the_elkhartian

The bittersweet day came and went. 26Q was picked up by her new caretaker yesterday. They say the 2 happiest days of an airplane/boat owners life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it. Doesn’t apply here. I feel like I just sold my dog! But I guess that just means I need to start looking harder for my next pet….er…airplane! Big thanks to the Mooneyspace community. Barely a month from listing to closing. No brokerage commissions paid and two happy Mooney owners!

Why not buy two? You need a Mooney for when your Mooney is in annual! I didn't do the seats. Interior work was done in 2017. The logbook entry actually doesn't say the company that did it--but I have a random receipt and it looks like it was a company called Taildragger Aviation in Poplar Grove, IL.

Just above the left hand of the yoke...underneath the volt meter....it looks dark, the camera must have caught it mid flicker. Updated original post with an asking price based on feedback I've gotten in the last 24 hours! Also added screenshot and link to engine monitor data from a flight I took yesterday. Don't mind the first 30 minutes...I had a very extended taxi as I was 10 deep for departure due to some IFR traffic and a B-17 doing pattern work!

I mean…considering there’s no such thing as a short-body J, I feel like it’s pretty obvious that this was just intended to start the conversation. TLDR crowd need not apply!

UPDATE 22Apr22: The aircraft has sold. UPDATE 25Mar22: The aircraft is currently under contract. Original Post: With much hesitation, I am putting this out here to gauge interest. I’ve completed a career pivot and now work as an airline pilot. So I get my “high & fast” fix with the jet. I’m going to be looking to replace the Mooney with something that likes to fly slow & low. Previous owner was a corporate pilot who also flies for an airshow team. Okay, okay. This isn't really a J-Model....but this C was “converted” to an E in 1995 with the IO-360 STC. Further, it was “converted” to a short-body J with all of the speed mods that someone put on it. It’s fast. No fish/pilot tale, I can consistently get 157 KIAS on ~9 gph. The airplane is currently living the good/corrosion-free life in Phoenix at KFFZ. I’m asking $XX,000 and this has been generally well received by the flurry of interest I have received since posting yesterday. I have all of the logs digitally and can share a link to serious non-tire-kicking types. I'm also a CFI/II so I can do insurance instruction if needed. Here’s a quick rundown: 1965 M20C Serial № 3234 STC IO-360 (200HP) J-Model Prop & Hub (McCauley B2D34C214) 1600 SMOH (August 1995) Annual Due July 2022 Speed Upgrades: Tons of LASAR Speed Mods 201 cowling 201 single piece windshield 201 wingtips Avionics Aspen EFD 1500 Pro (PFD/MFD) Garmin GTN650 WAAS Garmin GTX345 Transponder (ADSB In/Out) PS Engineering PMA600B Audio Panel King KX155 Nav/Com (NavCom 2) Brittain B-6 FCS 3-axis Autopilot w/ Altitude Hold (works and coupled to GPS!) JPI EDM 700 Engine Monitor (Engine data from a flight yesterday. ) Custom Bruce's Cover

Pardon the risk of thread drift... I have the dreaded dual mag. Everybody always makes groaning noises when I say that out loud. I know how it works but why did anyone ever think that’s a good idea? But anyway... Should my single dual-mag ever kick the bucket, can you replace with a non-dual mag setup? Or will I always have a dual mag as long as I have this engine?

My AOG before I left the G was a few months ago. Details in a different post. But 0 EGT indicated on #1. Thought it was a sensor issue but then it was rough running on power settings above 1000 rpm. Turned out to be a loose intake valve seat that had the intake stuck open. Glad it happened on the ground!

I would like to get my A&P. I just don’t know where to find 4800 hours to do it! Theres a pretty interesting loophole I read about the other day. If you get your LIght Sport Repairman-Maintenance cert you can work on your own aircraft as well as others for hire. You can go to “work” immediately after you finish the ~2 week course. Then those hours can be logged as under supervision (supervising yourself I guess) and can count towards A&P requirements. Article here: https://www.aviatorshotline.com/content/lsa-repairman-airframe-powerplant-inspection-authorization-ap-ia

I keep waiting for Bob Barker to jump out during that King/Mooney Ad. "This Showcase Mooney could be yours....if the Price is Right!"

