jeckford

Purchased plane 3 years ago. It has zero time factory reman engine installed in 2004 and then only flew 300 hours until time of purchase. We had pre buy at well known MSC in Texas and everything checked out fine. Compessions all in upper 70's. We have put almost 800 hours on engine without problems. Compressions still in upper 70's. No issues on oil testing. Over last year we were seeing increased oil consumption from 8 hrs/qt to 6 then 4. Last month it was 2 and we had #4 cylinder pulled and it showed some corrosion. This is usually our hottest cylinder. I recently did a flight and averaged 1 hr/qt. We had all cylinders pulled and there was corrosion and pitting. We were expecting to do a top overhaul however when engine was inspected further there was corrosion involving the cam and cam followers so our mechanic recommended a major overhaul.

Our 1982 M20J with about a 1100 hrs on IO360 A3B6 engine needs overhaul due to internal corrosion. We are taking to Mena Aircraft Engines in Mena, AR for overhaul. They offer an upgrade package and have a STC for flow balancing cylinders and also installing Gamijectors. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on these upgrades? Thanks, John

Very nicely done. Ironically we had the same old paint job and upgraded to similar colors and scheme for our 82J that we repainted recently. Ours was done in Mena, AR. Wish we had rounded the windows now... Enjoy the new paint.

My hat is off to those guys even if they did land at the wrong airport. I fly my M20J regularly to Branson and recently sswitched from KPLK to Branson West (KFWB) due to it being an easier airport to land. KPLK is 3700 ft with steep drop offs on either end. It literally sits on top of a plateau and gets some descent crosswinds. All of my recent go-arounds (2) have been at this airport. It would not try to land there at night or in IFR. Granted I am only a 350 hr pilot and not a professional but to land a 737 at night...safely...is nothing short of impressive.

What a pain!!! Very sorry and hopefully BJC will come around and do the right thing. I make frequent trips to Branson and usually go to KPLK. I just tried Branson West KFWB last week and they will get my business from now on. Much better runway, good FBO, no overnight fee if you buy fuel and fuel is reasonably priced. Just an FYI.

We have had great service from Ronnie, Vannette and the crew at Dugosh. We bought our M20J 3 years ago and have had 3 annuals through Dugosh. Our plane has had every annual at Dugosh since 1982. They are great to work with and know all things Mooney. Their shop rate is $85 per hour. A Squak free anual should be around $1800. Highly recommended!

logged 24 hours this week. Texas to MS to pick up family and then to Bozeman, MT for week of fly fishing and Harley riding. Great trip. Other family flew commercial and we got there faster and cheaper in the Mooney!

What logbook are you using on your ipad Mini? I use logten Pro but am not aware of one that detects takeoff and landing.

General Surgeon in the Austin, TX area

We recently had our 82J resealed by Paul at Weep no More in Wilmar. Great guy and excellent customer service. Plane was ready on time and he provided pictures of the before and after process. No leaks and I will continue to highly recommend Paul.

Dave, I just went thru this same issue with my 82' J. It had the original sealant and just started leaking recently. Plane is based just north of you at KGTU. We decided to have it resealed last month at Wilmar and couldn't be happier. Exceptional customer service. Paul Beck kept us well updated during the 2 1/2 week reseal process and sent photo updates. Cost was around $7500 and he provides a 5 year warranty. Took us about 6 hrs flight time from GTU to Wilmar but was well worth it. Incidentally we got to tour the Willmar Air Services while there. They are a well know MSC in the north. They maintain a 83'J that has over 14,000 hours and is still going strong! Send me a message if there are any questions I can answer for you.

Good choice with Willmar. I was just there Saturday picking up our plane after the tanks were resealed by WeepNoMore. Paul Beck did an excellent job. Willmar MSC seemed be a great group. They maintain an 83J with over 14,000 hours. That says something...

+1 for Bob. He is with Flight Training, Inc and specialises in Mooney transition training. I highly recommend him and plan to do my BFR's with him. Flight Training, Inc used to provide the tranisition training for new Mooney's before the factory closed.

I'm in. This site has saved me mucho denero already. It is a worthy investment!

Quote: Hank I see this red herring a lot. Who, exactly, is recommending using an iPad for IFR navigation? Lots of people, myself included, use it as an EFB, and the FAA has approved that for a number of airline operators (we, flying part 91, need no such approval).

Great discussion and might I say one of my favorite things about Mooneyspace is consistency. You can always count on fantom and smiles to take a jab at each other ;-)

Quote: flyboy0681 I feel your pain. It would have been a whole lot easier doing it 30 years ago when I was in my 20's without a wife, kids, mortgage, car payment, dog and business.

Question for you frequent flyers. We have a 1982 M20J that we purchased 4 months ago. Annual was 2 months ago and we have already put 100 hours on her. Most of this was transition training and I just finished 40 hrs last month getting my IR. I just attended Jerry Manthey's maintenance course in Little Rock several week ago. He recommended getting everything lubricated at 100 hrs. My question is... we will probably average about 200 hrs per year though it will obviously be more this year. Other than the annual do you guys get a 100 hr inspection in between? Is it full 100hr inspection(ie. same as annual) or abreviated. I know that there are a couple of 100hr AD's like the mag switch which I can check myself. The other is the fuel cap O rings. Is this annual AND 100 hrs OR 100 hrs? Thanks, John

Im not an expert but from what I understand and have been told the fuel Tab is fairly accurate for 25 gal plus unusable fuel. You have to make sure the plane is level though for it to be accurate. My wife is originally from Vancouver....love the Nanaimo bars..

We just got a quote from Dugosh for the Bill Wheat version. IIRC it was ballpark $4000 for the hardware and around $4000 labor to install.

Welcome to the Mooneyspace Chris! I own a M20J and am based at GTU. We have used Dugosh at KERV. Excellent reputation and all around great guys. Ronnie and crew will stand by their work and do a good job. They are a Mooney service center (MSC) and only work on Mooney's so they are familiar with all things Mooney. A lot of people on this board speak highly of Don Maxwell in Longview (GGG) who is also a MSC. Can't go wrong with either one. If you decide to go with a non MSC mechanic just make sure you are comfortable with them and more importantly they are comfortable working on a Mooney. A Mooney is a fine airplane but is not like working on a Cessna or Piper. My philosphy is I wouldn't have my family doctor perform surgery on me...I would want a skilled surgeon who specialized inthe procedure I needed. Dugosh and Maxwell are skilled surgeons when it comes to Mooney's. Ronnie Krammer with Dugosh did the first annual on my plane in 1982! Hope that helps. John

This looks like a great plane and has outlived the last 2 guys that had it. http://www.mooneyland.com/1984_m20j.htm Previous owner died and then Zeph who recently passed away had it listed for sale. The owner died a almost a year ago so I would check the logs to see how much it has flown in the last year, otherwise it looks like a well cared for bird.