PT20J

I just put one on my M20J. I picked off the #4cylinder. McMaster-Carr has the barbed fittings to attach to the rubber hose supplied by SureFly. https://www.mcmaster.com/53505K111/ Skip

I've owned an 1978 M20J and currently own a 1994 M20J. Here are a few suggestions. Familiarize yourself with the changes Mooney made over time. You don't want to buy a XX year model and then find out that a feature you really wanted was added in XX+1. I consider the 1977s prototypes (there's nothing wrong with them, but there are some differences that got ironed out later). After that, there are important changes along the way such as better landing gear actuators, better corrosion proofing, gross weight increases that are worth considering. I've attached a spreadsheet that is a good starting point. Also, I'd talk to Jimmy Garrison at GMax. He'll share his encyclopedic knowledge of Mooneys even if you're not buying one from him. Some of the long-time Mooney Service Centers can also let you know about any maintenance issue with various vintages: LASAR, DMax, Top Gun are my go to folks and are all very helpful. I've always followed Mike Busch's advice: Buy the newest, lowest time, best cared for airframe you can find. It's the one thing you can't change. Avionics are expensive to upgrade and you never get your money back. Try to buy something with avionics that fit your mission and that you can live with for awhile. After you get used to the setup, you may discover that some of your wants are not truly needs and you can upgrade only what you truly need. I would not worry about the interior. While it is possible to spend a small fortune on interiors, it's also possible to get a very nice looking replacement for a very reasonable price -- especially if you do some or all of the tear out and installation yourself. Paint is expensive, but it's only a cosmetic issue unless there is a corrosion problem in which case you wouldn't buy it anyway. Everyone looks at the engine and prop time because they are expensive. But I always worry about airplanes for sale with newly overhauled or low-time engines. Did the owner spend the money to do a really good overhaul just before sale, or did they take the cheapest route they could find? I would much rather buy a high-time engine (appropriately discounted) than a low-time engine with a questionable overhaul. You may get years of service from the high time engine after which you have complete control over the quality of the replacement. Good hunting, Skip 201hist.xls

The paint looks like it might be epoxy primer applied for corrosion protection. Epoxy primers require mixing with a hardener and then they have a pot life of several hours. You can clean up the area with some Scotchbrite and then brush on two or three coats of primer. Often mechanics keep some around for just such repairs and can mix up a cup for you. You might try the shop that made the goof and see if they'll fix it for you at no charge since it's their mistake. Failing that, you could go to an auto paint supply store. Some NAPA auto parts stores have paint departments. Skip

Mooney uses Camloc fasteners. The Camlocs on the top of the cowl are 4002 series.

I remember going out to look at the scene of a fueling mishap at Lake Hood strip in Anchorage years ago. The pilot was sitting on the wing of a C-180 pouring fuel into the tank filtered by a large funnel and a chamois skin when a static spark lit it off. All that was left was a scorched airplane outline and some oxidized aluminum powder. Skip

And why do we call it a Johnson bar anyway? And, who’s Johnson? https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-johnson-bar.htm

Back in the ‘80’s I instructed at a club in San Jose, CA that had a manual gear Ranger and it managed to land gear up — twice. (No one I checked out - thankfully). That airplane is still flying last I checked. N78888. Skip

Sounds like everyone's having a good experience there. Thanks for your pireps! I had an intermittent issue with my KAP 150 controller a couple of years ago. I phoned David and described the symptoms and he correctly diagnosed the problem as a bad interconnect connection between circuit boards. Skip

The seal shouldn’t stick to the door frame especially if you put silicone on it (I like the 100% silicone plumber’s grease - it spreads around easier than DC-4.) I wonder if the seal is deteriorating? Is it an aircraft seal, or something someone put on from Home Depot. I just replaced the cabin and baggage compartment seals on my plane. It’s a real pain getting the old glue off, but reasonably straightforward. Mooney uses Brown Aircraft T-9088 p seal. Skip

I'm not an expert on this having never done it myself. You are certainly correct that the pressure must be equalized across the airspeed indicator pitot-static ports during the test to avoid driving the ASI way over range and damaging it which could also damage the diaphragm in the gear safety switch. But the test sets have separate systems for leak testing the pitot and static system. My airplane has been recertified every 2 years since it left the factory in 1994, yet I recently discovered a rather significant pitot leak that was apparently created when the Aspen EFD 1000 was installed for a previous owner. Since there is no requirement to test the pitot system for leaks and since there are no log book entries attesting that it has been tested, I don't think it has been. Next time, I'll watch them do the test and see exactly what they do and don't do. Skip

Here's the Concord recommendation. As you can see, the recommended voltage varies from 27.5 to 29 depending on temperature. Mine runs about 28.8. Don Maxwell told me he has adjusted the Mooney regulator, so he must know which pot does what. You might give him a call. It would be a cut and try sort of thing. On the other hand, if you are getting good life from your batteries, maybe it doesn't matter that much. All we have to go on is what the recommended voltage is, but what we don't know is how broad the optimum range is. In other words, what's the effect on battery life by by being 0.1 volt high? Or 0.5 or 1.0 or 1.5? The curve might be fairly flat. Obviously at some high voltage overcharging will cause out-gassing and the battery life will be affected. But these charging systems are pretty basic and my guess is that the optimum is fairly broad.

