sleepingsquirrel

One other person on the Purple Board had it happen on an O-320 in a Pacer. Today I checked the #1;#3 cylinders and found one not tight (needed attention) out of three ports.

I fully agree , as I said on the Purple Board, tight enough but not too tight. It is not rocket science.

I'll have to check the logs . I doubt they were new but from a rebuild shop.

These cylinders were put on about 250 hours ago during OH. The torque spec for 1/8 steel pipe plug into aluminum is 40 inch pounds or 3.3333333333333 foot pounds.

All the threads were clean, absolutely clean ,no corrosion. There was a slight sign of rust (iron oxide) in the hex drive of the plug. If there was corrosion I doubt it would have come out at all. These cylinder assemblies have many steel /aluminum contact surfaces with no corrosion issues. This plug is listed in the parts guide as 1/8 x27 x pipe thread. There are different tapers for pipe threads but pipe thread tends to wedge itself into the female thread for sealing and locking..

Actually it was less noticeable at higher power. It started this morning with the plug out. the reason I know it came out during flight is I was climbing @ 1100 FPM to 6000 feet. Can't do that on three cylinders.

Sadly, does this fall under preventive maintenance? If it was just loose, could a Pilot legally tighten it? Technically this is not beyond even the most mechanically inept pilot. Certainly not as difficult as replacing a spark plug (allowed). If you will make note of the winking emoticon you will have an answer to your question. I've been around airplanes all my life. Owning an aircraft is like owning a Mercedes, affordable, if you can work on it. I didn't need a mechanic to tell me how to troubleshoot this issue. I doubt I need one for finding this repaired. It screwed itself out I'll just wait until it screws itself back in. thermal coefficient of expansion for aluminium is 12(10-6 in/(in oF))*) thermal coefficient of expansion for steel is 6 (10-6 in/(in oF))*) The aluminium hole will always get bigger than the steel can expand to fill the hole. This is why it got loose with no locker/sealant in place.

My favorite sealant/ thread locker. I'll be checking them all.

Seems each cylinder has two. One on top one on bottom into the area above the intake valve. I think they are for fuel injection nozzle / primer nozzle or Manifold pressure.

Just how many engines does your Mooney have?

Hey! I flew the Mooney yesterday and something happened at 6000 feet. I knew something was wrong but was seeing nothing I could really put my finger on. In flight mag check, ok. Carb heat seemed to help but then not so much. Mixture more rich helped but then not so much. Increasing the RPM helped smooth out the vibration. Low Rpm to descend made me think possibly that I had lost a prop tip. I flew the airplane to home port and landed and exited the runway with a badly vibrating engine. Run up at the tie down made the vibration go away but when RPM reduced vibration came back. I tied the thing down thinking that it was a probable intake/exhaust valve sticking . This morning I went back with the intent to run it and then find the cold cylinder. I found #4 was cold. Then I found this. Surprise! induction leak. I'll have my mechanic put this back in order.

I couldn't fly enough even if I had a twin to recover the loss by burning gas. I think my best bet is to sell at a loss before the end of the year for the tax benefit. That does work right?

Thank God this isn't a Cardinal RG forum!

I've fixed my own seeps/leaks. My AP said he would rather me do it. He was sure I didn't know what I was doing at first because I didn't have enough of the stuff in my hair, smeared all over the plane, and no cursing. It's not that hard.

I've always heard of the chain of events that cause an accident, but believe the probability of an accident is more like a buffet. WE select from the buffet things that increase the likelihood of an accident,what it will be, and increase/decrease the severity of its outcome. Any one of these items based on a pilots experience could be enough, for some their plate requires two , three or more to get to the threshold. It looks like a chain after the accident because it's easy to trace in retrospect. It's not necessarily the hardware store bolt that caused the crash but , that, and night IMC in turbulence and the off field landing with no elevator.

I love my 1961 B model. One day I will be flying the oldest Mooney on this site as this 54 year old bird acts like a teenager just in its prime!

Just for good luck check the vents are clear by gently blowing into them with a tube attached. Check for evidence of dirt dauber mud , or blockage.

Which AD is this one? New just for your model? Thanks!

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2014/06/robert_zimmerman_life_story.html Very accomplished , good story. Please read the comments at the end of the article.

I have proof that brand b is no larger than my Mooney M20b. A brand b friend of mine gave me his brand b cover when he moved int a hangar. Fits Mooney just like it fits brand b! How many doors does brand b have? I remember my wife getting into the Mooney and fastening her seat belt. When I finished pre flight and told her I needed to get in she was more than annoyed that the Mooney only had the one door.

http://mooneyspace.com/topic/1329-fuel-tank-dipstick-measurements/?hl=sleepingsquirrel#entry63853

Yes, that's how I don't mistake my M20 B for a Rocket or a Comanche.

Can you do that on 10 GPH?

I was reading on a Comanche forum that they had decided the way to find the Comanche pilots at some big aviation shindig was to epoxy a nickel to the hangar floor. It then dawned on them that they would then have to find a way to distinguish the Comanche pilots from the Mooney pilots. I think the distinction was if the nickel disappeared.

Well, they will just have to hire their own test pilots and collect their own data points!