jaylw314

If your cold starts are fine and your problems are only on hot starts, it's probably technique. My instructor suggested just flooding the engine after one failed hot start, it's just not worth the time, and it keeps your passengers from getting anxious

Harder, yes, but I find them strangely satisfying to drill out

No, they just sent us the estimates, I asked my A&P to follow up on getting details from them, thank you! And I hope I wasn't misquoting you @Cody Stallings !

Ah, didn't realize the rivets need to be flush on the outside too

@Cody Stallings had a couple comments noting that he liked the Hartzell scimitar blade best for Mooney's, that's actually why I'm thinking of the new prop

The price of $9500 is for the whole Hartzell kit. The OH was done in TX for the previous owner, so they're out of the picture

If it's just a small project, I'd recommend using CherryMax rivets. These require only a standard pull rivet gun, and are structural equivalents to the AN426 rivets. They're more expensive, but the convenience is worth the extra $10-15. The only downside is the smallest diameter is 1/8" (AN426-4 equivalent), so no 3/32" rivets. To drill rivets, your A&P should have a right angle extended drill or a drill extension like this http://www.yardstore.com/90-deg-drill-attachment.html

Well, I think I shot myself in the foot when I posted this topic. 2 weeks ago I noticed the prop was misting oil, not just grease. I deep cycled the prop a few times, cleaned the cowl and tried again with the same results. The prop was last OH in 2012 and was new in 2003 I decided to go ahead and have my A&P pull the prop and send it off the regional prop shop he mentioned before. I asked him to make clear I was asking for a repair and reseal if possible, and they told him they would present all options and estimates before proceeding with repairs. I was hoping for a reseal or IRAN cost of $1600-2500 Well, we just got the estimates yesterday. Apparently, they are calling both blades unairworthy and presented options of either buying new blades and resealing, or buying a new propeller. The new blades would be $6k and the installation and reseal would be another $2k for a total of $8k. My A&P wasn't sure how much a pair of overhauled blades would be and thought they would be hard to find. The cost of a new Hartzell scimitar 2-blade prop would be just short of $9.5k. Wierdly, the cost of a new McCauley 2-blade would be $10.5k. I figured the Hartzell would be more expensive. The prop shop needs the cost of the prop up front before even ordering the prop or prop blades, and I'm not in a position to buy the new props right now. I can just barely afford the new blades, but I will be in a much better position next month. At least from what I've read here, I think my #1 preference would be to buy the new Hartzell 2-blade prop. I heard good things here, it looks good, and if I need to buy new blades I might as well spend the extra $2k. The downside is that there is a 3-4 week lead time, so if I order next month, I'll be grounded for at least 2 months. The alternative would be to bite the bullet and replace the blades. There probably would be no lead time. This would get me back in the air sooner and be a little cheaper. I'd appreciate any thoughts from people. I'm still feeling a little sick, not exactly the experience I needed on year #2

On cars they suggest using dish soap in water to strip old wax, but I don't think that's safe for aircraft

It took me a little too long to get that one!

Yeah, that definitely should not happen.

Thanks, I'm terrible with names!

What engine do you have, and what fuel flow did you see when you were at full throttle? You mentioned MP was 2700. I assume that was 27.0 inHg? That suggests your home field is around 3000 feet elevation? Do you have an engine monitor or EGT data on all cylinders or just one? How did you verify the magnetos are both good? What were the intake O-rings you mentioned you changed?

The blades should not be feathered when stopped. The blades should return to fine pitch with loss of engine power. If the blades are a coarse pitch while stopped, that suggests the prop is jammed at that setting. On the other hand, the props used on Mooney's should not be able to "feather" anyway, and the difference between fine and coarse pitch should not be terribly obvious. I think our prop guy (sorry, can't remember his name) just posted a video of the difference between fine and coarse pitch.

All the things you mentioned the shop tried doing are with the magnetometer and its connection to the HSI, but it didn't sound like they did any troubleshooting with the HSI itself. If it does not even work on the ground, that actually makes it easier to troubleshoot--no need for a test flight to see if a replacement HSI fixes the problem.

