Mooneymite

I couldn't agree more! However.....even though an Aspen might prevent inadvertent inverted flight, I hate to be up-$ide down in my airplane. By the time I installed an Aspen (or two) and all the ancilliary items, it would cost me at least twice what I could recover. It is so frustrating to see what's available in the experimental world for so much less.

Actually, the vent moves very freely. I released the door from the control cable and both the door and the control cable have complete freedom of movement, so I don't think it is a binding issue. I think airstream buffetting is the issue. Based on that, returning the vent housing to "original" is only going to restart the clock. The same issue(s) will exist. I'm leaning toward a "doubler sandwich" using the previously mentioned adhesive with strips of aluminum and new bracket rivets, but this will entail removing the headliner. However, I'll keep my options open (not do anything ) as long as I'm getting input from this forum. Hopefully, there's someone out there who's found a perfect (and easy!) cure. Thanks for all the input.

Yesterday I had the good fortune to have a pilot I like and respect fly with me as a safety pilot. We took off, and at 200', he simulated a vacuum pump failure (I have no backup) with stickies over the gyros and disabling the PC while I went "under the hood". What a work out! Uh.....now where exactly is that trun coordinator? Oh! There it is. We "diverted" to my takeoff alternate about 20 miles away and shot an LPV approach to minimums, a missed approach and then an ILS approach to minimums followed by another missed approach to "VMC" (removed the hood). I had no idea an hour of Mooney time could last so long!

I couldn't find a service bulletin either. Maybe there was only a retrofit kit? Don Maxwell wrote me that he had: retro kit Pn. 660051-005, that includes a heim bearing, bolt, 2 spacers, flat washer, castle nut and cotter pin for $132.82. Contact: dmaxwell@donmaxwell.com

Yes, you are correct. The cable housing is moving....now that the material holding the bracket is cracked. Looking at the "big picture", it appears that the material that Mooney used is just too thin to handle the stress imposed by air loads on the vent door. The cracks look to me like "fatigue" induced cracking. However, if no other C model Mooney owners are having this problem, it is peculiar to my vent and may well be a mis-rigged cable housing or other issue....(like the exceptional airspeeds achieved by my Mooney!) Unfortunately, getting to the bracket holding the housing cannot be done from the outside. I'd have to remove the interior overhead and..... well, it would be a huge job. That's why I'm looking for an exterior repair. The next choice would be to just keep the vent closed and move to a cooler climate!

One of the reasons it was never stop drilled is I never brought pointed it out at annual time. As you know, the roof vent is not an airworthiness item. It has always "operated" just fine. This is a perfect example of how a "little crack" in an out-of-the-way location becomes progressively worse. The idea of "glued patch" has merit. The IA who signs off my Mooney would probably not care since airworthiness is not in question. Thanks for the suggestion. And if you haven't looked down into your roof vent lately, you might want to!

There is a service bulletin and factory kit for replacing the throttle linkage on the older Mooneys. Do you know if either of yours had this up-grade? The older style had two chances of disconnect....the barrel nut and the nut that attaches to the carburetor arm....the new style is simpler and looks to be sturdier, but anything can come loose under the right circumstances!

Heresy!!! You are cheating death. On any given approach, the proper "number" is attained through consultation with a ouija board. Put another way: if you consult 10 Mooney instructors, you will get 15-20 highly accurate numbers.

Wow! I can't believe it. The "Mooney Event of the Year" and I actually have those days off. Now, if we can just get the February weather to cooperate. I'm not sure who Dr. Don is....but thanks to all those putting this together.

David, the "dragons" in the airplane world are all of life's other priorities dragging us away. If airplanes can't be a priority right now, attend to your dragons as necessary, but keep that love of flying alive with periodic rentals until the time is right. Mooneyspace is a great resource to stay in touch and keep your interest if you can stand all the advice!!. :-) .

. I don't think the thin gauge aluminum would weld well. However, I am considering applying some JB Weld over the PK screws. The problem would be cleaning up the mess if it doesn't hold. I'm hoping someone out there has successfully dealt with this and can share the remedy. . .

I haven't heard about the 201 windshield mod evvect on the vent, but mine is stock. I have no clue why mine is cracking. I'd like to say it is because mine is so much faster than stock, but it isn't.

Yep. It will henceforth be referred to as an "Obanual". Free, free, free! However, airworthiness will be determined by a board sometimes referred to as "the death squad". Old planes never die, they just get grounded by Washington.

Mooney parts will be available at Walmart. .

