Grandmas Flying Couch

My engine had a history of dirt ingestion through the alternate air door. When converting it away from turbo at last overhaul (2013) they installed a weak incorrect spring that opened with almost no pressure. I ordered the factory spring and seal but I was too late and the damage was done. I decided to do a top iran since the engine only has 400 hr smoh. When I pulled the worst cylinder I saw this on the intake lobe shared by the front cylinders. Take a look at the pics appears to be pitting. The followers look perfect. It almost seems to be metallurgical problem with chunks missing. Is this cam hosed? Also look at this wrist pin bushing, is this abnormal wear? I worry dirt contaminated the oil and ruined bottom end. May have to euthanize her at 400 hrs. Thanks Guys! Notes: use 100 weight, change often, spin on filter, use cam guard, fly often, Live in phoenix. Have engine monitor, did not send in oil samples.

LOL! Time for her to undergo the change. I don't want to remove just a part of the step so a bit more than a bris.

Thank you this is most helpful. I will look for fairing, imagine they are rare without some sort of step cut out. I'll let my mechanic know!

I don't want to keep the weight, I like the cool factor but I think making the plane cheaper and simpler to maintain is cool too! Also removing save a couple hundred and 5-10lbs.

Hello, my 67F has a retractable (vacuum) step that no longer functions. I have it safety wired up and do not need it. My mechanic worries about the legality of removing it. Would this be a minor alteration, major alteration? Please advise, I'm interested in removing all the extra stuff the plane has gained over the years and getting it re-weighed since my W&B is 20 pages long and highly doubt it's still accurate. Would like to remove: KLN 89b doesn't work Marker beacon Step Maybe Britain autopilot (can't get parts) servos are bad and don't want to pay $200 each for servos that may last 1 day or 1 decade. remainder of oxygen system that is ancient and partially missing Any help would be awesome. Useful load sits at 1025lbs which is great, I want to see if I can get this sucker up near 1100lbs with a 200hp Mooney! Thanks in advance!

The good news is, you kind of have to have a couple of annuals to know what to look for in a good plane so next time I will be ready.

I'll never buy a plane with just a pre-buy without seeing it myself again! I have spent 2 to 3 times more time in the hanger than in the plane! She's getting better all the time, but wow what a pain!. Installing a G2 engine monitor now so she'll be down another couple weeks, arg.

Problem is they pass inspection SOLIDLY but they are frozen in time and do not absorb bumps or help my already greasy landings.

Actually there are none, I had to check date to get idea. They still have a little squish but not much. Funny how the bushings in my 2006 E450 are shot but the rubber in these doughnuts is relatively ok.

They are hosed, was just having a laugh. You can push wheel up and down 1/4 inch with plane jacked up. They are more or less solid. Looking forward to softer landings.

I checked the date on my doughnuts, is this date like the "best before" (Twinkies) or the "expired" (Milk) kind of dates? I figure if they are anything like Twinkies, they're fine.

Here is the AD I forgot to post it.

I read that about yours and then found this ad, your push on the screw driver while sliding side to side, shapes the bottom out and the top in which I think will hopefully stop any mess.

Because of the way the aluminum tube is positioned in the air stream I think it is creating a slight suction which my be helping to suck out the oil mist in the engine. This was also featured in the SAAVY youtube film about oil consumption. The whistle slot will relieve some of this vacuum.

On my path to reduce oil consumption I have started taking measures I created the whistle slot according to the AD posted here on mooneyspace and I moved the crank case vent hose up a little where it comes off the accessory case so It has a little more up hill before it comes down to vent. I'm doing all the cheap stuff first.

I'm starting to think cylinder 4 might be the only one not burning oil so perhaps its the healthiest. That's exactly how I lean on the ground and my engine used to after fire in the exhaust from time to time. After a two years of leaning till the rpm drops a little from 1300 to 1200 the engine has all but stopped the after firing. I suspect exhaust valves were starting to stick. I fear this might be the case, if it is, I'm not sure there is much I can do besides major surgery. I'm going to go after all other avenues first. Cylinder 4 died a year ago due to "gummed up rings" both compression and oil control rings. I don't really cruise below 5000' anyway and it's often over 100F outside so I tend to climb till the vents spit 75F air. CHT can get rowdy if I lean too aggressively on the climb. Yes, yes I did, I'm going to be more careful. No leaks, looked for that. Followed Saavy aviations youtube video, oil can only get out from leaks, burn it, or spit it out the breather. No leaks, exhaust is not really oily, but the belly is oily. I suspect blow by. There was a little oil in each cylinder when I borescoped it. There wasn't any wet oil on the plugs. The threads have oil because I put oil on the threads when I installed them. The engine is either burning oil or blow-by is pressuring the case and causing it to spit up. Aggressive leaning on the ground and in cruise has eliminated the after fires in the exhaust I used to get. I believe the exhaust valves were beginning to stick at low power. Thank you for all your Help!

