cliffy

If you read the 100hr/annual inspection check list that Mooney puts out you will find it in there http://www.deltaaviationllc.com/Nav%20Page/maint%20manual/Mooney%20100%20Hour%20Annual%20Guide.pdf Check "Airframe Section, Item 4. on (Rev 2007) With A&Ps being required to follow manufacturers instructions, if they are available, and, needing to use a check list to do a 100 hr insp- ? There is no "recognizing" that the elevators can be removed without removing the bungee nuts ( that has always been blatantly obvious), the question was, when it was painted, who checked or asked how it was done and if it was re-rigged if the bungees were removed. How many owners (or even mechanics not Mooney savvy) even know of this issue (that is the point of my post, not to see how many can find another way to do it) and check into it before the paint job. The point here is education of a possible issue and having that knowledge to be proactive when one goes to paint. I would be surprised if the "majority" of the shops removed them from the horn mount myself. Way too easy to pull them off with the 2 bungee nuts first and not run the risk of dinging new paint by having them flopping around. And, regardless, who can know for sure how they were removed unless one was there? Are they going to pull the horns off after the paint job and thereby run the risk of peeling the new paint around the mounts or are they going to pull them off before paint and try to paint the horns while hanging from the control tubes? And of the ones that don't remove from the horn until off, how many recheck rigging? How many shops have the board? Does anyone know of one shop that does? Wouldn't t be nice if every owner had this information and they could ask the shop about this issue before paint?

A&Ps can remove and install instruments but can not repair them. That means that they can not replace the rubber diaphragm on wet compasses and refill them as we did for decades before the new rulings. They can however "swing" a compass.

