Oldguy

Heard from a MSC you can replace a master cylinder on the F model with a Cleveland master - the same one used on a Beech Bonanza (unsure of the model). Has anyone made this switch and been successful, or is this something you should be able to do, but no one has done it yet? Friend has gone through 2 new-to-him master cylinders and each has had its own challenges holding pressure. Would love to hear real life experience with doing this type of swap or reasons why it can't/shouldn't be done. TIA.

And from there, the story got a bit convoluted... I continued to fly it using a some oil from time to time with no real problem. Then, in early 2020, it went into the avionics shop for some upgrades. Between COVID running rampant thru the shop employees, problems with manufacturing delays for the hardware due to COVID, poor workmanship by the contract avionics techs brought in due to COVID, (catch the running theme here?) it was in their shop and down for over a year! It seemed every time it was pronounced finished, it went back within a week. Actually had to get a ferry permit to get it home for the annual the last time. That's when we found the two rusted/pitted cylinders which apparently resulted from sitting in the avionics shop for so long. Ordered two cylinders and in the months while waiting for them had the exhaust rebuilt by Acorn in Canada (HIGHEST recommendation possible for those folks!) and finished the interior refresh. Finished the break-in on the engine by flying it home to Lakeland, FL, where we retired at the end of 2021. Since then, it has found a new home and pilot via Jimmy Garrison and now resides in northern Vermont. So the saga of N5767Z continues with a refreshed top-end for two cylinders. She was running very well with no oil blowby (the oil rings on one of the cylinders replaced had lost tension) and making good power.

Correct, sir. And he has found someone to rebuild/make a set for him. In Longview...

Helping out a friend of mine who has a 1976 F. The baffles are just about falling apart and he is trying to decide on spending the AMUs to repair the existing ones or buy new. Does anyone have a source as to where baffles for a F model could be purchased? Airforms makes them for the J but not for the F. My recommendation would be an MSC or direct to the factory, if they are selling them. Anyone have any sources they know make them? TIA

And learn how these numbers can change with varying weights in the plane. Approach speed near max weight is very different from approach speed lightly loaded. Can get exciting if you don’t adjust for weight!

I have two Jepp Skybound programmers I do not need any more. One was my backup I carried in the plane and has never been opened. The other was the one I used regularly. If someone wants to buy them, I will take their money, or if you want to pay for shipping, I will sell For Free (FF). If you are a true Mooney CB, I will deliver them to KLAL, KBOW, or KGIF at no charge.

My next door hangar neighbor was told last week the Garmin 650xi for his RV would not be delivered until Q2 2022 even though it was ordered on April 8, 2021. It is the last piece of avionics he needs to do the rework of his panel which he, fortunately, has not started yet. But until he gets the GPS delivered, he has ~$40AMU of avionics sitting on the shelf. He is also wondering about how the delay will affect any warranty he has on the already purchased equipment.

Regardless of the answer, if you happen to use the search function on this site (or in Google), anything previously written and out in the public domain about said N-number would be available. Just a thought.

This is the second event I was scheduled to attend this week in October in Florida that has been cancelled. The first was work related with me and 10,000 other computer geeks at Disney, and I wholeheartedly support the decision by both groups in light of the current situation.

Headed down to Lakeland this weekend early (BCOD) Saturday morning to avoid the rough stuff I can’t get over in my J. Had a great shot of the sunrise. My next door neighbor had no problem getting above the weather when he left Friday afternoon. (I hangar in the nice neighborhood!)

Maybe @Parker_Woodruff could shine some light on this.

Same servos and many other parts. But papa FAA says says they are not included in the STC, therefore no bueno. Hilariously, the KFC and KAP are approved for our Mooneys under the same STC. But not for the KFC 230. Go figure.

No, you are not. For those with a KFC 150, it is a certified replacement. For those poorer cousins of us with a KAP 150, it is not. The update is supposedly in the works.

