A64Pilot

I doubt it’s adjustable, some instrument shops may be able to.

Mine is an 81, so I’d assume a flat left. Book says 1/4” max opening for hot weather. I’ll probably rig for that if nothing else to prevent chaffing, but I did like being able to keep cyl head temps in the green on a low power let down by closing them.

Got this as an email this morning https://www.ronsellsthebeach.com/blog/median-home-sales-price-skyrocketed/

I would agree with you, and what makes it worse is manufacturers getting STC’s for products that shouldn’t be STC’d like clocks and sun visors. ‘I think they do this to spread the belief that you need and STC product to be legal and that justify’s an excessive price.

I guess I wasn’t clear in what I was asking. ‘Do most or many cruise with the flaps cracked open in warm/ hot wx, or does everyone cruise with them fully closed and temp in the middle of the green? If everyone flies around in warm weather with flaps fully closed, then I have a issue I need to chase

I’m troubleshooting the same issue myself, You can confirm or deny it’s the Master by temporarily connecting in a toggle switch to the alternator wires, if the problem goes away. then of course it’s the switch. ‘As expensive as the switch is, I’m a little hesitant to take it apart or replace it without knowing it’s the issue. Is the Master a switch breaker? I wouldn’t think it would be as the battery side only powers the relay, and we have an alternator field CB don’t we?

Wasn’t aware of that. We had a bunch of aircraft up there, and Transport Canada was interesting to work with sometimes, polite, but interesting

MVP-50 in my Maule almost 10 years ago I’d guess? The MVP had a lot of functionality, especially if you get the audio. I mentioned once to Rob Roberts at EI about how sexy she sounded, then found out she is his Daughter in law.

Pretty much all of the shortages, wood, computer chips etc. can be blamed on Covid, but in fact it’s really that the demand for “stuff” was seriously underestimated so manufacturers didn’t order enough parts and especially the just in time guys are hurting. ‘Had they known that the cheap money would create such a demand they would be sitting pretty, and some in fact are, the ones that kept a healthy inventory, having been stung by shortages in the past.

A die will clean it up, at first I cringed, but it doesn’t look bad at all. ‘I put Gami’s on two engines, an IO-540W1A5D and a Continental IO-520, forget which one. But it was a waste of money for both, neither needed them, nothing improved. The fine wire plugs on the other hand did make a difference, but I’ve heard others have had issues with fine wires. ‘I prefer a die to a file, less skill required, but if your good a file works too.

I thought the Boom Beam was just a way overpriced LED bulb? Back when LED’s required STC’s because the FAA didn’t have a TSO for lights. Whelen I’m 99% sure bought their STC from Floats Alaska and got into LED’s with the Parmethius that way. ‘I used to joke that to change and aircraft landing light, took an IA, a multi page ICA, a 337to be filed and a POH supplement. ‘I loved the multi page ICA, that said over and over, if it doesn’t work, replace it, there is nothing you can service or repair. Thets right, the Boom Beam was an overpriced HID, not an LED.

Maybe, I Retired from the Army in 02, I suspect he came later, but it’s possible we may know a few of the same people.

Alternators can provide way more power, for way less weight, but they produce AC current, not DC. The AC current they produce is rectified to pulsating DC, so I believe they are “noisier” They also require DC power to work as they have electromagnets, where a Generator has permeant magnets. ‘A whole lot of money can be spent on upgrades with not much advantage being gained, if you don’t need the extra current that an alternator can provide, then why replace it? 1940’s and newer aircraft had tube radios and 250W landing lights, and worked just fine with generators. However alternators are supposedly more reliable than generators because of the difference in the rings that the brushes ride on, generator brushes wear faster, but I’d say that if brushes are inspected every xxx hours and a replacement interval determined a generator can last a very, very long time. (I’d do it at 100 hours myself) ‘For whatever it’s worth the majority of at least smaller turbines have generators that also function as starters, and it’s normal to inspect the brushes and determine a replacement interval for them. It’s easily done. ‘I’ve replaced a VW’s brushes at night on the side of the road, generators are simple and therefore easy to maintain.

