Mark942

Paint me Green with envy! I need to get mine painted (it is truly horrible), but been restoring and improving mine since I bought it 8 years ago. Almost done making it better than new and paint will be the last thing I have done. I have Many bad paint spots where the million screws are. I'll attach a photo. How did they deal with that? What keeps the new screws from just chewing up the paint again, and did they paint screw heads, either on the cowling or the inspection panels?? Thanks for your thoughts. -mark

I've got a working generator and relay style voltage regulator that I took off my E several years ago and replaced with Plane Power Alternator and solid state VR. They are still laying in a box somewhere in my hangar. If this is what you need, they are both yours for free if you pay shipping. -mark

Just read FF public response about the layoffs: Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah...Safety, reliability, and our customer commitments remain unchanged and remain our top priority.” Yep, $ has nothing to do with it. We the customer (pilots who can actually DIE if information is wrong) are there top priority.

Merry Christmas, I have a Rayjay on my 1964 M20E and love it. It was installed many years ago by a previous owner. My installation manual and operators manual were ruined at some point before I purchased the plane. They got wet, and most pages are mostly unreadable. Any chance I could pay you to take those docs to an office supply place and have it scanned and then email it as a PDF to me? Please let me know if you are interested and what you would charge me for this. Hope you are able to sell it soon. Thanks, -mark You can private message me here on Mooney Space to let me know.

Congratulations !! Now the real work of becoming REALLY proficient with your Mooney. It's not a 172. It is responsive and fun to fly, but demanding and will punish you if you are not thinking ahead of it. Go out and fly a lot. The key is to fly some every week. Lots of slow steady confidence and SKILL and KNOWLEDGE building at this point. Mistakes that don't bend metal or hurt people are learning opportunities. Re-fly your last trip up that evening while you drift off to sleep. What worked?? What could have gone better. Why was that second landing of the afternoon drifting off center-line and all squirmy before you got it slowed down?? Practice and learn. Take fun short trips with the wife, but for every hour you are droning along in a straight line, spend 2 hours doing work. Go out and learn the power settings and cover up instruments. BECOME ONE with this wonderful machine. Most important: Set very conservative Personal limits of ceilings, visibility, winds and gusts and angle of cross winds. Find a long runway and with VERY low winds, actually do a downwind landing and experience the big difference. Very Important... stick to your personal limits. Then as you get better, slowly reevaluate those limits. If something in you life keeps you from flying for 6 or 8 weeks or longer... reevaluate your personal limits. Our Mooney's are wonderful fun flying machines but they Trust US, to keep them out of trouble because they are not a slow, docile, forgiving, 172. Again, Congratulations and enjoy. -mark

Muncie Aviation, Muncie, Indiana. At my biannual Static Cert about 3 years ago, they found that my Altimeter failed the required accuracy. They removed the old one, and installed one they had rebuilt for $1K. It has worked perfectly for 3 years. -mark

No inter cooler. -mark

I have a 64 M20E with a RayJay. I live in the Midwest flat lands and the only mountains I fly over are the Appalachian and Smoky which don't really count as mountains compared to the Rockies. Having said that, after about 7K feet we all see our max power start falling off and climbing at 500 ft per minute much less a IFR required ft per NM case becomes harder if not impossible. The RayJay is just like a second throttle. Start dialing it in and you get your MP back. I have never flown over 10K but with my setup, I can get 28" MP at 10K if I wanted. Pretty impressive. The key is to have a really tight system so you don't loose the extra air out through leaks. I do have to pay attention to cooling higher up and with the RayJay engaged. I notice about a 20 deg F oil temp increase and CHT's push 380F. I also give up LOP above 8K and go ROP to help with cooling. I will some times run 25/25 at 8K or 9 K if on a long cross country. Otherwise I usually don't engage the turbo and cruise at 65% power but my AP tells me I am not helping the engine and should run it harder. -mark