I can’t wait to “C” this in my airplane! No? Too far? Tough crowd...

CRINGE! I'm so embarrassed for the author and the organization. If you're writing a letter and the phrase "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you..." comes out, it better be a letter to your ex-wife or some sort of ransom note.

She flies again! I got the airplane released earlier in the week. To summarize what was done: New (overhauled) #1 cylinder (nitrided, all the others are chrome) 2x new lifters to match all of the other lifters 4x new pushrods to update clearances and have approved part numbers Replaced all the valve rocker thrust washers because what was on there was all over the place Cleaned and flow checked the injectors Wallet sufficiently emptied/wife sufficiently disgusted So I've been doing some break-in flights, just running it hard. I won't even start to brag about the TAS I'm getting at 25/25 down around 5500 feet The new cylinder continues to run very cool on EGT compared to the others, however CHT is in line with everything else. The mechanic says that it could be a bad probe, or could be "normal" in comparison to the chrome cylinders. https://apps.savvyaviation.com/flights/4530281/af6ec16c-6b00-4961-a5a4-0313c6567ead I'm planning to go do another flight tomorrow which will put me at about 7 hours since install. The engine shop breakin instructions say to change the oil after 5-10 hours and when oil consumption has stabilized. I run Phillips XC in the engine normally. For whatever reason the mechanic put Aeroshell 100 in....seems like he could have just kept the XC in there since it's a mineral oil, right? A few lingering thoughts: It's been a tiring experience--mostly exhausting to have the airplane down for 6 weeks and not come out the other side with new gizmos or a fancy paint job...I'm basically back to square one. Did the mechanic know what he was doing? Was some of this unneccessary exploratory surgery? Do I care at this point? I have more insight and confidence in my engine now. Most pre-buys do not involve checking part numbers on the lifters & pushrods. But what is going to happen next? How do you all buy off your wives when this sort of thing happens? It would be easier if my wife liked diamonds or furs, or fancy vacations....worse, she's super frugal and can't stand to spend money on anything!

I did my PPL/IR/Commercial training at a smattering of different flight schools. Usually the sleepy FBO variety with the beat to heck C172 and a part-time instructor. Now I work at an airline pilot factory where we graduate about 600 airline pilots a year....about 400 of them go straight into the right seat of various Airbuses and Boeing products when they graduate (or at least they did 6 months ago!). The biggest difference between sleepy FBO training and professional pilot training is that we're teaching them to fly profiles. It's really boring and routine because it's basically the same thing every time with only slight adjustments. You do A, B, C, and D. Something not looking right? Fast on base? High on final? You're probably going around because you've stepped outside of the landing profile. I think we could learn a lot from that airline style of operation in GA. Make a profile. Stick to it. Every time. All that to say....this is a TOUGH crowd! Props to @PilotFun101 for being brave enough to post a video on here! I'm not going to open myself up to that kind of criticism any time soon!

Update....hopefully we're in the home stretch. So mechanic wanted to go through and verify that all the lifters were working. Interestingly, he found a pushrod on the #3 cylinder with no part number and a different size hole on it from all of the other push rods (that had Lycoming P/N). He checked the valve clearance and found that the #3 was zero clearance and essentially just being held open. So, swapped in a correct pushrod and voila we had compression again on #3. What doesn't make a lot of sense is why this happened all of a sudden, or just concurrently with the failure of the #1 valve seat? That incorrect pushrod has been in there (presumably) for years. Why did the valve stick open at this point? He also found some other oddities....on some of the cylinders he noticed that there were two rocker shaft thrust washers used while the correct part for the engine is a single washer. (The two washers were pretty close, but not exactly the right thickness as the correct single washer.) He found that 2 lifters were different manufacturers than all the rest, and per Lycoming you can't mix & match lifters. So he cleaned those items up as well. So, he's putting everything back together and we avoided pulling a second cylinder.

Cam and lifters looked fine. He scoped and just looked with a mirror. His **theory** is that #3 is leaking at the exhaust valve where that carbon is built up unevenly.