Lood

Podair, that's exactly why I did the cowl closure mod. My primary reason was to improve CHT's and on the side, I hoped to gain a bit of speed. In my case, the speed part did not really happen, but the CHT improvement definately did and I would like to think that the improvement on my engine's oil temperature is a direct result.

Quote: PilotBob I should have mentioned that the ARI kit also includes a new prop. bulkhead and polished pointed spinner.

Does anybody know where there might be any pictures of the ARI cowl closure to be seen? I went all through their web page, but there's no pics there - not good for business I would think.

I had the Lasar one installed during the previous annual, which was about 4 months ago. I have no experience with the ARI mod, but my AME sticks by Lasar regarding mods. Anyway, it looks really good and IIRC, it took them about 6 hours to fit the closure and if I look at it, it seems to be bit of a job. Mine also had to be spray painted after fitment to fit in with the rest of the cowling. Before the anual, a friend and myself did the four course speed run and my Mooney averaged out at 138 knots. I did the same test again last Saturday. I was alone and it was very windy, so it was probably not that accurate. After the four runs, the speed averaged out at 135 knots! So, at this stage, I can't vouch for any speed increase in my own personal case but it definitely improved overall engine cooling substantially. I did both speed tests at 7500', WOT, 2500 rpm at 50 deg ROP. Highest CHT on Saturday was 362 deg. I normally fly at the same power settings but with the rpm at 2400 and then the higest CHT tops out at 345 - 350 deg. Before I had the cowl closure installed, high CHT's were usually in the 380 - 400 deg region.

I'm not sure if this has been discussed, but I would like some expert opinion, please. My Mooney still sports a generator and it hasn't really caused any problems - I just have that itch again. Is replacing the said generator with an alternator worth the money? I also see that the alternator option weighs substancially less than the current generator installation. So, which is better and what would you guys recommend?

Mine's the same as edgargravels' - wingtip strobes and rotating beacon works together and nav lights seperately. It could probably not take more than an extra toggle swithc to seperate the wingtip strobes and beacon? I aim to have that done - just not sure if there's space for another switch though.

Thanks for all the feedback! At the end I did the following: I had all the old avionics taken out, together with all, and I mean ALL, wiring. I had new harnesses made up from end to end and I installed, from top to bottom: King KMA24 audio panel, King KX155 Nav/com with glideslope, King Ky197 com, King KT79 transponder. I'm still waiting for the VOR/GS indicator, but all the wiring for that has been done too, so it's just a plug in exercise. Everything works 100% and although I would have like to go the G430,etc way, I just couldn't afford it and I might have fallen into the over capitalising trap. I also had a new JPI EDM700 fitted which I enjoy very much and I had the cowl closure mod done. I'll take pictures and post them in the gallery some time.

Thanks Jim, that sounds very good. I'll contact Lasar to get all details from them. During the summer months, we always get westerly winds where I live which makes landings on rwy 28 a rather difficult exercise if returning late in the afternoon.

Amazing - I'm on the map. The only one in the whole of Africa though!

I tend to agree that the G695 is a bit too big - specially in my '67 F. Well, thanks for all the feedback everyone! It seems then, seeing that we don't get XM weather in South Africa, the Garmin 495 would be a good choice. Has anyone got any experience in the 495?

How do you find the touch screen in turbulent conditions? I used a PDA a couple of years ago and did not like it at all. I'm pretty sure though that the current touch screens that you can use your finger on must be easier than having to use a stillus.

I'm looking to upgrade a little bit from my Garmin 196. I have the following in mind and would like to get a better feeling for what's hot and what's not. I'm looking at the following portables: Geopilot II Plus, Garmin Aera 500, Bendix King Av8tor - or should I rather stick to the 296/ 396/ 495/6 series? Any input and advice would be appreciated.

I read the thread on Rosen sunvisors in the "Modern Mooney" section, but I don't want to highjack that thread. I've been looking into these a couple of times, but Rosen, for instance, only list sunvisors for year models starting at 1968 and on. Do any of you guys 'n girls have sunvisors fitted in pre '68 Mooneys? I'm sure my '67F had some kind fitted at some stage because it has two small diameter holes drilled through the centre pos - right at the top. I'd appreciate any feedback and advice and pictures of the actual installation would be much appreciated.

