47U

Certainly, talk to your A&P/IA… I would articulate that ‘modifying the existing’ is in fact ‘fabricating’ as provided in the manual. Does the manual allow for drilled bolts/cotter pins vs. lock washers?

No, not Bruce… I’ve got Dad’s logbooks so I had to go look. His first Mooney flight was on 1 Sep 1970 in a M20G, N6844N. The FBO at MCW had a couple Mooneys for rent. Check your Sensorons… N6844N crashed in Montana on 31 Mar 81, two fatalities, CO saturation was 29%. Dad also had time in a C model, N6757N. That airplane flew somewhat recently, in Sep 2024 in Idaho. Next there’s N78968, a ‘62C that was hangared on a little grass strip in the town I grew up in. That airplane is still active on the FAA registry, but hasn’t flown in maybe 20 years. His first flight in 47U was on 12 Feb ‘73, logbook says Minneapolis to MCW (Mason City, home of the Third Thursday). He brought 47U home to the farm strip a month later on 17 Mar. Probably had to wait for the snow to melt. His last flight in 47U was on 4 Sep 2008, I’m wagging something over 2500 hrs in 47U. The end that month I took 47U out to California. Dad flew an Aeronca Chief for a couple more years after that. The farm strip is gone, it’s back to row crop. Sorry to hijack the thread.

@Fly Boomer This pic on the LASAR website shows the ‘grooves,’ kind of.

One year ago this month I dropped off at Weep No More. ‘63C, 48 gallon tanks. Final bill was under 8 amu. That included at (no additional charge) doing the screw-in sump drain SB on the left tank and two serviceable fuel quantity senders he had on hand left over from a J upgrade. I had pulled the interior side panels so he wouldn’t have to mess with that. Just over 6 amu was labor, the rest materials. Polygon was the majority of that. There’s no doubt that long range tanks will be a lot more, no doubt approaching the 6 to 8 amu per side. Of note, my Dad bought 47U from Willmar Air Service back in the early 1970s.

This is from the ‘68-‘76 IPC, Manual 205, the J IPC has the same part number, with Imperial as the manufacturer…

Do you need to perform this service bulletin to convert from the ‘flush’ sump drains to the screw-in sump drains? https://mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-188A.pdf

Removed to put something else in the panel. $100, plus shipping.

I overly cropped the picture… the carb heat intake is 90 degrees, which by switching to the angled intake you have simplified the manufacture and probably improved the airflow efficiency. You could make a little sheet metal plate and rivet in place to fill in the gap. Besides the air leaking through that gap being hot, it’s also unfiltered. You can’t argue with 145 kts, though. That’s a fast G!

When I rebuilt my air box (in 2010) the kit had a new flapper door. Compared to the old flapper door, the felt seal around the sides and bottom of the new flapper door were somewhat larger. The old felt seemed to have shrunk some. I’m not sure a new flapper door would be large enough to cover up your opening, but it wouldn’t be hard to remove the staples from your flapper door and replace the felt. You could go as long as you needed on the bottom edge to close up the hole. Otherwise, as you said, it’s probably negligible. Edit… the new door had rivets, not staples… so it’d be fine to pull the staples out of your door (if it has staples) replace the felt, and rivet it back together.

I think that when Aerostar owned Mooney they changed the serial number convention… it still confuses me. There’s a compilation of production document, maybe in the downloads section. But, yes, your E is a 1975. Which then confuses the bushing compatibility chart in the IPC. The two bushing P/Ns, effectivity X and XI, apparently do not include your S/N, as is included in effectivity code VII for the empannage assy. Confusing. Frank Crawford would probably be who to ask for at Mooney. Contact information at https://mooney.com Let us know how the project progresses… 47U…. aka, Tom

Welcome, Gontrand. You have an interesting project ahead of you. If the E is a ‘75 model year, would the Empannage Assy P/N be 48005-517? The -513 suggests from the ‘69-‘70 model years? Is there logbook history of a previous empannage replacement? (Is the ‘1X’ in the effectivity column a typo, should be ‘XI’?) Regardless, the rudder length should be moot, both of those year groups have the long rudder. It might take a call to the factory, or someone like Don Maxwell, to determine compatibility. Note, starting with S/N 700007E the mount bushing P/N changed to 914081-003. That is the same P/N for the bushing on the J model. I would take that as encouraging that the J empannage might just bolt up to the E fuselage. But, other considerations to the rudder / elevator control rods and rigging may present problems yet to be solved.

