Ned Gravel

When I bought mine, I wanted to change the registration from C-FSWR to C-GDBE and call her "Debbie." I had to buy the registration from a parted out Arrow that used to belong to our 11-people partnership. When I originally floated the idea, our Chief Flying Instructor opined that resurrecting an old registration was bad luck although I read Jolie's entry with interest and her resurrection of "Maggie's" registration. So today I have a mental block to giving her a name. My girl, Ute, calls her "Baby" and that is OK with me. But my baby is Ute, so that won't be my name for our Mooney. I did name the first 5 cars I owned (1971-2003) and we all called the Arrow "Debbie." C-FSWR's previous owner calls her "Swear" and I am not really keen on that name. But I would probably like to name her. Just haven't decided what name to give yet.

Oh yeah...... Know that feeling....

Again, good points all. I was aiming at providing the NAV/COMS with the juice required to transmit because, of all the avionics, they should be drawing the most as they are the only transmitters in the lot. But the advice on not going with the higher rated breakers is supported by the OEMs. Interior lights take juice too and they are on a 10 amp circuit breaker. At the end of this little piece of work, the only incandescent bulbs in the cockpit will be in the whiskey compas, the map light, the gear lights, the check-which-tank-you-are-on under-panel light, NAV CDI light, new dome light, and the map light. Instruments already have Nulites. My apologies if this gets technical, but I have not had this much fun in electrical things since I was in officer training and troubleshooting SB 86's and NT 701's (see if any of you know what those are). I have gone back to the electrical system drawings and Mooney indicates COM 1 on the same circuit as the speaker without recommendation for the size of the breaker. "As needed" is the term used for the circuit breaker rated size and any other NAV/COM set up. They prohibit the addition of other radios to the circuit for COM1. COM 1 is connected straight to the bus and will get a new 4 amp breaker on AWG #16. COM2/NAV1 will get a 7 amp breaker on AWG #18. The speaker will be rewired to be driven by the 340. My current intercomm and audio panel breakers are separate on that bus and rated for 1 and 5 amps respectively. Their disappearance and replacement by the 340 will free up one space and I can put a 4 amp breaker in for COM 1 to replace the 1 amp for the old intercom. The pinouts for the 340 call for a 5 amp breaker on AWG #22. Serious high-current devices (fuel pump, pitot heat, external lights, etc) are on another bus and that one has been correctly configured with appropriately rated breakers (current technology ones) and I am good with that. Sorry, no pictures for this, unless you want me to start posting pinout diagrams.

Thanks folks. Good advice. Got the Garmin specs and now I also know why the speaker was missing. Good riddance to that Narco audio panel. While the 340 allows for an 8 Ohm impedence speaker, I am going to go with the 10 watt 4 Ohm one from Spruce. At least it is a/c grade and will handle all of the power put out by the 340. Handed out some shocking news to my best friend today though. She is going to dust off her radio operator's licence since the 340 allows her to talk to FBOs etc on one of the two COMs while her onboard Mooney Driver is busy talking with ATC.

Some of you will recall that I was going to do some minor electrical work. I started two weeks ago and Clarence at Tri City is letting me come in and do the dogwork to accomplish this. I took out the headliner to replace the broken rheostat for lights. I bought the LED replacement kit and I replaced all of the circuit breakers with current parts. I found that the dome light was disconnected and speaker was gone. The 20 Amp circuit breaker is only connected to my Trimble GPS. The ADF circuit breaker also runs the NAV/COM (5 amp breaker so I am going to put that radio on the 20 amp breaker). COM 1 is not attached to a circuit breaker at all - so that is going to change. I am also going to change out my NAT 80 and NARCO CP135 combo for the Garmin 340 I bought at Oshkosh last July. I am also going to plumb in the line for a new 406 ELT so that by the time we leave for Western Canada (Russ and Jezzie have been warned), my bird will be safer for the trip. I connected up a new-old-stock dome light and I am replacing the old fiberglass insulation behind the headliner with some new stuff from Spruce. But....and here comes the question..... What are the tech specs for a speaker to put into the headliner? I am thinking 3W or less, 8 Ohms, probably automotive lookalike that works in 14V. Any words of wisdom from the group?

Jolie: I took my checkride last year in an E model with an STEC 50. No wing leveller, but an A/P nonetheless.

Quote: jelswick I haven't seen that mentioned in here as a benefit yet unless I missed it, but that $40/yr also entitles you to the best lemonade in the world at Oshkosh at the MAPA tent each year. And when you're swearing you're melting in the heat that is there most years, that lemonade is just about worth the $40 membership fee in itself!

