orionflt

Let Mike complain all he wants, If he is still wearing those unwashed cargo pants i will not be close enough to hear him!

$400 is a little pricey for a backup, I agree that it is nice to have something in emergency, but the built in batteries in my I pad and radio will last me that long if i lose ships power. something like that priced under a $100 i would consider purchasing just to have a portable charging station but even then i find there is very little need. I do like the idea of the light weight charging station and the solar powered charging station I think it would be neat to have a solar collector on top of the aircraft but until we are flying battery powered aircraft there is little need for it.

removal of the PC system should have reduced the load on your vacuum system and if anything increased your reading depending on where the relief valve is set and the load the old PC system put on the system. if you have a leak in the system after the removal of the PC system it will give you a low indication and make your vacuum pump work harder to maintain proper vacuum pressure. I would get it checked out soon, also if you have an opening in the system you are drawing unfiltered air into the system and have the possibility of contaminating the system.

I agree that it can be a double edged sword, if the iran is done properly and the engine has been torn down you will probably end up running the engine well past TBO and only have to worry about the top end. But if they do the minimum required by the AD, then they are just doing a crank run out, changing the dow pin and putting the engine back in service with a sign off of the AD and a new prop. Thankfully the insurance companies know the value of the tear down and inspection because they are willing to pay for it, but if the plane wasn't insured or the owner is trying to pocket some of the insurance money they may do just what is manditory not what is recommended. I am always suspicious of a prop strike and will look closely at the repair write up and who did the repair, if everything was signed off in house by the local mechanic I get a little concerned.

Merry Christmas everyone

I like what bob posted except if you are flooded, you do not need to run the boost pump to pressurize the fuel system, all you are doing at that point is dumping excess fuel overboard.

Hacksaw blade or utility knife

I may be up for it.

TJ, The best thing you can do is find a plane you like, once you do ask for the log books so they can be reviewed. In most cases you can get PDF copy's of the complete logs or at least the last few yrs, a general look at those logs can usually tell you wether or not you want to look closer at the aircraft. Some of the things you will be looking for in the logs are the AD compliance, general maintenance records, amount of time flown over the past several yrs, you will also want to look for any damage history, repair records, 337s. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding how well maintained an aircraft is, just because the aircraft went to a MSC doesn't make it better then one that was maintained by a small shop, the owner pretty much decides what work he wants done and what he wants to put off till later. When I bought my mooney people thought I was nuts because to look at it you would have thought I was going to fall out of the sky. The thing was the previous owner maticulasly took care of the mechanical, but didn't worry about the cosmetic because he had gotten too old to use I to trips and just flew local for the last 10 yrs he owned it. There are planes out there that look pretty until you start to open them up, find a good IA to work with and let him help weed out the airplanes you will regret. As an IA I have helped several people based at my field find aircraft, I can usually do a basic look and tell them if it is worth looking closer at. Feel free to contact me if you would like some help.

Nothing at all, that is the way I have done it for years. Recently I upgraded my engine monitor so now I can see what everything is doing, funny thing is I found that leaning the way I was gave me the best numbers.

Quick run down of the accident history, i would take a real good look at the logs and ensure the proper tear down and inspections had been done. if they just did the run out and replaced the pin in the crank (previous standard requirements) i would consider walking away, but with 1500+ hours on the engine you could just go right for the overhaul. also the price is high for the damage history and the engine time. ------- FAA Accident/Incident 1 ------- Occurrence Date 1988-10-30 Aircraft Make MOONEY Aircraft Model M20C Damage MINOR Document Last Modified 2012-08-08 Narrative GEAR COLLAPSED ON ROLLOUT. PILOTS STATED THAT GEAR WAS DOWN AND LOCKED. GEAR CHECK ON JACKS INDICATED NORMAL GEAR. ***** No NTBS Accidents Found ***** ------- NTBS Pre 1982 Accident 1 ------- Qccurrence Date 1967-12-27 Aircraft Make MOONEY Aircraft Model M20C Aircraft Serial Number Damage SUBSTANTIAL Accident Location SPRINGFIELD,VT Occurrences HARD LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED Phase of Flight LANDING - LEVEL OFF/TOUCHDOWN LANDING - ROLL Causes IMPROPER RECOVERY FROM BOUNCED LANDING OVERLOAD FAILURE Narrative ACFT PORPOISED ON LNDG. ------- NTBS Pre 1982 Accident 2 ------- Qccurrence Date 1967-05-05 Aircraft Make MOONEY Aircraft Model M20C Aircraft Serial Number Damage SUBSTANTIAL Accident Location SO.HACKENSACK,NJ Occurrences GEAR RETRACTED Phase of Flight LANDING - ROLL Causes GEAR LOCKING MECHANISM BINDING LACK OF LUBRICATION-SPECIFIC PART,NOT SYSTEM INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION Narrative FROZEN BEARING PREVENTED COMPLETE ENGAGEMENT OFTHE LOCK MECHANISM PAST OVERCENTER.

