GeeBee

The method of torquing is critical and if you are going to hang around to observe the work, this is the one thing you do not want to miss. First the torque wrench should be calibrated, most shops do this and FAA Repair stations are required, but you never know when Vern pulls out his personal wrench. You want to make sure the torque to final spec occurs in one smooth swing and of course the torquing method (wet) is complied with.

^^^^^^^This

Nice thing about a Continental is you can pull a lifter and look at the cam without pulling a cylinder. If you are concerned about corrosion, start with a borescope of the cylinders then look at the cam from the lifter holes.

I placed an air filter inside the box over the air outlet. I used a little engine air filter off a Briggs and Stratton.

That is just it, without pre-briefing of the expectations for the PF and the SP it is neither a safe or controlled environment because neither know what to expect of the other. You are an uncoordinated crew. Many moons ago, I was aboard a trainer doing touch and goes at a military field. We were swapping seats getting our actual landings in because our sim was not certified Level D. We were flying a tight pattern with 30 degree banks. After one crash and dash, the PF stood up the power, LCA reset the flaps, the LCA rolled the trim, the LCA trimmed the power and we were off. The LCA and the PF were AF buddies constantly talking about who had the bigger.... At about 800' in a right hand pattern the LCA yanked back the right thrust lever just as we started to turn cross wind. The airplane ended up rolling to about an 80 degree bank as we were all yelling. Both pilots were controlling the airplane to an extent the aileron break out occurred. We rolled out about 200' AGL with over sped flaps by 15 knots, which grounded the airplane. The LCA lost his letter of authorization and rightly so. It was not briefed, it was at the wrong place, the wrong time on the wrong profile.

We actually are talking about two different things here although both have to do with the safety of the flight. The safety pilot announcing he is taking the controls to avoid traffic or the gourd, or directing the pilot to maneuver the aircraft to avoid traffic or the ground is both the job of the safety and expected role of the safety pilot as a crew member. Surreptitously failing systems such as the autopilot or flight instruments when not expected or briefed, especially when performed by someone other than a trained instructor can result in undesired aircraft states which may result in the loss of the aircraft or life. I have seen several instructors and line check airman lose their positions because of such actions. These actions have no real training value without proper briefing. They may have value in checking and testing but under such circumstances the pilot being checked knows the rules of engagement and expects a failure, just not when which is how we should aviate anyway. Simply put, pulling the A/P c/b as a safety pilot is a checking function of which most safety pilots are not prepared to deal with the adverse consequences since restoration of control would be beyond the expected portfolio of a safety pilot and could result in control confusion.

If you have a TKS bird, you will be hosing down your bird….a lot. I had Cole replace my nose gear tube when I replaced the doughnuts. Joe Cole says the corrosion is very common but rarely dealt with on most Mooneys.

Thanks, that clears up some of my concerns. I wish Continental was more transparent about the issue.

Both autopilot and hand flying requires proficiency and you should be equally adept at both modes. You cannot monitor the A/P performance if you are not proficient at hand flying and you cannot properly manage A/P modality and engagement if you are not proficient in hand flying. You need to be ready to hand fly when A/P gives undesired states or failure. The biggest failure I used to see in Line checks is sticking with the autopilot too long when undesired state occurs due to poor flight guidance management. If you have a flight director bars, you need to be able to fly through the bars when guidance is in an undesired state until you can clear the bars. That all said, I believe in the Part 135 standard which is a functioning A/P is required for dispatch into IFR conditions single pilot so if it is broke, depart VFR only. If it fails enroute, complete the mission unless you become fatigued. In that case land.

I am loathe to write this, but I am less than enthusiastic on Mike Busch's (I heard the podcast) take on this bulletin for the following reasons: 1. Continental labeled this bulletin "Critical Service Bulletin" which according to Continental "Compliance Necessary To Maintain Safety". This differs from a regular service bulletin which Continental says, "enhances safety". Labeling it a Critical Service Bulletin is one whistle stop from an AD. 2. Within the background of the CB, Continental mentions not only TSIO-520 historical difficulties but also IO-520. To my knowledge Cape Air does not operate IO-520 engines, which makes me question if this is really just a "Cape Air" problem. 3. It is easy to finger Cape Air as their operation of the engines is known and defined, but not the thousands of 520 operators. Did Continental see other than Cape Air on the overhaul line? 4. Despite the background which did not include 550s within the bulletin it includes IO and TIO 550 engines which makes me question. "where did that come from?". Is Continental seeing something on the 550 overhaul line that we don't know about? 5. While I respect Mike Bush's operation of his TIO-520s his C-310 is just 2 engines in a fleet of thousands. Thus his data set, two engines is valid, but it is part of a larger data set of which none of us know anything. I would like to know how many "non Cape Air" TIO-520s and IO-520's Continental show pin problems (as well as 550s) In summary, things are just too opaque to make an intelligent deduction. If there is more data from Continental or Savvy can glean more data from Continental I would be grateful because right now, I just cannot ignore what Continental is saying without more data. They see thousands of these engines a year, and I got to believe something has their attention more than just "Cape Air".

