Starlifter27

I'm in the same boat (crack found in the exhaust so the v-band clamp had to come off and it already has had two re-torques) and I, along with the shop doing my annual right now, have come up empty on finding them without a crazy ridiculous lead time that renders my airplane a very expensive paperweight for much longer than it should. I'll be following if anyone comes up with anything!

Thanks, everyone, Byron at Fly RPM is able to get it in the shop in a couple weeks. I appreciate the help!

All, I have a 2005 Bravo that I bought over the summer and keep in Ohio. The shop that was going to do the annual just lost two mechanics and no longer can do it. So I'm currently scrambling around to find a shop that might be able to do it in the near future. It's due this month, but obviously the odds are slim I could get it in anywhere in the next two weeks, so I'll probably have to get a ferry permit regardless. Initially I was looking in the Ohio vicinity, but at this point I'll consider anywhere pretty much in the eastern half of the country, although the midwest would be the most convenient. If anyone knows of a shop that might fit the bill, please let me know. Thanks a bunch! Tom

Good find, I missed it on my search through the maintenance manual I found. That's a bummer, I was hoping to not have to adjust the V speeds each flight, but I guess I'm out of luck. Thanks for finding the answer!

Sorry, I should have been more clear about my question. All the speed arcs are correct and I can change the V speeds each flight (with an * displayed next to the changed speeds), but they reset back to the defaults every time I shut down. The issue is that Vr and best glide are set for the lightest weights possible, weights I will never see in my airplane due to having FIKI TKS. As an example, Vr is set to 60kts, which when you look in the POH, is one knot above the rotate speed for a 2700lb aircraft. The only way I can be at 2700lbs is with just me after a diet, zero bags, a completely empty TKS reservoir, and 10 gallons of gas. So there is simply no scenario where Vr will ever actually be 60kts. I'd just like it to be set to 66kts and not have to change it every flight. Same deal with best glide. I can find in the Garmin maintenance manual how to enter maintenance mode to change things like the master squelch, Mode S codes, etc. Just nothing on the default V speeds. I was hoping someone might know the cheat code with the wealth of knowledge here. It's certainly a first world problem, but it triggers my OCD every time I make the extra button pushes and knob twists to change them. Tom

All, I've found that that a couple of the default V Speeds in my new G1000 Bravo are a few knots off. While I can go in the TMR/REF menu to change them each time I fly, they return to the incorrect defaults after each flight. I've scoured the interwebs and even looked at a G1000 maintenance manual, but I've yet to find a way to change the default speeds. Has anyone had a similar experience or know a way to "permanently" change the default V Speeds? Thanks in advance, Tom

Sorry! The test flight went well and the single owner really kept it in good shape, prebuy squawks notwithstanding. Interestingly, from how he said he operated it and from this article AOPA_2022-05_failure-to-rotate.pdf (savvyaviation.com) (also thanks to @Junkman for sending it my way) perhaps the exhaust valve issues may stem (pun intended) more from hardware issues rather than user technique. Either way, we negotiated a price reduction to account for needing the valves repaired or replaced in the near term.

That'd be great, please message me his info if you don't mind. Finding a CFI meeting insurance requirements has turned into the biggest hurdle in this whole process. Thanks a bunch!

Hello Everyone, I'm under contract to purchase a 2005 Bravo and so far have struck out on all my leads to find a CFI with enough experience in make and model to meet insurance requirements. I need someone with 100 hours retract and 50 hours make and model (I'm going with any long body as "make and model," but someone well versed in the care and feeding of a turbo would be ideal) to give me a minimum of 4 hours dual after I close on it. The aircraft is located in the Chicago suburbs and I'm in southwest Ohio. The tentative plan is to test fly it on May 23rd, close on it May 24th and hopefully fly it home on the same day with a stop or two for plenty of pattern work. Anyone with G1000 experience would be a plus. My background is originally in GA as a CFI in the mid and late 90s (to include some time in an Ovation) before going into the Air Force and flying heavies as well as a stint at Netjets and now at one of the majors. It's time to get back to my roots and the Bravo fits my mission profile perfectly. Please message me if you or someone you know might be interested. I have some flexibility and am more than happy to discuss whatever logistical arrangements might be needed. Thanks, Tom

Thanks again for the advice and knowledge from everyone here. We negotiated a lower price to account for the cylinder repair and the rest of the prebuy didn't bring up any showstoppers in the opinion of either the A&P overseeing the prebuy (I used Savvy since I'll be using them for engine monitoring going forward) or the A&P I'll be using who has a lot of mooney maintenance experience. Now the hard part is finding a CFI with 50 hours in make and model to give me the 4 hours of dual I need for my insurance...

All, Thanks for all the opinions so far and for welcoming me here. The prebuy is complete and I've shared the info with a couple more A&Ps to get some additional thoughts as well. Some shotgun answers to the various questions and points raised here: -The prevailing opinion from the A&Ps is that the engine wasn't properly broken in when it was new, which is what led to the excessive oil consumption and the first pull of the cylinders off the engine. The second pull came from a lycoming warranty repair or recall, so there's less concern about that. -The asymmetrical heating of the two valves is believed to most likely be a result of over-aggressive leaning. Quite possibly it's been operated in "flaming dragon" mode as was eloquently stated here. The airplane has been kept in excellent condition inside and out, so it does seem to point to how it was operated rather than indifference or neglect. -It is a low-time aircraft for its age, but the logs show it was flown steadily over its life and it's been a one owner, one pilot plane that has been otherwise well-maintained. Other than the cylinder issues, all the other squawks found on the prebuy were the typical minor issues they normally see. -Those two cylinders will need replaced in the short term, so the issue now becomes what agreement, if any, we can negotiate to account for that. My purchase agreement allows me to walk no questions asked, so I'm not too worried about that. The seller is motivated to sell, so we'll see where it ends up. If I walk, the next buyer is going to discover the same issues, so one way or another it's going to have to be addressed. My preference at this point is to negotiate a price reduction to account for the cylinder replacement and have a shop with extensive Mooney experience near me do the work after I take possession. Again, I appreciate all the opinions and insight. Keep them coming, as I'm getting back to my GA roots flying after 20+ years of military and airline flying and this is my first aircraft purchase adventure. Thanks, Tom

Hello everyone, I'm under contract to buy a 2005 Bravo. It's in prebuy currently. It has under 800 hours since new and has been flown regularly (if not a lot) during its life and by all accounts has been well-maintained at a very reputable shop. The cylinders were all removed at ~350TTSN for high oil consumption, the #2 cylinder was repaired at ~400TTSN and all cylinders were removed at ~440TTSN for warranty repair. During the prebuy, some high temps/asymmetrical heating was found on the exhaust valves of #1 and #3 (pics attached) and a small oil leak that appears to originate from the front bottom of the case halves was noted. My question to the wealth of knowledge out there is whether these findings are abnormal or to be expected with a TIO-540 with that amount of time on it? Everything else appears good with the engine and the compressions are all between 74 and 77. So far opinions from a couple of people I know have ranged from "eh, not sure about this" to "no worries, that's a turbo for you." So I'm looking for some thoughts on these findings. Thanks in advance! Tom