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Quote: Skybrd I was wondering if my oil cooler lines are routed correctly since they hit and restrict my left cowl flap. The oil temp runs about 200 degrees and I wish it were running a bit cooler. Did they re-route your cooler lines? I know about the mod to relocate the cooler to the back of the baffling but not sure if I want to do that. Is there a way to baffel the exhaust cooler to not restrict the Number 2 and 4 cylinder air flow. It would seem to me that some kind of baffling with a boot on the back of the oil cooler and large flexible duct to allow the exhaust to be a separate flow from the cylinder flow.

No, you won't. An E model will do better, simply because it's lighter. In the end, you're going to be stuck with an over capitalized airplane of which, no matter what mods it has, the value will still be determined as that of G model. In most cases, it would probably be better to just buy the J.

I read an article way back by some pro that explained the effect that high temps have on airplane engine cylinders. I can't remember much, but I do remember that it cautioned seriously about temps going above 400. I've never, ever let mine go above 380. On climbout the max CHT is 360 and all are usually between 320-350 in the cruise. I run at around 75-80 deg ROP and on hot days, I keep the temps under control by slightly opening the cowl flaps.

I think the only difference between Lasar and SWTA's closures are that Lasar's is aluminum while SWTA's is composite? Otherwise they seek pretty much exactly the same in terms of looks. In my personal case, I did not experience any gain in speed. My engine runs cooler, which is the main reason why I did it and it looks much better than the original gaping cowl opening. I'm sure that the ARI cowl closure, which resembles the 201 cowl, would certainly have a small speed advantage. It seems that the best mod on the vintage models in terms of speed is the 201 windshield.

True. In my case , for instance, I obviously have to sell my 'F before I can buy a J and I would like to sell mine for maximum Dollar. In US $ terms, that would be somewhere around $60k, which in SA Rands is a mere R400k. That's way too little taking into account that M20J's go for at least double that, here.Generally, a good M20F will fetch around $85k here in SA and M20J's go for around $125k plus. So, the sword cut's both ways. Bottom line: "Talk is cheap, but money buy's the Whisky". I've been spending some time on the net and there are quite a few M20J's in the $80-90k range that looks really good.

I actually ment between the two major companies selling the mod: Lasar = $2175 SWTA= $995 I agree that there are small differences between the two - SWTA's mod sports the access panels for instance, but otherwise they look pretty much the same when installed.

Apart from the fact that Lasar probably has stock while SWTA don't, why would there be a price difference of more than $1k between their 201 windshield mods? I'd like to take advantage of the current exchange rate, either in doing a few mods on my F or maybe even buying a M20J in the US.

Quote: DaV8or Wow. At what point does it make sense to take it apart and put it in a box?

Many come down the east coast: Kairo, Dar Es Salaam, Nariobi, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe/ Botswana/ Mozambique, etc. Although some come down west, I think apart from Namibia, Avgas is a bigger problem. Not sure though. IIRC, if you ferry it in from the US, a 16 hour endurance is one of the requirements - might be route dependant? An Ovation has been flown here from the US via South America without any ferry tanks, though. That says a lot about Mooney effeciency. I've considered it in the past, but unfortunately, I'm not IF rated. I think it should be a fun thing to do as a once off. I think that from Europe, that kind of endurance won't be necesary.

Many come down the east coast: Kairo, Dar Es Salaam, Nariobi, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe/ Botswana/ Mozambique, etc. Although some come down west, I think apart from Namibia, Avgas is a bigger problem. Not sure though. IIRC, if you ferry it in from the US, a 16 hour endurance is one of the requirements - might be route dependant? An Ovation has been flown here from the US via South America without any ferry tanks, though. That says a lot about Mooney effeciency. I've considered it in the past, but unfortunately, I'm not IF rated. I think it should be a fun thing to do as a once off. I think that from Europe, that kind of endurance won't be necesary.

