The Other Red Baron

I haven't been everywhere in our Mooney, but I've been around a bit. After 5 years of random FBOs towing us around while on trips our local maintenance shop bent metal when towing it over for an oil change. They're taking care of us but it was the last thing I ever expected. After a few trips to random airports I even pretty quickly stopped telling FBOs about the turning radius cause they all acted like they were aware so I felt like I was being a bit over protective.

I'd love to be able to work on our plane but I have a huge knowledge gap which isn't getting any better because we don't have any A&P buddies to sign off on any work that we would perform. For the longest time I was under the impression we couldn't do anything other than oil change, tire change, etc. but it seems quite a few people do work on their own aircraft then have someone else sign it off.

That is what is driving me nuts is this shop doesn't seem capable of basic troubleshooting. If someone told me their computer won't turn on and they just vacuumed around the power cables I wouldn't start by replacing their CPU I'd go check the power cables/power strip/ etc...

Correct, the alternator breaker trips within approximately 5 seconds of being pushed in.

The big ALT (50?) amp breaker.

Doesn't really look like there's another shop on the field unfortunately. Left a message with the rotary guys but I'm expecting a "no thanks" from them. Contacting AOG services at this point. edit: Anyone know if Savvy would be worth it in this situation?

TN

I'd love to get someone else to look at it unfortunately I think they're the only shop on the field and I read a review where someone got their on AOG service to the field and the FBO was charging them a $300 fee for not using their shop. At this point we may need to just bite the bullet and find a mobile service.

Stuff like this is making me want to go experimental... Over a month ago I had to make an unexpected landing as I was getting low voltage warnings and night was coming soon. Earlier on that same day I wasn't getting a mag drop on my left mag. This has happened quite often previously and we thought tightening up the screws behind the ignition switch was fixing it. I asked the local mechanic if he could have a look and possibly tighten up those screws. He mentioned all the screws were tight then had an idea. Popped open the oil door and reached way back behind the mags and kinda shook the wires back there a little bit. He gave me the reasoning behind it but I couldn't remember. Something about the frayed wire shielding. Regardless I was now getting a good mag drop. I probably should have noticed this earlier but into the flight I noticed I was no longer charging and was getting low voltage warnings. I landed at the nearest large-ish airport I saw in hopes of getting decent access to a maintenance shop (I'm still kicking myself in the behind for this.) I explained what happened to the shop and they said they'd check it out when they had time. At the time I was trying to avoid thinking about the logistics of getting all my crap back home commercially or via rental car. When they were troubleshooting it I finally noticed the alternator breaker was popped. I pushed it back in and we all thought I'd be on my way. Well the breaker kept popping and they didn't have time to investigate further so I got a rental and drove home. They assumed it was the alternator, got a new one ordered, put it on, and now it turns out our original alternator is in fact probably fine and they still have no clue what the issue may be. I feel like they're ignoring the obvious where the previous mechanic that touched it fumbled with some wires and potentially fixed one issue and caused another. I'm about at my wits end with this. They have had the aircraft over a month and made zero progress from what it sounds like. Would any of you guys have a clue what may have happened so I can guide them in the right direction? I don't know how much they'll listen to me since they seem to have ignored everything I told them at the very beginning.

I used to live about 5 minutes away from our airport. It was wonderful. Now I'm 25 minutes away from the airport and it does make it harder to drag myself down there sometimes. I'd move for the convenience.

Same. I leave positive reviews on Foreflight too, actually most are positive, but if I'm leaving a negative review it's for a good reason.

I've heard airnav will delete negative comments so I never bother and it does seem like every single comment I read is positive. I do leave carefully worded ForeFlight comments to try and dodge any censorship.

Not impressed with my Delta Zulus unfortunately. Random popping from the ANC, irritating charging situation with that tiny uncommon connector, battery that I think is charging but doesn't seem to. Need more flying time with the battery to confirm. Wish I had just bought another pair of Zulu 3s.

I flew into HOU and used Signature and it was a surprisingly nice experience. Rental car was ready to go and they waived some of the fees for taking fuel. I was only there for two or three nights I think. Tower did want me to maintain best forward speed and being lower time pilot at the time I figured 100mph was booking it. Pretty sure I caused the 737 behind me to make a 360 but no one yelled at me.

If you're uncertain this is your forever plane I wouldn't throw a penny into the panel that you don't need to. Fly the hell out of it and upgrade. Unless you just hate money!

The fuel pressure has always bounced between a range of 28-31psi the whole time we've had the plane and the JPI installed. Has always seemed to run OK like that and I don't think any mechanic has brought it up except the gentleman that found the fuel injector loose.

The mechanic did see some blue staining around it. I couldn't find any outside the cowling though.

Loose injector for anyone curious...

I turned the boost pump on and switched to the left tank then landed so not sure if the boost pump was doing the heavy lifting or the issue was with the right tank only.

Normally our fuel pressure on the M20E fluctuates between 28-31psi but is generally near 30-31. We've flown like this for years and my understanding from multiple mechanics is this is just the way these newer fuel pumps operate. On my flight today after about 30 minutes I noticed the fuel pressure begin to drop down to 23-24psi then creep back up. At the same time the fuel flow would increase (which seems opposite of what I would expect). I was cruising at 9.2/gph but it would jump to ~10gph. When it would get down to ~23psi the engine would make a sound and felt like we temporarily lost some power. Switched tanks and turned on the boost pump which looked like it helped. Landed, stretch legs, etc. went to start back up on the fresh tank and got a big red X on the engine monitor's fuel pressure so I decided to throw in the towel. Does this sound like a failing engine fuel pump? I ended up getting a rental car and driving home and started thinking maybe the right tank fuel vent was clogged but I don't think that would explain the X on the fuel pressure engine monitor. Annual was in May and we've flown some fairly long XC since then.

Some kind of Convair? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_CV-240_family

Don, Where the heck did you put the suction cup? I can never find a good placement over there and I hate putting weight on the yoke.

Jul 16th we were going opposite direction dodging storms and stuck in smoke that weekend. I23 -> ARG -> VBT

Normal temps to me in my 1965E. Funny all these temperature posts are popping up. I have to climb 120/mph in summer if not a bit slower. We also have a 3 blade but it is all I've ever known on the Mooney so I'm not sure about cruise speed impact. -- edit: just noticed you seem to get the same oil temps with the oil cooler relocation mod as my stock 1965E with the oil cooler in the front.

That was a good price range pre-2020 but good luck now. We have an E now but I'm still kicking myself for not jumping on a well equipped C in 2018. If you're out West it probably isn't as big of a deal but flying IMC in the East I personally really really appreciate a good autopilot. A friend and I both low time pilots recently flew similar approaches in IMC into different airports, but I have an autopilot and he doesn't. I got the feeling his approach was a butt-puckering experience while mine was just a heightened alertness. He's a better pilot than me.