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Sadly that won't program your obstacle data-card. But miraculously Garmin has slashed the price on these in the last couple of years. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/prod1190.html Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sugarland is probably your best bet considering location, fuel cost, and amenities. Call ahead to confirm tie-down or hangar space though. They may be a bit stuffy catering more to corporate aviation. West Houston is more of a GA field but fuel is high there and fewer amenities. Houston Executive is a bit further west but seems hungry for business. Hobby gets really busy in the mornings and evenings being a SW hub with international flights too. You may recall a novice Cirrus pilot who crashed there recently trying to interface with traffic and distractions. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It may have been me. Thanks for the heads up but I ended up purchasing the (obstacle) programmer from Garmin at full price a couple of years back and have already shared it with another MSer (for a minimal contribution to help offset my original expenditure). If anybody else needs to update their GNS obstacle database feel free to contact me. I believe Garmin still charges only $50 for the data. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As a casual observer it appears that Locitite 515 is not designed for this application. Why would one not use Loctite 592 or its Permatex equivalent which is specifically formulated for such an application? https://www.permatex.com/products/thread-compounds/thread-sealants/permatex-high-temperature-thread-sealant/ Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

How often do you fly? I don't use a battery maintainer at all and my Concorde is 3 years old and going strong on alternator charging alone. And the battery box is clean too. If it was colder here and I only flew once or twice a month I'd probably invest in one though. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Lycoming specified the magnet tool and mechanical fingers in the SB. We found the fingers more difficult to manipulate than a simple stiff wire hook lowered through the upper plug hole which actually worked quite well with the magnet. Shining a bright light into the bottom plug hole allows you to sight down the open guide to get the valve stem properly lined up. Dropping the exhaust and working through the open ports would make it even easier but that's more work that we didn't find necessary. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Don, we had good success using a magnetic pick-up tool thru the guide (to line up and pull the valve) and a bent-wire hook thru the spark plug hole (to hold the valve level). This was described in a couple of online postings elsewhere. With a little practice it becomes easier. We had mechanical fingers too but that seemed harder than the magnet and hook technique. I talked to someone who used floss but it still has to be lined up and the floss must clear between the tip of the valve and the guide. I'm told you can tie it to the valve as it sticks out the plug hole then use a vacuum to suck the free end out the guide hole to pull on. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

"Invasive" may not be the proper term but if you follow the prescribed procedure as outlined in Lycoming Service Bulletin 388C it is a fair amount of work. I entirely agree that a competent A&P would be able to perform the work but I can't imagine how you could complete the required steps in one hour, even for just one cylinder. The SB states "4. All Engines: Remove push rods, shroud tubes and hydraulic tappet assemblies. Disassemble tappet and clean as described in the applicable overhaul manual" as part of the procedure. As it was explained to me the hydraulic tappet assemblies may accumulate and retain oil as the crankshaft is rotated to allow clearance for removing the valves and reaming the guides. Lycoming also states "Any disassembly of the valve train must be followed by removal of all oil from the hydraulic lifters prior to reassembly" which can be accomplished by inserting a small brass rod into the lifter to unseat the check valve ball. Doing this allows one to reinstall the rocker arm without any issues. I guess one could compress the valve instead (to install the rocker arm) but there may be some risk of damaging a dislodged lifter using this technique. We simply followed the detailed instructions in the SB. Regarding the amount of time required to do the operation in accordance with the SB (at a minimum) the following steps must be taken: Remover upper and lower cowlings, remove ignition leads, remove spark plug, remove valve cover, remove rocker shaft cover, compress valve spring (requires special tools), remove valve keepers and rotator cap, remove rocker shaft, remove rocker arm, remove push rod, remove push rod shroud tube, remove hydraulic lifter, clean/inspect/test hydraulic lifter (IAW Lycoming Service Instruction 1011K), remove valve springs and retainer, set up fixture for measuring wobble, measure wobble, push valve into cylinder, fish valve stem out of spark plug hole, clean/polish valve stem, ream valve guide (as needed), flush and clean guide of contaminants, fish valve stem back into guide. At this point you will need to scrape/clean the old rocker shaft cover gasket material prior to reinstalling everything in reverse order of above. Anybody who can perform the entire procedure in than an hour or two per cylinder should be revered. I should also add that on angle valve cylinders for those who have the rear-mounted oil cooler you should add a couple of more hours minimum to complete this work on cylinder #4. In addition to all the steps above you must also remove the engine baffling at the rear of that cylinder which means removing the retaining springs underneath the cylinders as well as the oil cooler itself (hoses remain attached). IMO to complete this job on all four cylinders (including reaming guides and cleaning valve stems) a reasonable time allotment would be 10-12 hours. In my instance it took even longer than this. An A&P that is very experienced in this specific procedure may be able to do it in less time but I can't imagine anybody doing all this in a few hours. YMMV. And in answer to the question about the shop and cost, the work was supervised by a local A&P who was paid for supervision only. The mechanic was not personally experienced in the procedure, and none of the other shops I contacted were familiar with the procedure either, even shops recommended by SAVVY.

