PT20J

There you go -- delving into the Illustrated Parts Catalog again

Thanks, Paul. It's SIM20-109. Somehow I missed that one. Skip SIM20-109.pdf

I ran across this in the M20J Service and Maintenance Manual. I never saw it before and don't know if it's ever been done on my plane. I couldn't find it on the 50 hr/100 hr/Annual checklist. Does everyone do this? Clarence? @M20Doc Skip

Worse...magnesium, actually.

+1 on Michelin air stops. A lot of people just leave the PITA wheel covers off.

We used to have a tech support guy at a small software company that coded the resolution to a lot of support calls "RTFM". When I asked, he explained it means Read The F***ing Manual.

A lot of other common questions are readily answered by referring to the Service and Maintenance Manual and Illustrated Parts Catalog. If you are going work on your plane, you really need copies of these, and they are available in pdf format from Mooney. I keep all the manuals for the airplane and avionics on my iPad for ready reference. I also keep them on a thumb drive in the airplane for when I'm "on the road" in case I need to get work done at a shop that doesn't have copies for my model . Skip

Always a good idea to check the grounding.

There's another thread about how to trim and drill the lenses. I found a cutoff wheel on a dremel works best for trimming. Use a step drill bit to drill the holes and you won't crack the plexiglass -- a standard twist drill bit is likely to catch. Skip

Years ago I asked a lawyer friend a hypothetical about some similar stretch of a legal interpretation. The answer was, "You know what's right and what's wrong and so will the judge." ATC "clears" you to do relatively few things, two of which are takeoff and land. These are separate clearances except for the touch and go (and by extension, the option). Of course a large jet may actually touch the runway when executing a missed approach from DA (I have a Boeing 737 training manual somewhere that makes that clear) and of course if you are hobby horsing down the runway the smart thing to do is to go around after the second bounce (it's the third one that usually gets you). In a sense you are exercising your emergency authority. But if you make a habit of doing touch and go arounds when cleared to land the local controller will not be pleased, and if you cause a traffic conflict you are going to get a call from the FSDO and you will have a difficult time explaining that it's OK because there's no rule against it when it's pretty clear what the intent of the rules is. And, why make life hard for the person in the tower when you don't have to? He (or she)is just trying to make a living, feed the family and end the day without any airplanes touching. Skip

Sorry for your loss... Hey stuff happens. That wingtip does not look like the factory wingtip. On the factory installed tips, there are only screws on the rear diagonal edge -- the inboard edge fits under a wing skin with no screws. To install the factory tip on an early flat tip wing would require quite a bit of metal work. This looks like a aftermarket part that was designed to retrofit the flat tips with minimum rework. The factory lens will not fit as it has cutouts on the inboard edges and I think the GLAP lens is the same. The LASAR lens has straight edges on all sides. I would look over the logbooks and airplane file for an STC/337 or other information on the installation (or maybe someone here is familiar with it) to find out what you've got and then talk to Dan at LASAR about it. Skip

Think that's bad, just try to order a QT Halo headset!

Ever notice how Clarence's answers frequently point to the Maintenance Manual or IPC? There's a message there somewhere Maximum tension without binding. Now there's a specification for you! Actually, it tells you something about the design -- this is not a precision piece of equipment. First, the trim wheel shaft bushing is not a standard oilite bushing as you might expect. It's a custom Mooney part made of hardened brass (I asked) with no provision for lubrication. The chain force causes the steel shaft to wear the bushing oblong which will result in noticeable wobble of the wheel and also makes the chain adjustment less precise. I replaced mine, but even the new bushing is a fairly loose fit. Adjustment is done from underneath. You have to loosen the four gearbox mounting screws and then turn the adjusting cap screws. Then you have to climb up in the cockpit and check the tension. Back and forth a few times -- good exercise. Better to get a helper. But wait -- there's more. When you get it just right you tighten the mounting screws and it changes the tension. Arrrrrrrrrrgh!. After a few tries, you think it's right and then you rotate the wheel through its range to try it out and guess what? The sprockets are ever so slightly eccentric so it's tight on one side and loose 180 degrees out. Mooney says to lubricate the chain with grease. That makes no sense as the grease won't get into the chain rollers. Some light oil on the chain and shaft works well. Check it every annual. There's a chain in the back for BK elevator trim too and there is a carrier bearing there which is supposed to get greased annually and is often overlooked. Mooney factory folks respond best to email, I've found. Skip

I think they build Mooney stuff to order. Have you tried calling them? That worked for me when I wanted a shipping update.