Skyland

I'm based at Watsonville KWVI and fortunate to have United Flight Services there. Full service shop, owner/IA really knows Mooneys. Look them up and give them a call. You can mention my name. Ken Chambers

This drain takes fuel from the very bottom of the tank, along the surface of the bottom aluminum wing skin. Any debris, flakes, rust, contamination can work its way into the valve and settle onto the valve seat. Repeatedly poking at it with a fuel cup wire often flushes it clean. While I haven't tried it, in stubborn cases where it continues to leak, I thought gently blowing air into the valve with an inflation stem for sports balls might blow it clean.

Aircraft Spruce 05-00037

I'll add to this. Some 20 years ago at KRHV I found a bullet on the ground under a hole in my hangar roof that just missed my Mooney wing. More recently at neighboring KPAO a bullet went through my friend's Eagle wing walk. Probably the best location as the repair is invisible now.

Fuel selector to OFF. Connect a rubber hose to the fuel vent and blow into it to slightly pressurize the tank. Check the cap seal with a soap solution. SBM20-229A.pdf

Connecting those two wires is exceedingly difficult. I watched the guy who did mine complain profusely about how hard is to get your fingers in there to plug them in. He used hemostat pliers, I think, and ended up twisting one of the leads which ended up rubbing on a rotating part which lead to my in-flight dual mag failure. That arcing wire didn't just ground out one mag, it produced a high resistance short against the rotating magneto cam. That produced heat, enough to heat up the cam to melt the point rubbing blocks thus closing the gaps on both points. That cap should be designed with a plug and socket to make it impossible to misroute those wires, and make it a lot easier to install the cap. Barring that, use caution plugging in those wires correctly.

The piano hinge fingers appears to have significant wear. When the doors are are wiggled the door hinge half will move fore and aft and it might be interpreted as bad rod ends. The slop in the hinge is not that big a deal but if you want to replace the piano hinge it's a standard part and not all that difficult to replace but requires match riveting onto the doors.

Genius example. Thanks for sharing your model.

I just completed my lower 48 last year as well. Looking at Alaska next. Appears Canada doesn't like our Basic Med. Anyone have any hopeful info. Suppose I could go get a third class before the trip.

Been following you. What an exciting adventure. Congratulations on a safe trip and welcome home.

Had to replace that shear pin on the same starter a few years ago. The starter would spin but wouldn't engage the ring gear. Don't recall anything abnormal that precipitated the event. It just sheared. There were two spares RTV'd under the base housing, like you're gonna need these some day. After getting the starter on the bench you'll need to drive the remains of the pin out of the shaft and gear, then press in a new pin. I got lucky that it occurred at my hangar before a pleasure flight, not away from home. Good luck.

Yes, scraping, heat gun, guitar picks. Be very careful not to bend the thin wing skins. Also, leave the screws in place backing them out a few turns. You can then apply pressure to the screw heads. I placed a board on the screw tops with bricks to apply a constant pressure, even overnight might help.

Here's a post I wrote up regarding a Dukes replacement gear failure some years ago when replacement gears became available. Apparently the gears received were not heat teated as later told to me by the shop who installed it.

Trying to troubleshoot my Coms. As stated in the title, when Com 1 (Garmin 430) is selected in the audio panel (KMA 20) and then Com 2 (old Apollo GX60, which works quite well as a Com) is monitored, the volume of Com 1 drops considerably. Conversely, Com 2 selected, then monitoring Com 1, the volume of Com 2 remains constant. Happens on all frequencies. Thought for sure it must be an issue in the KMA 20, so swapped in another KMA 20 and the problem is unchanged. Hum, could it be a wiring or grounding problem? Both radios transmit and receive clear and strong. Not a big issue but I like using the Garmin for Com 1 and like to monitor guard or weather on Com 2 without having to constantly adjust Com 1 volume. Ideas?

Thanks for the Pirep on the Death Valley airports. Seems the conditions haven't improved since I landed at Stove Pipe two years ago and drove to Furnace Creek and walked that runway a while back as well. The Park Service used to have a Cessna based at Furnace Creek years ago for patrolling the Park. Seems they're no longer interested in keeping up the airport. Too bad, both locations are well suited for fly in business. The hundreds of miles of paved roads in DV are generally in excellent condition, and they get repaired quickly after flood damage. Can't see why a mile of runway pavement is so difficult. There must be $$ available somewhere for some maintenance rather than just closing them. It's a huge Park, the size of Connecticut. The airports were there long before becoming a NP. Emergency usage comes to mind as well. Thanks again for the report.