RLCarter

After looking at my E model and few others on the field I believe its there to hold Foil Tape

Bob, I didn't like going that high on the jacks so I built my own jacks, a-frame and tail stand, 2" after the donuts relax is good enough to retract the gear

For stability my jacks under the wings are pinned (can't bleed down), the nose is raised with chain hoist from an A-frame, as a third precaution there is a screw type jack stand under the tail. Very solid when lifted and I sleep good at night when I leave the hangar and it's not setting on the gear. Everyone is happy, aircraft was raised per service bulletin, no stress on the prop, hub or crankshaft, and I'm happy that it does not teeter when getting in or out of the cabin.

A pre-buy inspection can be leverage when it comes to negotiating price. When we set down at the table (actually it was the right wing) I told them that their price was a fair market value if the aircraft was in annual, I then showed them a list of issues (discovered during the pre buy) that would have to be addressed before an annual (past due) could be signed off and the aircraft was put back into service. The list could not be disputed and didn’t contain trivial stuff like flaws in the paint or stains on the interior. I gave them three options, 1) I would give them 25% of the asking price (which I laid the actual cash on the table) as earnest money so they can get it back in the air and complete the sale, or 2) I laid another stack of cash out (now totaling 58% of their asking price) which would complete the sale and I would get the bird back in the air, or 3) I pick up my cash, they pick up their airplane, we shake hands and walk away. Needless to say I now own an “E” model for less than I willing to pay in the beginning. The only way I see a pre buy being a waste of money is when you end up not buying the aircraft but in the long run it actually saved you money.

It will be interesting as to what you find, so keep us update.

I have worked with and serviced thousands of Pb-acid batteries over the past 35+yrs, granted these were mostly motorcycle batteries but all lead -acid batteries require the same as far as initial servicing and maintenance. The life of the battery starts with when & how the initial service is performed, adding acid to the correct level and throwing it on the charger until it is fully charged will result in failed battery 1.5 to 2 years down the road. After adding the acid, the battery needs to sit so that the acid fully saturates the plates, most battery manufactures recommend 30 min. or so, I personally wait 3 hrs before hooking it up to a charger. On maintenance free (sealed) batteries I would wait 24hrs before charging, due to the fact all the acid is absorbed into the plates. Do not install the battery before it fully charged as this will shorten the life as well, I have personally seen 7yrs on a properly serviced & maintained battery. Keeping the fluid level up and not allowing the lead plates to be exposed to air is the key to its survival, the water evaporates do to heat, whether it be from charging and/or ambient temperature, so check your water level frequently. The fully charge and “load test” does not drain the battery completely down or it shouldn’t anyway, if it fails the load test generally you recharge and then re-test. Yes it is a pain in the butt to keep a battery serviced correctly and that is why most people just replace them at the first sign of trouble.

My carpet was put in with snaps, when I replaced the carpet with new airtex (which has foam backing) I went back with 5/8" snaps (color matched to the carpet) to help hide the buttons. Most noise comes from the firewall area so I ordered an extra yard of carpet to go into the rudder pedal boxes in hopes of deadening some of the noise coming from the engine, besides it looks better than the original insulation. I also used the remainder of the extra carpet to cut a piece for the hat rack. The new carpet was not cut out for the fuel valve, the baggage area had to be cut to fit as well. I sent all the carpet that had been cut to be bound at a local carpet shop, $35.00 bucks well spent.

mine is under the right hand access cover just in front of the windscreen, if you have the 201 windscreen and the panels have sealed off its going to be a pain, it's at the upper right corner area aft of the firewall 65 E

Was out at the airport today and pulled the right piece of plastic from the door post, didn't see any thing that looked like a mount for OEM visors but that's OK, I'll come up with something. We routinely fly East in the evening (over the gulf coast) and the 50nm going home (West) is brutal with the summer sunsets so it's a must to get these installed.

This is the direction I am headed, the arm will rotate on the 1/4-28 socket head screw, the long rod will rotate inside the split nylon bushings. The long rods (center section is milled down 0.050" giving a 1/4" wide flat surface for the plexi to mount, not sure if I'll use 1 or 2 of the long flat plates to give a little more support for the plexi. Still need to drill 1/4" (3/8" for the head) and drill and tap for the 8-32 set screws on both main bodies. untitled3.bmp

Two parts down, these should be the hardest ones to make so I got them out of the way first. Working on the CAD drawing so things might make more sense for those that are following

Bob_Belville would have gone with the wiser visor but they are out of stock and no delivry date according to LASAR, from what I can see on here they have been for several years

After doing some research for sun visors for our 65’ E it became obvious that I was going to have to roll my own, or modify a store bought unit. Coming up with something that attached to the windscreen center bar and rotate down on the “X” axis seems to be the norm and fairly easy to do, but I would also like them to rotate to the side which takes the center bar mounting point out of play… or does it? A small aluminum 3/16” or 1/4” rod that follows the top contour of the windscreen would give you a mounting point on the sides and if it was tied into the center bar & headliner plastic it should (should being the key word) be rigid enough to hold a sun visor. Below is a sketch (not to scale) of what I am talking about. So out to the lathe to start making parts, I’ll post pictures along with CAD drawings as they become available. visor.bmp

