docket

I bought a gust lock from Air Gizmos -- works great.

At least my picture will show me with hair.

I am based a KHOU and was just curious who else out there owns a Mooney in the Houston area. I was thinking that we should all hook up somewhere and exchange stories, and see each other's planes and mods, kind of like my car club does.

I use Rejex but i ain't buying it for speed. I like it because it is easy to apply.

I like the 696 because it gets the flight plan from the 530 so the course it is depicting is always current. That is pretty helpful in IFR. I used to use a Fujitsu 1630 with Flightprep but when they were changing runways or doing something near the end of the flight it was too much hassle to enter the new waypoint twice. Plus I like the terrain alert and altitude alert that the 696 gives. The 696 always calls out 500 feet before the landing which is nice when you are heading to minimums. If money is no object, its 696 for me.

I have touched up the nose gear for the millionth time from the tow bar at my FBO. They are not mishandling the plane its just that they have to tow it a 1000 feet every time and the paint is going to come off of the ends of the tube where the towbar inserts. Anyone ever done anything to remedy that? What would be good would be a cap of some sort that would cover the ends but thats just a thought. It may be that there is no solution beyond regular touchup sessions.

Maxwell put in my EI gauge and it is awesome. The plane doesnt run hot anymore.

It looks good on the Aerostar but it looks like it is grafted on the Mooney.

Quote: N223MM Docket, Did you wind up with the leading edge tape? If so how did it work out? If not have you come up with another solution to your leading edges?

And it really matters where your probes are in the system. The Mooney gauge shows much hotter temps than the EI -- I have difficulty breaking 375 on the egt.

Quote: tony I have read this string a few times and I have a question for those guys that did this mod. If you have to keep the airspeed indicator, artificial horizon and altimeter (you maintaining the failure modes of the cert basis) when you install the Garmin unit, Is there a way to replace the function of the turn and bank indicator to keep the PC functioning? or do you have to keep that indicator as well? I guess I have the same question for Peter who installed the 3 aspen units.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff Sic 'Em Bears. You in Austin to watch that fine football team tomorrow?

Never go to College Station. UT is the only place.

Quote: allsmiles If you presently have a KFC 150 (or KAP 150) with the HSI it makes no sense whatsoever to give this up for some glass. Some try to make the ridiculous argument that you can have a vacuum failure. Yes you can have a vacuum failure. But remember you can be proactive and spend ~ $300 every 500 hours and replace your vacuum pump, and ~$2000 every 1000 hours to overhaul the AI AND HSI. I'm assuming that you do have the CV1J4 Clear view inline filter installed to protect the instruments from carbon dust. This is standard equipment on all Mooneys since 1994. Doing the math you will budget $2500 every 10 years which is ~$250 a year!!! I personally like the appearance of the AI and HSI in my KFC 150. They are serious precision instruments which look like they belong in my Mooney if you know what I mean. They complement the machine. Incidentally a vacuum failure is only an issue in hardcore IFR. In anything less than that it's a non issue. The HSI is electric. Also if you really want to be proactive and you fly hard IFR all the time, in addition to what I mentioned, you can install an electric BU AI for a few hundred bucks. Just my opinion.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff They are essentially the same because the G500 is basically a decontented G600. With the G500 you have to add synthetic vision if you want it. Also you have to add a GAD 43 if you need it. My STEC autopilot did not need the GAD 43 so the G600 offers nothing extra. As for maintainence differences between the G500 and the six pack I'll bet you can maintain the 6 pack all you need and come out way ahead even if you have to buy a HSI every decade. Remember you will still have to maintain a "three pack" anyway so the economics are really not there. Nevertheless, I have a G500 in mine and love it, the synthetic vision is awesome and with the G500 I now have a flight director and altitude preselect. Kind of funny, it shows the post by Parker but this is really Docket. But we both have a G500 unless Parker has sold out already.

I know that a bunch of you have done this but I never have. Jacking up the plane looks pretty straightforward by putting a jack under each wing and replacing the eyebolt with a jackpoint but what happens at the nose gear? I am going to try and figure out why my gear down light is blowing the breaker as the wheels cycle up and down but I need (obviously) to be able to cycle the gear on the ground with the belly pan removed. Eric

Quote: gofast I've been having some intermittant weirdness on the TACH/MP/EGT/CHT/OP/OT cluster in the Eagle. Specifically, the RPM will vary in unison, both analog and digital. The CHT will occasionally jump off the scale then return to normal, (after sending my pulse into orbit). When I saw a digital reading of 1780' CHT and didn't see molten metal streaming by the windows I figured it was an erroneous indication. Finally, my OT is now intermittantly wandering. I've chased connectors and probes. I guess it's time to bench check the box. Anyone else had Moritz problems or experiences to share?

I have one in my S model which is a little different but may be helpful nonetheless. There should be a pick in my gallery. Otherwise, look at selectavionics.com and look in the portfolios and you will see the panel. Eric

Quote: Geoff Time isn't the only barrier. Guess how much Mooney wants for the panel dimmer switch??? Wait for it...... $1,884.47 USD.

Quote: carusoam Docket, Does the 355 cam belt get serviced every 15,000 miles, and do they pull the engine out for it? Glad to see the AC is back in your A/C. -a-

Quote: docket All I'll say on the topic is that it shouldn't matter whether you pay up front, in the middle or at the end. What matters is that the work gets done well and when promised. For that matter if they asked to be paid up front I'd do it because who cares about the timing of payment. With interest rates and the stock market these days I might be better off paying in advance before the guys in Washington take any more of the money out of my account. Frankly, it shouldn't be a great surprise that the cashflow and overhead at Mooney is not particularly good right now because, among other things, I suspect that their leasehold expense is much larger that your typical service center. I want to do my part to support those guys because their success flows down to all of us. I have never been to the factory for service but I am going to run up there next week for some air conditioning work. Now if they don't fix it then I'll make them walk the plank. Ahoy mateys.

So far that is the only part that hasn't cracked -- you must have a good plane.

I have an Avon liferaft on my sailboat that automatically inflates when it gets wet. I think if you slow the approach speed down enough you may be able to pull of a landing. I'll tie it on and get the camera ready.

This is slightly off topic but make sure that your temp gauge is right. My Moritz OEM gauge was off by almost 80 degrees. I didn't realize it until I put in an engine monitor.

Quote: sellis Mooney Airplane Company would like to take this opportunity to clarify some of the topics covered within this thread and state actual practices of the Mooney Factory Service Center. Our standard terms do require a 50% deposit at the start of a job as is printed on the estimate for every job and provided to the customer in writing. Advanced deposits do allow for the manufacture or purchase of parts required ahead of time so that at your time of arrival we can start work on your plane immediately; minimizing delays and allowing better throughput of work in the Service Center but are not mandated. Lead times will be quoted accordingly. Furthermore, we work with the minimum resources required and therefore rely heavily on good scheduling and planning of jobs in order to satisfy customer requested completion dates. Advanced deposits help guarantee start dates for you and tend to minimize fluctuation of customers requested start dates. Our goal at Mooney Airplane Company continues to be “every employee satisfies every customer every time.” We at the Factory Service Center consider each job, like your Mooneys to be unique, and welcome the opportunity to quote any work for you and to answer any of your questions. Mooney Airplane Company