VA FLYER

Thanks to all who responded. I sent the AI back to Castleberry and they repaired it. Reinstalled and everything works as it should, at least it has for the last three hours! This really remarkable part? The charge was under $300.00. (Yes, the decimal point is in the right place.) I can't recall the last time I had ANYTHING done on one of my airplanes for only $300. Kudos to Castleberry!

Matthew, I’m no expert on values, but I’ve owned a dozen airplanes over the last 55 years, so take my thoughts with that caveat. Prices are hard to figure out because there are so many variables from one airplane to the next. Sources like V-ref are more accurate for popular airplanes with lots of sales to populate their databases. That said, the market has been pretty crazy over the last 36 months. My sense is that prices on most models are declining a bit at present. Take price guides with a grain of salt. Other commenters here have given good advice so I won’t repeat that. What I will add is that you should buy one in the condition and equipped as you want. Don’t buy less and think you want to “fix it up”. That almost never works unless you have the time, skills and certifications to do the work yourself. Airplane renovations are the source of the adage that “You can make a small fortune in aviation, if you start with a large one.” Pay a little more for what you want and you’ll be better off. With Mooneys especially, look for one that doesn’t sit around a lot. Corrosion is a big issue, particularly with idle Lycomings and steel cage airframes. Good hunting and good luck! Tim

Does anyone have a source for the parts circled on the attached photo? This is from an M20L converted to R configuration. I am missing one set of the pins at each end and the associated thumbscrew. Thanks!

Actually, I misspoke. My a/p is a KFC150 (adds FD) I note the other topic for a KAP150 but I don’t know if that is similar enough to provide comparison. The installation manual is the issue at the moment.

Is anyone aware of compatibility issues with these two units? The newest Installation Manuals I can find online are from 2020. Are there revisions/updates since then?

Thanks very much! That sounds just like what I am seeing. It may be a bit more consistent now, since it misbehaved on a trip this morning. Can’t recall ever wanting something to misbehave before, but that’s better then intermittent failures.

Jake, Are these AIs worth repairing, or would I be putting a Band-aid on a bullet wound? Can it be done in the field? Tim

Jake, Thanks for the reply. The excursions happen from s/l cruise. The AI is a Castleberry unit that was installed when I bought the airplane. It has a manual caging knob which I exercised even though it appeared to be fully operational. The flight director seems to be working normally too. Tim

My autopilot has good days and bad days. Last week, it flew perfectly for 1.5 hours. This week, it ran fine for 5 minutes and then started uncommanded rolls 30 degrees left and right. Restarting had no effect, except it no longer worked for the 5 minutes. Alt hold seems to work but I never let the runaway get far enough to really tell. Same result on NAV or HDG mode. This has happened before, but I’ve installed a new HSI (G275) since the last occurrence. Now, the gremlins are back! Ideas?

NOW you tell me…

Yeah, I think the same. I had the pre buy done as an annual. They probably missed the cracks developing in it. There is considerable fretting on the inner race which suggests to me that the bulkhead failed from repetitive vibrations. I’ve flown it about 70 hours since last November and had recently noticed a mild, rhythmic vibration at about a 10-15 second cycle. Took my local AI for a ride to get hie ideas but it was silky smooth the whole time. I thought I was just getting “new airplane, old pilot” jitters. Maybe the airplane was trying to tell me something and I just didn’t listen close enough.

Hours on the bulkhead itself unknown for sure, but the prop has about 9 years/650 hours on it. I’d assume the bulkhead was changed at the same time. (Yeah, I know, I know.) It is plastic but it’s a pretty heavy duty plastic.

It’s a McCauley on an IO-550. There were shims installed but they fell out with the rest of the debris. From the condition of the pieces of the bulkhead, it has been wobbling around for a while. It may be the source of a very faint vibration that would come and go. I flew it with an IA two weeks ago and it, of course, behaved perfectly. After putting the airplane back in the hangar, I found another chunk of the bulkhead right where I initially started the engine to taxi up to maintenance. So the major disintegration began on the start and the shutdown at the maintenance shop five minutes later was the proverbial “last straw”.

While doing a pre-flight this morning, I noticed that the right MLG tire looked a bit soft. So I cranked it up and taxied over to the maintenance hangar to pump it up. I shut down in front of the hangar and got out. One of the IAs was walking toward me, looking at the ground under my cowling. I followed his gaze and saw the smallest piece shown below, and said “please don’t tell me that came off my airplane.” Sadly, he said “yep, fell out of the spinner when you shut down.” Bottom line: the spinner bulkhead disintegrated as soon as we removed the spinner. As you might notice, it had apparently been coming apart at radial cracks propagating in at least three places. I’ve been flying since 1967, have owned multiple airplanes over the years, and I’ve never seen this before. I don’t know what would happen if the bulkhead came apart at 2500 RPM, but the wonder is that, except for needing air in the tire, I would not have seen this problem. It would at least been a BIG vibration from an unbalanced bulkhead and if that went on long enough, loss of the spinner itself seems possible. Just my lucky day.

They do not. They will not work in my L and probably not in the R either.