I assume you mean to say it does work when moving on the ground or in level flight, but not when banked/turning? I also assume you have a Bendix/King KCS-55A HSI? The KCS-55A is pretty common, and there might be a shop around that has an extra one they could swap in to troubleshoot. If a different unit works, that would suggest the problem is he HSI.

The POH should have your aircraft registration number on the front page. If not, it may be the correct revision, but to be FAA kosher it needs to be the individual aircraft's POH. Realistically, that means the W&B section needs to be correct for that plane. From the TCDS for your serial #: Airspeed Limits... Landing gear extension 120mph (104 knots) IAS ... 152 mph (132 knots) IAS [if SB M20-209 complied with] SB M20-209 just requires the cockpit placard be changed to reflect the higher speed, and pages in the POH be changed out. No actual change to the airframe. So if it has not been done, I suppose it would be safe to extend the gear at 150 mph, just not technically legal.

Here's a link to one of Mike Busch's webinars about compression testing vs borescoping. Of note, go to the slide at 10:48, he references from a Continental study a graph of compressions vs hours in services up to 600 hours, and the compressions fluctuated back and forth from 56 to 75, and are almost uselss. This is the basis for Continental SB03-3. The webinar is worth a listen

The FAA seems intent on getting this taken care of. After I submitted my report, I did not get a confirmation e-mail. When I e-mailed rebate support, they replied within a couple hours saying the report was, in fact, received and they would process it. I got my check RIDICULOUSLY quickly, about 4 days after submitting it. It would be a strange world if all government activity worked this quickly!

ADS-B and DME frequencies are pretty much the same, and the antennas should be compatible, but I assume some ADS-B installs (like my KT-74-G530W) have an antenna requirement specified in the STC (only blade-type antenna).

That sounds like a better guess. It could also be something non-standard, like a remote antenna for a hand-held radio or cellphone antenna?

DME antenna should look the same as a transponder--either stick-and-ball or a blade-type antenna about 3 inches deep. That one doesn't look like either. And yes, the forward antenna looks like a COM antenna

if you have an engine monitor, you confirm both p-leads are intact every flight during your runup--when you see the EGT's rise in all cylinders on one mag, you confirm both p-leads are properly connected. Shutting off by ignition switch tests for failure in the ignition switch. Most of us have the 100 hr AD requiring the ignition switch be checked by switching to the off position firmly to check the engine shuts down. While it can be done by any pilot, I don't think this is important to check every single flight. I just check it at annual and maybe a couple random times in between. When I do, I don't turn the switch back to B--I've had one backfire that scared the bejesus out of me (even with the mixture aggressively leaned), and don't care to repeat it. I just shut down, do a quick hot start, and then shut down normally by mixture. Incidentally, with a fuel injection, the valve is before the fuel divider, meaning when you shut down, the fuel in the divider does leak out of the injectors as its heats up. Don Maxwell commented in his hot start YouTube video that this means all hot starts are in a sense flooded starts, but this does not go into the cylinders where it can wash off the cylinder oil. Realistically, though, I imagine we're talking about small amounts of fuel, but if you taxi with partial throttle and don't lean for taxi, it might be enough to cause problems.

Just for reference, AOPA's Vref suggests the value of such a plane at $66.5k, without counting the autopilot and G430. The STEC autopilots add between $2-15k value depending on the model, so I'm guessing $5k? the G430 value is not listed on Vref, but a G530W is worth $8k, so figure $1k for a G430, and $4k for a G430W? So the plane seems close to suggested value, assuming no damage history or major squawks.

I'd be a little more optimistic. It sounds like the owner takes care of it, so even though the engine is close to TBO, there is a fair to good chance you may get plenty of additional time off the engine, and a fair chance you will have to overhaul soon anyway. So I'd think of it more like buying a $70k plane plus $15-20k for part of an engine overhaul. That seems like a pretty decent price. Not a steal, but somewhat better than average