Thanks for the update in the reg. Might be important some day for me. I have sent a note to my AP/IA in case he was not aware of it. -mark

I have had some success with stuck screws or screws that have rounded out hex drives by taking a "small" dremal tool and using the smallest cutting disk. I use the disk on a piece of junk metal to wear it's diameter down to that of the diameter of the screw head. Then carefully cut a slot in the screw head. You will probably go through several disks. Then, with a Flat Blade screw driver and hard force into the screw to keep it engaged, you can some times get it to back out. Spraying the screw with a good penetrating oil such as PB Blaster several times over 3 or 4 days prior to extraction ". If this fails, then you are pretty much left with drilling out the screw. Use a drill that is about 0.020" under the "Minor" diameter of screw. Google the Major and Minor diameter of the screw you are working with. Then use an "Easy Out" screw extractor. I have pasted a location at Amazon that has several sets. You will need one that goes that small. I have found that the key is to put a lot of force into the screw to get a good "bite" on it. Also, last thought. Make sure the drill bit is aligned with the screw shank. This is kind of difficult laying under the belly. If possible, have a friend help by looking at the drill bit shank and telling you "left, right, this way that way" so you are aligned. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ezout+screw+extractor&crid=2UCNEWB5AMJQ0&sprefix=ezout%2Caps%2C171&ref=nb_sb_ss_p13n-expert-pd-ops-ranker_6_5 Best of luck, -mark

I replaced the original equipment generator with a Plane Power 70 amp alternator 8 years ago when my wife first bought the plane for me (another story for a different time), and I had to cut around on the baffle about an inch or so as I remember and there was another area that was exposed to allow air through so I custom fit baffling to make it match up. Have had no heat issues and the alternator has been flawless. -mark

Thanks everyone. More helpful and accurate than ChatGPT or Google. What a GREAT resource for us Mooney drivers.

I'd like to replace the burn your fingers, current-hog, ancient red spot lights we have in the ceiling with leds. Any suggestions? I'd really like to find a nice set of lithium compact directional lamps with on/off switch that could be clip mounted. Battery powered to provide non - ships power lights. My panel has it's own lighting so this would provide a good independent backup lighting system.

Thanks again guys, -mark

Thanks guys, I'm going to ask my AP/IA to take a look at it with me. When I first got the plane it was the same, and I asked my AP at the time (an old timer) if that was ok, and he said yeah, they're all like that so I never worried about it but always check it as part of my pr-flight walk around to make sure it has not changed. My current AP/IA has looked at it and said it is alright, but I want it really checked out. Thanks again guys, -mark

A little off topic, but should you be able to lift the tail nose cone about a 1/4" during preflight inspection? I've always been able to do this. Kind of bothers me, but trim and stability during flight is perfect. Thanks, -mark

Let us know what Savvy has to say. Photos can be deceiving, and not under a Black Light, but looks to me like a defect in the paint and a bit of rust under the paint crack leaching out. I've seen a lot of cracks in medical orthopedic devices that are penetrant inspected. That looks like micro welding inconsistencies to me that have been there since manufacture. I agree with others that swapping it out for a salvage unit is not value added. Please keep us posted, and best of luck. -mark

I have a 64E. My Trim indicator works fine, but it is difficult to really look at since it's located down by my shins, and it is not illuminated. I practiced takeoffs until I had a setting that I liked the most. Then I placed a 1/2 inch Magic Marker line along the edge of the cover that goes directly over the tail hinge and slides along the tail as trim is changed. Now, looking at this "indicator" mark is simply a part of my walk around checklist. I also filed a small 1/16 inch rounded notch in the edge of the trim wheel in the cabin. I can "feel" this notch as I adjust the trim. I know it should be at 12 o-clock high with the mark at the edge of the cover. Very fool proof, and intuitive feedback to me about where the trim is set. If the "indicator mark" starts to fade, it takes 2 minutes about once a year to freshen it up. Just how I do it.