I’m not sure if a run-out mag has any core value… Bendix, I assume? If you opt for a SureFly on the left mag, you can remove and sell your shower of sparks, too. I think the 4L plug is on the right mag? The SureFly requires a Slick-style harness so to cure your shorted 4L lead and install a SureFly to replace the left mag, you’ll need a complete harness replacement. Unless you can replace just the 4L lead off the right mag by itself (maybe a lost skill?). I think Maggie harness was highly recommended, and they’ll do half-harnesses in the Bendix and Slick configuration. Depending on the condition of the harness, you might be due for replacement anyway. In 2020 (5 years ago, already?) I ordered a Champion half harness from Spruce. It was a month lead time, and then they transposed the part number and sent the wrong harness. Another month…. When I compared the condition of the new harness with the harness on the right mag, I ordered a replacement (again, Champion) to install at the next oil change. When I went to install it, the ignition leads were stamped with the same plug locations at the Slick style on the left-side SureFly. WTH? I had already removed the right harness, so with a little creative routing, I put all the SureFly leads on the bottom plugs and the right mag on the top plugs. That’s worked out well. Be prepared to swap the mag drive gear, if required. Sometimes there isn’t enough adjustment in the mag to get the timing right. I’m (almost) one tooth off on the ring gear to being perfect, on the retarded side, so I left it alone. One day I’ll replace the drive gear and make it right. You’ll need to hook up a manifold pressure hose to the SureFly, too. I put a T-fitting on the firewall penetration to the manifold pressure gauge replacing the bulkhead fitting. There’s going to be some amu outlay to go SureFly, but at 400 hr SMOH, you can skip the next three (or more) 500 mag inspections which, along with all the other benefits of the SureFly, could make it a wash over the next 10 or 15 years.

Note in the IPC for your year, there’s a tail skid (#46) which attaches with two bolts, one of which is shared with the tie down. If you have the tail skid, drill a hole in it to attach the hook and use that to winch your airplane into the hangar. Previous owner of my ‘63C used this method to pull the airplane into a grain storage quonset building converted into a hangar. It had a driveway entrance about 30’ long with a rise of maybe 18”. He winched the airplane up the gravel driveway for 35 years without an issue. After attaching the cable, he pulled the line taught and that prevented any hard jerks. Now, in my T-hangar, I poured 3 1/2” concrete slab on top of the asphalt (ramp level) to raise the floor above the water when it rains. I have an 18” long wood block ramp to get over. I can push the airplane up by hand, but I need to get a run at it and that’s not sound. I got the cheap winch with remote control and that works great. One time, I hooked to the tie down ring and not the tail skid. When the main gear reached the ramp, the airplane made some subtle groaning noises which it does not make when hooked to the tail skid. There was no damage, but I put some duct tape over the tie down ring so as to not make that mistake again. So, use the tail skid to winch the airplane and you’ll be fine.

I hesitate to comment on Little Timmy, but my takeaway from that thread is there can be quality after controversy. That’s what I’m hoping for. Growth, including in my own contributions.

Was hoping the new plug would help you out… during the airborne lean test, when did the #3 drop out compared to the other cylinders? Has the #3 intake tube flange been inspected to make sure that it’s absolutely flat? Did I read once upon a time that someone used two intake gaskets to ensure a good seal? Can you make sure there’s no damage to the engine side of the intake tube where it enters the sump? In your Savvy link, at 16:44 the #3 EGT drops… so that was the first cylinder to misfire during the lean test? Curious what @N201MKTurbo and @PT20J thinks…