RLCarter

I would talk directly with the owner and shop supervisor in person with a cold call (just show up) and ask why it keeps getting pushed back. Get things in writing, a really good way is email (save them on the computer). Do a follow up email after the meeting with verbiage along the lines of as per meeting on ??/??/???? you stated that it was going to be this much and this long....... As for the tube repair, why find a donor plane when all you have to do is buy a piece of new tubing and splice it in, chances are its a straight piece (not curved). All repair shops, be it Aircraft, Automotive, Boat, etc...... do the same thing, they get into a repair that is going to take longer than they thought and turn it into a "project" which keeps getting pushed back in line so they can keep the cash flow coming in. If they are a Mooney Service Center, they should be able to handle most any job that comes through the door. Arrange your meeting for in the morning and give them till the close of the business day to come up with a game plan... its a risk driving that far and not having the person(s) be there but its one I would take, it puts them in the hot seat with no warning, be polite and calm and have your questions lined out before you go, i.e... "Why is my plane not being worked on", "How many hours to replace the tube", "Why are you looking for a donor, chromoly tubing is easily purchased","When is plane going to be ready and what is going to cost me". Good luck on getting this resolved. One last piece of advice is not to slam the MSC's name here on MS, could cause you issues down the road. Keep us up to date on the progress and responses

Stopped by Sears and picked up the 3/8 x 1/2" adapter, out of the 6 I own 1/4 ~ 3/4 going both ways none of the a clocked at 45* and have never needed one to be, untill now. Thanks guys

Thanks, might stop by Sears on my way out this afternoon, looking on the net it looks like the 3/8" end of the Craftsman adapter is an 8 point allowing for the rotation needed.

What brand of adapter or where did you purchase yours? I have 1/4"~3/4" (in both directions) and all of them have the drives squared to each other.

During the rigging we used my IA's torque wrenches and rigging tools, I ended up finding a 0-300 lb-in dial type torque wrench and while putting my new torque wrench up I noticed something that didn't look right about the main gear rigging tool. It didn't take long to see that on the tool I purchased from LASAR had the 1/2" square drive clocked at a 45* angle making impossible to install a torque wrench with a fixed drive perpendicular to the horizontal tube of the retraction truss. I placed a call to LASAR but everyone was tied up and that someone would give me a call back. Paul called me back with in an hour and confirmed that they rotate the 1/2" drive to 45* and it works fine and that will not change the torque readings and that I could buy a 3/8 to 1/2" adaptor that would bring the wrench back to 90*. I have never seen one and he couldn't tell me where to get one from. Anyone have any experience with this? I don't feel like doing the math to come up with the new values or make an adaptor or weld up the tool and machine it correctly.

Prop Strike, MDH, Corrosion etc..... If it was inspected and repaired correctly I could care less. Damage history and missing logs are bargaining tools during the purchase process. Chances are any of the above will will be reflected it the price, and when it comes time to sell it the repairs will pop up and negotiations will start again. You get the discount when buying and you MAY have to discount when you sell, so was any value lost?

Piloto makes a good point, especially if you like working on your bird

Sounds like you have completed all the training that your personal mission requires, save the money on ratings and endorsements that you won't use to hone your skills even finer....my thoughts anyway

MPG, You can "quote" me all you want, but the first quote above is your words not mine. Yes I reference 2 different dates, when in actuality there are 3 (a) the day I took possession, (b) the day I handed over the cash, (c) the day I started working on it, so you pick which one you would like me to use as a reference. As for my calendar, I use a rock and place a mark on the side of my hangar each day I'm out there.

Spin training is only for the CFI, I don't think any Mooney is rated for intentional spins

My Lycoming / Hartzell combo uses the stud, castellated nut, roll pin and 0.041" safety wire through the pin method which was a real PITA (for me anyway). After I was done I showed it to my IA buddy for his blessing, was told it was OK but it really could be a little tighter as he smiled and walked away. Clarence is correct, it is effortless when the apprentice does it as long as your not the apprentice. And yes I cut it all off and re-did it to his liking.

