byrdflyr

If you have two alternators, and one fails in flight, you obviously can continue on to your destination. The remaining alternator is plenty to cover the requirements for day VFR flight, and shows 3-5+ Amps, so is continuing to charge the battery. But, if you need to fly somewhere else (Day VFR) to address the failed alternator, can you just go, or do you need to get ferry permit?

Arapahoe Flight Club, Colorado Springs, has a Mooney M20E for rent at 180/hr wet. Here's the link: https://arapahoefc.com/aircraft-and-instruction

Here are the rocker arm studs that broke. What I found out -- J&J Airparts has the Work Order history on the three OH cyls I bought in June 2018. One of them required installation of rocker arm studs, the other two - the OH process didn't mess with the rocker arm studs. My best guess is that either (a) the wrong torque was used to install the studs (there's a Continental SB on rocker arm torque values - but it didn't apply to these cyl part nos.) or (b) there was a defect in one of the studs that was not detected. Once the rocker arm broke loose, it rattled around, being poked by the pushrod, so we're obviously checking that the pushrod is still straight, and no other damage was done to the rocker arm, the pivot seat (there is some fretting there and we'll need to make sure the rocker arm seat is both smooth and the seating is level). The OH cylinders have a 12 month warranty, and it's been 25 months since installation. So, no warranty on this at all. I'm don't know what the cost difference is between new vs. OH, but for this cylinder, I predict it would have been cheaper to go with a new cylinder, assuming the same thing would not have happened. BTW, if anyone wants to fly between COS and ICT or Kingman KS, let me know. I"m going to need a ride to pick up "Mad Eye Mooney" around sometime between the 16-20th of August.

BTW, the FAA got the airport manager at Anthony Kansas (ANY) to go out to the airport and he confirmed the pilot controlled lighting was indeed inop, a fuse or something, and got the lights back on within an hour. A bit late to be helpful for my situation, but in any case, maybe helpful for the next soul on board. Not sure why the lights at Harper (8K2) didn't work either, as the AFD says "Runway edge lights: high intensity APT LGT SKED: ACTVT HIRL AND PAPI RY 17/35 - CTAF" and the C130 couldn't get those on either. So, come on folks in Harper Kansas, fix your lights before someone gets hurt.

Flying N5808B from Ponca City back to Colorado Springs Friday night, I heard a "miss" and then my #1 Cyl. went cold. I noticed first a 25kt. decrease in airspeed, but not a significant vibration. When I saw no EGT in my #1, I told ATC about the problem and that I would land at the closest suitable airport. When I pulled the power back to descend, things got a bit more dicy. The engine then stumbled and protested more, and I thought it might quit. I declared an emergency and tried to land at Anthony, Oklahoma (ANY) like ANY airport would be great right now, but the lights would not come on, so I tried another airport just to the north, Harper (8k2), and the lights would not turn on. So, with the engine on partial power and sounding sick, I turned back toward Ponca City, which would be about 50 miles away. ATC called in a C-130 from Vance for support (Oiler 57 Heavy) who also flew around trying to turn on the lights at airports in the area, and the FAA called the police in Medford OK, and they (Asst. Chief Shepherd) went out to the airport and turned on the lights there. Viola, I landed (it was a very good landing BTW, although I'm used to more than 3000 ft. and it was very dark except for the edge lights). The police chief (asst.) let us borrow crew car and we got to a hotel about midnight. Whew. I could write a lot more about what I learned from that - being better prepared, and using more of the tools in the panel (e.g., keep synthetic vision on constantly, and especially at night over Oklahoma), but mostly I was working on trying to get the airport lights to come on, not spiral in, and looking for other options. For example, if you don't enter the airport ID in your GPS (IFD 540) as your destination, it will start blaring terrain warnings once you get about 500 ft. agl. because it thinks you're getting too close to terra firma. Sunday, a nearby A&P (Ezra Olson, Prairie Wind Aviation, Kingman, KS) pulled off the #1 cover and found the valve rocker studs broken. This OH Nickel cylinder assembly (J&J Airparts) has about 160 hours on it, and it has not been abused. The engine oil was at a good level (6-7 on the stick) and only 15 hours old. So, what would cause these rocker studs to snap? Have you seen this before? Also, with #1 cylinder not making power, #5 had four episodes of cutting out for about 30 seconds, then coming back to life? By that I mean EGT going from ~1300 to 700 and back to normal temps. Why would that happen? It was pretty noticeable loss of power and extra vibration with both cyls were out (did I mention it was very dark outside?).

