carusoam

Welcome aboard Bryan! Hey, did you know we have a Mite section around here? Looks like your thread has started in the general Mooney Talk area… That is OK… but in a few months when some Mite owner happens in…. It will be pretty hard to know it is here…. PP thoughts only, not a web site manager… Best regards, -a-

Continental engines often don’t get a fuel pressure gauge… The M20R uses FF instead… It would be nice to have FuelP for maintenance and problem solving reasons… Some Mooneys didn’t get vac gauges either…. Best regards, -a-

Glenn, Your friend is probably sorta right… The lollipop switch is an airspeed switch… no squatting involved…. These types of switches have shown up for a couple of reasons often measuring engine hours after reaching a certain speed… Chances are… he still has a squat switch because this aftermarket lollipop airspeed device didn’t remove the existing squat switch…. Too flimsy. A real airspeed switch is hidden behind the instrument panel attached to the real source of air data… the pitot system… The trim seems to be a bit out of touch as well…. They are constant speed and often match the speed of the flap system…. Raising and lower flaps and increasing or decreasing trim to match the change in the Center of Lift…. Click both switches together… trim and flaps… hold the trim switch for as long as the flaps are moving…. A Transition Training nugget of gold…. Direction of trim switch travel…. I expect mine to be wired so that when the nose is pushing up… I push up on the switch, to trim down…. I push back on the switch to raise the nose…. A full flap go-around requires a long wait for the trim to come back to the T/O position… pushing the thumb against the switch can easily be over done…. The click of the tiny switch can’t be felt under ideal conditions… there isn’t much ideal doing a full go-around with your thumb fighting and your arms fighting the nose…. (Practice makes this ideal, smooth, and easy…. ) The trim switch should be clearly marked and be meaningful… My trim system is a BK KAP system… probably identical to all using KFC and KAP APs… PP thoughts only, not a CFI.. or mechanic… Best regards, -a-

There are two popular methods of dyno-ing your engine…. With enough accuracy to be meaningful…. 1) Use a WAAS source to measure your T/O distance…. 2) Use a consistent climb rate, use the same WAAS source for data… 3) Compare to Book Numbers… 4) It takes a bit of an engineering mind set… DA is important for the numbers to work properly… 5) It was the first thing I did after the OH’d engine got installed…. I also compared to @Cris’ plane… Screamin’ Eagle… 6) When your plane performs to book numbers… under a couple of different conditions…. The whole collection of book numbers becomes way more meaningful than numbers on a page in a dusty book…. 7) That 310hp was about a 20amu (prop, STCs, etc) project that was hinging on actual performance…. 8) My WAAS source for the project… portable SkyRadar and CloudAhoy app on an iPad…. 9) either way… no need to wonder how well your engine is performing… no actual dyno is required. 10) Safety margins still apply… just not overly huge ones… 11) You may not like putting your engine through the tests as hard as a factory test pilot… so measure with your style, and see how well your plane actually responds… you may be surprised… 12) MP, RPM, and FF… if you have all three, you probably have the HP stated in the book… 13) There are also similar methods to know if the firebird is producing rated power, or the ignition timing has been retarded… the opti-spark system can need to be cleaned… The user won’t know the timing got automatically adjusted… until a simple test of torque is performed…. (simple test, go / no go… if the bird can spin the wheels on a wet road in second gear… Go!) if not… clean the opti-spark… 14) Let’s say you wanted to know if your engine was tired… you think there has been metal filling your oil filter… the pics of your cam are showing nubs… but the plane has been still flying for a year…. Cams are responsible for the engine’s breathing… if the engine can’t breathe, it can’t produce rated power…. This will show up when compared to performance charts… Go collect data! PP thoughts only, not a CFI…. Or mechanic… or gear head… mostly stuff seen around here… Best regards, -a-

True true… It’s in the plans… Probably won’t find out more until it is time… We know it is time when the first buyer claims to have bought the update for his plane, or a new plane rolls off the factory floor with it… as far as it being oleo this or oleo that, or magic donuts… Getting to full seats and full fuel will be magical no matter what mechanical method they use… Hmmm…. What would be a good way to approach the big cheese and ask …. ‘What’s the latest update on that MGTW project?’ Probably a PM, showing how interested you are…. PP thoughts only, not an STC sales guy… Best regards, -a-

