Trenta

Howdy MSrs! I just had a mishap with my rear window. Today I lost my balance trying to get my cover on my plane and my knee went through the window. I have ordered a new one and have my annual coming up in a couple weeks so I will be able to get it done then. How was this for those who have replaced them? I seem to remember they were held in with clips? Any big pointers to remember when installing them? -Trenta

Happy Friday MS, I am once again coming to you with a myriad of questions and a couple pictures as I’m coming up on 6 months of ownership. Side Windows A couple of months ago I started hearing a very fast fluttering noise in the cabin in cruise to look back and see my side window seals/calking starting to peel off and flap in the wind. Nothing catastrophic but it’s just getting old and dry I think and needs to be redone. On all four side windows. I am religious about keeping the plane covered with my new Bruce’s custom cover that covers spinner past the baggage compartment. However I have heard that that moisture/rain can slide between the window and the skin and wreck the interior over time and even start corrosion so I want to avoid that at all costs. Also I’m convinced that If I seal and clean up the windows that I will get an extra knot. (Don't try to convince me otherwise) I remember reading somewhere that the windshield was off limits unless it’s A/P work. However I seem to remember that side windows had more room for owners to commit preventive maintenance. I feel like this falls under preventative maintenance like when people use silicone or 3M calk strips to seal up their avionics bay. Can anyone confirm? My approach was to find a plastic/rubber putty scrapper, as to not mar the windows, to remove the rest of the faulty sealant. Then from there clean, dry, and apply new sealant. My thought was a weatherproof/water-tight silicone for the new seal? Can anyone validate or refute my train of thought with experience? Interior Arm Rest This blasted thing keeps coming lose on the pilot’s side. I’m trying to get leather to stick to pleather I think or maybe “pleather on pleather” (some of the older MSers may have fond memories of this in their younger personal endeavors ) Any suggestions on a cement? I’m thinking one that dries a bit softer as this one hardened and cracked off. Maybe Silicone again? Grass Strips Fly ins are starting to become a thing again. I’m so sure that I’m the first person to ever have this idea (Not really) but does anyone leave their mains tire pressure a little squishy (not too much, still within specs) and their front on the hard side for landing on grass or say taxing in the grass at Osh? My Hypothesis: By increasing pressure on the front and leaving the mains squishy I think potential benefits could include: •The angle during taxi will have a very slightly more nose up attitude giving maybe an inch or two of more prop clearance. •Should the ground be uneven I think having the front tire harder will reduce rolling resistance for use with the tow bar and for starting taxi. •Having the mains on the softer side will assist the “Suspension” by soaking up some of the irregularities in a grass runway and will also be easier on the wings, tank seals, etc. These benefits albeit potentially small are all assuming that I am practicing good soft field technique and am landing buttery smooth in the first place as to not blow out the softer main inner tubes. What are your thoughts? Thanks for any and all feedback and I’m looking at seeing some of you at the West Coast Fly In at Catalina in a couple weeks and even more of you at OSH! -Trent

Just did mine in October. Not because they weren’t to spec just because I thought it was a good idea. It had been 25 years on the mains and 30 on the front. I wouldn’t replace until they are on the verge of being out of spec. The difference between 30 year old pucks that haven’t started cracking and still in spec vs new ones is so negligible. I couldn’t tell you I noticed a difference. -Trent

Thanks for the points guys! After it was all said and done I went for the TSOd versions from Alcor #46150 & #46151 and kept them separate. They are currently on back order but both gauges and complete kits were about 1 AMU but fingers crossed I won’t have to deal with it again. -Trent

