DXB

The setup of the survey is too vague to discern any meaningful discussion topic or learning point here.

Use them - perfect service, fast turnaround, universally well regarded. If in a big rush just do an overhaul exhange. Crappy mag service = in flight failure. Been there, done that. https://www.aircraftmagnetoservice.net/

This anxiety-provoking thread makes me wonder if I should have formally overhauled my prop rather than IRAN’d/resealed it recently. It’s a 12 year old Top Prop with ~1500hrs that was slinging a modest amount of grease on one blade. It had a few nicks and chips over the years. The engine was getting overhauled so it was a good time to do it. They made it look brand new for less than half the cost of a prop overhaul, and it runs very smooth now even before dynamic balancing. But I wonder if I would hsve gotten much more peace of mind from the careful dye penetrant testing that’s included with overhaul… …and I would love to know what the metallurgy of this failure was….

There is no practical way to do this on a Lycoming engine with current borescopes - the contortions required are extreme. The only way to get a view is pull at least one jug. If you pull one you can use a borescope to see the adjacent cam lobes and lifters, preventing the need to pull two jugs.

Yes you need to run a strong rare earth magnet across the entire surface of the filter - you will likely find lots more. I bet what you have already is 40+ pieces though. This is what my magnet looked like when I had one cam-lifter pair spall...they are small flecks, likely very similar to yours on closeup, but very hard to count. Note this phenomenon may decrease considerably if you run it long enough to keep wearing down the cam lobe, and the only operational difference you may notice is subtly decreased power. BTW I do all my own oil changes, but when this happened I had gotten lazy and was only cutting open every other filter. I pulled the previous one off the shelf and found the same thing. I flew it one more time after that, to the engine shop.

In this case it will tell you that you have ferrous metal, which you already know. It may underestimate the amount since you already pulled much of it off the filter with a magnet. It’s more informative for non-ferrous debris

That’s a fair amount (hard to tell exactly how much based on scale of image), highly suggestive of cam/lifter spalling. Having your mechanic measure how far the valves move when turning the crank may give you confirmation. It’s worth looking at the previous filter if you can get it so you have a trend. Also review lycoming guidance for monitoring once you find metal: https://www.lycoming.com/content/suggestions-if-metal-found-screens-or-filter Sadly, if I were wagering here, I would bet on an overhaul in your near future. It’s not terribly dangerous to run it more, but at some point the metal flakes can trash other components, making your overhaul much more costly

I imagine this requires crank inspection like a prop strike? The asymmetric loads must be enormous

I just had my wimpy O-360-A1D overhauled by a major shop, still nursing my wounds from that. A big bore 6 with a turbo might be a lethal blow.

Limited info here, but engine likely on its last legs - flown 25/hrs year on average since STOH 17 years ago. Also its 27 years SMOH, certainly should be priced as runout. It's in annual but I wonder how long its been sitting recently

It drives itself as a turn coordinator and uses the static source directly for altitude hold I believe. It can take a GPSS input linking to the GPS via a separate box or an Aspen PFD. However, used STEC-30s have to be sent back to the manufacturer to be "recertified" for the STC to be valid. By the time that's done, the cost approaches a new system, so they are rarely re-used.

My C came with these. They do look nice and I don't think they add much weight at all given they're fiberglass. Doubt there's any performance gain speed wise. I've heard they make the roll response a bit more crisp by keeping air attached to the outer edge of the aileron. I'm not sure that's true, but my plane does seem a bit more responsive roll inputs than Mooneys I've flown without them.

Huh - interesting - I always thought Garmin not providing an Aspen interface for the GFC500 was just an annoying business decision. Martin Pauly documented development of an interface in his Bonanza for the Aspen with the GFC600, which is probably made easier by the GFC600 having its own internal AHRS. I still imagine an adapter for the Aspen AHRS with the GFC500 wouldn't be too tough if Garmin saw any business upside in making one/

(1) I'm curious as well - I'd like to replace my current fasteners with these latches (2) The G5 can definitely serve as a legal backup to the AI on the Aspen. You'd have to check the ASPEN STC to see which steam components can be removed based on its backup requirements. Note the Aspen Pro Max PFD with the newer longer life battery requires no legal backups at all. Lastly if the Aspen is your PFD, then a G5 or GI 275 can't drive a GFC-500, which must be controlled by your primary flight display (per my avionics guy - I haven't checked the STC personally).

Update: The "reputable" engine overhauler was not exactly prompt about fixing this issue, making me do all the leg work to find the right part number to correct their mistake and also wait for my first oil change so I could add a qt at a time to prove the marks were incorrect. It ultimately took a phone conversation with Lycoming tech support to figure out what dipstick Mooneys with O-360-A1Ds shipped with. Those minutiae are recorded below in case anyone ever needs them again. The shop owner made it sound like there's no way the dipstick was swapped in his shop - claiming it must have been the remover/installer who did it, a claim that stretches the limits of credulity. After tons of back and forth, he wanted a $300 deposit to send me the replacement before returning the old one, which finally annoyed me enough to say screw you and just buy the correct dipstick off ebay. It does make me wonder what other incorrect parts are on my 32k freshly overhauled engine!! . Anyway, dipstick minutiae are below....thank you Lycoming tech support: Mooneys with O-360-A1Ds originally came with dipstick tube part #75736, which is 11.5” in length - it's one of 3 possible ones on this engine. The original dipstick part number matching this tube is LW14758, 21.25” in length That dipstick has been superceded by part number LW16783-18, 19.44” in length The 1.81” shorter length of the newer part version results in the 4qt mark being just above the bottom of the stick. Based on pictures from internet searches, both dipstick versions have 4,6, and 8 qt markings that are spaced fairly evenly.

