cliffy

Halos are sold Sorry

That's the route I was on (Accutrak-Accuflite) for my C until I looked at the economics of the Aercruze 100. I'm now very glad I went that route. It will GPSS off a Garmin GPS navigator and no more huff and puff bellows to worry about.

Oil pressure is not your problem Engine oil leaks don't DRIP from the pressure side of the oil system. Oil leaks are not that hard to find usually There are not that many places leaks can occur. Leaks can come from the rocker box drain lines that have the rubber hose connections. Have these ever been replaced? They are not hard to do and just tightening the clamps will not always stop the leaks if they are old-replace them Leaks at the base of the cylinder (s) is another matter as is a cracked case. A cracked case is a grounding issue "Suspected" cracked case is not a viable action to determine the need for a new engine It HAS to be verified that it is cracked not just suspected. Have the bolts holding the bottom oil sump been checked for torque? Is the leak at that parting surface? Lots of things to check before a new engine is called for. Your shop needs to wash the engine completely and then check it for leaks after a short flight. Finding leaks is not rocket science Verifying where they are coming from and fixing them is not that hard for a decent shop. Verify where they are coming from and fix them It may take a few flights. It can be any accessory on the rear of the engine leaking, tach drive seal, prop gov leaking, but they can be found. The BIG issues would be cylinder base leaks and a VERIFIED cracked case leak. Cylinder base leaks can be repaired with the top overhaul NOT a full overhaul (it would be the cylinder base oring leaking) A c racked crankcase is another matter requiring full overhaul. AN "Old school" trick from 50 years ago was if the leak was at a parting surface and the bolts were correctly torqued and if it still leaked- 5 min epoxy was spread on the parting surface and the leak went away :-) Just "old school" operations NOT FAA approved. How many years since overhaul? Ever had a top overhaul? You have a lot of items to check and fix before you spend the money for a new engine

Why not a call to the local FSDO to avoid any future confusion?

Univair has an FAA PMA authority to make parts that comply with the TC of many legacy airframes. Many of which the original manufacturer is no longer around. They have the approved data to make the parts. IF a company is no longer in business one can petition the FAA to release the official drawings so parts can be made but in the case of Mooney- who actually exists as a live entity- one has to obtain the drawings from them. If they don't want to release the drawings then some other approved way of making the part is required- DER? Reverse engineer? The issue always comes down to liability. Mostly on the part of the FAA as THEY are the ones that accepted the airworthiness responsibility when they "approved" and signed off on the TC drawings package as being safe to manufacture. They approved of the materials, process and design all the way through flight testing and said if made to these specifications (TC package) we agree that the airplane is safe to fly. Any parts replaced or added to that package have to match that package (drawing for drawing) for their approval to continue or be altered in an acceptable manner. Whether made by an FAA PMA or by OPP the part still has to comply with some form of approval back to the original design or approved alteration. We have parts for our Mooneys that will eventually ground many airplanes due to lack of availability. One of which are the flexible air intake ducts. With a fleet of around 7000 airframes the market is very small so the cost will be very high IF anyone can make them- Mooney or ?

This is why the hardest part of complying with the OPP rules is making the part to conform to the original type design. That means getting the original drawings from the manufacturer and making the part or reverse engineer the part with the help of a DER for the "approved design". Just because it "looks" like the part doesn't make it the same as the original part. Savvy Aviation has a very good video on the subject.