Here are some pics of tailpipe I forgot.....

I have an F with useful of 1030lbs. Fuel is 55 gal with bladders leaves payload of about 700lbs. She climbs well and I cross the Grand Canyon at 12,500 ft pretty regularly. She cruises about 145-150 kts TAS on 9 gal per hour at 8k pretty easily since adjusting gear door and a few other things that made her fly sideways. Here is my engine management: Everything firewalled for take off cowl flaps open Turn off boost pump at about 500 AGL watch fuel pressure Above 5k lean to keep egt needle where it was at Take off at cruise reduce rpm to 2550 or where ever feels smoothest, lean to about 25-45 LOP or 100-150 ROP (about 5-7 kts difference), close cowl flaps leave throttle wide open Decent, I trim the plane nose down to obtain the 500-700 fpm, richen as I go down to keep egt in place, cowl closed When I get close to airport start closing throttle to obtain gear speed, increase RPM to full (add drag) if Airport is below 5k I push mixture in if above I leave at 200 ROP flip on boost pump when real close. That's about it.

Hello All!, It's a year since I had a cylinder changed after losing 4 quarts in 1 hour of flight! My oil consumption is still pretty high about 1 quart every 4 hours. Here are some pictures of the cylinders pistons and exhaust valves along with the spark plugs. The exhaust valve is the last pic per cylinder and are in order from 1 to 4. The spark plugs are labeled. What do you guys think? The scratch is just the borescope pushing carbon off the valve on the way in. Cylinder 4 the last piston pic has a different colored part of the piston on top, is that a hot spot? Cylinder 4 only has about 60 hrs since being redone and the others have 475hrs. The fourth pic has a build up of what I suppose is lead, I have put a about 150 hours on the engine, I was guilty of running full rich alot when I was getting my license. I now cruise at 6-12k 25deg LOP or 100 deg ROP I wonder if this build up will reduce or reverse a little. The first exhaust valve pic is not symmetrical but I don't think it's heat damage, I think it's residue from oil or fuel. All cylinders have visible crosshatch with almost no scoring in the direction of piston travel. Cylinder 4 has a drastically different color, I wonder if it is running differently or if it just because it has less time. I have also been running much leaner since getting it back on. I do not lean much below 5k. I plan on removing the injectors and running a flow measurement with 4 identical containers and measuring the output at full rich and with the mixture half way out and see if I'm getting a drastically different fuel flow. Any observations would be greatly appreciated!

I don't usually lock the door just make sure it's latched. Will lock from here on out! That could have been much worse! I thought perhaps you were overreacting until I started to wonder if it hit the tail on the way out causing control-ability issues. Then when you posted pics of it wrapped around counterbalance of elevator, I was surprised at HOW WELL you reacted. I saw the plane suddenly pitch down and you had to pull that yoke, good job!

I'm looking for a used set, definitely looks better. Thanks! With 3 or 4 hours of messing around will probably pick up 1-3 kts. So far we have gotten the plane from 140 kts true to 148 to 150 true. She was flying sideways when I got her.

I noticed variations in those wing panels I may buy the other variant, ensure it doesn't get close to the flaps and install them since they are listed in the parts manual. I also will loosen the hardware and see if I can tweak it so the end of the gap is higher than the leading edge of the hole.

Lol, I don't know why I didn't think of walking down the ramp! I kept trying to find pics online. There are a few at my KGYR home base. I'll have to sneak a peak under some of the ladies at the T-Shades, after that I'll have to find a Mooney and find what covers that gap. Thanks!

This is the area I'm talking about not the aero mods.

Looks like I have the bottom one, but the top one offers more coverage and is listed in my parts manual of 67