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nickmatic

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  1. nickmatic
    Great suggestions, thanks all. Definitely feel better knowing some of the possibilities. Think it's pretty safe to fly it to my regular mechanic 45 minutes away (assuming I can get full power before takeoff)? As for the decision to not land immediately, I wasn't far from home and the power returned at the same time I started to feel safe about altitude. It was probably 5 minutes but felt like an eternity. Being night I opted for the longer and well lit runway with emergency equipment over the podunk airport from which I had departed.
  2. nickmatic
    Yes, definitely getting this checked out. Not good. The Encore/252 has an automatic wastegate. Thanks for the advice.
  3. nickmatic
    Good suggestion, thanks! There is a CF card in the monitor. I'll have to check that out.
  4. nickmatic
    I had this thought as well. Is there a way to know definitively?
  5. nickmatic
    Had a scary situation last night... I took off at night from a fairly short field (2600ft). I had just filled the tanks and had pax on board so I wasn't super surprised the takeoff roll was long. But we got off and I right away I had to keep the nose up and airspeed down to climb even slowly. I focused on keeping the speed above stalling and getting some altitude and finally noticed I was only seeing about 25" of manifold pressure at full throttle instead of the usual 39". I had neglected to check full power during the roll (where I check airspeed alive and engine green). Big oops. Lucky we got off the ground. After about 5-10 minutes, the engine bounced up to 39" on its own and the flight continued normally. Any ideas what might have caused this?
  6. nickmatic
    Oops, I thought I had. There is a leak high up in the right tank. As long as the fuel level is below the leak, there is no problem. But if I fill the tank to the top or when the airplane is pitched down on approach, a little fuel can leak out, flows down the wing dihedral, and through the cabin bulkhead, resulting in a smell. I've spoken it over with a couple mechanics and they agree the work should be done by a Mooney tank specialist. For now I just don't fill that tank all the way unless really necessary.
  7. nickmatic
    Good points here. I found an article that underscores the point about how relatively safe gear up landings are and also points out that asphalt is a better option than grass in most cases. http://flighttraining.aopa.org/magazine/1999/February/199902_Gearup_Landings_Asphalt_or_Grass.html
  8. nickmatic
    Good point about the vapors. And I think I burn about 24 gph at WOT full rich so it could take up to 3.1 hrs to empty full tanks. Probably not a bad idea though...
  9. nickmatic
    I was squirting precious fuel onto the pavement today like I do during every preflight, and it occurred to me that perhaps in an emergency, particularly a stuck gear forced landing, that perhaps one could dump the fuel from the tanks while circling before making the forced landing to reduce risk of fire on touchdown. Would pulling the fuel strainer in flight be a safe way to accomplish this? I'd worry that the fuel would run back into the fuselage.
  10. nickmatic
    Paul - I literally just now read about that somewhere by coincidence. Wasn't even searching for it. That was indeed most likely the issue. I'll remember to put it in IFR mode on approach next time as I do have XM weather. Thanks!
  11. nickmatic
    Finally got to fly with the new servo and all is well. Nice not having to reach down to feel whether the trim is moving... now it's super responsive Motor: $2415 Remove/Replace Labor: $472.50
  12. nickmatic
    Quick update. Vista evaluated the servo and indeed the motor is bad. However, they had assumed it was a Globe motor and originally quoted on that, but it's a Pitman motor. They have a new Pitman motor with 1 year warranty for $2000, plus their charge $415 for the change, test, and recertify. More than the $2000 max they promised but whatcha gonna do? I'm happy that it's a new motor with a warranty. Hope to have it back wednesday morning.
  13. nickmatic
    That's actually a relief to hear, strangely Never got through to them or a call back. We could have waited a bit more but went with Vista since my A&P has done work with them before and they were ready to go and promised a quick turnaround. Good way to budget it out over time I do love the KFC-150 though. Painful love...
  14. nickmatic
    Update: My A&P sent the servo today overnight to Vista Aviation in CA to be refurbished. They seemed confident that they have the parts and expertise since they do a lot of these and estimate $2000 max (hopefully less!) depending on what it needs and a 1-2 day turnaround. Hoping I'll have it back by wednesday week. Shot 4 practice approaches with it this morning and can't wait to have it resolved.
  15. nickmatic
    Quick update, Kent at Bevan Rabell couldn't find anything but recommended Capital Avionics in FL. My guy here also had them on his to-call list and will try tomorrow. He's also going to try Autopilots Central in Tulsa. He also remembered a place he used to work with in CA and they can do a rebuild for $2000 and turn it around in a day or two. That wouldn't be so bad. Flying today with the trim intermittent was certainly a joy. Can't wait to have this fixed. Oh and my GMX 200 rebooted during an RNAV approach. Hope that's not another big expense coming down the line. Will update as this plays out.
  16. nickmatic
    They did do a full check out and said if anything it's more loose than expected. No binding.
  17. nickmatic
    Thanks for the tip. I spoke to Kent over there and he's not super hopeful but will look into it for me.
  18. nickmatic
    Yes, it's the King KFC-150 autopilot
  19. nickmatic
    I really don't know. All I know is what I received from my A+P. This stuff is pretty new to me!
  20. nickmatic
    Purchased my M20K/Encore conversion last October. Been loving it ever since. But I've noticed the electric trim has been intermittent a few times, getting worse over time. Really screwed me up on short final the other day, so I had it looked at and it appears the servo has issues. The bad news from my mechanic: Anyone know of any other options for getting this servo replaced or overhauled? I'd love to not spend an additional $6k so soon on this airplane! Cheers, Nicholas
  21. nickmatic
    Just to follow up on this old thread, I ended up going with one from Mac's Airplane Covers. There was a problem with the fit on the cover (antenna hole in the wrong place, basically), and they not only remade it promptly for me, but also switched the side the buckles were on and changed the color for me to something that sounded like it would suit me that was not on the web site. I'm quite pleased with the new cover, and Kathy and Mac were a pleasure to work with. http://www.airplane-covers.com/
  22. nickmatic
    Good tip, thanks. My mechanic is finally looking at it tomorrow morning and I'll chat with him about this and other possibilities that were raised here.
  23. nickmatic
    Encore/252, actually. I have high and low boost pumps but I never use them.
  24. nickmatic
    Thanks for the tip. Paul sounds like the man for the job. MN is a bit far for me but I'll keep it in mind.
  25. nickmatic
    Sounds like it could be a lot of things. But I've absolutely never noticed a smell while the plane is sitting or in cruise. The only time I've ever smelled it has been on short final, and the smell comes on all of a sudden and last time it was quite strong. Not just "oh, is that fuel I smell?" But more like "Wow, that's gasoline. Hope I don't have to go around."
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