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AndreiC

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AndreiC last won the day on January 18

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  • Location
    Madison, WI
  • Reg #
    N9351V
  • Model
    1970 M20E
  • Base
    91C

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  1. Do you (or anyone else) know if the baggage door of the J-model is larger than that on the E? I was not able to fit the Brompton through the baggage door, I had to put it in through the main door. Or is yours perhaps a smaller one than mine? Mine is an H model, 6 speed.
  2. My E is same exact year model as your F, so maybe they use the same system. When you say "the nut at the end of the cable" do you mean at the cowling, or at the control arm end? I did not look at the mechanism closely... Thanks!
  3. I did talk to a ranger before going in, they returned my call after I left a message. They had the airport closed for a week to sweep some of the gravel from the runway, but they did not do anything about the cracks or bumps. I heard from someone else that they are considering closing the airport permanently, it is too much of a headache for the park service and it gets them nothing in return (??). My experience was so-so. Neither landing nor taking off seemed to be a problem with soft field technique (I don't think the bumps were big enough to do any damage to the landing gear, I taxied very slowly on the left side of runway 15, which is where I also landed, iirc). The runway is definitely much worse than that at L09, Stovepipe Wells, where I had gone in January. This might be something to consider if you have some transportation while there or don't care how far you go from the airport. We wanted to see Badwater Basin by bike, and that was too far from L09, that's why the second time we went to L06. However, after both flights to Death Valley (L09 and L06) I found nicks in the prop, I guess from gravel picked up from the runway. Even after the sweep there was still plenty of it at L06. Nothing major -- my mechanic was able to file the nicks in about 20 minutes, but something to keep in mind. I did not do a run up before takeoff, did not want to increase damage to prop. If you do go there make sure to bring ropes with you -- there are steel cables but nothing attached to them (both at L06 and L09). Maybe also bring some chocks -- where I parked at L06 the cable for tying down the tail was missing, so I was only able to tie down the wings.
  4. I need to install a new door seal for my 1970 M20E, and was wondering what you guys recommend for gluing it. My mechanic recommended 3m1300L but he warned me that it may be difficult to get it in CA. Even worse, the smallest quantity it is sold in is a quart, which seems overkill. Other options he suggested are 3m1300 (shorter work time; easier to get, and sold in a 5oz tube) or maybe 3m1357, even easier to get. Does anyone have any experience with these adhesives? Also, do you think a 5oz tube would be enough to do a door seal? Thanks.
  5. Hello fellow Mooney owners, I have two small-ish repairs I'd like to do to my '70E, which would fix non-airworthiness, but annoying issues. I need advice on how to proceed. 1) On takeoff, the ram air door opens a little bit, enough so that the warning light comes on while the gear is down. It is probably pushed inwards by the air pressure. I asked Mark at Top Gun in Stockton, about this, and he said that the problem is that the metal plate around the lever controlling the ram air is rounded out. (This is the thin aluminum plate that has the markings power boost/air vent; I attach a pic below.) He said in the original design you were supposed to first pull the ram air lever to the right past a notch, and then move it down in order to open ram air. The notch has been rounded out after 50 years. Do people have a suggestion how to address this? Can the metal plate be bought somewhere? (I am not sure if P/N 140049-034 is just the placard, or has the entire aluminum piece.) 2) The cold air lever in the panel does not work well (I am referring to the knob that you pull out, next to the hot air knob). When I open it, plenty of cold air comes in, but when I close it, the metal flap inside the air distributor only goes back in 3/4 of the way. Moreover, even if I push this metal plate down all the way by hand, it still lets a fair bit of cold air through. On a nice day this is only a minor nuisance (or none at all), but when it is cold outside I would like to limit the amount of cold air coming into the cabin. Is there a seal in the cold air distributor (the one on the passenger side, on the firewall, inside the cabin) that is shot? Or is there something else I should be looking at? Thanks, Andrei.
  6. I am happy to report that I just completed a two day camping trip to Death Valley with our 1970 M20E. One folding Brompton bike fit well in the baggage compartment, one full size (lightweight) electric bike fit in the hat rack/over the baggage compartment/folded down rear seats (wheels taken off). Camping gear (4 person tent, 2 sleeping bags and mats) and clothes for two days fit in as well, two large passengers comfortable in the front seats. Here she is at L06, you can see the wheel of a bike behind it if you squint.
  7. I have a 1970 M20E, with the rear seat backs that fold down individually. But they can’t be folded down too much (forward) because the bottom part gets in the way. As it stands they are at about a 30 degree angle. Is there a way to make them go flatter, in order to put a bike in the back?
  8. Where are these routes listed for old school people? Are they in the big book of approaches, or where else? Can you ask approach to not give you these routes?