To put some guidelines for how important this can be… 1) You have to be flying in or above IMC to make this really important… 2) If all of your AIs are depending on it… it becomes incredibly important… 3) Once that important wire from the VR vibrates itself loose or breaks…. The charging system goes off line. 4) Once the charging system is done… The amount of electrons in the battery are at their highest, and the clock has started…. 5) Battery capacity changes over time, and use, and temperature….. 6) If everything in the panel is electric, and your ship has one battery… it’s capacity just became really important … 7) Your panel may have a few other batteries for back-up… their capacity is also important…. 8) Lets say your ship has two batteries, it hasn’t seen the inside of a cloud in decades…. you are IR, but not current any longer…. Battery capacity may not be your biggest priority… 9) The reason new batteries may not get tested for capacity…. They are built to specifications… when all of the construction procedures are followed… this pretty much guarantees the performance out of the box… leaving the factory…. If the battery has sat in the box, it may have limitations on how long it can sit that way… 10) Nothing worse than finding out your generator has croaked, you got no warning, until all your electric displays start to blink…. In this case whatever capacity you had got used up…. Shutting every electric device down, and letting it rest may allow some charge to come back out of deep storage and show for the final moments of the flight… 11) It’s too bad that capacity testing is so stressful for some batteries…. This destructive test method may be getting to be less destructive with the newer generation of batteries… 12) My firebird has a hybrid drive system… a 350 cubic inch gas engine…. And when it croaks… the starter motor is pretty good at driving the car to the nearest parking space…. Battery capacity is going to be really important on a rainy day… PP thoughts only, the clutch lock-out switch needs to be defeated for the hybrid option to be available… Best regards, -a-

Hey wait! There is more from the serial arial inventor Peter Sripol…. He could have a television show… Light weight, low cost, and duct tape… It does give some insight on how complex this flying thing can be… -a-

Have you seen what it looks like lately? The magic of YouTube and Juan Brown have captured some of the live action from turn five… Planes passing overhead at nearly 400mph… We have a couple of MSers that are involved in this awesome sport…. They are probably really busy lately…. The Sport class is most interesting… if you like a classic rival between a modified Bravo engine VS. a modified Acclaim engine… Watch this…. Glassair III Vs Lancair Legacy… and a whole cast of others… JB’s video yesterday was a stop in the hangar with unusually close up views and discussions of how modified these engines actually are… lots of water spraying for cooling, and 80” of boost…. See if @AirPirate is around? Best regards, -a-

Interesting cartoon video showing how the spring clip is supposed to work… https://southco.com/en_us_int/fasteners/emdzusemreg-quarter-turn-fasteners The retainer… the part I think Pasture is looking for gets mentioned briefly… Looks like they want you to download their e-catalog to find the various details that go with the Dzus fastener… which is probably a good idea… They have a brief article showing uses and a pic of the various Dzus fastener cores… https://southco.com/en_us_int/resources/Benefits-of-Quick-Release-Latching-for-Escape-Doors-and-Hatches The details about the different fastener heads and the various retainers can be found here…. Go further down the page to see the options… https://southco.com/en_us_int/fasteners/emdzusemreg-quarter-turn-fasteners Wish MS was around when my Dzus fasteners weren’t constrained…. Go MS! Best regards, -a-

Add in the variable of continuous education…. And enhanced knowledge about your flying machine… Members of local community flying groups, and MSers, must have some level of improvement in safety… This is a great way to know what you are missing…. Before that missing item shows up in flight…. Fortunately, there isn’t enough accident data to go on…. Most days… (all due respect to the latest lost Mooney airmen in the Ontario area… recently reported around here) Best regards, -a-

+1 for checking your actual descent rate with no power available… If 500fpm is what you get… expect the engine to be supplying a lot more power than you expect, with the throttle out… If Your challenges include difficulty landing on the first 200’ of runway… because your Mooney is extra slippery…. You might be experiencing the engine still producing a fare amount of power… Or… are you one of those people that doesn’t like to dial out what ever is left in the throttle after pulling it back? There might be a twist or two of the throttle knob to be removed… I would really appreciate a 500fpm descent while engine out… With respect to the topic…. Reaching a nicely developed descent speed, and vertical speed, takes about half the time you have left… while you add variables on top of it like bank angles… So…. Start with having the good data before the occurrence…. PP thoughts only, not a CFI… Best regards, -a-

Oddly… The Lord company supplies rubber donuts for three parts of the Mooney… 1) Engine mounts 2) Gear donuts 3) Instrument panel mounts… See if the lord company has any installation instructions to go with their panel mounts… they may have a torque value clearly mentioned somewhere… PP thoughts only, -a-

There was plenty of evolution going on related to the tail structure and set points… slowly over time and models… Starting with… 1) wood structure of the M20A… 2) M20B had the short metal rudder, with the short rudder throw… 3) M20C had the short rudder, but improved the rudder throw… then improved again to get the long rudder…. 4) Then Somebody also adorned it with a stinger tail, and a funky button hook on the top…. 5) Then adjusting the elevator throws a couple of degrees from being centered…. I’m familiar with the change… but don’t know the reasoning… Expect that it has something to do with…. The phrase… “you can never have too much trim in a Mooney….” I heard this during my less than ideal, non-Mooney specific transition training…. Very often, during the landing phase… with only two front seat passengers… the trim would be pretty close to max up…. I have never used the max down trim position even when loaded heavily toward the rear, and going super fast, near Vne…. How does that sound for a technical conversation set up? Could just be evolution… it took that long to get there… With the M20R… I never bump into the full up trim limit… I’m extra cautious of this, because the electric trim driving the system gets one hand on the wheel monitoring that it doesn’t hit the stops… PP thoughts only, not a mechanic… Best regards, -a-

