cliffy

Let's just say you had personal, first hand experience with a 5 yr old airplane (by actually watching) that had a hard landing, blown nose tire, busted nose wheel fairing (yes, NOT a Mooney) nose gear damage, aft bulkhead damage, prop strike (light, one blade only, 1/4 inch on a Lycoming engine) and the only maintenance done was to repair the nose gear assembly. Now you see it advertised for sale by a prominent sales house as a pristine, no damage history airplane. Oh, and did I mention that it had suffered another hard landing 6 months before the one mentioned that required both wings to be replaced with factory components? And the mechanic who repaired the nose gear refused to release the airplane for flight with the prop damage and no engine inspection but the owner found "someone" to file the prop and fly it away? What would you do? Sorry posted in wrong forum Can someone move it I don't know how

Confucius say- Man who jump off cliff, jump to conclusion! :-) :-)

Could be he stole the idea from the U2 :-) Used to watch them leave KVNY in the 60s They were modified there in the big Lockheed hangars on the east side

Although I can't find it right now I just got an email from the Feds (one of those cautions not quite up to an AD). Seems they're getting worried about noise cancelling headsets blocking out electronic warnings in cockpits and engine sounds.

What's the only airplane flying that has a tail hinged the way our Mooneys do?

You might take a look at the P lead wiring right at the mag connection. I've had a couple over the years that the inner insulation was old and brittle with the core wire exposed allowing the shielding to contact the core and ground out the mag. Kind of an intermittent problem. Move the wire, problem goes away for a while then comes back. New P lead wiring -problem solved.

No guts no glory :-) What's the restaurant? I'll eat there the next time I'm in KER

They found Scotty and he worked out the problem with the warp drive and hot dilithium crystals so the leap to warp speed has been solved. Next stop? The Twilight Zone.

M20F_ too many aluminum pieces running around the engine from the piston for me to be comfortable with a "flush" only cylinders at 2100 hrs is why I recommend an O/H Being first run they could be overhauled except for the damaged one. It would also look better in the log book. It's time for all the exhaust valves to be replaced. Short of a well documented overhaul I would advise anyone on a pre-buy to run away. The engine is 33 years old and never been fully overhauled. It's time

When they were first built Mooney had a kit to add RT brakes. They may still have it available. All it takes is the kit and the drawing number No STC needed it from the factory. Mine was done by kit a drawing number many years ago.

Will your A&P be able to put it back in? Do you have the maintenance manual for him?

West Hollywood is not Westwood :-) BUT the idea of KSMO is a good one. Driving over the Sepulveda Pass to get to West Hollywood from the valley is a B^&*(. I think there are city parking spots near the east end by the restaurant. They do charge but it might be a better option. Getting in and out is not too tough especially if you have flight following. Morning fog can be an issue there . Keep track of the weather.

JMO but you have a relatively good bottom end BUT I would (as an A&P) be skeptical of just doing a cylinder change given the metal in the engine from the valve failure. Too many nooks and crannies for metal to be hiding for my liking. If it was me it would be a tear down and O/H. Should be no surprises (crank aside, mine "had" a magnaflux also but was cracked). Given they are first run cylinders I'd keep them and have them fully overhauled, Cheaper than new, just as good as new. Either way is fine. Me, I'd grind if necessary with new oversize pistons and rings. They MAY measure out good for standard size and new fits maybe not. You might get lucky and not have to grind them. No big deal if you do. You will still need one more for the replacement one. You may be able to find a first run one to match the others. That would be good. With one cylinder going south at 1000 hrs and just replacing that cylinder would you be riding on borrowed time for another one going bad? Have you looked at the other cylinder's valves with a borescope to see if they are warped or leaking? Have you checked to see if the guides are worn? With an O/H you'd be sure things were as good as it gets, if you had to sell your resale price would be better AND your market to sell to would be lots bigger. If I was looking at a plane with a sucked valve and just a cylinder replacement with 2100 TT even considering the bottom end time I'd be walking away. it just doesn't ring good to me.

