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It's not so good for them either. In cold climates it's common to see electric plugs sticking out of front grills. In Canada, many lodges and motels provide electic plug-ins in their parking lots. With aircraft engines it's a more dire situation, as the cylinder bore is "chocked", being narrower at the top than the bottom. This is so when the engine comes up to temperature, the head and top of the bore will have expanded so the cylinder walls are parallel. When started very cold, the choke can cause scuffing, broken rings, excess wear and bad things. bumper

I respectfully disagree. I've used EZ-Heat electric sump heaters on 3 aircraft over the past couple of decades. If you throw an old sleeping bag (with zipper cut off so it won't scratch) over the cowl and tuck it in the air intakes, the engine will be toasty by morning - - the whole thing - - - every last nut and bolt of it. With a metal prop, the base of the blades will be warm too. Put your hand inside and the engine is heated evenly and happy as all get out. On start up, my oil is typically 120 F or so when it's freezing in the hangar. For camping the Idaho back country (with my Husky A-1B, I use a proper engine cover (Kennon, with one intake cover open for airflow) and a MSR multi-fuel campstove fired homemade pre-heater similar to the "Northern Companion" . . . when it's freezing out, this will get the engine cylinders up to about 70 F in 45 minutes or so - the oil will be colder still but more than warm enough to be kind to Mr. Motor. Can't leave this heater unattended with the open flame.

It's obvious none of the folks who've answered you have flown their Mooneys recently, otherwise they'd know this has happened to ALL Mooneys. Like the canary in the mine, Mooneys are sensitive and can be relied upon to sound the fist warnings. It's all due to global warming. The ice caps have melted and this has caused a shift in the earth's CG. It is now at a critical stage, the scientific name for which is "wobbulating". No one's balls are centered anymore. The end is near.

Did you inspect the fuel pump diaphram for leaks? Check pressure? I'm not familiar with Continentals either, but it maybe that flow would appear okay on the bench with no head yet not do so well on the plane if the pump has internal leak that only shows up when pressure required? bumper

Russ, When I put an A3B6 in my Mooney, I had a similar problem. Shop that did the engine swap did not seal all the little cracks and holes where upper deck air could sneak down to the lower deck without going through cylinder fins. Tube of silver gray silicone caulk and a scrap of aluminum flashing (to stick on here and there with caulk to block the larger gaps), and temperatures dropped significantly. A suitable short length of plastic hose can extend the tip of your caulking gun to get into tight spots. Slip a washer over the extension hose so that it jambs the extension hose up onto the tapered caulk nozzle and hold tightly in place while applying caulk. bumper

LASAR has them, but only for sale along with installation. Top Gun in Stockton has a few of the kits for $718 and will cheerfully ship them out. Can't remember being so happy to spend the better part of a grand on a wee little spring! I will be carefully inspecting and retaining my old spring if it passes the go-no go test. It's original '87, with almost 2500 hours and no indication of impending failure. bumper

Anyone know a source for purchasing the no-back clutch spring kit for the Eaton actuator? thanks, bumper

It could be that your ships power provided to the camera is intermittent due to a poor connection. Not sure if the Contour has a pilot LED so you can tell if external DC power is on. In any case, you can try unplugging the camera momentarily to see if that replicates the symptom of turning off recording, even after power is reapplied. If ship's power is unstable, that's most likely due to an electrical connection rather than the electrical system itself, otherwise avionics would be going goofy as well. Cigarette lighter jacks are notorious for not always providing a reliable connection, mostly relying on friction to hold the plug in position. It can be hit and miss as to whether a plug will fit tightly or too loose to stay in good contact. One way to get around this is to use a large rubber band or hook and loop (Velcro, double sided) to hold the plug solidly in the jack . . . at least this is often feasible if the jack is mounted to a bracket. bumper

I added two LED indicators to my SwitchBox. On one end of the circuit board there are two red LEDs that indicate power to each relay. While it would be easy to remote mount those, I chose instead to wire the new LED indicator lights to the relay coil terminals - - these would be the small terminals that are not connected to board trace on the back side of the board. Relay activated, ground is switched to one terminal, the other remains just under 12 VDC. It's simple to determine polarity for the LED output without applying power. Measure between relay 1 and relay 2 like coil terminals with an ohmmeter, the terminals that measure zero ohms between them are positive. bumper

