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.

I recall reading recently somewhere, maybe here, that adjusting cowl flaps to remain partly open can cause damage to the fiberglass lower cowling where the hinge is attached, as the cowl flaps will buffet in the wind. All that motion wears out either the hinge or the attachment to the cowling, the latter of which tends to be an expensive repair. Anyone have further insight into this source of concern, and would trailing them via normal positive control prevent this damage?

If you install the Whalen power supply to replace a dead and no longer available Hoskins unit, pay attention to the wire switch. The polarities are backwards on the Whalen units, but their instructions are very clear about the wire switch to work with a Hoskins strobe. They’ll fit on the access panel with only minor modification to mount properly.

Thank you all for your replies, Had the fuel pressure set up at my local engine shop the other day, I think we’re closer but may still have some more to go. A&P at my engine shop was hesitant to go much more for fear of being too rich. In any event, unmetered fuel pressure on this TSIO-360-LB is now at 39 at 38.3” MP (based on a temperature that day of 15C). Takeoff fuel flow is 23.3 gph and TIT is 1400, highest CHT was 365 with mixture all the way in. If I’m understanding correctly though, I’m really looking for a little more still to get to around 25 gph (even if that means leaning a tiny bit to get 1400 TIT?), such that I may have another option to cool things down should anything (TIT/CHT) start to run warm, correct? When warner temperatures arrive (either in spring or in warmer climates in travel), I’m thinking these engine temps may increase some and more fuel pressure would be a friend to me and my engine. May take one more iteration of adjustment to get it right, do you concur?

Mine (a NDH 231) was on the higher $$$ side, but had full ADS-B with ES, Aspen, GTN750/650, flight stream 210 connectivity. Fresh overhaul with Merlin and Turboplus intercooler, new interior and decent paint. A couple of minor squawks but it’s a solid airplane and I’m happy with the value. IMHO lower 100k and 5-figure 231’s have some hours on em and probably have basic IFR, but a tired 231 at the right price is a great overhaul opportunity, and thus they should be in great potential demand also.

Has anyone here a copy of the Turboplus STC, specifically procedures for setting fuel flows? Are these substantially different than TCM SID97-3e? Researching this topic on Mooneyspace discussions previous, someone was after the Turboplus STC / SB for setting fuel flows, but hadn’t received it yet from them. Anyone have it now? Or, right to the point, are there are notable differences between SID97-3e and Turboplus procedures for setting up fuel flow? Thanks again, all!

The intercooler was present when I acquired this aircraft a little over two years ago. Fuel flows on the steam gauge were 22-24 gph. That gauge later laid an egg, and an EDM-900 was installed which removed the rest of the original engine instruments. I have heard the TIT gauge on original ship gauges read about 75 degrees low. That is somewhere in line with what I’m seeing (1400 on the steam gauge TIT vs. 1475 now). The only changes made other than the EDM-900 was a different A&P-IA for annuals. I’m right in the middle between Longview and Lakeport, but found an experienced M20 A&P in Wyoming. He reset the fuel flows last annual and I’ve felt they’re a little low since. Admittedly, when I saw 1400 on the original steam gauge prior to the EDM-900 and resetting of fuel flows in Wyoming at last annual, 1400 was achieved with roughly one twist less than full rich. Full rich then was about 1325-1340....but again, that was on a factory gauge alleged to indicate about 75 degrees lower than actual. On that note, I wish I hadn’t adjusted fuel flows at the same time as the 900 went in. I’d like to have had the chance to verify this rumor of steam gage inaccuracy. You can say that again!

Question I’ve had on my mind for a while: with reduction in manifold pressure due to the presence of a Turboplus intercooler on a 231, would one see the corresponding fuel flow decrease as well? Where the continental regulates fuel flow within the meter plates, it would seem to me this is correct, but would love the opinions of fellow M20K pilots and A&P’s. At 40” (on a below standard day) I see fuel flows that aren’t concerning, 22-23 gph. When I pull back for intercooler air difference, at around 36” I see lower flows around 20 gph. This isn’t quite what I saw when I bought the airplane, but I also was looking at a ship’s gauge that was about to die and be replaced with an EDM-900. TIT on takeoff full rich is about 1475-1490, and CHT’s about 385. I would admittedly like a little more fuel to cool things down, but last annual proved unsuccessful at getting higher flows even with a fuel meter overhaul. What fuel flows are fellow Turboplus equipped 231’s seeing, and at what power setting? A round of beers for your expert advice? Next time I’m in town...

Holy hell! FL290!?! Don’t they need oxygen too for such a cross country journey? This may suggest birds are of the devil...and as such, we pilots are justified in being a little devilish ourselves....

Anyone else get a call from FAA about ADS-B issues? My initial issue dealt with an easy fix (length/width code error, a misconfigration). Once I called the inspector about that issue, he went into the minuscule issue of air on ground faults, which I understand are inevitable on takeoff as the airplane accelerates past stall speed but is not yet airborne. High speed taxis can cause this too I’m told, and manually switching from ‘On’ to ‘Altitude’ can prevent this one, at least long enough to get an inspector out of your hair, but how can these be ironed out entirely so this guy quits bothering me? I’m assuming when 2020 comes, being on their hotlist could Ground me for ADS-B, so I’d like to get this put to bed well in advance. Anyone else have similar experience and insight to a fix? Can setting the stall speed a little higher in the configuration menu ‘force’ the fault to correction?

Often the light is changed to a 28v bulb so it’s not so bright at night, making it near impossible to see in the day. Also, it’s only illuminated when the gear is down.