alextstone

Hi DVA, Thank you so much for the detailed explanation of your process. I am following your lead and I'll report back when done. This forum is so helpful....so many smart minds! Alex

I'm not buying it either. In either case, it's irresponsible IMHO. Alex

I'm planning on being there! Thanks for setting this up. Alex

It seems like inspection by a Mooney employee before release from the paint shop and/ or payment authorization to the paint shop would have been prudent. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Ohh, not good at all. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Thanks, All, for the great info. I’ll inspect. Alex

Thanks, Paul. What is your opinion on the replacement interval? 3-5 yrs as per the Mooney Service Instruction or on condition?

No, that was the first thing I checked. I flew again today. Upon departure, the "Gear Down" panel annunciator was brightly lit. Upon gear extension, my wife swore she could see a dimly lit annunciation; I could not. The floor indicator was "in the green" so we landed without further consideration. On a related topic, my shock donuts are quite old (11 years!) and even though they have passed annual inspection, I feel I should replaced them per the Mooney service instructions of 3-5 years for long body (heavier) aircraft. I figure when that's done, it would be a good time to have the whole gear system re evaluated and serviced / adjusted as necessary. Anyone have further input on this? What should I expect to budget for this?

The above statement is not necessarily true. I (and many others on this forum) fly a Bravo ALWAYS LOP and the engine runs smoothly, the CHT's are 380 or below, and I see a TAS of 180KTS at 14.5 GPH at 16K feet. This is with TKS installed and a mid-time engine. If I go higher, I enjoy higher speeds than that, although with the trips I take, the mid-teens make sense. I do have GAMI injectors. Alex

I hear you about attention to detail. This airplane is new to me as of September of this year. I have encountered many more issues than I had hoped (see my other posts). I recently scoured my logbooks line by line and recorded the last maintenance interval on every component to generate a list of overdue or suspect items. So many discrepancies were found that I have learned to be much more involved going forward. The shock donuts are at the top of the list. They were last changed in 2007. I plan to have the gear thoroughly checked and tensioned, etc. when I have the donuts replaced. What questions should I ask of the shop in your view? BTW, I used Pilot Partner app to organize the Maintenance items. Pretty cool. See attached PDF. N1084U MX Status Report (1).pdf

Hi DVA, My post was not clear. The light that was not illuminated was the Gear Down light on the panel mounted annunciator panel, not the one for the indicator on the floor. I posted that photo to show that the green bar is not quite lined up with the center bar of the indicator. I am thinking that the gear is just a bit out of alignment, explaining the intermittent outage of the panel annunciator. Thoughts? Alex

During the flight, no change your pressing the test button. Now, the Gear Down light is illuminated. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

During the pre landing check at the end of my last flight, I noticed that the Gear Down annunciator light was not illuminated. The great indicator was roughly aligned though, see photo. After landing, the annunciator lit up. What are your thoughts? Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I love these pics and the concept of skill combined with technology allowing for precision landings. I have no opinion (on this forum anyway) as to outside issues like climate change.

Good explanation. You just nailed it!

Yes, PaulM, I think you are right. FIKI coats the prop blades with fluid.

FWIW, I am interested in volunteering my FIKI Bravo for the STC...please pass the word along

If you look at the prop hours and prop overhaul date, you can impute that the airplane has been flown 30 hours since 2014 - almost five years! Too bad and probably a red flag for deferred maintenance and engine corrosion.

Man, that is one heck of a story! Congrats on safely landing and on getting past the headache of an engine swap.

OK @Bravoman you just made my problems seem trivial! Wow, cracked case and engine replacement?!? What were the “tells” on takeoff that you experienced?

My bias has no basis in good stats. It is only my experience. I think it has a lot to do with owning a 5 - 10 year old airplane vs a 15-30 year old airplane. In my case, I purchased the Bravo September 1st after a pre-buy and annual inspection with a supposedly clean bill of health. $30,000 and three months later, I am still finding issues that should have been identified by the Mooney Service Center that performed the work. So, is my math everyone's experience? Probably not. I still would not trade the speed,. FIKI and high altitude capability for the money! Alex

I owned (or more accurately, the bank owned and I flew for a fee each month) an Acclaim from 2007 to 2010. Last summer, I purchased a '95 Bravo. Both aircraft have been a joy to fly. If I could afford to, I would definitely go back to the Acclaim however. The GFC 700, climb performance, cruise performance and simple engine management are amazing! That said, the Bravo, for half the money is a lot more than half the utility and fun. Whichever you choose, calculate an operating and maintenance budget for each, then double it for the Acclaim and triple it for the Bravo. These planes are not cheap to operate and maintain properly. Please post pics of your choice!

Wow! Well done.

Thanks, Dan. This week, I had the TKS filter changed in my Bravo. I recently had the exhaust system overhauled as well. The next flight out upon takeoff, the CO meter went off and the CO concentration in the cabin quickly climbed to over 300 ppm. Previously, I had never seen it go above 15 ppm. After the cowling was removed to inspect the exhaust system and firewall, the mechanic and I checked the belly panels that he removed to install the TKS filter. One of them was not seated correctly, leaving a small gap in the panel right where the exhaust flows along the fuselage belly. Seated the panel and sealed correctly, problem solved. The CO meter may have saved my life. Alex

That's a great story! Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk