A64Pilot

I’m going to throw out one possibility, gear functioned normally and extended fully, but an open circuit in the down limit switch didn’t turn off the actuator so the CB’s popped. Then as M20Doc said using the manual system bound up the gear, as evidenced by the emergency cable only moved 6” or so, maybe just enough to bind the system up. The missing spring would have me concerned though, because while I have never disassembled an actuator it’s logical that it’s purpose is to hold the clutch completely disengaged. All speculation of course

What I have told people over the years is don’t be afraid of what’s in the logbook, be afraid of what isn’t. Almost always if it’s in the logbook that’s a good sign, it’s a sign of someone who maintains their aircraft responsibly and ethically, it’s when you find evidence of past repairs that aren’t logged that I advise people to walk. That’s more common than we may want to think. ‘By all means get the CD of 337’s from the FAA as a part of the inspection. From an airworthiness and safety perspective there is no concern, properly repaired it’s literally as good as new. However there is a hit on value, and for that reason damage history airplanes can be a great buy, especially if you plan on keeping the aircraft for a long time as the dip in value decreases with age. Often a recently prop struck airplane for example can be a great buy, first you get it discounted, but assuming the Lycoming SB was followed and all required parts were replaced, that breathes many more hours into the engine as almost all wear items were replaced, then of course you most likely get a new prop, and you pay less than you would have with an old engine and prop. Price the airplane knowing it has history, just don’t pay full value.

I just hope that Free Enterprise will be allowed to rule the day, by that I mean if an FBO can make money on the new fuel, then they will purchase it. if it’s a drop in replacement, then it can be put into the same tanks. ‘We all have probably heard for example that E10 for cars is a drop in replacement, but apparently it’s not, I used to be ETH free on the local jobber that supplied the local farms etc.,apparently the Ethanol is blended at the jobber, it’s nto pumped though the pipeline. according to him he wasn’t going to supply E10 to the farms etc as to do so meant the tanks had to be emptied and cleaned or replaced, hoses had to be replaced etc as Ethanol is a solvent and it would scrub off any old residue and cause problems and I guess it takes special Ethanol resistant hoses too. As someone else has already said, what will this new fuel due to tank sealants etc over time, I’m sure it’s been tested of course, but once in a blue moon the tests didn’t run long enough etc to find out, ref the Mobil 1 oil for example. I hope the stuff is as cheap as 100LL, and it works as well or better than 100LL and comes with some benefits like less plug fouling etc, I want it to work. However I believe I would be better off with 94UL, maybe that will become an option? I wonder what that was never offered?

I think places like California will outlaw it at the State level and prohibit it in California, and a few others will follow suit. However I do admit that California has more power than they should, I’ve been enjoying CARB compliment gas cans that spill for years thanks to them, and other things I’m sure. I hope that most of the rest of the Country will let free enterprise function, and I’d expect to see 100LL continue, unless the Fed steps in and bows to the Friends of the Earth etc. After all the media can easily sell it as only the toys of the rich need it anyway, while the rich won’t care as they don’t burn it. I’d expect that in most of the country availability of the Gami fuel will be like Mogas is, I’ve heard that some airports sell it, but I’ve never seen it, but I rarely buy fuel at airports, and then only small ones with cheap fuel, I have my own tank and the truck comes around once a month and fills it. My assumption is whatever the Gami fuel is, it’s not anything special, give someone a sample and they could make it too, but I bet it’s proprietary, so they have to buy a license, because they can’t surely spool up production fast enough without licensing. The Government would be creating a monopoly if they outlawed 100LL, wouldn’t they?

