201Steve

Catherine Cavagnaro (a regular contributor to AOPA) runs a school in Sewanee, TN called Ace Aerobatics. She is the math department chair of the university she teaches at. An aerodynamic whiz, very sharp, and can explain everything that’s happening and why- both before and while it’s happening. In other words, very good at taking the mystery away. They fly 152 Aerobats. Highly recommend. And a lot of fun.

Had this happen on a 77J which is very similar to an F. It was the plunger mechanism connected to the gear up limit switch. Fly around with the gear stowed…. Put the wheels down to land…. And the limit switch from being up never disengages. Shutting down the system. Careful diagnosing “tapping” anything. It’s just enough vibration to break loose one of about 4 different options no matter where you tap. I replaced relays, squat switch, down limit, throw switch, etc until it was discovered to be a dirty plunger from the up limit switch. Tapping on the solenoid made it work but it wasn’t the solenoid. lol. Anyway, I replaced everything before discovering it was the easiest thing to fix.

Definitely a plug. I had Champion massive’s failing on me left and right. If there’s one way to get me to spend $2,000 on spark plugs, it’s having to decowl the plane on random hot ramps- more than once. Tempest fine wires well worth the swap.

“Invest”

@DCarlton right there with you in that sentiment. My goal is to have one more piston bird and eventually step up to a turbine. As I consider a bravo ovation or acclaim, I think about the poor prospect of ongoing mx both in parts AND labor. Both are not well represented. Hard consideration for spending $300+ it’s one of the strong arguments for perhaps investing in an airframe that builds a lot, services a lot, and has a robust overall network. Irrespective of their slower speeds. =(

That is a really big blanket to cover.

Positive spin? Perhaps the good news is, if they are getting rid of DERs because their usage only affects a diminishing GA fleet, you won’t need a DER to approve things because they also got rid of the folks enforcing such regulations within the diminishing GA fleet. if one is inefficient and unnecessary, so too must be the other.

And the elephant in the FAA’s room is the thousands of certificated airplanes who’ve been orphaned for decades and there exists no hope of obtaining drawings or support of any kind- yet I keep seeing them show up to Oshkosh every year. They must be maintained on pixy dust or….”everyone” just stops caring and they do what they have to do to stay flying. Mooney exists in a never ending purgatory of there “sort of” being factory data and “sort of” having parts availability. Where this crossover occurs I have no idea. I just know there are type clubs of the aforementioned orphans who build and sell to each other while the FAA gawks at their beauty on the vintage flightline.

LASAR will IRAN it. Not sure what limitations they have but they’ll service it

Contribute nothing useful then wish ill on the group. I have a full backup set of everything in the gear train. No concern here. Just like participating in helpful dialogue I always find solace when I go through vintage at Airventure. Lots of rare retractables. They figure it out.

@TaildraggerPilot you can always rely on that guy to show up. I’ll take dealing with a motor needing service every 50 years well before I fly around like a hobo yanking on a stick.

I guess since nobody knows who works on motors, the probably better question is - who has identified the exact replacement on Mouser etc

@Parker_Woodruff What you spend *doing anything* in the hope of insurance savings. i got my commercial earlier in the year, for several reasons, but I sweetened the deal in my head thinking it would save me some money. No effect whatsoever. I was shocked- mostly because I thought they favored advanced training… any kind of training…. Don’t care. Lol

This will be tough to accomplish locally. Your best bet would be to search nationally for this arrangement and go take a weekend. I’m not sure what people are talking about when they want to “figure out if they like it or not” when it comes to flight characteristics. All the major brands are proven and joyful. Beech, Cessna, Mooney, Cirrus, Piper. I’ve never flown any of them and thought, gee this stinks. My 1000 hour opinion across minimal types is probably worth about zero anyway. I can either adapt to each characteristics or I can’t and then it’s simply a question of, Am I studious enough to learn a new airframe or not. I don’t mean this in a rabble rousing way at all, either. I just mean to say, I’ve flown 700+ hours of Mooney and my understanding of it is still constantly evolving. Not much I could have made an opinion on after 10 hours. so…. Quit overthinking the process, go find an awesome airplane that meets your spec criteria for the mission, and buy it! =)

I thought the Carling switches also had internal breakers. If youre going to wire each into the CB panel instead, I’d think there would be lots of switch options from that point.

That’s a DEI plane.

A great example for all members new and old. Come to learn, then give back your experience in the spirit of service. A parallel to life. rock n roll

@47U ah. Not your bird. Well, either way I just meant to say- why not just use the perfect ground anchor already there! lol

@47U all that work carrying blocks… I could not help but notice the tail tie down not but mere inches away from your stack of weight….

Although abundant if you’re flying over a super dense city, most other places your odds of hitting a house are 1 in 500 at best. It would be an afterthought at best.

I don’t understand why there isn’t tribal knowledge about an alternative option from the former California shop. It’s just a basic motor. There are thousands of motors across airframes and would assume they are typically refurbished with off the shelf parts. Are there no more electric motor shops in America? Is it more complicated than I assume?

This is sad. Props to @LANCECASPER and @donkaye, MCFI for being very cautious with him in the original first flight thread. Yall were spot on. I think, as a whole, people flying vintage airplanes, we become a little desensitized to mechanical problems bc they are so frequent. Whether it’s a pesky problem or a serious one, sometimes they are difficult to differentiate for most pilots. That’s why I stick around here. I’ve got to be in the drivers seat of knowledge and information bc too much is on the line for the hobby I love. It’s not without risk and every tiny detail could be the difference of home for dinner or an NTSB report.

And just for fun, if anyone watches Southpark, any time I say or type the word tinnerman, it flows through my head in Cartman voice. GD Scott Tinnerman!!!

@EricJ I’ve replaced a bunch of timberlands, and maybe I’m mistaken about the panels themselves, but I’ve got a few paltry bites in my nose gear door hinges and I believe they tap right into an aluminum runner