Howdy MSrs! My EGT has given up the ghost and is ready to be replaced also my CHT gauge is limping along on its last leg. So I am going to handle both. I have a B Model. I have seen where some people do both in the same gauge and also seen where people have kept them seperate. I am probably leaning towards keeping them in separate gauges because that is the current set up and I like it. I also am not wanting digital for either as I don't want to have to pull more power from the battery and wire up additional gauges. At this point i'm not ready to make a jump for an Engine Monitoring System as I am not fuel injected and don't really have a desire to do anything other than (Trigger Warning!) ROP. This all being said what gauges do you all like for EGT and CHT? Would love to see pictures. I see some are TSOd but a lot aren't. Are there advantages to one or the other? I don't remember EGT and CHT being apart of required VFR or IFR instruments so does that mean that it's not a requirement to be TSOd? Any feedback is helpful here! -Trent

Everglades City (X01) is a great little strip to fly into! Make sure you are on top of your speeds and short field landing technique. There isn’t a restaurant on the field however if you call in to Camellia Street Grill (239) 695-2003 an hour or two before you are going to be there and give them a heads up that you will be landing at the airport they will have someone pick you up. I would land and as soon as I shut off the engine I would call in, by the time I had secured the plane and gotten pax out and everything a car would be there waiting at the gate. It’s a great little spot right on the river. Try the Gator tail or the crab when it’s in season. If you are in the mood for a good village swamp story ask the locals about “Square Grouper”. -Trent

Is there such a thing? I have only heard tell and legends.

Alright MSrs, So I may be jumping the gun a bit here, and let me know if I am, but after seeing all the posts from Sun n’ Fun im feeling pretty excited for Oshkosh this summer. Is there a Mooney group from SoCal/SW that is making the trek up? I feel like there has to be an official Mooneys or vintage Mooneys to Osh that stages at an airport nearby to do an arrival en masse? I haven’t been to Osh yet. I have been saving it until I was an owner and last year it happened so here we are. Any tips or recommendations for the whole Osh experience and/or camping? -Trent

M20B model. I am 6’1” and 250. I wear a size 48 suit jacket. I have broad shoulders and I find it very comfortable solo and moderately comfortable with someone slightly more narrow in the front with me. Just did a cross country from LA to Tampa with my buddy (5’ 9” and 220) with no issues. As far as height and leg room. It is not a Cessna or a Piper. Your sight picture, distance to panel, and seating angle are very different. Cessna is to a Ford Ranger as a Mooney is a vintage Corvette. When I tried to have my seat all the way up to replicate the distance to the pedals and sight picture of a Cessna nothing fit. It wasn’t until I scooted way back when everything fit right. -Trent

This was precisely the conclusion that I had come to as well via some light reading and this article. The recruitment for a willing A&P starts at dawn! Haha

Hello MS! Does anyone know of an STC for the leaky three piece avionics panel that allows for a single piece? On the older B,C,E models. I am wanting to close that area up better as I look to start IFR training. There was a headache of a few hours in a bad rainstorm (hurricane) with wet radios shorting out and a couple gauges that went inop (I posted about that one a few months ago). or is there another route to work with an AP/IA and a FSDO to get a field approval for a modification? Or a 337? I'm sure folks have done it. I would love to hear how they did it *In accordance with regs*. I looked for another thread on this but yielded no results. -Trent

I just delt with this when replacing the pucks. We did not install the additional laser collar when we did the new pucks on the front gear as it didn’t show in any diagrams that we could see however 1 trip around the pattern showed that there were huge ground controllability issues from the front wheel yanking the plane one side to the other and same on landing. Make sure that you refer to the correct directions weather it’s stock or the Lasar mod. -Trent

So my knee jerk wasn't that it was salt water until I looked at my trim wheel and saw salt crystals forming. I was at albert whitted KSPG. They are right on the bay, the storm surge splashed enough salt water on to the runway and ramp for there to be some standing water and I think the wind blew it around everywhere.

Bob Where did you get the new seal?

Thanks for the rotation! I didn’t notice any issues with the pitot static system however the previous owner rewired the static system tubing in the back to go along the top of the fuselage instead of the bottom to prevent clogging and allow better drain.