Lood

I've made a few calculations and like speed mods, it is far better to buy a M20J for instance that allready has the avionics you like installed or at least part thereof. The exchange rate would cause me to end up paying more than 20% of my Mooney's purchase price for a 430 alone. That would be overcapitalising it considerably and I would never get it back. M20F's seldom fetch more than R600k here in South Africa - no matter what they have installed. I paid R500k for mine and the first MPI cost me another R100k. Funny how all the answers always lead to a M20J in the end. A decent M20J could be picked up around R800k here. It probably won't have a 430, but overall they are all very well equipped and full IF. So now the hardest part would be to get that extra R200k - R300k for a M20J. I'll probably just fit a second comm to my Mooney start looking for a J model. I'm not sure about the US or UK, but here the working NDB's can probably be counted on my fingers and none of them that fail are repaired. So I could just as well remove and sell the KR87 while its still worth something.

I'm planning to upgrade my M20F's panel some time in the future. At the moment, I have the following installed: 1 x KX175B with VOR indicator, KN62 DME, KR87 ADF, Narco selfcontained VOR/ Glideslope indicator with marker beacons. I use a 196 GPS on the yoke. What I want is definately two comm radio's and I am not too happy with a yoke mounted GPS - I like it panel mounted. Because of the current Bendix King ADF an DME, it kinda makes sense to me to maybe look at a King GPS/ Comm plus a KX197. On the other hand, Garmin seems to be advancing with huge steps so what am I to do? Price would definately influence my decision strongly. If I go Garmin, I would probable be looking at their GNC series GPS/ Comm - not a 430, and I would still have to get that second comm. My current transponder is the old Cessna type. I would like to replace that as well with either a King or Garmin. So what do the experts suggest?

I usually reply with the following question: "Have you actually flown a Mooney?" Almost ninety percent of the the answers will be: "No, but Iheard it from someone or read it somewhere." I started my flying career with a C172 - lovely airplane, but not compareable to a Mooney. Definately not if you have to go far in little time. I will take on much more in my Mooney than in a C172. Regarding the landing part of a Mooney - also just a lot of bull. In my C172, I basiclly went along for the ride - it flies itself with no real challenge to me as pilot. If you come in at "around" 65 mph, you'll be fine. 60 mph will be fine, 70 mph will be fine. It was so forgiving that I actually became a bit sloppy in my flying. A Mooney will cure anyone from that very quickly. It needs to be flown by its pilot - not the other way around. And thats why I fly.

Pardon my ignorance. I know about this STC, but I have'nt been able to find out to what position the calipers are actually moved. I'm trying to figure out whether it has been done on my Mooney or not. So, are they moved from the front to the back or vica - versa? The ones on my Mooney are currently at the back.

Apart for the couple of "newer" instruments, my Mooney still has the two roof mounted lights for panel illumination. I'm planning to upgrade that in the near future, but there seems to be a lot of different types of panel lighting options available. In my previous airplane, I had the small lights that replaces one of the instrument retaining screws. These worked quite well, but I've seen another type I like more. They are basically a ring that is placed between the instrument and the panel. I would appreciate any recommendations and advice on this from anyone that does night flying.

Scott, I'm sure I have the fast response probes because the EGT's change almost instantaniously when I change the mixture. Would you mind elaborating a bit on the Gami check you mentioned - or you can post a link where I can read up on it? It sounds interresting and I would definately like to look into it. Gami's are quite high on my wishlist, but the current R/$ exchange rate makes it too expensive at this time.

My EGT does indeed display all 4 cylinders. It is an E4 from EI and you basically have to manually switch from no 1-4 to get each cylinder's reading. As I mentioned earlier, no 1 was'nt working and only after I fixed it did I discover that it is indeed first to peak! I've only done a quick flip after that to check if the temperatures displayed are stable. Well they are and an early diagnoses tells me that I did run a bit on the lean side. If I set the mixture 100 deg ROP on no 3, no 1 runs at least 70 deg ROP or maybe even closer to 50 deg - which is not good. I'll go test it again at the first oppertunity and give you some feedback on what the temperatures did. At the mixture setting that I used to fly, the fuelflow computer (FP5 from EI) normally indicates 10 gal/hour. I am waiting for a more advanced engine analyzer though and once I receive it I will have it installed by someone that knows what they're doing and I'll also have the whole system tested out and inspected thoroughly.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't have a turbo charger installed - all stock standard. I must add that the EGT connecting terminal on no. 1 cylinder did not make good contact. So the readout for no.1 on the E4 EGT gauge was non-existent. I used no. 3 for leaning purposes and leaned it to 100 deg ROP. I fixed the contact problem in the meanwhile and found that no. 1 actually runs about 30 deg hotter than no. 3. So I was probably flying at around 70 deg ROP which is then why the CHT and eventually the oil temp rose. I will go for a testflight asap and I am pretty sure that things will improve. My gosh, I should have fixed that EGT terminal a long time ago.

I own a '67 M20F and I am not totally happy with the oil temp and CHT in the cruise. It still uses the original factory installed gauges so I suspect they might not be very accurate anymore. When cruising with closed cowl flaps, the oil temp rises to a tad above 200 deg and the CHT moves up to 400 deg plus. Although both stay within the green arc, it seems a bit high to me. As a result, I almost always fly with the cowlflaps partly open. This usually brings down the CHT immediately, but once the oil temp gets high, it stays high. Another thing that bothers is that sometimes, the oil temp stays lower - around 180 deg - even with closed cowlflaps. I would appreciate to hear from other owners on how their oil and engine temps behave and if I should have any reason to worry? Also keep in mind that the average temperatures in South Africa is probably substancially higher than in the US. I would guess it to be around 70 deg F in summer and about 50 deg F in winter - at cruising altitudes of 8000 ft.

Aaron, do you maybe know where I would be able to view pictures of ARI's mods?

Highest that I've done here in South Africa were as follows: Strip altitude - 5300 ft, strip lenght - 2700 ft, surface - grass, temp - about 70 deg F, full tanks but only myself and some personal luggage in the airplane - about 400 lbs below MTOW. I got airborne with about 600 ft to spare if my memory serves me right. So I basically used a little more than 2000 ft in my '67 M20F. An ashpalt surface will make all the difference of course. Here in RSA, our greatest enemy is density altitude during summer. Many pilots get caught out by it every year and unfortunately, quite a few of these accidents are fatal.

Hi all. I'm Lodewyk Engels and I farm in central South Africa. I'm 39 Years old and married with 2 kids. I own a '67 M20F - for a year now. Due to the exchange rate and high maintenance costs here it does not have any fancy instruments or avionics. Just the basic Nav/Com, ADF, DME, EI fuel flow, EI EGTand I use a G196 GPS. Before the Mooney, I owned a Robin HR100-210 and a C172. I love my Mooney and even before I started flying, wanted to own a M20F. I will probably aim for a M20J or a M20K next and would like to end up with an Ovation 1. There are loads of mods that I would love to do but once again get stuck with the above mentioned. It is cheaper to actually buy the 201 or 231 than to beef up the M20F. All the best with the forum! Like many others, I've also been looking for this for a looooong time.