csfahey

Hey, I would be glad to help you out on this. I can send you a W&B Excel spreadsheet I use for my 1977 M20C Ranger. It should be pretty close to what you have. You should take the time to modify the weights according to your offical W&B sheet. If you need to adjust it, you will need your manual. Adjustments to the envelope are done by modifying the envelope box on the right hand side of the spreadsheet in the calculations area where it is hidden normally, column AA. These value control the settings for the calculations on the left which control the plotting of the graph. To adjust these, just look at the Owner Manual for the envelope. The corners of the envelope have two points, one from the bottom and one from the side. You just set the values by matching them up. Let me know if you need help adjusting it. Once you have the spreadsheet adjusted, save it and never touch the right side again. When ever you need to perform a W&B for a flight, open up the spreadsheet and put the values in on the left side where it is a dark shaded grey then look at the results. Send me an email to junkmail@faheys.org if you want a copy. **** WARNING **** Do not use this spreadsheet without customizing it for your airplane and verifying the results.

Has anyone ever used charts they printed themselves for navigation? I live on the east coast, east of DC, and I am about to take a trip north to the NY area but nobody in the entire region has any more charts left in stock with none planned until the next update which will arrive late next week. This happens a lot where I live toward the end of the chart cycle. I found a site called skysectionals and I can buy and print my own copies of the low altitude enroute and put them into a book format for easy access and use. I am horrible about flying with the goverment charts as I am all over the sky as I fold and refold. I looked up the regs regarding using charts and surprisingly found very little regarding what constitues a valid chart. I am wondering what others have to say about doing this, i.e. legality, practicallity, experience etc.

Quote: Immelman I have replaced several placards by simply calling an MSC (like Top Gun or Lake Aero) and getting the actual Mooney part. The price was reasonable on the ones I ordered (fuel cap stickers, turning limits, etc). I plan to re-do my windows and possibly some interior pieces soon and will call them again for the new placards I'll need.

Thanks guys. I used a sharp blade and just scraped for a while. laquer thinner softened it a bit on the surface but also softened the plastic so I just figured I would just scrape and save the plastic.

Can anyone out there offer any advice on how to remove the glue that was used to secure the side panel padded accents? Scraping it seems risky and long. I am working on the door right now and trying to remove the arm rest and the padded strip above it that. The glue is somewhat like a hardened putty.

Quote: mjc All required placards are in the type certificate: http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/2fb25685d0303ab1852567ed004f59b8/$FILE/2A3.pdf

Yep. Thats what I needed. Thanks for the fast reply.

I have just finished refinishing my first section of my M20C, the back storage area. Took the pieces out, cleaned them and repainted them. It looks great. When I did this, I removed the placards that were there and am now replacing them, however, the bagage shelf placard was broken in half before I even bought the plane and was missing the broken off half. I don't know what it reads. Can anyone with an M20C please send me the text of that placard so I can have it remade and attached to the shelf? It starts with the word "WARNING" in big letters. Thats all I have. Thanks much. Hope to see some of you in OSH. I will be watching for the Mooney Caravan and hopefully get a chance to meet those of you in it.

I have seen some horror stories regarding non-operator owners being cited for illegal operation of an aircraft by someone else in the owners plane. Can anyone tell me how the FAA handles violations by an aircraft held in a partnership? I am concerned with an 18 year old being allowed to operate the Mooney in our partnership and I am trying to protect myself.

As far as the 1" per minute goes, if I push the nose over and without pulling power back and pick up a lot of speed, it would seem that I am going to have a lot of cooling from the increased airspeed possibly to the same degree as decreasing the MP and descending while maintaining the same airspeed as cruise. As far as prop settings go, MooneyGirl was the only one that mentioned this and stated that she uses 2000rpm. Does anyone else use the prop during the descent or just push it forward for full? If set to 2000 rpm now the intake risks of carburator icing come into play.

I have learned more in the last 3 months of Mooney ownership than I have learned in nearly 25 years of flying. An article I just read by Jeff West in the IFR magazine regarding flight profiles brought up another question that I would like to get an answer to. My question to other Mooney owners is how do you setup your Mooney for cruise descent whether it be in advance of shooting an approach or just a large altitude change? Do you just push the nose over a little and pick up speed, or do you adjust the MP and Prop for a specific result? If so, which ones do you adjust and how much? Despite having had enough complex training to obtain an endorsement, I was startled to find one of the techniques to descend is to decrease the RPM to decend but set the MP high. I am still trying to find more information on this aspect of flying, complex operations, but I am finding that there really isn't a lot of general information on technique, just theory on the mechanics.

Quote: piperpainter When its really rough you have to be careful. I have had leaks but it was before I got into flying into the dirt strips like I do now!!

What a terrific community. Thanks for all of the comments and the offers. I might take some of you up on them. I am going to continue to investigate this mountain flying thing and look into some training. It is my biggest concern.

I reside on the east coast and am in the planning stage for a flight to Alaska next summer. Has anyone undertaken a transcontinental flight in their Mooney? I have an M20C so I am relegated to lower altitudes. Any suggestions on routes? Or time of season to accomplish this? How about landing at outback strips? I know the prop clearance is low but can it still be accomplished with good soft field technique?

Great tips. Thanks guys. I am looking forward to knowing exactly how much fuel I have and am using and not fly with anxiety anymore.

As a new owner I am still trying to learn everything I can about owning and maintaining my 77 Mooney M20C. One thing that is missing from the manual is fuel burn rate for climbing and descending required for flight planning. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to determine these values? This is bothering me as I am using more fuel that I anticipate. Also what about fuel dipsticks. What are people using to dip the tanks? The plane came with this PVC pipe with lines marked on it but it doesn't seem to be all that accurate since the tank is sloped and when a little fuel is visible, the dipstick will show zero. Lastly, coming from the Cesna world and training, I learned to lean at cruise above 5000. When do Mooney owners generally lean, always? The manual indicates to lean below 75%. Any other little things I might like to know that are not in the manual that experience has taught them?

Point taken and understood. I must ask this however, since my question is the opposite in nature to another thread on the Loran. In that case, the owner removed a piece of equipment from the aircraft. Granted he did not remove the tray it was installed in but it was not maintenance and was not replaced. How would this be interpreted?

That is what is confusing. Number 31 from the previous post states that tray mounted equipment can be replaced. If I replace the intercom and it has the mic jacks for the back seats how would connecting another wire be considered an installation? Using that logic, if I have a portable GPS and I plug it into the cigarette lighter and then plug the audio jack into a splitter so I can hear the audio, it is a new installation in the same sense. The only difference here is that I have hidden the wire behind the paneling that I am allowed to remove and repair.

Two questions: Can an owner make any repairs or replace anything on the panel? I asked an A&P and an Avionics guy and neither could give me a definite answer. Second, the rear seats only have a headphone jack, no mic jack. I was planning on repainting the panels so I will be removing them. Can I add a mic jack and run the wiring and can I make it functional? Thanks.

Thanks. My search for articles on this didn't come up with that one. Seems like mine is like others as well.

I have only flown in one Mooney ever, the one I just purchased a month ago. From what I have read about the speeds that mine should fly at, a 1977 M20C Ranger, it should fly a little faster than what I am seeing which is 140 Mias 75% power at 5000ft. I have read a plane out of rigging will fly slower than it should. The plane has been in a prior GU incident. How can an average pilot tell whether or not a plane needs to be rerigged? For instance, when on the ground and the ailerons in a wings level position, should they both be flush with the flaps or both up a little? I haven't really noticed any tendency to bank one way or the other with the PC is disabled.