Sime

I also recommend the RAM mount. I have it on the pilot yoke of my '76F with an Ipad Mini 4. Rock solid.

My '76F has wingtip strobes (and nav lights), and a tail lamp (non-strobe). It does not have a beacon, although it may have had one at one time. There is a switch on the panel for it.

No, no issues at all. The compass is accurate in all directions. No balancing balls required. Also, my new compass sits a little higher up so it's further away from the panel compared to some others I have seen...that may help.

I had a Precision vertical compass card installed in my '76F at the last annual. It's been great. Very happy with it. They have changed the design a little from what is shown on their website. They now have a 'Made in USA' detail printed on the face. Nothing against being patriotic, but I'd rather they hadn't put it there.....

That's the setup my '76F came with when I bought it in '17. I would like to also have a low profile LED beacon though...

The paint on my 76F is a nice scheme, but I must confess I had no hand in it! This is how I purchased her. Unfortunately, at my home airport, hangar space is extremely scarce, so she reluctantly lives outside (with a canopy cover). This photo was taken in January this year:

Since you have one side of the knob, you could mould make a mould of that side using modelling clay and then make the new piece with 2 part epoxy. Then just drill a hole for the boss/locator to fit into on the new piece. I'm a spraypainter and own a bodyshop. I painted my prop control knob in blue (was originally black) and the mixture control in red direct gloss 2 pack. A local bodyshop will be able to do the same for you.

I bought my '76 F in December 2017 for AUD$65K. At that time, I insured it for AUD$75K and the premium was AUD$3360. She was consuming oil at a rate of 1qt/1hr, so I had a top end field overhaul performed and added a vertical card compass and LED landing light. Put 60 hours on her in the year but she was out of action for 6 weeks during the best part of our flying season due to the overhaul and annual. No incidents/claims for the year. This past December, my premium went down to AUD$2950 and the insured value increased to AUD$85K. My aircraft is stored outside on hardstand parking at a Class D airport. My deductible was the only thing to change. It went from $500 to $800. I can live with that. Certainly suggest you call your broker (or insurer directly) to ask about increasing the hull value.

I notice on the uavionix website that the Skybeacon lens is clear so you can see all the guts of the assembly. It's not a dealbreaker, but I'm not a fan of that. Are production units like this or was the clear lens just for marketing purposes? Also, what have they done for security on these units? I imagine they are mounted with screws and even if you used security head screws, they are pretty easily bypassed with a tool you can buy at most hardware stores. Is the Sykbeacon registered/encrypted to the aircraft it was originally purchased for so that it can't be used on another aircraft (ergo, no point stealing it)?

On my '76F, I have separate breakers for the landing gear and the landing gear indicator. If there is an issue in the circuit for the landing gear indicator (ie. faulty/shorted gear warning horn), the breaker will trip and you won't get a green gear down indication light. I realise this is a separate issue from the gear actuation itself, but thought it prudent to mention.

I purchased my '76 M20F in December last year. At the pre-buy, my mechanic noticed that the engine was using a lot of oil...around 1 quart per hour of flight time. The current owner at the time strongly believed this to be 'within spec/tolerance'. We felt otherwise, but we were butting heads and he wouldn't lower the price on the aircraft. I would have liked to get another $3K off towards the cost of the overhaul that we knew the motor needed. But it was a reasonable overall deal and the aircraft had 4100TT and 950SMOH. Prop had very low time on it. At the annual in Feb this year, we decided to go ahead with the top end field overhaul. Upon tear down, two pistons looked average with edge wear on the crowns so we replaced with new, and rings/seals on all four cylinders were replaced (along with a hone and cleanup of the heads). Initially, there was expected blow by from 8 quarts to 7 at about the 7 hour mark, and then with more flying, the usage went down to 6.5 quarts. I put another quart in just to be safe. She has done about 25 hours now since the rebuild and has only had two quarts total added (including the initial 'top up' quart. She's currently sitting on 6 quarts so I'm just going to keep flying her and monitor the oil consumption, only adding oil if it continues to drop lower. I cruise at no higher than 380F CHT on #3 which is the hottest cylinder. I cannot say as to why the aircraft was using oil excessively beforehand, but the top overhaul fixed things!

I don't like things inserted into my ears either. Late last year, I wanted to upgrade my Pilot 17-79 Independence ANR's to something a little lighter and with the Bluetooth functionality. I was very impressed with the price point, warranty and features of the Lightspeed Zulu 3's and decided these were the ones for me. I did buy from a bricks and mortar store so I tried them on before I paid for them to see how they fit. And then I took them straight back off. On my head, they were uncomfortable. Fail. So, I tried on the more expensive Bose A20's and was in heaven. So comfortable! I ended up buying two pairs. I also like how the Bose has an auto-off feature that kicks in when you disconnect the headphone and microphone jacks. The ANR is great too. It's still a little loud on the takeoff roll and climb, but it's awesome in cruise. You do forget that you are wearing them. The Bose have my vote.