A few comments, increase timing and you will increase power, and heat generation, and increase efficiency and decrease detonation margin, there is no free lunch Carb heat does help with fuel atomization and therefore mixture distribution, but it decreases air density and therefore power, so you went backwards, but I’ve seen carburetor equipped engines that can’t run LOP do so if some carb heat is applied, so it does seems to help mixture distribution. The only reason to run thicker oil is if when the engine is hot the pressure is low. The thicker the oil, the lower the flow though the engine and you want high flow as most of an engine is oil cooled, the crankshaft, camshaft etc are all oil cooled etc. I can’t make a logical case to run straight weight oil, some think it’s thicker and will stay on the cam better etc after shutdown, but as we all shut down hot engines and straight weight oil is just as thin as multi vis when hot, I don’t see it sticking on the cam better. Very often an oil companies premium oil has a better additive package than their less expensive oils, so run the expensive stuff. But people have run straight weight oils for a Century or more and if it didn’t work well we would have heard by now. High cylinder head temps won’t normally decrease the cylinders cross hatching, stupid high temps could cause the oil to varnish on the cylinders and cause what’s called cylinder glazing, which does cause high blow by, high oil temp and oil consumption, excessive ground running will cause cylinder glazing, I’ve not see it from inflight myself, jugs don’t get that hot normally, heads do because the exhaust is through the head I really think you should eliminate baffling as a possibility before going anywhere else, old baffling can look good on the ground but pressure can make it move and you lose cooling air. Replace the old baffling, then eliminate other possibilities one at a time. ‘It could of course be a little here and a little there. What airspeed do you climb at? Try increasing airspeed until climb drops to 500 FPM and see if that doesn’t help a whole lot.

If it were a repair station, they are required to keep for two years, but I’d say most keep them forever, but this sounds like an individual A&P, flying service is very often Ag, many Ag pilots are / were A&P’s and many do repair work during the off season, several I know will restore a Super Cub or Stearman etc to make money in the off season. The plant I worked at we kept the build records back to day one, in 1965, and once in a blue moon it helped an owner, to reissue a data plate for example

These are my Wife’s Grandfathers A&P manuals, he got his A&P before WWII by I believe correspondence, I never met the man, he was dead before I met my Wife over 40 years ago. He worked building Cleveland air racers until one killed the pilot and he quit that, he didn’t go into the Military in WWII. I assume due to age, but he did of course do Military work. The China my daughter now has was a gift to him from an Air Force Officer for him building some kind of baggage compt to carry under wing of one of the Century fighters, what’s neat about the China is that it was smuggled in from Japan in the bomb bay of a Nuclear bomber, a B-52. If you read them, it’s surprising at how little has changed, and what’s really surprising it is how much knowledge they had black then ref corrosion, metals etc.

Not to sound too much like a idiot, yes I do or did anyway,I used to be quite computer / tech literate, but I believe as you age you just care less,I don’t think I’m losing capability or don’t want to admit it if I am, I just don’t care as much as I used to. I used to be the guy that bought a expensive stereo sam learned how to program every function it had, now I just use it to play the TV and Bluetooth music from my Ipad, knowing that MP3 and digital music sources in general suck, but it’s good enough. Thirty years ago I used to visit my Father, it drove me nuts that the clock on his VCR would be flashing as it wasn’t that difficult to fix andI was the type that everything had to work and work correctly. I understand now and don’t care myself like I used to But thank you for the reminder, I have used rotation lock before but it’s been so long that I forgot about it’s existence. I have one of the first generation Ipad Pro,I used to use it as a back up Plotter for my boat

I assumed the picture was of the entire entry, I missed that post I’m on an Ipad that keeps flipping orientation as I try to read it so it’s hard, but if I read the entry correctly it says disassembled engine for overhaul? I believe it later says something similar to reassembled engine IAW overhaul manual? If so then I guess it comes down to a matter of semantics, my interpretation since it says disassembled engine for overhaul is thwt it was overhauled, if it had said simply disassembled for repair, which still could have been a overhaul, then it would be muddier as to if it were overhauled or not. Not much is as clear cut as reading a CFR seems to be, the FAA often contradicts themselves. ‘If anyone is interested there is an AC to “clarity” maintenance entries https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_43-9C_CHG_2.pdf

OK, that sort of clears it up, I think, but specific gravity differs in approved Jet fuels too whatever that’s worth, JP4 had a lower SG than JP8, but oddly the engines burn rate was predicated off of SG, so when we switched to JP8. we got a range boost, and as out capacitive fuel quantity indicating systems correctly measured the more dense fuel and correctly reported its weight difference the fuel burn in lbs remained the same or all of our performance planning would have gone out the window. If it doesn’t meet all Specs, then I’d assume we can’t be offered only it, unless of course the Friends of the Earth are successful with their lawsuit, if it’s still even ongoing. That’s my only concern, I think alternate unleaded fuels are great, so long as 100LL is available until we are certain the alternate is safe. In a crazy way similar I guess to Covid vaccines, they aren’t yet approved, but are available.