From the AC 90-66. Fly the Standard Traffic Pattern. Arriving aircraft should enter the airport’s traffic pattern at traffic pattern altitude and avoid straight-in approaches for landing to mitigate the risk of a midair collision. See the paragraphs below and paragraph 11 for additional information. I did this once flying into Starksville, MS. I was in a 757 and I cleared out the entire traffic pattern for 20 minutes. It would have been better to fly the straight in for everyone. Not all situations are equal.

I actually like Purdue. It has a pretty good aviation program but in football they are always a wild card for Big 10 teams. Kind of like Kentucky in the SEC.

I have cites that say Palo Alto, I have cites that say Los Alamos, I have cites that say it used to be Huntsville, I have cites that say Huntsville is number one in STEM degrees so let's just say, it's a lot!

I have been on a tour of the Southeast with my grand-daughter in the Mooney. We have been touring colleges. She wants to go to an SEC school so we have been to most of them. College towns are always a little bit different but I will say this about the University of Alabama. One, Tuscaloosa is a great town but the University of Alabama had the nicest campus, the best facilities and the most polished presentation of any school. I also notice that men were gentlemen and women were ladies on the campus. They had the correct focus on how they wanted their graduates to enter life. I was impressed and that is saying something because both my daughters went to the University of Georgia which is one of the most difficult schools in the SEC to get into. About Huntsville I will add is it has the most Phds per capita of any town in the US. As to "woke" I am from the SF Bay Area. I remember when you walked Union Square on a Sunday in a coat and tie. A quick tour now will show you where "woke" gets you. Exactly what the OP describes he does not want. You can't walk around Union Square now without dodging needles and poop. It is one of the reasons why I moved to north Georgia.

That is easy. Read Ibrm Kendi' book and writings, if you believe he has a point and those suggestions therein should be implemented, it is woke ideology. Don't want to get into a discussion beyond within the confines of this board because this is my "sane place". We will call this a "self education opportunity".

In all seriousness to the OP's desires he should look for a Southern town where there is still a town square. Preferably where the cars still park into the curb. Where the square has a soldier statue in the center showing they honor their ancestors. I.e. no woke stuff. The buildings can be old but look for signs of new and local restaurants rehabilitating the store fronts to create a vibrant lunch and weekend night life. Make sure there is good medical care, some states are having trouble with tort reform which may make good specialists like GYNs rare. Look at house prices and make sure they are at least stable if not growing modestly. Be wary of boom town pricing as it means the place is soon to be strip mall city and not a town.

Just tie a snow blower to the top of your vehicle. Drive south and when someone asks “what is that?”, you are there.

Yep that's my view too. Manometer makes it stupid simple and precise.

When pressure testing the tanks, I don't use a gauge, I use a manometer. Much more precise.

They are blue and have been for years. Replaced annually.

We have!

Both drains drop fuel at the same rate and they are two year old drains. Again, if you read my narrative, it drained the free water no problem. It is the entrained water that is the problem and I suspect most people on this board if presented with a fuel sample of entrained water could detect it is there. In fact anybody who uses those "screw driver" type sump tubes will not see it. That is what makes the GAT jar the bomb. From AC120-25 For this reason, a water haze may be seen in turbine fuel but the haze is seldom seen in aviation gasoline.

Because not all water in fuel becomes free water. It can take a long time and a lot of circumstances for all water in fuel to become free water. https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC20-125.pdf

Yes, as I mentioned, the tanks were resealed by WetWingologists East and I saw the tanks before they closed them up. They were compliant and of course a professional operation such as WWE would as you expect be familiar with the AD.

I don't know what more you can do beyond the Mooney MM pressure test, which as I wrote it passed. As a matter of fact, it exhaled the pressure after 15 minutes at 0.5 psi. Here is what I think. I think even if everything is tight the fuel caps cannot withstand a straight down deluge. Both the pressure test and in flight have a bulging wing. On the ground with massive amounts of water beating in the wing skin, it depresses and allows water intrusion. Also you can operate normally with entrained water above freezing, but as several of our members have found, entrained water can result in a frozen spider in cold temps