MBDiagMan

The alignment of the planets in December didn’t even shake it loose. It won’t happen in my lifetime. In the software industry I retired from, we had a term that covered this sort of thing, “Vaporware.”

Click on the thread title in the above link to see the whole thread. I think you will find it useful. As I recall there are some links to other useful threads embedded in that thread. Hope this helps.

Look at the switch and ensure that it’s firmly mounted. It should be consistent. I had a long thread with pictures I took a couple of years ago. Search by my user name and there was a lot of information offered. If the switch is mounted properly it’s a very simple adjustment. I don’t remember now what was wrong, but the switch was not mounted correctly.

Thanks for the great responses! This morning with my heater blowing through the cowl all night temp in several areas of the engine compartment was about 70F. I turned up the thermostat on my heater a little. I rolled the plane out, started it and slowly taxied to the run up area.once it made 100F oil temp I ran up and cycled the prop four times during run up. The delay between pulling the control and RPM drop was probably less than a second every time. I made sure everything was forward and hit 2700 RPM before rotation speed. Although I will be monitoring this closely for a while, I believe the comments about cables being stiff when cold is the explanation. I will report any changes. Again, thanks for the experience sharing.

Great feedback guys! Competing mine I don’t think there’s anything alarming about the way mine cycles on run up. I am anxious now to cycle it with all this in mind. There was nothing alarming about the way it cycled, but I wasn’t aware that this was something that should be observed. In the mean time, please keep the thoughts and experiences coming, Thanks a bunch!

Thanks very much for taking the time for this explanation Eric! When you pulled the prop control on run up how long did it take for the RPM to fall? One second? 10 seconds? Thanks again.

Thanks Eric! Both mornings I cycled the prop at least three times and it appeared normal. I will pay more attention tomorrow morning. Did yours ever do anything alarming in flight? What led you to have it attended to?

About three years ago I injured my shoulder and could no longer use the manual gear. Don Maxwell told me it would be about a $15,000 conversion. That wasn’t feasible, especially since I felt like it was downgrading the plane. In searching for an answer Mr. Presley, who I think goes by ACPartsWarehouse on this forum had a manual gear salvage plane. I seriously considered going to Tennessee and removing everything myself so I would know how it went together. The problem with that was I had an injured shoulder and didn’t think I could do the work with the bad shoulder. I don’t remember how much he was going to charge, but it wasn’t much. He is a fair man to work with and incredibly Mooney knowledgeable. Hope this helps.

I keep my F hangared and have a small heater that blows into the engine cowl. I shoot it with an IR gun for a temperature reading and I usually have 60 or 70 F when I get it out and start it. Saturday morning early and this morning early I rolled it out and started it in about 35 F ambient temperature. I kept the Rpm very little above idle and slowly taxied to the run up area and waited for min oil temp before doing a run up. Both days when I made my first takeoff with everything to the firewall, I only got about 2,560 RPM on take off. Both days I flew about an hour before coming in, then did another takeoff. Both days on the second takeoff I got a normal 2700 RPM. In Winters past, regardless of oil temp I always had max RPM on take off. Is this pointing toward a prop governor that is asking to be serviced? Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences. BTW, it has a JPI 930, not a mechanical tach.

I still keep my databases updated on my 430W and it is still supported. That said, if I were installing a navigator from scratch, I think it would be better to add a little money and put in a 650 or maybe an Avidyne. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about when the point will come where it is indeed no longer supported.

That’s too bad. I understand that his overlays could make that part of the panel look like new. Also too bad if he were unable to move on to a better opportunity. He seemed like a good guy.

There used to be a poster on here that was located near Austin, Tx I think. He had the ability to engrave the overlay panel. Then simply clean and paint the portion underneath where the crack is. I was going to get one for my C before I injured my shoulder and had to sell it. I can’t remember his moniker. Gsxrpilot might remember.

MinneMooney, I will look for it on the ramp next time I’m there, but I don’t remember seeing it recently.

I think you’re lumping all 140’s into the same category. Have you thought about the fact that Pacers are old too? An old plane deteriorates based on how it’s stored, flown and cared for. Lumping them all together doesn’t make sense. The little Continentals, properly cared for, are known for commonly doubling TBO. I think you are lumping all of them together as well. A crop duster friend of mine had a Pacer which I got a few hours in. I’m not thrilled with those stubby wings. It’s all about what you get used to I suppose.

MinneMooney, I remember very well when you brought it to Paris a few years ago. It was a beautiful A model. I assume it still has a C90. They should have put an O-200A in the A model, but maybe it was not yet available. That extra 10 HP would have made it a much better plane. At the time you sold it to the man in Paris, I shared an open front Tee Hangar with a friend. Neither of us now live in Paris or Lamar County, but I had moved away only two years previous and had been on the hangar list for ten years. When I came up on the list I took the hangar because I still have a small ranch on the Red River and go in and out of there weekly. My friend grew up there and is in and out to take care of his elderly Mother. Neither one of us used the hangar constantly, so it was vacant some of the time. It was viewed badly by people driving by seeing the hangar empty some of the time. I still own property in Lamar County, and my friend also still owns property in Paris proper even though neither of us live there full time. A person on the field, who will remain nameless, told the purchaser of your 140A something like “just put it in that tee hangar, no one ever uses it anyway.” This was someone with no authority whatsoever. My friend came in flying his beautiful Baron B58 and there was a red and white 140 in our hangar. This confused both he and the airport manager because they thought it was my 140 which looks very generally similar. Upon contacting the new owner of your 140A, he was embarrassed. He thought that the person that told him to put it in there was someone with authority to tell him something like that. So for some short period of time, your gorgeous 140A had to sit outside. It was a very nice example of an A model 140.

