KSMooniac

Correct, mostly except #3. I've written a bunch over the years here and perhaps you found some of my posts. I did have paint shedding in rain immediately, followed by a repaint at my local MT shop. It failed again, and then I got some new blades from Germany and those have held up very well. I have stainless leading edges, and it is hard to get anything to stick to stainless... I think they use nickel now and it may be better. My main gripe would be MT wants the paint to cover as much of the blade as possible, where I would rather have no paint on the stainless or nickel... I don't mind that look and it would be more durable, but they're German and thus difficult and inflexible.

The different dash numbers are different markings/calibrations. Sent from my motorola edge plus 2023 using Tapatalk

Mine came on my plane and I love them. I'm not sure I would pay that much, but they are nice. Un-painted they will turn yellow, but they hold paint very well and I suppose keep the wheels clean underneath.

I believe the above comments are correct, and you cannot legally simply re-install it in a new plane. You might call a dealer or Genesys (the current STEC owners) and see if they've changed their policy, but my opinion is Genesys wants nothing to do with legacy systems and would be happy if they just get thrown away.

Nothing in that SB indicates you must overhaul it every 4 years, only when the engine is overhauled. There are periodic INSPECTIONS, but not overhauls. Big difference.

The dual mag needs inspections every 500 hours, not overhauls every 4 years. Big difference. Slicks are generally throw-away after 500 hours, if they last that long. You might investigate electronic ignitions instead, although I doubt many have been installed for a full 2000 hour run thus far. MT props are STC'd for our engines and I've been very happy with mine. Sent from my motorola edge plus 2023 using Tapatalk

I think I've got one left, but I'll have to look. Send me a PM and we can talk. Sent from my motorola edge plus 2023 using Tapatalk

If you make a modest donation to the site, then you'll be able to post a classified ad.

Great report! How does the integration with Dynon work, exactly? Can you control modes and such through the Skyview, or does it just blindly feed a heading to the autopilot? Sent from my motorola edge plus 2023 using Tapatalk

This is the best answer. They're OEM for Mooney, and an innovative small company making great products. They also sponsor the Mooney Caravan as well. Sent from my motorola edge plus 2023 using Tapatalk

1980 is correct. The only non-structural skins on a Mooney are the cabin area around the steel cage, and any fairings like the empennage gap fairings, dorsal fairing (metal on the vintage birds), wing roots, gear doors, etc. The tailcone, empennage, wing, and control surface skins are all structural.

Paging @jetdriven

I can assure you that skin is indeed structural, but the area of your damage is likely not critical since the main loads are likely reacted out by the "box" structure that has #28 (from the IPC pic) backing up the trim attachment as the lower bound of the "box" I'm describing. The skin carries load in monocoque and semi-monocoque (what we have with a Mooney) aircraft structure. Good luck with the repair. I still think it might be easier to replace the entire skin, assuming you can get it from Mooney. It might be cheaper than the DER too. In the past 4 years I've purchased aileron, elevator, vertical stab and roof skins for hail repair from the factory (through an MSC).

It might be a much greater exposure than you're assuming. I haven't followed the Dukes lineage and have no idea who owns them now, or if they're even in the aircraft business. I can say with some measure of confidence, though, that none of our Mooneys are exposing them to any liability today with the 18 year limit from the 1994 GARA legislation. Once they make some new gears and we install them, then that clock starts over, so suddenly they'll have a bunch of >50 year old airplanes that could potentially cause a problem for them, liability-wise. Granted, a failure of the gear is not likely to kill people in a gear-up landing, but the cost of repairs to a plane today is likely >50k or even more. I would not put it past an unscrupulous owner (and attorney) to go after them even if it might be 100% pilot error too, but they will still have a cost to defend. That is what has happened to our industry over and over again with all manner of small parts. I'm not sure what my pain threshold is yet. I would like to have a set or even two on the shelf, but I also have a newer actuator and the different emergency extension bits on the shelf already and there is a point where I'll endure the pain to make that swap than pay a ridiculous price for a new gear set.

Re-skinning would likely be the best solution here. It is too bad it went un-noticed long enough to do that much damage. A good sheet metal mechanic might be able to reskin with flat sheet, but I'd first inquire with your favorite MSC if there are factory skins available for this part... I suspect they might have or make one, and it won't cost terribly much, at least by modern standards. Failing those options, a good sheet metal mechanic might be able to craft a repair per 43.13-1B and do a local patch.