DonMuncy

I am not sure how that works. Will any fuel blender pay a royalty (or some other term) to GAMI to use your formula? Have fuel makers previously paid a fee to someone to use their formula? Or is it like a patent; they only paid it for a period of time? If they pay GAMI for every gallon they sell, I would assume that will be added into the price paid by the ultimate user. Or will it be like other patent situations; someone will steal your formula, change it by a tweak and call it a new product? Then does the FAA step in and say "to be used in aircraft, it must be GAMI's exact formula"?

Oh I beseech you, aircraft Gods, please do not let the evil of corrosion smite me.

The problem with going with your gut, is that for a first time buyer, there is little gut to go on. When I bought my plane 22 years ago, I didn't know squat. I might have bought what I thought was a pretty one, with all kinds of problems. But I was lucky and ran into Don Maxwell and Jimmy Garrison early on. If you have been an aircraft owner before, you know a lot more about what to look for. If someone discovers Mooneyspace when they start looking they should be eons ahead of where I was.

I totally agree. But a "missed" item on a general examination, might be easier to explain than missed corrosion on a corrosion examination. Possibly no difference, but we are trying to do all we can to stack the deck in our favor. And remember any contract is only as good as the individual/entity entering into the contract and their ability/willingness to make it right, if it goes sideways.

That is why I think you should have the shop do a corrosion inspection before anything else. If corrosion is present, at least, you don't have the expense of the rest of the inspection.

Somebody tell me if I am wrong! I don't think I would consider buying travel boards unless I was in the maintenance business. It is my understanding that the travel boards are not the end of the rigging process, but kind of the beginning. After setting with the boards, it needs to be test flown and tweaked until perfect. After that, without some major disassembly or accident, you would be unlikely to ever need them again. That being said, my opinion might change if they were extremely cheap, or if you plan to resell them. Then it would be kind of like renting them.

I think the prebuy should be done in steps: Close inspection for airframe corrosion. If found, reject and move one. Engine. Compressions and borescope. If problems found see if seller will consider a difference of the cost of an overhaul in the price. If not move one. Tank leaks. If found, see if seller will consider a difference of the cost of a tank reseal in the price. If not move one. At that point, I might consider having the A&P/AI do all the inspection required of an annual (but no do an annual). If the deal is consumated, fip it to an annual and you are set for a year.

If you want to be fancy, you can cut grooves in your stick and fill them with JB Weld.

Sorry, I have never seen a visor like that before.

I think that virtually everyone ignores drying the air inside the cylinders. Probably because depending on which valves are open and closed, it would be a REAL job to assure drying all the cylinders all the time. Some folks talk about seepage past the rings, which I think is wishful thinking at best. Perhaps because the crankcase volume is larger than the cylinder volume, it isn't so critical. In any event, we do what we can within some economic reality, and hope we are making a difference.

An open letter to MSers about my very early visors. When I first started looking into making visors (probably before 2018), back before I started keeping any records, I turned out a few sets of them with articulating ball type joints that I made from scratch. They were pretty crappy. If by any chance any of you that got them, are not completely put out with me, I would like to make it right, to you. If you will PM me, I will build you a new set and credit whatever you originally paid me for the worthless ones, against a current set. Don

What you are describing is an engine with potential problems, but none likely to cause a castastropic failure, or full loss of power. I would not be afraid to fly it, but I would hesitate to get a couple of thousand of miles away from home before I had some experience with the engine. (Oil consumption, metal in the filter, etc.)

I hate to belabor the point, especially as it is of little consequence to me how other people operate their engines. But I think the concept is fairly important. Ordinarily, I defer to the recommendations of manufacturers of equipment, as they are usually in the best position to have superior knowledge about the things they make. But sometimes new technology or just superior attention to details, can over-ride that belief. Anyone who has seen the equipment and instrumentation at GAMI would have a hard time ignoring the data they are capable of providing. My point is, that it is wise to critically examine information and recommendations presented to us, as aircraft owners, and consider other ideas and conclusions. Especially if the original information available has been in existence for a long period of time. After all, if we were to blindly follow the instructions we are given, we would still be operating our engines at 50 degrees rich of peak EGT; about the worst possible place for engine longevity.

The best information I have seen (from the highly instrumented data of the guys at GAMI) is that the turbo temperatures are actually lowest at landing. The taxi time and "supposed" cool down time actually warms it back up a bit.

It is really surprising how well ordinary rattle-can paint looks on plastic parts, if you can't find any the color you want.

It is almost certainly at a screw, not a rivet.

I understand about the surviving the experience. I had the hydraulic clutch line on my Elan break so many times, I sometimes think I drove it without using the clutch as much as I did with it. I don't actually know what series mine was. I suspect it was series 1. I bought it in about 1967. After I rolled it into a ball, I had a new frame shipped over from England and rebuilt it.

Thanks for the explanation.

I'm not sure I understand that. Can you say it another way.

I agree on all points. I have also owned a Super 7 and a Europa.

Not by a long shot. I really enjoyed that series. I also really liked the car. Better than any other vehicle I have ever owned. Too bad it was typical british with oil leaks everywhere, Lucas electrics, etc. If I was younger and had made the time, I would have liked to fix it and still be driving it. I have had a couple of Miatas, and they are close, but much heavier than the Elan.

Byron, By receptacle, I assume you mean the part that is riveted into the lower cowling. Are they not completely compatable with the original camlocks?

I had a Lotus Elan with "pop up" headlights that used a rubber bellows that sounds similar to what is being discussed. When one of mine leaked, I used a hot patch like we used to use on inner tubes. It worked for years.

My advice is to buy the newest nicest Mooney you can comfortably afford. The bigger engine is nice, but far from necessary. The turbo is very nice, but not necessary. The J model will do close to what the newest and nicest will do. In fact, a J will perform as well (or perhaps a smidge better) than my K model up to about 8000 ft. Only above that level does the turbo start to shine. But be careful what comfortably will mean to you. I suspect one who has not owned a plane has no real idea about the costs involved.

I posted this before and got little response, so I thought I would try again. At the Mooney Summit, I won a pair of gift certificates from Wisconsin, one for $250 toward an interior refurbishment and one for $250 toward an annual inspection. Being in Texas, if no one is interested, they will go to waste. They are good for their locations at Watertown Municipal Airport, Dodge County airport and Dane County Regional Airport. They expire 9/19/23. Surely they are of some value to someone in that area. If you have any interest. let me know.