RESPONSES IN ALL CAPS BELOW Should I engage a broker to help me find and purchase my first plane? Any recommendations in North Georgia/Atlanta Area? How should I initiate this process now that I have decided to buy? [NO! USE THE STANDARD LISTING SERVICES PLUS WORD OF MOUTH/INTERNET, INCLUDING WTB IN FOR SALE SECTION HERE, OWNERS OF SHOPS THAT SEE A LOT OF MOONEYS] If given the choice, would you rather find the perfect airframe, power plant, or avionics? What is the order of priority and why? What upgrade is easier/quicker to complete; a panel upgrade or an engine/prop overhaul? [AIRFRAME FIRST - NO SUCH THING AS PERFECT BUT MAKE DEAD CERTAIN NO CORROSION OF SPAR OR STEEL CAGE, THEN ENGINE - PRIORITY IS WHATEVER ENGINE IT HAS IS APPROPRIATELY PRICED FOR AGE/CONDITION, THEN AVIONICS - GREAT AVIONICS SAVE YOU A TON OF MONEY IN LONG TERM BUT ARE HARD TO FIND] As I compare different planes, I'm trying to normalize the pricing by budgeting for panel upgrades, engine/prop overhaul, interior upgrades and paint. I've done some research and found some rough numbers, please let me know if I'm off base, and let me know how I should be comparing prices from plane to plane. Engine Overhaul: $40K for reman engine plus $20K for install/consumables/unforeseens - $60K total [40K IS LOW THESE DAYS. FORGET FACTORY REMAN - WILL WAIT FOR YEARS. WANT GOOD OVERHAUL] Prop Overhaul: $20K for new prop or $5K for overhaul including governor [A BIT LOW - MORE LIKE 7+AMU] Avionics: $75-100K, varies widely, based on my goal for a 10" G3X w/ EIS, GI-275 Backup, GTN-750xi, GTN-650xi, GMA-350, GTX-345, GFC-500 [LOW - REMEMBER INSTALL COSTS CAN EXCEED THE HARDWARE COST] Interior: $10-15K for seats, carpets and refresh on the plastics [BALLPARK YES] Paint: $20K for strip and repaint [BALLPARK YES] I've read many people recommend finding a mechanic before you buy a plane, any recommendations for Mooney A&Ps in the North Georgia/Atlanta Area? [COLE AVIATION DALTON GEORGIA IS THE BEST MOONEY SHOP IN THAT AREA BY FAR] Lastly - if you know of anyone with a J model in North Georgia looking to sell, take on a new partner, or form a partnership, please let me know! I'm not on Facebook or social media, but if there's value to networking please let me know what FB groups I should be looking into. [AM NO HELP HERE. REMEMBER A PARTNERSHIP IS LIKE A MARRIAGE SO IT HELPS TO KNOW THE PERSON WELL AND TRUST THEM]

Shallow and/or antiquated views on engine maintenance seem pretty common among A&Ps. It seems like many never go much beyond faa and manufacturer regulatory guidance in their understanding of what contributes to safe and reliable engine operation. I wonder how much is taught regarding borescope usage and engine monitor interpretation for instance in modern curricula. Mooneys as you know have some systems with idiosyncratic design relative to aircraft of the same class - control surface linkages, trim, gear. I'm not sure how much A&P curricula help here. BTW what you're doing is great - owners with A&P background are highly valuable to the Mooney community. I hope you stick around in the coming years....

Get the ones @jetdriven mentioned. No need to dig though part numbers - many have been resized from the old factory spec anyway so the original part may not fit your setup. Just send Aero Hose Shop your old ones to duplicate with 124JJ - low profile, integral fire sleeve, indefinitely long service life - far better than rubber hoses for not much more money. I just used them to replace all oil and fuel hoses firewall forward at time of overhaul. It was ~$1400 total. They were great to work with and had a 1 week turnaround. Contact Ben McNamara. (I have no relationship to this vendor - I was just pleased with their service).

This respost notification triggered terrible memories -thanks for nothing . Of note the pitch servo did evenually go back to working normally without my having to pull it. But I haven't fogged my plane since that date, and I probably should consider doing it again. I wonder what the safest most modern approach is.

My JPI 900 is quite solid and reliable now. The issues were all install related. JPI's technical support is spotty in quality, so it took a long time to troubleshoot properly - by contrast to EI for instance. I suspect your situation is the same.

Apparently the CVR was at the base of the main impact crater - blows my mind that this thing is predicted to be readable

Are you referring to "specks" in the form of abundant ferrous metal sticking to a magnet when you run it over the filter (which is concerning), or just the oil analysis (which is much less concerning - so much so I'd suggest quit with the oil analysis, which is generally not actionable information). If visible "specks" are nonferrous, analyzing their composition via Avlab can be informative, as mentioned already.

We don't know the identities of the pilots and their experience/training records yet, but this question of competence will at least be partly answered. The company is based out of both Mexico City and Miami and operates in the US under part 135 rules. https://www.jet-rescue.com/

Perhaps some minor or major distraction in the cockpit or cabin? The distraction could be human in nature or, perhaps more likely here, aircraft systems related and lead to commanded or automatic disconnection of the autopilot after they first tried to engage it. It seems like they never made the turn to assigned heading of 290, which should have been in the heading bug and followed by autopilot. Spatial disorientation may have become the key factor once the autopilot was off, assuming it was ever on. It also seems like these possibilities will be nearly impossible to sort with a pulverized/incinerated aircraft and no CVR/FDR; however, this broad category of issues seems more likely than a catastrophic, unrecoverable aircraft systems failure, particulary given poor weather plus nighttime.