1) Corona Engines- I had a cylinder done by them a couple of years ago that has done fine on a twin comanche. Good service, easy to deal with. 2) How many hours on the cylinders? Are they first run or on their 3rd go around? Makes a difference in my mind. 3rd time around, I'd go new cylinders otherwise a good grind and overhaul is fine. 3) Bottom ends are bottom ends. Will it be a "new limits" bottom end or a "service limits" overhaul. New limits is best. Has the engine ever had a prop strike or a gear up landing and it still has the original crankshaft? You may have a bad crank even if an overhaul/repair was made, check into it when its torn down (been there, done that). 4) Resale value may be somewhat better with a factory engine but probably not equal to the investment delta in the factory engine. What do you plan on doing with the airplane? keep it for years? A good Corona overhaul will be good for that. JMO

Learned to fly there (KVNY) Still go there. WHP is OK. Security for airplane is good. Neighborhood is OK to drive through going to the freeway. Fuel price is good, Getting a rental car sucks! It's off field quite a ways. I now go to VNY and stop at Castle & Cook on the west side just at the south side base of the tower. They have always treated me well, they really do cater to GA singles, I've had no overnight fees if I filled up when I left. They have a car rental in their office and it's always ready when I arrived by calling ahead. They will move your airplane but they are well aware of the Mooney towing limits. I don't go to WHP anymore after finding C&C. I feel BUR is the bottom of the list but I have no recent experience there Check Airnav reviews

BTW, my early FAA physicals (1960s and 70s) were given by Dr. Sid White out in Los Angeles. He was the Dr. that got cannulas approved for light aircraft. He just passed away last week at age 93.

Don't know him but many decades ago I got paid to have my C-140 in a scene of a "Manix" TV show. Also got paid to taxi it through another scene. I suspect he got paid but not thousands.

Los Cabos is the big airline airport @ 30 miles north of Cabo san Lucas The airport right outside Cabo san Lucas (a couple of miles) is also usable. No airline traffic like Los Cabos BUT they have high fees also. The suite however looks very nice.

Nice photos of how it's done. Good job

I knew I'd lose FL450 LRJet M.88 B727 burning 12,000 #/hr

I must admit that I am pretty opinionated on the subject of O2 in non-pressurized aircraft after the better part of 4 decades flying in the higher altitudes. For those who are new to the subject and/or contemplating higher flight :-) I would like to recommend that you go to the current issue of "The Mooney Flyer" (Nov) and read my article on hypoxia. It also references another great hypoxia article written by another author earlier this year. Hypoxia is insidious, it sneaks up on you and you may never know it's there until it's too late. Just research the many total aircraft losses due to hypoxic pilots (Payne Stewart, etc) and many who were professionally trained in the effects of hypoxia. If you don't know WHY cannulas don't work above 18,000' you need to know more about flying at higher altitudes. If you believe in the TUC tables (or you don't know what they are) you really need to read the articles mentioned above. As always, ya'll be careful out there. http://www.themooneyflyer.com/

Lets see- Time to climb to 12,000' from sea level (KLAX) in a B757-200 from brake release was 2 mins and 56 seconds! We were light and empty of pax. Now we probably have a few AF jet jocks that beat that by a country mile in lawn darts! :-)

KLAS-KABQ summertime, 14000 MEA DA 15900 struggled to maintain with any downdraft. Did go to 15000 once to see how it was. Haven't been back. Not worth it. Most flights 8500-11500 200-300 FPM last 2000 ft. 250 below gross. Max MP, 2550 RPM cruise Peak egt Up high 130 kts TAS if lucky

Can you pass along the name or model number you used that is approved? I can't find an approved replacement LED nav light bulb anywhere on Spruce;'s website. I'd like to use them if I can find them.

Just a couple of thoughts: Is there a hole in the piston? If so you may have to go overhaul Were the rods checked for parallel and the rod ends rebushed at the bottom end time? If not you have rods that need to be looked at. As mentioned make damn sure the cam and lifters are examined thoroughly. You can do a ( I know heretic ) field overhaul of you own engine maybe cheaper than factory.