Not to worry! The "Affordable Airplane Act" has been signed. I'm sure planes, hangars and maintenance will all be provided to those who want them the same way Affordable Healthcare is. Obviously, we won't need insurance any more. .

Actually, I didn't say Mooneys are only good for cross country. I think there are other airplanes that are better suited/more fun for "going nowhere" than the Mooney. Here's my "go-nowhere" plane. More fun than a barrel of monkeys, but I hate to go very far from home in it....particularly in the winter! Addicts need a "go-somewhere" plane and a "go-nowhere" plane.

When I researched the archives about "roof vents", most of the threads discussed linkage problems. I've attached a couple of photos of the problem I'm having with metal fatigue. Apparently, when the vent's open, there's too much stress on the bracket that holds the control cable sheath. Anyone else see this sort of cracking/metal fatigue issue? Is this common in the short body Mooneys? What did you do about it? I'm guessing the best repair would be to remove the entire vent assemly and find a new one (someplace?) and rivet it in and paint it. However, that's a huge job and I'm not sure it's worth it. An exterior patch might work, but the vent wouldn't shut completely. The last picture shows my "interim fix". The PK screws allow me to use the vent, but they don't stop the cracking, or give proper support to the cable. Ideas?

This thread reminds me of an obvious fact: not all flyers like to travel! I live in a fly-in community where a large percentage of the residents really don't like to be away from home....around the pattern, or out to a local pancake breakfast is all the "travelling" they want to do. Other residents see their airplanes as "travelling machines". For them, flying locally is a boring waste of time. Then there are a few that like to do both kinds of flying. (Addicts) Our Mooney is our "over-nighter". We leave about noon, fly to one of the six sets of grandchildren, spend the night and return the next day. When the kids can no longer stand us, we fly to destinations we like (TYS, BNA, SSI, 09J, CDK, AVL, MYR, ETC.), sample the food, spend the night and return home the next day. There just aren't enough weekends in a month! Living with your plane isn't a requirement, but it certainly makes travelling this way easier. IMHO, the Mooney is a travelling machine. If all you like to do is shoot landings and go home, there are better airplanes. It's a big world out there' and the Mooney is your magic carpet. Make it a life priority to see as much of it as you can and you'll make the money you spend on flying all worthwhile. Get out and FLY!

I think the folks at Britain are great. Very helpful and knowlegeable. Their prices are very reasonable when compared to S-Tec. However, because so many of these systems have been removed as newer autopilots were installed, I've been able to buy serviceable parts cheaper from Mooney sources than Britain charges to re-build. If the TC needs to be overhauled, most any gyro shop can do the work, but it's probably cheaper to find a serviceable unit than overhaul yours! So, download the manual, do a little trouble-shooting. If you need a part, check around. It's probably sitting on the shelf in a hangar at a very reasonalbe price....sometimes free!

Another good reason to avoid APF! I can't believe they accost you when you merely fly over. If you're going to Naples and you intend to rent a car anyway, consider FMY, Page field 26 NM north. According to the comments on Airnav, FMY airport is much more friendly! The Naples "Authority" takes it's name very seriously! .

Had this been an Aerostar (Mooney connection!), the passenger would have had his fall interrupted by the left propeller!

This was obviously a result of running LOP! .

Joe T. Garcia's used to be "the place" to eat in Fort Worth. I haven't been there in ages, but I've been told, "don't bother" now. Is this true?

The PC is "stone simple". Anyone who understands basic plumbing can understand how the Britain system works. Before you start throwing money at the problem, either you, or a competent A&P can trouble shoot the system. In my limited experience, the problem almost always centers on a leak at one of the "servos" (fancy name for a rubber boot), or a clogged PC valve. The servos are easily accessable and the pilot valve is accessable through the left-hand avionics access panel on my '74 C. I'm guessing it is similar on your F. (pilot valve: http://s282.photobucket.com/user/mooneymite/media/Mooney%20pilot%20valve/IMG_1877.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1) Since you have an F model, I suspect you have one of the latest iterations of the PC. They changed over the years. You can work wonders with electrical tape around the servo boots and checking the operation of the pilot valve. There are Britain manuals on the Internet that guide your trouble-shooting, but make sure you get the one that matches your installation, or you will really get confused! Like I said, "basic plumbing".

You guys just wouldn't believe how cheap the guy who does most of the work on my airplane is!!!! But, if I paid him by the hours that it takes him to do the simplest task, I couldn't afford him. I get what I pay for, but far more than I'm worth.