FoxMike

Thanks for the information, I ordered a set last night. I have been waiting months for availability. Hope they work satisfactorily.

If the mags were properly rebuilt 320 hours ago I would not touch them I fly my vac pumps till they break. I normally get 1200hrs out of them.

Someone might had a problem getting two parts of the exhaust to fit and decided to use some brute force with a hammer. Watch that for leaks.

After looking at the Savvy data I would think water could have been the problem. It looks to me that you need to have the red EGT cylinder looked at. Injector nozzle may need to be cleaned or upper deck pressure might be leaking. It could also be a valve. On the water issue you may need to change O rings on the gas caps and you need to determine if the holes in the ribs are open. I do not think you need to open the tanks but you need an A&P with Mooney experience to look this over throughly.

Any chance you got a load of water when you bought gas? A lot of Mooney tanks have been repaired over the years and sometimes the holes in the rib that are to let the water move to the low point get blocked during the repair. Water does not get to the quick drain until some of the fuel is burned as it trapped behind the rib.

A couple of comments, maybe ideas. Airspeed changes of that magnitude could only be caused by fuel starvation if the engine lost significant power, like going from 70% to 20%. You certainly would have noticed a trim change. It could be you were experiencing up and down drafts that could cause a the fuel in a low tank to unport (flow away from the pickup). If this is the problem more fuel is the fix. If you have had this problem on other occasions when the tank was fuller you might have a mechanic drain all the fuel and remove the quick drain and see if a large piece of junk in in the tank that could cover the fuel pickup.

Looks like a piston would have been faster. Maybe we are starting to see saturation of Class A. I was going to Kerrville IFR during the time Reagan fired all the controllers. I needed to make a quick stop in KAMA for fuel. Once I landed I had to get back in line for another clearance. I had to wait till the next afternoon to get one (about 24 hours). I had to hang around the FBO and wait for the ground controller to call the FBO.

Flying the rocks requires some skills and equipment. Need an O2 bottle (above 12.5K and maybe lower), a good idea of the terrain your route will take you over, skills in leaning the engine from startup to shut down, a willingness to put up with a very rough ride, etc. Some instruction is worth the time and cost.

A 201 does OK in the Rockies but you need to operate with some care. IFR is not a good idea. Colorado Pilots Association teaches an excellent mountain training course (ground and cross country). It is well worth the time.

Might be the oil control rings are worn-out. Compression test will not normally reveal worn oil control rings.

It seems they put a new prop. on it in 2014. I wonder why?

I have owned a Bravo for 15 years. You asked about Bravo vs. Acclaim. If you fly an Acclaim like the salesman describes you will be topping the engine every 300hrs or so. If you use less power the cylinders will last longer. The Lycoming engine in the Bravo has a system that pours oil around the exhaust valve guide. The "wet head" does a good job of cooling the exhaust valve and adds lots of life to the cylinders. I have just over two thousand trouble free hours on mine. Downside to using high power on the Lyc. is the exhaust pipes crack. High power at high altitude adds measurably to the cost of operation of either airplane. My take on the Bravo is that it is the best bang for the buck in a high performance airplane. Being an old guy I do not mind flying steam gauges. I have read that getting compliant with ADS-B with a G1000 is problematic so I would think you not want to open up your bank account to high robbery in the next year or so. I have a KFC 150 autopilot and have had not problems with it. I have had the KI 256 and KI 525 overhauled. They went 1800 before overhaul. The KFC 150 seems to be plenty adequate. I keep my airplane in a heated hangar which maybe one reason why these gauges have done so well. As was pointed out earlier neither model carries much. You really need to stick someone up for a ride. The long body Mooneys are more difficult to land than the smaller models. Plan to find an instructor who has experience in the long body. Any CFI would not be a good choice. Good Luck!

I have TKS and have had a problem with stall warning squaking on every takeoff since I bought the plane. I tried to adjust the switch to no avail. It seems the TKS panel changes the airflow slightly and the switch activates with higher margins before stall. I have had nervous passengers who wonder if the plane is going to stall on takeoff.

Don, I ordered on Monday after OSH and the prop arrived in Deland in early December. It took another week for MT Deland to get it assembled. I flew down early January to have it installed. My McCauley was serviceable. I have since sold it. What made me aware of the MT STC was a few of my friends owned them on other aircraft and raved about the smoothness. I looked over the STC on the MT website and decided to give it a try. So far no regrets. If you decide to do it you will probably have to rent a prop for a while. Maybe someone starting an engine overhaul might want to rent you one for a while. A prop shop might have one in stock you could use for the months it takes to get one from MT. It probably will be worth the extra hassle. If you come through Denver on your way home I will take you for a ride. I will be in Caribbean from Nov. 7th til the 19th.

Books are written on this subject so a few lines on the internet will always lack sufficient depth. I have a FIKI airplane now but flew for years with just a pitot heater to fight ice. A lot of preflight study is a good idea but knowing where the tops are or a reachable layer is the most helpful. Normally aspirated airplanes can climb thru ice if the tops are low but you need a good climb rate and a good idea where the tops are. To my mind the best piece of equipment you can have is a turbo , others might disagree but my turbo has bailed me out on several occasions. I had a run-in with freezing rain one time. The boots on T210 did not help much but the turbo saved the day. The full story is quite a lengthy and involves a controller/CFI saving a nearby airplane with a panicked pilot. If you fly IFR much you are going to bump into some ice. It is a serious problem but with knowledge of the weather system you are flying in you should be able to manage the situation.

