PT20J

How did you figure it out when you converted yours?

I might call Great Lakes Aero — they make the windshields — for advice.

Actually, there was an accident like that where a noback spring with only a few hundred hours since replacement failed in a Plessey actuator and caused a gear up landing. It was classified as an accident because some structural piece was worn through by contact with the pavement that classified it as substantial damage.

I looked at mine again because I remembered three new rivets on the centerline skin lap underneath the tailcone. But the Garmin tray is bolted to the stringers and the three rivets are just plugging holes which must be left over from the KAP 150 installation.

Doubt it but we should let @Parker_Woodruff answer.

There is a procedure for re-honing nickel cylinders https://continental.aero/service-bulletins/ECi/92-9-6.pdf

How did they mount the tray for the elevator (and yaw if you have it) servos without rivets?

A Mooney takeoff is much more like a seaplane takeoff than any other landplane I have flown. By this I mean that it cannot always be taken off the ground smoothly by doing anything mechanically -- it must be flown off which requires a fine touch on the elevators. Bob Kromer (former Mooney test pilot) suggests about a 5 lb pull during the takeoff roll and letting the airplane fly off when it's ready. I find this works well on smooth runways and no significant crosswind. However, if the runway is bumpy, a combination of a bump at the wrong time and the stiff landing gear can launch it into the air before it is really ready to fly. So, if I start hitting bumps, I "fly" it with the elevators like I would to keep a seaplane on the sweet spot of the step during a take off slide. If there is a significant crosswind, I don't want it to settle back to the ground in a crab, so I use aileron to help maintain directional control during the takeoff roll and I use the elevators to hold it on the ground a little longer than normal, but not enough to risk wheelbarrowing, and then I pull it off more abruptly so that I'm sure it will keep flying. Once airborne, I level the wings and center the ball and then retract the gear.

Don't put too much faith in a low to mid-time engine. Depending on who last overhauled it, how long ago, how often if flies and luck, it may or may not go to TBO. Make sure you have enough money in reserve for this eventuality.

It is certainly possible to attempt a takeoff at a density altitude so high that the airplane will not have enough power to climb out of ground effect. But, I don't believe it's because the airplane is on the backside of the power curve and holding it on the runway for a few extra knots won't help. As Ross @Shadrach pointed out, the induced drag is much lower in ground effect because the upwash, downwash and tip vortices are reduced by the ground's effect on airflow around the wing. The so called back side of the power curve exists where induced drag predominates. But in ground effect, the induced drag is lowered and thus the region of reverse command, or back side of the power curve, occurs at so low an airspeed that it may be negligible. Once airborne, the airplane will accelerate in the low drag region of ground effect until attaining Vy, and if there is enough excess power to permit a climb at Vy, it can climb.

Well, now you've opened a can of worms Technically, VR is a jet thing: VR is the speed at which rotation can be initiated at the appropriate rate of about 3° per second. VR ensures that V2 is reached at 35 feet above the runway surface at the latest, including in the event of an engine failure. The term has crept into piston ops. The FAA defines it in Part 23 simply as: VR is the speed at which the pilot makes a control input, with the intention of lifting the airplane out of contact with the runway or water surface. In reality, it is superfluous. If you really wanted to use a VR, it would need to be calculated based on weight. But, the best way to take off in a piston airplane (that has less thrust and accelerates much more slowly than a jet) is to apply some back elevator at the beginning of the takeoff roll and let the airplane fly off naturally when it's ready.

Mine didn't last nearly that long. I replaced it with an iCom which is still going strong except that some of the numbers are wearing off the keypad. I think Yaesu and iCom are the leading contenders.

I think the FAA got it wrong. Instead or requiring that the gear switch have the shape of a wheel, it should have required it to have the shape of a dollar sign.

Basic Aviation Training Device. In the FAA parlance, you cannot call it a simulator (unless you are Microsoft which copyrighted "Flight Simulator") unless it has a motion base and replicates the flight characteristics of a particular airplane.

Someone hereabouts had one crack.

Sigh.

It’s all in the IPC (illustrated parts catalog).

Is LASAR actually rebuilding these again, or are they just ordering them from Mooney? The factory has been building batches of new trusses every so often. When I got mine, it came from Mooney and another MSC was 10% cheaper than LASAR quoted for the same part from the factory.

Should be fine. It depends on where the probe is. If you want to check the instrumentation, two easy checks are swapping probes to see if temperature follows probe or stays with the cylinder and heating each probe with a heat gun to check that they are connected to the proper channel.

Twins are a different beast. Because of Vmc considerations, they are designed to land and takeoff at higher speeds relative to Vs than singles. If you keep a Mooney on the ground too long on takeoff, it will wheelbarrow you into the weeds. The best sustained rate of climb is going to be at Vy. If you accelerate to a higher speed, you can zoom climb for a few hundred feet, but eventually the ROC will decrease. Bob Hoover’s signature maneuver was a roll on takeoff. If you watch a video you’ll note that he would lift off as soon as possible, level off very close to the runway, retract the gear, accelerate in ground effect to a high speed, pitch up to a steep climb angle and have enough energy to complete an aileron roll.

Unloading until light in the seat is a good habit to form because it prevents the biggest spin risk which is a secondary stall from an ineffective recovery attempt.

The problem we had with the DC-3 was that apparently the data plates got switched at Douglas during the conversion but the FAA had signed off on it, so getting the FSDO to correct a 75year old FAA paperwork mistake was something they didn’t really want to touch.

A really good exercise is to do a soft field touch and go without letting the nose wheel touch. The pitch forces are constantly changing and keeping the pitch attitude where you want it takes a fine touch.

In case anyone might be under the illusion that I am immune I will recall my experience at this year’s Santa Maria PPP. I had the great pleasure of having Paul Kortopates as my instructor. I haven’t been doing much instruction in recent years, but Paul is very current. When he asked for a soft field takeoff I thought, “#&$@, I haven’t done one of those in years.” We had to do it twice before we were both reasonably happy and even then it did not look anything like Bob Hoover taking off in the Shrike and building airspeed to do a roll on takeoff. But, I’m working on it.

You may be overthinking this. The G3X is powered by the main bus. If you don't turn on a bunch of other stuff, the current draw is pretty low. You can certainly run of the battery long enough to install updates without draining the battery significantly.