jetdriven

We are switching to either X/C or W100 with camguard. The creator says it has 15x more corrosion additives than W100+.

a quick method for descending with power as in a Mooney is 250-300 feet per mile. 300 feet per mile is the standard ILS glideslope and in jets in turboprops it works out great, but in a M20J the IAS gets a little high and the descent rate exceeds 700 FPM, so I use 250 feet per mile.

it is ABS plastic same as the side panels, etc. the best way is to buy some ABC cement for pipes, its basically ABS and solvent. It glues the plastic together and with some fiberglass tape imbedded on the underside, as strong as one unit. You can also buy thin ABS sheet to rebuild the plastic. I just repaired mine from the previous owners' attempt at repairing it with epoxy and fiberglass tape.

Yes that was unexpected from Aerotech, I thought bladder overhauls were a pretty standard job. Given as our bladders are 19 years old I was concerned about the cost to overhaul so I decided to find out the cost while the plane was in prebuy.

Our bladders are fine. Currently we are keeping them 1/2 full due to weight restrictions and 4 people but we may go ahead and keep them full. Do you think 1/2 full can damage them? O&N's instructions say not to let them stay empty "for any length of time". Aerotech is who I emailed. They refused to deal with the O&N bladders for a Mooney. Its O&N or nobody. Hopefully they are reasonable. From: BDR737 [mailto:bdr737@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, January 02, 2011 12:16 PM To: sales@aerotechservicesinc.com Subject: Mooney M20J bladders

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

The leaks were repaired. And repaired. And repaired. A full reseal is nearly the same cost as a 64 gallon bladder install, the only issue you are dealing with is 1.) no more leaks for good, and 2.) a loss of 39 lbs of useful load. Ours came with them, and Im glad.

a 7.8:1 compression IO-360 can run on MOGAS all day long, and so can most low compression small engines. I have done it myself. All the STC's usualy are is a change of non-fuel resistant O-rings and sometimes a timing change. Those days are over now, due to ethanol poisoning our auto fuel.

MIne was sealed on the right side 4 times in the first 14 years of its life, and I suppose the owners got tired or paying 3-8K each time. In our case, it was the only way to stop it from leaking, and it has been 19 years. Some airplanes just leak.

if its +10c TAT to -40C SAT and visible moisture, it is considered icing conditions. I have seen ice from +5 all the way down to -40 in turboprops and jets. It doenst take much ice to bring down a Mooney, and just a little more to bring down a known ice piston twin. Me? My Mooney stays on the ground if I cant avoid these conditions.

Ours has a couple dents where the copilots feet go. Turns out they were deliberately put there to allow a wrnech to be put on the engine mount bolts. Its not damage per se. Its just been clearanced.

1. all the time, 155 knots in a early J like ours. 2. we can take 4 200 LB persons and around 35 gallons of fuel, enough for 2:45 plus reserve. 3. with a tailwind close. without, yes a stop. we looked at older V-tails like M-35 to S35. a 80K V-tail was faster but you're not putting 4 adults in it ever. and the fuel burn was in the 14-16 GPH range VS. 10. An A-36 will do anything you wish but it costs more and fuel (14-16 GPH) and parts are issues. It is a fine aircraft if you have the money, the interior is much larger.

i dont think ours added any to empty weight but yes, 54 gallons takes an hour off range. ours are 19 years old and no leaks yet. So, no fuel tank repair bills, but everything is a tradeoff. Upgrading to 64 gallons isnt worth the 7K it takes to do that.

or houston. Acres of airport and are vacant here, yet there is a 2 year waiting list for a 40' winsgpan sliding door, t-hangar, and its 450$/mo. We are planning on tying our 201 down outside on the texas gulf coast, and in 2 and 1/2 years, we have saved enough to paint it.

i considered that plane but the seller was acting shady. here is why i declined it. That engine is only 65 hours since FREM but it is 20 years old. It flew the 65 hours in the 90s, then was parked in a hangar for 20 years. and it was major crashed lots of wing repairs its on the web. Cam corrosion likely, which means a major overhaul. Plus NARCO radios. I passed it up, the seller never called back nor sent copies of the logs. We bought N201EQ from All American and it ws a 4600hr, 1350 SMOH plane with one gear up 10 years ago.

I have an old Century IIB and it works great mostly, but the first thing is to get a maintenance or service manual for the KAP 150. I now owners can only do lmited maintenance but education is cheap and when you find out a list of likely solutions take those to your A&P.

we are liukely going with our 201 and we are in houston. LVJ.

Bob Wagstaff, k&w aviation, laporte tx

we fianlly closed on our 201 and its at LVJ now. looking for a good A&P or IA so we can fix some small things. Some of these shops are absolutely over the top. I want to be more involved.

Parker, we ended up buying N201EQ and it is in Houston now. Damage history yes, but 10 years ago and it has flown 1200 hours since then. Quote: Parker_Woodruff Or buy something really cheap and make it how you want it for a total of $90,000. This one is in my backyard if you want me to go take a look for you. Ditch the entire panel for a couple grand, buy yourself a 430W, SL30, and PMA8000B audio panel. Everything will be new, under warranty, and the 1977 models have a nice useful load. http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20J-201/1977-MOONEY-M20J-201/1183911.htm?dlr=1 If purchased correctly, I think you could have a really nice plane for $80,000. Need to check what the fuel bladders did to fuel capacity, though. Texas is a good place to buy a Mooney...good MSCs for prebuy and all the support you could need. Get the prebuy at Don Maxwell or Dugosh with seller paying airworthiness squawks, you paying the base labor. PS...As you can tell, I like to take a plane and make it EXACTLY how I want it.

We're in the middle of buying a M20J and planning on tying it down at LVJ. Hangars we have bene quoted are 400$/mo.