Andy95W

Which model Mooney? Where in the Detroit area? I own an M20C at Y47. A friend owns an M20R also at Y47. We are both current instructors.

Time to buy a Power Flow, maybe? And you don't have to tell your spouse you're getting the Power Flow. You're just replacing the muffler because it wore out.

Totally agree with Mike, and I have the exact same experience. Love my Interav alternator, when my regulator went bad I replaced it with the Plane Power and have loved that even more. I will continue to overhaul my Interav alternator until it dies completely.

Definitely weird. It would be nice if you could compare your trim movement to someone else's. There are some adjustments to the trim assembly which can tighten the chain and add some tension/friction to the system if yours is considerably looser than it should be.

+1 for Plane Power voltage regulator. Works great, easy install.

Glad everything worked out well. It sure is nice having forums like these to pass information. 20 years ago, it came down to hit-or-miss trial and error and luck, or taking your plane to an MSC. And even then hoping for a guy who'd say, "yeah, I've seen that before".

Tough call. My short answer, strictly my humble opinion only, is to keep your Bendix magnetos. I have owned 2 M20C's, the first one I converted to Slicks, my current one I won't. I saw no benefits to the Slick conversion. I do agree that Slick does make it tempting, with very competetive pricing, good quality, and a simple process. The Bendix magneto is very robust and simple. When things do break, or need to be inspected, most mechanics have the skills to follow the manual and repair the magneto. And the manual is available from TCM as a free download. The problem is often finding a mechanic who is willing to open up your magneto rather than just take it off, send it out, and install an overhauled one - in which case the Slick is appealing (although I don't know how your location in South Africa would affect that). I would compare the Bendix magneto to our hydraulic flaps. Normally, a reliable system that works extremely well. If you have a guy who is willing to work on it when it needs attention, you will never want anything else. If nobody wants to work on it, it can be a leaky mess and you'll be tempted to pay a lot of money to convert to electric flaps with no real benefit. In both of those scenarios, my advice is to find an old-school mechanic who is willing to do the work. They are out there, and they're not all old.

I humbly suggest being at prop full forward just after you drop the gear- gently so you don't overspeed- then you can do your GUMPS check and be done and ready to land or go around. Also, as you break out of the clouds you can reduce throttle a bit and add flaps to the take off setting at which point the airplane will land very nicely or do a go around properly configured. An ILS to minimums is best just to land flaps up in the M20B/C. Prop full forward and landing checklist complete FAF inbound is how I was taught for Mooneys, multi, turboprops, etc., and how I taught my students as well. The M20B should have a red arc on the tachometer between 2000-2250 RPM if it has the original Hartzell prop model. Prop full forward should take care of that too.

Great idea, thanks. Short term I'll put it on the glare shield with a final plan to eventually use an external antenna on the belly and hide the unit under the panel.

Bare minimum for basic IFR? - 2 COM radios that I trust - 1 decent VOR w/GS that I mostly trust - portable GPS that is ABSOLUTELY trustworthy with an internal battery If everything (including alternator) go to crap, turn everything off except one COM radio, declare an emergency, get a radar vector to VFR conditions, use the portable GPS to get there and on the ground safely, then call on your cell phone to cancel IFR.

Does anybody know why our older Mooneys have the bungee springs but the newer (long body) Mooneys don't?

Nice! Any chance you'd lend it out if you are anywhere near Michigan?

Why do you not need a tool for the main gear? How do you compress the discs? Also, I loved the turnbuckle idea for the nose gear. Any downside?

Is the RPM in metric or English units?

Glareshield it is! Thanks to everybody for the information. Has anybody tried an external antenna, or is it not worth the trouble?

I just bought a GDL-39 and will pair it with an Aera 500 and an iPad running Garmin Pilot. Does anyone have any experience with heat when mounting the GDL39 on the glareshield? Does anyone have any experience putting the GDL39 in any other location and still getting good reception without using external antennas? I read on a Vans Air Force forum that one guy had put it between the seats and it still worked fine. Any opinions? Or should I just leave it on the glareshield like I originally intended?

It is a typo. The part number for the M20C fuel pump is 4140-00-21; the replacement part from Spruce is 4140-00-21ACJ. The pump for the fuel injected engines (M20E) is -19. You can find this from the Spruce catalog page under "Documents" and "Model Eligibility". Good luck!

I agree with cujet. If money is an issue, or if you are completely against the full major overhaul, then simply repairing what you have is the most cost effective way to go. Your cylinders do not need to be overhauled, just repaired (referred to as IRAN- Inspect and Repair As Necessary). And if you want to Top Overhaul the engine, keep your own cylinders like cujet said and send them to a reputable shop. If yours are junk they will let you know.

Replaced bottom spark plugs only with Tempest fine wires to save a little money. Runs smooth and no more plug fouling!

I need to get Bob to polish mine!

And thanks for the note about Bill Wheat. Hope he's doing okay.

Good luck, Cliffy. The more I dig into the old Service Manuals, the more I'm convinced they did things back then to the TLAR method... That Looks About Right.

Mooney 201 for me. I think I'll keep my C model and put the difference into avgas.

But wait, there's more. There is another thread going "Just found out my C is junk" that is more specifically about the stub spar assembly. This smaller spar is located to the rear of the back seat/forward edge of the baggage compartment and further outboard becomes the rear mount for the main landing gear pivot points. These are notorious for accumulating moisture and then corrosion, so much so that in the 70's Mooney started painting them with good corrosion resisting paint. For all pre-201's, I'll bet that most have at least some corrosion that is on the verge of full-blown intergranular corrosion of the extruded angle aluminum. This is extremely difficult to inspect for and requires some contorting with an inspection mirror, or removal of the baggage floor. I inspect this stub spar every annual and go nuts with the Corrosion X on it. BTW, I have rarely found significant corrosion on the main spar, but it is scary how often I have seen corrosion to one degree or another on the stub spar of airplanes I've inspected.

But seriously, in my humble A&P opinion, as long as it is mounted "using good aviation practices" nothing else matters. If you figure out a better way and you have an A&P friend who says, "yeah, that looks good" then don't worry too much and just be happy with your plane.