Culver LFA

According to the parts manual theses components are not model specific, I'd expect no surprises installing in an 'E'

Yep, you’re doing the right thing. There no light illuminating that area so a flashlight is required at night.

Guys, the green/white indicator is a different part than what his airplane has. He has a tube with a line painted on it, that’s how it was before your bellcranks came to be.

53 years after conversion to electric, converted back to manual. Maybe the airplane will be converted back to electric in 2073, but it won't be by me! Everything must go, cleaning out the hangar sale!

Hi Ross, My bellcrank was gray with a single white line on it, you can see it in the picture listed here: If yours is the same as mine was, taking that cover off to clean the window is a 2 person job with the underbelly panel removed. There are locknuts on the other side of those screws! -Joe

13.4lbs

Here are all of the electric gear components removed from my M20F when converted back to j-bar, it’s probably been a few years since such a kit has been available and who knows if it ever will be available again! $2500.00

I should be seeing the current owner again tomorrow, I’ll ask him to join the site and share some Mite activity!

First thing I would inspect is the fuselage tubing just below the nose gear hump, to make sure that the pivot points are there for the Johnson bar, the bellcrank for the electric gear is located about 5” aft of where the Johnson bar bellcrank goes. My airplane had both pivot bushings in place and it appeared that was from new, not added on at the conversion to electric. Maybe they are all that way.

Here is a better teaser video of the Fokker. This footage is from a passenger's iphone from the backseat of the Mooney, they are still working on the video from the Triplane cameras. https://youtu.be/airSJLfafUU

Some of you may remember that I toyed with the idea of converting my M20F back to Johnson bar about a year ago. It was produced as a J-bar in December of ‘66, converted to electric for the first owner in ‘67, and stayed that way until the Coronavirus lockdown. The conversion back to j-bar went well, very straightforward operation and was a great opportunity to strip and repaint the control and gear pushrods, clean and lube all the rod ends so they are like new, and also super clean any oil and dirt from the underside floor. It was a really satisfying annual with gear conversion that stirred up lots of comments and questions from the airport drive by experts. I’m really enjoying the manual gear, it’s a big enough change that the airplane feels ‘new’ and exciting to me. Such a simple and wonderful design and the old girl dropped a few pounds as well. You all know what a Johnson bar looks like but I’ll post some pictures later because I’m really proud of the work. If anyone is interested in a complete conversion kit to electric gear, everything you need will be posting in the classified area soon!

I had to shake off a Fokker Triplane the other day. The full video will be posted soon, he is still editing all the footage (we had 4 cameras on the Triplane, 2 go-pros and 2 360's):

About an ounce of fuel drains out of the cup when removed for screen inspection/cleaning.

I pull that ring before every flight but can’t believe that I’m trusting that fuel, or water, is actually coming out. I started doing it before preflight so I could at least see a wet stain on the ground (but who knows what is in it), also to confirm that it actually stopped leaking out. The only time I really see a stream is during annual when the seat/carpet/interior are out and I can watch through the holes in the floor. I like the idea of dumping from below but my drain fitting is offset from the plunger on the ring. Do you guys that do this have a different gascolator?

You know what else is good at KSPG? The bacon wrapped meatloaf at the restaurant!

Those aren’t exactly specs but measurements off my actuator when it was apart, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and waste a lot of time documenting things I’ll probably never need. I suppose it is possible that the crush washer helps center the ball in the bore if the adjuster is backed off and/or prevent coil bind/spring damage if the adjuster is turned in too far.

Hello Nukemzzz, Part #23 (HE1677) is an aluminum crush washer, dimensions are: O.D. 0.417" I.D. 0.260" Thickness 0.060" If you would like to measure the spring (HE1518) for comparison, 0.182" in diameter and 0.518" in height. It was mentioned earlier in this thread, can't remember if it was you or someone else, that the plunger is tight in the bore with the new o-ring installed, I don't think that should be the case. Either the o-ring is the incorrect size or it was installed dry? Once assembled, the plunger should move freely with rotation of the cam arm (#15) with your fingers. You'll feel the plunger moving freely against the spring pressure. I hope this info helps you out! Joe

My understanding is that the FAA is ok with that practice but the FCC has a problem with it. That doesn't stop me from calling ATIS at my destination on my cellphone when I can't pick it up on my NAV2 radio!

That voltage regulator was used on many models of GM and Ford automobiles, it’s been rebadged and sold for aviation use

What's crazy about that is you can buy a voltage regulator for a 86 Ford Mustang for $15 online, or $45 at the local autoparts store, that looks suspiciously similar to this (but without the 'diagnostic LED' or certification...)

@Hank A successful technique that worked for me I started a few years ago. I just remind myself on short final how expensive all those little parts on the nose gear mechanism cost to overhaul and suddenly I developed the ability to touch down lightly on the mains and carry the nose wheel off the runway until full elevator will no longer hold it off! Start shoving $100 bills in the seat back pocket every time you have a ‘firm’ landing, it’s amazing how fast bad habits will change! The secret to any good landing is no secret, correct speed and trim, then try to hold it off the runway when you are down to the last inches of flight (don’t let the airplane settle by releasing back pressure and then drop).

I’m very happy with it, when traveling it holds the GPS line perfectly but if set to track a VOR it does have a tendency to chase the needle a little bit. As far as like or dislike when hand flying, I’ll admit that I did not like how heavy the controls felt even with the disconnect button pressed, then I found out recently that the disconnect was not working properly! Now that the disconnect is working properly actually I think PC is the deal! I would definitely consider adding altitude hold if/when it becomes available again.

That’s outstanding service right there, great job @Cody Stallings! Thanks for the report @jcovington!

Get one, you won't be disappointed. That siphon hose and 4 - 5 gallon gas cans does the trick for me. I do not have fuel on field so I fill and drain on a regular basis depending on need. My tractor enjoys the 100LL as well and the 100LL exhaust smell makes me happy when I mow my grass. (bonus if you can find real vented gas cans, not the environmentally non-vented gas cans)