PT20J

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.

I agree that the sense line is more likely. The point is that either the alternator is running without control of the voltage regulator as it would if the field current were higher than commanded by the VR, or the VR is commanding a high field current because it thinks the voltage is too low as it would if the sense line were disconnected. The latter is more likely, but the fact that the OVP works doesn't necessarily rule out a field line shorted to the bus before the CB because the crowbar shorts the field to ground tripping the field CB to remove the field current and shut down the regulator. With the engine shut down and the master and alternator switches on, the field terminal at the alternator should read something less than bus voltage and the sense line at the VR should read bus voltage.

What I’m trying to understand, is how oversteering damage cannot be seen during a preflight. The leg stops should hit the stop on the truss and if the force breaks a stop off the leg, it can dent a tube on the leg and possibly a tube on the truss. (The leg tube is the smaller tube, so it usually takes the brunt of it). This can all be fairly easily inspected. Did Kevin explain how the damage could be otherwise?

I used to have to renew it every so often (5years if I recall correctly). But when the FCC eliminated the radiotelephone licenses and replaced them with GROL it eliminated the expiration so I believe it’s good forever unless there was a rule change I missed.

The code is described in chapter 91 of vol 1 of the service manual. The last two digits are the wire size, so the landing light is 12 AWG. Be sure to use Tefzel insulated wire, and if you splice it use PIDG butt splices with the proper crimp tool or solder sleeves.

The service manual comprises two pdf volumes. The second volume has the schematics.

Just lube the rollers every annual when everything else gets lubed. Don’t forget to lube the main and baggage door hinges and the hinge on the aux power door (keeps the soring from rusting out) as these often get overlooked.

If the OVP is tripping on two different regulators then the problem must either be that the field current is too high and not being controlled by the regulator (maybe shorted to the battery bus) or the sense voltage is too low (maybe disconnected, or shorted to ground or the battery bus). Both field and sense should have breakers and after a major upgrade, goofs at the breaker panel would be where I would start looking.

Bummer. If the Hein can turn, friction will unscrew it when the actuator rotates. Something else to look more closely at during annual. Thanks.

Did you figure out what caused the disconnection?

There is an external coil spring attached to the lever on the actuator that holds the emergency gear extension clutch disengaged. I would check that to make sure the emergency extension mechanism is not engaged because that will jam the motor and pop the breaker. If it’s not that, then you’d have to remove and open up the actuator to determine the cause. If it’s a noback spring, you could email Frank Crawford at Mooney to find out the current status. Sometimes you can find a used actuator at salvage yards or eBay. Probably about $10K to buy a used one. Good luck.