Mooney in Oz

This Bonanza accident prompted my memory of a similar accident here in Australia that involved a Mooney M20J that occurred on October 3 1997, at night over an outback area in pitch black conditions. The Mooney was fitted with a vacuum operated attitude indicator, directional indicator and the pilot's only backup was the electric turn coordinator. The Pilot broadcast his instruments were failing and attempted a diversion. Sadly, 3 souls perished as a result. The investigation revealed clear evidence of a vacuum pump failure. Furthermore, the Mooney had flown 1,248 hours and 7 years on the same vacuum pump until it's last periodic inspection some 2 months before the accident. Obviously nothing was done about the vacuum pump at that inspection. The only differences between this and the Bonanza accident was the Bonanza broke up on the way down in IMC, the Mooney remained intact until ground impact and was in pitch black conditions at night. Same failure and same result. For those who wish to read the analysis: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1997/aair/aair199703221/ Victor

The following is more to do human factor weather decision making; With the availability of reasonable weather forecasts these days, I always have a study of all available weather forecasting info at least 4 days beforehand. Even looking at a simple synoptic chart that far out, you should have a good idea what to expect. Sometimes the best solution might be to not get out of bed that morning. I read somewhere once that the sun will mostly shine on the wreckage the next day. Victor

Another reason to get rid of the ram air is if you have it open and enter cloud in icing conditions, only needs to be light ice, it opens up a high risk of stopping your engine. Your engine will not restart until you have escaped those conditions. Just ask me how I know! It was the most essential mod when my Mooney was repainted. Victor

+1

Totally understandable. Thank you, I wasn’t aware of that.

I have an Aspen and it has always indicated about 2 KIAS slower and 50-60 feet lower in cruise than the steam indicators.

Is there any chance of a Mooney Summit being held in Kerrville? I know about MAPA's Homecoming as I've already been to one, however if they did not clash.....

Totally agree. @PaulM. I have an Aspen Pro, IFD540 and 55x. The 55x behaves exactly as you describe in that I have to arm APR by pressing the button in all regimes for the Glideslope to work . I usually do this as I am approaching the IAF and below the Glideslope intercept. Victor

I have an Aspen Evolution 1000 Pro with SV added since the software was released and have never noticed any such issues. IMHO Aspen will release major upgrades or totally new products sometime in 2018 as they have recently offered aggressive discounts on current major products, to possibly clear stock. This is just a wild guess on my behalf. Victor

Install an IFD440 to compliment my IFD540 and possibly make it to the Mooney Summit. Victor

I hope the following helps to answer anyone’s specific query relating to creating a holding pattern that is not associated with a published specific fix relating to the IFD540/440 navigator. For example, if inbound and ATC issue a ‘Clearance limit 25 DME’, which sometimes happens here in Australia, moreso at country airports with a tower controller, in our Class D airspace. Firstly, at this stage the IFD user cannot enter a Hold Present Position, as this feature is not presently available. However I have been reliably advised by someone of significance at Avidyne it will likely be added in a future software update. Who knows when this will happen? If it was available now, at say 30 DME the user could simply enter a Hold in just about no time, which would achieve the above objective. As a way around, there is however a cool feature currently available called Rubber Banding. This enables the user to place their finger on the touch screen at any point along the track enabling either left or right track changes simply by sliding their finger to say go around weather or for any other reason. When this occurs, the track changes from magenta or magenta/white to cyan and where the finger stops an info box pops up with a default name ‘RB001’, meaning Rubber Band 1 with the coordinate that has just been created. The user does not have to Rubber Band left or right as screen touching on the displayed track for about 2 seconds is sufficient. The created coordinate (RB001) can now be incorporated into the flight plan under the FMS tab thereby enabling the user to enter a holding pattern. In the above scenario, RB001 can be created on track at 30 DME. As you can tell, I have a 540 and will soon add a 440 to my panel. The units are intuitive and very easy to use. I hope this helps. @PeytonM, I haven’t had the need to attempt what you describe. Have you tried this on the IFD Trainer simulator app? It is an excellent resource. Victor

Probably too late to be included in 10.2.1 for us Avidyne folk. I'm sure it will happen in a following update.

Years ago one of our Mooney group members was flying his M20C when the aircraft suffered an engine failure following a sudden loss of oil pressure. At the time the pilot was flying over suburban Sydney and elected to glide it into a golf course. He chose a fairway and toward the end, deliberately aimed between two trees that resulted in the removal of both wings and slowed the aircraft enough so that it was able to dissipate the energy and stop before colliding into a row of other trees at the very end of the fairway. He stepped out of his Mooney (minus both wings) and walked away, much to the dismay of golfers. The photos were quite amusing. The cause was found to be a previously unbeknown damaged oil quick drain. Evidence indicated the engine had possibly been either dropped, hit a floor or another object hard enough prior to install resulting in the damaged quick drain. Overflying golf courses and noticing how short the fairway lengths are from above, I sometimes wonder whether I would have the skill for such a successful outcome. Going between the trees carries with it the risk of fire by exposing all that fuel, but ending up into the trees at the end poses more than just a fire risk. It would be between the trees for me. Victor

Folks, I also would like to respectfully put my view forward relating to what I also believe to be misinterpretation of Don Kaye's post. I say this on the basis of having personally met and flown with Don extensively in a demonstrator Mooney Acclaim some years ago when he and other Mooney officials, including the then Mooney CEO Dennis Ferguson visited Australia. I found Don to be very professional and humble both as a teacher and on a personal level. I spent quite a lot of time with him and most of our conversations were to do with Mooneys. I will never know anyone in Australia that has his vast Mooney knowledge and experience. We have all at some time or another been misinterpreted in either emails or in this wonderful forum of ours as keyboard language is devoid of normal, personal interaction. A special thank you to @Cooperd0g for sharing. Victor.

