philiplane

Although the CAR 3 rules applied during manufacturing, unfortunately you can't OPERATE it under those rules today. Or maintain it. Unless you have a time machine... So this is where the linkage to the current 14CFR Part 21, 43, and 91 comes in. If you are operating a plane today, it is in accordance with Part 91, which links to lighting regulations, which in turn links to maintenance rules, in turn to certification standards for parts. All of those are currently enforced by our Friendly Aviation Advisors, not the CAA of yesteryear. I've already run this LED scenario past FAA personnel and one of the country's top enforcement defense attorneys. Installing non-approved parts is one violation by the installer, accepting them at annual is another violation by the IA, and flying the plane is a violation, times the number of flights that it was unairworthy. There is no good outcome here. Suspect Unapproved Parts have been a priority of the FAA since 2006, mostly to prevent bogus turbine engine parts from getting into jet engines, but the SUP process is very well defined within the # 8300 guidelines in the Inspector's Handbook. These discussions came about as part of the STC process for HID landing lights. I am a pioneer in the process, and the Cessna Citation HID lights offered by Lopresti was one of my recent projects. I know lighting, regulations, and the approval process better than your average owner's group website contributor. I also have run a Part 145 Repair Station, served as a Part 135 Director of Maintenance, been a Part 135 pilot, and have taught classes in regulatory compliance. If you really want LED nav lights, you just pony up for the Whelen Orion nav & strobe assemblies. They are amazing.

Those parts are accepted as part of the Type Design, and do not require a PMA when the manufacturer installed them. When you replace them, you must use the same parts, from the same source, or go to a PMA holder for their equivalent part. Navigation lamps are different from standard parts because they are required to meet color & visibility requirements. So the wingtip nav lamps , which have reflectors built in, are indeed all PMA approved parts. And GE holds a PMA for all of its aircraft lamps, because they are required to do so in order to offer them for sale to aviation markets

There's no "gray area" when it comes to replacement parts for Type Certificated aircraft: 5. Who Needs A PMA? a. General Requirements. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) § 21.303(a) requires any person producing replacement or modification parts for sale for installation on a type-certificated product to get a PMA. A PMA is a combined design and production approval for replacement parts. Also we may use a PMA for the production of modification parts from supplemental type certificates (STC). The prior STC approves the design and installation of these modification parts in products. However, if any replacement part alters a product by introducing a major change, then 14 CFR § 21.113 requires an STC for the approval of these parts. See FAA Order 8110.4, Type Certification, for STC procedures. b. Getting a PMA for Technical Standard Order (TSO) Articles. We at the FAA may issue a PMA for replacement parts for articles produced under a TSO authorization when these articles are in the product’s type design. Then the replacement part is for the eligible product not the article. The installation of a PMA part may result in a minor design change in a TSO article yet meet the product’s airworthiness requirements. We require the installer of this part to place a modifier’s nameplate on the article. See FAA Order 8150.1, Technical Standard Order Program, for more details. Replacement parts approved under the basis of identicality do not change the article’s design and do not require a modifier’s nameplate. The NavStrobe bulbs, and paddle style LED's are sold as replacement parts, so they require a PMA. Or an STC, or Field Approval. End of story.

The worst partner will still be better for the plane than the best preservation. Planes are made to fly. They're also like women... if you don't give them enough attention, they will give you trouble.

The Arctic Air real A/C unit works very well here in South Florida. I installed one in a Cherokee Six and it cools the cabin very well. It does require 25-30 amps minimum, and up to 42 amps maximum. I replaced one of their ice units with this one and it was well worth the $4300. It's best to run a dedicated power harness to the unit, direct from the battery. You also need at least a 60 amp alternator to run everything else if the unit is on high. Fortunately this plane has a 70 amp Plane Power alternator so it gives a little margin at full load.

