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Polyurethane tape, black, 3" wide, from McMaster-Carr. Not cheap, $80, but looks nice and really lasts well . . . I've used it in my Husky for the last 8 years. http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-polyurethane-tape/=mvc56m bumper

I made a little tool out of some 3/32" stainless welding rod that is invaluable for removing scat tube and the like. The tool is shaped like a "P", but at the base of the P there is a 90* bend (like the bottom of a "B" (but no curve up). The straight base is about 1.5" long and is tapered with a rounded polished tip. (Hint, shape and polish this part before bending the rod to form the tool.) To use the tool, the polished tip is inserted between the scat tube and the metal duct fitting it is stuck to. Then the tip is worked around the circumference of the fitting lifting the scat tube gently off as it progresses. Once most of the scat tube is unstuck, the tube and can be rotated and pulled off the fitting. All that said, if the holes aren't too big and the rest of your vent hose is in reasonable shape, how about patching it? Self fusing rubber tape is great for repairs like that. bumper

I use Pam cooking spray as a non-stick coating on my tractor mounted snow blower. Helps keep the snow from sticking and bunging things up until the snow blower temperature drops enough. This is all well and good when it snows soon after the Pam application. If not, the Pam turns into a gooey sticky coating. Not something I'll be spraying on my Mooney, thank you. bumper

From their care and feeding instructions: "Care and Repair: Ultra-Ever Dry ® is a durable coating that exhibit superhydrophobicity and superoloephobicity. After curing the coatings will repel water mixtures and refined oil. Cleaning of the surface should be performed using low pressure water spray. The surface should demonstrate self cleaning properties under these conditions. Dust and dirt will rinse off easily. The surface will remain completely dry. The surface will lose it properties if treated with detergents, soap, some solvents or high pressure water. Due to the natural oils in the skin, excessive handling with bare hands of treated materials can cause a reduction in performance as can severe abrasion." Note that you must use low pressure water to clean the surface, "The surface will lose it (sic) properties if treated with . . . . or high pressure water.". Therein may be the Achilles heel for aircraft use. Precip hitting the aircraft is anything but low pressure. From other forums discussing this product, there is also an issue with most any sort of abrasion, as the coating is intolerant to even wiping with a wet rag etc. If the bugs don't rinse off (and they very well may, I don't know) then cleaning them off by mechanical or other fluid cleaners looks to be a no-no. Given the cost, I'll wait for a pirep before diving in. bumper

I've had the pin on my 201 for probably >15 years. An especially good mod if you have a pump-up door seal, and doubtless worthwhile even if not. When the upper leading edge of the door is able to flex out due to the low pressure there, it most certainly adds drag. The pin, along with the pump-up seal (mine uses a hand squeeze bulb), makes the door quiet and free from air leaks too. bumper

I've had my '87 J since '91. It's still is my first Mooney. I lived at sea level back then and looked for a normally aspirated plane. Now I fly out of Minden, NV, 4730'. We've been to 16K with not a lot of climb left. Regularly go to the lower teens crossing the Sierra. There are times a turbo would be nice, but for my flying, the J is efficient, has low maintenance cost, and has been solidly dependable. I did give her a brand new A3B6 and PowerFlow exhaust, both of which bumped TAS up a few knots. I'm convinced all the engine parts will arrive at or beyond TBO together. . . something I've heard is not so likely to happen with the jugs on Continentals. I'll be keeping my "downgrade" J I reckon.

What would Ann Landers or Dear Abby say? Seriously, I'm with the get it out of there crowd, that is unless you can get him back to work using guilt, kindness, etc. Sure's hell don't want someone working on your plane who is pissed off at you. In any case, sorry you're going through this. bumper

Congrats . . . but now you're gonna have to be extra careful to not screw up and have a gear-up before you build up another protective layer of belly grease. bumper

Mountain High sells an electronic pulse demand system (EDS). http://mhoxygen.com/portable-pulse-demand EDS automatically compensates for altitude, delivers a calibrated pulse of O2 and the beginning of the inhalation cycle. More efficient as the O2 goes deep into the lungs (so they say), and uses some 1/5 of the O2. It is pricey, around $600 for just the box, but it is sure does work well. Uses a plain cannula (no bag, or mustache thingy). EDS is in wide use by glider pilots, mountain climbers etc. bumper

Gary, It could be a number of things, but perhaps the most likely is the CHT probe type you have on #3. Being as the stock (original) probe is installed in the threaded well provided for that purpose, when an aftermarket analyzer is installed, they'll often use a spark plug gasket probe. These run notoriously hot. bumper

The towel bar antennas are quite draggy. But I've discovered they are far worse with towels on them. bumper

I have split back seats and have a white halon (the original good stuff) extinguisher attached between the seats with Velcro - - never has come loose.

