cliffy

Look up the FAA program VARMA and it allows substitutions like this under specific criteria

I know of one 172 in a hangar, stored for 2 years, unattended., on some kind of trickle charger that went bad and all the acid (flooded battery) rolled down the firewall and back through the belly of the airplane. It wasn't a pretty sight. Don't know the make of charger so "you all be careful out there" (to quote a very long ago TV program) :-)

BINGO! The casual discussion of adding "charlie weight" to cure a too far fwd CG has more to consider than just fore/aft balance. Consider two airplanes -one with low polar moment longitudinally and another with high fore/aft polar moment BUT- both with the same vertical fin and rudder- The higher polar moment a/c will have less ability to recover from any yawing upset spin or no spin. One just can't add charlie weight if not provided for by the factory in testing. Other treads brought my attention to this subject.

My instructor had me doing spins way before my PP ride in a 150 I enjoyed them Back in the biplane days with no instruments, it was taught that if one was caught above a cloud deck and knew that there was room underneath that the way to get down was to go into a spin and hold it through the clouds. Once you broke out you got out of the spin. You always knew what condition you were in in a spin in IMC

My Commercial ticket check ride consisted of 2 turns about a point and 4 spins in my 1946 Cessna 140. I spun it many times I talked with Bill Wheat once and he related that he got into a 5 turn spin in a Mooney and didn't think he was going to get out of it. Said he'd never do it again. Polar moments play a big roll in spin recovery after rotation is established (IMO). "They all fly through the same air" as Al Mooney said but a lot of things play into the dynamics of aircraft control

In those airframes with "charlie weights" in the aft of the fuselage I wonder what Mooney found as far as how it affected the fore/aft polar moments in spin recovery? I've never heard it discussed Adding extra weight there "might" have deleterious affect on spin entry/recovery

The only reason they had an AD on gear actuator was because no one took them apart, cleaned them out and refilled with the correct lube in 30 years or more. If that had been done you wouldn't have the AD. If they had been treated correctly I doubt many would have ever worn out.

Converted -- IIRC, only 3 Ds still survive unconverted CG has a big affect on TAS in Mooneys Mine is way fwd due to me :-) With 80 lbs in the baggage I gain +6 mph with a 3 blade up front But I'm satisfied as it is. I've been known to go clear across the country at 1500 AGL!! Just enjoying the ride. It flies hands off very well without an A/P

27 years in the same D model at @ 90 hrs / yr Does everything I need in a traveling chariot. Coast to coast - north to south- Calif to FL- Texas to WI 155 smph (TAS) at 9.5 g/hr year after year. 1,000 hrs on my own garage overhaul and purrs like a kitten. Never had a speck of metal in the filter-NEVER and- NO oil leaks anywhere. Can't beat it.

YUP Looks like a well cooked pizza

Do you intend to ream the hole to make it perfectly round for a new bushing? Is there any max oversize limit allowed for that part ?

Lots to do and lots cheaper before you make a costly decision- First, was the compression test done using a "Master Orifice'" compression tester as per Continental procedures? If not find a mechanic that knows what he is doing in that regard Secondly- follow Continental's procedures for tracking down compression leaks IF the cylinders are in fact low on compression Any good A&P can tell you where the leakage is coming from. IF its valve leakage do a "lap in place" procedure to try an fix the leakage without pulling cylinders. It does work many times. Just make sure you have them replace (with new) the valve rotators when they lap the valves. Oil burning and ring compression leakage indicates time to try the ring flush procedure that Mike Bush promotes. Quite probably oil control rings seized That too does work often enough to make the try worthwhile. What is Continental's max allowed oil consumption per hour? Are you below that? If so, not to worry- just fly it and put oil in. Just as a point of reference on my 4 cylinder Lycoming the max oil use allowed is near 3/4 qt per hour. If in fact the cylinders need work you might consider having your own first run cylinders overhauled BY A GOOD SHOP rather than waiting a year or more for new ones. Just follow Continental's book on reassembly using the proper specified tools. First run overhauls are usually a pretty good way to go in that you know what your cylinders have gone through. With a factory reman engine you have no idea how many hours are on the cylinders. Cylinder rework USED to be common place but for some reason now a days many shy away from such work. BTW, all A&Ps were taught how to overhaul cylinders in school! Reworking the overheads (valves and guides) was actually a shop bench job if the cylinder itself was within wear limits. Their is nothing dangerous about cylinder work if proper procedures are followed. You need more and correct information before you decide its time to spend lots of money. You might consider signing up with Mike Bush for his help service. I have no connection with him but I have spoken to him several times at seminars. Cam problems would be low on my worry list.

Having been around this flying business for over 60 years it always amazes me when I look around at any airport and see what is parked there. You will see pristine examples of what is "aviation art" and you will see derelicts rotting away. What I can't figure is someone who owns an "investment" of $80,000 on the LOW side upwards of a quarter million dollars and letting that asset just sit there a rot away. Would that same person buy a new car for $100,000 and just park it on the street and drive it an hour a month for years? Letting it rot away the same way? What is it about airplanes and aviation that brings one to that frame of mind? Secondly, we now have a great portion of GA airplanes ( not counting experimental or LS) that are approaching easily 50 years old and many expect them to perform as trouble free as a new car. These are antiques to say the least. How many airplane owners are driving 50 year old cars? And yet we expect our 50 year old airplanes to operate on less maintenance than our new cars. Always looking for the quickie cheapest annual and never actually fixing EVERYTHING that fails to work correctly. And at the same time we launch off into the sky- NIGHT OR DAY- CLEAR SKIES OR CLOUDS with nary a thought to the consequences It boggles the mind. Every day the "fleet" gets smaller as we fiddle while Rome burns.

