mike20papa

I sold a SWTA 201 windshield mod and you have to get the STC transferred. The owner Russel, was still with us back then. Cost was around $100. I don't know what you would do, now.

Heat Boxes...I spent a lot of time repairing/reworking my heat box to get the door to swing up high and out of the intake, also cut off all the air flow from the muffler. I also made all new linkages and replaced the needle bearings on the carb heat door with those Mcfarlane "elastomeric bearings" so I wouldn't have my engine ingesting old worn out needle bearings just cause the FAA suggests that's the more air worthy way, For us 180 hp mooney guys, I think the induction system lacks a lot to be desired, but the factory seems to always have figured out a pretty good solution, when you actually try to do more than just complain - actually design something better. I've never understood why the heat box is not integral with the lower cowling intake and put the flex connection at the carb. it would drop the box and allow for considering a smooth curved upward sweep to be built into the rear of the box for improved flow. Also, that "flex" boot that mooney uses to connect the box to the cowling is really pretty useless when loaded from side to side, which is the normal vibration loading. Hence, all the 180 hp cowlings I've ever seen are cracked around the intake openings and the airfilter support frames = cracked. Also, all the heat boxes look like they've been shaken nearly to pieces with the carb heat linkages all loosy/goosy worn out affairs. To me, the airfilter - this one or the other one - small potatoes. While Saber Techs cowling mod is aesthetically way cooler looking, it's the doghouse replacement and the improved induction system that I think really wins.

The performance speed you give, would you share altitude, engine settings and fuel burn or EGT's

This area of the baffles is so commonly overlooked. I used the wool material from AC spruce and worked it around alternator, starter and the very difficult oil line to the prop gov.

My electric fuel pump raises my fuel flow, also. I installed my flow cube between electric pump and mechanical pump, so I think the extra flow from the electric pump is cycled/by passed thru the mech. pump. Only so much fuel can flow past the float needle, so must be the explanation.

I've been able to silver solder (hard braze) these things back together, don't throw them away. I thought for sure they would be no longer available. With the dual pipe exhaust on my A model, there are 4. Silver solder is high strength and very fatigue resistant. Just curious, what do these cost from Lasar?

One of the first comments my A&P made when he first looked over my A model was a comment to upgrade the oil cooler install with compression tubes and AN3 flat washers at each end to make a "spool". I added the floating tee nuts for convenience during the annual. The washers are a trick to get to stay in place when assembling, but after about 500hr.s, no problems with cracks in the oil cooler flanges.

So, It's been written up how Donald Trump expresses his absolute hatred of the aircraft taking off and departing over his mansion in Palm Springs, So, I looked up his "Club House" the Mar A Lago, on Google earth, and sure enough he's within a few degrees of being right under the approach/departure end of runway 10/28 at Palm Springs International. His butler says he gets outraged and demands he call the tower and have flights diverted/canceled or just do anything to make those airplanes go away. If'n he DOES become president, I wonder how a TFR will affect this large an airport. But even more interesting...doesn't Rush Limbaugh fly in/out of this airport in his Gulfstream? I wonder, how long these two will get along if'n Trump becomes Pres. and General Limbaugh get's grounded when Trump is at Mar A Lago?

Speaking of NO meaningful change.. I have to say I bet the Aeromedical "rewrite" is a worse than before situation. Now, just how many physicians, when asked to sign a form that states a patient is good to go as "pilot in command" are going to think , "Well, hum...maybe I need to call my attorney and then my insurance carrier, this a new one on me." Let's face it, any of you in the professions - architecture, engineering, etc..we all know where this is going. This is no solution at all. Now, instead of a structured FAA medical that protects the process, we have a "hey Dr. Dude, can you sign me off, please?" Our government at work for the tort lawyers, again. And, I believe it was all a last minute rewrite, as usual.

