AlexLev

I turned carb heat on after the event for a bit. My carb temp gauge was in the yellow (close 0-5C) at the time of incident, OAT was about 45-50F, but I was above clouds in clear air at time of incident.

Unfortunately, my engine monitor is an older one which does display all 4 EGTs and CHTs digitally, but no download functionality. I'll investigate the plug. Is there a fuel filter or something to look through? How accessible is it? I'm curious if in the process of the shop resealing the inboard screws -- some goop could have gotten into the tank?

Was at 6,000 cruising above the clouds with fields that were LIFR below when my engine hiccuped. Things just felt like they vibrated and it almost powered down (not fully, maybe a 300rpm loss if I had to quantify it, but I wasn't looking at RPM needle at that exact moment) and up super quick (all within a second). It happened so quick that I didn't notice any signs with CHTs or EGTs beforehand. My passenger seemed to notice it too, so I don't think it was just me. Everything purred for the rest of the flight and I was just flying back from having my inboard fuel screws sealed on the right wing from maintenance (but I was on the left tank when it happened). Any clues on what to investigate? I was on edge for the rest of the flight since with the 300OVC fields below me, my only plan would have been to assume best glide and aim toward a road on a map and hope to break out and land it. Not great odds. I have a carburated Mooney, engine just overhauled about 1year and 200hours ago. I imagine it could have been a little bit of water that may have been hiding in the tanks, at least that's what I'm telling myself.

@kerry - finally talked to an avionics guy about adjusting the A/P from the controller. He says it would be tough to do without an extension of sorts for the voltmeter to plug into the controller. Any thoughts/how to get one or who could help answer these questions? Have you ever had your controller inputs adjusted? Michael Ritterbush hasn't gotten back to me, but I'll try emailing him one more time.

Staniel Cay is great, my wife and I stayed at an Airbnb at Black Point (5 min flight from staniel cay) and then made day trips to Staniel Cay and even Cat Island to explore a bit further.

Love the replies so far. @Marauder - to answer your questions as to why I am asking; just some self reflection and wanting to start a discussion. I am experiencing a serious conflict with a shop and I am reflecting if a lack of patience on my part is partly the cause. It leads me to think about other instances of patience & impatience and its overall role in aviation and in life. Is being patient a choice, as @carusoam eludes to? Are younger people inherently more inpatient than older people due to their lack of experience? Can being impatient be an advantage, as @bonal asks. That's an interesting thought. Depends on the definition of patience, I suppose. One source defines it as: "the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset." In which case, it's more talking about how a person handles a delay or suffering. I don't think being impatient can be an advantage under these circumstances, unless the very act of impatience teaches one patience and it's probably never something that's ultimately learned, but moreso practiced. Where it becomes interesting to me is the difference between persistence and impatience. If one is characteristically persistent, can they be perceived as impatient? Is there a fine line between tenacity and impatience? to apply to aviation: When does persistence to get to a destination and find a way through the weather turn into get there-itis? One could be patient and wait out storms, only to be riddled with fatigue and have their judgment impaired. When does persistence in calling often to get an update and stay in good communication with a shop turn into impatience? Who is impatient? The customer calling or the shop in not being patient or with good communication? All just food for thought in the hopes of a deeper discussion, no right answers.

Really disheartening to hear. KERI was one of the first XCs I did with an instructor. I've landed there a few times since getting my license to go ride the wooden roller coaster. Definitely will avoid for the future if I can.

Just wanted to start a discussion as I'm curious if you find yourself a patient aviator. Is being patient necessary for being a good aviator? How does patience relate to aviation maintenance? How does patience relate to cross country flight? If you are mostly characteristically patient, but were characteristically inpatient before, how did you cultivate the quality of patience?

Yup, on second glance in person yesterday - looks like everyone is right. Hopefully very simple to fix. It's definitely fuel too (I smelled it). Thanks for the assistance! Very much love this community.

Luckily, I didn't touch the other ones w/a torque wrench and they are not at all close. Thanks for the advice so far.

Embarrassing update: wanted to re-torque the bolts after the A&P bolted on the exhaust (after flying it) and instead of using 150 in lbs, used 150 ft lbs and broke off on the left rear exhaust stack/riser. Hope someone learns from my mistake. @Shadrach or @M20Doc: curious if you have any ideas for how to work that out without damaging the cylinder? I'll be working with an A&P as well, but wondering if any of you have any experience on working that remaining stud out. I feel really dumb See pics:

Thanks -- does that look similar? I only ask because it seems like the stain is not around a screw but a bit to the left of it. Definitely hoping it's a simple screw leak vs something more major.

