David Lloyd

Even a 15 pound dog.

But when the boss wants to sit in the back seat there needs to be a back seat.

8A6, Wilgrove Airpark. RVs are both fast and fun and comfortable for one or two. Not so much for three.

Built the one I fly. It flies great. I had no tailwheel time (other than getting the endorsement) prior to flying this. As tailwheel airplanes go, it is a piece of cake. But, there just is not enough room for my wife and little dog on long trips. CLT to CVS is painful for a dog to sit on our laps. Wanna trade?

Unclear why Mooney chose to call the little hidden box with tubing run to and from it a pilot valve. In the pneumatics industry it is called a piloted valve, sometimes a pilot operated valve, a valve whose spool is shifted by an external means (the little pushbutton valve on the yoke). And Mooney even added to the confusion by misspelling the caption in the picture "Pivot Valve".

The SL30 or 40 is a terrific radio as Skates said. If paired with a Dynon Skyview in your RV, you can tune displayed frequencies from the Skyview display. Simple two wire serial connection between the two. Skyview will display both the nav and standby nav needles at the same time--like having two VOR receivers. Or an ILS and a standby VOR. Hopefully Dynon will get approval for Mooney installs in the near future. Couldn't find a pic showing two VOR needles, just one plus the GPS.

I was still upset after the first shot. And he deserved another. Oh, and it was his second attempt on me.

Importance of checking every time on the preflight: Back before the internet, I did not check my nose gear on a regular basis. One day I checked and found the trunnion dented from exceeding the turning limitation. I could narrow the damage occurring to two FBOs. No hull insurance, I was on the hook for repairs.

Had one complete engine failure while flying. 70 Hours on a new engine and fuel pressure line from the distributor to a bulkhead fitting on the firewall came off. Went from rough to nothing in maybe 15 seconds. The previous week was a trip to Pittstown Point. Mechanic shot. Twice. Early morning, dark, I had a magneto that was not tight, slip causing some funky timing. Did this 2-300 feet off the runway. Must have either looked or sounded pretty intense as CLT tower cleared me to land any runway without my saying a word. Engine just had magnetos timed. Mechanic beaten. Had a cylinder remove itself from the crankcase one night between the runway and hangar after a trip to and from MGM. A few hundred hours before, the same cylinder was removed to replace a broken exhaust stud. No other cylinder was ever off that engine. Wonder if that was more than coincidence. About 1950 hours on that engine. Had a valve stick and bend a pushrod bad enough the pushrod tube broke and was dumping oil. Pushing the plane back after a trip home from LAL I looked down and wondered who spilled a quart of oil in front of my hangar. Oh, it's me. It was down to 5 quarts from 12. About 800 hours on that engine. Sometimes stuff just happens. So, I have become a little suspicious of work done on my airplanes.

If I remember correctly, not much inside that pilot valve. Only moveable part is a spool that might get stuck from 50 years for semi clean air. Disassemble, clean, very lightly oil, reassemble. Tell no one.

We have found our terrier-like dog is a lot more calm sitting in the back seat with the wife during a long trip. That's why we're looking at Mooneys, no back seat in the RV. Did not realize Aerox had a mask for dogs.

you or the dog?

Paul, can you really get your dog to wear O2 even if he doesn't like it?

One point I didn't see made was that most gear up repairs are paid for by an insurance company. Old airplane, no insurance, gear up, no economical repair, just write it off. That is probably why that B is sitting abandoned on flat tires. I had a prop strike a few years ago and two engine shops told me they would not do the Lycoming prop strike AD inspection without doing the Lycoming SB bulletin inspection requiring a full teardown. Apparently the insurer agreed, 10-12 Thousand. In the process of inspection they found tappets needed replacing, cam needed grinding, intercylinder baffle needed replacing, and a couple other odds and ends insurance did not pay for, another few thousand. One prop blade was salvageable, the other was about 3 thousand, plus overhaul another thousand. From removing the engine cowling to putting it on for the last time was 37 hours labor (what is your shop rate?) Of course there were little things that are found along the way--lets replace these hoses and that EGT sensor was working before, better repair the crack in the baffle now, did I really mark the left and right p-leads backward? All in all, repairing that kind of damage is always more time consuming and expensive than you would imagine. Thank goodness I did not have gear up damage!

For years I went to the same 30 or so airports dozens of times. I had each flight plan saved as an Excel spreadsheet showing a flight plan, distances, headings, and ATC frequencies. Most of the frequencies have been used for the same routes 40 years. Example attached. Allentown ABE.xls

Nope, that shows nothing. Something with the out not working?

The Interav parts list shows a fiber insulating washer held in place with a star washer and nut. Same as the output lug. Obviously the washer was missing an the plate and lug tried to weld themselves together. No wonder the amps were fluctuating. I got the Interav Install guide, also the troubleshooting and repair manual. About 40 pages.

Had a Horizon digital tach and watched RPM constantly dance around plus or minus 5 with one governor, plus and minus 10 with another. One was steady in that range for almost 2900 hours without overhaul. Had a recently overhauled (just out of warranty) start drooling from the control shaft. The same overhaul shop gladly replaced a seal and bearing for $350 while I waited. I think our engine/prop/governor the common failure mode is high RPM.

What Robert said. Few years back my RV had been in the hanger for ten days while being inspected. For some forgotten reason I wanted to turn the engine. Been sitting, no fuel pump, mixture at ICO, etc. and turned the key. That sucker fired instantly and spun the prop four or five times. If there is any possibility a mag is hot I am not touching a prop. And there is always a possibility.

Don't know if ACS or the video mentioned, use 18 shielded, anything smaller is difficult to pull the center through the braid.

I have made and have seen an A&P make new pleads. Actually the A&P did not do as classy a job as this: nuts, why can't I copy & paste a link. Go to eaavideo.org and search p lead fabrication. Watch the video. Oh, and there are about a 1000 other videos on that site you ought to watch.

Years ago, having some radio work done the shop pulled this same trick on my 12 volt F33A. Blew the top off the battery. Bent the cowling door and latches. Battery box shaped like a beach ball (beech?). Lied about what happened. All radios worked initially. Over the next two years I think everything electrical needed repair. Smoke and sound from behind the panel is sickening on the ground. You need to have them check everything before flying. Everything. Anything that got the wrong voltage is suspect. They check it and sign the logbook. Do not fly away until this is done. Tspear is correct, read his comment again. I have had a jump start only once in 40 years. That one time, the generator on my M20C quit as I leveled off at 9000. In the dark. That weak battery was dead as a doornail real soon. Glad I had a flashlight. Fortunately, in the Mooney there was not enough room to kick myself in the rear.

Not a matter of if, but when. Got some full ones you can have.

About 10 pump failures over the years, only two were IMC, two in the dark. My real heartburn was electrical failure. Especially IMC.

Only way to avoid pump failures: