M20F-1968

One of the best structural shops in the US is Beegles Aircraft Service in Greeley, Colorado. Located in: Greeley-Weld County Airport Address: 635 Airport Rd, Greeley, CO 80631 Phone: (970) 353-9200 John Breda

Three AI's since my rebuild: One in G600 One 3" Vacuum One 2" Electric Mid-Continent Back-up alternator - RAT John Breda

that is under not inder John Breda

Please describe further your statement, "use a 3/8 stainless washer under the flange to clear the bulge." I have the 4000 on the cowl to cowl deck/side skin interface and the 2000 series wide flange between the upper and lower cowling. I am not using any washers inder the Skybolt flange. John Breda

One word for you "Skybolt" They have the replacements you need and have them with a larger flange which decreases the hole wear against the fiberglass. Replace all of them with the newer style. They are not that expensive. The 2000 series should work well, but you want the ones with the larger flange. Talk ti Skybolt to describe your needs. Buy several sizes and enough to keep on the shelf for replacement. They need to be fitted for length individually.

Left one side of the hinge on the airframe. Pulled the hinge pin out of the hinge on the door. Installed the door, put the hinge pin back in. I did nothing and never needed to so much as change the door seal. John Breda

Does anyone have a picture of the interior baggage door release mechanism from a 1998 Ovation. I replaced my entire baggage door from a 1998 Ovation and it is all assembled. I do not want to take it apart (I have taken enough apart of that airplane) but would like to soo how the interior lock release opens if someone has ready access. John Breda

Buy your Snap-On stuff on e-bay. Even the nice, nearly new pieces are at least 1/2 price. John Breda

I have a couple of these as well as a small Dewalt gun style screwdriver. The Gyroscopic screwdrivers (I have a DeWalt and Craftman) really do give you a feel of the screw tightness and you can easily control speed. They are worth the money. A Snap-On Ratcheting screwdriver, even a 2X the cost of the gyroscopic one, believe it or not, is also worth the money. By your Snap-On tools on ebay. I also found that magnetic sockets are helpful to remove or replace nuts from tight places. There is a set of deep magnetic sockets with the magnets on springs so the you and get to nuts when there is a long bolt involved. John Breda

Do you still have your check valves? John Breda

I am seeking a new or used (but repairable or serviceable) check valve, either Dukes part No. RJ5315-001 or Dukes part No. 5316-00-1. Please advise if you have one or have any leads on where to find one. Thanks, John Breda

Your wiring is 48 years old. Take it all out and replace it with new Milspec wiring. Old insulation is brittle and unreliable. Now that you have the airplane opened up with the panel out, you can and should do this. It will also add to your resale. Design a panel so that new equipment can be easily added and use a standard configuration. John Breda

I have a very nicely made concrete tail stand on wheels which I began using, and then went to the engine hoist when Mooney said to do so, but still use the tail weight as well. Two Meyers A6 style jacks with the engine hoist and tail stand provides a very stable amount of support. The Engine hoist was from Harbor Freight and needs a locking collar for the piston. It is a metric size which I bought on e-bay for about $3 from China. I bought the Meyers jacks on e-bay for about 1/2 price and were almost new in appearance. John Breda

Sorry I had 5 in my mind - that should read 1530 John Breda

I have shoulder harnesses, but I put them when the airplane was completely apart and access was quite easy. The harnesses are used were from an Ovation in the required reels are bolted into a steel plate which is welded to the structural cage. For those of you that know welding, is there type welding that can be done so as to attach the steel plate to a completed airframe with the interior removed without damaging the nearby external skins. Welding the mounting plate to the structural cage and having the retract reels near the floor seems to be a much better configuration, but very few owners have the opportunity to install shoulder harnesses with the airframe completely disassembled. John Breda

The real answer is that there is no suggestion of an interface of lead and steel. The paint is completely smooth and I doubt very much that my weights are anything but a piece of solid lead. John Breda

I took the plane out 2 days ago. OAT at 6500 ft., 70% power, about 2300 RPM and 23 MP, cowl flaps closed, cylinder 1-3 were in the 315-325 range, and #4 was 298. What is the lowest acceptable temp and why? I know that carbon buildup is more at lower temps. Also, when leaning to 100 ROP, my TIT runs up to about 5300 degrees. I think the redline is about 5800 and the yellow arc starts at 5000. Does this seem to be set correctly. I have an aftermarket turbonormalizer on the F (now mostly a J) so the turbo TIT is set without factory guidance. What ranges of TIT has Mooney used on the 231 over the years? John Breda

For what it is worth, my aircraft is an early 1968 F. The elevators on it have the solid lead weights and not the ones with inserts. For about two seconds only I thought for about the possibility that the paint might be covering up evidence of the inserts but I severely doubt that to be the case. John Breda

Use an epoxy 2-part primer and/or paint. It is more expensive, but worth the price. It stays where you put it, and is more durable. Clean well before applying. John Breda

I have in my notes somewhere the name of a manufacturer in NH that makes rubber products such as this. There may be a part being made that can suffice. I'll try to look for the name. John Breda

I have a 67 F and this is not in my airplane nor any other vintage Mooney I have seen. There are rat socks in the wheel wells and there is the expensive aluminum tape closing off the inside of the cabin on both sides. Use the $100 a roll kind (3M 100 mph tape), not the stuff you buy at Lowes. John Breda

I have a panel which you could possibly use. It would need to be cut and altered. I built it for my plane when I planned to use steam gauges. The project took so long I ended up with Garmin GTN's. I'll look for a picture. John Breda

I have fully articulated seats in my 68 F model. They fit just fine. I would not have it any other way. See my recent reply about headrests. John Breda

Most drill oversize holes and then use these countersunk washers. However, in the case of Ovation wing mounted landing lights this leaves a very thin amount of acrylic between the hole and the edge of the lens. This area always cracks. To solve this problem, I drilled the lens through hole slightly oversize relative to the machine screw, not relative to the width of the countersink in the washer, and then countersunk that through hole somewhat oversize to accommodate the countersunk washer. For countersinking in acrylic, Aircraft Tool supply has "Zero flute countersinks" where the cutting edge is just one hole in the countersink, thus zero chatter in acrylics. I fitted my lenses this way (I have the Ovation landing lights in my F model) and left the screws snug but not tight, and there have been no cracks. I did not install the frames. It take forever to fit the lenses. I used a bench sander (belt and disk sander combination). John Breda

I tried to post a picture in a reply and the Add Photo button is now gone. How do you do this now? I tried to meet you at the Summit but could not find you. John Breda