Uh oh. I considered that too. Is it possible that it might be from the fuel sender or would it not stain like that? I’ve noticed a light smell of fuel in cockpit when I first get in but haven’t found any evidence until now, I figured the smell may have come from fuel sender underneath passenger door but haven’t yet had a chance to look and potentially seal (does the seat need to generally come out to access?)

Any suggestions on touching up wing walk? Have some wax remnants, dirt...and: Also, noticed this yesterday and it scared me a little: is that rust underneath or dirt? I'll try washing it off next time I'm in my hangar to see, but if it's rust-is that potentially a serious issue?

Checked it yesterday. 0ppm in cruise again.

No PowerFlow for me:

I am jealous of your useful load. I would be in Mooney heaven if my G had 1067lbs, alas I am stuck with 900lbs.

I have to complete 73-21-01 about 2-3x per year each year due to flying 2-300hrs/year. It generally takes me about 3-4 hours. I open the plane up (1 hour), mechanic lubes it (0.5 hours), and I put it back together 1-2hours. I wouldn't necessarily call it an annual.

Aw, shoot. Wish I didn't read that, ha. I ended up going with option 1 simply because they AWI already did the work on my muffler and I'd feel like a bit of a dick if I told them to kick it now, that and Knisley had a 3 week development lead time for the unit, whereas AWI was already practically done with mine. Thanks for all the feedback.

Thought I'd open a can of worms... AWI-AMI currently has my stack and instead of the $700 I thought it would cost, they said some of the risers have pitting so they are now quoting Option 1: $1446 for the muffler + risers overhaul. Option 2: The other option is to get a system from Knisley for $2300. 3 week turn around time. Comes with a new tailpipe too. Option 3: Third option is a PowerFlow for $4600 (potential 400 rebate after SunNFun). With a G model, a PowerFlow is tempting -- could be a way to get better performance on the 180hp engine. I currently true 136-138KTS at altitude, and can get 142-144KTS at 3500ft running at 24sq. Having an extra 4 knots would be useful and the extra climb performance could be helpful, especially with a trip out west planned in a few months. However, not sure if PowerFlow would cause more cabin noise, more wear on airframe...and the extra maintenance every annual sort of sucks too. Plus the price is about 3X what an exhaust overhaul would cost me, so I am not sure it makes financial sense either. What would you choose? As exciting as a PF would be, I am leaning toward sticking with the AWI-AMI overhaul mainly due to $$$, but thought I'd see what people's thoughts were.

300 in last year 3 years is promising, but how do you know the owner didn't find a little bit of metal in oil changes? I'd personally feel a lot more comfortable with the plane if I can put 10-20 hours on it and then take a look at the oil filter myself, but good luck finding a way to do that. And yes -- it makes sense that you want a mid-body given your mission. I have passengers often and find the G a great plane for bringing at least 2 other pax, and I've had 4 people in it on at least 5-8 occassions for even long cross countries and everyone was cozy. My G's engine started making metal after I put 200 hours on it. It had 900 hours SMOH when I bought it. In o-360s the cam+lifters are the weakest link. I certainly could have put it on the market then and no one would have been the wiser if I changed the oil before putting it on the market. All I'm saying is, it's wise to have some cash reserves for expenses like this when you're buying any airplane as it could always happen to you too. I got my G to do IFR training in it and got my instrument rating in it. Let me say this - It would have sucked to not have a 430W because you'd have to relearn so much...and your instrument rating is so much harder without an IFR GPS.

I have LED strobes and tails. All my friends always comment that when I come into a field at night, my little G looks like an airliner and way cool. You won't regret it!

That G is in poor shape. Agreed. Just looking at the specs, in the next few years, I'd wager you'd: - Spend at least 15K on an engine overhaul - Probably need to bring in ADSB compliant by 2020. Another 10K if you go the 430W + 330ES route, there are cheaper alternatives, but how long are you going to want to fly that thing without an IFR GPS? Maybe you don't need one, but still..better planes for better prices to be had out there. And then it's just hard to take pride of ownership on a plane that so desperately needs paint, etc. Why do you want a G vs a C or something of the sort? Do you prefer the mid body cabins?

Can I ask what you are considering getting the plane for? Feel free to PM me if you want, just curious what a G model like that commands in today's market. Happy to tell you what I paid for my G model too back in Dec 2016 if you PM me. Anyway--I can't speak much to the plane. My initial instinct from the pictures would be to tread lightly and have ample $$$ in reserve for unexpected maintenance. The interior does look clean at least.

Good luck, I've owned an M20G for the past few years, purchased in '16; feel free to message me with any questions.