I have said for years that the FAA operates from the top down in aviation- everything is based on 121 and large TC holders. Small GA is only an accommodation to those positions. One only has to look at ADSB to see how the FAA world revolves. If you don't know the back story to ADSB look it up here Its Federal and all about GDP! Support for small GA airports? It used to be a way for small communities to bring in business but now with the ever expanding availability of commercial air transport small GA is pushed aside (unless the airport sponsor wants air service). I have also felt for years that AOPA is falling behind in their previous role as the leader in their role as the voice of GA. For this, one only has to look at the proliferation of "RAMP FEES" and the consolidation of major city hubs into a few (3) FBO chains. I personally talked to the previous head of AOPA at OSH a few years ago and as we all see it went nowhere with them. Every FAA supported airport should be required as part of their Grant Assurances to provide a given number of tie downs (with a reasonable RON fee if used for RON), an accessible toilet facility and airport gate access 24/7. I do keep AOPA for the legal insurance (and their airplane insurance can be good for some) but they seem to be too wound up in marketing Tee shirts than their basic job of supporting GA JMO after 60 years watching them. The hard reality is that small OLD GA is a dying breed. ALL of our wonderful Mooneys will die and go away just as most other legacy airframes will. 20 years from now there won 't be many Mooneys around at 75 years old or more (remember- we kill'm faster than we build'em). How many 75 year old cars are on the road today and who wants them? only a small group of antique collectors who trailer them to events. Even in that world (of which I am familiar) they admit in 20 years they won't be around any more. The world is changing, the population and its desires are changing and we (old GA) will move along (or out of the way) for it. Again JMO

How much cross country will you actually be doing and figure 10 kts difference on the outside. Will that amount of time each leg really make any difference? In a 3 hr flight that's 30 miles difference or maybe 10-12 mins? In 3 hrs? Had my D for 26 years and never needed more and I've been clear across the country several times with it. And I enjoy flying and just sitting back and watching the world roll by underneath me. I've done Florida the New Mexico at 1500' AGL just for fun. The difference between the Cs and the Es is bragging rights. In reality unless you are going a Looog way it really doesn't make that much difference in time for the average owner. Its not a quantum leap in speed. But what ever you buy buy it equipped the way you want an airplane to be equipped. Its always cheaper to buy what you want than try to build what you want.

If you decide to go the Halo route above I have 2 complete sets - one used for 2 flights and the other unused. SOLD

All I can say is mine works fine! :-)

Nat King Cole! Miles Bros.!

If you have dual brakes the problems increase ! Moving the shuttle valves becomes a death spiral of effort.

If it does revive make sure you have a capacity check done before you use it. Charged volts alone has nothing to do with actual capacity to supply those volts for any length of time.

You're never too old (or too many hours ) to learn new things. Gotta say this is one good thread with a variety of experiences, risk/gain values and hardware info. I harp on O2 and hypoxia in non-pressurized airplanes to be very careful of hypoxia sneaking up on you. Just like the Payne Stewart Learjet crash, hypoxia can and will sneak up on you and you may never know it until its too late! One trip in a US Air Force altitude chamber made me a believer. What did I learn here? Using the Vue ring and a smart watch. I use a finger tip unit but I don't go above 10,500. I know my symptoms and they start at a lower altitude as the years go by. I have an old Vue ring but its been dead for years. I just may jump for a new one now. Also hadn't thought about the "pressure " breathing by exhaling. Going to test that now. My D model doesn't do well at 14,000 in the summer (high DA) 12,500' is about all it can do effectively in the summer with any up and down drafts. Not enough reserve HP. Haven't been up there since 9/11.

Pure guess but- Back Course switch? You have to follow the wires to see where they go. Maybe no where and part of an old install not removed. Also part of my guess Happens all the time.

Its very nice to fire up "Otto" and let him run the flight plan and level off at cruise altitude while I sit back and watch the world go by :-) A word of caution- rudder trim will be your biggest issue. If it is off the slightest at cruise speed you will constantly correct back to course Mind you- its very little wig-wag but enough in still air to drive me crazy that's why it trimmed mine perfect for cruise. Climb and decent will need a foot to bring the ball into the center. Rougher air you won't notice it. Another issue will be getting used to how to trim the pitch to handle the "out of trim" warning. Its very touchy but can be ignored once you learn how to trim it.

Did mine as a Minor Alteration to the mount bracket also. Also- you HAVE to modify the mount tray for the pitch to clear the flap rod (notch the flange) as called out in the instructions. Mine had a letter authorizing Minor Alterations at the discretion of an IA. My hangar neighbor did it the same way also.

