N601RX

If it is a cam or lifter the engine will just slowly loose power over time, but will continue to run. If it is the crank or bearing the failure will be sudden and severe if you continue to fly it. It can also make the motor either unoverhaulable or greatly increase the cost of an overhaul.

Quote: Bennett I've sent off an email to Mooney requesting the drawings by which others could manufacture the articulating seat frames, or at least to supply the name of the outside supplier (if any). I will post any information received to this tread. Frankly I doubt that they will even answer me, but it can't hurt to try.

See if Mooney would be willing to provide their drawings of the seat frame. If they would these drawings are already approved and this could be built as an owner produced part. With the Mooney drawings this can possible be done as a minor mod. Without their drawings this is going to be very difficult to get approval for with out showing the seat can withstand certain forces durring a crash. Even if your IA believes a 337 is required the mooney drawings will make it much easier to obtain one.

Quote: N223MM I am into the first annual inspection on my M20 since buying last February. I am going to need some minor items to get it back into the air. The first is a rheostat for the glare shield. I can call the factory tomorrow but thought I'd ask for a part number here in the mean time. Would this work? http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/rheostat.php. The second is the gear safety switch, a VEP 656-3. Does anyone know if these can be rebuilt? Again, I'll be in contact with the factory tomorrow. The last item is about 32 inches of SCAT tubing for the heater. It looks like I am coming out pretty good on this one. (Not counting the time and money I have put into maintenance over the last year. One interesting thing I found is that the gear doors are not alligned well and do not seem to close. My mechanic and I have been playing with the washers some and with a little touque have goten the right gear door pretty close. Is this fairly common? Oh, One other "interesting" item was a cannon plug that seemed to be used as a wire splice. I'll have a pic in my gallery. Carl

Be sure the ground strap between the engine and airframe is in place and tight.

Quote: One_Lima_Bravo My 1970 M20/F has the Postive Control system by Brittain. I've had the Mooney for 4 years and the PC has always worked great. Now, for some reason that neither my mechanic nor I can understand, the PC stays engaged even when I depress the PC button on the yoke, or pull it completely out. The mechanic cleaned the vaccuum lines and said he fixed it. I took it up and it is worse than ever. I have to use two hands to turn the yoke, with or without the button depressed, and my Auto Pilot won't track correctly. When the system was working correctly, even when it was engagement I could easliy over come it with on hand. Now I have to use two hands to even get it to move a little. On the ground it is difficult but once I have vaccuum built up in the air it is really bad. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Any suggestions I could pass on to my mechanic. Thanks,

Quote: JimR That's a good question, Scott. I'm pretty sure that the original senders are retained. I know that the gauges are, and everything is adjusted for accuracy. My gauges were relatively accurate before the installation, and nothing changed thereafter. The cams on my OEM fuel caps were worn out and replacements were around $400 a piece. My plane also didn't come with SS fuel filler rings, which, although mine weren't rusted would have cost an additional five or six hundred bucks to replace. Since these parts are included in the bladder conversion, I also factored them into the value equation. Jim

Our Mooney is down for an engine overhaul and will not be ready in time to make the trip. If anyone is passing through lower Alabama and has room I would like to go. I've flown in before and I am familiar with the arrival.

Quote: JimR Don't count on no more leaks for good. Plenty of bladders leak. Wasn't there an AD on them a couple of years ago ? The one time AD that you are referring to applied to Mooney bladder systems installed prior to February 1, 1998. It involved adding anti-ice masts in front of the fuel tank vents. It should have been a non issue for many years now. When properly installed, leaking bladders are rare, but are usually attributable to a loose clamp or a bad gasket on the fuel senders or fuel filler rings. Chasing bladder leaks requires time but no special skills, unlike tank re-sealing, which seems to be somewhat of an art best left to the masters. Of course, when bladders start to deteriate from age (after 20, or 30, or 40, or 50 years), they will need to be removed and sent out for overhaul, which can be done relatively inexpensively directly by one of several manufacturers throughout the country. Funny how most everyone that has then loves them. Jim

Quote: legallegend I have posted here before, but I have been focusing on a Bonanza for a while so I have forgotten most of what you all have shared. I apologize. My missions are as follows: 1) Family trips: up to 500 nm; wife and me (310 lbs total); kids (80 total) - 75% 2) Me and guys: up to 200 nm - I have big friends. It could be a total of 800 lbs of people if I took 4 - 20% 3) Me and guys: up to 400 nm - 5% Can I do missions 2 and 3 in a Mooney? If so, which one? Budget is up to $150K. Thanks

If the plane your looking at has a high time engine, but otherwise is in good shape I would not let that be a showstopper, as long as it is priced accordingly. If you have the engine rebuilt yourself you know what went into it and you control if it is a true overhaul or just a patch job. Also many mid time engines need a cylinder overhaul to make it to TBO When we were looking for our Mooney it seemed like everyone we looked at had the cylinders worked on somewhere around 1200-1400 hrs. We decided to buy one with a run out engine and have it overhauled ourselves so we would know the job was done correctly and not have to take someone elses word for it. An overhaul doesn't have to cost 20K.

