MBDiagMan

Here is my follow up. Hopefully it will be helpful to someone along the way. I got jacks and I marked off an area at the back center of my hangar which I use as the maintenance area. I made a line directly under the tail tie down perpindicular to the aircraft centerline. I marked a spot directly under the tiedown and made two holes three feet to either side of the aircraft centerline. I put a 1/2” drop in anchor in each hole. These use a 3/8” bolt and are good for more than 2,000 tension and a little less in shear.. I bolted a chain to each anchor with a turnbuckle on each chain and counted off the links so each chain was the same length and set both turnbuckles to the same medium length. When I started jacking up the plane on each side the chains were almost taut and one was a little more loose than the other. I tightened a turnbuckle a little for equal tension and jacked the plane until I could slide a 2x4 block under each wheel. The plane was incredibly stable. I am very pleased with this arrangement and when I am finished using it, I will roll the jacks to the side and put the chains with them. I will put set screws in the anchors to keep dirt and grime out of the threads until I use them again. I will try to remember to post some pictures.

Congratulations Jeremy! I have a real soft spot in my heart for a Johnson Bar short body. I had to sell mine after a shoulder injury and move to an electric gear mid body. I sold my C to another A320 driver. Not sure what it is about C models and Airbus drovers. Enjoy Al’s masterpiece and give her the care she deserves.

Gunpowder?

I am ready for the jacks to arrive. My tail anchor is ready and plane in position. How high do I need to raise the wheels off the floor to safely swing the gear?

I think it must have been you RL that sent me the AFrame plans. You can tell I’ve been all over that one.

Thanks for the good info RL! As I recall, the lift point on my Lycoming is not like the one pictured. As I recall, it is simply a flat piece of metal held on with two bolts and a big hole at the top. Seems like I read somewhere that it should not be used for this purpose. Your attachment is very compelling. I don’t mind buying a cherry picker, but sure hate to have to use space to store it.

Thanks for the weight ideas. I prefer a floor anchor because of the lack of need for storage while not in use.

I have need to put the Mooney on jacks. I have the jacks on the way, so now I need to lag an anchor point to the hangar floor. My thinking is to over engineer it by about five to one, but that is a side comment. Show me what you used in your hangar floor. I would like to find some standard hardware piece of some sort. I will use flush mount lag nuts, so I can remove it when no in use to eliminate a trip hazard. Thanks!

Sorry, but when I am told “next month” and then almost a year later I am still being told “next month,” it’s time to give up on them and try something different. BTW, I don’t drink, so your prescription won’t accomplish anything for me.

Let me see. When was the last time I heard that? Nothing personal, but I have been hearing that same story for almost a year now, and making plans based on it. I am done. I just had my Brittain redone by the shop recommended by Brittain. I am too old to wait on Trutrak any longer. I am so old would probably lose my medical before it actually is released for a Mooney. I realize that the holdup is probably the FAA rather than Trutrak, but the result is the same. I hate seeing an innovative group like Trutrak getting a bad reputation due to the FAA. Trutrak apparently has an innocent faith in what they are being told. An honest man who honors his commitments tends to believe that everyone else honors theirs. Quite impressive attitude but it doesn’t produce sellable products and happy customers.

Thanks Yetti! I will get it on jacks and go from there with lubing and testing. I started to make a set of jacks some months ago and got side tracked. Time to kick that project into high gear.

Niko, do you mean the “emergency gear actuator” itself, or the red circuit breaker looking button at the front of the actuator? I guess one of the worries I have is that the electric actuator is going out, drawing too much current and popping the circuit breaker.

I had one of the very best C’s on the planet with Johnson bar gear. Loved it! Wouldn’t have bought it if it had not had manual gear. About a year ago I tripped and injured my shoulder. That was the end of manual gear for me. I got a really great F with electric gear to replace it. I have had a problem with the gear in the past that turned out to be a bad connection on one of the switches in the belly. I got that worked out about nine months ago and all has been well since. I took off this morning for a short trip. After climbing out, which seemed to be a sluggish climb out, when I set up for cruise it wouldn’t make any speed. I turned the push to test gear up light and couldn’t get it to light. I pressed to test and the bulb was good. I exercised the gear switch and used a flashlight to look through the foggy plexiglass window. Gear was doing nothing. I put the switch in gear down position and got a light, but had lost confidence. A friend was in the run up box and he watched as I did a fly by. He said gear was down, so I went around and landed without incident. I taxi’d to the hangar and once shutdown I thought to look at the breaker on the emergency extension panel. I had not checked the one at the emergency extension panel while in flight. I had only looked for a tripped one on the panel. The breaker on the emergency panel was OUT. I pushed it in and it caught. Plane had already been powered down. So, I think I would rather sort this out on the ground instead of in the air. I wonder if the breaker tripping has indicated a high current draw from the actuator? I was working under the panel changing a radio, so I suppose it is a remote possibility, but maybe I hit that breaker while under there standing on my head. Are these actuators known for failing with an increased current draw? Is it common to measure current draw on these? Am I use being too picky and careful?

Keep it up! Miracles have been known to occur.

There is another thread entitled”Throttle Switch for Gear Position” in this forum that Will Ferrell you lots of information. If it gets you 5o the throttle switch I can probably help you sort it out.

What transponder do you currently have?

I think you made 5he right choice skates! Great work!

Me too. To find my car I look for where there appears NOT to be a car.

And the square window is the best looking of the short bodies. Beautiful!

My SLK Benz definitely looks like the shortest car in almost any parking lot. Short is not a bad thing.

Jan has another thread on here with a detailed schedule. It should be easy to find.

The way the question is asked, the answer is nothing more than a matter of taste. My taste is the later model short bodies with the square windows look the best.

My first Mooney was a C and now I have an F with the J modifications. I flew the C like it was my Cessna 140. It had no P.C. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, but the F controls are heavy. Another difference is that I began doing full flap landings. With the stiff controls and full flaps, it was a much different plane than my C which had light, floppy controls like my 140. All that said, I felt very comfortable in my C, landing with no flaps. I think the short bodies were Al Mooney’s masterpiece. Once others started tinkering with the design, the magic, at least partially, went away. Dont get the wrong idea, I love my F, but it has taken awhile to get comfortable with it, and I actually need more time in it. I am wondering if fixing the PC which seemed to be considered a necessary addition to the F, will make it more forgiving.

Have C prices gone up this much in the last two years? I bought my C in February ‘17 for $45K. The mechanics at Maxwell called it the best C they had seen in their shop. The interior was long in the tooth,but it’s was recently painted with not quite as much panel as the one described by the OP. When I started reading the OP, I thought he was lamenting because he paid too much at $50K and I was thinking that was just about right, but $75K??? I think that is way too much. My $0.02,

I really loved my C, and like Paul’s it was special. Had I not injured my shoulder preventing use of the Johnson bar I would still have her. The mechanics at Maxwells told me it was the best C they had seen come through the shop. They were speaking of the lack of corrosion and the pristine underpinnings. She had been hangared at the Kerrville airport since born. I miss her so much. She is now owned and lovingly cared for by a United Airlines pilot. She went to a great home. I could fly the heck out of that C unlike my current plane which I still have yet to become as comfortable with as the C had become in a shorter number of hours. I think that the short bodies have the balance of the Al Mooney masterpiece and when they started changing them, they lost their magic.