Vref

A modern glider with wet wings becomes a flying brick, so I gues it must have an influence on the mooney also as it is a laminar flow airfoil. With laminar flow wings it's the point where the laminar air starts to loosen which is changed significatly thus having an significant effect on the L/D curve (On a Cessna wing it's less of a problem as the wing is dirty from itself...)...One of the reasons I always clean my aircraft in summer...the bugs screws up your laminar flow also...but maybe I am biased having flwon too much gliders with a 1/40+ L/D curve.....In modern gliding competetions you can do In Flight Bug cleaning mayeb we should install something like that on mooney.. http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/mueckenputzer-e.html

Quote: jetdriven So let's talk about the wipe on-wipe off thing. Is that possible? Can the covers be removed to be reworked? I notice sometimes if you poke the switches the covers come half off.

On my previous aircraft a 17meter Hi performance motorglider with flaperons you loose 20 Kts when at 7000 Ft flying WOT flying through a rain shower. I had the experience over the mountains...brbrrrrr.....Doing 105 Kts and went all back to 75 Kts to maintain altitude when the wings are wet. In gliding competitions this is a very well known phenomea. Rain destroys your laminar flow....I suspect the effect on a mooney is less then 10 Kts...Could influence the stall speed in clean config, I figure....? In a glider the angle of attack plays a huge diffrence on how fast the rain repells back on the wing, specially when you have flaps negative for speed......

Quote: 231BB The fuel selector on my K model got pretty hot one morning in mid winter flying into Truckee airport near Lake Tahoe. I had the heater full on; it was very cold at altitude. As I was about to change fuel tanks, the lever came off. The set screw was just a little loose, and the heat caused sufficient expansion of the lever's collar to allow it to slip on the fuel valve shaft. So there you go, it can cause problems. And BTW, one night over the Sierras a meteorite narrowly (< 100 ft) missed my right wing. Granted, this would not have been as bad as an asteroid. M20/KCCR

Best of both worlds an analog display format with in the middle a digital readout. The analog readout gives additional information e.g a rate-change, tendencies that you will have difficult to see on a pure digital readout.... For instance my EDM800 has both..what I hate is pushing the step button quickly scan through all info, it's distracting and time consuming.....One has to make a ditinction between situational awareness, flight and engine data to be interpreted each one needs a different format of representation......

Quote: Piloto Luc, glad everything work out good. One thing I always do after an oil change is to run the engine for 10 minutes on the ground. After the run I check for oil leaks around the filter. There is the possibility of having a new leaky filter or some particle trapped on the seal. Unlike cranckase leaks oil filter leaks are under 60psi pressure and can deplete the reservoir in no time. José

Yepp this topic was already discussed, but still the answer remains open I think if the sensata covers are fully identical/interchangeable with the switched we have in the older J-k models..? My switches look a bit yellowish (like teeth) would love to have a sparkling WHITE smile again in front of me... Having a switch cover part number from sensata compatible with the breaker switch would make my day...... Is there no procedure to re-condition the old switch covers....? Luc

So yesterday I did the oil change based on some really good inputs from this Forum. Worked out well, did a cold oil change. I think the oil is better collected after a week not running. If you run the engine first, the oil is liquid yes but the mess get's spread again... Left cowl flap link removal by pushing upward the springloaded cap as such you can easely remove it from the ball. Keep the cap in a plastic cup...Connect a plastic tube push and turn the quick drain valve and then...wait...wait...wait...oooh men this will go slow.....after two hours most of the old oil was out...Did a top cowl removal and check some other stuff (have a question on cooling in another topic..;-)) Close the quick drain put some fuel in the crankcase, then flushed it. Did that twice...so the fuel looked like fuel and not oil...wait 15 minutes to make sure all fuel was out...close the quick drain valve Whoopy 7 quarts of Oil Aeroshell W80. Close check everything ...did a short flight 30 minutes (with various power/egt settings)...to make sure all is lubricated well...all OK...happy man...! Thank you all -Luc

Quote: Piloto At normal temperatures it takes about a week for all the oil to drain to the sump. At cold temperatures (below 40f) you definitely need to pour gas into the sump to drain out all the melaza. José

Quote: edgargravel I also discovered that PS Engineering units have a lot of EMI filtering in them. This is the first time I have run into my own EMC issue with my Mooney. Oh well. Live and learn: "smart people learn from their own mistakes....wise people learn from the mistakes of others..." Smarts for me. Wisdom for all of you. Thanks to those that responded.