There is probably a value to be assigned to this, and I will say whatever value you assign to it, it will be too low. When your plane is AOG at your home drome with an avionics problem and your avionics shop is a flight away - irrespective of the distance - the money you saved having a shop 200 nm away do the install is not worth it. Quote from a friend of mine named Experience.

To close the loop on this, after a calibration of each RSM with their respective Aspen, everybody in the panel agrees with each other. Of course, my annual is due this month, I have a week of vacation scheduled to do some diving in Belize, and we just put our house on the market. So in my "spare" time, I will take the plane out and get familiar with flying again. Probably in July.

Let's do a little hypothetical timeline: gear switch is in the UP position due to whatever. Or not. Taxi out, start your roll, give a light pull, plane starts to lift. If you pull the gear switch up a little early (or if it is already in the UP position), the gear retracts, and plane settles back onto the runway (even just a little and then the prop is no longer making power). And, as @Hank writes just after your original post, you pull the gear lever down before you turn off the master, the CB will pop since - obviously - the gear cannot deploy. Or, worst case scenario I have seen discussed here, you put the gear switch back down as the plane is settling onto the runway, and the gear partially deploys as the plane grinds to a stop. CB will still pop, and from what I have read, you now get to repair/replace many parts not normally damaged in a normal gear up.

To further update the brain trust: I made a mistake in the original post - the gear up was on TO. He had allegedly done some work behind the panel and was taking it to a mechanic. The gear handle was in the down position after he exited the plane, but the circuit breaker was popped. Several thoughts voiced at the airport about the apparent anomaly of a gear up on take off with the CB popped and the gear handle in the down position, and not all of them were complimentary.

They did the MFD install and MAX upgrades at the same time but did not move the RSM with the GPS from the PFD to the MFD. When it came back to get corrected, my supposition is they swapped the cables and buttoned it up. Would swapping RSMs between the units make a difference? I would think the answer is a solid yes. Me neither, and it is another one of the reasons I am strongly considering getting a new panel cut when I do the EDM 900 install. It already looked like a bit of a "Franken-panel" before the MFD install, but now it looks like a listing one!

Just got this sent to me from some friends out at KEET. No apparent injuries except for ego. Picture shared by pilot on social media. Don't have any information as to reason for the gear up landing.

I contacted the shop today and they are leaning towards the compass swing as well. We'll see Monday. Had it back for a week this time. Progress.

Plane is 8 days and 0.5 hours out of the shop. My buddy whose Mooney is at Hawk getting painted took mine to make a quick run to Gulf Shores to get his wife. The photo below is one of the four he took down and back showing this problem. Was constant and not an intermittent anomaly. The PFD is correct but the MFD is off. My thought is it has something to do with the indicated wind, as, again, the PFD is correct and the MFD is not. I know this will probably have to go back to the shop - again - but would love to hear someone tell me this is a quick fix and not another week or more to get corrected. Anyone have any ideas? TIA.

I know a while back, Plane Plastics (pre-Vantage) would take your part and make a mold from it to make a new part, if there was enough of it to do so. Not sure about now, but never hurts to ask.

^^^ This is a good resource to find your CFI and good advice.

When I did the major work on my center stack a couple of years ago, it was just after Sun-n-Fun where the 450B was introduced. I came home and had my avionics shop order one. They were still in the process of manufacturing the first batch, so I think I may have one of the earliest ones produced. It has never given any problem, and it has been the one the more rock solid piece of avionics gear I have purchased. Given the opportunity to do it again, I would do so in a heartbeat.

My A&P/IA have a great relationship. With 35+ years of Mooney maintenance under his belt, he can point out things to me I would take hours to find. I know he will take care of my plane without taking any shortcuts, charge me fairly, and deliver on the schedule we set. For my part, I always make sure I pay him the instant I receive an invoice (and sometimes have to ask for one) and deliver a kilo of Colombian coffee when I come back from my trips down south.