Skybrd

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have questions on how to do the FAA paperwork on selling a Mooney to a relative and still hold legal interest until it's fully paid for. I remember that they use liens on car sales but not sure what to do on airplanes. The FAA send me some registration forms but not sure what to do. Have any of you did this before and have suggestions. I really don't want to debate on ethics of selling to a relative or trust issues. Thank you for your responses.

My shaden fuel flow indicator indicates about 17 gph right after TO with full throttle and mixture full rich from BFL airport (about 500msl). It's a thirsty engine. I'm glad it lowers in cruise.

I flew last Saturday and my Garmin GPS worked with no difficulity. I read about the solar flares but haven't heard of any disruptions. EMP (electro magnetic pulse) can clobber solid state electronics and it's possible that the GPS satellites have extra shielding for that. I've had my GPS loose satellites for unknow reasons on VFR trips but shortly it cleared up. I think its always a good idea to keep track where your at and have maps accessible. -- 73, wb6dbw

Recently I bought a used 201 Mooney and the glass is milky looking. I keep the plane in Bakersfield and wonder where a good place to get all the windows changed. I got a quote from the paint shop in Santa Maria and one at my airport in Bakersfield but would like your comments on getting them changed and maybe better pricing. I found the part numbers and prices for the glass and decided to use all Solar Gray. -- I was also thinking about repainting the plane but not sure if I want to do that right now. The paint is not real good but some rubbing compond and wax with some touch up's might work. -- Thanks for your replys and comments.

I got my fuel leak fixed locally at Loyd's Aviation Bakersfield, Ca. They had some way to pressurize the tank using the tank vent and found the leak. I'm not sure how they sealed it but it's fixed. Loyd's aviation is at Meadows Field Bakersfield. They have a good FBO. They also changed my brake pads and installed some new fuel cap seals.

Quote: DonMuncy Skybird, Where is the leak? On the bottom or top? Don

Quote: DaV8or If you want a complete strip and reseal, closest place is in Oregon. The chemicals used are not California friendly. If you just want it patched, maybe try Top Gun in Stockton.

Quote: docket This is an often discussed issue. I have a seep in my left tank from one rivet. I never see anything on the ground but I do get a blue stain near the rivet. Right now I am not real motivated to fix because it is not a safety of flight issue but I expect that it will get worse. I have heard that Don Maxwell in Longview is the best place in Texas to go to the doctor on this but if any of you have other experiences with the repair let me know.

I had an engine failure in a experimental plane over 20 years ago and one thing that helped my survival was wearing a shoulder harness. It happened so quick while flying south over highway 99 from Fresno to Bakersfield. I tried to glide to a dirt area but the descent rate was like a brick and I impacted into some empty wooden crates. I'm glad I didn't try landing on highway 99 since I might have killed someone. I like someone elses post about having extra altitude which I didn't have enough. I'm a firm believer in flying our best and using our resources but to also rely on help from the Lord. When a emergency comes up it's sudden and we use our resources and let the Lord steer our paths.

I just read an article that informs how to decend and land Mooneys. It's at http://www.mooneyland.com/Properly%20Landing%20a%20Mooney.htm One of the items that I'm not sure about, concerns decending and keeping from shock cooling the engine. The article says that beside reducing throttle (manifold reduction) to also reduce RPM's by cranking in more prop pitch. They say to pull throttle back to 17 inches then reduce RPM's to 1900 RPM's and that will keep the engine from shock cooling. Is this a good idea? Additional information from this article seems to be good information. What do you think of this web site's information?

Quote: Lood [i've been bugged with an overcharge problem for more than a year now - very annoying. At the previous annual, the initial plan was to convert to an alternator, but after bench testing my generator, it was decided that it functioned perfectly and instead, the old Delco regulator was replaced with a new one from Lamar. The sad news is that the problem just continued after a while. The voltage slowly creeps up during flight from 13.8. Switching on the nav lights keeps it steady for a while, but eventually it just goes up - to 15 volts if left alone. I now leave it to increase to 14.2 volts and then I pull the generator CB. Once the voltage drops to below 12 volt, I reset the breaker and then the voltage seems to stay put at 13.9 volts for quite a while. So, what do I do next? Zeftronics regulator or chuck out the whole generator affair and go the alternator route? I don't want to buy another regulator just find it also not solving the problem.] I think Zeftronics regulator is the way to go. I have one and a Martel digital QM100V voltmeter. The zeftronics does it's job as advertised and seems reliable. If you do a lot of night flying and ground taxiing you might want to keep your rpm's above 1100 to keep the generator output going. I like the newer alternators but the expense versus the need doesn't compute at this time. The zeftronics regulator is easy to install and fits in the same place as your older mechanical regulator. You might want to have some extra washers on your installation since the thickness of the zeftronics one is thinner and the 4 bolts might not have threads to the base.

