MB65E

Best wishes for you and your family. Kind of puts things into perspective. -Matt

The OP airplane looked pretty clean in the photos. Be Advised it has that wing tip with the drooped leading edge. Not the most popular item, but might be the reason the price seems good. -Matt

Williams is great!! They will most likely need the old skin to use as a template. Matt

Haha, it wouldn't need the step anymore. I'm sure it would work. Even closer to the P51. The tail wheel would need to be forward a bit. It would be lighter w/o all the steel in the nose. Fun, -Matt

Lookes like they wacked the pitot tube too. I once worked in a shop that we changed the same skin with out changing any others. The gear collapsed I front of our hangar when the owner got out of the airplane. Poor guy came in for an oil change and tire it shoved the pitot tube theu the wing. We removed the old skin. Then match drilled the new skin to the old skin. We only needed about 3 cherry max rivets in the entire wing. All the holes lined up. We jacked the aircraft, and shored the wing with a welded stand to the hangar floor. This prevented the wing from moving. It can be done. I'd get a ferry permit and take it to Don or someone else that will offer to fix it with a new skin. It can be done! -Matt

You could just run a Teflon hose from the Govoner to the front case. A new Teflon line, with steel fittings was what I went with. -Matt

The red permetex from autozone works well too. The clears will fade to yellow/brown and look like crap. -Matt.

DowCorning makes nice products. Red, black, clear. All from spruce. -Matt

I bought a stringer for my fuselage about 3 years ago from lasar. Dan sourced a new part from mooney for me. It came primed and painted. I'm sure you cans get a new one. Pricing won't be as bad as you think. It's just angle. I had few spots in the wings this year I took care of. I drilled out a few rivets, then polished under the skin and stringer with crocus cloth. Followed by thinned epoxy primer on everything. The white powder where corrosion is is usually not that deep. It polishes off easier than I thought too. Might give that a try before you scrap the stringer. Following my repairs this year I put a can of corrosion X in each wing. It's like a flying bug sprayer right now... -Matt

Ok, I'm splitting hairs in a gray area now. I have read the AC now several times. No where does it say the "electronic device" needs to be TSO'd. All it says is the unit must be stand alone with very very limited other functions. It even not need its own power source as long as voltage can be verified prior to take off. I have read all of the other ac's and Cfr's mentioned in the AC... Not one mentioned TSO'd certified Equiptment. Under the IFR regs in part 91 there is no mention of certified equiptment. Many argue that part 23 regs still apply to CAR 3 aircraft, but there is not much stating that. I will end up putting in a certified rca-2600-3. But there is way better experimental units available. It's pretty strange that the FAA comes out with a do unmet clarification AC only for there to be more questions! Lol. -Matt

Bose sells splitters... Aviation mic & phone to Lemo I believe. Around $70. I know I have a Lemo to Avaition Jacks splitter on a few A20's in our hangar. I guess it might be a sales gimic not to sell aviation to Lemo. (Ie. Just buy a new headset. )

I have had new mags advance during short brake in periods. After that initial say 10hrs and mag re-test, they are usually solid. I still use a torque wrench on mine, and after they are fully torqued I'll run another test with the box. "Silpped" I'd say is a lazy word for didn't get it right the first time. they may have slipped if the old locking hardware was used. -Matt

I would look at the solid state gyro from RCA. It's probably close to the same price as a new mechanical gyro. RCA-2600-3. You should have 0-tilt. This is what I would do when my current one rolls over. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/inpages/rca2600-3.php -Matt

West wood is closer to Santa Monica. Santa Monica is still open!! American flyers operates a little FBO and has cheaper gas than Atlantic. Signature, as well as other crooks at VNY will leave you with a thinner wallet. The landing Fees at SMO are cheaper than the ramp fees at VNY. My mooney is 10.48 per landing. They will mail you an invoice. -Matt

There is a Stato-seal at the -3 bolt. Many people think it's just a washer. It should be replaced along with the gasket. Lasar has the kits. I was impressed. I ordered the gasket and it came with the Stato-seal. Thanks Mr. Dan @ Lasar. -Matt

I would do a test piece with the PR 1425 Clarence and the MM recommends. The issue is when you remove the glass and the last guy PRC'd the snot out of the window. I have used silicone for the majority of the install. However use a thin bead of PR on the exterior of the window. Looks slick. Unless your pressurized, then you get to spend 3 days removing sealant around cockpit windows on a citation. Ugh. -Matt

Most powder coating is done at what I'm told 375-400 degrees. At that temp, it won't hurt that big cast piece. I would make sure they have a means to control tempature. Now on the other hand, O-200 Continental valve seats start working loose at 525 degrees. It's not much over that where the head expands and the seat is lost. -Matt

Thanks Craig! -Matt

That's pretty neat that they did it in house. I have been tempted to do it myself, but the powder shops do such nice work at a fair price, I'll leave it to them. Looks nice. -Matt

Bose just did mine for $158. New mic, comm cord, ear pieces, and head pad!! They won't sell just the cable/connector. This was after an avionics tech sat on the cord as it was plugged in. It broke the plastic Leno plug. I have gotten in the habit of unplugging them now. Overall not not a bad deal, just frustrating when there is a human element evolved with failures. -Matt

Nice airmanship!! Give Ken at Lycon in Visalia a call or Chris At Pacific Continental in LA a call. Both are awesome shops!! The good news is you are half way between 2 of th best shops on the west coast!!! With 2100 TSO on the engine I would count my blessings and overhaul the engine. Bummer it it had to happen with pax onboard. Ping me when you finish your trip to Santa Monica. I'll buy lunch!! Love to here the entire story. -Matt

Hi Craig, thanks for all your efforts. Please don't get discouraged. 90 days sounds scary to me. I'm in for another donation! -Matt

Finally had a nice day in Mojave where it was not gusting to 35kts. Had 3 flights great flights post annual. Made the airplane better in many ways. Corrected some roll tendicies. Re-rigged almost everything. Painted several things. Re-worked the seats. Mojave on the weekends is an Awesome place to test!! 3 large runways, Far enough away from flight school traffic, a great restaurant, and the tower is closed. However all the transient aircraft don't know this and announce their position inbound providing nice traffic awareness! I played with several stall series configurations, the wing is amazing. I was light and with Slight power with flaps and it hangs on till 50kts. Did several no flap landings. I think with the flaps up the airplane has more pitch authority. I can get a higher deck angle, and slow down faster. Fun stuff!!

Gee, Sounds like Santa Monica... -Matt

I always thought that was funny too. It's "airworthy" on paper. However there are still parts all over the hangar and at least a day of screws left to install. Thus- the owner/pic still is responsible.. -Matt