SkyTrekker

I took my first lesson at 49. 10 hours in my instructor's Cub, 10 hours in the C-172 rental, and then bought my Mooney and completed my training in that. Finished up my PPL a few months ago. This approach has worked really well for me.

I'm sorry for your loss, Don. -Sia

Is there a sign-up list??? :-)

Thanks everyone for the input! I'll check in with a shop to see about adding a doubler under the cracked areas. The hinge is not sloppy, so I think we are good there.

Congrats, Don

Thanks for the thoughts, @carusoam I was planning on having the prop dynamically balanced, but am moving that up to asap due to the impact of vibrations to this issue. I always avoid my red arc on my tach (I don't have any yellow on mine :-) Been considering installing GAMI injectors at some point. Rubber engine mounts sound like a good idea. That said, and either way, I'll need to repair this. Trying to understand what my options are, and what the implications of the current condition of the cowl are. Here is a pic. This frame looks like it captured the fluttering when the door was at its highest point of cycle, furthest way from the rest of the cowl surface. I circled the drill points and the arrow points to the missing rivet and missing small section of cowl surface that I mentioned in opening post.

I've done my best searching for posts here related to the top cowl cracking around the oil access door, but all I'm finding are posts on the later model fiberglass tops. When I bought the E in May of last year, I noted, and it was reflected on the pre-buy, that there were thin cracks (one about an inch and a half long) in the top cowl starting at the outer corners of the hinge points, moving away from the oil door. The cracks had been stop-drilled at a couple of points and the (well-known and respected on this forum) IA did not make a special point of it to me, so I assumed it was a common thing. Today I noticed that while the cracks have not pushed past the drill points, a small triangular piece (~1/8") of the top cowl abutting one of the cracks at one off the edges has come off, and a hinge (or repair) rivet that was previously there is gone. During flight, I've noticed that the oil door corners vibrate up away from the cowl top in a very high frequency flutter. It did that from the beginning, but now it seems to be fluttering up a little higher above the cowl than before. A few questions: Is this something that happens often? I can't find a single reference anywhere. Is there any way to 'more permanently' fix the cowl cracks? Or is my only real option to replace the entire top cowl? (Which sounds daunting, and expensive, since I understand each of our planes is hand built and no two are identical.) It is making me uneasy since I have to think that the vibrations will cause the cracks to grow and ultimately the oil access door and (possibly more) will separate during flight and crack the windshield or damage the rudder or elevator controls. Does that sound about right? Appreciate any insight or thoughts, especially from those who have observed this condition before.

My little contribution...a recent pic over central Texas...

@Freemasm, Thanks for the helpful information! My control box is not like the one pictured in this post, but it is exactly like yours, as pictured in the post you referenced. Will see what I can figure out. -Sia

As it happens I'm having trouble with my 1970 E dimmer unit, too. Welcome any suggestions/comments. Everything in the unit functions except the panel lights do not come on at all when I rotate the dimmer/switch. At one time I could see a very faint light coming from behind the panel when I turned the rotary dimmer switch on. But now I don't even see that. Is it likely a problem with the dimmer/switch? Or just a fuse or resistor/capacitor that is part of the assembly? I've checked with Mooney and apparently the unit is not longer available, so I'm likely looking at finding a used unit somewhere or repairing mine, and to be honest, I'm not sure where to start. Appreciate any suggestions. Update: I just saw @Aerodon's post regarding max pulse/maxdim units. So there is an alternate replacement option if repair is difficult? -Sia

Thank you to the last several posters. Much clearer now on the implications of auto trim vs. not. Based on this additional understanding, I still think that the Skyview with my manual trim will meet all of my needs. -Sia

Thanks @Bob - S50. That makes sense. I like my manual trim and think I prefer what feels like a finer resolution of control that the trim wheel turn method seems like it would provide over a switch. So I should be happy without the electric trim. I assume that a Skyview 2 axis AP will still maintain a given altitude by simply adjusting the pitch instead of using a pitch trim, even as I manually adjust trim for the best aerodynamic flow over the emennage? Once set for a given altitude, It would stay pinned there as I adjust trim, right? Is there anything more to this trim topic, or am I missing something. -Sia

Hi @Yetti...Trying to follow along and keep up with you all on this interesting subtopic of the trim. What exactly are those "fancy features" of the Skyview that we would give up if we don't have an electric trim solution in our planes? I'm keen on planning for a Skyview installation at some point, but I'm fairly new to autopilot and flight systems and am still learning things that I thought I already understood :-) -Sia

Congrats on your very nice ride! Your F was born within a few weeks/months of my E. :-)

Thanks for this info. Trying to clear up my understanding...So, on the previous page of this thread, I see the official HDX C172 STC announcement, and it seems to include the autopilot. But in @Bob - S50's post here regarding the info found on Facebook, it says the a/p control panel is not included in the STC. Is the thinking that the a/p capability is only STC'd for the 172? Or does this suggest that the a/p does not require the a/p control panel, which seems more than a little counter-intuitive? Or is this simply a gap between Dynon marketing and the HDX's actual anticipated practical abilities (within the next year or so) for our Mooneys? Or to put it more simply: Does it sound like a/p capabilities will be part of the initial STC for Mooneys? Seems like the answer could be 'no'? Also, based on the pricing speculation so far on this thread and other sources, it's looking like $20k for the full system, $2k for the STC and maybe $8k for the install, for a grand total of ~$30k for the complete system installed. Does this sound consistent with Mooneyspace's evolving consensus? -Sia