New vibration sources can be found coming from anywhere… Where they get noticed… might not be the cause… Making them go away using fancy techniques may be trying to hide the more important issue… Note for BMc… I’m not implying You have gone about this in the wrong direction…. But I know a guy… Example: My 65C was showing bubbles appearing in the compass mounted on the center post…. And they were shaking around a lot…. Normally, there aren’t any bubbles in the compass… Turns out…. Something was going wrong with the engine mount. So… be on the look out for other signs of the different vibration appearing… compass, and the other side of the instrument panel… Then be on the look out for things that are allowing the vibrations to get there… Some people have reported engine mounts that had failed allowing metal to metal contact… they looked OK until much closer inspection… My C’s challenge was some broken welds on the engine mount that led to three bolts holding the engine in place, in stead of four… The rubber mounts are often called isolators… if a rubber mount fails to isolate, vibrations can be transmitted through it… Probably easiest enough to check on the rubber isolators on that section of the panel… to see what is keeping one of them from working properly… There might be a proper torque on those things to keep from over or under tightening…. Then check to see if the prop is somehow in contact with the lower cowling, a serious sign of a broken engine mount weld…. PP thoughts only, not a mechanic… Good luck with the hunt… Best regards, -a-

One day.… Mooney will have that position of web site developer open again…. Maybe the the Mooney of the Month picture will get updated… Since Erik’s awesome Mooney hasn’t been dethroned in many months… Imagine an ideal world where everyone flys a Mooney…. Ahhhhhh, the weekend has arrived, and weekend rules are in place…. PP thoughts only, not a web site developer… I did hire a couple once… Best regards, -a-

Welcome aboard Sportster. Let me see if @aviatoreb is around…. He has plenty of bike packing experience… He may even be able to point you in the right direction… There are a few Threads around here about what bikes people have, and best ways to get them on board…. And best bags for wheels and bike frames… Lastly, there is a thread about folding the back of the bench down… to allow for additional space… Great question, plenty of answers… let’s see if we can lead you to where they are stored… Start the search with BBQ covers…. Because they are a low cost device often used with the carriage of bicycles in Mooneys… Best regards, -a-

Pic of the Hartwell…. https://www.wicksaircraft.com/shop/flush-latch/?attribute_pa_item-name=hartwell-flush-latch&attribute_pa_length=2-11-16&attribute_pa_quantity-increment=1&attribute_pa_sold-by=each&attribute_pa_width-1=1-7-16&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnJaKBhDgARIsAHmvz6fdt_Q1xl4Rqggk8fIZCh2vDtk1WH0_fNME7Ykcihi7IBRtf0xkwtsaArf6EALw_wcB -a-

Interesting… Hartwell and Southco both have latches…. The Ovation uses latches… not sure which one they are…. Kind of look more like the Hartwell pic… PP thoughts only, trying to add to the scale of the project Ross is taking on…. Trying to stay near 100% original is challenging…. For a few AMU more…. Best regards, -a-

@Alan Fox seems to have a constant supply of some things… (prop request) Let’s see if he is coming back this way soon… Best regards, -a-

Welcome aboard Sp! Great first post. Best regards, -a-

Things to look for… The health of the butterfly type valve is prone to wear… The small bits pieces that go with it are also prone to wear…. The latest carb heat installations also used an exhaust tube to direct the excess unused heat overboard….better. The engine always produces heat, the heater muff is always hot, and some hot air is alway being dumped into the bottom of the cowl via this valve… Without the valve… carb heat would be less effective… drawing warm air from inside the cowl…. And mixing with the hot air coming from the muff… So… a valve is needed to do the job… If the valve was permanently closed… carb heat would be on all the time…. Check on the health of the bits and pieces, adding the proper hose should have some proper information to support it… PP thoughts only, not a mechanic… Best regards, -a-

Mikey, If you hit the quote button like I have here… Or use the @Mad Mikey… @Speed Merchant will get your message sooner, possibly even immediately…. Helps when time is of the essence…. Best regards, -a-

My battery box access door had the countersink, with the coin shaped curve in the slot… Never saw the right tool to get it open… but a screw driver worked good enough… The S-shaped wires had a tendency to rust out over 40 years…. PP observations and fuzzy memories only… Best regards, -a-

TLAR engineering…. That looks about right “I was unable to test that… so I didn’t…” “This is good enough for me, so I’m happy…” ”Might last two years, or a couple of days outside…” ”This is highly unorthodox…” Plan B: hand tossed parachute…. Trim system…. Water bottle taped to empennage… 35mph, tree top level… Rudder only, no airlerons… Experienced elevator flutter on first flight… Very interesting presentation…. Go Experimental plane builders… I tried to capture some of the funny quotes from the presentation…. They are not perfectly accurate… Best regards, -a-

Ross, My oil door on the M20C had a Dzus type fastener, but had wings like a wing nut…. ‘65 M20C… Made it convenient for checking oil each flight… I believe the wings oriented with the airflow when locked down… My plane was a mix of camlocs and dzus depending on location… None were SS, and were prone to light rust all the time… Best regards, -a-