3914N

Went out to the airplane today, fired it up, and everything was working perfectly. The only difference I could think of is that when I experienced the issue a few days ago, I had accidentally run the electric fuel pump prior to start with the throttle full in. I’m wondering if that could have flooded the carb. @Gagarin: I ran the electric fuel pump on the ground with the engine off, as you suggested. I was getting drops of fuel out of what I think is the electric pump overflow port on the pilots lower side of the cowl. Drips went away after I turned the pump off. No drips inside the cowling. Is this what you were experiencing as well?

Thanks everyone! I’m going out to the airplane tomorrow morning to see if I can diagnose further and will keep everyone posted.

Thanks for the insight, I’ll check for this next time I make it out to the airplane. Did you end up having to do a full carb overhaul?

Thanks Mark. I’ll try again with carb heat and see if It changes anything and will report back. I’ll try messing with the mixture as well. I did try different mag settings at 1,000 RPM... no change on L/R/both.

Hoping some of you can help me diagnose an issue I experienced this morning. Airplane came out of annual 4 weeks ago with the #3 cylinder overhauled after the discovery of a worn exhaust valve guide. Cylinder walls honed, new piston rings, sump full of mineral oil for the break in. I put 5 hours of >75% power flying on it over two weeks. During the last flight the CHTs had seemed to settle down a lot, so I’m hoping the rings on #3 set okay. Immediately after this, airplane was down for 2 weeks for ADS-B install. Picked up the airplane this morning and did an engine run on the ground. Start up was normal, but once idling at 1000 RPM the cowl was shaking violently and the engine running extremely rough. Increasing RPM to above 1300 made the engine run smoothly again. A mag check at 1700 showed some roughness, so I did a quick burnout and then got a clean mag check. I’m suspecting morning sickness, so I idle at 1500 for a bit waiting for the oil temp to get in the green, then do a few full-power run ups. Once oil temp and CHT are both solidly in the middle of the green, I reduce rpm back through 1300 and the cowl shaking starts again, just as bad as before. Reducing power to idle, and the engine quits! Never experienced anything like this in the last four years of owning this airplane. And I’m the typical guy with no engine monitor so I don’t have any empirical data to share. Thoughts as to what this could be? Summary: 5 hours into a cylinder break-in with no abnormal observations Running the engine after two weeks of no activity, wet outside and temperature colder than normal but not too cold (38F) Extremely rough running below 1300 RPM, even with oil temp and CHTs solidly in the green, and dies at idle, neither of which have ever happened before Everything sounds and feels normal above 1300 RPM

+1 for CO monitor. A lot of added safety for 0.1 AMU. A digital monitor with PPM readout will give you a “health check” of your exhaust baffling before it becomes a safety issue.

$3k seems high. I insured a new PPL (60 hours TT, 0 complex) on my $50k hull value M20G for $1800/yr a few years ago. Maybe that would be $2k today with the rate spikes we've seen recently. Recommend you go through an insurance broker. They will shop around for you and find the best deal based on your stats. My broker changed my policy underwriter a few times over the years as my experience level changed...

If you’re on the west coast, I recommend High Desert Avionics at WJF. I’ve gone to them for panel upgrades on multiple airplanes and they’ve been great. Going to them later this year for a GTX-335 install. My GNS-430W fit nicely in the stack, with only a GMA-340 above it, just missing the “Y” frame that Bob mentions. +1 for just getting the WAAS upgrade over with. Ability to shoot LPV is only becoming more valuable every year and may also help with your ADS-B solution, depending on your plan with that.

I attached a ram mount to the empty space previously used by the LORAN. It’s a good use of the empty spot but is a bit far away from my normal instrument scan.

With all this discussion regarding passengers maybe it’s time to step up to a TBM... Obviously I understand that asking about Comanches on MooneySpace was going to result in biased responses. We all are emotionally and financially invested in the fact that a Mooney is the superior aircraft of choice! Despite that, thank you to those who took the time to respond objectively. That does help me pass some good info on. I suppose the summary so far is that, compared to the pre-J Mooney line, a Comanche 180 offers... 1. Superior cabin space 2. Slightly reduced performance (5-15 knots slower, depending on model) 3. Potentially lower ownership costs (corrosion, fuel bladders) I’ll assume that 3 is somewhat negligible, so really what this comes down to is: as long as you’re okay with the cabin size of a Mooney, why would you even give a Comanche a second thought??

I guess perhaps the 180 and my G are equally under powered? It seems like, compared to a C or E, a Comanche 180 would be roomier but relatively underpowered. Making it a size v. speed trade off?

Hey all- A friend of mine is highly considering purchasing either a Pre-J Mooney or a Comanche 180. I’m trying to help give her some information to support her decision, but I’ve never even sat in a Comanche so I don’t really have a good point of comparison. Does anyone have experience in a Comanche and know how it might compare to a Mooney? Looking at the numbers seems to suggest a Comanche 180 is nearly identical to my M20G in terms of performance, purchase price, cost of ownership, etc (though the Comanche has a better UL). What are some considerations that might drive someone to purchase one over the other, if any?

Alex- what a coincidence that the other -G owner on this thread has nearly the exact same paint and panel as mine! Looks in great shape, is the paint still original?

Photo above is old, already fixed that problem

Loving the glass, but how about something a bit more... vintage? All-original ‘68 paint, interior, and panel (besides updated radios). My wife says I’m a “hipster”!