PT20J

Have you tried flying around talking to ATC on the handheld? And if the 650 dues, how will you navigate and shoot and shoot an approach if IMC?One radio is fine for a VFR only machine but not for IFR.

I’ve landed in pretty strong cross winds with no flaps, takeoff flaps and full flaps. They all work, but I like full flaps since it makes it just like any other landing. If gusty and the airspeed is bouncing around I just try to keep the lowest indications at 1.3Vso.

If you overprime an IO-360, it runs a little rough for a few seconds after starting. But if it is REALLY rough then it’s more likely a sticking valve. If you have an engine monitor, it’s easy to see which cylinder is dead because the EGT won’t come up. If you don’t have an engine monitor, start it with the cowling off an then shut down and feel which cylinder is cold.

Most likely, it’s a later model K since it has the relays and the three position flap switch with the 15 deg. position. Since the relays have been replaced, it must be a switch causing the problem. Within the box that contains the relays are two microswitches that control the 15 deg position. The schematics can be found in service and maintenance manual. Someone posted this simplified version a while back. Flap switch logic.pdf

Could be the switch; could be the relay. Hard to tell which if intermittent. You could replace both to be certain. Or you could start by replacing whichever is cheaper.

The OP said he has a McCauley prop. Those get greased only when taken apart. There are no external grease points like a Hartzell prop.

Given those two data points, it sounds like a real issue. Are you sure that the oil cooler lines are connected properly? What does the overhauler say?

The McCauley manual says to cycle the prop all the way to the low speed/ high pitch stop a few times. I did this and it stopped my minor leaks.

THIS^^^^^^^^

Sunquest’s standard charge for a simple design (one day layout), three colors is $32K. But my layout was more complex and took 2.4 additional days at $2500/ day. There was a $2500 up charge for the red paint I chose and a $2500 charge for alodine. So, $43K before sales tax.

Good point, but I’ve found that the best way to set the torque is by feel. The nose gear is a bunch of parts welded together and there are tolerance variations between them. Also, the bottom plate bears the weight of the nose and wears. If you get it too tight, the steering is stiff.

The Mooney nose gear has numerous wear points that can result in sloppiness. If rigged properly, it will track straight down the runway, but the wear will cause a dead zone in the steering requiring more footwork to taxi straight. This is more a nuisance than an airworthiness issue and usually owners wait until it gets really annoying to fix it. Fixing it involves jacking the plane and moving the nose gear by hand to identify the places where there is slop and then replacing shims, rod ends and bushings as necessary. Don’t expect perfection: I’ve been told by reputable MSC’s that even new airplanes have some slop.

I had mine done this past spring at Sunquest in Everett WA. It took about 8 weeks. They do 40+ planes a year and do caravans for FedEx, Kenmore Air Harbor’s seaplane fleet, historic aircraft for museums and the Nordstrom family’s fleet among others. It wasn’t for CBs, but they took great care with the prep, layout, spraying and especially the touch up afterwards. My advice is to find a quality shop with a backlog of business and get on their schedule. They cannot afford to do a crappy job and screw up their reputation, and they cannot afford to take too much time since it screws up their throughput. Then, be prepared to pay what they want and ignore the posts that talk about how they got their airplane painted for $30K.

My only tip is that it gets easier every time you do it. The A&Ps advantage is practice — lots of practice.

My bad, I somehow missed the part about the light coming on after recycling the gear, so my comment about the breaker is not pertinent. You said you slowed down and did not get the gear horn. Did you pull the throttle back enough to be sure to actuate the microswitch?It depends on how it’s adjusted but it needs to go almost to idle. Also, do you know that the throttle switch/gear horn was working before this incident? It’s not something we hear a lot in normal operation. The gear up and down switches are DPDT. One pole of each switch controls the gear motor (through relays) and the other pole controls the warning circuits. It’s possible for one pole to be bad and the other good. The best (and safest) way to troubleshoot gear issues is to put the plane on jacks and ground power and open the belly. The good thing about Mooneys is that the floor indicator is mechanical and is the primary indicator. If it aligns properly, the gear is down. The lights and horn are secondary indicators.