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Recently bled the brakes on my Mooney, after many years of ignoring this, the brakes were getting a little spongy and "not responding" well. 5606 Mil Spec fluid, given enough time, will turn into a thick, sticky, gum like fluid. This goober will most likely be located in the lower extremities of the brake system, calipers and lines, so you really don't want to initially use pressure to force this junk back into the master cylinders. So I first used the old "open the bleeder valve while helper pushes on brake pedal" method. Then while pedal is depressed, close bleeder and repeat - - just don't have the helper push pedal all the way to the bottom stop if possible, as it may get stuck fully down and require reaching in and manually pulling back. After doing the above until the tar like fluid stops coming out the bleeder, and making sure to keep the reservoir from going empty, then use a pressure pot to bleed the brakes normally from the bottom up, while moving the brake pedals some. I used a modified small garden sprayer for this. At the brake reservoir I screw in a 1/8" NPT nipple with clear line into a clear container to watch for bubbles - - that way there's no need to remove the reservoir or use an adapter on the line. bumper

José It's roughly a 1/2 power reduction, or gain, for each 3 db change in power. But note that this does not directly correlate to range. In other words, suffering a 3 db loss will not halve the transmission range. There are many variables and vagaries in radio communication . . . and it would take someone smarter than me to know it all* . I do have a friend who knows it all . . . I can call him with a question about damn near anything in electronics and such, and that would be important to guys, and he'll come up with a reasonable answer. I refer to him as being a "veritable cesspool of superfluous knowledge". *I was a Navy electronic technician for 8 years in the 60's - - back when tubes was in. bumper

Being as the aviation band is vertically polarized, and I know of no way to fit an antenna in the wing tip so it's mostly up and down - - whatever you stick in there is gonna represent a significant compromise in com performance. Other performance, the go meter, may increase slightly BTW, radiated TX power most assuredly will change unless the SWR (standing wave ratio) of the new antenna is the same as the old one - - and it won't be! Metal (think wing here) will be too close to the radiating elements and in generally the same plane, thus SWR will take a hit and this will result in TX power being reflected back down the coax into the final amp. That lost power means less effective transmitted power on top of any design compromise. Overall, you're likely to lose transmit range and this will be most evident when you are a good distance out (guessing more than 50 miles). Receive, not being so antenna quality critical, won't suffer as much. You'll be able to hear 'em, but they won't hear you. bumper

When you take a Bendix apart on the bench (carefully laying out all the parts in order on a white towel ) you come to understand that the *only* really good way to clean a Bendix is to disassemble the bugger. Spraying with silicone spray is good, no question, but it won't clean out, or even reach the gunked up old grease inside,

Oil on the leading edge of the cowl and up onto the windscreen can also come from an engine oil leak. I had this happen and the problem was an oil seep at the case halves at the top of the engine near the lifting eye, Simply tightening a loose case bolt stopped the leak - - and the oil on the windscreen magically stopped. BTW, when it happened, I thought for sure it was the crank nose seal . . . but oil on the windscreen in flight sure does get your attention! Sounds weird, I know, how could this possibly occur? Since the Mooney does not come stock with a forward top baffle, like some experimentals (Van's RV) and some more modern designs, upper deck high pressure air can move forward and out the cowl to spinner gap. Near as I can figure, the back of the spinner plate may be acting like a centrifugal fan helping to suck out the upper deck air. It sure was vacuuming up the oil from my leak, which showed as an oil damp spot about 15 sq. in. in size. Adding a top front baffle, on another aircraft I own, lowered climb CHTs by 50 F. bumper

Any good TIG welder should be able to fix it, no problem. If you want to bring it by my hangar . . . .

Reminds me of an accident I investigated back in the 70's. I was a motor cop in Oakland, CA and there was a report of an accident on Hwy 13 near Lake Temescal, After a search, I finally found the car upside down in the median completely obscured from the roadway by small trees and bushes. No signs of any vehicle occupants. Later I got a call from "radio" saying the driver was at the hospital, so I drove over to check. In a thick Indian accent, he related the following: A friend an he had gone to a bar in Berkeley and picked up a couple of young ladies. On the way back to Oakland, the front seat passenger was performing oral sex on him when all of a sudden he saw this "giant fireball", after which he lost control of the vehicle and it left the highway and rolled several times. Bruised and banged up, (though with his manhood intact), he and the other occupant were able to crawl out the windows and leave the scene. Later on, in my best put-on thick Indian accent, when I told the other officers in the locker room I had them howling in laughter. Moral of story as it relates to Mooney flying: If you see a fireball, immediately regain control of the aircraft, resume your outside scan, and/or turn away from the thunderstorm if any. bumper

I had Oregon Aero rebuild my 201 seats with Confor (aka NASA) foam. Major improvement in both comfort and spinal protection. . . . not cheap though. I also have Confor foam seats in my Husky, courtesy of Aviat as they come stock that way and in my glider as well. The glider uses the extra firm green foam as it affords the maximum protection in the thinnest cross section (you can put 1/2" of the stuff on concrete and hit it with your fist - - hard and not require pain meds or remedial training). bumper

I inadvertently spun my Mooney during my PPL training doing MCA turns. I posted about it here before. Starting altitude was 3.5K ending altitude - low. Scared the &%$# out of me. Stopped flying the Mooney until I got proper spin training. Keep the ball centered. bumper

Marauder, Think about it this way, airbags can make the difference between and open casket or closed casket funeral. Yeah, I know, can't help it, sick sense of humor. BTW, I have airbags in my Husky.

With our aging demographic, I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out of the P-51 market . . . sigh, oh well . . . by the time it does, I'll probably be too old to care anymore.