Also, when you do the next pitot-static check you can have the ASI calibration checked and leak check the pitot system. Usually shops only leak check the static as that's all the regulations require. Skip

Anybody have any pireps? Skip

Something's not right. The master switch should turn off everything (except the clock and the infamous cabin lights that will drain your battery if left on). In your case, it sounds like your alternator field is active when the master is off so that the alternator is supplying power to whatever bus the JPI is connected to. I would get the schematic for your serial number and a good DVM and trace things out to figure out what's going on. Skip

How much debris are you talking about? If it's just a little, keep sampling until it clears up. If it is a lot and/or doesn't clear up, then you will want to have the tanks inspected for deteriorating sealant. But it it's not leaking, it will probably clear up especially if it has been sitting a while. Skip

Well, actually not! In flight, the wing lifts the fuselage. Remember the lift vector? It points upward. These folks are sitting on top of the wing. Their (combined) weight vector points downwards. Another way to think about it is that the wing supports the fuselage in flight. The weak point is where the wing attaches to the fuselage. That's why some airplanes have a zero fuel weight limitation. Some of the gross weight has to be out in the wing or the wing attach bending moment gets too high. Skip

Your MAP sounds about right. My prop gets up to 2700 at rotation speed at sea level (factory rebuilt engine with 200 hours on it). Always a good idea to check the instrument calibration before looking into other issues.

When the breaker pops it generally means that the motor can't turn. As Paul and others noted, this is usually due to the emergency extension lever being engaged. If that's not it, and you've checked out all the rigging and limit switches, then there is the possibility that something inside the gearbox jammed the motor. If that's the case there is a possibility that it could jam again and perhaps with the gear retracted while also rendering the emergency gear extension mechanism inop. If I couldn't find a cause, I would disassemble and inspect the gearbox just to be sure. Maybe it's a good time to replace the noback spring and replace the grease also. Skip

I haven’t worked on this particular valve, but a lot of these type valves are tapered plug (aka cone) valves. They can be disassembled and the plug and mating surfaces VERY lightly lapped together to make them turn freely. Don’t overdo it or you will make the cone undersized and the ports will be misaligned (yes, I’ve made that mistake). All you want to do is remove the surface toughness that is preventing the valve from turning. Replace any o-rings and lube everything with EZ-Turn (aka Fuel Lube). I would remove it from the airplane and get it up on a bench where you can work on it properly. We had to do this recently with a stuck firewall shutoff fuel valve on our Beaver. Any time a metal valve starts getting stiff it’s a good idea to take it apart and lube it. They just get worse until they finally seize up. Good luck. Skip

Does it leak? Is it stuck? Or, just difficult to turn? At the museum, we work on a lot of old airplanes that are difficult or impossible to get parts for. These valves are pretty simple. Often just taking it apart, cleaning it up and replacing o-rings and lubing it with EZ-Turn gets them working if they've gotten stiff or frozen. Skip

This is an important point -- one of the primary reason that checklists don't get used is that they are too long. Years ago when Peter Morton was head of the Boeing flight training department, he wangled me a ride in he 767 sim. The Boeing before landing checklist only had a couple of items if I recall correctly. Of course most airlines added more stuff, but Boeing's philosophy was that most operation should be taught as standardized procedures and the checklists only needed to check really important items that were not easily made part of a SOP. Maybe they carried it too the extreme, but it's worth thinking about. Most of my checklist revisions remove items rather than add more. Skip

There are a lot of misconceptions about checklists. FAR Part 91 does not require checklists EXCEPT for large (>12,500 lb) and turbine-powered aircraft. The checklist provided in your AFM is not required to be followed and you can certainly and legally modify it if you want. The ONLY part of the AFM that is actually approved by the FAA is the Limitations section. Some people worry that an examiner might require a manufacturer's checklist on a check ride, but I personally have never heard of this happening and I've taken a lot of check rides and know several examiners personally. But, if you have a check ride scheduled and are concerned about it, just ask the examiner beforehand. The best checklist is the one that you create for yourself that is tailored to your equipment, experience and type of operation. Asaf Degani did a lot of research on best checklist practices years ago at NASA Ames Research Center. A quick web search will yield his papers. Skip

Sure you can. Just hire an engineer to do the structural and performance analysis and apply for a one time STC.

FWIW, I heard from a couple of sources that Mobilgrease was better that Aeroshell. I bought a tube of Mobilgrease 28 and put it on the shelf. When I went to use it, it had leaked oil out of the tube all over the shelf. I decided to go back to Aeroshell which has never done that. Skip