I'm not back yet but I will post an article I wrote for those who might be interested. ARE YOU SHAKING YOUR TAIL? How One Question Can Lead to another and another and another- I received a call from a local shop asking me to look at a Mooney that was in the shop. They are not Mooney experts and much to their credit, they know their limitations. I got to the airport and walked around the Mooney to the tail where the other mechanics were standing. One of them asked, “Is this normal?” and proceeded to move the tip of the tail up and down which was accompanied by a loud “click” “clunk” with the tip moving almost a half inch in both up and down and fore and aft directions. Hmmmmmm! Of course, all of us know what causes this, right? They had the tail cover plates off and I went over and held my finger on the tail mount bolts and then had them move the tail again. Sure enough, I could feel movement in the bolt bushing area. On closer examination I could see a gray discoloration around the bolt head area and no evidence of any lubrication in the area. In fact everything I looked at in the tail area showed no evidence of lubrication! I suggested that they not fly it until the wear was repaired and I asked (here’s the first question) “who does your maintenance?” The airplane is not based here year round. I was told that a local shop in another state has done the annual for several years. After a little chit chat I mentioned that I felt that the airplane had not been properly lubricated for some time and I asked (here’s question number 2) “How much do you fly this every year?” The answer, “Somewhere around 200 hours a year.” Hmmmmmmmm! I then asked (here’s question number 3), do you do the lubrication AD every 100 hours” The answer, “We do an annual every year.” Hmmmmmmmm! Next question (here’s number 4), do you know about the lubrication AD? “No, our mechanic does an annual every year.” Hmmmmmmm! I’m going to digress a little here to say that this is not the first time I have run into aircraft owners who, for what ever reason, do not know what THEIR legal requirements are when it comes to maintenance on their airplane. To many owners, the mere fact that they have an annual done every year is all that they are responsible for on the maintenance of the plane. Unfortunately that’s not completely correct. Let me quote from FAR Part 91.405- §91.405 Maintenance required. Each owner or operator of an aircraft— (a) Shall have that aircraft inspected as prescribed in subpart E of this part and shall between required inspections, except as provided in paragraph © of this section, have discrepancies repaired as prescribed in part 43 of this chapter; ( Shall ensure that maintenance personnel make appropriate entries in the aircraft maintenance records indicating the aircraft has been approved for return to service; © Shall have any inoperative instrument or item of equipment, permitted to be inoperative by §91.213(d)(2) of this part, repaired, replaced, removed, or inspected at the next required inspection; and (d) When listed discrepancies include inoperative instruments or equipment, shall ensure that a placard has been installed as required by §43.11 of this chapter. If we go back one paragraph to 91.403 it states- 91.403 General. (a) The owner or operator of an aircraft is primarily responsible for maintaining that aircraft in an airworthy condition, including compliance with part 39 of this chapter. So as we can see, you as the owner, have more responsibility than just bringing your airplane in for an annual every year. YOU have to manage the maintenance all year long. If you have a recurring AD, like our lubrication AD 73-21-01, and you fly over 100 hours in the year, YOU have to make sure that the AD is done. Your maintenance shop will probably NOT know you are over 100 hours in the year until he sees your plane at the next annual. It’s your responsibility to tell him when the AD is due between annuals. This goes for all recurring ADs, so keep your eyes open. Back to our story: After discussing how important lubrication is on a Mooney and how he needed to address the tail bolt issues, he mentioned that they had to jump start the airplane with cables even though they had an external power plug. I asked (here’s question number 5) “Why?” Because the aux plug doesn’t work was the answer. Hmmmmmmm! It was then volunteered that the airplane had had a gear failure and had been repaired but they thought that the gear doors didn’t close all the way! Hmmmmmm! The owner was convinced enough to ground the airplane and start working on the tail hinge. After 8 shop hours of trying to get the bolts out, a screw press was made to carefully push out the bolts. They were completely dry, rusty and worn. New bolts were tried in the holes and the bushings turned out to be good. Only the bolts and the missing washers on those bolts were needed to bring it back to no slop! Hmmmmmm! The owner then took all the panels off the plane and started to lube everything movable, as it should have been done every 100 hours. Having my Maintenance Manual handy I showed them the electrical schematic for the external power plug. In trouble shooting it, I found that the external power relay was missing the ground/diode wire from the coil to ground. Easy fix, just no one knew how to fix it. Hmmmmmm! Now to the gear problems- With the plane on jacks and the belly open I went to the nose gear first. Fore and aft, left and right lots of play in the vertical bushings and bolt. Twist the tire and way too much play in the steering linkage. In checking the mains I find a little play in the retract linkage but not too bad. OK, lets suck’m up and see what that holds for us. Sure enough, the mains don’t go all the way up. Short by 2 inches, gear doors not flush at all. And this is just a few months out of an annual inspection! Well, let’s see what the manual extension holds for us- oopps! It doesn’t go down! Turns out that the release lever works but the crank handle won’t crank! So, let’s recap what I find on the gear: 1) Nose gear is way worn in the steering linkage and pivot bolt/bushings. 2) Main wheels don’t retract properly. 3) Emergency extension doesn’t work. 4) One frozen Heim joint on the retract bars for the nose gear. So, the owner now has a new list of items to fix before he can go fly again. As you can see by this long litany, one question can and will lead to many others when it is noted that there are problems with your airplane. It should be blatantly obvious by now that a maintenance shop has to have specific knowledge of Mooney maintenance practices to be able to do a competent job. The owner “thought” he was getting good maintenance all these years BUT? And, as an owner, you can’t just live with your head buried in the sand when it comes to aircraft maintenance. Remember, YOU are the one in the airplane and as the owner; you have the legal responsibility to maintain your airplane properly. The more you know, the safer you will be.

