cliffy

Be sure to use "close tolerance" bolts when you reassemble. NOT just ordinary AN bolts IF you had play in the tail in excess of the small amount allowed be sure it was not just from using regular AN bolts! I have found a couple of airplanes out of tolerance for the wiggle and it turned out they had plain AN bolts in the hinge bushings instead of the required "close tolerance" bolts.

In the future I see lots of "field overhauls" done to "overhaul fits" instead of "new fits" and the use of ground crankshafts (you can go .010 under in most cases_ and still meet "overhaul" standards, Same with piston fits, cylinder bores, ground cams and lifters. It all can be done legally and safely or it wouldn't be in the Lycoming manual. There is no reason why a field overhaul done overhaul limits shouldn't perform just as good a a new engine. It all depends on who does it. I also see a market in hoarding "used" engine parts and pieces as the supply of NEW dries up.

Like I have said before- It might not be the A&P world that I was trained in 60 years ago I guess. Just one item- we had 60 (yes 60) bend allowance projects to work out on paper in just part of the sheet metal training I did in A&P school. I hated that task. Although I can do it, sheet metal was not my best subject. I was always an engine man. But the dog house really is just a simple project in sheet metal. AND its not even structural!

YUP!

Just to be a bit nit picky with a smile :-) The AC Spruce tinnermans come with an "NAS" qualification cert A1789-8Z-1D (or such ) and the hardware store ones do not. All hardware used on certified aircraft need to come with a design cert even if they look like the same design (AN, MS, Space Qualified, etc) Again I'm just being nit picky here but I've been that way for 60 years in this business.

I'm waiting to hear the cruise speed numbers !! :-) :-)

Its actually a "repair" using an OPP part that still needs the OWNER to sign off in the log book correctly on how "he" participated in the design and IF he installed it he still needs to sign it off again as the installer who installed it under "Preventative Maintenance" Normally an OPP part is "designed " by the owner and then verified as to qualification for installation by an A&P and installed by an A&P BUT that is not the only way to install an OPP part,

It has always amazed me the "troubles" talked about here on MS about dog house problems The entire unit is mostly flat aluminum with some bends. Any A&P should have been taught the skills to "repair" the entire box without too much problem. Its simple sheet metal/rivet work. This ain't rocket science here. Its 90 year old technology and skills! We shouldn't need to fly around with a dog house in bad shape. Are we to assume that A&Ps today can not do this simple kind of work? I just left an A&P (not working professionally as an A&P) replacing all the flap tracks on a C-150 and he were doing a good job from what I could see. Simple sheet metal and rivets That's all it is. Very frustrating to hear this all the time. Maybe its not now the vocation I came into 60, years ago.

And the family of Weiser sold the airport for the money and now it is no longer there DWH is an OK place to go but it has no tie downs outside on the line parking. You can however get in a hangar most times.

IIRC on the Cirrus even on the newer models it still runs about $10-15,000 for a chute repack and cert At that its $1500 per year expense just for the chute OR $125/month! Or $31 dollars a week :-) Then again - What price "safety"?

YUP that's how they do it

That's true BUT now that it does it is just as speed/alt/fuel efficient as the SR20 so NOW we move to the next efficiency column - $$$$ per MPH! With all that cost to enter the game for the SR20 it losses in the $$$$/MPH contest :-) :-) What is the computed HP output at your cruising setting shown and how does that compare to mine at the same parameters? That would be interesting to know BTW "I" was referring to the D model Mooney for comparison as there has been much speculation over the years a s to just how "fast" a D model really is in the real world. Mine matches his and by default it matches yours (albeit your cost of entry was higher). Granted engineering has now moved fwd to where we can design a stiff gear airplane and only suffer a 2-3 mph degradation in speed. Two different engineering exercises a half century apart As Al Mooney said- "They all fly through the same air" and there are a myriad number of ways to get to the same end point.

Sitting back with popcorn waiting for the fire trucks to arrive! :-)

That is about as close to exactly what my converted D model does as I have ever seen!!!! Absolute twins in performance :-)

Move CG rearward and you gain speed! :-)

3 stories- Twin Beech has main wheels that protrude below the engine cowl so that the airplane will roll to a stop on them. One Twin Beech many years ago did this at KVNY because the pilot had a habit of throwing the gear switch up just prior to throttles fwd so the gear came up as he lifted off, I saw the airplane sitting on its sucked up wheels on 16R with bent props The Culver Cadet early on also had a wig-wag arm that came up and waved in front of the pilot if the power was pulled off and the gear still up. I wonder how many early Bonanzas have gone gear up after landing because a Piper driver was flying it and went to pull the flaps up and reached to the right side of the throttle quadrant and pulled the gear instead? Seems "shape" design might not be the only cockpit design idea that needed to be done.

My hangar faces the runway touchdown zone As I watch landings, almost every Cirrus and Mooney does the same thing Virtually 90% of them I watch as they enter the flare and then PIO down the runway for another 1,000 feet until their speed slows down enough to get the wheels to touch the runway Invariably, always in a level or slightly nose low attitude that leads to a skip or bounce. Virtually never do I see a Cirrus or Mooney touch down on the main wheels only!! I watched a short body Mooney just yesterday do this 3 times in a row doing T&Gs Yet, I watch as a G-4 (based here) here touches down on the mains only and rolls 1,000 feet and then gently lowers the nose wheel to the runway-every time,

I'm just curious- For those who "trim in the flare" what airspeed are you trimmed for on final before the flare ?

Yes SO the moral of the story is? Make sure your pitch trim is set up correctly by someone who knows what he is doing. Quit guessing at settings and do it right.

C model- fwd CG and trimmed on final at about 70 mph to the flare - When taxiing out for T/O it takes about 1/2 turn nose down for T/O trim to be acceptable for me. Many Mooneys have their pitch system rigged incorrectly. It takes jacks to level the airplane and correct tools to rig the pitch system correctly. Especially rigging the spring bungees for the correct elevator up position when the stabilizer is set to the proper LE down angle. Not many shops know how to rig the pitch system on a Mooney. Maybe I'll make a utube on it sometime. Just as a word of warning- IF the pitch trim is set full nose down on takeoff the nose wheel will never leave the ground. There's not enough elevator force at full up to lift the nose in that condition Several Mooneys have suffered this fate and run off the end of a runway at high speed.

What was the N number of the airplane they came off of?

Moving the battery is not that hard using Mooney parts and its only a log book sign off as a minor alteration.

Engines can be fixed- corrosion kills Mooneys! The usual places- Steel tubing inside the side walls under the windows, under the rear seat on the spar (access holes ), in the wheel wells along the spar These are usually the big culprits. One that most miss (and I have found one unairworthy because of) are the rivets in the spar between the main wheels. Ask your A&P to check here for "smoking" rivets. It means they are loose in their holes. If the airplane has had a good detail cleaning you may not see these rivets smoking if they do. Make sure everything operates and works as it should Moe every knob and switch and see every light. Once money changes hands its all on you.

I've related this conversation before here on MS Had a private talk with Bill Wheat many years ago and he related to me that he tried numerous spins in the Mooney (IIRC short bodies) and on one he said it went to five turns and he almost didn't get out of it He swore he'd never do that again. Just a word to the wise from the preeminent Mooney test pilot.

As Walter Cronkite used to say (if any of you are old enough to remember him:-) - "And that's the way it is"