Grant_Waite

Yeah, it was like neon green right? Super nice plane and all, but my god was it overpriced. Wonder what happened to it? That one and this one were both in Florida so of course corrosion is a thing here… I guess.

I’d say a bad thing since it’s unobtanium next person who has any issues will be in for a rude awakening when parts need to be replaced. A lot of money and months aog

It’s in need of a paint job as well. Description says they’ll take some off but still insanely priced

I’ve seen one plane on controller before, it was an older J that had the same switches as the last mooneys made. They looked pretty good and are another option, but are quite big. Not sure who makes them. For those who have done new panels, is back lighting the labels for the switches a thing? Like how bonanzas and a lot of bigger planes use electroluminescent lighting behind the panel, that’s controlled with a rheostat. I just think it looks cooler than having panel lighting under the glare shield or sticking out form the panel itself

Title says it all. Was looking at planes a few nights ago and saw this 81J for 300k!! I’m sure most of us are guilty of looking at planes, even though we are perfectly content with our own. I get the plane has well over 100k in work done recently but still. I can get a tricked out 90s long body for 300k or even a g1000 ovation. Just seems like the epitome of the saying “you’ll never get what you put into it” https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/237016605/1981-mooney-m20j-201-piston-single-aircraft?gad_source=1

I suppose I’m based as I’m currently dealing with exactly what @EricJ said. Mooney is of no help as they said they wouldn’t give me any technical data or drawings without permission of an Mooney engineer. I’m doubtful Mooney has a need for an engineer, so pretty sure they don’t have one anymore. Now I’m left in a scenario where I’ve been aog for 3 months and had to find a solution to get it airworthy so I can fly it to another shop that’s confident in their work. These are all Mooney certified parts and modifications Mooney sold back in the day, that I’m trying to do. Not trying to do anything wild mind you. But each IA interpretation is different and some are enslaved by fear of the FAA for everything.

Griggs told me this is what they use and said I could use them… so that’s good enough for me. If they asked anyone or modified the stc, I don’t really know or care. They are great people and one of the few places you can trust these days. Unpopular opinion but I think a lot of the FAA rules on parts are egregious. Not trying to start an argument but that’s my opinion. Everyone will do things to their plane that some would appall at. Such as changing all the interior incandescent bulbs to leds. Or using the led non pma bulbs in grimes nav light etc.

There was no stc or anything I had to pay for. I called up Griggs she said they were waiting on the caps to be made. Fast forward a month later I got the caps and paid 432 with shipping. Even if you could find the cap that was on my plane you couldn’t get one for that price. Mine weren’t the ones used on everything else. Griggs had used a specific version that Shaw supplied only to them and who else I don’t know. But you can’t find my caps no matter how hard you try. And I know 432 is less than any new Shaw cap on the market so I’m perfectly tickled pink by it. Like I said if your Mooney has bladders this is a no brainer upgrade. I paid at least over 200 bucks for all new seals and the plastic washers on my old shaws. Because of course the blue seal on mine was different than every other Shaw cap.

If you have bladders in your Mooney these caps are a no brainer. Lockable, no silly metal washer that needs to be replaced with a 100 dollar plastic one and super easy to get on and off. There is replacement parts available from AS for 20bucks. If I accidentally lose a cap, I can buy an entirely new cap for less than 200 bucks. So they’re readily available and are cheap. Best of all I can buy them new and not used. They’re the same brand of cap diamonds use and a lot of experimentals use. Be my guest to overpay for an outdated design and a company who could care less about GA. But I wasn’t supporting that nonsense anymore. At least when I google Newton a company actually shows up https://fuelsafe.com/products/a4l

The Mooney service manual says to use tri flow whenever they start to get tough. But the ultimate fix is to just replace the caps with something much better. I have bladders and Griggs uses these caps on all there new installs. I previously had the awful Shaw ones. I don’t see why it couldn’t be used on normal mooneys. I know the Griggs hole pattern is different so they special order them from Newton. https://fuelsafe.com/collections/motorsports-refueling-fuel-caps

I’m currently in the process of replacing my dukes 1057 with an avionics actuator along with replacing my old crank emergency extension to the weed eater style between the seat. All I can find is that Mooney sold a retrofit kit back in the day and that’s it. There some information on replacing the dukes with the itt but nothing else. Maybe one of y’all have a plane with this done and have the 337 and any associated documents.