Flaps and ailerons are attached with Heim joints and can be removed without upsetting rigging. Elevators can also be removed by removing bolts from the control horn through the elevators BUT most of the time that I have seen they are removed by undoing the bungee nuts and springs and then the 4 hinge bolts each. IF it was done by removing the control horns only then you'd be OK BUT which way was it done? Did you know enough to ask? Have they ever been removed before the paint job for any other reason (and where they then re-rigged)? My point is NOT whether someone can come up with way to do it without re-rig but the fact that there are a lot of paint jobs done the incorrect way or no way to tell unless one was there and watched AND knew what they were looking for! I have found them (at least for me) up to 4 degrees out of spec. AND NO, they are not "falling out of the sky" because the rigging wasn't checked BUT they DO NOT meet TC specs and YOU don't know what the ramifications are. It's an attitude of either you're willing to make sure it's done correctly on YOUR airplane or you're not. Your choice! Let's just bring up one more item to see how many want to debunk it. We have an annual requirement AND a 100hr requirement per an AD, to lube the airplane flight controls and landing gear rod ends, included in that AD is a requirement to swing the gear ANDmeasure the over center torque of the landing gear by using the required "special" tools. How many out there know for sure that their last annual or 100 AD was done using the special tools to measure torque? Does your mechanic even have them? Have you ever asked him? I know of shops that do Mooney annuals and don't have the special tools! Let's add to the mix checking proper flight control rigging at each annual per the factory 100 hr inspection guide, does your shop have the rigging boards to measure the control travel? If not, how do they comply with the annual check list AND yes they are required to follow the check list to do the annual. Anyone want to try and debunk that one? There is one thread here that someone talks about doing landings with the trim all the way nose up and having an approach speed of 85 MPH. Either the plane is way out of rig or the flying technique is way wrong. I can speak on either issue but I won't. It is interesting to me to see how many on this forum try to debunk an issue, take exception with the question without carefully reading the question, or try to find some esoteric way around it rather than taking it for what it was offered as, an issue you MIGHT want to look at if you are not familiar with it, so that you are more familiar with the maintenance issues on your airplane. I have found many owners (and not owner/A&Ps) to be interested in learning about their plane and its maintenance but on the other hand I have seen just as many that are ignorant of what is required, arrogant enough to say what is required does not apply to them or they figure they know more than the company that designed it. All one has to do is go through a full investigation by the FAA (no I haven't had the pleasure but friends have)to know what it feels like to have the feds ask, "so what makes you think you know more than the manufacturer". Whether it is how to comply with ADs, maintenance issues, who can LEGALLY work on your plane or what parts are installed on it (hardware store bolts and nuts for one) someone is always willing to skirt the edges. Merry Christmas to all and I'm out of town for a while.

By Cs I was implying "Cessna" type airplanes. Their elevators can be removed and replaced without upsetting the control throw angles by the way they are attached. Control angles relate to control authority. Control authority and response is a design parameter set at the factory to meet certification requirements. In general, too much authority can lead to an unstable flying a/c and too little authority can or may cause an unrecoverable condition upon a/c upset. There's a lot more to it but again the tolerances are 1 degree either way so just by that it can be deduced that it is an important item to keep correct. BTW, control rigging is supposed to be check at every annual/100 hr. Does your shop have the proper tools to do the check? Figure 6-4 in the Mooney Maintenance Manual. :-) Just asking. I have another question I'll pose in another thread.

Let me just add for those who may need to know I hold: MEL ATP 20,000+ hrs Typed in B767, B757, B737, B727, A320, LrJet, CE500, MU2 As stated, 46 yrs A&P trained on B707, 720, 747, 727, DC8, DC9, DC10, CE500, numerous smaller a/c I've lost too many friends in this business to ignorance or carelessness to not want to pass on what I know.