Just take a volt meter and trace backwards from the SOS to see where the electricity stops This is not rocket science. Its only one wire. Is there 12 v power getting to the SOS? If not- Go to the other end of that wire - Is there12 v power getting to the other end of THAT wire? If not- if not continue as above and find where the power stops Basic trouble shooting will save a lot of time and money instead of a parts cannon.

Cybertruck= depreciating asset But maybe cool for a while in some circles I have a friend with an electric Hummer! Mooney= holds its own or increases in value BUT not this Mooney. Sorry but lots better examples for sale My first impression was - Run - don't walk- away from it.

Is your plan to sign this off as an OPP part? Might call the factory and see if they have oversize bushings available. They might also be able to provide the material specs. Is the gear leg outer steel hole oversize or just the bolt hole?

Luckily I only got surprised once when I was a LCA (that was in a 757, saved it at the last few seconds) On a 727 you where never sure of any landing, You could do 3 in a row greasers and the next was surprise. As a 121 A&P on 747s (rope start models) in an earlier life I wonder how many tires they changed that night.

You can machine/drill magnesium if the cutting speeds are kept normal and the chips do not get hot. Normal drilling speeds shouldn't be a problem. High speed production is where the problem lies. Also if you are cutting mag in a lathe keep the bed of the lathe cleaned out of chip build up so IF a fire started there isn't much to put out. BTW, you can't just put out a mag fire You have to smoother it with a special black colored powder.

Use a good large diameter screwdriver handle (for leverage- mine is 2 1/2 inches in diameter) with a good sharp NEW Phillips bit (get several and good ones, not cheapos)) to do the first "break away" of the panel screws to loosen. DO NOT THINK you can just put a screw gun up to the screws and they will back out. IF YOU DO THAT YOU WILL RUIN THE SCREW HEAD AS THE BIT TEARS OUT THE SLOTS WITHOUT LOOSENING THE SCREW! You will have lots of screws to back out via Easyouts if you do that. Make sure the new bit is well seated and square in the head slots and then crack the screw loose. Mark my words on this. CRACK EACH AND EVERY SCREW BY HAND FIRST OR HANG YOUR HEAD IN SHAME WHEN YOU RETURN HERE :-) I learned the hard way many years ago!

I found that on the one airplane I flew that came in from Canada (MU2) that the CAN records were really pretty good In some ways better than we see here a lot. The airplane matched the records Maybe it was just that airplane but we didn't have any issues.

I had only the Accu-trak in my Mooney and didn't need anything else. It followed my course from the old GPS 155 TSO that I had. Didn't care about flying a heading as all I did was cross country point to pint straight line. I think 2 wires were pulled from the 155 TSO for left -right steering and all was good. Easy Peasy If I needed a heading for ATC or something just the wing leveler and turn knob sufficed My airplane flies straight. Lots less install if you just go Accu-trak I think I have 2 systems in boxes on the shelf -1 Accu-trak /Accuflight combo and one Accutrack only that I'm going to put up for sale here on MS soon. Both were working when removed.

Forgot to add- Back before RVSM I had a flight from JFK to LAS in a 757 with NO autopilots working MEL'd for the flight back to home base. I took the takeoff and first hour to get out of NY airspace and then transferred controls to my young FO so I could take a break. After about 45 mins he gave up and gave it back to me saying he was done hand flying and wouldn't do it any more on the flight! I wound up doing the rest of the trip myself hand flying. I asked him what he would do if he was Capt and the AP failed to which he had no answer. One of the worst pilot attitudes I ever flew with. I hope he got out of aviation as he didn't belong in a cockpit. BTW When Eddie Rickenbacker ran Eastern Airlines he didn't install autopilots in the airplanes as he said- "I hire my pilots to fly and not just sit there"!!!

Vacuum pumps fail a lot more than AIs AI failure is rare Want a good power system for the AI that can't fail in Mooneys? Get it powered by a venturi If you have flying speed you have a good AI Don't talk about ice- you shouldn't be in that kind of weather in a Mooney anyway Which one of 2 AIs has failed ? Try it sometime"-) for real IMC (sim or flight I don't care) In the 121 world 3 AIs is mandated We used the 'best two out of three" syndrome. Had a chief pilot once on a CE 500 who couldn't handle the check ride when they failed his AI. Couldn't disregard his bad instrument and go small third or transfer controls to my side. I'm left wondering what the old Pan Am pilots on the Clipper Ships did around the world when they didn't even have gyro AIs back then? "Here kid, you fly this thing needle ball airspeed" They didn't piss a moan about "partial" panel because that was ALL the panel they had. No such thing partial panel then. AND in some cases they had one needle in the center of the entire panel to look at. Had several what we called "autopilot cripples" in the 121 world. Without it they couldn't get it down inside the fences at the airports- LITERALLY! Always hand flew every third approach by hand to keep sharp. Many down to CAT III mins just in case In the AB 319 I would fly an ILS by hand as I don't think their stability program is all that good. In smooth air it always seemed to wallow around coming down the slot. Autopilot dependence and "Children of the Magenta Line" go hand in hand. (If you don't know of the training film "Children of the Magenta Line" you owe it to yourself to go to utube and watch it. )

The tank senders were originally out of a 50s Cadillac :-)