No, my old one is fine and I plan to sell it. The spline drive cable got destroyed on my old one. So I went down a rabbit hole and decided to do the second most expensive fix. The cable would have been 3k from McFarlane and I just wasn’t paying that much to get just a cable. So I got the Eaton and all the parts to make my old emergency extension the new style.

No, it’s the Eaton one that Lasar sells

If anyone has ever wondered what one of those 10k gear actuators on Lasar looks like, here you go. Kyle was great at building up the actuator, can’t recommend them enough. They serviced my old dukes actuator and complied with the Ad. It took about 2 months to get my old and new actuator but the first 2 weeks was spent on deciding what I wanted to do. It’s an old core that was pulled from some aircraft. He goes through them and replaces any of the worn parts and complies with any AD’s.

Why does everyone seem to use continentals if they have so many issues compared to lycomings?

I don’t know where you are getting that information from but Textron doesn’t come close with cirrus on sales. They seem to only care about growing their jet fleet and have left their ga fleet in the dust. They haven’t changed the design or function of any of the Cessna singles, nor the Beechcraft fleet. I wish they would make a new equivalent of the 210. Or maybe tease the idea making a modern 421.

This proves a great point. Mooney has always struggled as a company. They built a great plane, but could never market or sell it correctly to sustain. They’ve always been behind the curve and always will be. It sucks mooney won’t ever compete with cirrus. Not even Cessna can compete with them. Cirrus can market a product, add the features needed, and most importantly deliver. Speed isn’t what sells planes, I think cirrus has shown that. Having 2 doors, the chute, and being advertised as “less” maintenance cost due to the fixed gear has won them the best selling ga plane year after year. I will always wonder if Mooney just sold them as expensive as a cirrus, added a chute, would they be able to take some sales away from cirrus to survive.

We’re just giving OP all the possible avenues to search for. You can’t argue that the da50 isn’t a nice looking plane. It’s brand new so it’s bound to have issues with it.

I concur with this, 2 doors makes a huge difference for getting in and out. Diamonds are beautiful planes but also on the pricey side. The only diamond that’s comparable to a Mooney is the new da50rg which is a 1.5million dollar plane. I’ve also heard that the complexity of the whole fadec can make diamonds quite problematic but that was in the flight school environment.

I look at the options like this. If money is no concern go get a g36 bonanza. Cheaper to maintain than 350 has the same amount of seats and good load with speed. If you solely want to go fast with 2 people the Mooney is the best plane there is. And lastly the cirrus is just a good all around. Comfortable, cheaper maintenance but the parachute makes up for not having retract. I’ve never flown one but can’t imagine they are that bad. Bonanzas seating position is so natural and go decently fast, not to mention a high load for most 36 series. The mooneys are the pilots plane. They handle the best out of any plane but have heavy control forces in return. They are hands down the fastest but lack in useful load and options. Go fly all of them, roll around in the interior and take whoever is going to fly with you the most.

Mooney, are great planes don’t get me wrong but there’s quite a few parts that are impossible to get. Mooney doesn’t offer much anymore in terms of support or service. Lasar is hands down the best but they are working with a culmination of years of parts hoarding. The Mooney seating position is probably the most uncomfortable position of any of your choices. It’s unbearable but also not great. You can pick up a gen3 sr22T for about the same, most times less than a Mooney with nxi. Cirrus being in business is a huge deal but you need to plan ahead for parts. I love bonanzas but unless you need 6 seats I wouldn’t pay what a modern g36 cost. If you want to get places fast then a Mooney is the best choice. Just be ready for a limited selection of parts that’s steadily declining.

Hence, why whenever people talk about the lever being accidentally unlatched when the gear is down, the gear ceases to function because you’ve essentially disengaged it from its electrical function. Basically, the gear won’t come up when the lever is unlatched because it is not engaged.

There is 2 cables, one that runs through a pulley to the spindle in the back of the gear motor “the one you’re referencing” and one that runs to the disengage arm of the gear motor. When you pull up on the lever, you are disengaged the gear motor so you can pull on the T handle to have the gear come down essentially. I have circled and highlighted where the 2 cables run. I found the picture on here so it’s not the best. Also you can see both cables in the IPC. Number 32 is the one I’m talking about and 13 is what you’re talking about.

Can anyone send a picture of how the cable is attached to the red lever. I know it’s held in place by the rear cotter pin but does the casing that’s around it come all the way up through the floor or is just tue bare cable. I find it hard to see how the cable moves to release the arm but then again I’m just playing around with it not installed.