larryb

The only water that matters for corrosion is the water on the surface of the metal which makes a little micro battery. Water trapped in the air is not available for corrosion and therefore a good thing.

I have also instrumented my engine with RH and temperature measurements. My results duplicate the referenced article. As temperature is increased RH decreases. Using a Reiff heater, blanket over the cowl, and a thermostat I have my setup maintain a constant 90 degrees F year round. The oil fill cap is left off when the airplane is home and inside. This is in a relatively dry California climate. I maintain around 10% RH when the plane is in Truckee and around 30% when the plane is in San Jose. In a humid environment this might not work as well and active dehumidification might be required. Actually measuring the humidity is key, and avoids any guesswork. What is interesting is that right after flight RH is typically 60%. I have seen it at 100% after taxiing without flight, such as bringing the plane back to my hangar after avionics work at my home field. After a day or so at 90 degrees F the RH drops to the stable long-term values.

Yup, I noticed a basemap issue last flight. I guess I'll go through the process. But, does the worldwide basemap even matter if you have a current local nav db?

Glen: Is the beeping continuous, or does it stop after a few beeps? If the beeping is continuous, I agree it is likely the gear warning system. As others mentioned, this activates when the gear is up and MP is reduced to near idle. The purpose is to prevent gear up landing. If this is what you are hearing, I would recommend you change your procedure and descend at no lower than 15" MP. Lower than this and the prop is driving the engine, and that is not terribly good for the engine. Only reduce to idle when necessarily for landing. And at that point, your gear should be down and you won't hear anything except the stall warning right before touchdown. When I had my J I would reduce the MP/mixture on descent every couple thousand feet to maintain my cruise MP setting and fuel flow. If it is a few beeps that then stop, it can be the autopilot disconnecting. I had this happen once in turbulence. If you have a KAS297 altitude pre-select you also get a beep 1000' before reaching your target altitude. But that is just a single beep, not a series of beeps. Finally, my Aspen also issues a beep when arriving or leaving the set altitude. Finally a Sonalert is just a component made by Mallory. It is not a Mooney specific part, any electronic supply house sells them. They make two versions, a continuous tone or beeping tone. Many Mooneys will have one of each. The stall warning one is a continuous tone. The gear warning one is a beeping tone. Newer Mooneys, including my 1997 Encore, replaced this simple and cheap component with a simple but expensive electronic box and speaker that does the same thing. Larry

So just a few days ago I start the airplane. What is that beeping? Oh, it’s the CO2 monitor. Never seen that before, readings around 50. That’s not good. Then I recall that the wind is a direct tailwind, 10G20. And the window is open. Maybe that’s it. I taxi into the lane and turn 90 degrees to the wind. Reading drops to 0. Relief. I decide the airplane is fine and depart but keep an extra sharp eye on the monitor. All good, it was the tailwind. First time for that experience in probably 800 Mooney hours with a monitor.

It is always windy and bumpy down there. On our way to Flag it was smooth at 17.5k and the bumps started descending through 13k. Very rough ride from there all the way to touchdown. Seems like it is always like that when we go there. This was around 11:00 am. My advice for flying in the desert Southwest is to stay high as much as possible.

Just flew back from a 2 week rafting trip in the canyon. Flagstaff to Truckee.

So in my aircraft the battery is not in a box. It has a manifold connection for the vent hose directly on the battery. What this means is that the battery minder wire does not run next to the main battery wire and is not attached to it. That said, and after reading this thread, I do like the idea of attaching the wire to the solenoid instead. With fewer wires attached to the battery fewer wires will be disturbed when the battery is changed. I may just have mine changed. It would only take a few minutes and is not a big deal.

My install is directly to the battery. However it does not use the provided hardware. It uses standard aircraft grade tefzel wire, ring terminals, and an inline fuse holder just like the others in the battery area. Terminated with a molex connector behind the aux power port.

What kind of engine? If the Lyc IO360 connect the quick drain when you return home from a flight. A day or two later go out and finish the job. All the oil will have drained from the filter and it will only spill a couple drops. Waiting a day after the flight is the key point here. But you said you waited two days, so I really don’t know went wrong. The Continental with the filter mounted under the motor is a little harder. I fashion a bib out of a plastic garbage bag to direct the oil into a bucket.

I also generally run 25” 9.5 gph in my encore. I used to run 28” 10.5 gph but the plane was not as happy, I get a slight vibration at that setting. If I want to go faster I do 28” 14.5 gph rop. That is 20 Ktas faster than the 9.5 gph setting but significantly less mpg.