Electrical gremlin. But it's most likely an intermittent short caused by abrasion with a metal edge wearing through the wiring. Remove glareshield and inspect wiring carefully. You might get lucky and find it easily visually. If not, hold the test switch in and start pushing an pulling on stuff to see if you can replicate the problem. Problem most likely will be at or near the annunciator panel, but it could be in the wiring run anywhere between the panel and down to the breaker. bumper

Agreed, calling for status for sure works. But if you're standing right there in the hangar looking up at the darn thing (mine's mounted 24 feet up). Hauling one's phone out to make an otherwise needless text call doesn't seem a well thought out solution when for less than a buck's worth of parts it could'a had indicator lights. And mine will, shortly! bumper

I'll hazard a guess. Maybe, Conrad, having foresight, wanted to avoid one day be considered rich and evil by the BO administration?? bumper

Hmmm, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Great idea! There's only one President . . . shall we split 'im down the middle or crosswise?

Phil, Got the switch box installed switching the sump heater on two planes. The "all in one - done put together package" is worth the extra cost over building it from parts on-line. Good quality, written instructions, and an easy install. Android app instructions, either not so good or perhaps my computer dumminess is rearing it's head again - - I did get it figured out though. Suggestion: Add a couple of LED indicators on the box to show Output 1 and 2 status at a glance. all the best, bumper

Okay, one thing not discussed was "warning shots". To test for this, stand outside and hold your arm high over your head with index finger extended. Yell, "Damn, Damn, Damn". If you get zapped, that explains everything. bumper

Got an answer back from Aircraft Spruce regarding the missing current spec for Whelen's Orion nav/strobe: For position light: 12v = 1/2 amp, 24v = 0.17 amp<br> For anti-collision light: 12v = 1 amp, 24v = 1/2 amp (my note . . . this must be for average current, as peak should be at least twice that). AeroLed's is: Position Light Current: 0.4A : 14V, 0.2A : 28V Strobe Peak Current: 2.25A : 14V, 1.12A : 28V for 0.33 seconds Power Consumption: 20 Watts Conclusion, both Whelen and AeroLeds have essentially the same performance on nav/strobe (and this was confirmed in talking with AeroLeds). Any difference in light output (unlike with their landing lights) would be slight, I think, so I'd go by price and asthetics. bumper

Visors, SS wheel covers, recognition lights w/ flasher, and SS tie downs with jacking points. Nothing to make it go faster. But the Mod 212 (individual Slicks) conversion added some knots (the old engine was tired I guess) and the PowerFlow exhaust added a few more.

I agree with fantom - - static electricity. I doubt that your symptoms would be caused by anthing in the avionics of plane's electrical system or ignition. The airframe is becoming electrically charged due to friction between it, as well as the prop, and the moist air. As the electrical potential between it (i.e. the airframe is the reference point and a floating ground in this case) increases, it does so until the potential difference reaches a point that it causes the air to ionize and an arc jumps between the airframe and you - this is the shock you feel. The arc discharge decreases or neutralizes the difference in potential between you and ground. All is good, but the charge in your body quickly dissipates and/or the airframe charge increases until again there is enough difference in potential to allow another arc between the airframe and you. Static wicks would help as they allow the airframe to more easily discharge static to dissipate the charge into the air. Keeping your moist hand in continuous contact with a metal object that is well electrically bonded to the airframe would help as it would keep you and the airframe at the same potential. Unfortunately the yoke is painted or covered and so acts as an insulator, however poor. Thus holding the painted yoke, unless the paint is worn to bare metal, won't prevent the little shocks. When I'm using my bead blast cabinet I get the same thing - lots of friction between the glass beads, tubing, nozzle and air. Have to ground myself and the cabinet to prevent lots of zaps! And the comment on St. Elmo's fire is correct. It's essentially the same principal, sort of. The atmosphere being charged enought to ionize the air and discharge to ground through the pointed parts of a sailing ships rigging (yard arms, mast tips etc.). bumper Navy electronics tech and electrician - - though I sure wouldn't want to live in a house I wired, for although I have the license, never worked as an electrician.

