DonMuncy

I forget the exact number (or numbers), but somewhere around 14 inch MP, the prop starts pushing the engine. Bob was/is a fine pilot and has a lot of good information. I don't necessarily agree with all his conclusions, but his facts are great. Ie. I fully believe the part about the prop driving the engine, but I am not sure that is necessarily that bad.

Bob Kromer (at one time he was Mooney's production test pilot) said they used a torque meter between the crankshaft and prop, so they could see when it went from "engine pushing prop" to "prop pushing engine". However, if you are saying that there is no problem with the prop pushing the engine, I have no knowledge about that.

We need to publicly acknowledge, and let Mike Elliott, the Mooney Summit folks, and the Bill Gilliland Foundation folks know that we appreciate them. Their efforts to reduce the heartache and pain associated with the loss of life in Mooney accidents is unbelievably generous, and I suspect greatly appreciated by the families of the victims.

The plastic inserts are to keep the attaching screws from grounding the sender to the tank. The wire to the sender "continues" on to the outer sending unit, where that sending unit is grounded to the tank. This allows the gauge sense the "average" of the two sending units for the gauge reading.

Parker Woodruff, on this site.

My ignorance of the subject matter involved keeps me from having a decent appreciation of your work. But I am smart enough to know that your knowledge and expertise is valuable and should be preserved. I am glad people like you do what you do.

I was just reading my latest edition of General Aviation News, in which a reader, in a letter to the editor, states that during break-in of a engine he can hear not only the change in pitch when the rings become seated, but can hear each cylinder as it seats. Has anyone ever heard such a pitch change, or even heard anyone claim to have heard it. I would say he is exaggerating beyond belief, except that it seems that many people are a lot more sensitive in their perceptions than I am.

There is no reason why you could not. I don't know whether insurance companies sell salvage planes by auction, or by an established relationship with salvage plane buyers. My guess would be they seek bids. If that is the case, you would have to make yourself very knowledgeable about how much you should bid.

I don't think anyone here wants their A&P to sell his products/services below cost and go out of business. But I am afraid that some of them lean a little heavy on the profit margin on parts to avoid having to raise their hourly rate. Much like the restaurants that sell drinks that cost them virtually nothing, for $2+, rather than raising their prices for food. I think we would all be better off if they did was less maneuvering of the "incidentals" and just raised their hourly rate to indicate their real value. After all, that is what we are really paying for; the expertise of the guy who does the work. I just paid a dental guru $1900 for a redo (30 years later) on a root canal. I didn't fuss. And everyone here knows what a CB I am.

The decision whether to pay for repair or declare it a total loss is up to the insurance company. Generally they work on the premise that if the repair cost is 80% of more of the agreed value, they will pay the full value and sell the salvage. If it is close, very often your insurance broker will go to bat for you and try to sway them the way you prefer.

Welcome aboard Matt. Several Mooneyspace guys are around Austin.

Where might one look for specs to build their own fire complaint cabinet. Sounds like my kind of project.

I think you are thinking of Rockwall. If you Google Map Rockville, it flips you to Rockwall.

Not too much thread creep. At Dallas (RBD) we just finished up a periodic inspection. This time the Fire Marshall and the City Aviation Department teamed up, (theoretically) checking for both fire hazards and non-aviation items in hangars. As usual, they yelled about my O2 and acetylene tanks. They don't mind the oxygen, but for my 2 big tanks, they want to charge me a yearly fee (about $300; presumably each). Since my hanger elf did some rewiring and put in extra outlet receptacles, they didn't have a problem with my electricity. But this time they jumped me about "too many" containers of fluids. Rattle paint cans, multiple solvents, soaps, waxes, carb cleaner, fuel stabilizer (for mower/tug), etc. They want me to get a fire proof cabinet for them. I really wouldn't mind, except those cabinets are awfully expensive. So a bunch of stuff went home until they migrate back out to the hangar as I need them. I am trying to get the FBO manager to give me a heads-up when they are going to show up.

Very interesting. I assume you are saying that over a period of time, the engine gets progressively rougher at the same fuel flow, or requires less leaning to run smooth, and then after using solvent on the injectors, the prior (smooth running at x gph) condition was restored. At the risk of sounding like I am questioning your veracity (which I am not), can anyone think of any other explanation.