The issue is, is that the logbook entry is incorrectly signed off. From the logbook entry it can’t be determined if whoever made it was even an A&P. ‘I got my A&P I think 1988, and you signed entries off with A&P and your cert number then, and I’d bet it’s been that way since A&P became a thing. ‘The FAA takes that signature part pretty seriously. TSMOH etc is in my opinion secondary. Personally if I had found that, I’d sit down with the owner and explain the quandary and let them decide what if anything to do about it. I can’t imagine any A&P making that mistake, I could see maybe forgetting to sign it off, but not to forget the A&P and Cert number, that’s pretty basic Airframe and Powerplant are different ratings, often a mechanic will hold both, but not always. First Certificated Mechanic was I think in 1927, just a few months after the first pilots Certificate, but I don’t know of they were called an A&P or how they signed off work. My C-140 has sign offs from the early 50’s that are the same format as today Name/ rating / cert number, it’s logbooks we’re lost in a fire in the early 50’s.

Thsi SB may be of some interest as it addresses plug fouling and it’s prevention. https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/Spark Plug Fouling.pdf Notice the shutdown procedure. if you follow it and get into a habit of a quick mag check on shut down it’s likely you will never again be faced with a fouled plug on run up before takeoff, you’ll find it on shut down and can then get to it after the engine is cold at your leisure. The SB doesn’t recommend a mag check just prior to shutdown, that’s my addition, but why not check to see if you have a fouled plug?

While I agree in concept with your statement, it’s not hard at all to find precedence that improper logbook entries will make an aircraft unairworthy. http://www.37000feet.com/report/280300/Reporter-makes-logbook-entries-which-FAA-deems-illegal-thus-aircraft-not-airworthy ‘One assumes especially ones dealing with the disassembly, replacement or parts and reassembly of an engine. ‘My guess is their assertion is that the entry of TSMOH is incorrect, I’d say fine either correct it or leave it out as it’s not a required entry and drive on. But that’s just a guess. On edit, just don’t involve the FAA, that can be a crap shoot, some can be very reasonable, some not.

Synthetic can be run in aircraft engines, unfortunately Mobil picked the wrong synthetic and my guess is there just isn’t enough money in it to pay for R&D of a new oil. ‘Why did Exxon get out? I thought they had an excellent oil, no problems, my guess is that there wasn’t enough money in the small amounts sold.

I still don’t understand the need for an STC. If it’s a direct replacement that meets all standards, what’s the STC for? There was no 100LL STC, it was the new standard replacement fuel that replaced 100/130 and 80.

You probably got new ones then. Mine reset the date when I changed my number from my SS number, andI just sent off for new Certs today, I expect when I get them they will be dated 2021. So how does a FSDO inspector know how long you have been a pilot or mechanic?

I’d still disconnect the motor and ensure the CB doesn’t pop and if it doesn’t check for voltage, I bet there will be and something mechanical has the motor bound up, but that’s just my guess. Unfortunately I don’t believe the motor brushes are replaceable, or I’ve been told they aren’t anyway. Being as I don’t trust myself enough to overhaul the actuator myself, I’d send it to LASAR. ‘I don’t have the belly pan off of mine, but I can confirm the presence of a spring, that you don’t seem to have. 81 model J If I understand the system, the emergency gear extension will only operate if there is an electrical fault, any mechanical fault and your not getting the gear down, that’s why I wouldn’t attempt to overhaul / service the actuator myself, no room for error. I don’t know if no back springs are available or not, if you call and hear they are send me a PM please or post as I need to get one in hand as apparently they sell out quickly and there are gaps when they aren’t available, I think they are $1,000 for a little spring, but what option do you have? I’ve not bought one, nor have I ever had my actuator out, heck I’ve only owned a Mooney for a few months, but I plan on having the actuator gone through this annual. But if it’s what I think it is, you ought to go out and buy a Lottery ticket, because you did indeed get lucky. But then I only think I know how the system works, I’ve only dug into the electrical half myself so far.

I had said earlier that you can’t destroy old logbook entries. Apparently I was incorrect, but if you do so, anyone who knows logbooks will be able to tell there are holes in the history, and that will negatively affect value, in my opinion. Besides if the entry didn’t exist, then all it accomplishes is it definitely dates the engine back to the pervious overhaul, having the entry even if it is in fact an illegitimate entry, it at least says that the components listed in the entry were replaced at the hour level and date as indicated. I know it’s irritating to have that entry being messed up like it is, but it will become irrelevant upon the next engine overhaul, until then I’d just leave it alone.

