PT20J

My 78 had a rather large OECO regulator mounted on the firewall up high under the glare shield. My 94 has a Mooney regulator which is much smaller and located at the base of the copilot's panel just to the right of the center console on top of a small tray.

I was actually able to have the GTN squelch set to 0 without spurious squelch breaks.

While Parker maintains that the PTFE hoses have an unlimited shelf life, it does not have any recommended service life because service conditions can vary significantly. Since there is no recommended service life, most take this to mean than they should be replaced on condition rather than at any specific interval. The Safety Guide in the Stratoflex 124 hose catalog says: Specific replacement intervals must be considered based on previous service life, government or industry recommendations, or when failures could result in unacceptable downtime, damage, or injury risk. The Safety Guide also provides installation and inspection information. Skip SPD-PTFE_Hose124.pdf

The IPC only shows a Mooney part number 620051-001, so it might be a custom part. Maybe you can order it from an MSC, or perhaos Frank Crawford at Mooney would tell you the vendor. When we installed the new engine, we just glued on some silicone bulb seal that the shop had around from some other project.

The problem is that the technology keeps changing making incremental upgrade planning difficult. If you are putting in either G5s or GI 275s you will want two, but you will only need one if you later put in a G3X. And, as it stands now (but who knows in the future) the G5 integrates with the G3X for a standby instrument, but the GI 275 does not so if the GI 275 is used as a standby instrument for the G3X it is reduced to just being an artificial horizon with no nav or autopilot capabilities. If I just wanted to upgrade the instrument panel now and add a GFC 500 later, I would go with GI 275s. If I really wanted a G3X, I would either go ahead and install that now with a G5, or if that's not currently feasible, I would just save my pennies and do it all later. One thing that often gets overlooked is that the installation cost is about half the hardware cost if you do it all at once, but it is more if you do it incrementally. Skip

Garmin pretty much copied the Bendix-King installation.

I had my plane in the shop this week and asked the original installer to check the pitch servo cable tension. What he told me was interesting. He said that the turnbuckle Garmin uses can only be adjusted in increments of a full turn. During the original installation, he set the tension to the lower limit because another turn was too tight. This week he found it was below the low limit and he was able to take up a turn and adjust it to the high limit. Afterwards when I flew the airplane it did not oscillate significantly in IAS mode with large changes in the IAS target setting or power changes. So, perhaps the autopilot is very sensitive to cable tension and setting to the high limit might improve things. The measurement is a bit complicated as I believe the Garmin limits are specified at 70 deg F and corrections have to be calculated for the actual ambient temperature. Skip

And the IA is now a Walmart greeter.

Same

I'm probably more verbose than some. I like enough detail so that anyone looking at it is clear what I did. Here's an example: Changed oil and filter. Serviced with 7 qts. Phillips X/C 20W50 and 11.2 oz. Camguard and Tempest AA48110-2 filter. Checked compression: (1) 79/80, (2) 78/80, (3) 78/80, (4) 79/80. Installed 8 new Tempest UREM37BY spark plugs. Opened and inspected oil filter; no metal found. Test ran with no leaks noted. Also, if I install any parts, I like to note the manufacturer, part number and serial number if there is one. Replaced left fuel tank drain with P/N F391-53S. Now, if you want to start a real debate: Do you log the oil change in the engine logbook, the airframe logbook, both? Does it matter? Skip

Trek Lawler assures me that no changes were made that should cause this and they have no knowledge of such issues from the field.

My Garmin dealer reports that two owners with G5s that he updated to v8.02 have reported issues with autopilot roll axis intercept and tracking behavior in NAV after updating. Anyone else having issues? Skip

I did the math on the 50/70 rule years ago. If you assume uniform acceleration, and ignore drag, you will lift off exactly at the end of the runway. Unless it is obstacle free, you’ll hit something. Actually, it’s worse than that because thrust decreases as speed increases while drag increases, so the acceleration isn’t constant.

My hat's off to the airline pilots. You are a special bunch of guys and gals. There are times (fewer now that I'm retired) that I need airline transport and I'm glad you are there for me. I could not do that job. I was having lunch with a friend who is a captain on American flying the A320. He related that the Airbus has a ground steering tiller on both sides. Many of the Boeings only have one on the left side. So, for consistency of procedures, American has a policy that only the captain can steer on the ground. Captain needed to adjust his seat or something and asked the copilot to steer for a minute during taxi. Next thing they know, the computer sends a message to the satellite that goes to someone at American that sends back a message admonishing them because the copilot's tiller is showing motion. I just couldn't live like that.

Yes, it's a summary of the information in the McCauley manual. Of course, before making any changes, it's important to verify the accuracy of the tachometer. mpc26ow.pdf

Oh, I wouldn’t worry. I never met an airline pilot that didn’t think their company was screwed up. Most senior captains can tell you the years, months and days until retirement. I asked a friend about that once and he pulled out his phone and said, “I’ve got an app for that.”

Here is a summary of the procedure for McCauley props. General Calibration Procedures Following Installation of McCauley Constant Speed Governors A. Perform Static Run-up: Lock aircraft brakes. Place cockpit propeller RPM lever in high RPM (takeoff) position. Advance throttle slowly to maximum permitted engine manifold pressure limits. Record propeller RPM. If local wind conditions are over 5 knots, repeat check with aircraft pointed in opposite direction and average the two numbers. As a general rule, propeller RPM should be 25-100 RPM below redline limit during the above check. B. Perform Flight Test: During takeoff acceleration, record maximum propeller RPM. When sufficient altitude is reached, level out aircraft, leaving propeller control in full RPM position. Maintain this setting for three (3) to five (5) minutes while monitoring propeller RPM. Following this check, two conditions may exist which require adjustment: 1) If propeller RPM is exceeding redline limit, reduce it to redline using propeller control. Leaving propeller at this redline RPM setting, land aircraft and shutdown. Remove cowling and note position of control arm on governor. Adjust governor high RPM screw clockwise so it just touches stop on governor control arm; this will ensure that the correct arm position for governor redline RPM setting cannot be exceeded. 2) If propeller RPM is below redline limit with max RPM setting on the propeller cockpit control, note RPM and land. Remove engine cowling and adjust the governor high RPM screw counterclockwise to increase RPM. Note that one full screw turn will cause an increase of approximately 25 RPM. Perform another test flight to confirm adjustments were sufficient. General Facts About McCauley Governors Static Run-Up - What is Normal? There has been some confusion in the field concerning propeller low blade angle setting, the governor setting and how it relates to static run-up and take-off RPM. As a general rule, engine redline RPM cannot be reached during a full power static run-up. Contrary to popular belief, the governor is not controlling the propeller at this time, the propeller is against its low pitch stop. Attempting to increase propeller static run-up RPM by adjusting the governor high RPM screw will have no effect and will probably result in a propeller overspeed during the take-off roll. On a single engine aircraft several considerations determine both the low and high blade angle settings. Normally 25 to 100 RPM below rated take-off RPM is desirable and acceptable during a static run-up. McCauley's practice is to set the low blade angle so that rated take-off RPM is not reached until the aircraft has reached some significant groundspeed during roll out. At this time, and only this time, the propeller is controlled by the governor. There are two advantages to this practice. First, the maximum static RPM can be used as a check on developed horsepower as with a fixed pitch propeller. Any loss of maximum power over time is readily apparent during a preflight check. Second, if the propeller remains in a flat pitch after take-off due to some malfunction, the higher angle low pitch setting will permit more thrust to be developed to fly the aircraft without overspeeding the engine.

No. 30 years ago I met the person that created the Friendly Skies campaign for United (he also created the Dough Boy for Pillsbury). The idea was based on research that showed that passengers did not think any of the airlines were very friendly and thus this presented an opportunity for United to differentiate itself. The United execs loved it. Then the ad guy pointed out that advertising can only make people aware; to be effective United would have to actually become friendly. None of the execs thought that possible, but they bought the campaign anyway. We used to say that "Pan Am made the going grate." Skip

It probably doesn’t help to remove the radios because the trays are riveted in place, but there is enough room to work from above and below with the glare shield removed If you are removing the ADF, be aware that the antenna leaves a pretty big hole behind. I had the shop make a flush patch for mine. If you take the battery access panel to an auto paint store, you can have them match the belly color and put the paint in a rattle can to paint the rework. Skip

I was always curious about how the barrel choke was machined in and how the heads were aligned properly since they are screwed onto the barrels. I saw how Lycoming does it when I visited the factory a few months ago. The barrel bores are machined straight. The heads are heat soaked in an oven and screwed onto the barrels by a machine. When the head cools, it shrinks slightly compressing the barrel and creating the choke. The mounting holes in the barrel skirt are drilled after the head is attached ensuring correct alignment. Skip

C is the suction screen which in this example has a sump heater installed instead of a plug.

From https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2018/08/12/what-i-learned-about-aircraft-paint-at-oshkosh/ What about coming up with a design for a Cirrus? Barnett explained that the reason newer Cirruses are no longer simply white is that the factory worked with Sherwin-Williams (the “Jet Glo” folks) to develop paints of color (not “colored paints”!) that reflect sufficient light/heat to be used on a composite aircraft. But why are these schemes mostly so ugly? Barnett says that the challenge of designing a scheme for the Cirrus is that the plane is “pregnant” (let’s look to our own waistlines rather than blaming Duluth for this!). So a paint scheme has to distract the viewer’s eye from the fundamental shape of the airplane, unlike with, say, a TBM where the shape is inherently attractive.

I didn’t. I never had a problem, and since it was reported to only happen during engagement, I just watched it perhaps a little more carefully. Actually, I always assume that the autopilot’s hidden desire is to kill me. I watch it carefully when turning it on or switching modes and I keep my hand on the yoke and a finger ready near the disconnect inside the FAF on an approach. Skip

Great idea, Lee

I think the parachute is only a small part of the appeal of the Cirrus. The parachute was never intended as a substitute for good airmanship. It came about because one of the founders was once involved in a midair collision and he realized that there are some incidents that are unsurvivable without a parachute.