DonMuncy

How do you put it up there? Step ladder?

One bit of advice not mentioned; stay on Mooneyspace and read a lot. Find a Mooney owner near you; get to know him/her and hang out. Most of us are happy to share information.

When you get in after dark, needing to unload the plane, the cabin/baggage light is quite helpful. But with the price of batteries, without a timer, it is a pretty risky convenience.

Mine is electronic circuit, with a Darlington pair transistor set-up fed by a "master switch controlled" power source which feeds a capacitor. When the master is turned off, the capacitor bleeds off through a resistor set-up, until the voltage drops to a level the circuit shuts off. This is typical timer circuitry, and one minute or so timers are easy and cheap. Getting one that stays on for 10 or so minutes is a lot tougher. It took me some time and help from electronic gurus to develop it. If one went on Ali baba and had someone build 1000 of them, you could probably buy them for $3 each. As it is, I build them by hand and test them with 14 or 28 v. I sell them for $40. It is housed in a plastic box 1 x 2 1/4 x 4 inch box and can be mounted anywhere. I put mine on the copilot foot well wall.

I am not sure what you have, but most Mooneys have the cabin light wired independent of the master switch. We get in trouble when we forget to turn the light off or when we accidentally turn the switch on. If you don't notice it is on, you come back to the hangar a week later and find your battery dead and ruined. The timer will turn the light off 10 minutes or so after the master is turned off. Unfortunately, there is no cure I am aware of which will protect you against forgetting to turn the master off.

Ross, I sent you PM, but yes mine work on all models.

I wonder what they charge for that kit. If I knew, I would probably be tempted to charge more for mine.

After I killed a battery by leaving my baggage compartment light on, I developed an electronic circuit that will shut off the baggage light in all planes after 10 minutes or so. Pretty cheap insurance since batteries are so expensive now.

The advantage of the straight slot camlocs is that you can tell at a glance that they are all fastened securely.

If anyone has guts enough to try them, I would sure like to hear about their experience.

It is my understanding that it is possible to clamp the gear some way so the plane could be ferried (gear down) to somewhere a good Mooney guru could check it. Doesn't someone know how this is done?

I have only made the one set. The biggest problem is whether the "inside" horns of the yokes will accommodate the "posts". I assume the structural tube at the bottom of the panel is the same on all Mooneys. If you want to get a rough measurement of the diameter and depth of the cavity in the horns, and verify the bottom panel tube is semi-accessible, I will see if I could turn out another pair. We should be able to work out a reasonable price.

I am sure most of you have seen my tug design in my album by now, but I have never tried to use it on grass.

Sorry, I was not able to put in photos and words at the same time.

HHHere

That's OK. Sometimes I have trouble remembering it too.

I agree that most any tug is pretty worthless in snow and ice. The ones I make (see my gallery) work well, but they are not really portable.

Hank, You may be taking about me. Indeed, I am still making visors, but not for center post mounts. Don Muncy

I would look for a grounding wire a little loose. Easy enough to use a wire and a couple of alligator clips to make a temporary ground to check (although a PIA to get back there to hook it up).

A trip to the Home Depot brass fitting department will get you a couple of fittings to make a removable plug. Yes, it always aeems a waste to fill a tank with a substantial amount of O2 still in it, but there is no other way.

Geez, you guys make my head spin. I know only slightly more than red to positive, black to negative.

I agree with that idea. It happened to me once. But I think Battery Minders are a good idea. My thought is that, periodically, you should disconnect the Battery Minder for a week and check to see if it will start the plane easily. (Is that a CB's battery capacity test?)

I agree, except I would move corrosion to the top of the list. And I would tell the person doing the inspection, that if corrosion is found, stop the inspection at that point. No use continuing to incur cost.

I don't know how that would work if they charged you with the testing fee. If you are constantly swapping O2 tanks with them, you might wind up with one that needs a test every time you swapped, just from bad luck.

I have swapped multiple times and have never seen a bill for a hydro test.