Let's see. where to begin? I pose questions to bring about thought and discussion on this and other forums. I bring to the forum 46 years as an A&P and 13 years as a Mooney owner. I run into aircraft maintenance issues very often and a high percentage of them are brought about by the owner either not knowing or not caring about the maintenance. I have heard many times,"I take it in for an annual". unfortunately, that doesn't cover the owners responsibility as far as the FARs are concerned. One only has to read FAR 91.403. If it doesn't annoy anyone, I'll let them read it. Has anyone ever let an AD over run either time or date? I just had a C model that I discovered flies @200 hrs per year and yet the owner though all he had to do was 1 annual and the lubrication AD once a year. WRONG!. So that is why I pose questions. I don't want to see anyone hurt and I don't want to see anyone get a violation. I bring up the elevator bungees because it is unique to Mooneys and many times a misunderstood item on Mooneys. If your maintenance isn't done by someone informed about the system it will be missed. The elevators on a Mooney can not be removed and replaced "accurately" for correct throw angles unless they are re-rigged per Sec 6 of the Mooney Maintenance Manual.To do that you need some way of measuring throws at certain precise angle settings of the moving stabilizer in relation to the horizontal waterline of the fuselage. Once the stabilizer is set at 3 1/2 degrees airplane nose up the elevators need to be adjusted to a specific up elevator degree setting in relation to the stabilizer (12 degrees on D models, 9 degrees on C models, 5 1/2 on F models, etc). This adjustment is done by the two nuts that hold on/in the springs in the elevator bungees. So you just can't mount the elevators on the hinges and tighten down on the bungees without using an elevator trim board to measure the angles correctly. So, if you had your airplane repainted and the controls were removed and replaced AND they didn't have and use a Mooney trim board to reset the elevator angles they will not be correctly set. Now consider the allowable tolerances is in the order of 1 degree, they can't be set without the proper tools ON A MOONEY. Cs, Bs and Ps don't have this issue.

If you have had your plane repainted of course everyone has the flight controls re-balanced as required (right?) BUT, did you find anywhere in your logs that the elevators were re-rigged per the Mx manual or were they just re-installed? How did the shop adjust the spring bungee position without levels and a trim board?

Are you looking to buy a Mooney? If so it would help if you narrowed it down to what model(s) you are interested in so the correct advice could be passed along to you.

I just made a mount that goes in the corner of the left window just by the ice window (ice window still works) for my droid phone and I'll be using it on a trip tomorrow to see how it all works out that way instead of holding it. It looks like the guys doing this are just doing it for fun right now. All volunteer effort. I'm going to donate some money just to help them and see where this goes (I have NO connection with them at all). They evidently had someone donate an ADBS system to then so they could play with the coding for that also. This might turn out to be something good.

Anyone playing with Avare yet? My wife found it and put it on her Nexus and I put it on my droid phone. Looks as good as my I FLY 700 which I am comparing it with AND all the charts and plates are free! It's being done by some computer geeks on a volunteer basis and gets updates about very day or 2 but it works fine. Still testing but impressed.

Frequent flying does more to enable your engine to make TBO than anything else. If you're not doing 50 hrs a year (as a bare min) or more you're not flying enough even to stay current let alone keep you engine in good shape.

Chasing leaks can be a PIA. Wash the engine and go run it for 5 mins then look for the oil trail. If you can't see any oil. cowl it up and fly it around the pattern and then check. Eventually you will find the leak. You say 6 qts and it stops? MY first thought is the engine breather line. Where does it exit from the cowl? Right near where the breather tube exits? Also I'd check real close on the rocker drain line connections. Sometimes they are hard to see.

Those with batteries mounted in the tail cone may find they have a longer battery life due to less heat than the ones with the battery in the engine compartment. As far as capacity checks go, all batteries come with ICAs, Instructions for Continued Airworthiness. Just like say a Standby Vac System that has ICAs to inspect it for operation every year, every addition to your airplane has an ICA associated with it. It's a requirement for STC approval. ICAs need to be complied with but I'll bet that not 1 in 1000 ever comply with the battery ICA. It gets checked for water level and corrosion and that's all. The airplanes that go to annual at a full repair station may find that they won't do the annual unless they do the capacity check. A picky Maintenance Fed just might just have an issue with you if you don't have a capacity check done. Remember, you might want to re-read 91.403. Putting it off on the A&P if it isn't done won't cut it. Just sayin

True on the night flying EXCEPT for my caveat, I fly exclusively out west with tall granite clouds that can't be seen at night. Unless you have taken off from say KPGA at night with no moon and used Rwy 33 You have no idea how dark night flying is. Trust me, it's total IMC from the end of the runway. Nothing, and I mean nothing but a total black curtain. Don't think for a moment that star light will do it. Now if the 260 had only stayed above the big numbers on each section of a Sectional chart they wouldn't have made grave for themselves. I might think differently if I had miles of corn fields below me. I have one area that I fly around after I leave my home airport that if I had a problem, there is no safe place to go even in clear weather.

