HRM

Here's the data from our testing yesterday, something definitely wonky with #4. Its intake pipe is where the port for the Precise Flight SVS goes. Now I am wondering if it has gone leaky and is letting air into the manifold.

It's a sustained stumble, but not violent (like detonation). My first thought was injector and that's an easy check. I'll have yesterday's data up in Savvy later today, on the taxi back we ran it up, ran it down, MAP in, MAP out, etc. Should show something.

We (my A&P was with me) checked that. All the dynamic (throttle in/out; mixture in/out; flow, etc.) checks were fine. Push it to full throttle and it stumbles. Here's the Savvy chart. FF follows MAP exactly. This was last week when I was solo. I need to get the data from yesterday and upload to compare.

I checked. Believe it or not, the landing gear motor has NEVER been serviced! Must be made of nonexistium.

Sh*t. They were last rebuilt in 2000. Two decades. Damn.

So, took my E (The Mistress) out a week ago and everything was good up until application of full power (for TO) and she stumbles and misses. This evening, with A&P/IA on board, we experience the same thing. First thought, fouled plugs. We do the high-power run-up under lean conditions. Second thought, mag timing, we do the dynamic mag check, no joy. So, what should we look at next? Injectors? Run-up (2000 RPM) goes fine. Everything collapses on full-power for TO.

Apparently, you never took a picture. No matter, were they made of leather or baffle material? Perhaps baffle material was indeed leather back in the day.

Mine is on the co-pilot side riveted to the fuel manifold (I think that it what it is) hanging down below the engine. You should know if yours is still there or was removed (?!).

UPDATE: Keith Russo (Seattle Avionics Software) Dec 10, 13:55 PST Great suggestion. We have a similar feature in a other product to avoid class b. I'll pass it along. Thanks! HRM Dec 8, 10:01 PST Hi folks, Why don’t you add an option to the flight plan generator that produces a ‘no ADS-B out’ needed route? It would skirt around Bravo and Charlie air spaces and stay below altitude limits. You could be the first with this feature!

What year was the F? I am still trying to determine if the Sage of Longview was pulling my leg when he said "leather hood". Did you by any chance have a photo of it?

Honestly, how kinky is this aircraft? Apparently vintage Mooneys had the fuel pump fitted with a leather hood that was fed with a SCAT hose off of the doghouse for cooling against vapor lock. This may have been only FI engines. I am curious as to what this hood looked like, the one on my E disintegrated long before I got her and I just went through some detective work on an errant hose and discovered this hood thing. I can just imagine the Google results some people are going to get from this thread.

Absolutely! That light just let's you confirm gear position status after you have checked and verified the latch after TO and before landing.

Mystery solved. Apparently the E had a leather cooling hood over the (mechanical) fuel pump, ostensibly intended to cool it and prevent vapor lock on those brutally hot summer days in Tejas. The shroud was fed by a tube coming off the doghouse port that is shown in the diagram earlier. No surprise that a leather hood would not survive 50+ years. My guess is that after it crumbled away they just pointed the end of the hose at the pump and said 'There!'. There are metal cooling shrouds available from Spruce, et al, but the homebuilt guys are still just pointing a cooling tube at the pump. I would really love to see what one of the original leather ones looked like.

My E was retrofitted to an alternator in '99. I don't think that is where this one went because it is at the back of the engine and the generator was in the front. This is more likely for the fuel pump, I need to take a look and see if there is a shroud. I am really leaning towards plugging the hole to get more air on the 2-4 pair.

My bad, I am looking to see where the SCAT hose attached to the doghouse of an E ('66-on) goes. The port on mine (see prior posts) comes off the back corner on the right side of the doghouse, so that air would not be cool like what is coming off the front of the cowling on your birds. Oh, but thanks anyway for the pic, nice graphics!

Can any of you post a photo? I am guessing that must be how mine was at some point. Thanks!