I'm in the same boat. I have a 1976 M20F with a Hartzell 2 blade constant speed prop and need a new spinner. The one on there is composite and has cracked. I need to buy an alloy one. I purchased a 2 blade M20J 201 polished alloy spinner with bulkhead and cannot use it as it is for a McCauley prop. I will be selling that one if anybody is interested? Once GRM321 is sorted, if anyone can contact me with what they have for the F, that would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, Sime

This is my 2016 registered Absolute Pace 427SC AC Cobra (Melbourne, Australia). I built and painted her. Powered by a supercharged V8 LSA putting down 520hp to the rear wheels. She only weighs 2300lb! No ppwer steering, traction control or ABS. Driving her is ummm, interesting to say the least!

Another vote for the Airplane Covers guys, also known as MACS Covers. I received one of their covers with my '76F when I purchased the aircraft in December last year. The cover fits well and works well. It has my tail number embroidered on both front corners which I believe discourages theft. There are no snaps on my cover, just nylon straps and buckles.

Appreciate the heads-up. I do not have a nylon lanyard in my F. Mine is a steel chain. I will check with the A&P, but I suspect that the AD had been addressed on my particular aircraft. Also, I have never experienced any erroneous fuel level readings. Lastly, I go by time intervals when I change tanks, the fuel usage I correlate with the fuel flow readings on my EDM700.

Fair call. I had thought about changing out the charger and trying the another one to see if there will be any difference. This was a cheapy from Ebay. Will try another. Can't hurt.

I also was experiencing intermittent static on my radios. I'd read here about a USB charger plugged into the 12V port that was causing a static issue. I also have a USB charger and I leave it plugged in, but I don't always use it. So, I went for a fly yesterday and plugged my iPad in, and I had bad static. So I removed the charger completely and I immediately eliminated all static. Plugged it in again: static. Removed it: no static. Seems the charger (only) when under load will introduce static in the radios. I'm just going to make sure the iPad is fully charged before flying so there will be no need for the 12V charger, and will carry a small power bank if I need additional power.

My 76F has a chain from inside the fuel tank to the cap. Was that part of the 76's standard features, or would it have been added later on?

Looks great! I'd be happy with that improvement too. Any links to part numbers are source please? Did you do the nav light globes too?

I have managed to get the light to function now! Looks like the landing gear horn breaker popped. I didn't see it because my iPad ram mount was covering it. Resetting the breaker has resolved the issue. It must have blown due to one of two things. 1/. I think I read somewhere that the 12v auxilliary port is wired to the same circuit as the gear warning horn/light. The Ipad charger cable may have grounded out on the yoke during my last flight. Or 2/. the gear warning horn was replaced at annual. I'll check the wiring to see if it has shorted or perhaps the warning indicator itself is faulty? Appreciate all your assistance on this!

Thanks all. I'll remove the belly panels and have a nosey around to see if the issue is obvious. If I can't see anything, I will have my A&P friend who did the (recent) annual have a look at it. He has the correct jacking pads for the Mooney and is familiar with jacking/supporting it correctly. He should be back in a little over a week. Will report back with my findings. Cheers, Sime

Interesting. That doesn't sound right however. That's significantly slower even than a 172. According to Plane and Pilot in 2008, the Lance 300-6 cruises at 158 knots at 75% power. Others suggest 135-145knots at 75%, but it's still way faster than the 104 knots the Lance owner indicated to you. Piper PA-32-300 Lance specs Different aircraft for different missions though.

Thanks gents. So is the aircraft un-airworthy with the panel gear down light inop?

So I just got my 76 M20F back from it's annual and when I came in to land, the 'gear down' light on the panel wasn't illuminating, however the visual sight window on the floor was showing the gear down and locked (green). Landed safely and gear is stable. When I press the annunciator test button, the 'gear down' light successfully illuminates green. I checked the only limit switch (I could find) in the left landing gear well, and there is a 1-2mm gap between the end of the switch and the plate attached to the gear that appears to actuate the switch. I actuated the switch manually ten times but the light is still not on. Is this switch supposed to be open when the gear is down? My A&P is away overseas for work for 2 weeks. As the gear indicator between the seats is the primary indicator and that is functional, is the aircraft airworthy without the panel (convenience) light illuminating? If so, I would like to take the aircraft up and cycle the gear several times to see if this fixes the issue. Any other ideas to check? Thanks in advance, Sime