I’ve always thought that for all intents and purposes that we will be the last generation to fly GA. But I didn’t think it would be fuel that closed the coffin lid, I figured it would be increasing regulation and cost. Sure it may continue and be around in 30 years or so from now, but it will be like cave diving, not mainstream at all and the average person won’t be able to afford whatever is left. Every year the population shrinks. Most of GA aircraft would be unaffected even if we had to burn 100LL without the lead which I think becomes 94UL. The ones that couldn’t are the very high performance turbo motors most often found in twins, and I believe they could if timing and boost were restricted, so they would lose some power, probably lose some useful load, but they could still fly. Performance at altitude should remain the same for most. I didn’t think it likely that the Friends of the Earth could get the Avgas burning fleet grounded, and I thought we would always be able to get 100LL, until or unless a suitable substitute became available. It seems now that there is, and my concern is that I will be forced to use it, whatever it cost, and that’s my concern, what will it cost? I know what has happened to a lot of parts prices when there is only one source, what’s a single source fuel going to cost? If you wanted to get rid of the lead and not kill off GA completely, then the logical thing would be to offer 94UL at a reasonable cost, but tax the snot out of 100LL, make it more costly, but that’s never done, in 1973 or whenever it was when unleaded auto gas came out people misfueled cars left and right because leaded gas was less costly, if unleaded cost less, the people would have misfueled cars meant to burn leaded gas. Same for ULSD, when it came out it cost far more than normal Diesel. So my concern is now that a substitute is available, the sale of 100LL will cease, and we will be forced to pay whatever the new fuel costs. Time will tell.

Weight reductions and fuel cost to airlines is phenomenal. What we would consider irrelevant adds up to being significant. ‘For example I’ve read that the weigh of everyone carrying cell phones cost SouthWest 1.2 mil in fuel per year. https://www.traveller.com.au/airline-weight-reduction-to-save-fuel-the-crazy-ways-airlines-save-weight-on-planes-h14vlh They would kill for a 1% fuel savings,I’ve even heard of proposals of aircraft being tugged to the departure end of the runway.

You actually can un stretch aluminum with a shrinker, but replacement is probably easier.

You can do as you suggest with an IR thermometer, but it’s my opinion if ones fouled, why not clean them all? To use the IR temp gun just taxi back on the “bad” mag and shut down the suspect cylinder and exhaust should have cooled enough by then to be obvious. Spit on your finger and touching the exhaust for just a sec will work too. Taxiing leaned out will often prevent this, but if you lean to taxi, lean the snot out of it. lean it so much that it won’t take throttle above 1500 or so, that way you can’t take off leaned out, at taxi power you can’t hurt anything at all with mixture.

I’d disconnect the motor and see if it still trips. if it doesn’t, then I’d suspect the motor or actuator binding, if it trips with the motor not connected then of course you have a short. However your story of having difficulty getting them down manually seems to point to a mechanical problem, unless they were almost fully down when the problem occurred. How old is the no back spring? On edit I don’t have a lot of Mooney experience, this was just general troubleshooting and the question about that spring was just out of curiosity more than anything

Due to the possible differences in plumbing etc., you can’t use a set number, yes I know Shadin did somehow. I did the Certification test flights of a whole bunch of aircraft equipped with MVP-50T’s and even though the installations were identical, the K factor was different every time. ‘What I did was set the K factor to a fuel flow that was close to correct at TO power, then let the owner fine tune it if they so desired. Setting it so TO power fuel flow as correct got it pretty close.

It’s a normal human reaction for people to try to find something different with the accident pilot than them, then they can rest easier as they can feel better about it not happening to them. It’s not being mean or whatever it’s just people want to find out that something bad like this won’t happen to them. So they start theorizing new pilot. not very proficient, aircraft not equipped with as good equipment as they have etc. All accidents are a chain of events and the reason I’m alive today is I’m sure that the chain has so far remained unbroken for me, it’s not my superior skills or judgement, not really. Sometimes bad things happen to good pilots. I think of Scott Crossfield, very few can consider themselves as good a pilot as he was. I’m not saying that our actions don’t change events, of course they do, just saying that except for the grace of God, that could have been me.