PT20J

I spoke with a Dynon rep at the NW Aviation Conference yesterday. He said that they are proceeding with the J and K to be certified together, but for some reason the FAA won't go for including the F. That means that to certify the F, they will have to start over. They have other make/models in the pipeline, so unless something changes, the F will probably not happen anytime soon.

I spoke with the Tempest rep at the NW Aviation Conference yesterday. There are only two sources for iridium: Russia and South Africa. The suppliers in South Africa know we cannot buy from Russia due to the sanctions, so they have raised prices accordingly. Automotive plugs are platinum, but that doesn't work with 100LL. He confirmed my experience that you can get all the operational benefits (EXCEPT reduced maintenance and longer life) from the BY extended electrode plugs (assuming they are approved for your engine -- they are for my IO-360). He said that the increased life just doesn't offset the increased purchase cost anymore.

I hope you meant 20-25 INCH- pounds. Remove the screws and put some Permatex 2 or 3 on the treads. Let it get tacky and replace the screws. It’s best to do this with the tank dry and let it set 24 hrs before filling the tank. I just had to do this on an outboard fuel sender.

You can test seal by inserting a piece of typing paper and closing the door on it in various locations and seeing how tightly the seal grips the paper.

My seals set in a couple of weeks. First thing I would check at the bottom is if the door sits flush with the fuselage skins to make certain the door hasn’t been sprung by people using it as a support to heft themselves out. The top and sides have hinges and latches to hold them in place, but the bottom does not. The seal placement is critical at the bottom. I removed the copilot seat and layed down inside and checked the placement against the door frame with a flashlight.

Have the shop clean and lube the entire trim system. (It’s supposed to be done at annual anyway). There are jackscrews at each end and u-joints in between. There are chains at the trim wheel and trim servo that need to be adjusted and lubricated, and a bushing at the trim wheel that need oil. If it is a Bendix-King autopilot, there is a carrier bearing at the trim servo that frequently seems to get missed.

Frank Crawford at Mooney support@mooney.com is the guy to talk to. He knows the history and has direct access to all the specs and drawings. He can’t quote prices as each MSC sets its own markup, but he can make sure you have the right part number.

There are a few components to what we generally refer to as an annual inspection: 1. Disassembly and reassembly of inspection covers, cowlings, etc. necessary to gain access for the inspection. 2. Servicing (mostly lubrication) that isn't really part of the inspection but is done during the inspection because the airplane is opened up. 3. Checking AD status. 4. The actual inspection. 5. Repairing any discrepancies found during the inspection or requested by the owner. 6. Completing logbook entries. I try to avoid deferring maintenance until the inspection. I keep the AD list up to date so that the IA only has to review it and check it against the service he subscribes to. I do all the disassembly, reassembly and servicing. My IA charges me a flat $750 to perform the actual inspection, check the ADs and make the logbook entries. The point is that the cost is highly dependent on how you manage it. At one end of the spectrum is not deferring any maintenance and doing most of the work yourself. That's pretty inexpensive. At the other end is dropping off the plane with a squawk list. Depending on the squawks, that can take a long time and be alarmingly expensive. Keep in mind that the first annual on a new airplane is likely to find issues that didn't show up on a pre-purchase inspection. If you drop off an airplane in good shape with no squawks and don't do any work yourself, I would think the $2500 to $3500 range sounds reasonable.

For those that like to read technical history, and understand just how much was known about the effects of mixture on aircraft engine operation 80+ years ago, check out NACA Technical Note 772, August 1940. It's available on the NASA Technical Reports Server https://ntrs.nasa.gov/. John Schwaner, former owner of the Sacramento Sky Ranch, told me he once got a wash tub, filled it with dry ice and acetone and dropped in a cylinder head from an IO 550 which he had heated with a torch to just below the melting point. He said it put on quite a show, but did not crack. I think the head cracking problem (which was often attributed -- without offering any proof as the news folks say -- to shock cooling) mostly went away when Lycoming and Continental started offering new cylinders to rebuilders for prices competitive with overhauled cylinders. Aluminum wears out, and after two or three (or more) TBO runs, fatigue cracks begin to show up.