  9. Ok, here is a question. Yesterday I flew IFR from SBA to SNA in the busy LA airspace. The clearance on departure included SBAP6, the SBA Papa 6 route. My ForeFlight knows this route, but I was not able to find it in my GNS430W. Is there a way to find it? Without it, I had to put in like a million IFR waypoints in the 430…is there a better way to do this? Thanks.
  10. Back to the OP's question. The two or three times I got myself in *big* trouble (things that could have ended up really bad) over the ~1200 hours I have flown were every single one of them at the end of a long day, under pressure to get home. Think wanting to get home for Thanksgiving dinner, after a day working somewhere 400 miles away, and taking off in freezing rain over one of the Great Lakes, hoping to get ahead of a snowstorm. Or, after a full day of skiing, landing to refuel with what I discovered were 2 gallons of fuel on board. At that time I was thinking I have over one hour's worth of fuel, and was debating whether to proceed to my home airport without refueling, 15 minutes away. This one at night over hilly terrain. The more you fly the more cautious you get. I live in the Midwest just like you, and as a 1200 hours private pilot who has had an instrument rating for close to 20 years I would be very hesitant to think of using my plane for regular commuting the way you want to. Even with an IR, the weather in the Midwest will be trouble frequently -- thunderstorms in the summer and icing in the winter. My job is reasonably flexible, and nevertheless probably one out of every three or four trips I took for work with my plane ended up with me returning by commercial flight and having to go back to fetch the plane later. Not fun. When I was younger and much more gung-ho I used to think of my plane as a mode of transportation. I still think of it that way when I plan a vacation where nothing happens if I have to wait somewhere for a day or two. But work is a completely different animal. You tell yourself that you'll book a commercial flight three days in advance if the weather does not look good. What will actually happen is that the weather will look ok-ish three days out (or look that way to you because you want to fly yourself, and boy are we good at deceiving ourselves). When the weather looks marginal on the day of your flight the go/no-go decision will be much much less clear cut than you think, and it only takes one time to get in trouble. Just my two cents.
  11. For me AeroMotors came through in only a few days (2-3 days turnaround time) for a Weldon pump overhaul. However, I don't know if your pump requires a longer down time -- mine is different (fuel injection).
  12. I talked a couple of days ago with Top Gun aviation (MSC in Stockton, CA) asking them to fix this. They basically said that it may take up to a year for new seals to soften up and adjust in position to get the door to close properly. They said it is essential that the door stays closed for a while in a hot environment (like summer). It is apparently such a big difference, that they said they refuse to do door seal installations unless it is hot outside for a few weeks after the install. Since my seal was installed in late Fall in Minnesota, I will just wait until the end of the summer and see how things are afterwards. But regarding the gap at the bottom of the door -- I am pretty sure that won't fix itself. My question is: is it possible to add more seal material in an area? How does one do it?
  13. I had my annual done in November at a Mooney Service Center in the Midwest, no owner assist. It was the first annual for me, and required me to fix some squawks: replace two sets of hockey pucks (one main and the front), replace a tire, oil and filter, replace the switch that controls the flaps, replace the bushings controlling the trim in the tail, and replace the door seals on both doors. I provided all the parts except for the tail bushings, oil and filter. With all this the cost came to almost exactly 4 AMU. The originally quoted base cost for an annual with no squawks was $2500.
  14. @slowflyinHow expensive was it? The seal itself, and the cost of installation?
  15. The door seals on my 70E were shot when I bought it, to the point where they were letting water in during heavy rain. I had them replaced during the annual back in October, and since then the main cabin door has been hard to close: from the outside you have to lean into the top part while closing the lever, from the inside you have to pull pretty hard on the leather strap while shoving the door closing lever. Moreover, on takeoff the plane makes a fairly loud whistling noise in the cabin, which goes away (mostly) when leveling off. The noise appears to come mostly from the spot under the door where the bar that keeps the door open (when it is open) attaches. I can definitely feel an air current around that area, and I have taken to shoving a soft piece of cloth in that opening to keep away air intrusion. The top right corner of the door (as seen from the inside) also seems to have a gap. The seal material that was used was T-9088 from Brown Aircraft, recommended by several members on this board. What can be done to fix the hard closing door and the air leaks? I thought over several months the seal would soften up/compress enough to resolve these issues, but it appears not to. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I plan to go to Top Gun in Stockton sometime next week for an unrelated problem, and can ask them to look at it then, or I can try to adjust some of this stuff myself if it is not too complicated.
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