Ragsf15e

One option (does not appear cheap) is to get one on ebay. I have seen several on there in the 3k-5k range. I also have this fear of my motor going out, so i looked. Another option i would suggest is taking it to a small motor / alternator shop and asking them to repair it. Likely they can. You would need to coordinate this with your IA because they will have to sign off on the installation. Finally, I would call Don Maxwell in Longview, TX and ask for help. I guarantee he’s seen this and will likely have suggestions we haven’t thought of. Who knows, he might have repaired a few as he is very familiar with them. please keep us advised as to how you get her fixed up. Drew

Well ok, mine is 120mph, not kts, It does seem weird that the gear speeds change throughout the years without changing the airframe.

Definitely provide a few extra details about it. As @N201MKTurbo said, there may be ways we can help guide for repairs. Otherwise possibly salvage. There’s also an issue in getting new gears for that part of the assembly (40/1 or the original 20/1). I’m definitely interested in what’s wrong with yours and how it gets resolved as it’s one of my worries as well (I have the Dukes version).

I doubt it will hurt it but personally I don’t want to intentionally exceed my gear down speed of 120kts. I think you’re better off just climbing up to 5k or so and letting her eat!

That would be awesome to have a thread like that. We could probably start with a post describing how to collect cruise, mpg or climb data from flight or adsb. Maybe a link to a 3 way groundspeed to TAS conversion website too. If we did this on a Mooney forum though, people might not like it if they can’t keep claiming 170kts at 8gph! I like this one… much more accurate than using the kias from my 55 yo airspeed indicator. http://www.csgnetwork.com/tasgpscalc.html

Put the cowl on. Put a flashlight in the oil cooler door. Look into the “guppy mouth”. Anywhere you see light is a leak. Your aft baffles look very leaky. Also look around the alternator in the lower front. Finally, cruise climb at 120mph for best cooling.

If that’s true, then the intake boot you have as a backup is gonna be worth a pretty penny…

Sorry, no cb award because you spent 3 gallons of avgas on a restoration kit! Coulda used toothpaste. j/k, it looks awesome!

Were you able to find something that works?

It’s the other way around for helicopter pilots… they know all those 10,000 parts are constantly trying to throw themselves apart and they expect it to happen at any moment.

A J makes a nice forever plane too, so don’t exclude that.

Well for example, on another thread we went through the annual inspection cost for a simple C model- no maintenance, just inspection. The results were 2500-3500. But that was for a C. Let’s say you find a place that can do a k252 for $3000 (which I find optimistic). That includes zero actual maintenance. I spent $5k on my annual this year and had almost no issues and helped. Then add in 3xoil changes and probably some routine maintenance. Someone who has a K should chime in, but I expect your maintenance/inspection budget should be ~$5-7k per year for around 100 hours. That might average out but stuff adds up fast.

Is there one that sits negative 6” off the ground? Because that’s the one I want under my Mooney.

Your hangar and maintenance costs seem low. If you flew 100 hours, that’s only 2500 for mx and inspection. At 200 hours, that’s only 5000 which is still low.

I only have an F, but Id say it costs more like $220/hr for my ~90 hours/year and I own my hangar and only pay $2k for full insurance. And I help in my annuals and oil changes to keep those costs down. Nothing in aviation pencils out. Don’t go in thinking it will. However, getting reimbursed for some of the expenses would be awesome for you! Don’t insure for less (or more) than actual hull value. If you have an incident, they can pay the lower hull value and take the aircraft (which was worth more).

Any “leak” that uses a measurable amount of oil is likely a gusher. It only takes a dribble of hot oil to spread a very thin, very messy patch along the gear doors or belly. Less than can be measured on our caveman dipstick for sure. So just be careful thinking “I have no leaks” because I only burn 1qt/7 or whatever.

That’s a really common sight and that’s not much oil. Impossible to tell where it’s coming from. The return lines from the valve covers are common leak points. As are stuff on the back around the accessory pads. There’s also likely oil coming out from your breather and maybe the sniffle and/or fuel pump drain. You’ll need to clean it real good and see if it comes back to the point where you want to really look for it. They all leak a little (even the people who say they don’t).

These problems can be super frustrating. I had a buzz during taxi and searched all over. Turned out to be the top cover on my instrument panel. The 3 screws wiggle themselves out and start vibrating. I now know when i hear that, time to try to wedge a phillips bit in there and tighten the really hard to reach one. So it could be something important like motor mounts or a loose screw on your panel. Tough to say, but good luck!

Aeromotors usually has exchanges available too. No dice?

Thanks for your story. Yes those switches can wear. Probably wise to replace them. Couple things to keep in mind too… on these old Dukes actuators, there’s no stop other than that switch and the circuit breaker. It’s possible (as just happened to someone else on this site) that the gear rods in the belly get bent before kicking the circuit breaker. Might want to make sure yours are still straight. Other thing is that (at least for my model’68F), pulling that cb is the first step of emergency extension. That could be a cue before actually doing the manual extension. Could you not see the lines painted on your floor indicator at all? I’m interested and surprised if you couldn’t even without the light? Thanks again for sharing.

I like them too but glad I only need 8! Some people have luck just running them on the bottom plugs or maybe id just run them on my SF, but it’s easier to keep them all the same. And whats $1000 in spark plugs over 1000 hours in aviation terms? Not much.

How many hours on that engine now? That’s awesome!

I agree. I’d like to know as well. I’m going to try the different Vy next time out.

That’s 100% the best procedure!

Ha! We had procedures for dealing with jamming in 2003…