BenP

Thank you Kevin! You were exactly right. All - My A&P spoke to Mr. Westbrook. The hoses were re-installed incorrectly by the avionics shop. My A&P re-installed it according to the schematic and it works normally now. The PC system passed a ground run test. After it's out of annual we'll verify with a flight test, but we should be good. If anyone else has an issue with the PC being stuck "on" and you rule out a problem with the cutoff switch, check the hose routing. Thank you very much again to Kevin Westbrook. I owe you one.

I'll try to give you a call next, Kevin. That being said, if the hoses are reversed: Would pressing the PC button dump the whole vacuum system? If so, we do not see a change in suction when the button is pressed.

We pull the blank panel off, and the hose was not kinked or otherwise compromised inside the old chronograph space. I think the problem is further back in the system.

Good call. The yoke didn't have a clock when we bought it. It had a mount for an old yoke-mounted GPS. We had the yoke mount replaced with a blank plate since we're running a tablet on a RAM mount in that spot now. If they weren't careful, they may have kinked it when they screwed the new blank plate on. I will double check that and report back. Thank you! I do agree with your reasoning that the problem is most likely between the forward end of the yoke shaft and the button itself. That makes the most sense to me given the symptom and the recent history of the plane.

Quick update: I traced the PC button hose from the yoke shaft to a small box that eventually leads to the turn coordinator. There are no obvious kinks or damage. I was unable to take 201KTurbo's advice to test the switch, as the hose is frozen/fused to the aforementioned box and it doesn't seem like I can disconnect it from that end without breaking something. It would be much easier to access it from above. I have the original windshield with the avionics bay panels on top, but I just had them weather-stripped and I am reluctant to pull them off just for this. It goes in for annual next week and I'm doing an owner-assisted, so I'll give it another look with my A&P at that time. On an unrelated note, I found a loose hose clamp leading to the attitude indicator. The attitude indicator is working normally.

Hey all! I have a head scratcher for the Mooney brain trust. My Positive Control system was recently repaired. Now it is stuck "on" and the cutoff button doesn't disable the system anymore. Short version: 1967 M20F with original PC system. The turn coordinator was previously INOP, and we just had it replaced with a used PC-compatible turn coordinator. Now the PC works great, but the cutoff button on the yoke does not disable the system. Long version: My wife and I bought this 1967 M20F in the spring of 2023. The PC system had been INOP, but the previous owner successfully repaired it by replacing all of the vacuum tubes shortly before we purchased it. The turn coordinator and the PC system functioned normally during a quick hop I made with the seller/previous owner at that time. The aircraft needed a new engine plus an annual when we bought it, and consequently it was stuck in a shop for several months after we bought it. When I finally started flying it in February 2024 for the insurance checkout, the PC system *including the cutoff button* was working but the turn coordinator had become INOP during its time in the shop. During this time the plane "thought" it was wings level all the time so the PC system worked but not correctly. We deferred the issue for a few months. Last month, we had some miscellaneous avionics work done. Garmin 430W install, avionics master switch install, intercom re-wire, ADF delete, DME delete, COM2/NAV2 delete, etc. We also had the INOP turn coordinator replaced with a used turn coordinator that is PC compatible with the roll trim knob. Now, the PC system works really well except for one problem: The cutoff button does not disable the PC system. It doesn't matter how hard you press it; it doesn't shut it off. If you want to do any turns, you have to fight the PC system the whole time. My question is: Why would simply replacing the turn coordinator (and doing nothing else) cause the cutoff button to stop working? How do we fix it? It's going in for annual in a couple of weeks, and we're hoping to take care of it then. A real autopilot won't be feasible with our budget for at least a couple of more years, so we'd like to keep the PC system functioning as long as we can. Any tips or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance!

I decided to postpone the trip for several reasons, most notably that we got weathered out of my intended insurance checkout flights. I'm going to wait for my home airport's shop to get their equipment back from calibration. For what it's worth, during my search I located a company called Aircraft Structural Inspections out of Arkansas. They quoted me $375 plus 65 cents per mile for travel expenses. That would have added up to around $1100-ish. Way too rich for my blood, but it might be a good option if someone near Arkansas ends up in a jam with their pitot/static/transponder inspection.

