gwav8or

Such a sad reality...

Ouch! Manual gear for the win. Hope those with the Dukes actuator get it resolved quickly!

I flew for about 30 minutes. About 45 minutes total with the engine running. I let it sit for 20 minutes and used the same procedure to start. No prime, Mixture ICO, throttle where Ieft it when I shut down (1000RPM). It started after about 10 blades but ran rather rough for a bit. Between shutdown and second start, there was zero fuel drippage. After I put it back in the hangar after the "hot start" I cleaned up the plane (summer bugs, ugh) and there was a single drop, which I normally see after a shutdown after a flight.

Yep that's correct. The dripping started when I brought the plane to a stop after pulling it out of the hangar by hand. I sure hope there's nothing bad going on. I'm working on Commercial and am only 3 hours away from being checkride ready. CFI says I'm ready now. All I need right now is to put the plane in the shop for a week.....

I will check it out. Thanks!

Went to the airport last night to fly. Left mixture at ICO, throttle at ~1000 RPM, hit the starter and it fired right up. However, as I pulled it out of the hangar, I noticed fuel dripping from the "sniffle". I assume the tube protruding through the bottom of the cowling that was dripping fuel was connected to the sniffle? Not sure about that. I didn't notice the fuel dripping until I stopped pulling the plane out of the hangar. So, I'm guessing it was essentially still flooded? How can that be after sitting for 24 hours? Or what other possible locations was the fuel dripping from?

Honestly, I was just following the procedure that the previous owner show me that he said worked for him I will adjust my procedure as noted above. Much appreciated!

Yeah, I prime with the throttle 1/4 (one fourth) the way in.

Yeah, I think my mags are still a couple hundred hour away from the 500 hour inspection but it would be a good idea to have them inspected, I think. I am heavily considering getting a high speed starter at annual.

Yep, that's how I prime. Throttle open 1/4 mixture lean fuel pump on mixture rich for 4 seconds (starts better with 4 seconds vs 3 seconds) fuel pump off mixture lean throttle to 1000 rpm (approx) engage starter Sometimes, if it doesn't start after about 8-10 blades, I will engage the fuel pump for about a second and it starts.

So here is a weird one. After the flooding event on Sunday, I put the plane back in the hangar and waited until Monday evening. Went out on Monday evening and tried a standard start procedure and it immediately flooded again and wouldn't start. When we put it back in the hangar after almost running the battery dead, it was dripping fuel. I put the battery on a charger and it was down to 60% capacity. We'll see if it will start tonight. I plan on not touching anything and seeing if it will start. Wish the "squishy bit behind the yoke" some luck! lol

Thank you sir! Much appreciated!

"soft, squishy bit behind the yoke" here roflol Yeah, it appears I used the extra large shovel yesterday...... So after a short taxi & refuel, how many (approx) blades should it take for the engine to sputter back to life? I feel like it should be within a few (8-10) blades or about 4-5 full revolutions of the prop? More? Less?

yeah, i've watched that video many times. For some reason, that method only works some of the time for me.

Poteau, nice! I occasionally fly into KJSV to see family.

Quite honestly this hot starting issue tends to make me wish I’d bought a C or G instead. Love my F but these hot starts are for the birds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One thing I forgot to mention was after trying the intentional flood and flooded start, I let it sit for 30 minutes before trying again with no luck. Next time I’ll try the methods mentioned. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah when I got towed back to my hangar it was dripping fuel pretty good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I agree with you. I just didn’t think it would be hot enough to cause starting issues after running for such a short time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The fuel truck at my airport is down for maintenance. So today I went out to get fuel for a flight tomorrow. Fuel farm is about a 2 minute taxi from my hangar. Got fuel, went to use the facilities and went back to the plane. Tried a normal start. Prime for 3 seconds with fuel pump. No start. Tried a hot start. Full throttle, mixture all the way lean. Crank while slowly retarding throttle. Still no start. Tried intentionally flooding with about 6 seconds prime with fuel pump. Hot start. Still no start. It’s been hard to start in the past after a 2 minute taxi for fuel but not like this. Had the line guy give me a tow back to the hangar and there was a noticeable fuel drip. So I assume jt was flooded. What could be the problem? Is it just a dumb operator? Could it be a shower of sparks issue? Magnetos? Plugs? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You bought a Mooney from the future?!? I bet that thing will go warp speed! JK!!

Thanks! I absolutely love my F! I seriously wish I'd joined the Mooney Family many years ago! I think your numbers are fairly accurate but as I've watched the market from afar, I believe prices are starting to cool. I think (maybe hope) prices will come down a bit in the next 6 months. They'll never come down to preCovid numbers, ever but I think they'll come down a bit. Disclaimer, I'm not an expert! I've just been involved in aircraft ownership for about 14 years so I still have a lot to learn. As far as how much I'll have in my bird, I don't count the labor $$ and when I made the purchase I was lucky enough to buy at a price that has me very comfortable with the amount I'll have in the plane when it's all said and done. Good ol' DUA! I've only been here a few years but honestly I love the airport. I don't love it nearly as much as my first home airport though. 2K9 up near Tulsa is hands down the best aviation community I've ever experienced. I sorely miss that airport and the folks there.

I bought my F in 2022 with the thought that I could "make it my own". It had good bones, great paint and the only avionics upgrade that had been previously done was to add a 345 transponder. The transponder is very nice, I love it. It has the adsb in/out. I did the first phase of the avionics upgrade last year which was to add a gps, G5s, a clock and a new panel with plans to do an engine monitor and an autopilot in the near future. New interior to follow the avionics upgrades. My goal is to really make it mine and make it exactly what I want. I could have potentially saved some $$ by buying the plane that fit all my "wants/needs" to begin with, however as I looked and looked and looked and it was almost impossible to find the "One". Not impossible but nearly so. Probably because I was looking for EXACTLY what I wanted. If your wants and needs are a bit flexible, I'd recommend finding the plane that is as close as can be to what you want and buy it. However, if you really want to make it your own, find one with good bones and prepare to spend more $$ but also be more satisfied with the end result.

I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one but please let us know if the cowl enclosure makes any noticeable difference. I'm considering it for my F model, in the future.

Truth. I just don't like loans and I'm also a bit impatient. I could probably wait a few extra months and do both at the same time though. May do that.