Slick Nick

Are they an improvement over stock? What I mean to say is, are they a different material that would be more forgiving to cracking / impact? Do you ship to Canada?

Well done mate!

Jeremy, you need to stop taking things so personally. People are pointing things out that you may not have looked at in an effort to assist you with your new aircraft, especially since you are new to the platform. That’s what forums like this are all about, sharing information. I suggest you leave your feelings out of it and stick to the facts. There are a lot of “red flags” with your airplane that may warrant closer inspection of certain areas. That’s all. Whether you choose to address them or not, that’s up to you. Things were obviously missed on your pre buy, and subsequent annuals. You’ve had the same shop perform the work, sometimes it is a good idea to have fresh sets of eyes on things to provide a new perspective. Mistakes happen, but getting upset isn’t going to help you solve any of the issues. As I said above, it’s not the specific things that are being nitpicked, it’s the overall condition of the aircraft. For example, if the paint shop couldn’t be bothered to even mask off the area in front of the tail, what else did they cut corners on? If the pre-buy, and three subsequent annuals weren’t able to reveal the massive area of corrosion on your filler neck, what else did they miss? Did they even remove the fuel cap? Did they look inside the fuel tank to determine the condition of the sealant? It’s obvious that no, they didn’t, or else they would have easily spotted that corrosion. Are you starting to understand the problem here?

That’s a good point. I wonder how much corrosion has taken place within the fuel system. That cap has been leaking for years, wouldn’t surprise me if those tanks and lines have seen a bunch of water, which if left unchecked can quickly cause corrosion in the entire fuel system.

Are you sure you had a thorough pre buy done? Between that janky panel wiring, the corrosion under the fuel cap, simple things like unplugged connectors being missed, I’d be having some serious words with who ever you paid to do that inspection. Stuff like that should have been caught and noted by even the most unscrupulous mechanic. I have to agree with the sentiments on the paint job. While it may look nice from 15 feet, the close up photos that you’ve posted show a paint job that was hastily applied, and where the preparation is in question. I understand you may have an emotional attachment to this aircraft, but don’t take it personally. People are trying to help you out, and it seems as though you may be blinded by rose colored glasses. It’s important with something as complex as an aircraft, to which you are entrusting you life and the lives of your family and others, that you be vigilant with stuff that you find, no matter how insignificant it may seem. It’s not so much the corrosion on the fuel neck that’s the issue itself, that piece can be replaced. It’s that the things which were missed were so obvious, what else is wrong with the aircraft that you haven’t found yet? I have a hard time believing that airplane was stored in a hangar, unless it didn’t have a roof on it. I suspect there is much more corrosion to be found behind access panels, etc. I hope you got one hell of a deal on it, there are unfortunately lots of garbage airplanes out there where buyers are conned into ownership by a fancy looking paint job. Someone went to the trouble to spend all that money on paint and a J model windshield, but couldn’t be bothered to install the radios properly? What else was done half-assed?

This is what the prototype process is all about! Learning what works and what doesn't. Great work so far!

As far as the J model was concerned, the wingtips were introduced long before the MSE. They came factory equipped on serial number 24-1038 and later. Your J probably fell into that serial number range. It has nothing to do with the MSE, that was just the article I posted for the benefit of your education.

Did you have a pre buy inspection done? I’m surprised something like that wasn’t caught.

I don’t think there’s any special procedures. It’s been ages since I’ve used mine, but I think once power is connected it automatically closes the master relay? I think I turned on my battery first, then connected the power supply. Leave the alternator master off until the power supply is disconnected after start. This is out of the service manual for my ‘91 J model 28V.

It’s been documented time and time again that there is a performance benefit to be had. How much is open for debate, but to continue to ignore the data in thread after thread and trying to rebut it with anecdotes of Thrush crop dusters seems like a fruitless endeavour.

According to FLYING mag’s interview with the guys at Mooney regarding the wingtips installed on the J models, they decreased the clean stall speed by 6 knots and helped improve short field takeoff performance.

Weird. The cowl looks longer than a J from this angle. It’s only a couple of serial numbers behind mine off the assembly line. Maybe the three bladed prop makes it look longer.

That looks like a K. The round windows mean maybe a 252? It's got a longer cowl than a J would have from this angle.

Would the fine pitch stops have something to do with this if they're out of adjustment?