Thanks for your replies. I guessed it at $80k, so I wasn't too far out it seems. Matt, it's not one of Pat's airplanes and I only got word through the airwaves that it "might" be for sale. So, for the time being, I'd like to keep all the info that I have on it to myself untill I've contacted the owner personally. Regarding the import cost, my thoughts, as a buyer, are as follows: Everybody in SA wants whatever their airplane is worth - in US Dollars, which is fair. But now, they immediately add the import costs, which is between $25-30k on a Mooney BTW, to their selling price. What people do not keep in mind however, is for them to get their US $ selling price alone, the airplane has to be sold in the US and the ferry cost is the same, both ways. IAW, if you sell your airplane for $80k, in effect you'll only get $50k for it after you've ferried it back to the US. AND, most current airplane owners bought their airplanes locally. Maybe they fell for the "import costs" tale, but they never imported the airplane in the first place. I also don't think it will work trying to sell a $80k Mooney in the US for $110k to try and recover the ferry costs. In the US, airplanes generally seems to sell for what they're worth and I am more than happy to pay a premium on a local airplane that I can see and testfly for myself and have MPI'd at the AMO of my choice, but I'm not prepared to pay R200k plus, just because that's what it would cost to import it. I think it should be split, but like the saying goes: The seller always feels he didn't get enough and the buyer always feels he paid too much. On second thoughts, I think if it's worth $80k in the US, that's what it should sell for anywhere else in the world, because the first importer already paid for the import and all the ferry costs. It should'nt be charged everytime the airplane change owners. I'll keep you posted.

I need some advice - again, please. I don't have access to the Blue Book and some local guys have their own ideas when it comes to pricing airplanes. I'm going to list the spec of a 201 I'm interested in and would like a ball park figure of what it would be selling for in the US - approximately: 1980 model, TTAF 3300 hours, engine SMOH 1000 hours, two bladed Hartzell prop 200 hours since new, interior 8/10, extrior 8/10 Avionics: KR24 audio panel, KX155 nav/comm, KY97 Comm, KR87 ADF, KT76A transponder, KN64 DME, Garmin 150 GPS, WX-8 stormscope, Century 2 autopilot with S-Tec alt hold, EDM800 engine analyzer. I'm not sure about it's damage history, but it was and is very well maintained and looked after and it has no corrosion . Looking forward to your replies.

Thanks to all for your replies. I would like to shed some light on a couple of points though. This Mooney has been flying for almost three years now, after been modified. AFAIK, it is still certified and everything done to it as well as all parts used, must have been under certification of our SACAA - which basically copies and then aggravate everything suggested and prescribed by the FAA, in the form of another law or regulation. In South Africa, for instance, all SB's are mandatory on GA airplanes and are to be carried out by certified engineers only. We are also allowed to do way less owner maintenance than in the US. So, in terms of regulation and new laws, GA is sort of over regulated and not what it used to be. In the rest of Africa, it has actually ceased to exist in totality, due to the same problems. Luckily, we have a couple of bodies locally, like AOPA, which keeps on fighting to keep GA ilive. Anyway, I'm not really sure which route was followed during this conversion and how the certification process was completed, but it looks really good, the interior is really something to see and it is very well equipped in terms of avionics and instruments. I also tend to agree that it probably won't be able to go to the US without a heap of trouble. I do agree that whoever buys it will be married to it as there will not really be many buyers around when resale day dawns. But, I'm curious as to how it will perform and handle. I'll keep you posted after I've taken a flip in it.

Our local Mooney agent has a '67 M20F that they sort of converted into what they call either a "M20F Speedster" or a "Poor man's Ovation". They took a stock M20F and basically did the following: Put in a 285hp engine, strengthened the engine mounting as per Ovation, moved the nose wheel forward and strengthened it as well, to the same specs as the Ovation. Put on a three blade propeller and of course a completely new style cowling and windshield, extended the lugage compartment backwards to be the same length as the original compartment plus that of the hat rack above. They also clipped the wings, but I'm not sure by how much as well as fitted enlarged rudder and elevators as per Ovation spec. Apparently, this monster takes off and climbs like a homesick angel and it cruises at 170 kts. I'm curious and am going to view and test fly it during the next few weeks. What I would like to know from the experts is, how this conversion would affect the usefull load of this airplane and how would the C of G limits be affected with the much heavier and longer engine? The Ovation is much longer and probably much heavier than the M20F. I haven't asked, but could there possibly be an increase in gross weight over the standard due to such a conversion? Oh, and they kept the original manual landing gear and flaps.

First prize would be a 201, but you won't regret it either if you can find a well kept F model with manual flaps and landing gear. I'm sure that maintenance on the latter won't be much higher than on your Piper. My F has a usefull load of 1040 lbs, so filling the tanks leaves me with a very nice 656 lbs - more than enough for my family of four plus luggage. Add to that an endurance of almost 6 hours plus reserves at 140 kts and you have a very hard to beat combination.

