it, it STILL wasn't trivial - especially getting into and out of Adak. Luckily that's inaccurate Aerodon :-). The FAI requires a minimum of 27000km - ie, 14,578 nm. Here's the reference directly from the NAA https://naa.aero/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FAI-Circumnavigator-Diploma.pdf. But honestly, not that I care too much about certificates and stuff. I'm doing it for the adventure. But yes, the Mooney is a great machine for doing this. We fly magical airplanes. Should be writing up the Pacific crossing today - I'm admittedly slow on the "social media". I'm entirely self-sponsored - so no obligation except to other interested folks like yourselves. Reading the stories of Mooney circumnavigators like Brian Lloyd and CaronAnn Garratt inspired me - and I feel obligated to write down things for others that may want to do it too. (A bunch of folks in the Mooney community have been absolutely great and I will call out all my favorite vendors in a dedicated blog post soon.)

https://www.mooneycaravan.com/web/Mooney/Default.asp Previous post made me realize that people new to Mooneys might not be familiar with the Mooney Caravan or with formation flying. Certainly would be great to introduce others to formation flying and dispel some of the myths that "it's too dangerous" or "it's too difficult." The Mooney Caravan is the Mass Arrival into EAA Airventure each year. We all meet in Madison, WI (KMSN) and have an organized get together/dinner/brief and all stay at the same hotel with food, bus, and logistic support. Mandatory brief is at 5PM on Friday...if you miss it you don't fly in the Caravan. Then we all depart in a 3 ship element, 15 seconds between elements. EVERY pilot in the Caravan has attended a formation clinic and gotten checked off/approved by a safety observer. In fact, most of the pilots have attended several clinics across the country (and some even attend the B2Osh clinics which have a great informal relationship with the Mooneys). The flight profile for the Caravan is simple: 5 second interval takeoffs (15 sec between leads, 30 seconds between section leads), climb out at 100kts/500FPM climb, once the tail is up and level, then speed up to 120kts, coming closer to Osh lead slows everyone down to 105, then 90 kt descent to land. This is a profile that any Mooney can fly. There are many things about Formation flying that need to be learned prior to safe formation flight. Some of this is self directed study guides, learning the lingo, the overall flow, and reading more about the "big picture." Some of this can only be learned from the cockpit. So a typical first timer clinic will find the prospective pilot flying right seat with another seasoned teacher for a demo flight. This way you can start to see what close looks like, how to tell when you're out of position (lots of time for that), and how to start learning how to anticipate corrections, be smoother with controls, and what it means to be a good formation pilot. Flying in proximity to someone else gives you the ability to hone and refine those stick and rudder skills! PHOTO: coming in on element landing (looks WAY closer than it was, but, thanks for the cool shot telephoto lens!) After a demo flight, you'll hop back in your own Mooney for the next sortie with a safety pilot in the right seat. For your first formation flight it will be a 2 ship. So just you and your lead. Every maneuver will be briefed using a standard caravan briefing card. First sortie will be basic station keeping. You'll do an interval takeoff, join with your lead, then you'll get put out to route (wider spacing so you can take care of things in the cockpit), then get brought back into fingertip formation. In fingertip, the only thing occupying your vision is your lead...never look away from lead...you don't need to. But say something doesn't sound right...then you move out to route first, then you can look inside the cockpit. We'll first work on some straight and level flight with a constant corrections and finding out your "wobble box"...your aircraft is constantly moving in all dimensions in relation to your lead...any change makes 2 or 3 other changes, so you're constantly working on keeping that perfect picture. Then we'll move to some gentle turns in fingertip so you can see that inside turns and outside turns have entirely different control requirements...in fingertip you strive to keep the same site picture of your lead, so inside turn you descend some and you have a shorter radius--so need less throttle; outside turns you have to climb a little and are outside the radius of lead so you have to anticipate the need to add throttle to keep up! Once the maneuvers are done, you'll go back out to route, check fuel, adjust freqs, and then RTB. Depending on the weather and runways, you'll likely perform a break to land so that you have spacing from your lead and land individually. By then your hands will be sweaty, your throat will be dry, and you'll immediately be thinking "that was awesome, when can we do it again!" So what happens if you try it and something doesn't click, you feel stressed, or it just doesn't feel right?? Simple..."knock it off". Any time and for whatever reason you can end the maneuver, end the flight, or just take a breather. Also worth noting, if the safety observer doesn't feel you're ready for solo formation (or if they don't feel you're ready for the Caravan), then they won't check you off to get in over your head. But not today doesn't mean never and the safety pilots and leads will do everything they can to work with you to help you understand what's going wrong and how to fix it. This is infrequent, but does occasionally happen. Accidents happen when a pilot isn't flying the brief or isn't paying attention...and these are the two biggest disqualifiers. Brief the flight, fly the brief, and follow your lead...pretty simple! The Mooney Caravan is a fun, safe, and efficient way to get a ton of aircraft into Airventure. We had 52 Mooneys this year and we usually occupy the runway for less than 7 minutes from first aircraft to last. The Caravan has a standard profile, and since I've been flying with them (2022/2023/2024) they have really improved the safety focus. You typically have pilots in your element from the clinics you attended or from the region you fly so that you have a friendly face beside you and in the cockpits around you...this means you're almost guaranteed to be flying with someone you have flown with before. At Osh, the Caravan has a big tent that's relatively close to the showers (but not too close to be noisy), we have breakfasts at the beginning of the week included, we have a great place to crash at the end of the night and have a drink (LL or UL) with your old friends, new friends, and soon to be friends; and you have plenty of people to share the amazing Osh experience with. I think it's the best way to experience Osh, and is absolutely 100% the best way to fly into your FIRST osh! Even if you've never been, I'm sure your lead will have been several times and will help with packing list, good things to bring, and how maximize your Osh experience. Plus all you need to do is follow your lead...no radios, no navigation, no Fisk freaky flyers...and you'll likely land on 36R all by yourself! Pretty amazing the first time you hear "Welcome to Osh!" So if you're interested, put one of the regional clinics on your calendar next year and come join! I can almost guarantee you'll have a smile on your face and be a much better pilot for it. And if this isn't for you, then no worries. We all have aspects of flying we embrace and some we avoid...be it weather, terrain, water, or an aircraft off your wing. As an aside, formation can sometimes be used not just for fun...I have a buddy who had an alternator issue in the backcountry that was able to fly off the wing another buddy so that the lead was able to make all the radio communications, check his gear coming in, and would be there to assist if needed. So formation is not just fun, it's a useful skill for mutual support!

