Slick Nick

Yep. Just twist it around one of the gaps. .040” works best, leave about 1/4” and tuck it up parallel to the hinge.

I meant to say spring CLIP. There are no springs inside the wemacs. The paper towel tube is exactly the right size to slip over, and is easy to hold while you’re spraying, then you can quickly move onto the next one.

I removed my wemac's to clean and repair them, two had lost their springs. It's a pain in the ass you need to cut them out of the headliner, drill out the rivets, then for reinstall rivet them back in, and use PVC cement to build back up the housing that holds them. If you do want to just mask them, an empty paper towel tube fits perfectly over them and provides a really nice invisible border.

This. I actually go out of my way to load the airplane more tail heavy for improved true airspeed I believe on the classic Mooney's, the battery was located up front on the firewall?

While the main objective is to seal the baffles, I’m always amazed at how many mechanics will just gob the RTV on like that. Only takes a few minutes to run a couple pieces of masking tape before you apply the sealant. Hit it with an acid brush to make it lay down a nice texture and then remove the tape. Professional looking sealant every time. That looks awful, I don’t blame you for wanting to redo it.

Call Savvy. I bet Mike Busch will tell you to replace the bolt and run it, which is what I would do. His wisdom on stuff like this is worth the small price of admission.

Because Piper has those huge inner gear doors on a lot of their models. They create large amounts of drag when they open to let the wheels up into the well. I remember decades ago when I flew Navajos, if it was an engine failure on takeoff, it was actually advantageous to leave the gear down, because retracting it opened up the doors to the point that you couldn’t maintain altitude at blue line. That was one of the rare instances where you left the gear down until you got some air under your ass to retract it because it would sink momentarily with all of that stuff hanging out.

Not really one caveat, thousands. It’s impossible to write a POH for every conceivable scenario. Which is why it’s written for a “worst case” which would be slow, and low to the ground, with low energy on a balked landing. The recovery from a balked landing doesn’t need to be used at 1500’ on a discontinued approach outside the FAF, nor was I inferring that. This is where airmanship and good judgement comes into play.

Later models have a blue “BOOST PUMP” indication in the annunciatior panel.

I don’t have any experience with that. My airplane has flap preselect and reaching down for the switch takes no time at all. Don’t even really have to look at it, it’s easily found by feel. (I do not have electric cowl flaps, which would share the same shape of switch.)

These are recommended procedures from Mooney. There’s no requirement to follow them. I’ve been in commercial aviation most of my life, and like the military, it causes you to think and make decisions a lot differently than the average “weekend warrior” private pilot. I tend to lean to the side of doing what’s published in the POH / AFM because even if they’re just recommended procedures, they’re recommended for a reason. Fly your airplane how you want to.

I think Rick has the right idea about going in through the top. If internal moisture is an issue, an exhaust ball might help.

Vice grips? Wouldn’t you just have them open the door from the outside?

You are perhaps either overthinking this, or not understanding what each step in the sequence is trying to achieve. The plane won’t climb very well with full flaps. They do create a little bit of lift, but that is outweighed by the amount of drag they induce. The gear does nothing but create drag when trying to climb. In Mooney’s testing, they’ve obviously determined that the primary objective is to get the wing cleaner first, and then bring up the gear, then flaps up once the drag is gone and you’re safely climbing away and accelerating. The application of full power, flaps T/O, positive rate gear up, happens about as fast as you can read that. Probably why in a practical sense, the order doesn’t seem to matter. But there is a reason it’s specified to do it one way, and I’m inclined to follow it, even if that reason is as simple as the nose up pitch moment when retracting flaps. Not all planes have electric trim, and departure stalls are common.

Probably because you don’t take off with full flaps…

The “legal” answer, is do what it says in the POH for your model and year. It’s worth noting that in both cases, flaps are retracted before gear.

My ‘91 has preselect, it’s easy to just move it one click and then up to the gear handle. Like I said above, I’ve tried both ways, and can’t detect any appreciable difference in climb performance. Flaps-gear-flaps, if that’s the method recommended by the manufacturer, should be what’s used. They’ve done the flight testing and assessed the performance under a number of conditions, and that’s good enough for me.

I guess that's the airline guy in me talking. It's been drilled into me for decades that anything outside the "bible" puts your ass into the hot seat.

The POH for my MSE calls for flaps to takeoff, then gear, then flaps up, so that’s the way I do it. If something goes wrong, and you don’t follow the procedure outlined by the manufacturer, your insurance company might have a leg to stand on if they wanted out of a claim. Not likely, but why open that door? I’ve practiced both methods and don’t notice a difference aside from the pitching moment, which is what I believe Mooney is trying to limit with their published procedure.

It will be a fun project I’m sure. Have you sourced a new wing? I think BAS has a bunch that would work for you.

Not sure why you’d cut the wing, but it sounds like it needed to be replaced anyways. What’s the backstory on this airplane? Is it sentimental or special to you in some way? The cost involved must be enormous.

I land my J full flaps about 90% of the time. It lands better, and it’s easier on tires and brakes. I still practice other flap configurations, but “normal ops” is to land full flap. There’s not many good reasons not to, as skip pointed out.

Diesels don't run nearly as hot as gas engines, and they take forever to warm up. An electric heater would be the best option, but I also come from the Janitrol era of aviation, so I'll see how this works in practice.

I’ve noticed that too. Is it aerodynamic in nature or related to the change in C of G?

Same here. Still on a dual mag, and haven't had any issues. I know that doesn't necessarily help the OP, but another pro for the dual mag nonetheless. At overhaul time, I'm not looking forward to the conversion.