Lawyerpilot

I am so grateful for all of the suggestions and advice because I just had the best experience in my Mooney in an epic cross country that was so enjoyable due to the PC system being fully operational. Phase one, to get the PC system operational complete! Here is where I am at at this phase. While the airplane was in annual I was unable to locate all the components I needed to restore the 1966 installation, but I was able to find an TC-100 from Wentworth Aviation here in Minneapolis. This is not the TC-100 EVT, just a TC-100 without any output to a nav head. I installed it in the only open hole in the instrument panel on the co-pilot side and it worked great! I took it up for a test flight and let go of the controls and the airplane leveled the wings and flew strait. This was just in time because I had planned a week off for an airplane trip after the annual was completed to see how well it worked on a long cross country. Well I gave it a real cross country, lol. I flew from Minnesota to Colorado Springs to spend a night visiting my son who is on a C-130 crew and was in Colorado Springs for a mission. From there we crossed the Rocky Mountains to Northern California to visit my sister in law north of Sacramento. The PC was so helpful as I flew through the smoke from the forest fires when even though I was VFR, the sky was extremely obscured with only the ground immediately below the aircraft as the only attitude reference and the PC made it relaxing instead of nerve racking. Next we flew up the Pacific Coast highway to Seattle to visit my other son. After that, we crossed the mountains again heading East to Glacier National Park, and home to Minnesota all in 7 days. What a great trip and the wing leveler was very helpful. I had to frequently (every ten minutes or so) very slightly trim the aircraft to account for the asymmetric fuel burn but the the ability to completely let the airplane fly itself was amazing because it allowed me to just watch the scenery of mountains both ways and greatly reduces pilot workload. I also had the opportunity to verify that the service ceiling is 17,200 feet just like the book says! Now during the next phase, I will get the nav head working so the airplane will hold a magnetic course without requiring the small frequent trim adjustments.

Hi Alan, or anyone else, does anyone of these lying around? Lee

The "blind" remote gyro without a face?

Hey Missle, thanks for chipping in. Did your 66 originally have the 11900-30 mounted between the panel and firewall on the pilot side? Lee

Thank you soo much Vance for the technical manuals that you sent me! These are exactly what I was looking for! Now that I understand all of the installations for the various autopilot systems (B5, B6, Tru Trac, Nav Flite, Tru Flite) Here is my problem, I have the 1966 installation that had the gyro P/N 11900-30 mounted between the firewall and the panel. This gyro was only used one year (1966), and I can't find one. In 1967 and thereafter the TC100 EVT was used as both the PC gyro and the interface for all of the navigation systems. in 1966 the link to the auto pilot was a Shunt valve (P/N 860005-1), I cant find that either. I cannot find an STC that authorizes installation of the TC100EVT back one year to 1966. I purchased a TC100EVT just as a training aid and it is certainly superior to the 1965 (P/N 11900-25 installed in tail cone) and 1966 (P/N 11900-30 installed between firewall and panel) and I think the reason they were not backward compatible is that the panel cut outs for 1965 and 1966 were not laid out for another instrument head. The turn coordinators in these years were much smaller and the TC100EVT instrument face and could not just be swapped. You would need a whole new panel and molded plastic, in 1967 and subsequent they designed the panel with the TC100EVT in mind. I can see no reason why the TC100EVT couldn't be installed in a 1966 model because the airplane structure and operation is the same. In fact I have heard from several pilots that they replaced their 1996 (P/N 11900-30) with a TC100 and the system works as designed. Has anyone ever installed a TC100EVT in a 1966 that you know of? Thanks so much for those last few manuals for clarity. I am really educating myself on all of the systems as try to get mine working, right now the best option would be a 1967 M20C installation in a 1966 M20C if that was actually a possibility. Once I get a TC100EVT installed it seems to work with many systems with minimal installation. Lee

