sailon

Find a good local mechanic that you are comfortable with working with. Traveling way out of state is just asking for your airplane to become kidnapped by unscrupulous mechanics. Get your hands dirty. Find a mechanic who supports owner involvement. They respect owners who know their airplanes, and or will teach you about how your airplane works. During my annual, I perform all of the owner maintenance functions prior, give the airplane a good cleaning before the annual starts, and participate if possible by removing and replacing the inspection ports for the mechanic and letting him inspect. You are paying him to inspect, not to remove and replace inspection covers! Other cardinal rule I follow, is when he is doing engine work, back off, leave him alone unless he asks for help (may need someone to help pull the prop for compression tests) until engine inspection is completed.

Greetings, I am based at KMLB, when I need to go down to Broward county, I generally use KPMP.

If the elevator was "swapped," the SN of the airplane the elevator came from should be in the log book. An IA or owner should know if a major repair such as an elevator swap occurred and render the AD applicable by SN. Never install a critical part without the source aircraft SN in the logbook.

Here you go: TCDS 2A3 Rev 58 Mooney International Corporation (faa.gov)

But with the modified tracks, the comfort is exceptional!!!!

Do not have pedal extensions. First thing I looked for. Wish I could reach the fuel switch, use a custom tool to reach it. Works great. What is interesting is that I can fly a 252 or ovation without any seat modifications, altho the seat is just a tad too far forward, but it is workable. Not sure, but I think there was a slight increase in length in the fuselage there. Have not sat in a J for a while.

Careful, my center piece is currently loose, and it got under the Jbar once. Just remember to check during pre-flight. Could not get the J bar to catch to retract the gear. I have also considered heavy duty plastic adhesive Velcro type patches. Let me know how you make out tho!

Been considering an Airtex carpet for my F, it desperately needs it. However I refuse to glue it to the floor as the factory did. What methods did you guys use to attach the carpets to the airframe? Snaps? Hooks? Any details would be appreciated. Thanks!

Yes, I got a 337, but no, a seasoned IA cannot legally duplicate the 337 as the 337 refers to a print of the modified part which is exclusively to my tail number. It will require a new print showing the holes specifically for your airplane. I did find the example I worked from here on Mooneyspace, somebody did the modification to an E model. I also used the same DER. Somebody mentioned that they were 6'3" with a 34 inch inseam. That is exactly my dimensions. Not too hefty, but other dimensions and mass will remain classified. The modifications were pricy, however the comfort is priceless.

Drilling more holes in the seat rails affects airworthiness. The good news is that I have had a DER approve the modification in my F, which resulted in a VERY comfortable seating position for my 6'3" frame (weight is classified). Bad news is that the DER is very expensive, but the end result was worth it.

UPDATE: Annual wrapping up, turns out the issue was caused by foam from the air filter injected into the throttle body. Mechanic very happy that I stayed easy on the power, as could have damaged the servo. Lesson learned, new air filter EVERY ANNUAL! Wrap up the annual, then pitot static, and will be back in the air. Still need to discuss source of buzz.

As to the fuel pressure data, yes that is a known instrument error. I have the original fuel pressure gauge, and it is stable between 25-29 PSI.

No, it not usually a factor, but our WX this spring has been terrible. Using Aeroshell 100+ oil, which I understand makes Camguard redundant. If 100+ not available, I use Camguard.

Boy was I surprised when I looked at the engine data. Link is: https://apps.savvyaviation.com/my-flights/22682/3bcc1c70-6349-4aa2-8ae3-e48a7fcc5f31. So attention is diverting away from the propeller and towards the engine. What is interesting is the impulse loss of manifold pressure down to 14 in Hg. All other engine parameters including oil pressure, and prop governor appear nominal. Cannot explain loud buzz in the cockpit, nor the loss of power. Could I have done more trouble shooting? Perhaps, but between the loss of power and noise, I wanted to get on the ground and fast. You will see that the loss and recovery of MAP was quick enough to be outside of the capture range of the prop governor, there is a spike to 2553 rpm. Then there is a second unexplained drop in MAP. The mechanic and I took a look at the filter, and it may be coming apart. Filter is around a year old. Starting to suspect something obstructing engine inlet.