I stopped my Husky prop (O-360, 180 horse) at 14.5K climbing in mountain wave. Pulled up almost to the stall to get the prop stopped. Quickly decided I shouldn't leave it stopped long as it was sub-zero, so I pushed over nose down but prop wouldn't windmil. Didn't want to get too close to indicated Vne at that altitude (I was over 16K by then), so reverted to starter. On a previous 7AC Champ w/ Sensenich wood prop, it took almost Vne (129 mph) in a dive to get it to re-light - - no starter and good compression on that one. bumper

Before I bought by '87 Mooney 201, I took a test ride in the Socata. First thing I noticed was I could see the ground through a crack at the bottom of the pilot side door. Salesman said, "Oh, we'll fix that!". Had a nicecar like interior, but was not put together very well. Fit and finish, sub-optimal . . . sort of like a French car at the time. This was in the early '90s. The BO is well made, no question, but it's draggy enough that it'll never touch the Mooney for effeciency. When you look at that bulbous nose cowl, the handles and dohickies that stick out here and there . . . LoPresti could'a had a field day cleaning up that design. It goes fast, but uses far more fuel than my 201 doing it. Cirrus, maybe. Shame they had to cuff half the wing and didn't make it a retractable. Not as pretty, IMO, as a Mooney either. The Mooney is doubtless one of the most solid, effecient, and reliable aircraft avialable. bumper

My 87 201 has the larger switch Marauder shows on the bottom. I don't know what year they changed style. Last time I needed a switch or cover, I got if from LASAR . . . that was a dozen years ago, so don't know if they still have them.

You might also want to consider AeroLeds. They have TSO'd LED Nav/Strobe or Nav/Strobe/Position lights available as well. Unfortunately, Whelen doesn't include much data, wattage specs (current X voltage) or the lumen output on some of their LED offerings, so it's not always easy to make direct comparisons. New Aviat (Husky) aircraft are mostly all equipped with the AeroLeds lighting (optional), including landing and taxi lights. I have them on my Husky, so welcomed the chance to compare them with Whelen's" Parmetheus PAR36" on another Husky across a very dark field, at our annual Idaho, Root Ranch fly-in last August. The AeroLed "Sunspot 36 LX" totally blew away the Whelen Parmetheus, not even close. This was hardly unexpected, as the AeroLed offering consumes 3 times the current (3.75 amps vs. 1.2 amps - both 14 volts). Absent side-by-side testing, power consumption is one of the few clues for guessing light output (assuming similar luminous efficacy - lumen output per watt) admittedly a big assumption. bumper

Jim, Agreed. When searching starter problems, be it Sky Tec, Kelly (now Hartzell), or whatever, there's enough love and hate to spread around evenly or othewise. To be expected things will go TU now and then, that's life. But it's rude when, due to design, failure takes out other expensive stuff too. And the stories of SkyTec "kickback" failure often involve collateral damage. Jury is out on Hartzell. They are getting converts on the Husky list as incidence of Sky Tec failures may be exascerbated by the popularity of the MT props on Huskys (a veritable tidal wave of MT installs due to significant advantages over the heavier metal props on the dog).

Disclaimer: I'm not a Hartzell fan. I have two aircraft with Sky Tec starters and no problems so far. That said, if I was replacing a starter today I'd go with Hartzell (ne Kelly). Do a search on <Sky Tec vs Hartzell>, or <Sk Tec problems> there's a lot out there. Cost is essentially the same, Hatzell costing a little less than Sky tec. You get less current draw, more robust duty cyle, lower cranking speed, the same weight, and no risk of kickback damage. Does Hartzell have any downside I'm not aware of?

According to sac sky ranch, high speed starters may be an issue. While SkyTec's debunk piece talks about 400 rpm for impulse coupling disengage, this may not always be the case. Couple high speed starters with AGM batteries (low internal resistance) and light weight props that accelerate as each cylinder goes past TDC - does that acceleration fling the fly weights out even though average rpm may be below 400? In any case I'm not so sure SkyTec is right . . . there have been quite a few failures, could there be that many mis-wired P-leads on starter switches? http://www.sacskyranch.com/eng16.htm