takair

Had to think about that. The .06” dimension means the axle is more forward. By adding the washer, it essentially compresses the shocks more and causes the axle to move aft more. Essentially it trails more and makes it more stable during that point where the nose is light. It’s as if there is more weight on the nose wheel....so it trails more.

Our Grim Reaper likely has the dataplate to Super-21 number 1....he had the rest of the plane too, but I guess it was BER. Anyway, pics of the destruction around here somewhere......

Correct...I think they simply rolled it into the manual. I know it doesn’t look like much, but that washer can make the difference between what you describe and feeling just right. Might be worth having your mechanic check the next time it’s on jacks.....to level the plane.

Here it is. Clarence posted it some time ago. It should be in your MM....but this SB gives you the idea. It seems to be a solution to aircraft with sensitive nose wheels and some that shimmy. The sensitivity changes with back pressure because the geometry changes...think shopping cart wheel....

It could be the caster of the gear. If the upper collar is upside down or you don’t have the SB kit consisting of a simple washer, a Mooney can be a handful (foot full) at times. There is a measurement of the axle centerline that tells you this. There is an article that describes it.. 15 second ride or some such name. Anyway, it sounds like that and is a simple fix. Makes the plane feel like new.

TCM SB03-3 is the bulletin I was thinking of that defines compression check for those engines. It is not is simple as the classic Lycoming version, but also keeps more Continentals operational....

It’s pretty standard practice to do an engine run and retest if low readings. Sometimes the valves have stuff under them. There are many questions to be asked. Where was the air going? Was it ring leak, exhaust or intake valve? I might suggest a borescope to look at valve health. Can’t recall...do you have a Lycoming? Continentals have lower allowance with clear conditions for retest. They no longer use the 70 as go-no-go. Does not seem like the first test is enough to condemn your cylinders...certainly not the engine.

Does the FAA have a way to publish NASA reports....”as written” or edited? Many years ago they used to have a publication to mechanics of service difficulty reports. These were good, especially to a new mechanic. You could see trends for both new and old airplanes. Identify design flaws vs mechanic error. Find general gotchas before they gotcha. At some point they stopped publishing. I think there is a way to access them, but last time I tried it was not easy and I gave up. Anyway, NASA reports that simply sit in an FAA drop box won’t help the industry as much as allowing access....with the names and info of the guilty removed.

Do you mean that the spring loaded portion will not pop up? Or do you mean you can’t remove the assembly? Perhaps try rubbing alcohol as a temporary lubricant to loosen things up.

Thanks, which Foreflight do you have?

David I like the topic for a few reasons. Anthony alluded to our Auto-Lean system. It has been available for a few years and is like a baby brother to an auto throttle. We also have a simplex autothrottle running on the bench, based on certified hardware. Not surprisingly, it looks much like Auto-Lean. Light weight, simple, relatively inexpensive. Not quite ready for a Mooney, but ready to test in a fixed pitch experimental aircraft. However, as Tom, RW and Ross alluded to, It’s not clear to me that there is a market for even a low cost solution. It feels like people are happy to manage power manually. When I started on the Auto-Lean, a developer of one of the original GA FADECS warned me of this. I would certainly love to hear what folks would want in a GA autothrottle or mixture control either here or PM me to talk off line.

Great topic, thanks for posting.

Thanks Paul! Anyone with ForeFlight seeing this in flight? Which subscription?

Foreflight also seems to support it. Have you seen it work in flight, and with which hardware?

I read some time ago that lightning is available on ADS-B. I have the unfortunate NavWorks system and don’t see lightning. It generally performs well otherwise, but there is no upgrade path. Are others seeing the lightning product on their ADS-B? I have a couple friends with Garmin and Stratus who don’t see it either.