Quote: jetdriven All the boost pump is supply positive presure to the fuel injection. We did a hot start today and it would not maintain green band fuel pressure from the engine driven fuel pump as soon as we gave it mixture. Likely because all the fuel in the lines under the cowl were partially vapor. The fuel pump delivers a constant steady 21 PSI to the injector. When you "1000 RPM touch nothing" start it, the only thing different is when you give it the mixture, steady fuel is there.

I fly in Bakersfield and Inyokern, Ca and the summer temps are hotter than the blazes. My M20E doesn't like the increased heat and causing higher oil temps and lower oil pressure. I was wondering if the heat from the muffler could be heating the oil sump since their real close. Is there suppose to be baffel between the muffler and the sump? Another area of concern is a insulated fuel line that might be restricting the cylinder airflow.? My cylinder head temps always show good with no overheating.

Thanks Jetdriven for your test and post : " All the boost pump is supply positive presure to the fuel injection. We did a hot start today and it would not maintain green band fuel pressure from the engine driven fuel pump as soon as we gave it mixture. Likely because all the fuel in the lines under the cowl were partially vapor. The fuel pump delivers a constant steady 21 PSI to the injector. When you "1000 RPM touch nothing" start it, the only thing different is when you give it the mixture, steady fuel is there." I'll try your suggestion soon.

Shadrick: concerning your question "what do you mean by "increased friction of a hot engine? What are you basing that on?" The increased friction is from heat expansion of the cylinders after its run. The parts are tighter and the starter has to work harder to turn.

I think I will try Jetdriven suggestion of first turning on the boost pump when the mixture is fully back and do the normal hot start method. I think it will work but will probably try it first in front of my hanger, in case it doesn't work. I also have a Skytec starter and sure it helps with the increased friction of a hot engine. I also have a question: If you shut down the engine with full lean mixture settings, how can it be restarted with the mixture in the shut off position. Where does the fuel come from ??

Quote: Lood I've had my share of hot start struggles, but fortunately have it under control at this stage. I have a question though, as I have been caught out once or twice. If your first hotstart attempt is unsuccessfull, or rather if you were too slow to catch it, what do you do next? Repeat the procedure or proceed to a flooded start? I've been too slow with the mixture on a couple of hot start occasions which resulted in the engine tturning over a few times and then dying. In these situations, I really battled to get the engine going.

It's Sunday May 29 and Castle AFB Museum is having open cockpit day today. Castle AFB has been closed for years but now has a air museum with lots of old miltary aircraft. Normally the museum has the planes accessible to walk around and kept locked up but today is different with the cockpits opened up. I attended one of their open cockpit days years ago and it was great getting into some of the planes. They also have a B36 bomber, Vulcan bomber, many WWII planes. Castle is located near Merced, Ca about 60 miles north of Fresno. The museum is actually in Atwater, Ca but is on the north side of Merced. If you fly there, they have a runway which is part of the former air force base and within walking distance to the museum. Hope to see you there. --

Quote: Kwixdraw Also with all due respect Skybrd, if this Was detonation, you were flirting with disaster trying to diagnose this problem in flight and then risking your engine to go there again on the ground. The pressures involved in true detonation are extremely unhealthy to engines and I would not recommend anyone follow these methods to find out what the problem was. How long did the engine fly after this episode? Detonation puts severe loads on everything and it's not uncommon for rod bolts and other parts to fail after a bout of detonation.

Quote: Steve65E-NC Suggest you call Skytec directly. I did when my Prestolite crashed ane I was trying to select a new starter. the owner was very helpful. I put the NL in and I am very satisfied so far. It appears to have solved a long standing "hot start" problem.

Quote: DaV8or I don't think this was pre-ignition or detonation. Pre-ignition for very much time usually would have resulted in a forced landing with a melted piston or some other serious failure. I think more likely that the junk in the electrode was causing the plug to ground under higher combustion pressures and not make a spark. This would cause one of your cylinders to make less power than the rest and so run rough. Spark plugs are sometimes funny beasts. I have seen this sort of thing before in engines other than airplanes before. Just a guess though, who knows what really happened.

I just read in Pacific Flyer that Narco is out of business. Personally I don't like that since I have Narco radios in two of my airplanes. Maybe they cooked their own goose when they didn't want other shops to fix their radios. I can't confirm that Narco is out of business but I read it from a paper, am I right?

Quote: Kwixdraw Was that a carbureted engine on the Tailwind?

One thing I forgot to write about concerning ways to test for detonaton in flight is to lean the engine under high power. This will quickly heat up the cylinder and if there is junk in the spark plug to cause detonation it will happen. I've seen this to happen when I ran my Tailwind engine at full power and leaned for more power. Low altitude airports will show up detonation on takeoffs more that higher elevations.