PT20J

It should be clear if you look at the schematic for your serial number whether it’s wired this way or whether there is a fault.

According to the GFC 500 STC, the red button should be labeled AP DISC/TRIM INT or AP DISC. It looks like the CWS legend next to the black button in your picture has worn off or been painted over.

Looks to me like they just made a flat plate to go over the top of the B-K base. The PTT is still on the front. The GFC 500 doesn’t use the CWS button. Looks pretty straightforward.

Both.

The Cygnet CA3112-G switch used by Garmin can be made to fit in the B-K base. Someone else posted this picture of his installation:

It's a readily available Micro Switch DT-2R-A7. TTI, Inc had the best price - $113.47.

The landing gear failed to retract on my 1994 M20J. I removed the belly panel and exercised the up limit switch several times and thereafter it worked again. The switch comprises two components: A micro switch and a plunger. The plunger is spring loaded and I noticed that it was a little sluggish to reset when I removed it so I cleaned it and lubed it with some silicone spray. The problem may have been mechanical or there may have been a problem with the switch, but I replaced the switch anyway.

I just want to be clear: I am not commenting in any way on @OHAEDO's unfortunate circumstances. He suffered an expensive loss and chose a particular course of action for which he explained his motivation. It didn't work out in his favor and he has publicly accepted the fact and moved on. What interests me is to understand if there is a towing damage failure mode singularly unlike all the other failures that have been reported over the years.

Not sure which part you mean. But some time ago LASAR quit making many of the PMA parts. Corrine Boatright told me that they had been made by a machinist in Lakeport that had retired and they hadn't been selling enough to warrant enlisting a new machine shop. I exchanged emails with the new owner and he claimed that they were able to rebuild landing gear actuators and nose gear legs in Prineville, but when I later inquired with Dan Riesland about having a gear leg repaired he told me that they could not do it because they needed to get new FAA approval since they had moved to a new FSDO jurisdiction. Corrine and Dan are gone. It's probably best to call LASAR directly for current status.

I might get a stethoscope and listed to the actuator. You could also move around underneath and listen to various components while it’s moving.

I'm still stuck on what broke and how it was due to towing if it didn't break the stops or dent the tubes. If something sheared up higher I wonder if whatever broke was defective. New airplane. Maybe a hairline crack in a weld let loose after a few landings. When I ordered a replacement gear leg from Mooney a year ago I had to reject the first one due to pinholes in welds that were leaking oil from inside the tubes. Were there ever any pictures of the damage posted? I don't recall seeing any, but may have missed them.

No. And don’t for details. It’s all explained above if you care to read it.

I'd contact Frank Crawford at Mooney. I don't know if the 40:1 gears were a Mooney produced part or a Dukes part. But if they were a Mooney part, Frank might be willing to look up the specs. He may not be able to share a complete proprietary drawing, but If he can email you the material and any heat treating, you could use that as approved data for a one off OPP.

Agree with Jake. The ILS Energize input on B-K autopilots enables the GS.

The problem with quantifying battery life is twofold. First, what defines end of life: Failure to pass capacity test, of failure to crank? The former will occur long before the latter. Second, is how the battery was treated. What temperatures was it stored at? How many times has it been run completely down and how long did it sit discharged. Has it been used for a lot of short flights where it may not get fully recharged? Is it kept on a battery minder? Concorde's FAQ says typical life is 3-5 years.

He was absolutely correct in this statement. However, he should have also pointed out that there is a lot of WRONG information from maintainers. That's why we have to verify what anyone tells us. Good for you to delve into this.

According to the TCDS, on a M20F, ailerons are 8 deg down, TO flaps is 15 deg down.

Popping can be a sign of a mixture problem. First check the mixture cable rigging and injector nozzles since that is easy. Also check for a restriction in the air intake ducting. Was the servo overhauled along with the engine and did the overhauler run the engine in with this servo on a test stand? This would mean that it ran OK after overhaul and it has something to do with the installation. Do your have an engine monitor? If so, look at the EGTs to see if it is one particular cylinder.

CAR 3.675 Cylinder head temperature indicating system for air-cooled engines. A cylinder head temperature indicator shall be provided for each engine on airplanes equipped with cowl flaps. In the case of airplanes which do not have cowl flaps, an indicator shall be provided if compliance with the provisions of CAR 3.581 is demonstrated at a speed in excess of the speed of best rate of climb.

You didn't say if you are replacing skins, but if you are, I'd check and see what they cost to get from the factory. I've found some of Mooney's parts prices pretty reasonable on parts it manufacturers. Some of those panels have stiffeners and by the time you cut up sheet metal and rivet stiffeners and drill all the holes in the right places, it might be easier to just get one from Mooney. Besides, making parts is about all that's keeping the factory in business these days and it's good if we try to support them when possible. Just a thought....

As I learned, if the gear leg has the stops, it's possible to break a stop clean off without denting a tube (or in my case, denting it so slightly that it wasn't easily felt.) If the steering is set up correctly, the first thing to limit travel is the rudder stops in the tail, followed by the steering stops on the nosewheel if you have them. At this point, there is still a gap of maybe 3/8" (I haven't measured it) between the leg tube (the weaker one that gets damaged) and the truss tube (the larger one that damages the leg). So, it's best to check out the stops if you have them. It's not too hard to kneel down and see them, or use a phone camera to photograph them. I also carry an inspection mirror that makes it easy to inspect such things and I carry a rubber knee pad like the kind gardeners use which also makes it easier to sump the tanks without grinding my knees on the tarmac.

When I was flying seaplanes in Ketchikan the company made new dock kids wear a special hat for the first week to warn the pilots to be be alert because anything could happen and often did.

Mooney liked to complicate things on later models, so I would expect that if the factory designed it there would be a fluid level sensor and a warning light in the annunciator panel.

The later Mooneys have an emergency release installed on the inside of the baggage door under a rip-off plastic cover. The release will open the door even if the baggage door is locked from the outside. There are two protections against this mechanism being inadvertently activated and causing the door to open in flight: First, the plastic cover protects the release handle; second, there is a hitch pin that must be removed before the handle can be pulled. (The first design had a less positive method of locking the handle and these should have all be updated per SBM20-239A). If you modify the baggage door latch mechanism to incorporate some sort of emergency release, it would be prudent to somehow protect the mechanism from inadvertent release in flight should contents of the baggage compartment shift and become entangled with the mechanism, or should a passenger reaching back into the baggage compartment for something inadvertently activate it.

This is what @OHAEDO posted. I don't understand what broke or how something on the nose gear can get damaged by over steering in a way that can't be seen during preflight. I am NOT saying it can't -- I'm saying I don't understand how it can and I would like to learn.