WOW! This is a bit of fresh air. As a now retired ATP, I used to do 600 RVR Autolands in 757s and Airbus's. I used to practice by hand flying an ILS to CAT III 50ft Mins in clear weather just to be able to in an emergency. I was doing 75 hrs / month average in good weather and bad and I was flying a big jet, not my Mooney. Since I retired I'm doing 100 hrs /year! Not any where near what I was doing. SO my own mins have undergone quite a change. Marauder is just about right on. I'll do a climb out (maybe even KLGB) or an approach but each on has a decision tree to what my mins might be that day. Rarely, if at all, do I see a full mins approach anymore, rarely will I even do one as I'll pass on the flight and wait a day. Full IMC cross-country is something I don't do anymore either. 24 hours will in 99% of the cases, cure any weather issue. When I bought my Mooney 14 years ago I did a study of all night time single engine accidents over a 10 year period. I wanted to know how safe S/E flying was at night. There were 263 of them. I read every one of them. 260 of the 263 accidents were nothing more than running into a mountain. So, the conclusion, at that time, was that the chances of a problem were very slim BUT, and a it is a very BIG BUT, if something does happen, at night, out west where I fly, I'm in deep doo-doo. So, I just don't do it. If one wants to look up a report/hand book for a Mooney BFR check ride, a book will pop up and inside one of the subjects will be "Recency of Experience" as it pertains to accidents. The graphs show that no matter what your total time is if you fly less than 10 hours every 90 days YOU are at a very high risk for an accident. No wonder every insurance company wants to know your flight time in the last 90 days! Keep that in mind. Lastly, I have something I try to pass along to any young or newer pilot if I feel they will take it to heart. It is my feeling that unless you are "tempered" as a pilot, you are not a safe pilot and if you live long enough, you might become a safe pilot. By tempered I mean, until you have done something while flying, that you know YOU did, and it scared the living beejesus out of you, you are not tempered. Until then you will always be tempted to test the edges. You don't need to find the edges, It's not worth it. Cliff Biggs ATP, 767,757,737,727, A320, LRJet, CE500, MU-2, Wright Bros Award A&P 46 Yrs, B707, B727, B720, B747, DC-10, DC9, DC-8, CE500