At least a trade-in then I hope.

You won't be disappointed. When the need arises I'll upgrade my 830 to a 900 or 930. Victor.

Sorry Mike, for some reason I thought this website forum and The Mooney Flyer were the same. Re Amazon - Done! kaba - I would also use T/O flaps as most here attest to from previous experience, including my own but nowhere near as high an elevation as some have indicated. I think the highest licensed airport elevation in Australia is 4,260 feet, which is nothing compared to what you have in the USA.

Thanks Mike and carusoam for the encouragement - and also your enjoyable posts I love reading. I viewed all the pics and my favourites as always were all the different Mooneys in the parking area. I have to say that you are very organised with the location and dates already set in motion . If work allows me leave for those dates with no other issues, I'll likely be there. Just one more question; do you guys sell any merchandise? I would like to show some further support by purchasing some Mooney clothing or other stuff. I could not find anything relating to merchandise in any of the monthly Mooney Flyers I receive. My apology to kaba for the thread drift.

Good question Byron. An unqualified guess; maybe it has to do with possible unporting of fuel in the tank due to an uncoordinated steep bank and Mooney are simply catering to that scenario? However, the wording does not imply either coordinated or uncoordinated. I'm sure there a technical answer out there.

You know Mike, I recently thought about attending a future Mooney Summit to the extent that only a couple of days ago I had a good surf through your website. I know this years has just ended, however are there any dates and location decided for 2018?

I was introduced to Mike during a factory tour, organised by former Sales Executive, (the lovely) Susan Harrison after the factory closure with only a small number of staff on hand. I was also there for Homecoming. I gained the same impression of Mike as you did Jolie, a most humble gentleman. I wish Mike well in his retirement.

How good would it be if we had the privilege of Bob Kromer (former Mooney factory test pilot) monitoring our forums.

Maybe it is in part reference to the following 'Warning' from the M20J POH, which I am sure is the same as the M20C POH: "Takeoff maneuvers, prolonged sideslips or steep descents when the selected fuel tank contains less than 8 gallons (48.0 lbs., 30.3 litres, 6.7 IMP. Gal.) of fuel have not been demonstrated and may cause loss of power" I couldn't figure out how to display the exact page, so I just typed the info as written. In the absence of a stall, low fuel below 8 gallons in the selected tank was found to be the most likely causal factor in a fatal Mooney accident in Western Australia some years ago when the pilot did a steep bank in the circuit.

Some years ago without warning, I suffered a sudden and total engine failure in my J whilst in cruise after about 10 minutes of flying. Glided into a paddock wheels up and survived with no injuries. Engine later ran fine when bolted onto the test mechanism. Fuel injection system was disassembled and thoroughly examined with no issues. Aircraft had approximately 160 litres of fuel remaining with no evidence of contamination. The power just very suddenly stopped as evident by the JPI data, which did not reveal any other issue. WTF? Due to the suddenness of failure, an electrical issue was strongly suspected. The only smoking gun was a broken P lead and much carbon inside the starter ignition switch with obvious evidence of arcing, probably for a lengthy period of time. The switch was original and changed out for the latest, which does not present this problem. Unbeknown to me or my engineer at the time, we later discovered this older switch was the subject of previous documentation issued by the New Zealand CAA (there was also another country authority, but I can’t recall the one) for this type of switch to be examined every 500 hours or replaced with the latest type switch. To my knowledge neither the FAA or even Mooney had actioned any documentation relating to this issue. No one can be 100% certain the switch was totally to blame, but the P lead and ignition switch was the only evidence relating to the failure. Despite less than 100% certainty, I implore all members who still have the old style ignition switch to PLEASE have it changed out. The later style switch is the same as in the Acclaim and Ovations. I don’t know if the early Ovations have the same. The later style key has the name ‘Medico’ on it and can only be acquired through Mooney. Mlm20c - Flying is risky business. I do it for a living and love flying my Mooney even more. We can only mitigate the risks as best we can. One of my mitigation’s is to avoid night flying as much as possible. Victor

1. My mechanic is about to use a product by the name of Cor-Ban for corrosion prevention within the wings. He is very Mooney experienced and I trust him. 2. Forget about previous generation strobes and power supplies. Save $ in the long run and fit LED nav lights and strobes. 3. Sorry to hear, glad it was caught. 4. Hobbs connected to gear switch. I assume this is what your mechanic is referring to. I have it and happy with the results. 5. New shop for a different perspective doesn't hurt. As long as they are Mooney knowledgeable and don't rip you off. 6. One piece belly = going to Mooney heaven! Victor