buckfever06

On my last annual, (October 2022), Mooney M20C with IO-360-AB36D, 200 HP, the number four cylinder failed the compression check. It turned out to be a burnt/stuck exhaust valve. The A&P recommended replacing the cylinder. The part is hard to find and I had quotes of about $3000 from one place, and $4000 from another supplier. I am a member of SAVVY Aviation (I highly recommend them.) So I contacted Savvy and asked for advice. They suggested I contact Western Skyways and see if they could overhaul the can. A few phone calls and emails later, the A&P had pulled the cylinder and I shipped it off to Western Skyways. A month later, my freshly overhauled cylinder, with a new valve and associated parts arrived in the mail. The whole thing cost me just over $800 with shipping. I think the actual overhaul was about $780, and shipping was about $40-$50 each way (insured.) Overhaul included cleaning, inspection, resurfacing the cylinder wall, painting, new set of rings, the works! It looked like new. If you run into this problem, I recommend looking into an overhaul instead of replacement. The only downside was that one of the rings was found to be cracked. For some reason they installed the new rings in the cylinder for shipping. The piston was at the hangar with the airplane. Either during the install into the cylinder, or during removal, one of the rings must have been damaged. They quickly agreed to replace the cracked ring...no big deal. My annual membership to Savvy was $350 I think. I got a return of $3650 from them on just one ticket. Those guys are awesome! Sorry, I was going to post pics and I can't find them on my phone ):

I returned the grey antenna to the seller today and they agreed to immediately ship out the white one they had in stock. I still may replace the aft comm2 "7" antenna someday. Does anyone know the model number for the "7" antenna? I need to figure out how much it is worth so I can decide whether to replace it with a Comant CI-196. maybe someone else is in the same boat and doesn't want to pay $1000 for a matching "7"!

I know this topic hasn't been revisited since 2012, but I recently broke off my comm1 (forward) "7" antenna while putting my Bruce's cover on just before a thunderstorm. The wind was whipping and it didn't even seem like the cover torqued the antenna that much, but it snapped off. I found a good used Comant CI-196 antenna as a replacement. I was slightly disapointed that the antenna I purchased looked white in the photos online, but arrived as a grey color. The photos didn't depict the actual color of the antenna. It isn't ugly, but doesn't match my aft antenna. I am planning on having my mechanic supervise me in replacing the antenna and will let everyone know how it goes. I am even considering buying another (grey) CI-196 so I have matching antennas. I figure I can find someone who needs a "7" antenna and make up the purchase price of a couple of slightly less aerodynamic CI-196 shark fin antennas. I recently went on an IFR cross country flight 730 miles each way using only my comm2. I found I was able to still listen to AWOS and ATIS that weren't too far away on my broken antenna, although I didn't try to scientifically figure out how far I could listen, and I didn't even try to talk to ATC on my broken "7" antenna. More to follow...

If you are an EAA member you can access many of Mike Busch's webinars on the EAA web site. I am not a member yet, but I think this is the same video via EAA... https://www.eaa.org/videos/1204537102001

Thank you to everyone who replied! I really appreciate all the info! If I can find anything of value to post about the outcome I will do so.

Mike Busch and SAVVY Aviation have a treasure trove of information! Here is a good video that talks about cylinders, including valves...Pic is just a screenshot. Click the link to watch the video. https://youtu.be/CEI3UfkFWX8

All, 1965 M20C. My flaps will not hold pressure. Aerodynamic forces, or even spring pressure, will retract the flaps with the switch in the down position. My preferred aircraft mechanic is planning on looking at it in the next week. According to the maintenance logs, this issue has been addressed at least twice before. In the meantime, does anyone have any experience with this issue? Brakes work fine. Flaps extend and slowly retract. If I extend them prior to takeoff, they are fully retracted sometime between power application and before I am off the ground (I don't watch them while I'm taking off.) If I put them down in the pattern, they are retracted almost immediately. If I can't get this fixed, how extensive/expensive it is to change to electric flaps? Thanks in advance for any insights!

You might want to consider using SavvyAviation to recommend a shop and manage your pre-buy process. They charge a $750 fee (does not include the pre-buy inspection itself), but will credit half of it back toward your Savvy maintenance management membership if you decide to buy a membership. For a good intro to SavvyAviation and why you would want to use them, read or listen to Mike Busch, Manifesto. I listened to it last week and just bought his book "Mike Busch On Engines". I hope this helps. Link to SavvyPrebuy follows... https://www.savvyaviation.com/savvyprebuy/ https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mike+busch+books&i=stripbooks&crid=2IOLDKU57EFFK&sprefix=mike+busch%2Cstripbooks%2C259&ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_10_ts-doa-p

Sent a message. Thanks!