My M20k 231K has the 262 conversion, but it is SN 25-0867, and retained the 2900 lb MGW limitation. My understanding is that to get the 230 lbs MGW increase, requires two modifications - the RPM redline must change from 2700 to 2800 (thus an increase in max rated power from 210 to 220); and the gear is updated to a beefier version - with 2-cyl brake caliper, rather than a single cylinder. The beefier gear adds weight, so you don't get a 230 lbs increase in useful load; it would be more like an increase of about 200lbs. This is from memory, so if I'm wrong about this, let me know.

I'm curious Bob, I know this plane is worth $110k easy, but does the insurance company agree on the hull value? I had a hard time getting my insurance carrier to up the value of my plane after a major avionics upgrade - and that really makes a difference for an owner of a beautiful plane like this - if they (ins. co.) want to write it off after a medium-sized mishap.

Upgraded my 85 231K at Santa Fe Aero, and removed these items, all working when removed. Brandon at Santa Fe Aero said he would yellow-tag if requested. Price is equal to or lower than than lowest price I found on e-bay for same unit - so hoping priced to sell quickly. I have several pictures of each instrument - can send to you if you're interested. I'll take returns and refund within 60 days if the instrument isn't working (again, all of these were working properly when removed).

I have a DAC GDC-31 Roll Steering Adapter for sale, which was removed after a panel upgrade completed last February (installed Aspen PFD that now communicates with the autopilot). The unit worked very well in my 85 231k between a Garmin GNS 430 and KFC-150. The GPSS button is lit and you simply toggle between HDG and GPSS. The KFC-150 will then couple with the GPS to fly departure, en-route and approach legs. It is pretty amazing if you've been hand-flying, those, and switch to letting the autopilot fly the routing instead. Reduces workload and makes flying much easier. I"m putting this on e-bay for $1,350, but I'd sell it to someone on Mooneyspace for $1,200.

The problem was me - I didn't have the Aspen PFD on, and that is the source of External Data required for the NGT 9000 to get baro pressure, which is required for the transponder to send the complete package of data to ATC. So the lesson learned is that before doing a system test, turn on all of the interconnected and interdependent devices, let them spool up completely, and preferably, be outside in the clear so you can confirm all the GPS and other signals are being received and transmitted -- then, run systems tests. The disappointing thing is that when I called L3 support, they didn't recognize the fail and make this simple diagnosis. Should have gone like this: Do you have a glass PFD (Aspen, Dynan, Garmin) as source of baro pressure? If so, was that on when you ran the system test? No, then go turn that on and try it again. I spoke to L3 technical support and gave them this input.

Glad that ended without major injury. The end of the runway pavement is 70 feet from the edge of the divided highway, which seems very dangerous to me. I noticed 11 Mooney A/C in the Google Maps picture, and a twin. My guess is that "Freeway Airport" was put there when most tenants had fabric wings. Is there an arresting technology that could work in this GA situation? Either a soft surface, or netting. I might install a tail hook if I had to use Rwy 36 often.

I had a new L3 LYNX NGT 9000 installed in February. On a recent trip from Durango to Colorado Springs, everything went perfectly with ATC - had radar services, until passing Pikes Peak and getting handed off from Denver Ctr to Springs Appch, who told me "you need a transponder to enter Class Charlie" and I said, uh, I have one, a new one. Hmmm. When I got on the ground, I did a system test and it passed. A week later, I was about to depart and the NGT 9000 system test failed, giving me this transponder error message: Ext. Fail (looked it up in the pilot guide, p. 2-12, says: "If a "Fail" or "External Fail" is shown for any of the system functions, then the message "Self-Test Failure" is shown . . . (yep, that message does appear). Page 5-4 of the pilots guide says: An "External Fail" message is caused by a problem with the external equipment input signals. The unit continues to attempt to acquire the signal without rebooting. These message will automatically clear once communications has been restored to the external equipment." What are the external equipment input signals? The antenna? Have you ever had an transponder antenna go bad? I called L3 and spoke to someone (yesterday), who said they were going to call Russ Meyers. I had a GTX327 for 10 years, never a problem, but it didn't have anywhere near the NGT 9000's capabilities or complexity. The jury is out on the L3 and whether this will be resolved quickly, and under warranty (it might not be a problem with the NGT 9000 at all). I'll keep you posted.

The POH of my 1985 K model says: Vfe - Maximum Flap Extended Speed - KCAS 109 (KIAS 112) - "Do not exceed this speed with flaps in full down position." The gear speeds (VLE and VLO) are both 132 KIAS. Gear retraction speed is much slower - 107 KIAS. I think just about everyone will, at some point, forget to retract the flaps or gear. I have not seen any posts confirming damage resulting from flap or gear overspeeds resulting from the "after takeoff" scenario (gradually building speed) - which I think would be very different than an overspeed dumping the gear or flaps into the wind in the approach phase. Does that make sense?