Quote: sleepingsquirrel Hi, I've been reading about the brake reversal how does that work? I looked at a very modern Mooney today and looked at my 50 year old gear doors and for the life of me can't see any advantage? I'm all about grass strips as well. Wouldn't want anything else dragging on take off.

Quote: tony Thats what I have on my F model and I would recomend them.

DC: I am going to chime in here and let you in on the process I used in 2004 to finally get my own E model. Whole thing started in May 2004 and was completed in February 2005. I looked seriously at eight Mooneys. All C models or E models, because that part of my mission profile and budget requirements had already been established. That means I made offers on all eight (one at a time of course). Six of the eight sellers agreed to the same conditions as have been discussed here, and then I made the deposits (either in escrow or to the seller or to the agent). I did not pursue anything further with the other two. Then I selected the shops to do the pre-purchase inspection (PPI) for each aircraft - three in Canada and three in the lower 48. Each shop understood that they worked for me and they were to report to me, not the seller. There were some strange results. First one had two prop strikes and the teardown of the engine for the second one was not in the logs. Stopped that inspection before they touched the aircraft and got my deposit back. Second one had about $15,000 in airworthiness issues that the seller refused to believe, even after the shop showed them to him. Got my deposit back and walked. Third one had rusted longerons (part of the steel frame) and the seller said he knew a guy, who knew a guy who could fix them. I did not try and disuade him, but I got my deposit back and walked. Fourth one had about $11,000 in airworthiness issues that the seller did not want to repair. To quote the shop: "Shes been rode hard and put away wet." Got my deposit back and walked. Fifth one demonstrated the signs of a collapsed nose gear that wasn't in the logs. Never did get the seller to respond to that one and stopped payment on the deposit cheque. Walked. Sixth one ended the PPI with about $15,000 in airworthiness items. Seller was angry and I was about ready to walk again when the shop invited him to come and see. He was shocked at what they had found and he eventually lowered his price to cover the costs of bringing the aircraft back into compliance. I added another $6,000 in upgrades on the spot and two months later I finally started training on C-FSWR. Lessons I learned in doing this? (Or "How to spend $1,000 and save $60,000") Get a good pre-purchase done. Ensure the shop knows they work for you. Walk away from sellers that do not want to do this as the folks on this board have described. Aircraft might look good, but it is a bag of trouble waiting for you to open it up. Good luck in your search.

I am not going to second-guess the investigation or the pilot and his decision making. But being ex-military myself (army) we all know that our procedures today were written because of lessons that cost a lot to learn. This is one of those for me and the very least I can do is learn something from this. My lesson has to do with personal minima, use of alternates after going missed, and always having an "out." I have not been instrument rated long enough to experience the conditions that existed in and around Colorado Springs at the time of the crash, but I understand they included heavy fog and below zero temperatures. These conditions are below my own minima and if I encountered them inadvertently, where would I look for my "out?" What would I do if I encountered them in the forecast before flight? What would I do if an enroute briefing modified the forecast to include these conditions prior to the approach? What would I do if I encountered them during the approach?

Quote: JimR ...She's a very willing passenger and she encourages me to share my love of flying with our children. I think that I'll leave well enough alone. Jim

Got y'all beat. 32 years married as of 12 November and her most common posture in our Mooney is asleep in the right seat. She says that the vibration puts her to sleep. That and breathtaking scenery. The bumpier the better. She is not a pilot like Jolie, but she did take the copilot course. You know the one they take in case..... She believes that flying is a shared experience too. She just wants to be there. Works for me.

Quote: Jeff_S Spacious one-bedroom spot features: Airy ceilings with awesome views in 360° Free showers and the occasional bracing snow blanket Solar heated cabin for those winter mornings Maximum curb appeal for passersby

It's a pencil holder And it has sparked its share of mystery and discussion over the years.

Craig: There are other benefits to MAPA. The first is the MAPA Log magazine, although I know some may argue its worth. In my opinion, it is a good read and a stable medium for expertise on the operations and maintenance of Mooney aircraft. The second benefit is the MAPA maintenance seminars, although Jerry Manthey is retiring from them very shortly. I still have the book from the seminar he gave up in our neck of the woods and I found it to be very useful. The third benefit is the MAPA Pilot Proficiency program. As far as I know, that program is still in operation and there are one or two members of this list that teach on it. MAPA does not have the immediate knowledge-through-networking benefit of this list, or of the other two lists I know that exist for Mooney Drivers. What it does provide is a home for Mooney expertise. The MAPA membership is worth it for me. YMMV.

Quote: GeorgePerry .... I've also changed my avatar since this'll be the only thing I get to fly for the next couple of years... George

Clarence: Every time I turn around, you have done another mod. How can you expect me to keep up?