Quote: drpep Well interesting someone else has had a long wait for Brittain auto pilot components. I ordered the altitude hold for my 67E in June of 2009! I also have called them about every 3 months and have been apolegetically advised that they are working on it and it should be ready soon. I often speculate on the possibility that they do not have the core equipment and they are hoping it will become available but they have no idea when they can fill my order. I am now looking at stec 30 potential as coming up on two years is too long to wait. Philip

Yes that is basically what I did. I don't think that any of the stuff listed on E-bay now is approved for Mooneys. If you decide to go this route be sure to talk to Jerry at Brittain and make sure what you are buying is approved for a Mooney. What model is your plane? I think anothermember on Mooney Space has just removed a B6 from his E model. Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you copies of the install manual and the other persons contact info. Mike

Yes that is basically what I did. I don't think that any of the stuff listed on E-bay now is approved for Mooneys. If you decide to go this route be sure to talk to Jerry at Brittain and make sure what you are buying is approved for a Mooney. What model is your plane? I think anothermember on Mooney Space has just removed a B6 from his E model. Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you copies of the install manual and the other persons contact info.

It is a family run business and they are very nice people and easy to work with. These parts are no longer in production and they have to wait until they get used cores in. When they do they overhaul them and sell them to the next person on the list. Because of this it is hard to say exactly how long you will have to wait. I didn't want to wait on the list so I acquired the parts from other sources myself and dropped them off 2 weeks ago to be overhauled. I was passing through town this week and stopped by and they had them finished. I will get my local mechanic to install them. I'm installing the Accu-flite,Accu-Track and altitude hold. Get out at the local airports and start asking around, and chances are you will find someone who removed one several years ago and still has it. This is how I found the one I have and when I found it the person who gave it to me was just glade that someome would be able to get some use out of it. Someone on the MAPA site had a B6 model for sell last month.

One thing to remember about used avionics is look at the total cost. If not careful you can end up with almost as money in a used radio as a new one. I'm not saying all used radios are bad deals, just be careful. If the radio is not yellow tagged, you will have to pay someone to do this. If anything is missing that will cost more. Also one manufacturer has a $500 minimum to fix anything regardless of how minor.

Quote: leesh Anyone have suggestions for camping at Sun-n-Fun this year? From what I've found, I'm thinking of using the GAC (General Aviation Camping) area. One question I have is whether there are tie down rings or whether I would need to buy some auger style tie down spikes for tying the M20F down on grass. This will be my first Sun-n-Fun experience, so any advice is appreciated. Alisha

Quote: philipneeper yea i been looking at ebay and barnstormers but tis hard to afford nice radios.. so it seems i will be settling for a kx 170B or 175 B.

Our bladders are about 13 years old and recently begain to leak around the cork gaskets that are around the fuel sensors and inspection plates. A new set of gaskets cost about $100 and fixed the problem.

Quote: mtrebbe Hi Mike, That is the critter. Let me know what it will take ($,favors) to get it here.

Quote: mtrebbe Thank you Mike. I'll wait to hear from you. Mike

Quote: mtrebbe Thank you Mike. I'll wait to hear from you. Mike

Yes, but that was 2 people working 12 hours each or 24 hrs total. It is also a good time to put shoulder harnesses in. It is much easier to work the mounting brackets around the tubing with windows out.

Quote: Amelia You looking for an airport dog? Land at Eufaula, Alabama sometime. KEUF has an airport DOG! She's a Newfie, well over a hundred pounds of Newfie. Mootsie may favor you with a gentle canine smile and an exhausted flop of her shaggy tail, but mostly she seems to spend the day trying to convince transients that she's actually a black-bear rug. (KEUF has no landing fee, no handling fee, no ramp fee, reasonably priced fuel, and if you get there at lunch time on a scorching hot southern Alabama day, and decide that all the homemade cookies, the fresh fruit, the icecream bars, the soda pop, the coffee, and if you hit it exactly right, maybe even airport bums operating a barbecue grill, should be augmented by lunch at the nearby airport restaurant, they might even pull your airplane into a shady hangar for the hour.) Hospitality writ exceeding large there. Exec-you Jet, Billionaire, and the rest of the fancy operators could learn a thing or two from this small airport.

Sorry I put the pictures in a thread not in my gallery. The work table isn't necessary, but I already had it and it came in handy. http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&forumid=2&threadid=2085