A few of us here have experience with this. I am one of them. My great-running 600 hour IO360 experienced a brief episode of morning sickness on a cool morning departure from Durango in September. It ran rough for 30 seconds with the #2 cylinder's EGT dropping out during that time. It cleared up immediately and didn't show any further symptoms after returning back to the hot Texas coast. Still I'm a pro-active sort of flyer and after running the data by Savvy (I pay for their service) they confirmed my suspicion. I immediately began a search for a shop who is experienced in Lycoming on-plane valve-guide reaming. Let me tell you, there are LOTS of mechanics who won't do this and/or know nothing about it (even popular, well-known mechanics). We ended up doing the wobble test on all 4 cylinders and I decided to go ahead and ream all 4 at the same time though truly only #2 was below spec. We also pulled all the stems up through the spark plug holes and polished them with scotchbrite. I haven't had any hint of a problem since and I feel much better knowing that this work was done. Now I don't think the wobble test is warranted for checking too MUCH clearance as the newer guides are really tough and I haven't heard of this being a problem. I also doubt I'd routinely do a wobble test every 500 hours without seeing any prior symptoms. I'm no expert but I believe that if you're attentive you would notice a problem with a sticky valve before you run the risk of catastrophic failure in flight, but that is JUST MY OPINION. The key IMO is to NOT IGNORE the onset of morning sickness. Having been through it I would still consider the whole operation to be somewhat invasive making you more prone to a MIF. The hydraulic tappets have to be removed and bled, the pushrod tubes removed and resealed, and valve cover leaks can occur just to name a few things. Also, on planes with the rear-mounted oil cooler, it must be removed partially along with some baffling in order to get the #4 rocker shaft out. It's a bigger job than what you might expect. I may do a write-up on the job sometime when I'm not so busy but will post a couple of pics here as a teaser. One more thing, I don't believe that SAVVY is going to catch a sticky valve that you yourself don't notice. I love their service but not for that reason.

You're preaching to the choir brother. I'm still driving my Matador in order to make the payments on my Mooney. On the other hand, my lovely wife deserves special consideration so I stepped it up and got her into a nice Maverick GT!

Mcmaster-Carr sells a fair variety of these. They have low-profile ones at http://www.mcmaster.com/#clip-on-nuts/=14om3nu Note that they are black phosphate finished though. The DA274-8-1 versions at Aircraft Spruce look a lot like what's in the picture. Chuck

Sucks being old and dumb. I held it in front of a mirror and STILL didn't get it.

Praise is due for all. Thanks Anthony for your most excellent instructions. And thanks Dan for the persistence in answering my endless probing questions. With your screenshot and comments you have confirmed my issue that FREEP has been deleted as an IAF for this approach in foreflight's database. The full procedure (with procedure turn) is shown on the approach plate but cannot be loaded into the flight plan. This was not the case as recently as August, and yesterday the fine people at Foreflight finally admitted the issue and vowed to fix it. As a side note the FAA procedure that does load (HUB as the IAF) is absurd since the VOR sits in the middle of KHOU's class Bravo airspace and I've never once been vectored over the busy field. And another thanks to MLF for additional confirmation. This thread can officially die now, unless y'all want me to post a screenshot of the proper approach once Foreflight gets it restored.