Randy: We do not have anything like AirNav to serve Canadian Airports. There is one facility, but it may not be updated very often. It is the COPA (like AOPA only for Canada) "places to fly" website at: http://archive.copanational.org/PlacesToFly/index.php. Within Quebec, the big airports (except maybe Mirabel) all provide services to GA aircraft. If you are going for pleasure, then the larger airports can provide taxi and car rentals for the getaway portion of your visit while the smaller ones provide great scenery for cozier getaway locales. Depends on what you seek.

sQuote: carusoam Russ, 2,000 ? fpm. Is that sustained? What is mixed in with your fuel? -a-

I had a similar problem a couple of months ago. I turns out my mixture was set too rich.

So, next piece of news on this one. First - no lubrication on any of it. It appears, from the experience of someone who knows enough about these puppies, that any spray or lubrication without first taking it out is a bad idea. This was sent to me by one of our list members. "Lubricant on the shaft would not hurt anything, but it will migrate to the wiper and cause a high resistance connection between the wiper and wire coil, and will get very hot and start smoking. These can be taken apart and cleaned. If the shaft is sticking, just take some fine grit (400 or higher) sandpaper and clean it up, If the wiper is sticking and looks burnt, the wound wire core can be cleaned up with fine paper also. If it is very badly burnt it would be best to replace it. My guess is that if it is sticking it is because of worn, rough or burnt places on the surface of the wiper or where it runs around the coil." Here is what it looks like. As well, according to Clarence (the owner of my MSC) it is a Clarostst p/n #25-25. So now I have to try and figure out a way to take it down from the overhead panel and inspect it to either clean it or replace it. Thanks for all your very good information.

Quote: carusoam Ned, I agree with Jim... The data that I have seen presented is the red zone ends at 65% (OK to run at peak lower than this BHP value) Best regards, -a-

I ran LOP successfully for the first time last week. On stock injectors. The narrative below was previously posted on http://mooneyspace.net/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&threadid=1848&forumid=2&postid=19967&page=1#post19967 and has been modified slightly from more recent experience to take out the invalid statements. Took off from du Page near Chicago for my trip home on 10 November (near Toronto, Ontario) and when I was finally released to cruise altitude of 7000' I decided to try LOP for real. I had previously tried it but the engine always went really rough on me. This time it worked and I learned a few things. First, I set up LOP at or below 70% when it is much easier to slowly go through peak EGT and determine the numbers myself (I know that the monitors all do that, but the process was not making me feel comfortable). At 7000' and pulling 2500/22" is shown as 72% BHP in my owner' manual (POH) so any reduction in any of these two parameters will keep it below 70%. At or below 70%, I am told that I do not have to worry about the Red Box where internal combustion pressures will hurt the engine. Here are my numbers with Peak EGT determined to be 1480 degF. 7000' 10 degrees LOP Cyl 1 Cyl 2 Cyl 3 Cyl 4 EGT 1467 1472 1440 1433 CHT 313 291 325 289 7000' 43 degrees LOP Cyl 1 Cyl 2 Cyl 3 Cyl 4 EGT 1417 1437 1394 1383 CHT 305 285 316 268 The engine sounded only slightly less solid than it does at or beyond 50 ROP. But it did not sound rough (Finally!!!!). I lost about 2-3 knots indicated for 10 LOP and another 1 or 2 for 40 LOP. I should have made careful measurement when I filled it up to leave, but I did not know I was going to try this. I left the tanks an inch below the caps when I filled up to leave and attendent filled them up all the way after I landed. I should have payed more attention, but the result was 33 gallons for a three hour flight. So, slightly more than 10 gph. One observation was the extreme sensitivity of the last cylinder to peak EGT reading from mixture knob inputs when lean of peak. Quarter turn and I was down 30 degF. Another is that once the system is set, it will wander as much as 15 degF up and down without making any changes other than direction (no altitude changes). Mind you the QNH varied by as much as .04 inches during this flight. I was travelling from a lower pressure area to a higher one. Way forward? Do more of this. Get up. Get settled and when it is safe (70% or below with all other parameters operating nominally) rotate the mixture knob through peak. I have also been told that peak at altitude is "best power" mixture and I am OK with this so long as it is not in the Red Box. Feel good about this. Been wanting to do it for some time. Just need to see a start point that did not make me worry and when I recognised the condition as less than 70% BHP, it all fell into place. I also think I may end up swapping some injectors to even out the temperatures a little more. (Next annual). This is me saving gas money now.........

Quote: N201MKTurbo Just lube the shaft with your favorite lube. There is nothing in that rheostat that you will hert.