There should be ground somewhere from the Engine back to the air frame, mine is located next to the lower right hand rubber engine mount and ties into the firewall

Isn't that just an adel clamp that is not straight?

Alex, Your preaching to the choir, I purchased my "E" 23 months ago and I'm in the final stages of getting it back in the air (next week hopefully). I knew going into the purchase what NEEDED to be done and what I WANTED to be done, and then there's always the things that pop up along the way. I had originally planned around 6~8 months (and this was high, so I thought), but the more I dug into it the more I wanted to do while I was there. I've followed your progress from day one, and know exactly where you are coming from. Would I do it differently? Maybe , or maybe not, it all depends on the aircraft and what my plans are for it. I looked at several Mooneys (2 "C's", an "F" and a "G") that were all in annual and I could fly away in, some had descent radios, some had nice interiors and one was just junk. I'm not out to impress anyone by buying an aircraft that they would like, steam gauges and my Ipad can get me anywhere i want to go. When its all said and done we (you and I) will know more about our birds than most, and our next 3 to 5 annuals should be a cake walk. Stick with it, it will get finished and be right. The knowledge you have gained is almost priceless, not sure on your budget but I'm still south of 30k which I'm fine with.

Congrats

http://<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fU_HYXOgbRw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> several of these around

Welcome aboard

I would ask the shop installing the mod why your plane got bumped, unless they are cutting you a deal

If you have already given up on slight cosmetic issues ask an IA if it is still airworthy, if he says yes then fly it if no, see what he recommends

IR then CR is the standard progression, a CR without an IR is very limiting. There are prerequisites to both so read the FAR's, the one that comes to mind is the 50hrs of x-country for IR, so doing IR knocks out some for the CR as well.

Most all of the auto paints now days are "Base Coat / Clear Coat" so ask for a "one shot" paint, unless the factory paint is Base Coat / Clear Coat which I doubt.

ATMs use a standard off the shelf key pad that happens to be in Braille as well, same as with signs in an FBO that has a sign for the pilots lounge in Braille, it's not that they are expecting a blind pilot, it's to let a blind person know what is behind that door. CTAF is common at unattended facilities, but the honor system for fuel is brave, very brave.

While I cant see exactly what all the charges are (no itemized charges from LASAR) I can tell you this, a) always get a copy of the repair order and/or estimate when dropping off b) place a reasonable cap above the est. when dropping off for repairs c) get a copy of the repair order with the cap when dropping off I have dealt with LASAR multiple times over the past few years and found them to very straight forward on their dealings, on a few occasions I did price shop if I thought the price was excessive and if the pricing came in about the same I went with LASAR if they were in the ballpark. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions, and I fully understand being ticked off if your bill was 10X what you were expecting. Repairs such as sealing a leak or an intermittent electrical problem or chasing an oil leak is a difficult task to put a number on, when I had to do something that wasn’t cut-n-dried I generally (like most shops) shot high that way I had a little wiggle room. Slamming a MSC on here probably wont get you much help and certainly wont help with any future issues you may have. There are two sides to every story, yours is partially told and LASAR’ side we’ll probably never hear. Good luck on getting this resolved, but a forum isn’t the place to start.

I ordered 10ft for my "E" and had about 4sq.ft remaining. My guess would be 12 running ft will get the job done.

A project of this magnitude is impossible to put a time frame on, independent A&P's can't afford to devote the time without the risk of loosing their other customers. When I started my project I had a list of things that had to be done and a list that I wanted to do, I then got with my IA and had him do the same two list. After adding the lists together we sat down again and came up with an order in which things should be done along with a hourly time frame for each item. Over the past 18 months the master list has changed many times. The list is now down to the last 32hrs or so, but it can't be looked at as being less than a weeks worth of work, those that have ever taken on a project like this (plane, motorcycle, car...etc) knows it doesn't work that way. Raising hell with your A&P for taking too long for an oil change is one thing, pushing them on something like this is just asking for trouble