Seriously, can you imagine the fur that would hit the fan if an engine shop summarily voided their warranty if someone used an approved Shell oil in their engine?? Really? Shell's attorneys would be all over them and I wouldn't blame them. You'd also be hearing about it on AvWeb, AOPA On-Line, and even on Mooneyspace . . . oh, wait . . . bumper carefully encrypted (ha, ha, NSA) and sent via my free Obama phone

It's a Mid West single rotor Wankel engine making 50 hp at about 7400 rpm - - like most Wankels, turbine smooth (2-strokes being the bane of most self-launchers - - little suckers try to vibrate themselves and anything attached to them to pieces). This engine was originally developed for the Norton motorcycle in the 50's. It was a two rotor and had problems with seals, heat, and normal Wankel marginal fuel efficiency. Not being a success in motorcycles, they certified it for aircraft . Guess it was about 8 years ago, Diamond Aircraft bought the rights to the Mid West Wankel and intended to use it in one of their tractor motorglider designs. Small form factor = lower flat plate area, that sort of thing, but it never happened. A division of Diamond makes them still, but I think the only customer is Schleicher. bumper

Thanks. I started late, at 46 back in '91 . . . so trying to make up for lost time. The Mooney and Husky really complement each other well. "The other girl" in the hangar rounds out the "trilogy" and is an ASH26E, shown in my avatar over Job's Peak. I built a sideways tow-out gear that allows me to store the 59 foot (18 meter) glider assembled in the hangar. It gets pushed out to the glider staging area with a golf cart and then self-launch from there, almost as easy as taxiing out in the Mooney.

How can I put this gently . . . bunk They are both fast multi seat cross-country machines. One is a bit more efficient, one carries more, one will cost more in maintenance (on average), but they both fulfill the same mission. As an example of what I'm talking about, I have a 201 and a Husky, two very different aircraft, only one of which is suitable for landing off-field and playing in the Nevada outback or camping in the Idaho back country. Now you can press the Husky into service for long distance travel, but the Mooney cruises at just over 160 knots while the Husky (with big tires) is happiest at near half power, 105 knots burning 6 gph (pour the coals to it and it'll go 117 knots and burn almost twice as much). Mooney wins the travel contest hands down . . . but the Husky is way fun to play with! bumper

Richard Bach in his heyday had 9 aircraft at once. He opined that 9 was too many . . . 5 was about right. At one point I owned 5 and found that is too many, 3 is about right. Especially so if you like to do your own work, owner assist annuals that sort of thing. But in all cases the planes were uniquely different. re. the Mooney / Bonanza thing: Even the Injuns were smart enough to use three feathers . . . bumper

And all this time I thought it all hinged around the "Rule of 3 F's for fiscally responsible toy management"?? That would be, "If is Flys, Floats, or (umm) Flirts . . . rent it!" bumper sent from my free Obama phone

Being a former Navy Eletronics tech, I know how truly frustrating chasing down intermittent electrical problems can be. Good on you both for finding that sucker and glad you get to be home for your dad. bumper "sent from my free Obama phone"

A barrel roll done properly is a positive G maneuver. An aileron roll isn't, and not having an inverted oil system, Mr. Motor will puke oil out the breather and all over the belly when you go negative. Sent from my free Obama phone . . . . bumper

Oh, you mean "Radio Trash" . . . "You have questions, we have blank stares."

Digi-Key or Allied on-line for switches. As to mounting brackets, Lasar may have them, I know they used to. For custom brackets, any good machine shop could fabricate whatever you want of aluminum, then it can be either anodized or painted. There are also on-line services such as http://www.emachineshop.com/ that can do it. Disclaimer: that's not a recommendation as I haven't used emachineshop . . . as I have my own hobby machine shop at the hangar.

I used to pull the prop through each of the compression strokes before flying. One day I canceled a trip when I had zero compression on #2. Hooked up a differential compression tester, and could hear the air leaking at the oil filler. Did as Jetdriven writes only used paint thinner (it's what I had handy). After doing the hydro locked thing, I hooked up compressed air directly to the cylinder using about 10 or 20 psi or so. Allowing piston to go to bottom of power stroke, Then, when you pull backward on the prop, it'll make like a choo-choo train (grin) with piston first loosing all pressure then moving back towards you, building pressure and moving back away from you, repeat. If you put a bungee cord around the blade and pull back with that, it's "automatic". The back and forth action of he rings in the grooves, along with the solvent, may help break up gunk in the rings. Don't know if the compressed air back and forth added any fix-it value . . . I was bored waiting and having fun playing (sort of). In any case I got full compression back and flew for several hundred more hours before replacing engine (it was burning a quart of oil every two hours at that point). bumper

Jetdriven posted earlier: "That gear down indicator in the floor is bolted to the retraction truss. In the 1977 POH, it says to extend gear, and check gear down "Gear down light on - marks aligned in visual indicator in floor." On the electric gear ships, if that floor indicator is green and aligned properly, all three are down and locked (assuming there is no physical breakage in the mechanical linkage to a wheel, and that would be unlikely). Like others, I do two out loud GUMP checks, one after putting the gear down and hearing the "thunk" of the gear going down and another on final. On each of the GUMP checks I look at the floor indicator. Since Mooney was kind enough to give us a relatively simple, robust, and reliable gear system, and one with a darn near 100% mechanical indicator, if you hear the thunk and see the mechanical indicator lined up, of what use would a video cam picture be?

In determining which type of O2 system performs best, you might have a look at this recent test (yet to be released by the FAA but posted with permission from them) comparing Mountain Highs EDS and Precise Flights O2 conserving systems. Scroll down to page 18 and 21 if you just want to see the results. An eye opener for sure. http://www.craggyaero.com/User%20Guides/CAMI%20Testing%20of%20Pulse%20Oxygen%20Systems.pdf bumper