The cylinder pressure they are talking about is peak pressure. You don’t want the peak too high. Think of a sharp spike vs a gradual push. In the red box you get more of a spike. Outside the box more of a push.

One should make good decisions based on their experience, skill, and capabilities. I flew a week ago from Truckee to San Jose VFR. It was legal VFR but would have never done the trip without being rated and current.

First detail, your trim switch is actually a switch circuit breaker combo. So the fact that it does not stay on is because the breaker part is tripping. Second point, it is not necessarily a $5K bill every time a king autopilot glitches. I had a roll servo go out. It was sent to Mid Continent for a $600 repair. My shop was another $400. The bottom line is you need a competent technician to trouble shoot the system. It could be anything and other people’s experience with similar symptoms don’t matter much. An incompetent technician won’t do the debug and will send all of your components out for overhaul when the real problem is a chafed wire and all of your components were fine.

I frequently experience this in my encore. One time the downdraft was so severe that IAS dropped to only 90 kts and I had to go to full power for 5 minutes to maintain altitude.

You have an Acclaim. Even if you are going to get a twin, why trade down? Save a few $? There is a lot of risk in buying a “new to you” airplane. And then you plan to spend a lot of $$$ improving the Bravo you are going to buy? It seems like a lot of hassle and risk to me. I suggest skipping the piston twin and go straight for the TBM.

3 years ago I sold my J and bought a FIKI 252 Encore. My airplane had the TKS installed by the original owner by CAV at around 100 hours TT. As far as I know the factory never installs TKS, the planes are sent to CAV after the factory is done building it. As far as the value, well that is in the eye of the beholder. Some people don't want it at all because it slows the plane down all the time, and weights 100 lb, including the fluid. When I did my upgrade I really wanted it because I had cancelled a number of flights because I could not guarantee no icing. Having TKS has certainly improved my dispatch rate. But truth told, it is just a few flights a year. The improvement in my "comfort level" is significant. I am still happy I have it and would not want a real traveling plane without it. I don't feel the after-market values TKS much at all. I feel I got mine for free. There were 3 Encores on the market when I bought mine. All had similar hours, equipment, and price. But only one had TKS, the one I bought. It's like a house with a swimming pool. One of the requirements to get the FIKI certification is dual alternators. That means your J can never be FIKI because it can't have dual alternators. When I was plane-searching I skipped over all non-FIKI installations. Only Bravo's, Ovations, Acclaims, and Encores can be FIKI.

It is hard to believe it can’t be serviced. In my old Grumman it leaked one day. A couple of standard Orings and lube later and it was good as new. I don’t think it was even removed from the aircraft for the work.

3M VHB tape https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085Y8V21J?pf_rd_r=VBWH4S33V84PXQJE6B91&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee Press the guard into a piece of VHB, then use a box cutter to cut out the inside and outside excess. The top picture shows a guard with VHB attached and cut.

I don't know the specific answer. But I do know that there is a calibration chip specific to your make/model in the computer. So you could not just take a computer from a Piper and put it in your Mooney without also getting the correct calibration chip. I don't know if this chip is different between KFC and KAP.

True, Don Muncy has a timer design. I have thought about one using a Microchip pic microcontroller. Using the microcontroller would actually result in fewer components and more accurate timing. But when I had the idea for the switch guard, well that was just so much easier still. 20 minutes to design it and install it. I may do the timer eventually, but this guard gives me some comfort in the meantime. I've attached the design in case anybody wants to print one. switch_guard.stl

High density altitude will affect runway length in a turbo as well. One needs to accelerate to a higher GS to achieve the desired IAS. At 10K feet, 20% higher GS is required. Climb gradient is also affected for the same reason, going faster horizontally but climbing at the same rate. Even in a turbo, high density altitude is not exactly the same as sea level operation.

Here is my solution to accidentally turning on cabin lights and draining the battery.

You need pressurization to get enough altitude to get enough fuel efficiency. Even then you burn a lot more fuel, so you need to carry more, and the Mooney doesn't have the UL for that. You'll need de-icing because at those altitudes every single cloud you see will be below 0 degrees C. A turboprop really needs to be designed from the ground up. Fortunately that has been done, it's the TBM, and you can buy a nice used one for around $1 M.

I recommend care with used avionics. You may find that avionics shops are reluctant to install a used box. They make a significant profit selling you new boxes. But they don't get that with a used box you bring in. You may also find they will charge you more for install to make up for the loss of the sale. You may find that the used route costs more, especially if something happens to be wrong with your new box and has to go to the mfg for service. Bottom line, I would be sure to have agreement with a shop to do what you propose before buying the used gear.