G-SLOT

Yes, I tried the low boost a couple of times. Registered an increase in fuel flow on the Moritz gauge but nothing on the Shadin. Didn't try the high boost in flight.

While flying today, everything was initially indicating normally. At low power cruise, the Mortiz gauge was indicating roughly 10.6GPH while the Shadin gauge was around 10.2GPH (this has been the normal difference in the 12 or so hours I have put on the plane since purchase). As soon as I switched fuel tanks, the Shadin fuel flow went a little crazy. Initially it was showing zero fuel flow, then it fluctuated pretty wildly, it settled back to normal for a few seconds and then showed somewhere between 0 and about 1.2GPH. During this time, the engine was operating completely normally and smoothly and the Mortiz gauge did not fluctuate at all. I ran the Shadin gauge through its test function and it tested fine. Tried switching tanks, changing power, etc and nothing helped. The engine continued to run smoothly and normally and the Mortiz gauge indicated normally too. I landed, uploaded some fuel and, when I started up to taxi back to my parking spot, neither the Shadin nor the Moritz gauges registered anything - both showed 0.0GPH fuel flow (engine was running fine during taxi and no other indications of anything amiss. I'll be getting the mechanics to look at this asap but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts they could share in the meantime. Do the Shadin and Mortiz gauges use the same transducers? Are there parts common to both units? The fact that the issue seemed to coincide with switching tanks makes me wonder if some piece of debris may have become caught up in the works (both tanks tested fine pre-flight). Hopefully nothing too serious but keen to get sorted. Best wishes to all for the holidays, Tim

Thanks. Do you (or anyone else) happen to have a copy of the POH supplement for this modification?

Thanks. So, if the tanks are close to empty and one tries to fill them quickly, allowing the fuel to reach the top and then stopping (without waiting for the level to settle, filling to the top again and repeating), how much less than the 59 gallon usable capacity do you reckon would be in that tank?

My (new to me) Ovation II had the long range tanks STC (SA-191390; Kit P/N MK-1005-SE) installed in April 2008. Although the POH contains a copy of the relevant 337, which makes reference to a POH revision, there is no specific POH supplement for this modification that I can find. Does anyone have a copy of this document that they could share with me? In particular, I'd like a better understanding of how the system works and whether I should read the wing and cockpit gauges in any special way. For example, if the wing and cockpit gauges read full and I have no other information, can I assume that there is somewhere between 89 and 118 gallons of fuel available? Also, when refuelling, does the extra capacity fill instantly or is there some type of feed from the original tanks to the additional capacity that takes a little while to feed through?

I tried to submit the online membership form to join EMPOA (this week) but I have not received a response. Does anyone know if there is another way of contacting the person responsible for membership? Thanks, Tim

Does anyone have a rough sense of the current cost (parts and labour) to carry out this SB? Is availability of the parts an issue these days?

With the unfortunate news from Kerrville in mind, do you anticipate the value of used Mooneys being affected? Are there concerns about support for the type certificate and availability of parts? Would you buy a used Mooney today?

Grateful for your thoughts on the speed of an Ovation II that I had the pleasure of flying today. She was retrofitted with a FIKI TKS system and has VGs installed. 310hp upgrade with the Hartzell prop. Flying at 9,500' at 55% power, our TAS was 156kts whereas the POH says it should have been 170kts. I'm wondering whether the TKS system plus the VGs would explain such a disparity between the book figure and our actual true airspeed or whether there might be some other issue to consider, such as rigging, etc. Just in case I have messed up the calculations: - 9,500' pressure altitude (FL95) - OAT: -2 celcius - Fuel flow: 10.2 GPH (LOP) - TAS calculated by averaging ground speeds heading N, S, E and W. - As we were LOP, I calculated power as 55% by multiplying FF (10.2gph) by 14.9 to get actual HP and using 280hp as the denominator for the percentage power (the TAS/pwr tables assume a 280hp engine rather than 310hp). Manifold pressure was set at 20" and RPM at 2,400 but, LOP, I don't believe this makes a difference. - Goes without saying: flaps and gear up, speed brakes retracted! 2 guys up front and only about 25 gallons in the tanks. Smooth and clear air.

Thanks for the additional feedback. Things seem to be moving in the right direction and I hope to have Cole Aviation inspect the plane during the second week of July. All being well, I'll ferry back to the UK during late July. Wouldn't want to leave it much longer as I'd like to catch the best of the weather over the North Atlantic.

Thanks for the further suggestions. I have been in touch with Joe Cole and will likely take the plane to him if it gets to that stage. I'm UK based so logistics are a slight issue but can no doubt be figured out.

Thanks very much for your suggestions. I'll get in touch with Cole or AGL if things progress.

Greetings all. Does anyone have any recommendations for an experienced Mooney mechanic who could potentially assist with an independent pre-buy inspection in the North Western part of South Carolina? Still early stages of discussions but I'm trying to line things up ahead of time as I'm not local to the area. The nearest Mooney Service Centers seem to be AGL Aviation (Morgantown, NC) and Precision Air (Manning, SC). Any recommendations/warnings would be much appreciated.