Slick Nick

When I originally saw this on Facebook the day after it happened, I replied to one of your comments there, but I’ll reiterate here: great job getting it down in one piece. I’ve spent many many hours over that neck of the woods and I know the terrain out there is less than friendly. You were fortunate to find that road where you did, not just for the hard surface to land on, but for the link to civilization. Landing safely is no good if you can’t avoid exposure. I understand the reluctance in wanting to fly it after that, I think once you have a good mechanic go over it with a fine tooth comb, it will be good to go as long as they’re sure that they’ve found the cause.

Yes. They just painted over top of the issue, albeit probably not intentionally. It was only noticeable once the paint (which had nothing to adhere to) started flaking off.

It depends what's causing the issue. If it's an air leak, what's to say it doesn't suddenly get worse on your 30 mile flight and cook the cylinder? If there's a way for you to "limp" it there at a reduced power setting that may be advantageous.

Shot you a reply @Old Chub with my contact information in it.

Why do you care so much? Just move along and read another thread.

Speak for yourself. For how badly that shop hacked up the guy’s panel, he’s earned the right to vent as much as he wants to.

The fact that they couldn’t even be bothered to pick up the phone and call you makes me wonder what else they may have taken liberties with.

Disagree with this. If the throttle was originally installed before the panel was mounted, then a new one can be installed the same way. It may cost an extra 6 hours to remove / remount the panel, but that is exactly why you call the customer and ask what they would rather do. "This doesn't fit, we can either pull the panel to install it, which will cost you 6 hours, or we can do it in 1 hour by cutting a notch in the panel. Which would you prefer?" I would be absolutely furious if I saw my panel hacked up like that, and my panel isn't anywhere near as nice I assure you. The fact that they couldn't even be bothered to pick up the phone is troublesome. I have no skin in the game, I've never used this shop nor will I, being in another country. But lots of these anecdotes read as though the shop has grown "too big for it's britches" and the quality of work seems to be suffering.

Bought this on a whim last fall from Alan Fox on eBay. Not much use to me in a Canadian aircraft, as our ADS-B requirements are different and require 1090 diversity, so I’ve decided to go in a different direction. Brand new in box, opened only to take photos. For those not familiar with the GDL-82, it allows you to add ADS-B out to any mode C transponder equipped aircraft. It installs between your transponder and existing antenna, which allows for a seamless installation. Keep your panel intact, and minimize downtime. Includes: GDL-82 Unit GA-35 WAAS antenna Wiring harness Certificate of conformance Original invoice I paid $1800 USD for this unit, my loss is your gain. Will sell to a MooneySpace member for $1600 plus shipping. UNIT SOLD

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?

There are videos on YouTube. Personally, I'd just buy a new (used) one and be done with it. They're cheap, you can find them from all the usual suspects, even eBay for like $1500.