So that I'm not confused about this... you can load the ILS17 approach into KLBX using FREEP as the initial approach fix, and it displays on your map page with a course line that includes the procedure turn outbound from FREEP? If the answer is yes can you also confirm that your navdata is current? I apologize if I sound difficult but I've now heard from a couple of other people who also can't display this in Foreflight. If it's working correctly for you then I have even greater concern. I'd love to have a screenshot to show Foreflight's tech guys. Thank you. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

To all: I really appreciate your taking the time to look at this with me. To elaborate and clarify (as it's sometimes difficult to solve problems via email)... Chris, this is not using Flightstream. This issue only applies to the stand-alone version of Foreflight running on my iPad. Dan, you are able to display the approach plate overlay from the procedure list, but can you actually load the procedure onto the map as magenta and blue lines including the procedure turn? Guys and gals, this is what I'm attempting to do, load the entire approach into the active flight plan with all the waypoints listed in the flight plan section with the active leg displaying on the map in magenta and the upcoming legs displaying on the map in blue (with or without the approach plate overlay visible). This is the function that makes Foreflight such a wonderful tool for maintaining situational awareness in IMC. I use this function frequently. If Garmin Pilot truly doesn't have that functionality I'm really surprised. Please look at the map below and you'll see what I'm describing for a different airport and approach (KBYY RNAV13 COSDI (IAF). This is automatically added to the flight plan when you choose that particular approach in the flight plan edit mode. If you look at the NavLog box above the map you will see a few of the 22 waypoints it generates to display the procedure turn (holding pattern in this case) and fixes (you can scroll through that info to see each segment in the app). And Deb, thanks for pointing out the good info on flying to an IF. Like others I learned my lesson about pushing the VTF button on my GNS prematurely. It's not uncommon for a controller to first say "vectors to final" and then moments later tell you "direct to XYZ fix" on the approach (which will be GONE from your display if you've already pushed the VTF button). So, at this point it sounds like WingX Pro has the procedure in their database (plus an extra (OBVIE)), Foreflight accidentally forgot an IAF, and Garmin Pilot doesn't even load approaches into a flight plan. Does anybody else use FlyQ EFB? Or something else? Chuck

LOL! That's the first time I've ever heard a Mooney being compared to a Massey Ferguson. You've got to FIX that thing![emoji15] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks Deb! OBVIE is shown as an intermediate fix from HUB on my plate; can you actually choose that as an IAF? As I understand it (which may or may not be correct) you can initiate an approach from an IF if it is accessible from the enroute environment, but still I'm surprised you can load that in WingX. You cannot load an IF as an IAF in Foreflight without doing it manually. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Oh. Foreflight won't load approaches either without paying for the IFR subscription. Can anybody else with the full subscription load the ILS17 FREEP (IAF) approach into their Garmin Pilot app? Anybody using FlyQ EFB? Or WingX Pro? P.S. Foreflight has acknowledged the problem this morning and attributed it to an outside vendor. We'll see how quickly it gets fixed.

I am shocked that you can't load approaches into Garmin Pilot! That's a common function in Foreflight and adds great situational awareness on an approach. Here's a screenshot coming into your neck of the woods. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So please see if you can load the ILS17 approach into KLBX using FREEP as the IAF? Thanks. Chuck

I'll let you know soon; my renewal is out for quotes right now. Like Don I ditched AIG last year due to a big price hike and found a much better deal. AOPA is my current broker but I hear great things about Falcon too. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for the input. It will load as a IAF on my GNS530W too but is now missing in Foreflight (used to be there though). But... you really can't "load" approaches in Garmin Pilot? That's one of the best things in Foreflight and I'm shocked that's not built into the other apps. In the pic below I loaded the RNAV13 approach into KBYY with the COSDI IAF which nicely adds the procedure turn. This is what I'm trying to display for ILS17 at KLBX. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'd like some input from those using an app other than Foreflight such as Garmin Pilot, FlyQ EFB, WingX Pro, etc. to see if you're missing a particular approach option that will no longer pop up on my iPad. If you're using Foreflight you might also confirm what I'm experiencing. In particular: Enter a flight from KBYY to KLBX and select the approach procedures for the ILS17 into KLBX. What I'd like to know is whether or not your app show the option to load an approach to the IAF FREEP or not. This is a frequently flown IAP at my home drome and it's been oddly missing from Foreflight for the past two cycles. It's still on the "plates" but won't load into the app. Foreflight has been unusually slow to respond to the issue and I'm curious if the other apps are having a similar issue. Thanks!

TT, having the rigging checked by a Mooney pro sounds like a good idea but in the meantime you might get an idea if it was improperly rigged by measuring the gap between the empennage and the tail. I can't verify these values apply to your plane but my J trims nicely for a power-on descent as well as climb. See the photos for the measurements (full up and down trim). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

#4 definitely. And then #8. Hook up with the Mooney Caravan and you'll get lots of cool photos of your plane for free as a side benefit. Edit: I'm removing the pic I posted after noticing that it's the primary photo seen with this thread on Tapatalk. That beautiful Acclaim is the star here and needs to be seen! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk