PT20J

Here are a couple of copies. One I got from the factory and the other someone else posted. Neither are great for that S/N. I'd get them printed full size and see if they are more legible. I think the originals were E size. Mooney Service Manuel M20J (low res) Vol. 2 of 2.pdf Mooney Service Manuel M20J Vol. 2 of 2.pdf

I just mail mine and always get a response within 2 weeks. Skip

What about the fuel servo? My factory rebuilt came with a bunch of preservative oil in the servo. Skip EDIT: Added Precision Airmotive preservation info.

While you are at it, have them print full size schematics for your serial number.

According to the Concorde manual, the actual test takes 51 minutes. But, you may have to charge it before the test to make sure it's fully charged, and then charge it again after the test runs it down so that it's airworthy. Edit: Note that per the Concorde procedure (below), the battery should receive a conditioning charge if it fails the capacity test and this can be repeated twice before the battery should be rejected.

Many that claim extraordinary life from their battery may have never had it capacity tested. It is perfectly possible for a battery to easily start the engine and fail a capacity test because these are two entirely different tests. If you fly VFR only, perhaps it is fine to run the battery until it won't start the engine any longer. But for IFR, it is prudent to make sure it passes the capacity test because that battery capacity is all you've got (and it's not that much) if the charging system fails in the soup. Many shops don't test the battery during annual inspection because they lack the tester. It's not a required part of the inspection. I had to have my avionics shop test mine. Assuming paragraph A of the Airworthiness Limitations cited above applies, it does not state that a periodic capacity test is required. Skip

Blind encoders are cheap. Working behind a Mooney panel - not so much. Best to call your favorite avionics shop for a quote, but I’d guess 4 hrs or less. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/a30encoder.php Skip

The drawing is for the 1.5” extensions and the picture is the 3”.

I got mine from Mooney through LASAR. A couple of fine points: When you order the 1.5" extensions, you get a set for both pilot side pedals. When you order the 3", you have to order 2 because the kit only does one pedal. After installing them, you may find that the angle of the pedal makes it hard not to ride the brakes. You can adjust the pedal angle by opening up the panel underneath the plane to access the master cylinders. There is a thread here somewhere with the details of the adjustment. Skip

Well, that should do it! And, now we know the crankcase volume. What about desiccator plugs? Skip

Anyone know why they call them “Charlie” weights?

I always thought that some of the 10 stretch between the E and F went ahead of the wing. The spar is in the same place under the rear seat, so to get more legroom it would seem necessary to move things forward. Anyone have a definitive reference on this? Skip

So, what happens when you slow down to land?

Well, this solves an old mystery. Many years ago at San Jose Muni (It was muni back then -- international now) I heard a Mooney pilot call ground control. As I recall the exchange went something like this: Mooney: San Jose ground, this is Mooney XYZ at the fuel pit declaring an emergency. SJC Ground: Ah, say again. Mooney: I'm at the fuel pit and my door won't open and it's about a hundred in here and I'm going to die if I don't get out of here. There was further exchange about rolling fire equipment but instead one of the fuelers came out and opened the door. Skip

Getting comfortable with stalls is one of the hurdles to get over when learning to fly. It's natural to have the fear response kick in when you're way above the ground and feel the effect of going from 1G flight to less than one G while the nose drops and the airplane rolls. It just takes practice. It's not the Mooney -- a Cessna does pretty much the same thing. The gentlest stalling airplane I ever taught in was a Cherokee (which incidentally uses a laminar flow NACA 65-415 airfoil). I'll bet it didn't roll anything like 90-degrees (or your instructor would have been alarmed) -- it just seems like that. Since your instructor is comfortable stalling it, just practice them a lot straight and level, and in turns, and power on, and power off. I guarantee that after a while they will become a non-event. Skip

It doesn't sound like your problem, but since you asked, the airspeed safety switch is located either on the back of the airspeed indicator or on a bracket behind the instrument panel up high behind the airspeed indicator. Skip

The Mooney mission is economical high-speed cruise. It's not designed to be a STOL aircraft. It's not clear to me that the wing change would solve any real-world problem. Landing distance is related to stall speed. Mooney stall speed is similar to other airplanes in it's class, and a 2000' strip should not be a problem. Unless I misunderstand, the proposed wing change seems aimed at producing a less abrupt stall break rather than a reduction in stall speed. That won't help you land shorter unless you reduce approach speed to say 1.1 Vso feeling that you have more margin because the stall is "softer." But, a stall close to the ground -- regardless of airfoil shape -- will still kill you if there is not enough altitude to recover from the high sink rate produced. There is no doubt that modern CFD design techniques can produce superior airfoils. However, retrofitting already built aircraft is not a minor engineering undertaking, so there has to be a significant benefit. The vortex generators are inexpensive and proven and would probably be a much simpler way to go. As far as the laminar drag bucket -- I seriously doubt you will find that on a Mooney. The NACA wind tunnel data is for 2D airfoils that were polished very smooth. A 3D wing has manufacturing imperfections in the shape that probably prevent any significant laminar flow. As to whether or not vortex generators cause extra drag at cruise, here's a paper on that: Vgs_cruise_wide_screen.pdf Skip

I installed them on all three wheels. They are both double lip seals.

It can still be hard for some to climb into and especially out of the back seat of my J because it sits about 5 deg nose high on the ground. Five degrees doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a significant up hill from the back seat.

Don Maxwell has a car lift he modified that will lift the entire airplane up about five feet so you can work underneath it standing up. It's pretty cool.

You're smarter than me I usually get home and start thinking, "before I closed that up, I should've..."

The diode won’t help you there. If your ship’s battery isn’t completely dead and you plug in the external cable and apply external power, the relay will close and stay latched even if you remove external power since there is now a current path from the ship’s battery through the relay contacts and the external cable plug to the relay coil. Always unplug the cable after use. Skip

The way Dan at West Coast Governor Service explained it to me is that the whole internal assembly rotates when you do this so it doesn’t change any settings. You might give him a call if you have any concerns. He’s very helpful and it’s always better to talk to someone with experience. Skip

I wish these guys luck. They’re not the first to try it, and I haven’t seen any great success stories over the years. Engineers generally optimize a design for its mission, and the missions for auto engines and airplane engines are very different. Auto engines seldom put out rated power, are designed for low end torque and optimized to generate low emissions when cruising at 10% power. Really, our engines are pretty good for their mission. They are efficient and reliable. That’s not to say they couldn’t be improved. But I think the biggest improvements would come from electronic engine controls. Skip