That is the only point I have been trying to make, of course it means either an IA or a Repair Station does the inspection.

I’m not so sure.

That would be standard practice, if it were in fact specially made and not machined from a standard bolt it’s likely it would be stupid expensive. ‘However if it were machined, then standard practice is also to send it off to be re-cad plated again, that only makes sense for batches of bolts, isn’t all that expensive, but adds time, shipping both ways etc. So $70 a bolt really isn’t price gouging, I’ve seen and paid over a couple of hundred a bolt for larger NAS bolts, that were not special. ‘When I overhaul an engine, I send every piece of common hardware off of it, nuts, bolts etc to Aerospace defense coatings in Macon Ga and have it cad plated in gold cad plate, it’s actually very reasonable. I’d bet though if you bought AN or NAS whichever is correct and had them machined and then cad plated as an owner produced part, I’d bet it would cost a least what Lazar charges, maybe more?

When I bought my Mooney it’s cowl flaps when closed were open about an inch, when flown at normal power settings and ROP, which is how it had been operated, the Cyl head temps were fine, just over 50% of the green band, But when flown at altitude and lower power and LOP, cyl head temp was lower than I liked to see. ‘I guess I should have stated that the baffling is in perfect shape with new well sealing silicone seals, 200 hour Gann “performance” engine. Anyway so I looked up in the MM and it states that they should be adjusted so that they are fully closed but your allowed up to 1/4 inch open in hot wx when fully closed. I adjusted them for fully closed So today I headed out to Breakfast and was at 2,000 ft, 22 squared and 8GPH, pretty close to peak I think and Cyl head temp was in the green, but higher than I like, so I pulled them to where the over center mechanism was just unlocked which opens them I’d guess a 1/2 inch and temps dropped to the middle of the green. Is this average for a J model? I don’t as of yet have an analyzer, will have to wait awhile until funds allow it so I’m basing temps off old stock instrumentation. In the descent on the way back with power back to about 12” with the flaps closed it maintained middle of the green, so I think I’ll keep them where they are, just wondered if anyone else cracks them open for cruise, when in Fl weather down low, OAT was 28C Descent from 3500 ‘I used to in the 210 as well. we would open them slightly to what we called trailing meaning if you unlocked them, the position they took themselves, it took pressure to open or close them, I think it was about an inch open.

Maule has a vernier throttle, the one with a button. I came to love it, if you need throttle all of the sudden simply push with the heel of your hand and that pushes the button in and the throttle advances, butI used my thumb. I really liked the vernier function for fine adjustability and especially because it stays where you left it without having to crank in friction. ‘Why do you think they are on the prop and mixture? Ever flown an aircraft with a mixture without a vernier cable? I have and it’s annoying, tough to make fine adjustments I found it nice when I was flying down low and didn’t need or want full throttle, I’m not always up at altitude flying long distances, sometimes like this morning it’s a 20 min trip to eat breakfast and then I’m down low and running 22 squared and 7 GPH, no need for fangs out, hair on fire. They are also nice when letting down, I try to reduce throttle 1 inch a minute in the descent, and the vernier makes that easy, you learn how much turning is 1 inch and don’t even have to look, with a normal throttle your often over adjusting, then adding back. ‘It’s really just a matter of what you get used to, when I first got the Maule, I had planned on getting rid of that silly vernier throttle, but quickly came to like it.

