Utah20Gflyer

Congratulations! That's great! Mooney brakes are just fine if in good condition and properly bled, maybe would be a good idea to get them checked out, preferably by someone with plenty of Mooney experience, there is a learning curve to getting the brakes properly bled.

The only time I feel like my plane is heavy in pitch is when rotating on takeoff, as soon as I'm in the air the pitch feels light. Out of trim it can feel heavy but I don't experience that much as I am constantly trimming to keep things where I want it. I have flown a J model before and it didn't seem much different than my G model. Maybe the elevator travel is not set correctly? Maybe check your planes elevator with the travel boards make sure everything is to spec. If the travel is set incorrectly that could make your trim settings incorrect. Check all linkages for free movement, potential obstructions, good condition and clean and lubricate everything. Check the hardware between the elevator and horizontal stabilizer and make sure everything is in good shape and lubricated. That's about all I got. I find the control pressure to be about the same as a 172/piper Cherokee, etc. So something is probably not right if control pressure is consistently heavy.

Buying a plane is a lot of work and owning a plane can be a lot of work. Especially the first year or two. I love owning my own plane and never want to go back to renting but the last year of ownership has not been conducive to working on my instrument rating. I would say given all the factors rent for your private. Then buy and do your instrument while you build hours in type.

My plane is a 68, so that's what I'm going to check it against. Would you prefer black? I have black filament as well.

Did you still need two seat recline levers? I printed one last night and will be checking it later today for fit and function.

Pirep time. So I finally got my plane back from it's 3.5 month annual and had an opportunity to fly it. The vents work as I expected with the air flow hitting me directly in the face in the centered position. Airflow is low on the ground but once in the air is more than adequate. The vents are attractive and should be much more durable than the ABS plastic deflectors the plane came with. Overall I am very pleased with how the project turned out. I just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this process. It was helpful to have input from lots of people with much more experience in many different areas. To those interested in aquiring something like this I am still planning on producing something in the future that people could purchase but it's going to take a little while to make that happen. I'm thinking along with vent adapters I may try to produce a lot of the levers, etc that can be difficult to find for our older birds. To keep the costs down they will be owner produced parts. I need to think that through though. I understand that inspecting a part for quality fit and function can qualify a part as owner produced even if someone else made it. Anyway, I'll post more projects in the future. I have two in the beginning stages now. Thanks again!

The supply chain issues are both real and seemingly random. So it's possible it was something completely out of their control or it could just be an excuse. I just got my plane back after a 3 and a half month annual so I feel your pain to some degree. It sucks to own a plane and not be able to fly it.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3074623 I think this is what you may be looking for. If you know someone with a 3D printer it looks like an easy print.

I just installed CIES senders in my plane a couple weeks ago. As kortoplates said you have to have a device to process the signal coming from the CIES gauges and know when to indicate something like fuel quantity or a low fuel condition. Unfortunately I don't think anyone has thought it worthwhile to make something that would be a bridge between a new digital device and the analog warning light as most digital devices can already provide their own warning. In my case I already had a JPI 800 which can't do fuel indication but already does a lot so I didn't want to spring for a new expensive primary engine monitor. Instead I used an aerospace logic digital fuel gauge. It was a little over 900 dollars and was a pretty simple install. I wouldn't suggest using the old Mooney analog fuel gauges. It will make calibration much more difficult and may in the end cost you more money than a new fuel gauge while giving inferior results. The aerospace logic gauge turns the fuel reading yellow at 8 gallons and red at 3 gallons. Thats sufficient warning for me. Overall I love them, I had completely inop fuel gauges before and it's awesome to have that function back, and much more accurate than ever before.

I don't know enough to give you a definite answer but I know one of the big advantages of the GI 275 is it's ability to interface with older equipment including autopilots. I'm not sure about your application but may want to check and see if the GI 275 can drive your autopilot without the GAD43. I think it does with a 500 dollar add on. I have a 355 and like it quite a bit. If you are keeping the 530 I don't think there is any reason to upgrade to a 650. Although since you already have a wass GPS you don't really need another one anyway. You could just do a 225 to get another com or a 255 if you wanted another nav/com. That would save you some money.

Not trying to hijack this but why is leather being used for a fuel system gasket? What properties does leather have that you can't get from other available materials? Pardon my ignorance... Thanks!

I used #6 stainless machine screws with a few extra washers and a nylock nut, that's on an older g model Mooney however.

I was thinking you could add some vertical fins that go from the base to the dome, it would make the base much stronger and could possibly assist with the warping issue.

Those look good, Could the issue with the ABS be moisture related? I haven't tried printing with it yet but understand it can have issues if not dried adequately. Are you going to install a gasket around the perimeter of the base? Maybe double sided tape would be a good way to seal it against the plenum and also provide some support?

I'm considering different paths forward at the moment, including uploading files to thingaverse and also potentially fabricating parts and selling them. Unfortunately work is really busy so progress is slow. Hopefully this week I'll get my plane out of annual which will give me some additional free time. I've been doing owner assist and been spending a lot of time at the hanger wrenching on stuff. I spent the whole weekend refurbishing my headliner. It's going to be nice having a flying plane again rather than a part time job fixing a plane.

Here is what the finished product looks like. Now the only thing left is to test for function in the air.

Combination, pushed it in with a soldering iron. Pretty quick process, I changed the design to provide a correct size hole for the metal insert.

I just replaced all my seat rollers. Sourced them from LASAR, cost was about 80 dollars for the 2 seats. Things roll much smoother now.

If you are trying to economize on panel space the GI 275s replace the 6 pack completely and don't require an additional backup. They also have the advantage of you want to do things incrementally or need to interface with older equipment. I went for the 275 and like them quite a bit. They have a lot of functionality for their size.

There is a bolt, a bushing and the retraction truss. The bolt is a couple dollars, the bushing is about 30 dollars. Lasar should have them. I just replaced all of those bushings and bolts, etc about a month ago.

I'm currently upgrading to CIES fuel senders and opted to go with an aerospace logic digital fuel gauge, it costs about 900 bucks. I have a JPI EDM 800 so didn't feel like a primary engine monitor would give me enough extra functionality to warrant the extra cost although someday I'd like to upgrade to clean up the panel.

Here is the latest version of a vent lever, this model is made from PETG which should have a UL94 rating of V2. I incorporated a brass threaded insert and increased infill to 50 percent. I think this should last longer than the plane.

I generally fly the pattern at 16 inches so it would be really annoying for the gear horn to go off at 18 inches. As other have said check for the proper number for your aircraft. Mine goes off about 12 inches which seems about right. Generally my rule is to not allow the gear horn to go off without remedying the issue immediately. The intention is to thereby avoid a gear up, tolerating the horn means I may ignore it when it’s really giving me a important input. Being able to do that requires it not to go off frivolously so make sure it’s set correctly. The process of slowing down for me is to level off and reduce power to pattern power (16 Inches) and wait for it to slow to pattern speed (100mph). I try to always be at pattern speed when entering the pattern. Then when I’m abeam the numbers I’m good to go to drop the gear.

Interesting, yes mine requires removal of headliner but I had to take mine off to address an issue with a rheostat anyway. I'd like to see how your install goes.

I did previously have that old style vent. The link is to the vent I used. The angle on the vents is right about 30 degrees. I don't know the exact height but it's about 2 inches. The metal insert is a good idea. I was considering it but didn't have any on hand so I went with an undersized hole on the back side of the part so the #4 screw would cut threads into it. Long term after repeated install/removal I expect they will fail. I think I'll order some inserts and integrate them into the design. I appreciate the input.