cliffy

Yes but I'm talking Jet A leaks :-) Had lots of heavy frost underneath the wings after coming in with cold fuel in the tank to a high humidity airport. Flew with a C-5 driver once and he said it would (if not careful) push the tanker away with its bow wave in flight.

But once you learn all the intricacies of Mooney maintenance it ain't that bad after all! :-) Just different. Sure you can't stand behind the engine like you can in a 172 but it can be worked on anyway. If it was easy everyone would do it. We're an exclusive club of those who work on Mooneys. Anybody can work on Cessna's :-) (looking down nose)

To start the nut on the stud one can take a bent piece of coat hanger 90 degrees with a 1/4" leg to hold the nut on the end of the stud as you use the screwdriver to carefully turn it to start it on the threads.

I have to agree now that I dumped all the old stuff for a Dynon panel Never thought the transition would be so dramatic even to how much "consideration" on every flight was given to possible panel failures. Gyros, fuel gages, engine gages, etc The list goes on and on. "How long will it be until another instrument starts acting up"? Here's a better question- How many of you can say that EVERYTHING on your panel is working perfectly and as it was designed and delivered when new? I'm a believer now. Its time to realize that the panel we look at is in some instances, maybe most, that panel is a half century old and we bank our lives on what it is displaying during IMC flight. How many of you are flying IMC with vac gyros that haven't been out of the panel in 30+ years? How many of you can listen to the gyros winding down when you shut the engine off at the end of a flight? That stuff is getting old folks and in the near future its gonna fail. How many millions or revolutions have the gyros done since they were new? How long can the original bearings and lube last? How many of you are driving 30+ year old cars to work every day? WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THAT? You fly a 30+ year old airplane don't you (and with just the minimum amount of repairs and maintenance you can get by with,( "how cheap can I get by with on this annual this year")? If we want to keep flying these antique airplanes (AND YES they are antique) we have to really consider how we are going to bring them up to the 21st century in reliability. The basic airframe is not a problem. The panel is a different story. Especially if you are banking your life on it in IMC flight!

40 lbs isn't even taxi fuel in that gas guzzler! :-) The bad part is I remember when they came out new from Piper!

I saved 42 pounds by dumping everything and going single screen 10" Dynon HDX :-)

If you don't have the rapco wrench many have been removed with a blade screwdriver and tapping with a hammer, Goes back on the same way It does ruin the finish of the nut but if you are trapped away from home (field repair :-) it works fine. It was done this way long before the rapco wrench, Kinda gorilla method but- Always use new lock washers and a new nut if you can get it.

But wouldn't one still have to download the main buss to stay below at back up gen output?

There are 3 venturis available a 2" small one just for 1 turn and bank needle a 4" one for just 1 gyro a 10" one that runs both Ai and DG gyros but does really need a regulator valve as too much suction can drive the gyro spool at too high a rotational speed. In my C-140 I had one 10" and my gyros were usually always erect by 200" AGL

Question- How do you parallel the 2 generators? Or is the system so complex now because you have to disconnect 1 gen and then turn on the other? What do you have to download to keep within the 2nd gens output limits? More complexity = more prone to failure, more mistakes happening in a stressful time.

Find me an FAA Inspector today that even knows how a venturi gyro system works and I buy lunch!

All engine drive pads have torque and overhang weight limits. They can be dug up with enough work. Staying within those limits precludes hanging something on the pad that has a way high torque value for the gear train underneath or is way to heavy for the over hang. There is a guy that can do the engineering. He has a license to engineer ANY aviation engine package. One smart dude!

4" Venturi new $80 Used AI $300 Hoses and fittings $100 @ 2 hrs AP $200 Less than $700 NO electrical requirement, NO engine required, Fail safe- If you're flying it works. Polish the venturi for the "cool" looks! Everyone will ask you what its for :-) Tell them its your life saver

Has anyone seen the AML to verify what models are covered by the STC?

Uness you are out west with DAs of 7,000 or more MEAs in the teens If you have one installed you are supposed to do a check flight and record altitudes vs vac and have a placard on your panel delineating such You do have that placard on your panel don't you? :-) Icing? Ice closing off the venturi? You got way more issues if you're down to flying by the stby AI and you are in heavy icing. Way more. None ever had heaters that I know of. Small GA aircraft used them Vast majority of GA used them before dry vac pumps. Wet vac pumps were seen on large transport catagory engines.

We used top of the line automotive paint from his body shop. He had an eye for colors and picked the exact colors Still looks good 10 years lalter.