I do not use checklists for cruise, decent, prelanding. Landing is GUMPS. I would recommend for cruise remembering to trim Stabilizer and Rudder as you set the cruise power. Close cowl flaps as oil temperature drops below 205. I try to plan the decent for 300 to 500fpm using reduced power or speed brakes sometimes both. I try to arrive on downwind (gear down) at 100Kts and set 10d flaps on the downwind. At big airports I may need to go faster, at small airports might want to go 90 or 85 but not much slower. Downwind is the time for GUMPS. Try not to run over the slower airplanes in the pattern. They are going 60kts so you need to space yourself appropriately. It takes a reasonable amount of time to get comfortable in a TLS. It would be nice if all instructors had "heavy " Mooney experience but very few do. A friend tried to move into a 252 from 172s..Tried a hotshot instructor who was maybe a good 737 pilot but totally lost in GA airplanes. He talked a great story but could not teach because he had no knowledge. Result was a 252 getting pranked a couple of times. Their are Mooney experienced CFIs but you might have to bring one in for a few days so you can do some intensive training. Getting some time with a knowledgable instructor is well worth whatever it costs. Good Luck!

Here is the checklist I use. Fold in half (vertically) put laminate over it. When I had a Mc Cauley prop I set the power to 28/2300. Set the TIT not more than 1600 and the exhaust will not crack. Good Luck! Mooney Checklist Rev.pdf

I understand the whip antenna can be installed under the dorsal.

If you have a properly working TKS system and the pitot heater is working you should be able to climb normally through a layer of ice. When you let ice become a distraction you can end up mismanaging the engine or make a navigation error that causes even more distraction. I owned a booted Baron for a while years ago. It would climb better than my turbo Mooney up to about 12K then the Mooney did better. I find my FIKI Bravo to be plenty adequate for most icing conditions. Trying to speed up then pull up through an icing layer will work if the ice is 500' thick but if it is1500' thick you find yourself halfway through it out of airspeed and back to a lower climb rate. Now you have a load of ice which you have to carry through to the tops. Lots of times the most ice is just below the tops. I have tried this technique in unprotected airplanes and found it usually does not help much. What you need to know is where are the tops. If you do not know you may become so concerned that your decision making ability becomes impaired and thats the big trouble starts. To my mind a turbo system and and a lot of experience are the best helpers when you get into ice. Having boots or TKS help a lot when and give a lot of peace of mind. They do not give much help when they are not maintained. Many pilots do not maintain these systems because they are not used much and are costly to maintain. Over the years I have had trouble with both boots and TKS systems. When those things happen having a lot of experience is helpful.

The basic works OK. My regular doc does not like the FAA so I had to find another doc. The one I found was miles away and he signed the Basic Med form then wanted me to become a regular patient. Given the distance that was not practical so I may need to find another doc next time. Unfortunately I wanted to go to Canada this summer (they do not recognize the Basic med) so I had to go to a regular 3rd Class. Basic Med should work for most so you might give it a try.

Don, I looked into a Hartzell prop and found they did not have a product for the Bravo. One of their reps at OSH suggested they might design one for the Bravo but they would need me to let them use my airplane for 6 mos. Mc Cauley had a design for an all composite prop (very light weight). I followed that for a while and watched it die a slow death. So the MT or original McCauley are the only games on the planet for the Bravo. After having the MT for 9 months or so I would not go back to the Mc Cauley.

Don, If you are considering an MT up grade plan about 4 or 5 month wait. I ordered right after OSH and it arrived in Deland in Dec.

Not sure this will help but I had my Bravo fall off the front jack many years ago. The airplane dropped but the jack caught the engine mount so the prop. did not hit the floor. Mooney makes a standoff that screws into the front jack point. The standoff had a longer threaded area than the jack point had threads. The standoff when screwed in tight would not allow the bottom of the standoff to contact the jack point. Result the standoff broke at the end of the threads. I was about to get under the airplane as I was replacing the nose wheel donuts. My insurance company paid for a new engine mount and labor to install it. I got off pretty easy but it was an agonizing problem. If I had to decide on an engine repair or replacement I guess I would see how much the insurance will allow. Lyc offered me a rebuilt engine at OSH this year for $59,000. Next step up on pricing is $65,000. The insurance company will likely consider this a betterment and offer less. Overhaul by a local shop might be a lot less as it may only take an inspection and a few parts. Good Luck.

One more thing came to mind. A friend put an MT on his T Arrow about the same time I put mine on the Mooney. He got the stainless leading edges. Already the gravel is abrading the stainless, the nickel edges on mine are smooth as a babies butt. Leaf peeping this weekend and chasing down some $2.50 100LL at Rifle, Co. Atlantic Aviation was the FBO.

Here is an update from a little over a 100Hrs of use. After a few oil changes and an annual I have found a way to put the lower cowl on without too much hassle. You have to put the front up in place before putting the rear in place. It is definitely more difficult with the extra blade but doable. In the hot summer weather the takeoff performance is better than with the 3 blade. Initial climb is better but to get improved climb performance you need to climb at 80-85kts or so. The oil temperature quickly rises so I have found that you have to push over and get the airspeed up to 110IAS or so. The result is only a slight gain in climb rate. Overall I really like the prop. The best like is the smoothness. The second the ability to flare near stall and keep the nose wheel off the runway. The third is the quieter ride. I doubt the cruise is any better but to make MT happy I might report a one knot increase. I used to set the power at 28/2300. I have been using 29- 30/2200 with the 4 blade. Passenger comments so far give high marks to the smoothness and lower racket level in the cabin. The only problem so far is the tow bar. I need to bend over a little farther so the bar will not bump one of the blades during turns. This could be a problem when being tugged. So far the tugs have had the tow ball mounted low enough that it has not been problem. One other nit is taxi RPM needs to be kept around 700-800. Not much of a problem as along the mags are in good shape and you have the engine leaned out. Well, That is about as much as comes to mind.