Here are a few photos that illustrate the fact that there IS structure behind the panel that drives a lot of the design. The upper center section has two tube sections that dictate how deep anything gets until you drop down far enough. That's why upper center section good for switches, etc. The right hand section has a diag. tube that really gets in the way of anything until you go far right. Then you have to go up high enough to miss the yoke control rod. Take a look at the right side of my panel, you won't see too many Mooneys with much of anything there, It was a trick to get the stack of radios in, first the deeper ones, stepping down to the shallow audio panel, just tucked in above the yoke rod. Also, don't forget..when you go and tilt the entire height of the left panel, the height dimension that the upper instruments now take up is much greater as they must still fit under the lip of the opening on the base panel, just below the windshield. All of this stuff fits like a glove, with next to no "wiggle" room. Have fun...I have a couple of "trial panels" hanging on my hangar wall..a hair off one way or the other and back to the CAD program, drawing board, drill press, fly cutter, bandsaw.

Most of these panel up grades eliminate the rubber shock mounts, bad idea unless you are eliminating all mechanical gyros and CDI's or just don't fly much or like replacing them on a regular basis... Also, you need to first consult with your A&P/AI and ask him what he is willing to sign off on. What he will require as far as 337's, etc. Mine required me to go thru a FSDO and get pre-approvals. I spent over a year just doing this...I had to submit, revise, resubmit 3 times, with FSDO guys all on government time... That's where I had to get serious with the CAD drawings, etc. I might work with you on something, but my time, experience and abilities, like any one else's, were hard earned, so they AIN'T FREE.

I upgraded the shotgun panel in my A model. I got the original drawings from Mooney to build mine from. I'll look and see when the last revision was made to the drawing, but I'm sure they did not change the panel because it was so integral to the steel tube frame and so many other aspects of the short body aircraft. Anyway, I worked up a CAD drawing that does the trick. You can look at the photos in my album. Warning...prepare yourself for a seemingly endless task...

Considering how well the AC remain intact, no doubt the NTSB will be able to recover enough data from the glass cockpit to reconstruct the accident with amazing detail. Like the infamous Cirrus accident presented on AVWEB a few years back. http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/exclusivevids/ExclusiveVideo_AviationSafety_Cirrus_StallAccident_Dissected_201722-1.html What's most amazing is that an instructor pilot was on board BOTH AC. The "piloting" of the Cirrus in the accident in Oklahoma is unbelievable!

Yes...if we only had that airfoil section! My old set of wing drawings unfortunately is lacking these. I wish the present Mooney folks would honor the work of Al & Co. and pass on the drawings for the A model thru the J to the Smithsonian - where they belong. https://airandspace.si.edu/collections/archival/technical-drawings.cfm I see the M-18 Mite dwg.s are there..I wonder who provided them, and when.

http://www.kbtx.com/content/news/Plane-crashes-at-Navasota-airport-at-least-four-dead-370421791.html Out of David Wayne Hooks. Always hear lots of Houston based aircraft on the radio come into Navasota for training.

I have the CAD capability, plotter, etc to make these IF I can get a hold of the airfoil profile. I have a set of wood wing drawings at home, I need to go through these and see if the drawing is in there. Thanks all for the help. It is interesting that the wing is the same airfoil, all models A thru M!

I've been thinking to make my own "travel boards" for aileron throw on my A model. The airfoil given is: "NACA 641-415" I thought I would google this and easily come up with a drawing that I could plot out. Like most NACA airfoils... No such luck. I believe the nomenclature used in my '59 manual may not be standard, but even then, no reference even in older texts. However, it may be that it is actually a standard NACA 6 digit airfoil that translated would be a NACA 64,1-415. The six series airfoils are considered complex and to be plotted from NACA data, Also, that the 641 is a variation of a 64 series airfoil, designated typically as 64(1) ... Way over my head... Anyone out there an aeroengineer or run into this before, Never knew Al Mooney may have even been into modifying NACA airfoils for special application. Who was this guy..some kind of genius!? Thanks for any help.

I flew my M20A into Critters Lodge just this past year. I've also flown it into the grass strip at the Pioneer Flight Museum, Old Kingsbury Aerodrome. Again, if you're prudent with full nose up trim on final, land on the mains and keep the nose up and then continue to hold full up elevator through out the taxi, you'll have no problem. At the Pioneer Flight Museum, some guy in a Cessna 210 came in and parked, then when time to depart, he started up, then pronto collapsed the nose wheel before he even got the thing moving. Of course he was throttling the engine up with NO back elev. and he turned that 50K worth of engine and prop into junk. I then got to start up, taxi past him, take off soft field and show him that Al Mooney knew what he was doing when he built the lightly wing loaded A model.