This is an interesting thread as it deals in part (a/c maintenance) with an article I just wrote for "The Mooney Flyer" e magazine ( www.themooneyflyer.com ). As to the question of airline pilots having to know about the AD status, they don't. As the rule we operate under is found in Part 91 not Part 121 (for airlines). Part 91 (for us) in 91.403 states the following- 91.403 General. (a) The owner or operator of an aircraft is primarily responsible for maintaining that aircraft in an airworthy condition, It does no good to try to blame a maintenance shop or A&P if you miss an AD on your airplane. The owner is responsible, period! ( I know, I know, the word period has a bad connotation today :-) I will paste the article I wrote below for those that might be interested, it's also Mooney focused. ARE YOU SHAKING YOUR TAIL? How One Question Can Lead to another and another and another- I received a call from a local shop asking me to look at a Mooney that was in the shop. They are not Mooney experts and much to their credit, they know their limitations. I got to the airport and walked around the Mooney to the tail where the other mechanics were standing. One of them asked, “Is this normal?” and proceeded to move the tip of the tail up and down which was accompanied by a loud “click” “clunk” with the tip moving almost a half inch in both up and down and fore and aft directions. Hmmmmmm! Of course, all of us know what causes this, right? They had the tail cover plates off and I went over and held my finger on the tail mount bolts and then had them move the tail again. Sure enough, I could feel movement in the bolt bushing area. On closer examination I could see a gray discoloration around the bolt head area and no evidence of any lubrication in the area. In fact everything I looked at in the tail area showed no evidence of lubrication! I suggested that they not fly it until the wear was repaired and I asked (here’s the first question) “who does your maintenance?” The airplane is not based here year round. I was told that a local shop in another state has done the annual for several years. After a little chit chat I mentioned that I felt that the airplane had not been properly lubricated for some time and I asked (here’s question number 2) “How much do you fly this every year?” The answer, “Somewhere around 200 hours a year.” Hmmmmmmmm! I then asked (here’s question number 3), do you do the lubrication AD every 100 hours” The answer, “We do an annual every year.” Hmmmmmmmm! Next question (here’s number 4), do you know about the lubrication AD? “No, our mechanic does an annual every year.” Hmmmmmmm! I’m going to digress a little here to say that this is not the first time I have run into aircraft owners who, for what ever reason, do not know what THEIR legal requirements are when it comes to maintenance on their airplane. To many owners, the mere fact that they have an annual done every year is all that they are responsible for on the maintenance of the plane. Unfortunately that’s not completely correct. Let me quote from FAR Part 91.405- §91.405 Maintenance required. Each owner or operator of an aircraft— (a) Shall have that aircraft inspected as prescribed in subpart E of this part and shall between required inspections, except as provided in paragraph © of this section, have discrepancies repaired as prescribed in part 43 of this chapter; ( Shall ensure that maintenance personnel make appropriate entries in the aircraft maintenance records indicating the aircraft has been approved for return to service; © Shall have any inoperative instrument or item of equipment, permitted to be inoperative by §91.213(d)(2) of this part, repaired, replaced, removed, or inspected at the next required inspection; and (d) When listed discrepancies include inoperative instruments or equipment, shall ensure that a placard has been installed as required by §43.11 of this chapter. If we go back one paragraph to 91.403 it states- 91.403 General. (a) The owner or operator of an aircraft is primarily responsible for maintaining that aircraft in an airworthy condition, including compliance with part 39 of this chapter. So as we can see, you as the owner, have more responsibility than just bringing your airplane in for an annual every year. YOU have to manage the maintenance all year long. If you have a recurring AD, like our lubrication AD 73-21-01, and you fly over 100 hours in the year, YOU have to make sure that the AD is done. Your maintenance shop will probably NOT know you are over 100 hours in the year until he sees your plane at the next annual. It’s your responsibility to tell him when the AD is due between annuals. This goes for all recurring ADs, so keep your eyes open. Back to our story: After discussing how important lubrication is on a Mooney and how he needed to address the tail bolt issues, he mentioned that they had to jump start the airplane with cables even though they had an external power plug. I asked (here’s question number 5) “Why?” Because the aux plug doesn’t work was the answer. Hmmmmmmm! It was then volunteered that the airplane had had a gear failure and had been repaired but they thought that the gear doors didn’t close all the way! Hmmmmmm! The owner was convinced enough to ground the airplane and start working on the tail hinge. After 8 shop hours of trying to get the bolts out, a screw press was made to carefully push out the bolts. They were completely dry, rusty and worn. New bolts were tried in the holes and the bushings turned out to be good. Only the bolts and the missing washers on those bolts were needed to bring it back to no slop! Hmmmmmm! The owner then took all the panels off the plane and started to lube everything movable, as it should have been done every 100 hours. Having my Maintenance Manual handy I showed them the electrical schematic for the external power plug. In trouble shooting it, I found that the external power relay was missing the ground/diode wire from the coil to ground. Easy fix, just no one knew how to fix it. Hmmmmmm! Now to the gear problems- With the plane on jacks and the belly open I went to the nose gear first. Fore and aft, left and right lots of play in the vertical bushings and bolt. Twist the tire and way too much play in the steering linkage. In checking the mains I find a little play in the retract linkage but not too bad. OK, lets suck’m up and see what that holds for us. Sure enough, the mains don’t go all the way up. Short by 2 inches, gear doors not flush at all. And this is just a few months out of an annual inspection! Well, let’s see what the manual extension holds for us- oopps! It doesn’t go down! Turns out that the release lever works but the crank handle won’t crank! So, let’s recap what I find on the gear: 1) Nose gear is way worn in the steering linkage and pivot bolt/bushings. 2) Main wheels don’t retract properly. 3) Emergency extension doesn’t work. 4) One frozen Heim joint on the retract bars for the nose gear. So, the owner now has a new list of items to fix before he can go fly again. As you can see by this long litany, one question can and will lead to many others when it is noted that there are problems with your airplane. It should be blatantly obvious by now that a maintenance shop has to have specific knowledge of Mooney maintenance practices to be able to do a competent job. The owner “thought” he was getting good maintenance all these years BUT? And, as an owner, you can’t just live with your head buried in the sand when it comes to aircraft maintenance. Remember, YOU are the one in the airplane and as the owner; you have the legal responsibility to maintain your airplane properly. The more you know, the safer you will be. Cliff Biggs ATP, 767,757,737,727, A320, LRJet, CE500, MU-2, Wright Bros Award A&P 46 Yrs, B707, B727, B720, B747, DC-10, DC9, DC-8, CE500

