0TreeLemur

How old is it? Seems odd that it shows up top & bottom at the same time. Suggests an event (thermal stress, bird strike, or improper cleaning solution like ammonia). If it were mine I'd want to know more about the cause before flying it again.

The guys that taught me to fly would literally kick my ass if I ever left a tow bar attached to a nose gear. I NEVER do it. If I ever do, I would take that as a sign that I'm going senile and should give up flying. It is horrible flying hygiene!

I don't know why in the world anyone would leave the tow bar on while parked, but three out of the 12 owners in my common hangar do this! All Cessna owners, I might add. One day, one of them pulled their Cessna out to go fly. I was working in my hangar. I hear "Clear!" then a short burst of a starter, a "clang" then nothing. I looked over and saw a tow bar bent wildly askew and the guy getting out of his Cessna. Bent one of the tow bar connectors wildly. He had trouble getting the tow bar off. Put a ding in the prop, and a did minor damage to the nose wheel pant. Yet, he still leaves his tow bar installed!?! Sheeesh. It makes as much common sense as other rules we have. I'm sure each of these folks have been told to not do it. Laziness?

Good discussions here on MS regarding flight time requirements to obtain reasonable rates to insure a Mooney. Suggest you search and read up on those so you can take that into consideration as well. You can search MS using google "insurance site:mooneyspace.com".

Wow. I look at the old site, and I hear modem sounds. The 80's called. They want their maps back. Personally, I think the new site is an improvement. I really like the view presented in "Tools" "Advanced Maps", and clicking on "Fronts" in the hamburger menu. That presents a ton of info. Like everything, it takes a while to get used to.

I learned about this recent unfortunate event from reading an article written by @Pasturepilot in his new "Words Aloft" substack. Words Aloft author Jeremy King is a flight-passionate Mooney owner and current airline pilot with a broad perspective on aviation. I highly recommend it. Here's the sad part: On Nov. 14, the new owner of a Piper Cherokee flew it VFR into IMC in Florida. It didn't end well. The Flightaware track shows it all. It looks like the pilot kept it aloft in IMC for 30 minutes of sheer terror, ending with a 6000 fpm 290 knot dive, probably in pieces. Sad. Perhaps useful for instruction. Link to flight track here.

Too bad you didn't fly a pattern to draw little hats on them- it would look to me like "Spy vs. Spy"

We bought a new Top Prop for our C in 2020 after a shop condemned the blades on our original prop. It looked great new but the paint would not stay on the primer at the leading edge near the tips. I paid twice to have the prop removed, taken to the shop that sold it to us and repainted. I called Hartzell and they did not care. I've seen other Top Props with the same issue. All I'm saying is that Hartzell has had QA/QC issues with paint not sticking well to primer in the past and if it happens, you are on your own. I will not buy anything from Hartzell in the future. The Top Prop was a perhaps little bit quieter but a Mooney C is a noisy airplane no matter which prop is installed. Performance wise there was no difference that I could discern.

My Class III medical expires at the end of this month. Yesterday I had my BasicMed physical appointment with my Dr. It turns out that he was surprised that he could do that and had never done one. Just before I left for the appointment I read up on how to educate M.D.'s just in case. Glad I did. He was up to speed very quickly and the whole thing took me maybe 10 minutes after the waiting room. Yay! No more certified letters to the FAA for my SI.

In June I flew nonstop at 11,500 from northern Colorado (FNL) to Tuscaloosa, AL (TCL), 941 nm in 6 hours in our J, and landed with 15 gallons left in the 64 gallon tanks. Tailwinds are wonderful.

Yeah, but... Five+ hours with a headwind and no functioning A/P sounds like a lot of work. Did that for a couple of years after we bought our C. Looking back on it, hand flying for long x/c's just isn't that fun, especially if IFR. And if I need to leave the airplane for service, how do I get home? For service, I'd prefer someplace closer.

That would be a great outcome. I think he once recommended a shop in MS to me, but I don't remember the name of it. KS is a bit far for me.

Rather than resurrect a thread from 2015 that had some thread creep, I'm starting a new one. Seeking advice from those with KFC-150 A/P experience. Problem statement: Today when I went flying I pressed the "Test" button, the FD chevron appeared on the Aspen, TRIM light on the computer flashed four times then FD chevron and all lights went out with no audible beeps. It's never done that before. I used the electric trim a lot during this flight and it seemed to be working fine. After refueling and starting up again, same behavior. Has been working fine until today. Worked fine on last flight three weeks ago. Suggestions? Any shops recommended to troubleshoot in MS, AL, GA, TN, FL? This old thread points out possible issues with yoke-mounted trim switch, electrical contacts on back of KFC-192 computer, bad trim motor or position sensor, or mainboard on the KFC-192. That's a lot. Old thread here:

Hey Sheriff- a public shout out for selling me your KX-155! Excellent transaction. Man you really know how to pack stuff securely!

Here's my 2-cents about VREF. As someone with a professional background in estimating, I find VREF largely inadequate for valuing Mooneys. It lacks many Mooney specific cost factors that if done, add a lot of value, and if not, can cost a lot of money if needed (think tank re-seal, puck replacement). Also, its web interface for feature selection (e.g. avionics) can be really cumbersome for certain avionics makes/models, many of which seem to be missing. Better off using Jimmy Garrison's value guide, with adjustment of unit costs based on recent reported costs here on MS for expensive maintenance items.

Wow! The service life just jumped!

One of my problem switches is the Boost Pump. I have a "bad" Boost Pump switch, but it has a good cover. Has anyone developed a good technique for removing/replacing ETA switch covers?

I did not use a slo blo fuse. I wanted a fuse in the circuit to make sure that they were approx. in spec. I communicated with our Cobra Pilot friend a while back. He said he doesn't deal in E-T-A switch covers. Anybody have any advice on proper technique snapping off/on covers? The parts that hold them in place on the cover are pretty fragile looking.

Recently I bought to used 10A E-T-A CB/switches for my J at a good used price. I just tested them both by putting them one at at time in series with a 15A fuse and an incandescent landing light, then shorted the power lead going to the landing light after the fuse. One breaker did not trip before the fuse blew, so it is probably bad- I'm not eager to trust it. The other one tripped, but won't reset (!). I figure it's bad too. Now the question becomes: I've got two switches in my J with broken covers (boost pump & strobes). How does one replace covers on E-T-A switches without breaking anything? Thx. Fred

This plot from my '83J provides that.

Aha! That's what I get for not reading your post carefully before quick-drawing an answer! Happens all the time here on these august pages. Sorry. So, the resistor is still in the circuit, reducing the voltage on the bulb and turning a little bit of electrical power into heat. Your fancy new bulbs pick up on that reduced voltage and reduce the current to the LED. Cool. Thanks for the pirep!

I vote yes. Ammeters are designed to use a tiny current to deflect the needle. Big currents are really bad for them.

I'd like one of those bright orange "15 deg. Turn Limit" to put on the crossbar to get attention. The pointer/marks on my J are not obvious.

The "dimmer" in that circuit is a resistor that cuts the voltage to the bulb. That dimming approach doesn't work with drop-in replacement LEDs because they have their own internal circuit to provide working current from a wide range of input voltage. One solution would involve wiring the "dim" output of the switch to one socket on each side, and the brite to the other socket on each side, then use different LED bulbs with different brightnesses in those positions.

Here's a shot showing how we ran the EGT and CHT lines on our C above the intake spider and away from the plug wires.