I had a compass problem. Turned out to be the engine mount bolt that is used for a ground strap attachment. It is the top bolt on the left side. I took a hand held compass and watched it go nuts when I moved it toward the engine cowling. At first I thought it was my battery. Removed it, still compass acted up. Finally pinpointed it to that bolt, took it out and demagnetized it and compass problems disappeared. I guess that all those years of passing a direct current thru it must have magnetized it, but don't really know. Best of luck!

11R, one of my favorite airports! Love that slightly downhill gradient to 16..! Now, the question was POWER OFF. I'll assume you mean NO wind.. I like to track the runway on downwind (usually around 12in in my A mode) at about the mid point of the wing, 1000ft. AGL (standard pattern. altitude) then when you are abeam the numbers, (I shoot for 100mph) down with the gear and begin the turn (base&final) I use 1 notch of flaps...(full flaps, power off and anything under 90mph..the Mooney comes down NOW and the flair has to be executed abruptly and timed precisely or expect a "firm" landing) Now, the best assurance for a good landing will be to work the trim full aft during the turn, or else the yoke forces in the flair can be unnecessarily excessive and pitch authority limited. All that being said..the wind is never calm and there are either thermals or buzzards on final ..I prefer to stay slightly high as the runway always seems to never come up as quickly as I think it should, also, IF I am high, I never hesitate in slipping my A model, Don't know anything about how the long fuselage's slip, but I'd rather a forward slip than dealing with full flaps with NO power. Have fun.

I thought Mooney long ago decided fiberglass batt insulation was bad because it held moisture. I think there was even a AD or SB to remove it all out of the cockpit as it was causing corrosion of the steel tube cage. At any rate, you probably are correct in assuming it was used in hopes of diverting water from entering any radios. There are some great sealing tapes you can use on those outer access panels. Closed cell, adhesive one side, compresses to approx. .03" and found in the aviation parts department at Lowes! Stuff that wasn't around when your F model was built. My windshield and glass in my A model was all originally set with old painter's putty, that linseed oil & titanium oxide "Stuff". I didn't use that material when I replaced all of my glass, and I didn't think the FAA will now throw a fit - but who knows.

I have one better for you..in my old A model manual..it prescribes the method of putting the airplane up on jacks by getting one of your AP buddies to crawl under one end of the wing, position his back under the spar and raise up till you can get a saw horse under the prescribed jack point. Then (and it doesn't say how many beers later)..get him to crawl under the other side of the wing and repeat the process. Then you use a rope wrap around the prop (and a shade tree I guess) to hold the nose up.... ' I like that picture above.. so do you use that AOA?!...If I squint hard enough..I can just barely see Bill Wheat in the pilot's seat.

Mr Spam Pilot..in your "new to U" mooney..have no fear.. it's just a matter of the "picture" in the flare. Happens to us all if we're honest, just practice + currency=no bounce. Practice putting the horizon just below the glare shield and add a bit of power if you think the flare is dropping to quickly. I was signed off in my A model by a guy who worked for Mooney back in the 80's as a sales manager, lots & lots of hours and when he began landing the mooney I never thought the picture out the window would be so much with the horizon below the glare shield. He never blinked at the less than smoothie landings..reminding me off the stout as hell MAIN gear, The sink rate will be high and the landings "firm" but better than a cursed "3 pointer" with a bounce&prop strike to boot.

The term "pitching moment" gets thrown around a lot when you read about the aerodynamic loads on a horiz. stab. Pitching moment (the rotational force an airfoil develops as a result of lift & drag) increases as lift/speed increases, so the force the horiz. stab must develop varies with the wing's pitching moment from speed & lift. But pitching moments vary from one type airfoil to the next. I think the old Clark Y airfoils have higher pitching moments, laminar airfoils, much less - or at least the point at which they act relative to the aerodynamic lift center of the wing varies, so they are not so demanding to trim with every change in speed.

N201MKTURBO - idea to use a piece of paper as a slip gauge to determine when the "gear link first begins to move" will help to prevent over loading the system, which is more of a problem than not. Also, when you adjust one ball rod end..it changes the torque setting all around. It's a bit like tuning spokes in a bicycle wheel.