Thanks, this makes sense. I have an alternator and it may have been a conversion from a generator and no longer needs that tube. The hole in the left front has a rubber plug in it. I thought maybe the SCAT went to a cooling port on the mag or something, which it doesn't have, but then there isn't one on the other mag--wouldn't it be symmetrical? I cannot find anything within range of that tube that has a fitting to receive it. Also, the string that wraps around the outside is disintegrating, meaning that it may have been flapping free for some time. I went to the drawing you posted where you can clearly see the port at the back of the doghouse (they even provided a cutaway), but nowhere, anywhere does it discuss what attaches to it; i.e., the SCAT hose, and then where it goes. I have always had issues with that side (C2 & C4) being hot and now I am wondering if I should just plug that port, which would force more air down over the cylinders. Apparently that is what is happening on the other side and whatever once received the air from that port no longer exists.

For gear retraction, I do the "Mooney Nod". This allows the J-Bar to smoothy snap into the lower block--no slamming. An added bonus is if you are doing a FR with a young whippersnapper CFI from the local FBO who has never flown in a vintage Mooney it will invoke maximum pucker out of them. For gear extension, I wait until I get to 125 and then use the gear as a speed brake. When slowed to 120 I snap the J-Bar easily into the upper block. I then do what Don Maxwell (the Warren Buffet of the MooneySphere) advised, I give it a few good yanks. If you don't yank your Johnson you may lose your (gear) erection. 10 years and haven't had a gear up. Caused at least three CFI's to need an underwear change.

As long as we're on this topic, does anyone know where this SCAT tube is supposed to go? In the photo it is just lying there, not attached to anything. Comes out of the doghouse.

Ahhh...the Mooney 'Insurance Sentence'. I was given 10 hours. I contacted Trey Hughes (MAPAlist) and he hooked me up with a Mooney CFI (Bob) who flew out commercial to KBPT from KSAT. After a short "ground school' we began the flight across Texas. Just an incredible experience that I will never forget. The best single 'moment' was when we landed at Brenham (11R) for lunch at the legendary diner there. As I taxied to the ramp, a Piper that had landed before us had deplaned and the three guys that got out just stared at us. I said to Bob, "Why are they staring at me, was my landing that bad?" He said, "They're not staring at you, they are staring at your Mooney!" One of the last stops was a set of landings at KERR and I could tell The Mistress knew she had returned home. Bob signed me off at KSAT and I returned to KBPT solo in my new ride. Again, one of the best times of my life.

I'm going to ask Seattle Avionics to add a 'Non-ADS-B Compliant" option to their flight planner. Should be easy enough, no Charlie or Bravos. I am too old to fly above 10K so that's not an issue

I love my E when it is cold. Engine runs smooth and the cabin is as toasty as I want. Not so wonderful in the heat of a Tejas summer, just miserable.

Why slow down? Your scenario resonated with me on a number of levels, with one difference, I had a PPL ticket. That really is the key and you should just focus on it. I got mine in 1986 with a CFI at Sanford Airport (now Orlando Sanford International) on a piecemeal basis. I went to a weekend bootcamp to get the exam out of the way. After I got my ticket I took my wife up (in a 172) and she said never again. 30 years later she still won't get in a small aircraft with me, even my Mooney. I took my 5 year old daughter up and she fell asleep during the landing. I digress. After that I did no flying (while I concentrated on getting tenure) for the next 20-something years. Then I decided I wanted a Mooney. I went and got a fresh medical, hired a local CFI and got "current", then I bought The Mistress. Astonishingly easy--the key is having the ticket because once you do, you have it forever unless you do something colossally stupid. So, my advice is to get your ticket--there's a reason it's called a 'ticket'. It will take you anywhere and everywhere you want to go in aviation. Lastly, if you train in a Cessna or a Piper, when you do 'graduate' to a Mooney it will be like learning to drive in a VW bug and then being handed the keys to a 911.

Thanks! I am starting to see a pattern develop here, the Snap-On wrenches apparently are slimmer and fit into tight spaces easily. There is just absolutely no room for less than the tightest fit. I am probably going to have to grind something down to get up in there.