That's why I like my "charlie armstrong" gear. If the handle points up, the gear is down :-) Of course the manual gear has a micro switch in the down and locked socket that can also get out of rig. Either the finger on the switch bends up or the gear handle sleeve doesn't go far enough up into the socket but everyone should be checking the sleeve engagement prior to landing Right? :-)

All your previous posts referenced Part 23 certified aircraft. What might be the situation with CAR3 certified Mooneys as many of the older ones come under that cert?

I agree completely on the thread pitch issue. The "strip out" factor with the base metal being cast aluminum may be a factor in the thread pitch. Also I would have thought that someone would have thought to use drilled head bolts and safety wire them in place so that they had less chance of coming loose. Also from the start, as a practicle engineering matter, I would have used the largest bolts for for available space right from the begining. Oil samples and their analysis may not always be the final or correct answer. To rely on one "answer" completely is nothing more than burying your head in the sand. Had I "listened" to the oil sample alone, I would have lost the engine and probably the airplane. I have preached for years (been doing this since the late 60s) that engines and airplanes talk to you. You just have to learn the lingo and pay attention.

I was able to send the crankcase to Tulsa and have it welded and redrilled. There is a service letter that shows to use the next size bolt also, which I did. 1/4-20 up to 5/16-18 on both of the idler gear studs.

Just going through my old posts and surprised that no one wanted to chime in on a real problem. It did happen and was an eye opener. I grounded the airplane. Cogitated about the problem and torn the engine down (O-360). When I removed the rear case the left Idler gear and support post fell off in my hand. This "post is tied into the oil galley so the gear axel has lube. The 2 1/4X20 bolt that hold it to the crankcase had worked loose and wallowed out their respective holes to 2X their normal size. This is where the fine aluminum in the oil came from. Because this post opened up the oil galley the oil pressure went down as the oil sprayed into the rear case area of the engine. because the breather comes off the rear case all that oil spray started to come out the breather where I had no oil before. Because the LEFT idler gear was loose the left mag changed timing slightly all the time causing the slight roughness. Moral of the story? If the engne is talking to you-LISTEN and do your own analytics.

Why? Because it's not LEGAL unless you're an A&P. Simplicity or complication plays no part. There are only about a dozen fuctions that a non A&P can perform on an airplane (and he must be the operator and a licensed pilot) and they are spelled out quit distinctly in "Preventative Maintenance" in Part 43.13 And, the work does have to be signed off in the Mx log book.

This is what my engine was saying a few years ago. Anyone want to venture what the problem was? I started to notice breather oil on my belly when I had never had any before. Then, on one flight I noticed a loss of 7 pounds of oil pressure all of a sudden. Still above mins all the time. At the same time I noticed my left mag just slightly rougher inflight than the right. Enough so only I could tell. It was oil change time so upon draining the oil I noticed fine aluminum powder in the oil. Sent out an oil analysis but it came back as normal. Sent in the filter for microscopic check and it came back normal. What would you do? What was wrong?

When I was there I don't remember "months" backlog but they do work well and the price is hard to forget.