Quote: jetdriven We just bought a Concorde RG35AXC battery but it does not have the studs made into it like the Gill G-35. It is tapped for a bolt. Can I buy studs to put in the battery, or use bolts? Who else has done this?

Quote: Piloto I do the oil changes all by myself with no help on my M20J. For the oil change only there is no need to remove any of the cowlings. Just disconnect the left cowl flap link and attach a hose to the oil drain fitting. Push on the fitting flange to let the oil out. After the oil pour out close the drain valve. I fill the crankcase with one gallon of AVGAS to remove all residual oil and debris. After 15 minutes I drain the AVGAS. This insures that the case is clean and will not contaminate the new oil. To replace the oil filter and do a general inspection you will need to remove the top and bottom cowling. After removing the top cowling disconnect the landing light wires and cowl flaps links. For a one man bottom cowling removal: unlatch all the camlocs but keep the top left and right inserted but not latched. With one hand hold the cowling on the bottom side while pulling the camlocks and side walls out. Line up the prop horizontal for better access. The cowling is pretty lightweight to hold it with one hand. You can also put a large cardboard box on the bottom to keep the cowlin in place while you remove the side walls. Then pull the box with the cowling on top. José

Done a lot of Oil changes in my life inclusive on my motorglider but I am a novice on my M20J - Lycoming so I am looking for tips for my first DIY oil change? It looks that I have a quick drain connection from SAF AIR.... How does one tackle best the lower cowling removal when being alone? What is the size of the output barrel so I can connect a small plastic drain tube avoiding oil spills, cant't find the info..? A part from running up the engine and of course detachig the cowl flaps is here anything else special to pay attention to? thanks Luc

did you guys made it? I decided to give it a try (last moment famely re_shedule) but the fog east of the Ardennes stopped my attempt. Frankfurt hahn was IFR......

It became only VFR after 14hr00 today....I am only available sunday, but will monitor if there was a re-shedule to sunday.. For what its worth from this site you immediatly get an overview of the METAR's.. http://www.orbifly.com/member/metmap.php?region_choose=EU2&mode=metar&lang=ENG&view_color=metars Luc

Will Look into my shedule this weekend...Koblenz is not bad. Would be cool to meet Luc

All details should be in the Mexican AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication)

Quote: aviatoreb

Quote: aviatoreb

My kids and wife desperatly wanted a dog.....I said yes, only if it meets the flying spec: low maintenance cost low weight not much hair loss.....we got a mix between a chiwawa and a maltezer...........no impact on performance... took him with me to Hungary on a 3 Hr+ flight..he survived..;-)...and is now dog IFR rated

Quote: gregwatts It is a credit card scam.....it is also on Barnstormers.com

Quote: jetdriven Jared, that looks different than mine does and I have a J. Come to think of it, I haven't seen this style of latch on any other J either, is it the wrong one for the plane?

I lock mine also, part of my external preflight...When I bought my plane the door was bended where the hinge is located so I guess it came from trying to take off with the thing open or it flew open once... luc

Thanks, though the effort was done because there are no cheap solutions in Europe for Mooney Jacks....to much money and carbon emissions to transport some metal over the pond...

Quote: Shadrach A more creative solution is just to buy a set of inexpensive bottle jacks and make (or have fabricated) steel pedastools/supports. A descent bottle jack can be had for $50 or less as long as it does not say "airplane jack" on it, then you must multiply the price X 5 or more. Most bottle jacks have drillable bases so as to be easily mounted to a bracket or pedastool. You could even use wood if you really wanted to be cheap.