moodychief

If anyone needs to evacuate, Missouri is having great weather right now!! We had to fly to Southern Georgia last week to pick up our two young grandsons. They still don’t have power at my son’s house just north of Valdosta and school is cancelled until Oct 17.

As the OP, I went with a Zeftronics VR but I still have my generator! I have owned my C model now since 2007 and am on my third generator OH (1500+ hrs, 95% IFR). I love my generator. With the Zeftronics it will self flash through the master switch if it isn’t charging. After initial start I will check to make sure the generator is charging before turning any electronics on. If it isn’t, I just cycle the master and it comes alive.

I have a Geiger CO monitor on both of my aircraft keychains. It has LED lights that show the intensity of the exposure and a loud beeping noise when it hits a detectable level. My wife freaked out last summer after we landed she opened the door and gusty winds introduced some exhaust fumes into the cabin. I had both keychains in the cockpit and both started beeping like crazy. She had no idea what she had done. I had a friend that died in a crash due to CO and couldn’t buy an active monitor quick enough.

My daughter is in Terceira right now. What island did they divert to?

Check Dawson Salvage in Clinton AR

Check the line from the gascolator to the mechanical fuel pump. I had a similar situation and spent several months and $$ troubleshooting. We ended up finding a crack on the top of the short section of fuel line that runs through the cabin (on left side of doghouse).

Long-time Mooney owner and CFI, Ed Morris went west this last week. Several people on this forum have probably flown with Ed at some time over the past few decades during MAPA safety clinics. Ed owned a J-model (N555ED) for over 30-years and a C-model prior to that. With over 38,000 hours in various aircraft, he was a walking encyclopedia on aircraft performance. He was also one of the few people that flew as aircrew in the B-58 Hustler (Mach 2). Aviation has lost a great asset and he will be missed by all who knew him.

I was flying a Sierra (100 hrs) immediately prior to buying my C model. The speed and efficiency of the Mooney is unmatched. When I start discussing a newer and different make of airplane my wife checks me with two questions: What is the hourly fuel consumption? Does it have a single piece wing? I’m 6’1” and we flew four adults from Arkansas to the Bahamas. Would have been nice to have the rear legroom of an F/J model but we made do. That was our 1% trip. The other 99% of our trips over 13 years of ownership (1350 hours) have been 2 people. The Sierra did give me a good transition of landing an airplane with rubber disk suspension.

I was told by my local generator shop that those were used in tractors...not automobiles. The three post on an automobile generator are equally spaced whereas ours have one post further away from the others. Even though I installed a Zeftronics, I had the generator shop overhaul my Delco Remy just in case I need it. We have used it several times to troubleshoot other local Vintage Mooney’s to determine they weren’t having regulator problems. FWIW I was also told (by an unnamed MSC) the gascalator gasket is the same used in the vintage John Deere tractors.

What voltage regulator do you have? I installed a zeftronics regulator and periodically will have zero output from the generator. I run the engine to 1700 rpm and cycle the master (after turning all electrics off)and the generator comes on line. That is now on my checklist when checking the amps.

I need a set for my shelf as well.

I’m surprised no one has brought up the in-flight entertainment value of an ADF! My wife was surprised when a I dialed in a radio station to listen to the football game a couple weeks ago. For some reason, I can’t get her to listen to music on XM but she was glued to the game. Unlike most, my ADF still works and I will periodically practice the NDB approach at the local military base to keep the cobwebs from clouding my brain.

I was in Springdale 3 weeks ago and one of the TruTrac guys came out to look at my 1963 C mode and take pictures as they are still working on paperwork and want to make sure they have all bases covered before submitting. My buddy thought he was coming over to admire his Stearman and was deflated when the guy started asking about the Mooney.

Have you considered the power cables? If they are the originals there can be unseen corrosion in the cable which impacts the power to the starter. I replaced mine this year with Bogert cables and couldn’t believe the difference in cranking. You need to know where your ground wire attaches and if it is zero or 180 degree fitting.

I went to O’Reilly’s Auto and bought one inch white seal strip used between camper shells and truck bed. After laying it on I pierced where the screw holes are with a small sharp punch.

The prop only needs to come off if the belt needs replaced. If belt is in good condition, you will need to take the lower cowl off for easy access and safety wiring after install.

With the top loading baggage compartment, I can only fit this small amount of stuff in my baggage compartment and back seat of my C model for 10-days at Oshkosh with my wife! Of course I only have the smaller 48 gallon fuel tanks.

Jezebel. My wife can smell the maintenance induced perfume from Jezebel on me when I enter the house. There is no question where I have been spending my time.

Try Dawson Salvage in Clinton AR. They had a couple of Mooney’s they were parting out.

I installed a Zeftronics a few years ago. Every once in a while the generator won’t generate. We found out if you throttle to 1500-1700 rpms then cycle the master it will come on line. Never had this problem before the Zeftronics VR was installed. We spent hours troubleshooting then found this on a fluke. Only happens infrequently. Doesnt cost anything to try!

If you still live in Texas, a good low level run to Oshkosh and back home should do it!!

I just did the #1 on my C model. It was probably broke in at 10 hours but I continued the break-in procedures until 18 hours. The most important thing stressed to me was stay at or below 5,000 and run the hell out of it until the oil consumption levels off and don’t use any additives while running mineral oil.

Which starter do you have?

Which Skytec starter do you have? I had one that looked similar to the old Delco Remy starter that did a similar thing. It only had 100 hours since install. When I called Skytec they said they no longer used that starter for the Mooney’s. They use the in-line starter now. Once I installed the in-line starter I have had zero issues. I also installed Bogert power cables this year. If you order any make sure of your ground cable. They sent a zero degree rotation and my C needed a 180 degree rotation for the ground wire.

We went to Frankenmuth Michigan a couple of years ago. My wife wants to go back this year. The world’s largest Christmas store is there along with an aviation museum and a brewing museum. Had good German food and beer