RoundTwo

New, and they said they found ONE.

They were able to find me a cable/drum assembly, $600 for the part.

I spoke to them yesterday but they don’t have a way to make the cables and are working with a third party cable supplier to come up with a solution.

This is 100% an issue of age related deterioration.

After looking at ADSB data, I’m wondering what cloaking device they were using. Serbia?

Agreed. This was found when doing swing test at annual. The cable wouldn’t retract fully and then this piece of hardened sheath was found on the hangar floor. You can easily see circumferential cracks the full length of the cable.

Actuator is fine, just need a new cable installed in the recoiler drum.

Yes, it’s part of the recoiler assembly and the cable is attached to the recoiler drum, and the “T” handle with crimped on ball terminations. Laser is looking into what will be involved in getting a new cable installed. As far as Eaton was concerned, I was hoping for a service/repair option.

That appears to be the only option. I sure wasted a bunch of time trying to get hold of someone at Eaton. My issue is the emergency extension cable has outlasted the sheath and it has shed a bunch of it which led to cable retraction issues because of the foreign material inside of the retriever assembly.

Who is the go to place for servicing Eaton Actuators in 2025?

Yes, my initial excitement was quelled after I looked more closely and saw it only had alternator.

That’s a great document. Thanks.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. What manual is this from? Thanks!

It’s more of a question of where to measure “from” on the starter. Since it’s rather long, it could be +/- 4” or so, depending on where the person picks to be the CG of the starter.

For those of you who have installed a Skytec starter for the Prestolite starter on a J, what value did you use for the distance from the datum for you W&B calculation? I’m getting -24.5” and would like to compare that to others. I’ll admit to not finding the actual balance point of the starter before installing it, and I’m surely not going to remove it just to figure that out now. TIA Chuck

There’s a C model at the Rome Georgia airport that I Understand is for sale. I believe the detail number is 7101U.

How are you stocked for underwing inspection panels, large and small, for a J? Also, looking for one of the larger inspection covers on the left side of the empennage.

A well placed drain hole would be nice, or maybe a simple cap.

It’s annual time and it was time to do something about the sad looking nose gear. Long story short, we pulled out the nose gear and began disassembly so everything can be blasted, primed and painted. The big shocker was the deteriorated condition of the inside of the “core” of the “donut stack”. The actual part number is 540015-001 (32-20-00). When the donuts were removed, it was noticed that the bore of the tube was almost completely packed with heavy rust that had sloughed off of the interior of the tube over the years. The level of the rust was up to within 3/4” of the top of the tube, just below the cross bolt. It’s my guess that this plane was frequently washed and then rolled back into the hangar where any water that made it down into the tube remained until it finally dried out. As time went on, and the rust accumulation grew, it was a nice moist environment for the rust to continue. From here on out, I’ll make sure that tube will always get hit with the air gun if the plane isn’t flown after getting a wash.

I’ve done Atlanta to Bentonville more times than anyone should ever have to. Been there, done that.

I’m in Georgia and he’s in Arkansas.

It’s time to send my 2-bladed McCauley prop off for some work. Does anyone have any gotcha’s I need to watch out for when building the shipping box? I’ll be sending it to Cody in Arkansas.

Both the $50 and $165 plans are capped at 100 mph. Mooneys need a priority plan.

My “no scratch solution” for my J is paracord support across the top of the engine and duct tape covering all offending edges and corners, front and rear of the cowl. I thread a medium zip tie through the third (I think) camloc hole and attach the paracord to both sides with slip knots and hook it behind the lifting loop to keep it in place. Tape over the aluminum flange and nut plates at the front to protect the spinner and also thoroughly cover the aluminum channel and the first camloc at the rear to protect the fuselage. “Pop” the cowl loose from the fuselage and alternate slacking up the left and right sides to lower it to safety. Reverse the procedure to install. Since I started doing this, I haven’t made any new marks. It takes some practice, but it’s not hard to get the hang of it.

Yeah, it’s hit or miss, getting in. If we’re flying to Florida in the morning, fuhgeddaboudit. No way you’re getting cleared through. I have a much better success rate mid to late afternoon.