PT20J

The Skybolt grommets are designed for shear loads as opposed to the Camloc 4002-HS which are not. The five I installed stopped the movement. However, if all 21 are changed to the Skybolt grommets, I’ll bet it's better for way more than 1000 hours since I’ve got 1700 hours on the original grommets with no wear in the holes. All my Camloc studs are the proper length to meet the 5 in-lb torque spec. They vary from 4 to 8 due to thickness variation in the fiberglass. I agree that trying to increase the clamping force with short studs won’t help. I’ve talked to Don Maxwell, Dan Riesland, and Shery Lowen and they all said that the LASAR mod was only to replace floating receptacles with fixed receptacles, so I don’t know about the strap thing.

I have a 28V M20J and use a Concorde RG24-15 which is on the approved list on the Concorde website and the Mooney IPC. It doesn't have the manifold, but you don't need it with a sealed battery. I asked Concorde why they made some models with a manifold and they told me its because the airframe manufacturer requested it. But, they said it is entirely unnecessary for normal operation with the battery in the tail. The M20J had several configurations of battery box. Mine was built for a sealed battery and so it just has a shelf and no box. If yours has a box, you'll need to check the dimensions carefully to make sure it will fit. I'd compare measurements and hold down location from your current battery to the RG24-15. The IPC has a note: REFER TO MAC DWG 940147 FOR RETROFIT DATA ON R & R FROM GILL TO CONCORDE 24V BATTERIES. You might contact Frank Crawford (technicalsupport@mooney.com) for info on that.

I always use the tie down mostly because it's often the shortest distance to the ground wire reel.

My cowling is pretty stiff -- it has the Mod Works mod to reinforce the top. I'm trying to get more clearance between the lower cowling and the muffler. There's about a half inch when it is first installed, but less when it rocked up, and the muffler shroud contacts the inboard right cowl flap hinge bolt head when the engine shakes in the mounts during shutdown, . I'm going to run with this for a bit and see if there are any issues and then I may replace the remaining 16 grommets with the Skybolt parts. The grommet retaining rings are a pain to remove and the grommets are $6.82 each. Skybolt sells a tool to remove the retainers for about 40 bucks that might be worth it. I removed the others with an angled pick but it's easy to slip and poke yourself.

I saw the result at Lake Hood strip in Anchorage years ago. But the person was fueling a C-180 from cans filtered through a funnel and chamois. I think the funnel and cans may have been plastic. Most of the airplane was reduced to powdery ash. I think the guy got away with minor burns.

My holes were perfectly round. In fact, I had to ream them slightly to get the SK40G1 grommets to fit as they are slightly larger than the lip that retains the retainer ring on the 4002-HS grommets. But, my airframe only has 1700 hours on it, so I can see how the holes might wear over time. Also, my cowling has a metal strip embedded in the fiberglass where the holes are. I don’t know if all the cowlings have that. The grommet flange is countersunk into the fiberglass gel coat and there was definitely was some out of round wear evident there. Also, I don’t know how much this would help with the floating receptacles.

My 1994 M20J cowling aligns with the spinner when installed and there is about a 1/16" gap between both the upper and lower cowling and the fuselage skins. However, as soon as I fly it, the air pressure rocks the cowling back closing the gap between the upper cowling and the skin in front of the windshield and misaligning the cowling with the spinner. Some serial numbers have floating receptacles for the 4002 Camlocs that attach the cowling to the fuselage and Paul Lowen purportedly used to solve the problem by replacing a few receptacles with fixed ones. But mine are all fixed. I finally figured out that the problem is that the Camloc 4002-HS grommets have a reduced size shank to hold the retaining ring and this creates some slop. Skybolt makes a "high shear" grommet SK40G1-11S that has a full sized shank with a groove for the retaining ring. I installed five of these (the Skybolt minimum order for the part): two at the bottom of the lower cowling in front of the nose wheel, one on each side at the top of the lower cowling and one in the center of the top cowling and this solved the problem.

I was out at the hangar today and looked into this. My M20J has the three position flap switch (up, takeoff, full) so the 15 deg takeoff position is quite repeatable and I recently checked it and it is exactly 15 degrees. With the flaps at takeoff, full down aileron deflection appears from the cockpit to be slightly lower at the the trailing edge than the flap trailing edge ( I measured 2.5 deg lower with a digital level). So, how can this be if the ailerons deflect 8 deg and the flaps 15? It's because the hinge line of the ailerons is about 5 inches ahead of the hinge line for the flaps. So, with hydraulic flaps (or electric flaps without the takeoff position on the switch), it is possible to check the takeoff flap position by comparing it to the fully deflected down aileron -- the flap trailing edge should be just a bit higher than the aileron trailing edge, but aligning them is going to be close enough. What is more curious is why did Mooney change the takeoff setting from 15 degrees to 10 degrees starting with the K?

In the Beaver, we used to check takeoff flap setting by comparing with full aileron deflection because the indicator was often considerably in error. (Apparently, it is difficult to rig correctly - or at least that's the excuse the service department used). Full aileron deflection for all Mooneys (M20C and later) is 8 deg down. Takeoff flap deflection for M20C through M20J is 15 deg down which is nearly twice the aileron deflection. Takeoff flap deflection for the M20K and above is 10 deg down or slightly more than full aileron deflection. So, flap/aileron alignment depends on the model. Always verify what your CFI tells you (I'm a CFI, too and I'm wrong more than I care to think about )

The part number should be stamped or written in black ink on the top of the yellow painted handle. Perhaps the number has been painted over. I'd call Lycoming tech support. I have found them very helpful.

Numbers can be misleading because noise is so subjective; everybody’s hearing and sensitivity to noise is different and nonlinear. I have a Zulu 3 and a Bose A20. I used them both in a float Beaver I used to fly which makes a Mooney seem quiet by comparison. The Bose was slightly quieter. In my M20J, I cannot tell much difference. I usually use the Zulu because I find it slightly more comfortable to wear for long periods. Either one is a good choice. I haven’t tried an A30, but the technology has got to be reaching the point of diminishing returns to justify the higher price since the previous generation works so well.

The switches are sealed so there is no way to clean the contacts if that's the problem. If the plunger is sticking, you can spray it with solvent and work it back and forth manually before the solvent dries.

Skyman Avionics has mine for sale. 541-604-9573. info@skymanavionics.com. https://www.skymanavionics.com/product-page/shadin-fuel-flow-indicator-912041t Previous owner had it repaired by Shadin in 2010 and I have the 8130. It was working fine when removed.

It’s normal to have a few drops come out the breather tube after a flight. This is the source of the oil on the exhaust cavity behind the tube but not the source of the oil on the gear doors (which originate ahead of the tube).

THIS ^^^^^ The dipstick will have a part number on it and you can download the parts catalog from Lycoming’s website to check that it is correct. Not sure why they would replace the dipstick - Lycoming prices them like they were made of gold.