Just to stress a point about "Time of Useful Consciousness" we must remember not to rely too heavily or specifically when considering TUC times. These were determined by using young healthy pilots NOT overweight 60 year-olds. EVERYONE has their own TUC times determined by their own body. Everyone has their own at rest "altitude". In other words, at sea level your body might react as if its at sea level while the guy next to you - his body might react as if he's at 3,000' already. Everyone is different. Likewise, the human bodies capacity to convert O2 into something useful decreases with age. From what I have read we are at our best (100% ability) around 28 years old, From that time on there is a basically straight line degression in lung ability to the age of 120 (down to 0% ability). IF one has been a smoker the straight line goes from 28 to around 65!!! Just something to think about

There are always exceptions to any basic "rule" but taken in aggregate cognitive issues start to decline for most everyone after 60-65, some more than others, some way less than others but slide they do. Many take no notice!

Its not only unsupervised interns- a local shop hired a newly minted A&P who promptly twisted the nose gear of a Comanche so hard it actually split the entire oleo strut housing open. Your shop sounds like a worthy shop with the way they have stepped up to fix the issue. I would even use them after seeing their professionalism on this issue. The mark of a good shop is how they recover from a problem because every shop will have a problem at some time or another.

I'm in my late late 70s and just got renewed but with a $200 kicker over last year Full coverage but bear in mind I fly 60+ hrs a year and have 19,000+ hrs retract. I've been with the same company for years. I kind of feel (no empirical data ) that advanced licenses (ATP, ME, Type ratings ) and lots of hrs helps along with currency beyond 10 hrs a year. Quite frankly, if you're not flying more than 50 hrs a year when over 70 you need to rethink doing it. Not only is flying ability a fragile commodity that dies away from low use but the thought process doesn't recover as fast after a layoff. Cognitive processes start to slide after 60 or so. You can't avoid it. Set your own reasonable limits (for me its now day VFR only) and stick to them. One might look around at some of us "older" pilots and our "personal limits" and see a trend in limiting our liability after decades of experience. There is a reason. Ya' all be safe out there.

You may still have gelled fluid inside your wheel pucks if you didn't remove them and clean out the puck cavity. In fact I'd bet on it. I've seen this before several times when the pucks haven't been out of the calipers for a decade or more.

It still comes to "Unapproved parts" and the FAAs desire to eliminate them from the supply stream Here is a cut from AC 21-29D regarding SUPs= 5.3.5 Conduct a visual inspection of the part and supporting documents to the extent necessary to determine if the part is traceable to an FAA-approved source. For detailed guidelines on the identification of replacement parts refer to AC 20-62. The following are examples of positive forms of identification:  FAA Form 8130-3, Airworthiness Approval Tag.  Repair station work order from an FAA-certificated source.  European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Form 1 or Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) Form One, Authorized Release Certificate Maintenance records or release document with approval for return to service. 7/12/16 AC 21-29D 4  FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) markings.  FAA Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) markings.  Shipping ticket/invoice from Production Approval Holder (PAH). Basically we as A&Ps want to see an 8130 in order to install a prop on a certified airframe. You can dig deeper into this by reading the AC itself AC 21-29D Google Fu works to find it.

It all comes out to one word---LIABILITY and who assumes it when installed on a certified airplane Go "Experimental" and the owner/builder now assumes the liability in TOTAL for everything. All "chain of traceability" for a certified part is lost once "experimental" is used on it.

I didn't know it was in such high demand :-) Actually I'm fighting a nose gear donut install problem right now. Had to order in bar stock to make a drift to get the donut bottom hole to line up with the side bars. Common issue but it needs 9/16 stock and 9/16 bolts to make it our of are not easy to find and expensive' Need to grind a ball end on so it will slide through and line up the other side to drift the main bolt in. I'll probably do a start to finish article so others will know what to expect when they do it. The main gear donuts are easy- no special tools needed.