sgrooves

Found a 330 light bulb in the fuel selector circle of my 1981 M20J after a flight today. This is 4 flights after finding a little screw sorta thing (base for the bulb maybe) near the same area. Anybody have any ideas where the bulb may have come from? Couldn’t immediately find a spot missing a bulb. The bulb by the flap indicator is still there. The map light under the yoke is still there too. I have LED lighting on the glare shield so that’s not it either. Is there a light normally in the fuel selector area? Thanks!

Thanks for that. Feels like that’s going to be my route here. Mine was installed in 1992 according to the logs.

My pilot side speedbrake failed. Multimeter shows power is coming from the plane. Not a single sound near the speedbrake so I’m guessing its probably something I can’t fix myself. It did happen when I had the plane parked outside in a bit of rain (normally hangared). Going to send off to PreciseFlight. Is this something that I can remove and re-install myself? Or do I need an A&P?

Took my plane to Carolina Avionics at KRUQ to fix up a few things shortly after I took ownership. Timely and professional, close by for me. It was pretty pricey though.

No vacuum gauge on my J. It does have the annunciator light for high/low vac which I check during every pre-flight. My vacuum attitude indicator is backup to my Aspen. I suppose i should consider an electric standby to just remove the entire vacuum system but at this point think i'm just going to wait until it fails.

They overhauled my Weldon pump last year. Still running strong. Took 2 weeks because a parts supplier had a 1 week employee holiday....

I did the same thing as you. Bought my J for my instrument training and a little longer cross-countries (500-600nm). I bought the plane only a couple months after my PPL. I started at about the 100k level, and considered a bird in the mid-90's area. Ended up going a bit above to get something that was basically turn-key with some upgrades I'd have probably wanted to do later. This was a few years ago when the market for J's wasn't quite as tight as it is now. I'm in Charlotte NC. The NA Mooney's are pretty perfect for the flying around this part of the country and it was awesome to get my instrument rating in my own plane. All of the instruction right after purchase really helped make me more comfortable. I'm sure others will chime in with more, but everyone will agree that a good PPI is most important. Some quick things you can see.... look for signs of fuel seepage under the wings (especially this time of year when sealant dries and shrinks). I know many have looked for sagging spinners that could show signs of engine mounts needing replacement. Take a look at the condition of the gear pucks and windows/windshield. @AGL Aviation is a close Mooney Service Center if you find one in this part of the country. There's also a pretty long article about the various Mooney models and what to look for near the middle (some things you'll need to wait for a PPI): https://lasar.com/buyers-guide/ Good luck!

Larry Morris is a DPE who also instructs out of Concord- JQF. His training plane is an M20J Gary Moore used to instruct out of Concord and Monroe and was in a partnership on an M20J. I believe he still does some instruction but flies charter mostly.

Those landing gear.....

Not to pull this any further off-course (although it seems to have gone that way) Those of you who change your oil yourself... how long does it take you? Those of you who have the shop or someone change your oil for you... how many hours labor do they charge you?

Thanks all for the help. Turns out they were able to pretty easily re-thread the end of the rod and reattach. Saved me from an entire new cable and complete re-rigging. Unfortunately no pics yet and I haven't had a chance to get up to the hangar to check it out yet. I did find the below pics in the IPC in case anyone find this thread and needs it. Oddly enough, the rod itself does not appear to be identified, the entire assembly and cable is.

Plane is at the shop. I asked for a pic and they were also going to send me the portion of the part catalog that has the piece. Apparently it only numbers the entire assembly, not the rod. I think their first try was going to be to rethread the rest of the rod if there was enough length left. It’s the push/pull rod I circled in this picture. Apparently on the engine side of the firewall it is threaded and screws into another part that actually controls the cowl flap. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Anyone know the part number on the cowl flap push rod for a 1981 M20J? Better yet, anyone have a spare? The threaded part where it screws into the cowl flap control behind the firewall sheared off. Right now the rod is just moving freely.

Last year I stopped at KBAK on my way to southern Wisconsin. Restaurant on the field. 2 long runways. Fuel isn’t super cheap but it was great with the girlfriend and dog. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ended up finding a decent deal for a couple of them online. Aircraft Spruce matched the price and I avoided shipping and taxes. The lights all got installed at annual #2. Besides that and the aileron SB, everything is was standard. Got the plane back yesterday. See pics and video below. They did run the sync wires, fabricated the mounts, and repainted the wingtips. Video: Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Low clouds at takeoff dissipated up near KHKY. But had a great view flying nice and low for the short hop up to AGL at KMRN for annual #2.

Looks really nice. I'll actually be up at MRN this weekend dropping the plane off at AGL for annual, too bad I won't be able to see it in person

As someone who has never let my tanks run dry, or had an in-flight shutdown, is the procedure just switching the tank with the boost pump on? If you get to the tank late and the engine dies, is switching tanks with some boost enough to get it started again (assuming the prop is still windmilling)? Or do you need to get the mags back to start?

Found this online here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article210737729.html ... probably the explanation for the temporary yellow x's. Hopefully they reverse this. "But the airport will remain in use for about a year by UNC Hospital Air Care for parking and refueling, under an agreement with the airport. The temporary arrangement will last as long as the hospital builds additional helipad space."

Appreciate the insight. The plane will be opened up for annual a month prior to Oshkosh so was hoping to get them installed then. Is the Oshkosh special from Whelen directly? I suppose I may be able to try the good ole credit card price protection if it is is pretty meaningful and advertised.

Both of my strobe power supplies have decided to call it quits. Guessing the 650's are still the preferred way to replace the nav/strobes with LED? Looking to make the upgrade at my coming annual. Anyone find any deals other than the 450/per side from aircraft spruce?

Glad the issue is fixed. I actually just had a fuel smell that turned out to be a result of a leaking fuel injector. My concentration was on high EGT on one cylinder that I thought was a clogged injector. However, I let the mechanic know that I did smell a little raw fuel that seemed to start concurrently. They did a high power leak test and found the injector leak. Really value mooneyspace teaching me to listen to the plane. When something smells or looks weird, it deserves a better look.

Same exact thing happened to me with my "new" J in the first 6 months

Had a similar issue with my Stec55x. Turned out to be the ACU driving the Stec from my Aspen unit was bad. The ACU was replaced under warranty, labor wasn't cheap though.

Well... this gives me something to look out for when I get my overhauled Wheldon fuel pump back from likely the same shop this week... I had caught it making some noise and sent it off preemptively. 38 hours seems like a lot. But then again everything seems to come back with more hours than I expect. For what its worth, my shop mentioned pull the pump only took "an hour". Who knows what the final bill will look like.