Does anybody here have any experience on these? Here in SA, quite a few guys have jumped at the opertunity to upgrade their old GPS's with the Aera 500 and you can now kick out a Garmin 296 from behind every second bush. Does the fact that the G296 has been discontinued make it a bad choice? The reason I'm asking is that brand new in the box 296's can now be had for less than an Aera 500 and my Mooney is wired for a G196 which means that a 296 would fit perfectly. Also, I don't like a touch screen - specially in an airplane. I've also heard that the Aera is taken from the Nuvi and that the screen resolution might not be that good.

I read an interesting but also rather worrying article in a local aviation magazine last night on the worldwide Avgas situation. Apparently only one company is still making the needed additive despite the pressure from the "greens". What is the feeling in the US on the possibilty of Avgas becoming very scarce or even non existend and what are the airplane companies planning to do? If the predictions become reality, they are producing and selling airplanes that will be not be able to fly in the future. The author of said atricle reckoned that most piston engined airplanes might be as usefull in a couple of years as a film camera is currently. I guess the absense of modern electronic systems in our engines probably has to do with that certifiaction process and its costs again? It's just hard to believe that in todays technologically advanced world, no alternatives can be found for either fuel or engine systems.

Thanks, I am tracking both a KI 209 and KI 204 on e-bay. Will have a look at those other sites as well.

I'm looking for a used King KI 204 VOR/GS indicator with connector. Anyone maybe have one up for sale? A KI 209 would also do.

I bought my Mooney with an Electronics International FP-5 fuel flow computer allready installed so I kept it when the JPI installation was done. In retrospect, it would be nice to have everything in one instrument. Could the EI FP-5's wiring work with a JPI? I am adding oil- and OAT next year so I might just as well go all the way and add the JPI fuel flow as well.

Thanks - my exact thoughts. Fuel flow is enabled, but since it's not installed, the JPI keeps on warning that there's no fuel flow. I noticed that it asks "FILL? N" on start-up. I'll check the manual on how to turn the fuel flow off.

I had a similar issue about a year ago on my M20F - mine included a lot of backfiring as well. After a lot of trouble shooting which included the spark plugs and injectors, it turned out to be a tiny spec of dust or whatever that got itself into the fuel divider. We only found that out after swopping the deviders. The AMO found the culprit under a magnifying glass and removed it after which my problem were over. Good luck.

I've had a new JPI EDM700 installed and went for the first long flight this past weekend. When in the auto scan mode though, after a while ".0 FF" flashes in it's display at the bottom. It stays put until I press the Step butoon after which the auto scan resumes as normal. After a while though, the whole process repeats itself. I only have the EGT and CHT temperature probes as well as the battery voltage option installed - no fuel flow. I've gone through the manual but can't find anything referring to a ".0 FF" flashing message on the display. I would appreciate any advice here, please.

Has anybody had any experience with them? I'd like to get an idea what to expect. I bought a KX 155 from them and all is not well at this stage. I will wait and see how they're going to handle the situation so I won't go in to the details except mentioning that I am very disappointed in the product I bought.

I built my own hangar from scratch because when I aksed for quotes, everytime the word hangar was mentioned, the price suddenly increased. I had the steel for the legs on hand and bought only the steel and other material for the roof and door structures. The hangar is 36,3 x 27 feet and my Mooney's ail clears the door beam with about 6 inches. After I erected the hangar, I got a quote to close the door side gable and to make the doors - same story so I did that myself as well. It was one of the hardest jobs I ever did. The doors are manual sliding doors - 18 x 8 feet but the hardest part was to close the gable above the door. I saved a LOT of money doing it myself, but I would think twice about repeating the excercise all by myself.

I had a look at Brittain's website a while ago and was quite surprized by their prices - to such an extend that I considered having one of their systems fitted. When I mentioned it to a local AME, however, he informed me that Brittain auto pilots were not TSO'd for installation in certified aircraft. I left it at that, but it has been bothering me since. If early Mooney's were, and some still use, Brittain's PC wing leveller system, it definately has to be certified. Or is the PC system the only one of their systems that are certified? I would appreciate the correct facts on Brittain's systems.

I have no experience on the Cardinal, but the general feeling in South Africa is that a Cardinal needs quite a lot of runway before it gets airborne. I was looking at one before I bought the Mooney when a high time pilot and friend warned me that the Cardinal might take me somewhere one day where it will not be able to get me out of. I like their look though and they seem to be quite fast.