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?

The Story: I bought an Ovation last October that needed some attention. My son and I are going to travel in it and he is building time for a flying career. It had a new and very nice glass panel in it but everything else was well used. The airplane flew about 35 hours in the last 5 years. The paint was very oxidized, carpet old and dirty worn through and the seats looked like a frat house couch. Both wings had fuel leaks. It had been well maintained but it was tired when i bought it. I used the Winter months from then until now to refurbish the airplane. I tackled a bit more than i wanted to but my thinking was to fix everything now and fly it versus fly-it-and-fix-it etc….. So, this is what we did: Firewall forward is all new. Every line, hose and connector. Factory new IO-550. New engine isolators. Stripped and painted the engine baffles. Prop Governor Overhaul Prop Overhaul to include new internals. Compete external light conversion to Whelen (WATT) LED’s. New wingtip and taxi/ landing light lenses. New tires and tubes. New batteries (2) New O2 bottle and fill. Polished the spinner and took the dents out. 18 hours with a buffer and ceramic wax to bring the paint back to life. Complete fuel tank seal scheduled for this year. New Interior. (I started with the just carpet but I had to take the seat out to take out the carpet………and one thing led to another and i just took everything out). I also removed most of the old adhesive, cleaned every inch of the inside and added insulation and sound proofing to the interior. FIRST FLIGHT: Accomplished the first flight and first two hours of engine break-in yesterday. The new engine and prop are powerful and smooth. Everything else mostly worked as advertised. After the first hour I landed. We took the cowlings off to inspect. No leaks. We adjusted the prop governor for full take-off thrust and the gear warning horn on the throttle cable. We flew another hour and I got two more landings in since it had been awhile in GA for me. I would have added 4 more hours to the break-in except i was limited to lower altitudes and high power settings for the break-in and it was VERY windy. TAS was 176-178 on 24/24 at 3500” so I am guessing 180-185 higher. It was a rough ride. I have a fuel pump that needs overhauled so that is going out. I also have a small box in the avionics bay that controls glareshield and panel lighting that needs overhauled. Maybe one EGT probe as well. Otherwise, for the amount of work we did on the airplane……everything went well.

Recent flight with some friends for a lot of flying fun!