Although I fully agree with the above replies, I want to asure you that a Mooney has no problem operating from grass or unpaved strips. Our local Mooney agent is situated at Port Alferd, which, apart from having among the most expensive Avgas, also sports one of the worst runways which are all grass. Probably the biggest fliying school in Africa, 43 Airschool, is also based there. Both their Pipers as well as almost all Mooney's in South Africa go in and out of there without problems, except for some rather interesting language use by the pilots. I hate going there due to the effect it must have on the fuel tanks. Personally, I use my Mooney from dirt strips that I built myself - 99,9% of the time. The strip where I live is really nice and smooth due to the clay soil type, but I fly to another farm about once a month. There I have sand strip that is not for the unexperienced. I haven't had any problems arising from the use of these strips. I've used grass strips as well and as long as the grass is not too long and the surface is reasonably smooth, you'll be fine. Mooney's certainly are not built for these, but they sure can handle alot more than you'd think.

Has anybody installed the inflatable door seal? I've flown with a friend a long time ago which had it in his M20J and it worked like a charm.

Many of the toggle switches doubles as a circuit breaker as well. So, if it "switches itself off" is basically tripped, which indicates some or other problem. I'd have it checked.

Ditto for me regarding aggressive leaning after start up and during taxi. However, I also lean very aggressively after landing. As soon as I'm down to taxiing speed, I pull the mixture right back - so much so that I have to push it in to be able to take power for the turn around on my home runway. The engine won't go higher than about 1440-1500 rpm without giving it some more fuel. If I do it any other way, I'm stuck with a rough running engine at my run up. Doing it this aggresively also mostly rules out a take off with a too lean mixture.

If poossible, go for a KX155. I went through the same exercise last yaer and have never looked back. I put in a KX155 with glideslope as well as a KY197 as com 2. These radio's takes a lot less space than the 170/5 series and you'll save quite a bit of weight as a bonus.

Hi again all - sorry for not giving any feedback. I ended up buying couple of different poroducts from Meguiars. I don't have the exact names handy now, but IIRC, I used three porducts: A wash gel that cleans the paint as you wash, a polish and a wax. I used another of their products that is made for use on perspex, among others, on the windows. It was quite a job to wash, polish and the wax, but I am very happy with the end result. I fist did about one square foot to see if there would really be a difference and apart from really bringing out the colour again, the treated surface was 100% smoother. In fact, I have sheets of the kind of rip stop material that many tents are made of, which I use to cover my Mooney when hangared. After the Meguiars treatment, I now have endless trouble keeping the covers on. The paint surface is so increcibly "slippery" that everything just wants to slide off. I always used to place the fuel caps right next to their filler necks on the wing when I refueled. I can't do that anymore, because 90% of the times, they just start sliding off the wing. I also have way less bugs and stuff clinging to the windscreen and leading adges and if there are any, they just come off with a quick wipe. I will certainly do this exersize once a year. I must add that I was not that impressed with their window product. It did make all the windows really, really smooth and static free, but it did not do much to the fine scrathes. All in all, I happy though.

Thanks to all for the replies. It is indeed the switch and I have adjusted and retightened it.

The landing gear warning alarm in my Mooney has been sounding permanently during the last couple of flights. It used to work fine and only came on when it should. I'm not sure what is causing the current situation, but it starts up immediately after I retract the landing gear. I've been silencing it during flight by lifting the little switch arm inside the gear-down socket and keep it in place with a rolled up piece of paper. Before I lower the gear, I just remove my custom made alarm silencer. Does anyone have any advice on where to start looking for the cause? My common sense tells me that somewhere under the panel, there must be some sort of switch that is activated by throttle position or something, but I haven't had time to stick my head in there.

Thanks to all for the replies. I am neither IF nor night rated, so those are not an issue. I am a big sucker for saving weight and cooler temps, so I'll have everything converted to an alternator system. I've seen the Planepower ad and will probably go that way. It seems I'll have to do the adjustment exercise once again though. I installed a new battery last years and don't want it to be cooked.

I've been rather annoyed by the voltage regulator in my F during the last couple of flights. It decided, all by itself, that it would be a good idea to charge the battery at up to 15 volts. So, I took some time and adjusted it. I counted myself lucky to have sorted it out after only two adjustment and test flight sessions. It was stabilized at 13.9 volts. On Monday, I embarked on a two hour flight to another farm and noticed the voltage hanging around at low 12.1 volts. This morning, on the return flight, the voltage started increasing all by itself and when it reached 14.9 volts, I switched on both the nav- and landing lights. This kept the voltage readout on the JPI at 13.9 volts, but as soon as I swithced anything off, the voltage would jump to as high as 15.1 volts. So, flew the last odd half an hour with all lights on. My Mooney still sports the old, original regulator and I think the time for it's replacement has come. What are the options and should I consider doing a complete generator to alternator conversion or should I only replace the regulator? Any advice would be appreciated.