where will you be based out of if and when you buy it?

Make sure you read up on the service bulletins for corrosion in the tubular structure, especially since the airplane is out of Florida. also look at the spar areas and open the access panels around the fuel tank area to look for fuel leaks and seeps.... make sure the tanks are topped off, they have a tendency to leak near the top of the tank. i have a 62 C and i have been all thru mine several time so i can probable help you with any specific questions you may come up with. I do not know how in depth you want to go on your pre buy, but i recommend pulling the belly (time consuming pain but worth it) and the forward and mid interior panels to get a good look at the tubular structure. Brian

The fact that you are running such a low temp with low oil pressure is a concern to me, if your oil temp increases your pressure is going to drop more. I would double check to see if your oil temp sensor is working properly, and if it is I would look at bumping up my oil pressure a bit.

I. Had one that hid from me for a yr, I narrowed it down to the prop control area but could not isolate it. Finally I pulled the prop control and found it was coming from a seal under the spring. It was in a location that was only identified when we tested it on the bench.

Right now I am just using a regular work light with a 100 watt bulb plugged directly in. I have a temp controlled switch that is used to turn pipe heat tape on and off that I haven't put in line but that will turn the light on at 38 deg and off at 50 (outside air temp). A friend of mine is working on a control system that will monitor cowl temps and adjust power to a heat source to maintain a a continuos temp. His latest version uses a blue tooth temp sensor and a small ceramic heater, the system also monitors humidity. I'm finding that all the gadgets are more glamour then necessity but they are fun to play with.

I have been doing the light bulb trick vs the engine heater. The air temp here was in the 20's soi made it a point to go see what my engine temps were and I was surprised to find everything was sitting around 50 deg. This just made it easy to decide not to install an engine preheater.

I read the proposal and hope it does get passed, I think it will help keep our GA pilots in the air. as for limiting it to VFR only i may be against the majority but i believe that requiring a third class medical to fly IFR is not unreasonable.I have my rating but plan most of my flights VFR utilizing the IFR option if i really need to. that being said I do not mind keeping a valid third class medical knowing that if i ever fail to meet those requirements I can still fly, just may have to shift my itinerary based on the weather.

Used my fore flight on a trip to Reno, didn't have wifi, but I did pick up satellites with my internal gps. Worked great until I ran out of maps.....didn't down load the full US before the trip.

Yes it did, just the other day. now the FAA has until Dec 15 2015 to do the re write

I love projects like what you are describing, but I doubt they would be worth attempting a restoration.

Sounds like the starter gear was not engaging, when it gets very cold out the grease, dirt and anything else that has accumulated on the starter shaft can keep the gear from sliding out and engaging the fly wheel. It can usually be fixed by flushing the great and shaft with carb cleaner or starting fluid then re lubricate the area, I like to use a silicon based lubricate instead of lithium grease or an oil based lubricant.

+1 unless you have a generator or an older style alternator that required cooling you no longer need that tube, I did how ever keep ine attached when I first installed my alternator and had the blast air directed at it. I have since removed it because it was unnessasary duct work just taking up space.

I was just up this weekend in my "C", doing the break in on my engine, I was very happy with everything especially my speeds. I was indicating an average of 143kts at 4500ft, 25 squared. I let my garmin calculate my TAS and it was telling me 154kts. Even at 6500 ft I was in the yellow still indicating above 140kts. I added the cowl closure while the engine was out and did some minor clean up of parasite drag, the combination of all of the work probably increased my airspeed by about 10 knts.

Yes, been thinking about replacing it with the long rudder to try to get more rudder authority.