Hey all, I ended up in a tight jam with my 1967 M20F on my 24-month pitot/static/transponder inspection. I recently had a new engine installed along with an annual inspection that took several months total. During its time in the shop, the pitot/static/transponder inspection lapsed. I have a trip coming up later in December to Florida and I would really like to have IFR and controlled airspace capability. I am based in eastern Iowa. None of the 4 shops closest to me can help out. 2 just sent in their test equipment for calibration, 1 is fully booked, and 1 only does pitot/static inspections for annual customers. I cannot currently fly the aircraft solo as I recently purchased it and I have not completed my insurance checkout yet. Additionally, I will be away from the airplane's home base on business for the next couple of weeks. Under the circumstances, I think finding a mobile testing service would be the best option. However, I have not had any luck yet finding a mobile testing service that is willing to come to Iowa. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. For those of you that private messaged me, I am tied up at work all weekend but I will try to reply to everyone at my earliest opportunity. The plane just got done yesterday and will be ready to move by Monday afternoon. Not to put them on blast, but the plane was at Carter. I was more or less stuck with them since JB Aircraft (a co-located engine shop) did the engine and the annual lapsed while that was getting redone. I didn't want to screw around with a ferry permit so I just went with Carter.

Short version: I am looking for a ferry pilot to move a 1967 M20F from Florida up to Iowa. I also need 10 hours at some point with a Mooney current CFI for my insurance checkout. Long version: I bought the plane several months ago in Florida. It has been at Sebring FL (KSEF) getting a new engine and an annual inspection. I came down to Florida last week to retrieve the plane with the previous owner (a CFII), who had agreed to ferry it with me and do my insurance checkout for free as part of our original deal. However, the annual took much longer than expected and my availability window as well as his availability window closed up. I have to go back to Iowa empty-handed while the shop finishes the annual. The flight would be from KSEF to C17 (Marion, IA). It's about 6.5-7 hours depending on the wind. The plane has a traditional IFR panel (dual VOR/glideslope, ADF, DME, but no GPS). However, its pitot-static/transponder inspection is expired by a few months so the flight will have to be VFR. It has tail beacon ADS-B Out. No autopilot, but it does have the Positive Control vacuum wing leveler that still works pretty well. With the brand new engine, it is important that it is someone who will follow the break-in instructions which will be provided by the engine shop. Obviously I would prefer someone experienced with older Mooneys, and bonus points if it's a Midwest-based pilot to keep overall expenses as reasonable as possible. My open pilot insurance minimums are as follows: -PVT, COM, or ATP SEL -Current medical -Current BFR -100 hours retract time including 5 hours in the past 180 days -5 hours in make and model If anyone can point me in the right direction, please let me know. I understand that competent instruction costs money, but I am hoping to not blow a whole ton of money right after blowing a whole ton of money on the engine and annual.

I apologize for not updating this sooner: The A&P doing the annual, by some miracle, managed to find a set of elevator weights. The plane should be done in about a week. I will post again at that time with where he found them and how much they cost, just in case there's any other bad elevator weights floating around in the fleet. Hopefully I'm one of the last ones to run into this issue. If I read correctly, only about 180 Mooneys were made with the composite elevator weights. I'm sure most of the rest have already been repaired or are no longer in service.

Hello all! Here's the short version: I recently purchased a 1967 M20F with composite elevator weights. Those weights are cracked and the plane is grounded per the AD that came out in February. I am considering buying a whole new elevator to expedite getting the plane back in the air. Is that a dumb idea or does it make sense? Long version: I purchased the aircraft back in May. I am based in Iowa and the plane was purchased from a gentleman in Florida. There was a pre-buy inspection completed in April and the inspector flagged the elevator weights, but I was not aware of the AD on that component. The aircraft also needed a new engine (cracked case + old case unable to be overhauled again), so it has remained in Florida for engine replacement from June through early October (the engine shop was backed up). The engine is done, but the airplane is now undergoing annual since the previous annual lapsed during the engine shenanigans. The previous owner ate most of the cost of the engine replacement, so I didn't get burned on the whole deal. However, through no one's fault the elevator weight AD went unnoticed by everyone (other than the inspector) until now. I need to get the plane in service ASAP, as I will be tied up at work for almost all of November and December. I am unwilling to have someone else ferry the plane if it gets done after my availability closes up, although the previous owner has graciously agreed to do so for only travel expenses. Some quick research on my part showed that the non-AD all-lead elevator weights in circulation dried up quickly after the AD came out in February. I am considering simply buying a whole elevator to hopefully get the aircraft in service before my availability closes up. A new elevator set would be $2k-ish plus labor and a set of weights would be $500 plus labor if I could even find them, which is a big "if". I already struck out with the nearest MSC and my A&P IA hasn't heard back from LASAR yet. Am I foolish or would a new elevator make sense under the circumstances? Or is there an alternative solution that I am not seeing? (I can post pictures upon request)