AndreiC

Just an idea (I am completely a novice to these kinds of things). The SB 475C came out in 2003, long after this engine was assembled. Could it be that Lycoming came up with new measurements that acceptable cranks must satisfy, which were not in place in 1983?

I have finally decided to enter the modern age (!!) and to start using an electronic logbook. Since I use Foreflight I will go with that for now. But I have two large old logbooks with handwritten entries going back 24 years that I'd like to add to the electronic record, and doing it by hand seems very tedious. Does anyone have a better way?

This message is inspired in part by the earlier conversation on towing with a lawn tractor. The other day I found myself unable to push my plane in the hangar due to a very thin layer of snow on the apron to the hangar. (The apron has a very shallow up grade; when dry I can push the plane into the hangar by myself, but barely. With the snow the plane has a harder time rolling, and my shoes also slip.) I’ve been thinking of installing a winch on the back wall of the hangar and pulling the plane by the tail tie down. But I became concerned because the tail in a Mooney is not solidly attached to the fuselage, so I worry about damaging something long term. What is the consensus, is gently pulling on the tail tie down safe? I’d think I’d be pulling with 50-100 lbs of force max.

From what you describe it seems that a best choice for you is to look for an F. The delta between it and an early model J will be best to either keep in a fund for emergency expenses (something unexpected breaks) or to do upgrades after a while when all is settled. Don't underestimate in your planning the first few years' costs associated with little things you find that you need/want to be upgraded. As a basic example, shortly after buying my E I decided that for peace of mind I really wanted to have the LHS system with gear warning, mainly as a tool to not forget the gear down. (I don't think of myself as invincible.) With installation that was a quick 2 AMU. New landing gear donuts, 5 AMU (iirc). Things add up quickly.

By minimal IFR rating I mean that from a legal standpoint (I think) you only need to prove that you are able to shoot two types of approaches, one of which should be a precision one. So if you can demonstrate that capability you'll get your ticket. But most people nowadays fly with GPS guidance, so if you got your ticket and you and your plane can only fly ILS and VOR, you will be seriously underusing your rating, as most airports of interest to GA pilots may not have one of these. In my area there is one big airport (MSN) with pretty much every kind of approach you'd ever want (including ASR), but the smaller airport (91C) I am based at only has GPS-based approaches. The other destination I most frequently fly to (3D2) also only has GPS-based approaches. If I ever got trapped in really bad weather I would go to MSN. But most of the time if the forecast calls for LIFR I will stay at home, and if the ceiling is OVC 007 I will easily fly LPV/LNAV+V approaches between my two smaller airports and not bother with a big airport and all the hassle associated with that (rent a car, drive home, go back the next day, ferry the plane, etc.) So for me having only ILS/VOR capabilities would be severely limiting. Of course, for others it may be different.

I don't remember, are the flaps on the B operated like on the later C model (i.e., hydraulic)? Or is there another Johnson bar? Most so-called VFR platforms can be used to learn and get a minimal IFR rating -- two VOR heads, one of them with glideslope, is enough to learn to do ILS and VOR approaches (this is how I learned). But an IFR rating these days is almost useless without an LPV capable IFR navigator, so a 430W minimum is needed. But the 430 line is no longer supported by Garmin, so installing a 430W is a money-losing proposition unless you plan to keep the plane for a long time (as said above, most people who buy a B will be doing so as a basic VFR machine to putter around, so would not place much value on having an IFR navigator). Moreover, you mention "family" -- even with two adults plus one kid on board, the extra useful load of a C will be much appreciated, especially as kids grow quicker than you realize. So I see two ways ahead for you. 1) Buy the B as a low-cost, VFR machine, to time-build, putter around short distances with the family, and do most of an IFR training with very basic tools (learning ILS and VOR approaches in real life, and maybe doing LPV approaches in a simulator). Then, once your mission is more clear, upgrade to a C or higher (if your family will fly with you, most likely an F). 2) Define your mission better now, and buy what you plan to keep for a while. I personally would recommend option 2, because especially with an older Mooney you will spend a lot of money in the first few years to catch up on maintenance to get the bird to where you want it to be (donuts? fuel tank leaks? magnetos? small panel improvements?), and these costs will be lost when you sell. But I fully understand the itch to buy something now (my first plane was a $15k Cherokee which I then spent another $10k to fix and sold for $15k back again, but I don't regret it a minute). Good luck with your decision.

I tried that on my panel, and it did not help. The issue seems to be that the switches are supposed to be sealed, so not much of the cleaner, if any, gets in.

I for one would be very happy if this audio panel can be cleaned up and restored to full functionality, I am happy with it otherwise. @Phil123 please keep me posted if you find someone who can work on it.

I strongly doubt it. My avionics shop said the switches in these units are not serviceable, so probably they would need to find new ones and solder them back out/in. Doubt that is worth the effort, even if the switches can be found (which is highly doubtful).

The panel has one interesting feature, not sure I know how it's done. The old analog oil pressure, temp, volts, etc have been replaced by some digital instruments, but I did not think those are usually approved as primary. I wonder how that was approved?

None that I could find. I bought a used KA134 from ebay that was marginally better than the one I used to have. But this equipment is 55 years old, so my next upgrade will likely be a modern audio panel.

I have a general question for those of you who use the sidewinder or similar nose-gear apparatuses. If the taxiway is snowy/icy, will this work? The only reason I would be interested in a sidewinder is because the apron from the taxiway to my hangar is ever so slightly uphill. When everything is dry, there is no issue pushing the plane in the hangar by myself with just a towbar. But put on just a bit of snow (of which this winter we've had a-plenty) and it becomes a difficult problem even for two people, because shoes slip. (Ask me how I know.... last week I thought I would have to leave my plane outside of the hangar). But my guess is that the sidewinder will also slip on the tire, or the tire will slip on the snow. Anybody else run into this problem? I have been thinking of installing a winch with a long cable/towrope at the back of the hangar and slowly pull the plane from its tail. But I know that the design of the Mooney tail says not to do that either, so I am a bit stuck. At the moment my best thought is to just keep a big bucket of sand in the hangar and put copious amounts of it on the apron over the snow/ice. Can you somehow use your car to push the plane? I have a hitch on my car, but I don't think pushing the plane with the car in reverse is a good idea.

I have the same KA134 panel and the old switches do not always work as they should. Try to push them in/out a number of times. The weird thing is that a button unrelated to the one you care about may be causing the problems. (ADF or DME or one of the NAVs…) On mine, once I got the radios to work well, I never touch the other buttons.

I understand the issue of traceability, but maybe someone with an IA can then answer the following question. Say this prop was not a scimitar model, which is not covered by the original TC, but one of the Hartzell props that were approved in the TC, so I would not need an STC. Could I then install it on my plane? Or is it the case that every part of the plane, down to the smallest bolt, must always have had its life spent on certified planes? I thought that the only requirement was that all parts of the plane must conform to the TC or to STCs. Can’t my AP (or Hartzell themselves, for that matter) look at my prop and say “yes, this prop is still in working condition as it was designed, so you can install it via the STC or the original TC”?

But the point I think is that when this prop was sold it was not cheaper, for experimental use only. I think when Hartzell sells this prop they say "Give me the money. Here is the prop. BTW, what airplane are you hanging this on so we can give you the correct STC for it? Oh, it's experimental, so you don't need an STC? Good luck then." My understanding is that the issue is that it was used on an experimental plane, so it might have been touched by the unholy hands of a non-A&P. Thus it has been forever desecrated.