FloridaMan

It's time to install an engine monitor. I like the EDM-830, but a couple friends are trying to talk me into just going with the 700 w/ FF, which would look better in my panel. I've attached a photo of my panel. The monitor would go either where the EGT is now (lower-left -- can I have that removed or do I have to keep it somewhere for a MEL?) or in the upper-right hole, though I'd like to keep that one available for a stand-by attitude instrument. Would it be possible to replace the 6-pack of monitor gauges to the right with the instrument? Does the FF option with the 700 also give you remaining and total burn estimates as well? Is upgrading terribly difficult from a 700 to an 830 -- would more cables have to go through the firewall if I opted to upgrade some time in the future? Thoughts?

Around 5100 TTAF. Pretty sure the cycles are not that high as the previous owner was a retired airline captain and put 2500 hours on the plane and I doubt it was used much for landing practice. It's a 1967, so times are in-line with a personally-owned aircraft. It seemed to take things fine and I'm guessing the reason for the 105kt max gear speed has more to do with the difficulty in cycling above that speed than the strength of the system.

I had an IPC today. I forgot to pull the gear up when I went missed. The instructor kept saying, "are you forgetting anything?" I looked at my switches, my flaps, couldn't figure it out. After about five minutes, he pointed at the gear. Oops. I couldn't believe it and I see how people forget to drop them now. I am constantly playing with my johnson while in the pattern. The instructor said it concerned him that I grabbed it when I crossed the numbers to do the fingernail check -- possibly concerned that I would accidentally pull the gear up. I believe the previous owner is the one who told me to always grab the handle to make sure it's set when on final.

"You will need to install small, unobtrusive fasteners on your plane." I just ordered a cover for my Mooney from Bruce's Custom Covers and the receipt had this on it. WTF does that mean?

Quote: JimR While you are at it, check the downlock block for wear. If it fails you'll have a lot more to worry about than a sore elbow. LASAR manufactures and sells an STC'd replacement. I'm glad that everything turned out ok for you. Jim

I was cruising around last night running my engine hard just to get everything good, warm and dry after all of this rain we've been having in Florida. I was right at the top of the green arc with the power pulled back enjoying watching the beach go by at 1000 ft when BAM, the gear johnson bar pops up and hits my elbow. Ouch. I grab it, pitch up to slow to gear extension speed, gain 800ft, pull the gear up and dive back down. I couldn't reach up to chop the throttle because I was holding the gear handle, but I was already at slightly reduced power. It looks like there's about a 0.030-0.040 groove in the block that the handle locks into on the floor. I'm not sure if that's worn out or if I failed to fully secure the handle.

I have a '67 F and it did not run very long with the selector in the off position at 1700 RPM. Turn, Click-to-off, control's stuck, wtf!? (couple seconds while I fool with it), engine dies.

I had my first engine failure last night. Fortunately it was on the ground. I was going to do some night practice. One tank was half full, the other was full. I fired up the plane, taxied to runup, pulled out my checklist and switched to the fullest tank. The fuel selector jammed in the off position. I found a small aluminum tube in the well after the engine quit. I'm guessing it was something the mechanic was using during the 411/413 that had just been performed on the aircraft. I'm going to address it with the shop today.

Well, looks like my breaker switches on my F are kicking off on me. The landing light switch likes to die on the ground and last night the nav light switch went with it -- I'm going to guess that it's heat from the LL switch aiding the nav switch. Before I go and buy another switch at $165, is there anything I should look into? Also, I should note that I'm in Florida and it doesn't act like a short, but more like something getting too hot. If there's adequate air circulation, such as in flight, it doesn't seem to happen. I'm planning on upgrading to an HID LL, so I'd rather just put the money towards the new light than replace the switch if it's not necessary.

I think I just saw this plane doing touch and goes at KSPG

I lost a mag on my return/dual insurance requirement flight with Parker. EGT en-route would skyrocket and performance seemed to fluctuate as well. The mag would run ok-ish at idle, but would be dead on runup. In our case, it ended up being a coil.