Meigs was GREAT. I have landed there multiple times in a Cherokee 140 back in the day. Fly up and land, walk to McCormic Place to see equipment at a trade show, then fly home all in one day. Several night take off's out of Meigs. All VFR. Young pilot afraid of comms with the big guys at ATC. Later landed at MidWay in my little puddle jumper and got Red Carpet treatment at the FBO. Cheaper overnight parking than in the car garage. Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end...

Corn_Flake, will your mounting allow the visor to swing to the side window?? I have a 64E and need new visors and would like to be able to swing them to the side window like modern cars do. Thanks, -mark

So, just to go on record. Greed has no limits. The easier the scam, the more likely it will happen. Using ADSB (Federal System) to enable a private company to convince the local airport this is found money ??? What is the down side to simply refusing to pay that specific fee?? Probably less than a $100 fee. Now the local airport has to put effort into collecting. Probably the end of the effort. Just my 2 Cents.

The topic is flying IFR without an AP. I just stated that because of technical issues with my AP and complexity of my new IFD 550, that while Learning to fly IFR by hand I felt behind the airplane. Lots to do, while maintaining a heading and altitude along with all the other new demands of IFR flight that I originally felt behind the airplane. That's why we spend so many hours doing the training. We train, and then train some more until we master it. Then maintain proficiency by practicing more hours than are required by the regs. I think almost everyone feels Behind the Airplane in their early hours of training ???

I did 95% of my IFR training by hand flying. I have an Avidyne IFD550 with Stec 60-2 AP with VS. My instructor was not familiar enough with the IFD or the Stec to help me figure out the buttonology so I was taught hand flying and behind the airplane all the time. Got through it but at 70 years old, it seemed harder than I remember doing in a C140 with wing leveler 40 years earlier (never took check ride because of failed GS on VOR and then work). Fast forward to a more complex plane, a VERY capable GPS navigator and an AP that did strange things (about $6000 in shop time spread over 3 separate shops and a year of frustration) finally got it wired correctly, but at the time I was doing my training it simply added to the confusion. Now with everything working, I find flying in actual IMC without a hood easier than the old fashioned hood. My bifocals made it hard for me to use foggles. Now add in the AP and I feel I'm ahead of the airplane. I will sometimes turn it off part way into the final approach course and hand fly just for the fun of it. Just wish I could find a simulator that had my equipment in it (IFD and Stec).

What does this topic have to do with Mooneys or aviation in general. MooneySpace is one of the few places I can visit on the internet that is NOT political. Yes, I am certain we all have our opinions, but we don't preach or discuss them on the forum. It is about helping each other as pilots and owners of a Mooney. I really don't want to see this forum head down the slippery path of how divided our country is now and which state (Red or Blue) is best. The originator of this post has made it clear his position and other's have tip toed around the issue. Where is our Moderator to simply state that this is not a proper topic for this forum and shut this thread down.

Harbor Freight or garage sales or auctions. Buy sockets, and wrenches for cheap because you will need to use a hand grinder to cut off, grind down, heat with torch and bend in odd angles. Keep a drawer in your tool box for all the modified tools you accumulate. Saves a ton of time having a tool that is bent just right or has half the end ground off so you can get it on. Duct tape or painter's blue tape over a boxed end wrench to keep the nut from falling in to never land. EXTRA long 24" or 36" screw drivers and multiple socket set extensions are really handy. Remember, buy cheap and many so you can make them work. Sure cuts down on time and frustration. Also, replace Phillip screws that are removed several times a year. They get rounded out a little and then all of a sudden, you are spending two hours trying to get it out. Eazy outs are also needed once in a while (this would be an exception to buying cheap - buy good ones). Also, flexible scopes that pair to your cell phone for getting a good view where you can't see. Beats a mirror on a stick. Amazon has a lot of cheap ones that would have been very expensive 10 years ago. -mark