Nukemzzz

What's this do? My 66' has a push pull cable with no fancy buttons. Is that abort or intercom silence mode or something? New panel looks great by the way!

Maybe remove the current one, trace it onto a sheet of aluminum, and cut it out with a hand tool?

Just installed this aero comfort boot. The base is synthetic leather. The boot seems to be spandex and the base of it matches the square hole. Has a rope at the throat to close it though I’m not sure how or why as it’s already pretty tight. Seems to work fine Hope it stays stuck down I used spray on 3M contact adhesive.

My E has Acutrack with pitch and altitude hold. None of it worked when I bought the plane last December. On ground tests the PC is working now. Fingers crossed Accutrak and Alt hold will work when we flight test finally next week!

I replaced the step servo and boot with a good used one and during test last week i noticed that the throw of this servo is VERY long. Which is probably one reason it didn't quite retract all the way in still. I replaced 4 boots this year trying to keep my system going. Two of the boots that I used still had the date code on them: 1969! I guess there is a market for around 30 of these boots a year to be used by Mooney pilots that are still trying to avoid going to a modern autopilot. Given the cost of a new autopilot that leaves you with a lot of room for mark-up, but the sales volume will be low. Also, once everyone has fancy new silicon boots your market will dry up for another 40years! I don't know there is a valid business case here...which is why we are using up inventory from the late 60's. Side note: Some old Beechcraft used Brittain systems as well. Don't know how big their fleet is.

Side note: They made those armrest covers for me as well. They are really nice.

I don't know how velcro could work. The foam backing isn't structural and I'm not sure velcro would stick to it. You'd probably have to sew the Velcro to it. Anyone have tips for using adhesive velcro on this foam backing?

I’m planning on gluing the center piece down with contact adhesive.

Haven’t yet glued down the piece between the seats. The first one they sent me the had the pattern upside down. The only fitment issue I’m having is the passenger side footwell against the console. Looks like it needs a jog to the right a tiny amount to fit perfect. I tried to put it under the console and it doesn’t fit without removing that whole mess so I’m going to just try it like this. The other challenge is getting the side walls mounted down at the feet so the rudder pedal doesn’t rub. Still need to finish sorting that. Some of the pieces needed trimming but that’s expected.

I just installed mine. I'm going to try it with nothing and see what happens. Its thicker than what i removed because of the foam backing so it's not going to bunch up.

The 4522 keeps coming up as 28V in the info I’m finding. My E is a 14V system. I probably need to check the parts manual when I’m in the shop tomorrow. I assume it’s in there.

I see, so this foam element isn’t supposed to be washed and re-oiled? Just get another pre oiled?

About to put the lower cowling on. Only flew the plan 15hrs before the engine case cracked so this is the first time I’ve taken out the air filter. I see it’s the technology just after the oil bath air cleaner. Something akin to a dirt bike (basically open cell foam with molasses on it). Thoughts on if I should upgrade this? If so, what part number do I need? See no part numbers on this. I’ve seen a Challenger (K&N...oil soaked cloth) and a Donaldson version. I can’t seem to locate either one for this plane with any look up tables that I can find. The landing light...Kinda thinking of putting LED in it so I’ll never need to worry about it. Again, no part numbers on the GE bulb. What would I order? What would you recommend?

I'd love to see that in the same way I've always wanted to see a tornado, as long as it wasn't sucking up MY house. lol When I was around 10yrs old I lived in Rialto California and my dad's plane was based at Rialto Airport (Home of Art Scholl Aviation, saw Bob Hoover there some as well). He and my grandfather was doing some pattern work and I was left at the car for some reason that day watching in the tie down area. On approach, about 30ft up and over the numbers, the plane (C175) stopped moving forward and seemed to fly backwards for a bit and then the bottom fell out but he saved it with full power and still managed to land (rough one). They taxied over and parked and when my grandpa got out he was cursing up a storm. "Where did you get your license from? A cracker jack box?". The Santa Anna winds can be brutal, but I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

Well, I guess if the plane is under it's own control then there is no need for IFR instruments through the layer!

Thinking back, when my instructor has scared me on this, it may have been a secondary. It buffets, tries to drop but he doesn't let it and pulls it back up until it really goes. Maybe I just need to top off my life insurance, settle some affairs, climb to 6000ft AGL, and have him prove to me that we can't crash doing any kind of stall in this thing so I get used to it. lol While training some in a C172 he asked me if I wanted to do some spins so I could see that even they are safe after we verified good W&B and I was like "yeah....no thanks". Maybe I should have went for it in that spin approved ride.

