Greg Ellis

Thank you.

Thanks.

Thanks for the advice. I am leaving this one up to my mechanic.

Sorry...I read my responses and they were vague and probably could have been worded better. I did not want to high jack the original poster's thread. But this is the story.... I had an engine failure in New Mexico a few years ago. I was able to land at Clovis fortunately. They pulled the oil filter and it was chock full of metal. I will never forget the image of how much metal there was in the oil visible to the naked eye. Prior to this flight I had changed my oil and it looked fine visibly, and I did an oil sample and sent it to Blackstone. It did not come back prior to the flight but if it had I never would have taken the flight. Where copper is normally 4, 5, 6 or so, mine showed 400!!!! The engine ran fine up until the point in the flight where the oil temp began to rise and the oil pressure began to fall dramatically. The plane had a cylinder overhauled and I speculate although I cannot prove it, that the cylinder was not torqued on properly and the engine ate one or more bearings. Blackstone Labs told me that is where the copper comes from in an engine. But if I had waited for the analysis to come back, the outcome to the engine would not have been different but I would not have risked my life and my wife's life unknowingly. Story number 2. I flew up to Kansas City from Texas. I had done an oil analysis prior to the flight. One drawback to Blackstone is that they seem to take a long time to get you your results. I was sitting in a restaurant in Kansas City and got a call from Blackstone which is never good when they call you. They advised me not to fly the airplane. I had a shop on the field take off the oil filter and it was a mess. This was on the engine that replaced the one in the previous story. It had about 450 hours on it and was flying great. No issues with temps or pressures or anything else. This took me totally by surprise. So we contacted the shop (a very well-known engine builder) that sold me this engine and they asked to have it back to be torn down and inspected. So, while my wife and I drove home, the shop in Kansas removed my engine and sent it back to the engine shop. I got a call from the engine shop with a laundry list of problems with the engine. They were laying the blame at my feet for a 450 hour engine going south. I contacted multiple A&P's for advice. They told me that this was not my problem and were almost unanimous in what the issue was that could cause the lengthy list of problems. So, back and forth with the engine shop I go until I get to the owner of the shop. He and I had a pleasant conversation over the phone and he basically told me I was on the hook for $14,000 and the cost was rising as they got further into it. I explained to him in detail how I fly the airplane and that this should not have happened. Well, I would say long story short but it has already dragged on long enough. I get a call a few weeks later saying they will cover all of the bill and I just have to pay for shipping. The point of this lengthy story is that if it wasn't for that analysis from Blackstone Labs, I would have flown a sick airplane from Kansas back to Fort Worth and who knows what might have happened during that flight home. Like I said, the engine was running great with absolutely no issues that I could discern if it wasn't for the analysis. So, the oil analysis on both of these episodes either could have saved me a lot of trouble or did save me a lot of potential trouble. I will reiterate that the airplane was flying great on both episodes with no indication of a problem or concern leading up to the moment I had the issues. All temperatures and pressures were fine up until the moment of failure in the first episode and there was no indication of an issue at all leading up to the issues in the second episode.

I sample every 25 hours or so when I change the oil.

I was talking about two totally different flights based over 400 hours flight time apart. They were not back to back samples and they were samples from two different engines on my plane. Sorry I was not clear on that.

I have had two flights where I did an oil analysis before the flight and if I had the results of the oil analysis prior to making the flights, I never would have flown them. The engine was doing great on both flights with no evident issues (ran smooth, oil temps and pressures fine) but the oil analysis told a different story. So, I still do oil analysis but this time I try to wait to make a long cross-country flight until I get the analysis back. Blackstone labs does take a long time to get your results back.

Thank you.

I need to replace the right wing fuel tank drain valve on my 63 C model. I read on an older thread that the valve for a 75 F model is F-391-53S. Is it the same for a 63 C model or is there a different part number? Thanks in advance.

Thank you for this response. I will take to my A&P about this as well.