My friend will cheerfully sell the LED bulbs he installed and removed for half what he paid and free shipping to lower 48 (or as OB would say,lower 55). I think he has 3 wingtip and 1 tail - - he's gonna get back to me and let me know for sure. In any case, package deal for all. Great deal? You decide. WARNING: Installed LED lights will be significantly dimmer than the bulbs they replace. Half price offer is final, no returns. There are already bright red and green bulbs available on ebay for about $13 or so. Here's two red ones that would most likely be too long to fit under the existing red lens (but for those with the later plexi covered wing tips, should work without a lens - - maybe). http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-BAY15S-5-5W-30x5050-SMD-LED-Red-Light-Car-Brake-Turning-Reverse-Bulbs-12V-/190782188752?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c6b812cd0&vxp=mtr Clear lenses are also available from Whelen, but like most of the stuff they offer, they are quite proud of them. I think I'll wait on the nav lights and continue using the old bulbs. I've got spares form my Husky when I replaced everything that lights up with LED fixtures from AeroLeds. bumper

Doesn't make you feel much better if you are sitting on rock trying to figure out how in the heck they could possibly cost more than about $10,000 tops.

I agree with perezhr. When you pull the belly panel, look carefully at the inner side of that panel and it may give you a clue as to where the red hydraulic fluid (which is MilSpec 5606) is dripping from. Maybe from a chafed brake line or a loose fitting, or from the master cylinders at the brake pedals. With oil, it doesn't take much of a leak to make an impressive mess, so being down 1/4 down on brake fluid reservoir is telling you something. Calculated risk flying for service, I'd do it. Check brakes before you go, don't put yourself in a position where you can't stop safely with just one side (jdon't taxi fast or head towards anything really expensive, avoid strong cross winds blah, blah, blah), You can't tell if or when the leak might let go if it's on the pressure side between the master and slave cylinder, bumper

I like the last line, " . . . . the four cylinder engine allows the pilot to take to the clear blue skies in total confidence." Well, okay then! Light the tires 'n kick the fires. bumper

I disagree. Depending on the current limiting method used, wattage will either go up with voltage applied (excess power being dissapated as heat), or stay near the same as voltage is increased (more fancy current regulator - see below) . . . wattage will *not* go down with increased voltage as you suggest. explanation . . . Watts (or power used) is a measure of voltage across the device (or load), and current through that device. Current X Voltage = Power. Their spec says 225ma at 14.2VDC and that's 3.195 watts. If that is correct, then that's what the LED is gonna use for full intended brightness. You can apply more voltage than 14.2 volts, but there has to be a current limiter or regulator of some sort involved to allow for the higher voltagte input, or the LED would simply go PFFT! LEDs are designed to operate at a given forward voltage (e.g. say around 2 volts*). If this voltage is exceeded, the current goes up exponentially as the excess heat lowers the LED's internal resistance and that causes even more current flow (thermal runaway). So LEDs must have some sort of current limiter or regulator. * LEDs will often be arranged in series or series/parallel circuits to increase working voltage (e.g. six 2 volt LEDs in series would be need 12 volts applied). Unlike the days of using a simple (and cheap) current limiting series resister, Higher power LED arrays now often use a voltage/current regulator to allow for a broad input voltage range and to protect the LED from over-current. If a simple regulator such as an LM series is used, then any excess power is simply converted to heat. Larger arrays may use a DC-DC converter (current limiting buck or buck/boost) which is more effecient 85 - 95%. Oh, and just to confirm, my friend confirmed the LED nav/strobe bulbs he purchased were the same, from the same source, as the link at the beginning of this thread. As noted earlier, they were not nearly as bright as the original incandescent bulbs (when mounted behind the red or green position lenses), and so were removed from service. bumper

The link does say 7.5 watts. But right below that in the specs it states Draws <225ma @ 14.2VDC Ohm's law (P=IE) says that 225 ma X 14.2 volts = 3.195 watts. There be's a goof somewhere! If lowering current demand on your electrical system is your goal, the LED bulb uses less. 12 volt incandescent position light bulb is 21 watts. bumper

A friend installed nav/strobe LED replacement bulbs. They were not as bright as the incandescent bulbs they replaced (note that I'm not sure they were the same as those in Scottaviation's link - - I'll try to find out though). When using a white LED behind a red or green lens, the lens will block most of the LED's output *except* for the light light wavelenght band that's the lens color (red or green in our case). This filtering will significantly reduce the LED brightness, especially so if the LED is "cool white" (warm white has more red while cool white has more blue). I believe most of the LED nav light makers are using red and green LEDS with a clear lens for their nav lights - - the AeroLeds on my Husky are made that way. More efficient approach. bumper