That is a really old vacuum pump. Best to replace it with the newer style with cooling fins and install a new filter at the same time. Filters should be changed every 500 hours or no more than 5 years. Many are placarded for two year intervals

Mooneys don't "bounce" upon landing, unless you are too fast. And try to force it onto the ground. A bounce requires excess energy to occur, so blaming nose gear collapses on the long-body large engine design is like blaming spoons for making people fat... And a collapse during taxi means the landing gear has been neglected, which is common among Mooneys, because Mooney owners tend to be frugal

From a commercial maintenance perspective, the Michelin Air Stop tubes are the best you can buy. They are the only company that actually makes their own tubes. All the others farm it out to various low bidders. I have had several Desser tubes fail, either via valve stems breaking off, or tears in the mold lines of the tube. These tubes seemed odd to begin with, they were stiffer than usual. Dessert replaced them but of course the customers were on the hook for labor and aggravation due to flats on landing or taxiing. Not fun. Adding ten percent to your inflation spec will help since the tire loses air the moment you take the gauge off of it. Also, most inflation specs are given when the plane is on jacks, so you should expect a higher reading when it's on the ground. Cirrus for example specifies main tires set to 62 PSI, tolerance of +5, -0, on jacks. So you would want 67-70 PSI on the ground to be correct. Most maintenance manuals are not as specific about tire pressures but they are always a function of gross weight and landing speeds. The same 600x6 6 ply tire may be inflated from as little as 18 PSI on a Cessna 140 to as much as 48 PSI on larger Pipers. The tire itself is capable of over 60 PSI and will run cooler at higher pressures. At the highest settings, you will sacrifice the ride quality and a tiny amount of dry braking action, but wet traction improves at the higher pressure.

The Iskra starter is a known troublemaker for the starter adapter. There are service bulletins out to remove them and replace with the Skytec CS3T or CS5T starters that eliminate the drag on the adapter spring and shaft. Using an old style starter is also acceptable but they are quite heavy.

The best light output in width and depth is the Teledyne Alphabeam. Whelen is a close second. Either is twice as good as your stock lamp, mostly due to whiter light, not brighter light. HID is far better and well worth the money. I have done many Field Approvals using the XeVision lamps, but you can always buy a Knots 2U lamp for a little more money already STC'd. The Xevisions come in around $600 installed and are brighter than K2U and Lopresti. They are up to 75 watts compared to 35 watt K2U systems. Either way, HID is 5-7 times brighter than an incandescent lamp, and 4-5 times brighter than the best LED.

I do a handful of pre-buys every year in South Florida, for people who are looking for high quality. It's a tough market because most of the shops don't know what they are doing, and really don't care. Quite different from my former home in Connecticut/Massachusetts. South Florida is heavily influenced by the Caribbean "no worries" attitude, which does not work well in aviation. If the plane has spent many years here, be very careful.

Fluid quality is highly variable. Unless you use industrial quantities, stay away from drums. The 2.5 gallon buckets are better. The fluid is perishable since it has alcohol and water in the mix. Once opened, you need to use the jug ASAP. Or dispense a little nitrogen gas as a blanket in the jug, and reseal it. Keep it out of sunlight and heat. It is that perishable. You also need to run the system at least once a month, preferably once a week for 15 minutes. I service dozens of TKS equipped airplanes and the panel wetting is always a problem among low utilization planes, and more so with cheap guys not wanting to puke some TKS out on every flight.

Low temperature is critical for the system to work. Don't expect it to wet all the panels unless the plane is cold soaked, in below freezing temperatures for at least an hour. It's due to the low viscosity of the TKS fluid. It is so thin that it simply flows out the closest ports if it's above freezing. I test planes by using dry ice bags on the panels, and TKS fluid that has been in a freezer overnight so the system is as cold as it's supposed to be in operation. Also, if the panels are not wetting all the way out in freezing temps, you need to do a panel purge. That is done by hooking up a specialized TKS purge unit to each panel individually, using cold fluid. That will fully wet the membranes in the panels so it will work as designed.

The TAT set up on a Cirrus is high maintenance. It eats right side wastegates due to a clevis geometry issue, it eats both exhaust manifolds due to cracking in several places, the manifolds can seize and then blow out at the forward expansion joints after only a few flight hours since last inspection, the turbo mounts wear and break, the bypass pipes leak profusely ( they use the term "jiggle-fit" to describe the normal fitment) and dump exhaust all over the engine mount and the cabin air hoses, the exhaust heat "shields" are actually heat concentrators because they focus energy back into the pipes, instead of away, like Continental does, the intercoolers crack at the mounting bosses, the induction manifold hoses are high maintenance, the pressure regulation is very finicky and requires constant adjustment if you operate from hot to cold climates. I maintain some of the highest time Cirrus TN's, including the Cirrus with the most time operating at FL250. The Continental TSIO-550K uses a tiny bit more fuel but is a far superior engine, and is easier to maintain since it was purpose built, rather than grafted-on after the fact. Continental spent 5 years developing the installation for Cirrus. But, I do have one kid still in college, so please, buy a TAT equipped plane today!