You should be able to lock the brakes up with moderate to hard pressure. Several things come to mind on spongy brakes, most common is air trapped in the system. I’m going to assume that they were spongy before, hence all the parts & labor. Check to make sure there are no external (visual) leaks anywhere (including the belly area) in the system, if all is dry re-bleed the system. Air will migrate to the highest area(s), you have to move enough fluid thru the system to fully replace what is in the line to insure all the air has been pushed out. I personally use the conventional method of bleeding but with a twist. I connect a clear piece of hose to the wheel cylinder bleeder valve, then route the clear hose up at least 12 inches then loop back down into a catch can. On an aircraft this will take a minimum of 2 but 3 people would be best. Make sure the reservoir is full and the person in the cockpit has the stamina to operate the brake pedal numerous times, have them apply slight pressure to the pedal while the person below slowly opens the bleeder and checks to see if any air comes out, the pedal will go soft but they need to keep pushing the full stroke of the pedal. Here is the twist, leave the bleeder valve open, the loop in the clear line will fill with fluid and not allow air back in the system. The brake needs to be continuously pumped to keep the fluid and trapped air moving out, they can switch legs if they need to but do not stop pumping until all the fluid has been replaced in the line and/or no more air bubbles are visible and the bleeder is closed off. Make sure the reservoir does not run dry (3rd person) during the process, if a 3rd person is not available the one outside will pull double duty keeping the fluid full and operating the bleeder. If no air was visible the next thing I would check is the brake wheel cylinder alignment with the brake disk, they must be square with each other. The torque plate (mounting bracket) is easily flexed or bent if the wheel cylinder binds on the pins instead of floating on them, this is generally visible by an uneven gap between pads and the disk. This will also cause a soft pedal due to the hydraulic energy being used to flex everything back into alignment rather than squeezing on the pads. It seems like a lot of work but in reality it shouldn’t take that long to bleed both brakes and check the alignment of the wheel cylinders if bleeding didn’t correct the issue.

Actually there is an Advisory Circular on the use of EFB's being used for enroute IFR, I used my iPad running Wing-X during my Instr. Ck ride, the only catch is it, the EFB CAN NOT be attached to the aircraft with out having it signed off by an avionics shop, so pop it out of whatever type cradle and put it on your lap before getting to the ramp.

As a Pivate Pilot (or higher) you can change your own tires as "Preventative Maintinance" and sign them off in the Log Book. I would always install new tubes unless it was a trainer which gets tons of landings and the tires wear out fairly quick, inspect the tube including age, then make decission. It's also a good time to inspect/re-pack the wheel bearings. If you do not have a wheel balancer at the very least align the colored "Dot" or "Circle" with the valve stem.

I wouldn't take the weight of the tire in the TCDS as gospel, ply rating> yes, weight>no. You can take any 2 tires that are identical (brand, size, and ply, etc...) and they will weigh in differently, and a 5.00-5 in brand "X"will measure differently in both weight and dimension over brand "Y". My guess is the added weight of the "Mid Body" justified moving to a 6ply rating on the nose..........

The Maintenance Manual and 43-13 both assume you are an A&P or IA, almost all MM be it for a plane, car, boat, motorcycle...etc. are written more as reference or a guide rather than a Step by Step, manuals would be several thousand pages if they went into detail about everything, this includes parts manuals as well. When going into uncharted waters I read the Maintenance Manual and any other material (43-13, Service Bulletins, AD's, Service Instructions, etc..) on what I am about to tackle, plus referencing the Parts Manual and then jotting down any torque values or notes I might need. Now I have a better knowledge of what I'm about to do, and if I have any questions I can give a better description to my A&P/IA.

Add in the Parts manual. If the FAA walks in and you don't have the MM and 43-13 readily available your day could turn to crap in a hurry as they are required to have.

Tell your Dad, Thank You for his service and take him up as much as you can. great pic by the way

Here is what the "Type Certificate Data Sheet" says Landing Gear: 201. ....Two, Main Wheel/Brake Assemblies, 6.00-6 (a) Cleveland Wheel/Brake Assy, Model No. 38500-HA/Brake Assy, C-2000H........................... 14 lbs. 202. .......Two main wheel, 6-ply rating, tires (a) 6.00-6, Type III w/ regular tubes ...................................................................................... 17 lbs. 205. .......One, Nose Wheel, 5.00-5 (a) Goodyear, Model L5NDB, Assy. No. 95206532 ................................................................. 3 lbs. (b) Cleveland, Model 40-33.........................................……...................................................... 4 lbs. 206. .......One, Nose Wheel Tire, 4-Ply Rating, tire (a) 5.00-5, Type III w/ regular tube.......................... 7 lbs. Ply rating refers to LOAD capacity. The tires DO NOT weigh the same, one Main Wheel Assy. weighs the same a Nose tire 1 Main Wheel/Tube/Tire = 15.5lbs, Nose Wheel/Tube/Tire = 10 or 11lbs depending on the Wheel

Auto upholstery shop should have them

You can add a pilot to a policy, there might be restriction as far as training and hrs. go but adding someone to a policy takes only a phone call. My policy has an open pilot clause, 500hrs total time and 50hrs in type, if they meet that they are covered even if they are not named on the policy

I hear ya, most of the pilots I've met over the years are great people, the ones that think they can pick up a turd from the "clean end" I walk away from and never look back. If you haven't already checked out Alex's blog, he went against the grain as well http://mooneyspace.com/topic/16377-alexs-m20d-continuous-thread/ . Keep taking people up when you can and promoting GA, and avoid the one that....well, you know the types

I have no idea what they should be, but that seem like a big difference, maybe the wrong wattage bulb?