I've seen 2 and 3 stacked on one airplane There is also a 2" one specifically for T&Bs Its pretty small

Well there are several different venturis and many many gyros were powered by them 50 years ago on certified aircraft. Had them on my C 140 that I did IMC in quite bit. They are an "approved" part. The gyros don't erect until just after takeoff. But once running they never stop until the airplane does. The one to get for a stby AI would be the 3 1/2 inch style (3 1/2 inches of vacuum). The 9 inch one requires a regulator.

You'll need jacks to paint the bottom easily (easier?) I did mine DIY but I had a friend in the auto body shop spray it even though I've painted numerous cars and a couple other airplanes. Nothing beats a good 2 step paint job (clear coat) BUT a single step paint is sooo much easier to do and does look pretty good. As noted if you use urethane get a clean air supply hood to use. That stuff can kill you if you inhale it. Be very cafeful how well you aluminum tape your windows. Stripper melts them (had a friend do just that on his 182) Don't strip too large on an area at any one time. You can control where the stripper goes and gets into by doing small areas at a time. How you remove the lifted paint is important. DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL to agitate the stripper. It will ruin the Alclad on the aluminum surface. I watched a guy destroy a 310 that way. Do a lot of research (utube) to learn how. Stripper dripping into hidden places causes problems. Used to get away with painting a plane even in Los Angeles by going one panel at a time (at the over lap seams) Worked well. A quality job is all in the prep. You will regret trying it in the end but its fun. You will always know where each flaw is also :-) I've done 3 I'll never do another.

With the fact that we have one vacumn pump to drive the gyros and they fail with great regularity and everyone knows of the need for a second gyro- considering the high cost of the options for a standby gyro- Why have we never considered a second AI powered by a bottom mounted venturi? Safe simple, cheap, always workes as long as we have airspeed I've got many hours of IMC behind venturi driven gyros. One gage, one hose, one venturi. No moving parts, No electricy required.

Do you have a vac gage or just a low vac light (red)? Is the light on or the gage at zero? Now IF a second Ai is ever wanted one could always get a good used one and power it from a (do I dare say?) from a venturi mounted under the airplane and then that gyro would NEVER lose vacumn as long as the airplane was flying! :-) :-) Simple, cheap, fail safe. What more could one ask for? Shields are up!

With your elevators at different angles static and neautral as shown they were disconnected at one time and reconnected incorrectly. They DID NOT leave the factory this way!!! Every airplane has undocumented maintenance in its history, every one, period. They should be even in deflection at ZERO stabilizer (thrust line) and faired evenly. Airplane needs to be level 4 ways- this means jacks underneath. Yours are not. As with many items Mooney there is no "quick fix" to do it right. You need to start from ground zero and do a complete rigging according to the maintenance manual. You won't find any short cuts that work. Too many places to check for proper rigging to drop in the middle some where. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Its no different than a landing gear rig. You gotta start from the beginning. Once the elevators are square with each other (from the begining) then you get to set the bungee deflections FOLLOW THE MANUAL AND TCDS LIMITS FOR YOUR AIRPLANE (they are different for different models of Mooneys- INCLUDING down to serial numbers in some cases). Once that is done then you get to reset the trim indicator (IIRC 2 degrees LE down stabilizer is the middle of the TO trim but check it out) With all the anomolies you talk about on your trimming you have but one choice but to start from ground zero on all 3 axis and rerig per the manual I know of no added bendable trim tabs on Mooneys. The balancing of each control surface can/will be upset by adding extra unauthorized trim tabs. I find it interesting that after so many years on this forum we always seem to come around the same corner and retell the same issues Maybe, hopefully, this can help some newer Mooney owners apprciate the unique nature of the airplane we fly.

Or to get even when it falls through :-) :-) (think colonoscopy :-)

There;s really no difference between a go around and a T&G except the order of 2 items You reset the flaps first and then push the throttle fwd on a T&G On a GA you push the throttle first and then reset the flaps. After that both are then a normal takeoff. Resetting the flaps is reality the only item different than a normal take off. Ttrim should already be set for 1.3 Vso anyway so rotation will be normal with a climb out initially at 1.3 Retrim as necessary no hurry on anything. The only 2 things we did in the Boeing was reset trim and flaps. Push the knobs fwd and fly. The problem always comes down to competency and currency. If either one of those is missing its time to find an instructor and invest gas money in practice. The job itself is not that difficult. If one is flying 20 hrs a year or less then one is NOT competent and a large portion of GA flies less than 20hrs/year. JMO

T&Gs unsafe? I used to do them in 727s, 737s not in the sim. Never had a problem. Its all in cockpit dicipline.