One Whiskey Hotel

Revisiting a topic from a few years ago, and out of sheer curiosity: Why are the magnets no longer available on the Tempest filters?

Also, from what I gather this was an issue seen on TCM 470 and 520 engines but this is the first and/or most recent on the 360's. Sounds like Continental quietly changed their specification on starters to avoid the bad press of an AD. Were these problems identified on Lycomings, with their Attorneys Gone Wild approach, it would have been. Wish in one hand, you-know-what in the other.....that being said, it sounds to me like something to regard as relatively serious. And it would be applicable on LB (and whatever GB's may still exist) 231's with lightweight starters alike.

I was just talking to Kerry McIntyre about this very issue, was yours the forced landing (fortunately at an airport) in Washington? I had intended to share this advisory after hearing of it a few days ago but have been caught up with all the other pokers in my fire, thank you for sharing this and glad you're alright.

Couple of questions regarding alternate air boxes on the 231. Mine is an aluminum box on which the forward rivets for the alternate air door hinge broke free of the aluminum, as discovered at annual. My IA is leery of the use of short bolts with locknuts, for the good reason that if one were to get loose, they’d be ingested into the turbo vanes in short order. As my alternate air door hinge is worn out in his opinion, his suggestion was to replace the entire air box with one from an ‘85 231; this air box happens to be constructed of fiberglass rather than aluminum. However, on this fiberglass box, the rivets attaching the air door hinges utilize washers on the inside of the box. 1) Is riveting to washers the way these were constructed originally? It seems to me all that would have to happen is a river pulls through one of these washers, which would be followed by the turbo immediately ingesting said washer with horrible end results. Examining the fiberglass box he had on hand, one washer is already missing....this seems like a red flag to me. 2) If one were to modify the construction of these hinge attachments with locknuts and perhaps also Loctite Red on the threads, would the risk be as great as the washer scenario outlined above? Seems to me that would never come apart again. My suggestion of this is borne from the idea that rivets appear to tear through these boxes with the constant air pressure on that alternate air door. 3) If mine (an ‘80 model) was an aluminum box and the replacement suggestion from an ‘85 model is fiberglass, does this suggests the fiberglass box is superior for some reason? Or is my aluminum air box the superior box? I suppose I could rebuild the aluminum box with the fiberglass box’s door and actuating apparatus as it does seem to work better than mine. 4) Last but certainly not least: None of these are the modified alternate air box, which should have been installed on this power plant a long time ago but wasn’t for who knows what reason. Where could one find this modification which for whatever reason never found its way onto an airplane going on 40 years of age? Lasar? Mooney? Continental? Thank you all for your opinions.

19.4 gph on climbout is awfully low

I just use a heavy contractor trash bag taped to the engine mounts draining into a bucket to catch the oil filter drip on my K. It's easy, and when I'm done I turn it inside out and put all my waste in it. The hassle of being a contortionist to do it with the lower cowl still on just isn't worth it, with a second set of hands the lower cowl is off and on in five minutes. Some wheels don't need reinventing when just a little country raised savvy will do.

9496V?

If you haven’t already committed to Plane Plastics, Mooney will still produce a replacement side panel for your K. I have an ‘80 K-model with the same panel and just went through this process at annual in May. Went with the original Mooney panel and looks good as new. As a side bar, Plane Plastics does NOT make the correct panel for your oxygen setup, and will not custom make one (ask me how I know). After fighting with them for nearly two, maybe close to three months to get a refund on the returned incompatible panel, I decided I probably won’t be doing business with them unless I am absolutely certain they have what I need.

320 degrees at 75-85% power? I’m both intrigued and skeptical...

My quote is through BWI. Think there may be a difference with Falcon as the broker?

So it’s annual renewal time for my K-model insurance, and the low bidder is an underwriter by the name of XL Catlin, based in London. I’ve never heard of them but apparently they’re evolving into a GA insurer in addition to the bulk of their business, which was formerly made up of commercial aviation (I’m assuming 121 carriers). I like keeping up with an A320 in the terminal environment but am admittedly a bit uncertain about sharing the same underwriting insurer. Has anyone any experience with XL Catlin to share? Any hesitation about insuring with an insurer 6 or 7 hours ahead in this corner of the Mooney world?

So it’s annual renewal time for my K-model insurance, and the low bidder is an underwriter by the name of XL Catlin, based in London. I’ve never heard of them but apparently they’re evolving into a GA insurer in addition to the bulk of their business, which was formerly made up of commercial aviation (I’m assuming 121 carriers). I like keeping up with an A320 in the terminal environment but am admittedly a bit uncertain about sharing the same underwriting insurer. Has anyone any experience with XL Catlin to share? Any hesitation about insuring with an insurer 6 or 7 hours ahead in this corner of the Mooney world?

It’s not my best pictorial (video) but here’s the setup in my K. A nice compromise of new technology without refabricating a whole new panel. EC9F95A5-59D8-41DD-B370-5EEEC3C2175C.MOV

Relocating to Denver, CO and have a lead on a hangar for my 231. New construction T-hangars with bifold doors and heat starting at 80k and end units with the additional room at 110k, wondering what various hangar owners paid for their hangars for 'comps.' 80k seems a little high and while 109k affords an extra 22x22' space for an end-unit, this still seems a little high. Granted, locale makes a big difference, but I'd be interested for feedback from owners on hangar values. Denver is snow and cold and hail country, but what do you all think of these offerings. FWIW, airport is towered and has good runways and many approaches, and seems popular in GA locally. Am I the only one who thinks these are high priced hangars, or would you jump on this if you were a proud owner of a really nice 231 and didn't want to ramp it?

Y’all mean like this setup? This gets things up to about 140 or so after about 2 or 3 hours on a 20 degree night with blankets over the cowling and inlet plugs. Plus I like that oil sump, oil cooler, and cylinders are all heated fairly equally. @carusoam I really like the idea of convection, bringing a hose out the other cowl flap and attaching to the other side of the heater, might cut the heating times down and possibly warmer overall temps. I got a bill from some elf for about 50 bucks for this gem. It was made by the same elf who was inspired by a conversation among elves about LED recognition lights recently.