How about the rear heater port shrouds? The old ones were junk. Thinking of just leaving the square holes in the carpet but might just heat up the back side of the walls. Any leads or ideas on what off the shelf part I can and should put there?

Flat panel and vertical panel aren't mutually exclusive. You make a flat panel vertical by adding spacers to the top. Verity that your gyros are looking for vertical alignment however...should say on them the expected angle. 830 isn't primary, you'll need to keep primary or upgrade to the more expensive version of the same thing. Gotchas: This is harder than it seems...be prepared for frustration and a whole lot of work. You'll need sign-off from an friendly avionics guy or A&P if you do this yourself. He may want to take it apart and check everything per the manual and requirements part by part when you are done. Suggest understanding that upfront and getting agreements on exactly what he/she will want to see, witness, inspect. I've been waiting months now for the avionics guy to get around to checking and signing mine off...hope there isn't any surprises coming. The pilot side gages just barely fit all together in that hole. Its really hard to get them laid out so they fit without hitting the dash frame, especially when you have floating rubber mounts. You should have rubber cylinders with threads, made by lord, on each end as panel mounts. They are likely s shaped now and some are broken. If you move a vacuum powered gryo its a pain because the vacuum lines are stiff and probably need to be replaced when you touch them. Beware of cross tubes behind the gages if you move things. They limit the depth of some instrument placement. Lasar has a couple of pilot side aluminum panels you can buy and and install kit. They also have a co-pilot side. They won't chage them for you though, so if you use them, be prepared to hand cut the rest with a jig saw or something if you want to add holes and such. My waterjet guy said he couldn't pick up their panel and add stuff from my cad drawing so I still have the right side Lasar panel if interested. You'll need your compass recalibrated when you are done. Mine:

This is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

This is good. Further confirmation that how mine behaves is normal and it’s not trying to kill me. Your comment that it breaks the stall with elevator, even when winged over, is exactly what my CFI is trying to tell me. When I was a kid in the back of a C150 and C175 “stalls with daddy” was my favorite thing, followed by turbulence. Lol

Thanks for the vote of confidence and hints that I'll be ok with it eventually. My CFI does say that the stall is more severe than the 172 that we also train in. His eyes are a bit bigger after recovery. But he includes with that the statement "but look how it recovers fast". lol He flies a Cardinal and I think they are similar so it's not as alarming to him. I'm fairly certain it falls 90 degrees with the stalled wing down when it happens, but I plan on mounting my GoPro in the plane when we get flying again so I can confirm it's just a monster I'm seeing in the closet. lol

I like it even less when he stalls it. He will force it to completely quit flying it seems. It will buck and complain and try to wing over and he will keep it centered with the rudder and keep pulling back until it breaks hard. When I do it, as soon as it starts to break I let it, and recover. When he stalls it feels a lot like trying to break a bronco and he isn't getting off until it it submits or stops flying. lol

Idea that hasn’t been mentioned...is your W&B ok? One reason my stall is so violent I think is because we are right in the nose heavy side of the envelop. My CFI is a big guy and I’m on the heavy side. I carry stuff in the luggage area to balance it out some.

The stall on my 66’ E scares the pants off me. Breaks hard and snaps over nearly 90 degrees. Honestly, being ok with that is the biggest challenge I face getting my PPL in this thing. If the final test includes an uncoordinated power on stall I might just chicken out. LMAO. That said, it’s very obvious it’s coming. The buffet is pretty violent before it breaks. You can nearly hear it even...the sheet metal flapping. During that I’m focused like a laser beam trying to see which wing is going first to counter spin entry. It’s exhausting. Lol My CFI says it’s no big deal “look at how fast it recovers when we let off the back pressure”. But I’m still there in shock at how we were just snapping into a spin like Art Scholl a second ago. Thankful that I didn’t use the wrong rudder and accelerate it.

If it had the right "Yellow" Range I'd probably be interested. A new one is $448 on Aircraft Spruce at the moment and then I can match my Tach time. So you made the "Red" Zone "Yellow"? I thought the AD that established this zone was Red. This is one reason I'm confused and unsure.