The most important thing about installing new seals is to get them positioned correctly and it's not obvious how they should be positioned. If you use the 3M yellow super trim adhesive, you have some time before it sets up tight to reposition the seal if you need to. If your door had been leaking, it's possible that the previous owner tried to fix it by tightening the top door latch. You might need to loosen that for the new seals (assuming it works the same way as on my J model).

It’s terminology. A slip ring is a continuous rotating metal contact. A commutator is a segmented rotating metal contact. The stationary conductor that makes contact with either a slip ring or a commutator is a brush. Commutators are filled with an insulating material between metallic segments, so they are pretty smooth. But, because of the commutating function they arc more than slip rings and I believe this is why generator brushes wear faster than alternator brushes.

What did that cost? Did they modify your annunciator, or did they make a new one?

All alternators have brushes. I have never replaced brushes in any of my automobile alternators. My airport car is a 2004 Volvo XC90 with 120K miles. That’s probably about 4000 hrs and 20 years and it has never failed.

GS sticking is a common problem with these units. You can verify that it is stuck and not otherwise inoperative by reaching under the panel and tapping the case while on an ILS and seeing if the GS needles track the glide slope once freed up. The problem is that the stops need cleaning. I took the case off mine and fixed it myself years ago when I had one of those. The mechanism is pretty simple and it’s obvious once you take the case off. For sure Bevan can fix that if you don’t want to do it yourself.

I tried it today on my IO-360. The airplane has not been flown for 5 days. It was 40 deg F at an airport elevation of 120 feet. I set mixture rich, throttle open about 1/4", boost pump off, no prime. I cranked about 10 seconds and it didn't start. I primed and set mixture to ICO and it fired right away.

It you leave the static connection to the autopilot open, the error is probably about the same as having the alternate static valve open since both vent to the cabin. There is a correction table in the POH for that. You can also put a cap plug on the static line where it connects to the KC 192. If you don't have one, your mechanic should.

I think that McFarlane is just saying that you have to come up with some way to get it approved because they don't manufacture an approved part. I'd discuss this with the mechanic that will be signing the logbook, but if you send the original part to McFarlane and they duplicate it for you, that should qualify as an OPP.

91.411 only applies to IFR, so you can operate VFR. You should also comply with 91-213 (d).

EGT on #1 is really high. It's a carbureted engine and only one cylinder is affected, so that eliminates fuel. A leaky intake should cause rough running at idle where it has the greatest effect on mixture, so it's probably not that. Only one cylinder is affected, so it's not timing. Maybe a spark plug, but that shouldn't cause an EGT that high. Still, wouldn't hurt to check the plugs. Might be a sticking exhaust valve. That might explain the engine roughness, but I would expect it to also lower CHT. Might be the probe. I always verify instrumentation is accurate before tearing into other things. I believe some monitors have a pull up resistor to cause a bad probe to read very high so that the monitor can recognize it and flag it. Since the airplane just came out of maintenance, I'd check all the probe connections and I would also swap probes between #1 and #3 to see if the problem stays with the cylinder or follows the probe. Skip

I was responding to your original post where you seemed to say that the STC calls for the Gates belt. What belt does the STC call out?

The STC provides the approved data for the Gates belt. Keep a copy of the STC in the unlikely event it is ever questioned.

Parker has a repair kit that lists the o-rings. I just ordered the o-rings and rebuilt my 10-24Ds on my ‘94 J. There’s no stat-o-seal on this master cylinder. I’d figure out how the piston rod got damaged and check price and availability for replacement parts from Parker. https://www.parker.com/literature/Aircraft Wheel & Brake Division/AWB Static Files for Literature/AWBPC0001.pdf#page68

Lycoming ships engines with the crappy beaded gaskets. I threw them out and used the spiral wound (no blow) gaskets when we installed the rebuilt engine. See Lycoming SI 1204D.

Congratulations! You win this month's GPA (Garmin Perseverance Award)!!

Mooney's are actually designed for tall guys (wide guys, not so much). But you should really get in one to see for yourself. A couple of things to note: Later models had vertically adjustable seats and you may find that they allow more headroom when adjusted down. Also, many have been equipped with rudder pedal extensions ( 1.5" and 3" are available) for short guys, so find out what is in the one you are trying on.