You can fill from larger bottles you own or rent from the local welding supply place. All O2, whether it be aviator's, welding, medical, is cryogenically produced and typically comes from the same mfgs. To fill your tank from the larger tanks you will need a "transfill" hose. Mine (used for portable bottles for both power and glider) was made up at the welding supply and consists of two CGA-540 "hand wheel" adapters, a pressure gauge, and a dump valve (to dump line pressure after closing bottle valves so as not to trash the O-rings on the "hand wheel" adapters - no wrenchs needed. You fill from your lowest pressure big bottle first, then top up with the high pressure one. When the high pressure bottle drops below an acceptable amount, take the low pressure bottle and swap it for a full one at the welding supply. Cheap O2. Note that two bottles works acceptably well as a source, though when higher volume and more effeciency is required as for an FBO, they'll often have as many as a half dozen bottles in their manifold. You should get instruction on how to safely transfill O2 bottles. Also, when filling composite bottles, it's important to go slow so as not to overheat and weaked the bottle. bumper

If the wires are still inuslated from each other (i.e. the sensor is still working), you might consider re-routing the wire as suggested, but also further insulate it with a length of silicone tubing (McMaster-Carr). You can either disconnect the wires ane thread them trhough the tube, or slit the tubing lengthwise for slip-on insualation. Silicone tubing is rated for something like 450 F.

If comparing HID to LED, here's some interesting info and an easy read: http://www.innovativelight.com/led_facts/hid-vs-led-lighting/ When I installed AeroLeds on my Husky last year, I did a side-by-side comparison (all PAR 36) with a Q4509 quartz halogen 100 watt, a 55 watt HID (cheap automotive headlight kit, but installed in a clear PAR 36 housing, and the AeroLed SunSpot 36 (Seth mentioned). I posted the pics in another thread, so won't repeat here. However, both the HID and LED were much brighter than the Q4509 and used about half the current. Both LED and HID, to my unscientific eye, were equally bright, however the LED had a more consistent and even beam pattern. The HID can be "put together", (though not legal of course) for less the $100 (ballast, lamp, and PAR 36 housing). RFI, will typically be greater than with a LED unit*, but can be reduced to an acceptable level by using a ferrite on the power leads to the ballast and by proper grounding. *LEDs may have RFI issues too, though of typically of lower amplitude and caused by the DC to DC switching circuit used in the LED constant current driver. With LEDs, not usually necessary to add a ferrite as long as grounding is per installation instructions (AeroLed). LED is clearly the way lighting is headed. Lots of pluses including super long life with low output depreciation. I no longer turn off my landng light when leaving airport environs - leave them on flashing for collision avoidance with other flying objects, aluminum, plastic, or feathers. The picture is of an experiment using two 20 watt LED wing tip recognition lights that can replace the existing 25 watt lights (that melt the lens!). Radiated heat is significantly reduced with no possibility of melting plastic (temperature rise after 3 minutes is 70 degrees F with the halogen bulb and only 10 degrees with LEDs - measured on plexi lens). My plan is to donate the design to Lake Aero Styling, so if they accept, it may be available in the future.

To avoid the need to drain water, if a hangar freezer is available, how 'bout using frozen water bottles? A spacer grid could be used to allow air flow between the bottles. bumper

Seth, If the lights are side-by-side, I wouldn't bother with wig-wag, as to be truly effective and impart "movement", they need to be further apart - lights on each wing is best. That said, if you do want to use the wig-wag feature now or later, it requires only one sync wire between the two lamps. A fairly easy wiring job if you have a girlfriend or wife with arms like a spidermonkey. bumper

The hangar bracket, you are referring to, is necessary for a couple of reasons. First, it's used to keep the tailpipe from hanging down and chafing on the cowl flap - - the tail pipe is connected to the exhaust system via a ball joint connection that allows enough movement for the tailpipe to get into trouble if not supported. Further, the hangar bracket serves to damp some of the vibration that would otherwise have the tailpipe moving pretty good given its moment arm. A friend of a friend made a nice new bracket out of a strip of tire sidewall. The cord adds strength while still being strong enough to last many years. A stainless hose clamp went around the pipe and through a bracket made from a strip of stainless, folded into a "U", with legs twisted 90 degrees and holes in them to bolt to a hole in the rubber strip.