Quote: Hank Your F is just a little faster than my C, but I've kept an F in sight for ~45 trip [KCMH --> KHTW]. My sustained cruising groundspeed on trips has varied from a high of 183 knots to a low of <95 knots, bottoming out at 68 knots. Tain't much fun flying at highway speeds, but crossing the Appalachians between Greenville and Knoxville to avoid ice on the direct route, you take what you get and descend when terrain permits. 10K = 68 kts; 9K = 95kts; 6K = 120 kts. Don't know what you're doing [or where you're going] to only have a 20-knot groundspeed spread. When I flew west to the Rockies and back, I averaged ~127 kts westbound and ~151 kts eastbound, pretty respectable for a 140-knot plane.

Well, I'm on the water, but it's on the bay side, which is reported to range from about 65-90% of the salinity of the ocean, so slightly less. The plane has been kept well up to this point and I intend to have the next annual performed either by Willmar or Don Maxwell to hopefully identify any potential problem areas.

Steve, your J has the same paint job as my F

I have a fully enclosed T-hangar. It picks up some water inside when it rains hard. I'm in Florida and am the new owner of a midwest/southwest "F" model with no corrosion. I'm paying a fortune for a hangar, but this airplane deserves it. I've heard some people say to never even consider an airplane that spent much time in Florida; I've heard others say that they haven't noticed any corrosion on their airplanes if they keep them in a hangar. Which is it, and where should I look for signs of corrosion on my Mooney?

I have a '67 F with the LoPresti cowling. I have yet to take a cross-country flight at less than 150kts GPS Ground speed with winds (I've also cruised along nicely at over 170kts over the ground). The previous owner said the airplane was 158kts true, but I'm not exactly certain yet. At low altitude, you'll see 29" MP and the airplane will have no trouble hitting 165-175kts running wide open. As a disclaimer, my airplane also has the powerflow exhaus, GAMI injectors, gap seals and a couple misc other speed mods. I believe that most of the price of the cowling is the installation labor.

My plane has both the panel mounted gauges and the gauges in the wings. Both are stable and agree with one-another, but the wing-mounted gauges appear to be spot-on accurate in flight.

Those of you with stormscopes: can you pick your way through using a combination of the scope and XM?

Where do you guys keep your logbooks?

What else is sortof cool is when there's a fair. The state fair near Tampa is a little removed from the city, so it looks like a pinball machine when you're in the pattern at KVDF.

Maybe they wanted to make it look like it had a radial engine

I did this in Tampa right after I got my PPL. We dealt with people in boats beaming us with their spotlights.

M20F. Sorry about the rotated image. I don't feel like editing it on my computer and reuploading it. I had a bit of a tailwind that flight. It's 158kts true. Powerflow exhaust, HSI, GAMI injectors, SlickStart booster, 20 years of meticulous maintenance and the previous owner may have been the very best pilot I've ever flown with. The only things I'm considering adding to it are a GEM, possibly some weather awareness and I've purchased a new vacuum pump as the old one has 1300 hours and over 10 years on it.

For a follow up, I purchased the airplane. I wanted to wait until some time passed before posting a follow-up. Willmar was wonderful. I did my first 2.5 hours of dual instruction with Bruce Jaeger. Parker Woodruff flew up to ferry the plane down with me. On the trip back, we stopped for fuel in Smithville, Tennessee (0A3) and ended up with a dead left magneto. The local A&P answered his cell on a Saturday and got us into his shop's hangar and helped us get home to Florida. It ended up being a bad coil in the magneto. The A&P at 0A3 (Burton Mason -- highly recommend; while the accomodations in Smithville are sparse, my airplane ended up being in good hands with Burton) repaired the magneto and I could not be happier with the level of service and the price that he charged for the repair. He also mentioned that the coil tested as good, though it was clearly failing under load and had indication of burns on the outside of it. I do not believe it would have been possible to have predicted the failure in prepurchase or annual. So, in short; all parties involved in this purchase were absolutely wonderful and I would highly recommend any and all of them: Brian at Willmar Air Service, Bruce Jaeger, Parker Woodruff and Burton Mason.

I just bought an F model with the mechanical gear. You will have a green light even if the gear handle is not locked fully up. You can tug it towards yourself and it will be secured, but will not pass the fingernail check. I've only put about 20-30 hours on my F model. What I do is after I takeoff and raise the gear, I dim the red light. On approach/descent, I illuminate the red light so I won't be complacent with it in cruise. I will not allow the gear horn to go off. If I reduce the throttle too much, I either carry more power or slow down and drop the gear before I allow it to beep.