alextstone

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

John, I would love to see photos of your airplane. It sounds like a very special one indeed. Jimmy, I hope you find a solution to this fair market value problem. I remember when you gave me a "dose of reality" over using VRef for valuations during my purchase process. Safe Flying, Alex

I made it here this afternoon. Anyone up for meeting at the pancake breakfast? Alex

Hahaha! Yes, that was during the "dry fit". And the one v-band that's not new in the photo was replaced with a new one. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

What a nice sight to see! Overhauled cylinder, Turbo and exhaust installed, Ground runs completed and initial flight test completed, followed by 5 hours of additional flight time this weekend. Noticeable improvement in climb performance, vibration, etc. Just waiting now on the final bill... Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Thanks for all of the good advice. I am not a litigious person by nature so I am going to try to work out a fair compromise with the MSC. I am also now committed to being intimately involved with every aspect of my aircraft's maintenance. I went to the shop last night to have a look at the progress on the install of the turbo and exhaust system discuss the V-band AD with my mechanic. To his credit, before I could mention the V-bands, he showed me which ones he was replacing and explained why, exactly in line with the AD. I hope that my negative posts have not given you a false impression of my personality. This was a tough lesson.

I'd like to be listed and have the link, too! Thanks!

Trust me, I am planning on doing just that.

Sooo... I reported on another thread that I assumed that the Pre-buy / Annual performed by Dugosh (a Mooney Service Center) that I paid for during the purchase of a 1995 Bravo with 2400 hrs TT would be reasonably complete. I expected it to include a thorough evaluation of AD's, previous maintenance history and for them to flag anything that was of concern due to time in service, overhaul intervals or inspected condition, etc. After delivery, I began to discover (along with my local mechanic), numerous issues that are listed in the other thread (exhaust valve going bad, exhaust system leaking, turbo issues) As for the turbo, it had never been overhauled. Upon learning this, I made the call to have it removed and overhauled. Here is a photo of the oil leakage inside the turbo that was discovered upon removal. In retrospect, I did not personally review the AD's or logs as closely as I should have as I assumed I was paying a trusted professional to do it for me. BTW, there were performance related signs that the turbo was not performing properly.

Thanks for the good advice, @LANCECASPER I'll call the mechanic to get that part number.