Hey Ross, great to hear from you! I heard back from Brittain today and nothing quite seemed to be exactly right when comparing my airplane to all the manuals and installations i have been studying. While reviewing model seriel numbers for various installations, I discovered that even though my aircraft was manufactured in October of 1965, the serial number reveals it is actually a 1966 model year! just like yours. I am happy, i have a newer airplane than I thought! this also explains why i couldn't find any evidence of an installation of a remote gyro in the tail cone as they were in 1965. I now believe that your airplane and my airplane, both 1966 E and C had the same system except your had the altitude hold on the BI-603 while I had the BI-601 with just the navigation. I feel I am really getting close. The various components I have accumulated have really been great raining aids, but now I need to actually finally figure out what I am missing for a 1966 installation. I bet it should look just like yours. Good to have a 1996 buddy. now I am changing my profile to 1966. Lol.

Thanks for the cautionary note Vance

I see you sent that while I was sending pictures, I think you are right! That looks like what I need! Thanks so much for the help

I also noticed that Ross has a BI-603 and mine in a BI-601. I think difference is the attitude hold.

Thanks Vance, great info. You are correct the TC100EVT was introduced in 1967, the airplane is set-up for the 1967 installation. Ross’s system is set up with the original 1966 remote gyro Between the firewall and panel. In 1966 it appears they moved the remote gyro from the tail cone and moved it to between the firewall and the panel, 1967 and after the TC100EVT replaces the remote gyro for the basic PC system mounted in the panel. I am trying to find a wiring diagram or something that shows me the Pin out for the connector on both the B6 14 pin trapezoid connector, and this blue round connector with 7 pins. Now that you confirmed that the connector is the interface with the auto pilot, It seems to me that I need to set up a common connector with correct pin outs. Does that 7 pin Blue round connector on the picture look like the female on your B5? Thanks, Lee

Thanks @carusoam, the TC100EVT is powered from the inverter on one side, but this plug comes out the other side, like it should connect to something else. It is not needed to operate the PC. It is directly inline with the power input. One thought I had is that maybe it is just an extension of the inverter power to daisy chain to something else for power. The schematic doesn’t show anything else attached. The other thought is that this could be output to the B6 autopilot.

I am learning so much! Thanks everyone! To learn the system i got all of the technical manuals as everyone one sent to me, and I also got a return call from Cecilia (very helpful and friendly) at Brittain systems and they still plan to be back in business In the future, but the best part is they still are providing technical support on a part time basis, How cool is that! Anyway, I purchased all of the components for the 1967 installation with the TC100EVT. I wanted to make a bench test so I understand how the whole thing works. As you see I have the TC100EVT, the pilot valve, the pilot cut off valve and the roll trim valve in these photos. I bench tested the electric gyro in the turn coordinator and it seems to work as it should when powered. It is dual powered and will also be hooked into the vacuum system and attached to the red and green servo lines aft of the firewall to the 4 servos. I picked up these parts with the help of Larry (very helpful and friendly) At Wentworth Aviation right here in Minneapolis for a reasonable price. I wanted to share my update and next step is to connect the marked hose connections with poly flo and other tubing in the aircraft. The technical manuals provide all of the testing and troubleshooting procedures. I also printed out all the part numbers and diagrams for this installation. The aircraft is in annual and I am working with the AI on this. Once I get the basic PC system functioning I will move on to get the B6 to operate properly for navigation. This is a fun project to do the restoration and learn more about the brilliance of the simplicity of the original NASA Apollo technology that was state of the art in 1967. With my next step in mind, does anyone know what this blue plug coming off the TC100EVT is for?

Good Morning Alan, I will take that one with the PN 60000-64. I will call you when I have a good signal. Lee

Thanks @N201MKTurbo you are right, when I zoom in that’s is exactly the part number!

Just following up Alan, do you have one for the Lasar Mod? Also wondering if you have a yoke PC pressure button? Rate gyro? Thanks, Lee