AaronC

There's another C, F, and a J that we're looking at.

Hey, the other owner of the Mooney in question here... So the prop is the correct one, and same diameter as the one before. Engine mounts.. we'd have to look into that, but that would not be causing our problem here, because the entire airplane is sitting nose low. The tail is about 5 inches higher than other models on our field. No damage to the nose gear. It is the correct tire Donuts are 12 years old... but per measurements with other airplanes are still like new. So it's not the prop. Not the engine mounts. Not the tire (it maybe could be inflated a little more to give us 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the most). With the tail being high 5inches or so (again compared to all the other Mooneys at our field), it seems to be something in either the nose gear or main gear that's not rigged properly. One mechanic we talked to said that there's a bushing in the nose gear that if it's upside down, will lower the height of the nose... anyone know how to check this? Albatros has tons of pictures of measurements and different parts in the nose gear.

Tried the search function here first, but no luck. We've got a KX-155 that seems to be giving us some problems. It's Comm 1, and we just got the airplane back from having some engine work done. Before this, it was fine. It started with not being able to transmit. It would key up, but you could not hear any voice being transmitted. Turn it off, reset the breaker a few times... then all of a sudden it'll work fine. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn't. Then while flying home IFR the other day talking to ATC just fine for about an hour, hearing a lot of the transmissions, I get a nasty call from ATC. I answer wondering why they're mad, and they inform me that they've been trying to reach me... They said they've even had another plane trying to reach me. I had no clue, and could hear other transmissions on frequency. So I tuned #2 comm to that frequency also and used both to listen, #1 to transmit.. that worked fine. Well, we went to our mechanic and he reseated the radio thinking maybe one of the connectors was just a little loose. Yesterday, went to another airport with a tower, and as they're confirming information, their transmission completely cut out. I was prepared for this and had #2 ready in case, so I just did the same as above and continued on. Think it's time for a new radio? Anything else I can try to narrow down where this problem might be coming from?

Mlm20c- Poplar Grove did the overhaul carusoam- Thanks for the great thoughts. We will definitely have the cylinders pulled to inspect the cam for corrosion.

My mechanic has that... and is following it, but as I believe, it's just a recommendation. The engine is definitely coming out to be inspected... that's not an option, just curious on the rest.

Not by my doing, but my airplane (62 M20C) has had a prop strike (from a porpoised landing). This was a few weeks ago, and we've worked out all the insurance stuff, and figured out a way to move forward. 1st lesson learned... make sure you insure your airplane for what you can get a comparable plane at. We got such a great deal on our plane, and insured it for only slightly more than we paid. The insurance company initially told us that it was going to be considered a complete loss. We have a 3 blade Hartzell, but told them we could go with a 2 blade to lower the repair cost, and it lowered it enough to avoid the complete loss... so we're going to get it repaired. The plan is to pull the engine to have it inspected (by Zephyr engines), and get the two blade prop put on. We have a brand new mag on there (less than 1 hour), and one old one that was going to be replaced soon anyway. Since we're getting a set amount for repairs, we are obviously trying to make sure we get everything covered with the money we get... My questions are: 1. Would you replace the new mag? 2. New 2 blade prop, or find a used one and have it overhauled? 3. New fuel pump? It has been suggested that we just do an overhaul at this point since we're going to have the engine out anyway and torn down somewhat. The engine only has 300hrs on it, so not sure it's worth it at this point. The overhaul was done 13 years ago, so depending on if they find any corrosion, we may need to replace more parts. Not sure if it's worth the money for the overhaul though. Any other thoughts? Anyone have a prop they want to sell?

Did you sell?

I will be in Savannah this week for the military. My airplane is down for a while, so trying to get in the air any opportunity I can. I'd go up in anything! Will also be in Washington DC, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and in the Tampa area this month if you know of anyone in those areas. My goal is to fly as many different airplanes before I go to the airlines in a couple months. Thanks!

Yah, can you elaborate on the roll tape? Thanks for the help guys.

On our C, we have a few corrosion spots under the paint that we want to repair... nothing major, just want to get ahead of it. Any tips from those that have done it? The rest of the paint is in really great shape, so there's no need to repaint the whole thing.

Less than 300 hours. Just heard back from the mag shop rebuilding it... they said it was all messed up. Housing was cracked (probably from over tightening the bolts on installation), that made pretty much everything inside unusable. The only salvageable part is the coil. The owner of the shop (on the field I got stuck at) is the one that called me. He said since it's going to be a lot more to repair the part than originally quoted, that I could just pay the mag shop for the repairs, and him for the removal and install. I thought this was very nice. I will post back when we get our plane back with a full report.

All the more reason for me to get my A&P. Let me say that I have no problem with shops making money. They are in business after all. I've owned a few businesses I understand the game... but will say that I took care of my customers, in hopes I kept them. This post was really me trying to figure out if this was normal operations for shops. If it is, then I have nothing to complain about, it's just the cost of doing business. When doing business with people, I just want to feel that I'm being treated fairly, and not being ripped off. The owner admitted that he was paying $600 for the rebuilt mag, and that I was paying $1000 for it. To me that seems excessive when I'm paying for the hours of work as well... but again, if that's industry standard....... I have no problem telling people the name of the shop... just not going to do it publicly until I get my airplane back. :-) Not sure what the total bill/ hours will be... he just got the plane today.

I'm new to airplane ownership, and not sure if it's normal for a shop to upcharge for parts? My specific example is my mag failed on a field away from home. Found the mechanic on the field to replace it. I obviously did research to find out that my Bendix mag would cost about $600 for a rebuild. When he quoted $1000 for the rebuild only, I questioned it. Long story short, he admitted that he was adding the extra as an upcharge, and "it's business". I really don't have a choice, so he's changing it, but curious if that's normal practice? If so, I will shut my mouth and chalk it up to the cost of ownership... With his shop rate at $110hr, it'll be an expensive Mag.

Checked this morning. All of the push rods are free and clear. On the ground, ailerons are smooth and full motion. It passed the ground test last week, but may have developed a leak, so I will check again. Brittain servo boots seem new. I will let you all know if I find anything. Thanks again for all the help.

Great help. We may just have to disconnect the chains until we take the servos out. (Will be getting one of the new autopilots.)