I want to offer a response to Paul’s comment about the pull starter on the C140 he flew: My first car was a 1948 Chevy Fleetline Fastback. I can tell that impresses everyone instead of a key start or even a push button on the dash, it had a pedal in the floor located above and to the right of the accelerator pedal. You could push the accelerator pedal and start pedal at the same time while starting. That pedal was on a lever that actuated a high current switch attached directly to the starter motor. It was a six volt system, so the amount of current required to run the starter was tremendous. This meant that there was no need for a high current starter relay or starter solenoid. In the 1949 model year, Chevy used a starter solenoid rather than the heavy switch and moved the starter switch as a push button to the dash board. This was a little easier to manage because you could use your foot only for the accelerator, one hand for the starter button and the other for the choke. For the younger drivers who might be reading, cars of that time did not just start immediately as do our modern fuel injected models. So... the auto technology ca. 1948 used a direct switch on the starter. The pull starter on the 140’s was the aviation equivalent. The cable that you pull in the 140, actuated a high current switch that is mounted directly on the starter. It was simple and trouble free. When the 150 came along, they used a heavy relay to take a low current circuit through the key switch and switch the high current needed for the starter. Many 140’s with an O-220A transplant, utilized the 140 starter which retained the pull cable. Most modern O-200A conversions use a lightweight starter and a starter relay, deleting the cable. They put a push button switch in the panel in place of the pull cable. I did this with my recent engine overhaul for modernization, but I miss the good old conversation starting pull starter.

Thanks Hank for flagging this with my moniker. I would have missed it otherwise. I’ve owned “The Piggy” ten years now. I call her that because, like me, she has been gaining weight since 1948. The ‘48 model had a few differences and they built a lot fewer than the earlier models. The ‘48 had some subtle changes including the main gear 3” forward, a fuel valve that had Left/Right/Both/Off and a few other things that have been modified away. The Piggy enjoyed a significant restoration and modification project in 1980 with WAY more money poured into her than could ever be recovered. The wings were recovered with synthetic material and due to being hangared ever since are still in perfect condition. She also got a custom made panel that included a six pack and center stack of the current 1980 state of the art instruments for IFR flight. She also got an O-200A for 15 extra horsepower, alternator and vacuum pump. The owner then gave it to his wife for her birthday present and she got her instrument rating in it. The fact that she’s a rag wing makes up some for the additional panel and engine weight, but she’s nose heavy as a result. Myself and a small passenger and full fuel and you’re at gross, but the extra power makes up for it well in case you accidentally take off over gross. As stated earlier in the thread, these planes are extremely lightly wing loaded. A strong breath from a gnat can move it around. This makes it scary on the one hand, but a great trainer on the other. The Hooker Harnesses help you to feel the plane better for when you’re moving around in a strong gusty cross wind which I don’t recommend under best of circumstances, but out of necessity I have put her down a few times in direct 15G25 crosswind. This was eye opening, but doable due to the fact that flying one of these keeps your feet wide awake. I got my first Mooney less than four years ago, but couldn't bare to part with The Piggy. I have enough hangar space for both and it’s pretty inexpensive to operate. These little planes are still pretty inexpensive to buy and maintain as small planes go. They’re an easy tailwheel plane to deal with since you can see over the nose. The early ones before they moved the gear forward have a reputation for being nosed over, but I think that reputation is not fair. Just be careful and mindful of this and it will never be a problem. The later A models have a single strut and the cleaner 150 wing. If I were in the market for one I would only want a rag wing 140 or a 150 winged 140A. My wife and I love the Mooney for trips, but we love the piggy for sightseeing the NorthEast Texas Lake Country on a pretty day. The Piggy is also a hoot to just go get in the pattern with and enjoy a little tailwheel flying.

Have the injectors been cleaned?

Price and Strait, Tulsa, Ok was reccomended by Britain and did a great job on my PC turn coordinator unit about a year ago.

Krtky, fill in your profile to include your location. One of us will be close enough for you to come and sit in, or maybe even fly, in one, but we can’t offer unless we know where you are located.

Looks great Skates! I use a pad or two myself, but what I was referring to in my post when I said “430/530/650/750” was the panel mounted, IFR legal navigators.

201MK is giving good advice. Get it on jacks and spin the wheels. Also make sure tire pressure is where it’s supposed to be.

I fly with an iPad with IN from the transponder in both my planes, but if all I had to receive IN were a Stratus/Stratux I wouldn’t have traffic on the 430. Only on the IPad. The Mooney has the 430W and a 345 while the little taildragger has an Appareo which only gives IN on the iPad, but there’s no panel Navigator anyway. The taildragger is not used for a traveler so the iPad gets me by. The Mooney on the other hand, I want traffic on the 430. Depending on a stratus and a pad in a traveling airplane doesn’t seem adequate to me. There’s a lot to be said for redundancy as a side benefit.

I’ve yet to see a Stratus/Stratux provide in on a 430/530/650/750.