Really guys, the frontal area on tie down rings is minuscule and the drag associated with them is most likely unmeasurable. There are plenty of drag producers on a Mooney that are an order of magnitude bigger than tie down rings. Unfortunately, those cost real time and money to fix....

Breaking in LOP is very hit or miss and beyond the capabilities of most pilots and mechanics. If you run the engine just on the ragged edge of the red box during break-in, you will glaze the walls and the jugs will have to come off to be honed. ROP eliminates the wild card of glazing. This is not to each his own, there are reams of information from the manufacturers, engine rebuilders, and researchers regarding break in procedures. Read them all and the general conclusion is to run it like you stole it for ten hours, or until oil consumption stabilizes.

Run it hard. Forget a GAMI spread, you can't do one until you can lean the engine anyway. That won't happen until you have at least 10 hours on the engine.

Don't forget one downside to the 406 ELT. A false alarm may cost you $5000. That is the official charge for false alarms that result in calling out SAR. I had one jet customer have this problem after his went off in flight due to a failure in the control board. A three hour flight off-shore too, so no chance to land and disable it. It's better to file IFR, or use flight following, and spend money on ADS-B. There have already been several accidents with 406 ELT's where the ELT did not function and was of no use.

And don't forget a factor unique to aviation. When your IA signs off the annual, he is buying the entire history of the airplane since it left the factory, every repair, every alteration, every modification, and every "repair" done by all the owners, since day one. Thousands of flight hours, decades of mishandling by ramp personnel, abuse by pilots, bad weather, replacement parts from the aviation department of Sears, the list goes on. What's that worth? And the fact that the average age of an aircraft mechanic is now 57 years. There are no young people coming into this profession, because they can make a better living at the Chevy dealership, with none of the hassles. The same dealerships that charge $100-120 an hour, or more. Now, how much do you think a good aircraft mechanic is worth?

The current penalty for a false 406 ELT activation is $5000. So if you hear an ELT on the radio, you really want to be sure it's not yours. But then again, when the 406 ELT's go off, it broadcasts your N number so it's impossible to wiggle out of it.

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It's either the attitude indicator providing improper input, or the altitude chamber is suspect. The pitch servo only does what it is told.

Of all the twins mentioned, only two stall at a slow enough speed to be comparable to a Mooney. The Apache stalls at 59 MPH (51 knots at full gross, or about 55 MPH (47 knots) at typical landing weights with two aboard. Final approach speeds are 80 MPH, same as a Mooney. A typical Aztec stalls at 68 MPH (61 knots) at gross weight and more like 60 MPH at lighter weights. Add vortex generators to either plane and shave 5-7 MPH off these numbers. Add in the safety of a full steel cage around the flight compartment, like the Mooney, and you can have a very safe twin, even for a low-time guy. Provided he has proper training.

The single mag engines are all 25 degrees, probably because the magneto is crap to begin with. There's also an STC for the 200 HP engines to increase the HP to 210 by using the higher compression helicopter pistons. It requires 20 degrees timing.

The standard timing was 25* btdc and the change was to 20*btdc. The SI that deals with the change said it was done primarily to reduce CHT's in cruise and to increase detonation margin during cold weather operation at high power. It's Lycoming SI 1325A if you are interested. This Lycoming service instruction calls for changing the timing, due to problems at extreme cold temperatures, and every angle valve 200 hp engine since has been built by Lycoming at 20 degrees, and now they claim it actually makes equal or better power at that setting. The 25 degrees was in use when Mooney selected the IO360A1A for the E model in 1963, before the A3B6 or A1B6 were on the drawing boards. Also, the A1B6(and A1B6D) was first used on the C177RG in 1971, then adopted by Mooney in 1976, then converted to A3B6D by changing prop orientation for slightly smoother operation. In other words, the A3B6D wasn't even the original application for the engine