It may have something to do with this. CAFE Foundation - Wikipedia

So, I went to the plane this weekend. I opened up the tail area and exposed the jackscrew in the trim system. It definitely was not gummed up at all. The threads were clean. They did seem to have some grease on them because it got on my fingers when I touched the screw. However, how little grease is too little? There certainly was not enough to be what I would call greasy or gummy. I could see the peaks and valleys of all the threads, etc.... I can run the trim manually from stop to stop with really no issue. It occasionally feels tighter in spots but nothing that I would have even thought twice about before getting the electric trim. I tried the electric trim again and it ran it nose down and it ran smoothly all the way. It will not go nose up on its own. It will for a moment but then stops and needs manual assist. I spoke to the installer and he thought there may be an issue with the actual installation so he is going to take a look at it when he is able. But I guess my question is....should the jackscrew be coated in grease or just an extremely thin layer? I have an extremely thin layer for sure. It is not dry but certainly not a lot of grease.

Thank you for this information. I will talk to my shop about this.

I wasn’t sure where to put this topic. However, I had the GFC 500 installed and the electric trim as well. I have the up down switch on my yoke. The electric trim is not working well when the autopilot is off and needs manual assistance when going nose up. Nose down it seems to be okay. The auto pilot is working great with no issues and reports no faults at all. I printed out Garmin’s trouble shooting page on if the electric trim does not run and will go through it this weekend but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to look. I was thinking that maybe the trim system needed lubrication which I think is a big job. Do the belly panels have to be removed to do this? But if the autopilot flies well then is it a lubrication issue or something else? Any advice would be appreciated so I can try to guide the correction of this process with my maintenance shop. Airplane is a 63 C model. Thanks.

Glad it worked for you, however, on my Garmin Pilot I have the logbook set to M20C and the Aircraft for filing set to M20P and it works just fine.

I did not have to replace my ailerons. Nor should you. Look at the supported aircraft which includes the 1962 C model. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/604257#additional

Yep. And looking at my logbooks it was actually 18 years ago. February, 12, 2005 was my first flight in my Mooney. I followed your advice and never looked back. I thank you for helping me make that decision so long ago that has brought so much happiness and excitement and fond memories into my life.

Your title says a 1953 C, not 63 but we get it. There is no alternate air in the cockpit on my 1963 C model. Also, when I bought my C model 17 years ago, there was no ELT switch in the panel. I have since had one installed when I upgraded the ELT a few years ago but originally mine did not have one either. My climb is a bit different than yours. I do not pull the prop back, nor do I pull the throttle back until I am leveling off at whatever altitude I am leveling off at. I do have to lean a bit as I climb and prior to 4000 feet because I have the richer version of the carburetors that were available for our engine and to avoid running a little rough in the climb with an overly rich mixture I have to begin leaning sooner than 4000 feet MSL. By keeping my prop and throttle full, I can climb at a shallower angle at a higher airspeed and my cylinders stay below 400 in the climb unless it is just a blistering hot Texas day.

Not exactly near Santa Barbara... But probably the best!!!

That does seem very high. I just looked at my invoices for my GFC500 install. For the install itself, labor was 50 hours. They installed a G5 Attitude indicator and removed my vacuum system for another 10, moved my EDM 900 over to the pilot side, relocated my audio panel installed and new Mid Continent Clock/timer/OAT and fabricated a co-pilots panel to fit the relocated instruments and that was only 20 hours more. So I got all that for 80 hours labor and they want 120 hours to just put in a GFC 500. Yep, seems a little high.

I don’t think it was an option in 63. I think it was first installed in 1965. Don’t quote me on it but I remember seeing that somewhere.

I did just this when I purchased my Mooney about 17 years ago. It went a long way in helping me make my decision. Although I don't think we changed seats because the 63 C model has brakes on the pilot side only and he wanted that control, as well as the fact I had never flown a Mooney before.

If you go to mooneypilots.org they say they are under new ownership on the first page.

Does that subscription to Jepp include obstacle and terrain? I was stuck with Jepp for a while because I had a GNC300XL and the Navdata was only offered for it by Jepp. When I went to renew after updating my navigators, I spoke to a guy at Jeppesen and he stated that it only included the NavData and not obstacle or terrain. I switched to Garmin charts because for my two navigators I was able to get Nav, obstacle and terrain for $669. For just Navdata only from Jepp it was $663 for two navigators. I would have had to add Obstacle and Terrain from Garmin individually which would have raised the price for the Jepp considerably more than Garmin. Also, I plugged in the MX20 into Jepp and they said it was not covered.

And how does he reattach the scat hose that attaches to the side of the lower cowling with one hand holding the cowling and the other holding the screwdriver? It is one thing to take it off because you can just loosen the clamp and pull the cowling away but reattaching it is another thing and he fails to show that.