larryb

I heard Don check in with center and recognized his voice and N number. I expanded my ADSB range and found him over 50 miles away. I watched our tracks converge for probably a hundred miles until he crossed right in front of me and 500 feet lower.

I just used standard cad plated MS aviation hardware with the locknut on inside. Not quite as pretty but available and functional.

Could be the pump motor drawing too much current or the switch tripping at too low a current. I would start by measuring the current with an ammeter so you can figure out which and not throw parts at it. Another possibility is a chafed wire shorting to the airframe. To specifically answer your question it is a typical failure mode of the klixon.

The best AC is a turbo. Passing 10k on the way to 17k the ride smooths out and the temps cool down. At altitude the OAC is below 0. All is good until time to come down. My vote is TKS.

Back in the 80's my first airplane after getting my PPL was a 150 HP 1969 American Yankee. Those came from the factory with 115HP O235. Mine had an STC'd O320 at 150HP installed. On my first takeoff out of Truckee (5900') I leaned as I had been taught with a full power runup. No real instrumentation at the time. I don't think it even had a single EGT, just a single CHT. Takeoff was very sluggish. Once I cleared the trees and had a little altitude I was confident enough to experiment with the mixture. Just a little richer and I could really feel the power increase. I learned then to lean for max RPM on runup and then push in the mixture a bit. I also learned that what I was taught in my initial training almost put me in the trees.

I was not looking for an Encore when I found and bought mine. I was looking for a FIKI Bravo or Ovation. I was looking for more capability and fewer trip cancellations than I was getting from my J. I didn't even know about Encore's at the time. But I was browsing Controller and came across a listing for a FIKI Encore. It had only been on the market a day or two. I called the dealer and that day wired my deposit to lock it in. An Encore can be FIKI, the key piece is the dual alternator. A plane without dual alternators cannot be FIKI. I think either the Bravo or Encore would satisfy my needs. I am happy with the fuel economy and range of the Encore.

Target EGT is what you want to set your mixture for takeoff at a high airport. The target EGT is your standard day sea level EGT. You can adjust during the roll. But with practice you can get close with mixture position and fuel flow. When I had a J my sea level fuel flow was 18.5 GPH. At 7000 feet it was 14.5 GPH to maintain the target EGT. That was about 1” out on the mixture. My Encore is simpler, all full forward.

Why have these nice upgrades spent a year in a box unused and losing value? I would just install both with a nice new CNC panel. The 430 doesn’t have a lot of screen or resolution so both the aspen and area will display useful info.

In my opinion what is most important is how far you can fly a load of X pounds of people and stuff. 1000 lb useful load in an Encore is not the same thing as 1000 lb useful load in a Bravo due to the difference in fuel economy. With my rough calculation a Bravo is going to take 115 lb more fuel to fly an 800 mile trip.

One of the reasons I started this thread is because I was surprised that my shop did not automatically perform ICA tasks on installed equipment without being specifically asked. I expected something basic such as lubrication would be performed. This is a well-known MSC. Is this a universal practice?

I upgraded from a J to a FIKI Encore 2 years ago. I was looking for capability improvement. I was tired of not being able to go near a freezing cloud. Speed was not as big a concern but Garmin pilot has calculated that I gained 20kt improvement block-block. I fly it easy, 28” 10.5 gph no matter what. The turbo is key for removing any concern about altitude. In my opinion if you don’t buy a turbo or FIKI you may as well keep what you have. Mine spends half its time at KTRK if you want to see it. I have always read buy the plane for 90% of your mission. 300lb of passengers most of the time does not need a plane that hauls 4 people 1000nm on a hot day. My encore is a great 2 place long distance traveling machine.

After noticing that the ICA for the PreciseFlight speedbrakes specifies annual lubrication of the drive gear I asked my MSC if they did that at annual. They do not. I am sure they would do it if I asked, but if you don't ask... He then tells me that if I do it myself, just lube the gear and don't get anything on the clutch. This makes me wonder about the rest of the fleet, and if they got their annual gear lubrication then perhaps they would avoid some costly overhauls. Of course, you'll pay an hour labor each time they are lubed, so there is that cost. So I finally got around to this myself yesterday. It takes about 30 minutes each side. Quite simple, just a lot of screws. It drops out the bottom of the wing through the inspection plate. No disassembly of the speedbrake is required, the sides are open. A little dab of Aeroshell 22, as specified in the manual. The gears did not look worn, but they were dry. I am sure they would have started wearing more rapidly without lube.

That is one unique Mooney. 1 of a kind composite panel. And a J with a continental engine? Not sure what to make of that listing. I have bought two Mooney’s. One from a private party and one from a broker. Both went smoothly. Nothing wrong with a good broker if they have the plane you want.

The factory encores have the beefier landing gear from the long bodies. Does the conversion get that?

My understanding is the factory sends the new plane to cav for the install. They don’t do it themselves. So no difference. My system was installed at 50 hours or so.