I knew anything can be found, I’ve lived long enough to know that. ‘It’s sort of like locks and alarms, they both are pretty easily defeated, but I lock things in the hope that the Boogey man is lazy and will just move onto an unlocked car or whatever, I don’t for a second believe the lock is impregnable. I’ve seen a dinghy in the islands go to an extreme to lock the outboard, the thief just took a sawsall and cut the transom off and took the expensive locking device too. Anyone I would try to “hide” from wouldn’t do the work to find me that was done here. I removed my post, but it was quoted, and I have “reported” that and hope whoever moderates will remove the quote for me. ‘If nothing else it was an education to me, that as was said we are our own worst enemy. ‘I didn’t think that the Montana LLC could so easily be penetrated, been better I guess if it had been a Lawyer that represented the LLC, that’s what folks with money do. Yes I had heard that Georgia was beginning to chase down Motorhomes and expensive cars wanting tax, Funny when the yard at Thunderbolt in Savannah has Billions in foreign flagged Yachts sitting in it.

Understood, but are you saying that someone who pays for a through pre purchase isn’t best served by turning it into an Annual? Assuming of course the Annual wasn’t done the month prior to purchase, mine was, so I didn’t bother.

Not on a Lycoming that hasn’t flown much it’s not, and that’s lot of aircraft up for sale. Two houses down a Lady sold a twin Comanche that had sat for a few years after the husband had passed, the buyers came down and pulled a couple of cylinders off both engines, according to them the left engine had rusted cylinders but the cam was fine. ‘I think they are rolling the dice, maybe they will get lucky, I’d suspect not, not with rusted cylinders, depends on what they paid for the airplane. ‘But anyway pulling a couple of cylinders is no big deal, but it’s something you have to have agreed on before the inspection. Pulling a cylinder on a Bonanza is apparently a real PIA but it doesn’t look like it should be on a Mooney.

I believe the R-1340 basically predated 87 octane fuel. I don’t know when it became available for civilian use. ‘But my C-85 came into existence much later, 1944 I think and it was Certified for a min of 73 Octane fuel, making me think that 73 Octane was available as late as 1944. ‘But as a kid in mid to late 60’s I guess, I remember getting 80 Octane fuel with my Father in his C-182, and I think 100 in the C-210 in probably 69, it was green and the 87 red like most car gas.

I’m sure he has,and he made my point if you will read what he said. ‘What I go out of his post is that your almost there Annual wise if it was a good pre-buy. Is that not what he said?

No, that is not at all what I am saying, I’m not sure how you got there. ‘What I am saying is of course have the aircraft inspected, but if your going to pay for a comprehensive inspection, which you should do, why not have it count as an Annual? Unless of course you want to do it all over again and pay again in a few months. You actually have it backwards or you guys should find better IA’s. The Annual inspection is the once a year when you clean everything up real good and disassemble the aircraft and throughly inspect it, and determine the condition of everything, with particular interest in things that are beginning to wear so you’ll know what to expect next year etc. like motor mounts etc. ‘If your not doing that, then in a few years all you’ll have is a junk airplane. Any Good IA will give you three lists. They may not actually be three lists, but he or she will tell you what must fixed to be airworthy, What needs to be fixed, with special attention to what will cost x today, but xxx if we defer it, and what should be fixed, boots on flight control rods etc. If your not getting that then you need to go else where. ‘Before I would ever do an Annual inspection on an aircraft, I have an understanding that it will be maintained to my standards. there will be no pissing contests about what your not going to pay for because in your expert opinion it’s airworthy, I don’t need the work. Those I let pass, I only ever perform an Annual as a favor, and with the owner doing a lot of the work, I have no interest with Mr. Business suit dropping off his aircraft, others can cater to them, and should as I am not in the Business, and I don’t want to take money away from them. I’m not beneath doing an Annual for a case of beer, not if it’s a kid trying to build time in his little 150 or whatever so he can get a job, but he’s doing all the grunt work etc.

Nope those in the know seem to think that instead of spending a couple hundred more to complete an Annual, that it’s better to come back in an average of 6 months and spend ten times as much for another inspection, this one counting for an Annual. ‘Can any of you actually explain how completing an annual could possibly reduce the scope of your pre-buy? It may help to hear from those that have actually performed an Annual inspection and actually understand what one is, it seems there is confusion. ‘How could these supposedly Criminal IA’s affect your inspection? ‘Who does your pre-buys if not an IA?