redbaron1982

I went ahead and replaced the quick drain with the parts indicated in Mooney IPC. I had a few doubts regarding how to safety wire it. This is how it looks. Any suggestions/feedback? I did on safety wire that protects the nipple and the elbow-nipple connection, and another one that holds the quick drain in place.

What I cannot take out of my head that he did that imprudent thing with his grandson. I don't know in which right month there is room to go flying with an 8 year old kid in low IFR, single engine and not been proficient at it.

If you are concerned about burning your hands while changing the filter, try removing the suction screen when the engine is hot...

@M20Doc Now I'm a bit confused. I was looking at the IPC for the engine and there is no indication of an elbow or nipple. I assume the airframe manuals supersedes the engine's. But is a bit confusing this gray line between the scope of the engine and airframe manuals.

I kind of like the idea of @N201MKTurbo and @Bartman having a nipple and then the quick drain, but I'm not super thrilled to add 2 more "leaking" points. It does seem that Curtis CCB-5000 is shorter than the one I have. I wonder if I could add a copper gasket to pull it a little bit out and make it flush so no oil is left when draining.

Yesterday I removed the oil quick drain from my M20J, because I was going to do the oil control ring flush procedure and didn't want to get the o-ring damaged. To my surprise, after having drained all the oil (like overnight draining) through the quick drain, when I removed it, another quart (or maybe a pint) of oil came out. Inspecting the oil quick drain (picture attached), it's easy to see that several threads were submerged in the oil, so whenever the oil is drained through the quick drain there is 1/2 inch or a bit less of oil that is not drained. I don't like very much the idea of having a relatively significant amount of old oil getting mixed with the new one. So, my question is, do I have the wrong oil quick drain? I've checked and for the IO-360 this seems to be the right model: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/curtis_05-22973.php which surely doesn't look like the one I have. But anyway, it seems that the thread length is the same as the one I currently have, so I'm not sure if it would make a difference.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-plane-intercepted-biden-visit-18163625.php

Yes, I noticed that. It should go in the same direction from where the wire is pulling. I tried to make it that way but didn't succeed...

Hey, sorry to bring back to life an all thread, but I don´t want to start a new one for something trivial... So today I pulled my oil suction screen out and reinstall it and want to get feedback on how the safety wire looks. I'm still learning how to do safety wires and this one is in a terrible position. I cursed in all possible languages! I used food grade antisize and a new crush gasket. PS: Yes, yes... it seems that the plug used to be a heated plug that some ...... cut the wires out of it instead of removing the heated one and install a regular one.

During my transition training I had a couple of landings where it bounced and I was very relieved to see how easy is to go around in my M20J. Full power, some right rudder and the airplane is already climbing. I had one flying solo too and same thing. Much, much, safer to go around than try to land in an unsafe condition.

@PT20J Skip, I'm going through my first oil change, and the oil filter (a Tempest) was indeed a bit hard to remove. Is there a way to know if the adapter was rotated or not? Also, in the event that adapter gasket is damaged and leaking, is something that would be easy to identify after the first runup after oil change?

https://pilot-protection-services.aopa.org/news/2015/september/30/faa-clarifies-logging-of-instrument-approach-procedures Here it says that FAA requires, if in actual IMC, the flight to transition from IMC to VMC during the final approach segment. That would be at any point from the FAF to the DA/MDA.

I understand that if you are in actual IMC after the FAF, then it counts for currency. To minimums is only if you use a vision limiting device and a safety pilot

Hey, how do you handle whenever you want to go out to practice approaches to keep IR currency? I want to have a plan whenever the conditions are right to go and practice some approaches and keep currency. What I´d do is file a flight from my home airport, back to my home airport, via the IAF for the approach in use at the moment. And then keep going missed for a couple of times to practice/log a couple of approaches. Is this practice something that ATC is OK with? How do you guys keep the currency (both from a legal point of view and practice/proficiency point of view).

They were not cumulonimbus for sure because there was no rain at the surface, the stormscope didn't show any lighting activity either. The bases were at 3500ft and tops I guess around 8000ft.

Hey, last weekend I did a short (1hr) XC from KSGR to KVCT just to keep getting used to my new M20J. I filed IFR as there were some clouds and didn't want to fly low. So I was cruising at 6000ft and going in and out of some towering cumulus. It was scattered so I had good general visibility while in between the clouds. Turbulence was not bad, but at some point, I started feeling while in the clouds, that the aircraft IAS was increasing significantly, for instance from 140KIAS to 160KIAS. My theory is that updrafts inside the cloud made the autopilot pitch down to keep altitude and the speed increased. At some point I was not feeling comfortable anymore so I request an altitude change and start flying below the clouds. My main question is, how to tell from the outside how bad the up (or down) drafts are and to know if it is time to divert/change course. Most likely what I experienced was not a big deal, I'm a relatively new IR pilot and this is one of my first flight solo in IMC.

I remember when I did flight school in Houston, out of KDWH, which can get really busy, sometimes waiting 20 or 30 minutes for departure, being number 4 or number 5, with a lot of traffic coming in too. I think on each of those flights I lost 2 or 3 pounds of just water.

My question was regarding engine cleaning... and I did get some information regarding that, like which types of sprayer to use, or if it was ok to use a sprayer at all, etc.

Yeah, I wouldn't generalize. I have had already a bad experience by assuming some given plastic would be compatible with some given solvent. There are some good compatibility charts, like this one: https://www.plasticsintl.com/chemical-resistance-chart For instance, Teflon (PTFE) is one of the most stable plastics. The challenge is knowing all the different types of plastics that there are in an engine compartment...

For sure, but I think is necessary for everyone that does not agree to share that with the management. So the management can have an idea if it's just one crazy person, or everyone is asking protesting against the same thing.

Yeah, I saw that. I think I will talk to them, just to find out if they are reasonable or not. For me doesn't make sense that you cannot change the oil in your hangar or that they qualify that as major repair when is something the owner can do without supervision.

The engine is not super dirty, I should want to remove some patches of oil and also clean near the exhaust port of each cylinder because there are traces of exhaust leaks, and I want to see if those are all or new. I don't plan on doing a mess in the hangar, I would put something in the floor to get all the drippings. But anyway, as with any maintenance, even inspection sparkplugs, I'd inform the airport authorities and ask for authorization. As a side topic, I've read somewhere that an airport that receives FAA funds cannot prevent you (as long as you're qualified or working under the supervision of a qualified person) to do maintenance on your airplane in your hangar, as long as it is safe and does not have an impact in the environment.

I thought brushes were ok! That's why it's always good to check! Thanks!

Regarding the vacuum pump, I do have one, and yes I have in mind not to spray over it. I'm planning on cleaning using some brushes like the ones used to clean the inside of bottles, so it's no that I'm going to be spraying/splashing the Varsol.

Hey, I think the answer is "no, there is no problem" but before making a mess, I want to double-check. Is there anything I should protect while cleaning the engine with Varsol (i.e. mineral spirits)? And by this I mean plastics or other materials that could be affected, for sure I know I should keep the solvents off the alternator and other electrical equipment. But apart from that, is there any gasket, sealant, hose, or other plastics that could be affected by Varsol?