Had a weird issue with prop control on descent. Shortly after beginning my descent into KMLB, I lost power, followed by an extremely loud buzzing coming from the engine. Tach showed immediate rise to 2550, so I followed the prop overspeed checklist. Nursing the throttle, I found a sweet spot where I could barely hold altitude at around 100 kts. I was close enough to KMLB that I was able to declare emergency and safely land directly onto the runway. This buzz was loud enough that it was difficult to understand the tower over an ANR headset. Upon landing, checked airplane over, no oil anywhere on the bird, or dripping onto the ground, no grease on the propeller blades, and no loss of oil as I checked the oil quantity the next day. In fact the oil was freshly changed, and it still had the sweet honey color of fresh oil. I pulled the engine monitor data, and correlated it to the flight path. Here is what the engine monitor data showed. Oil Pressure- nominal, no change through the entire flight. Close look at the tach data showed variation in tack readings from 2480 to 2510 regularly over this leg. I don't really see any standouts when I review the engine data. When the incident occurred, there was a significant spike in revolutions to over 2550 rpms, but then returned to 2410. Going to the mechanic tomorrow. Suspect a leaking propeller piston, or flat spot in governor? Thoughts welcome. Especially the source of the loud buzz!!

UPDATE: Insurance bill came in, went up 33%. Ouch. IPC didn't help, but effort was worth it. Broker says increases from 15-50 percent "across the board, Underwriters are taking a harder look at each risk and aircraft."

Casey, not enough data. If your 140 has dual navcoms, it would make a fine platform to do your IFR training in. The "needs another radio" in the C model you have found along with "something about the wing leveler" could also set you back 15K. I feel that the simpler the avionics is, as long as it meets the IFR requirements, the easier the check ride will be. If you have more sophisticated avionics , the DPE will add that complexity to your IFR test ride. Master IFR in the 140. then run to the Mooney that meets your needs.

Not quite. Having kept an airplane on a tie down here in Florida for a long time vs. a hanger here is the difference. Step outside in the morning, and what do you find on your car and airplane left outside? You find dew. That condensation results from the air cooling off during the evening, adding moisture to the skin, inside the airframe and worse, the engine. The condensates here contain salt. The hangar retains heat, so as a result, there is no dew or condensation. You don't find dew on your car parked in the garage do you? Had MAJOR corrosion AND electrical issues developing when my airplane was tied down. No issues with airplane kept in the hangar here in Florida. To me it is WELL worth the cost of a hangar.

Folks, as one who just completed an IPC (I was still current by the way), it is actually easier to take an instructor up and do the IPC than it would be to cram in 6 approaches! Couple of reasons. 1 Every time I have renewed my insurance, the broker always asks when I had my last IPC. With the rates sliding up, the insurance co. might consider the recent IPC as part of the risk analysis. (or so I hope). 2. It is always good to shake off the rust on the rules with an instructor. There were more than a few subtilties that I had forgotten. One hour of ground and a couple of hours in the air helps restore confidence. (when was the last time you did unusual attitude training???) Personally, I am going to not sweat currency and plan on at least one IPC a year.

Now that is what I was thinking of. There is a drip on the hangar floor, but it did not spread. It glopped up like tar, and 100 LL does not dissolve it readily. Fuel that falls to the floor disappears and leaves a stain on the floor but not a glop. I can send photos when I get home tonight. I was thinking of either anti corrosion fluids or perhaps some old tank sealant that dissolved slightly when I filled the tank last. This is a weird one.

I have never seen a fuel leak with the consistency of tar or chewing gum. Have you?

Last weekend here in Florida I noticed a sticky blue substance under the wing just outboard the wheel well, and on the pavement under the wing. My wing tanks have been replaced with bladders. At first I thought it was a fuel leak, however, the substance was the consistency of tar, blue in color, and very difficult to remove. We recently have had a cold snap (by Florida standards that is). Has anyone seen this before? Thanks

Wish the ovation POH was clearer on topic. I agree with the consensus not to touch flaps till Vfe.

Have a basic stupid question regarding flap extension speeds. I am getting ready to fly an Ovation for the first time, and my Mooney trained CFI and I were discussing flap speeds. I have always waited to add any flaps at Vfe which is 109 kts in my F. My CFI mentioned that this speed in the Ovation (110kts) is the maximum extended flap speed and partial flaps can be dropped at a faster speed. Furthermore, this quote from the POH pp 2-3 says: "Vfe, Do not exceed this speed with flaps in full down position." Elsewhere in the POH it indicates in Figure 2.2 White arc range 59-110 as the "flap operating range." Other high performance aircraft I have flown have an approach flap setting of approximately 10 degrees. So the question is, can I safely extend say 10 degrees at a faster airspeed than 109 or 110 kts? If so, what speeds are commonly used for an approach flap setting? Thanks

I have a version of Excel on my iPad. I will try this. EXCELLENT WORK! I am especially appreciative of the overlay on the POH pages. Since the FAAs position is that a digital representation of paper documentation is now legal, you may have a means to have an "approved" calculator display. Especially handy since I may be starting to fly an Ovation this weekend. Now if only there was a version for my F.