larryb

I would think you would want an A&P for the vac pump and an avionics shop for the radio issue. Most (not all of course) mechanics are not electronics experts. Ideally this would be somebody local to you. Who has been maintaining your aircraft so far? Or are you new to the area? I don't know anybody in Oakland, although I do know a couple at my field KRHV. I suggested the alternator issue because your symptom varies with rpm and also because it is very easy for you to test yourself. I also suggested it because power problems often cause very random and hard to track fails that don't necessarily make sense. I once had a marine radio that transmitted on the wrong frequency. The replacement radio did the same thing. Ultimately I found the radio power was wired with wire too small causing a voltage drop under transmit which caused this strange fail. If it were me I would do a bit more debugging on the radio issue myself before I turned it over to a shop for repair. Lets talk about the self-TX symptom. Does this happen on both radios simultaneously, or only on the radio selected by the audio panel? If it is just the selected radio it would be likely to be Marauder's issue. Only the pilot positions have PTT, so the rear passenger jacks could not cause this. And the pilot jacks are easy to see, no disassembly required. If both radios self-TX at the same time that would suggest the audio panel, which is the only common device which could cause this. While observing the failure you could slide out the audio panel from the rack and observe if the problem stops. Most avionics use a 3/16 hex in a little hole in the front panel to release them from the rack. Finally, in both my previous J and current Encore there is a 2nd set of headset jacks wired directly to the #1 radio. For me these are located next to the pilot right knee. These are for emergency purpose when the audio panel fails. Assuming your install is similar, you could slide out the audio panel and connect your headset to the backup jacks and observe any changes. Larry

Sounds like alternator problem. A bad diode will cause a lot of power supply noise and it will vary with rpm. Try pulling the alt field CB with the engine running and see if it goes away.

I'm going to take the opposing side. I would be very concerned about buying a plane that has 5000 hours. I agree with the posters who say there is no real limit and good maintenance can give you an unlimited airframe life. My problem is how much of that great maintenance occurred? And more importantly, now much of that maintenance is going to occur on my dime? A lot of mechanisms are going to wear significantly in that time, and how many of those am I going to have to pay to fix? So for me to buy this 5000 hour plane it had better come with excellent and proven maintenance or a very very attractive price. Larry

This is exactly why I bought my FIKI Encore last year. On a simple trip from KLWS to KTRK last summer I came across some unexpected weather enroute. Right around freezing at 14,500. In my J I could have done it. But I would have been low over the peaks. With the encore just turn on the system and continue as normal.

I use a molex plug wired to the battery with an in line fuse.

My 97 encore is the same. Turns on via switch and off via timer. No way to turn it off manually.

The cable is rigged such that there is positive pressure on the lever from the cable in the fully closed position from the knob. The lever is fully closed before the knob reaches it's stop. In fact, bubbles stopped when I moved the lever slightly towards the open position from the fully closed position.

hi Don: No, I have actually already replaced the wire. The wire was broken at the knob. The knob in the cabin is able to fully shut the valve at the tank without difficulty. There have been two other repairs as well. The little o-ring on the high pressure fitting at the tank has been replaced. And there was a small leak, found with the leak detection fluid, at the high pressure fill port Swagelok fitting. That fitting has been replaced and no longer leaks. The system had multiple problems. The test where the system blows bubbles out the low pressure port when the valve is fully shut is what makes me suspect the regulator/valve. Thanks, Larry

I am pretty sure my built-in oxygen valve/regulator assembly needs to be overhauled. For those who have had theirs serviced, my question is who did the overhaul, about how much does it cost, and about how long did it take? This is in my 1997 Encore. Since I bought it last may it has leaked oxygen out. Sometimes stopping at 700 psi, sometimes lower. I did a test where I plugged a tube into the low pressure port and put the other end in a water bottle. Even with the valve lever fully off a continuous stream of bubbles comes out the tube. I have checked the shutoff valve linkage, and the valve lever is in the full off position. So it isn't a simple adjustment. Wiggling the shutoff valve lever, I can get the stream of bubbles to stop. But there then the next use, it won't fully shutoff again and the pressure continues to drop. I have done extensive leak detection fluid testing and found nothing. I have pretty much convinced myself that the valve is the culprit.

Last year I flew my J from San Jose, CA to Casper, WY, and on to Willmar, MN at 15,500 the whole way. It took my J a little while to get up that high, but once there it cruised at the same 150 KTAS as lower, just at a lower fuel flow. For me, the farther away from the terrain, the better. So the advice would be get comfortable with the oxygen system and just fly above it all. Larry

I weighed all the extra stuff I carry. Very surprising. 98lb. This is tool kit, survival kit, extra oil, windscreen cleaning supplies, cabin cover, tie down straps, etc etc. after this I left hou the documentation bag with the avionics manuals. Those are on my iPad now. Now I just have the required POH.

I leave them in place

It’s too early in your flying career to be thinking of a forever plane. Things change. A vintage plane only makes sense at this point to fly and maintain and gain experience in. But not to majorly upgrade.

Mine is behind the panel. Shop mentioned that aspen wants it within a few feet of the AP and the tail is too far away.

Does anybody have a maintenance manual for these?

I had the vacuum switch go bad on me. Fortunately my avionics guy had one lying around from his own Mooney, removed when the vacuum system was removed. I now also have a spare one, which was removed from my K this past summer. I’ll sell it if you need it.

I read the manual for the parking heater. Combustion gas is totally separate. There is a separate air intake and exhaust for the burner side. There is a heat exchanger. Just like a house furnace.

For the GTN series I can tell you that you do not need to clone the Garmin card. Just put the new generic Sandisk card in your computer and load the db’s with fly.garmin

It is nice to say buy a fully upgraded plane. Perfect paint interior engine and upgraded panel. Let the seller take the hit. Good luck with that one. I don’t think that plane exists. Or if it does it is sold to a buddy and never hits controller. So the rest of us, those without a buddy who created our perfect plane, we are left to create our own. The panel is the most personal piece. We all have a different view of the perfect panel. So I think it makes a lot of sense to buy a good airframe and put the panel you want in it.

If you like the plane, can afford it, and have a reasonable financial cushion after the purchase then buy it. You can do all the inspections in the world and find there are no guarantees. It will break and the repairs will be expensive. Look at the 10 year ownership cost and you will find that the purchase price is the cheapest part of the equation.

That’s really cool. What is the source for the heater unit?

Leave the dog home and pack light.

This year I sold my 1984 J and bought a 1997 Encore. I was looking mostly at Bravo's at the time. I really wanted FIKI because when I look at my flights in the J there were a number of flights which I cancelled due to worry about icing. I think either a Bravo or the Encore would have worked well for me. I do really appreciate the fuel efficiency of the Encore vs. the Bravo. But realistically, that fuel cost delta is only $3000 to $5000 per year depending on your usage. And that amount is not a huge factor in the overall cost of ownership. There are very few FIKI Bravo's ever on the market. There aren't any on Controller now. Some of the ones for sale in the last year had significant red flags like significant damage history. And once you find a good airframe, it probably doesn't have the panel you want. That was the case with my Encore. It had the factory panel with a 530. But that wasn't what I wanted, so it spent 8 weeks in the avionics shop once I got it home. It is a process. I wasn't looking specifically for the Encore, but I am very happy that I wound up with one of those rare birds. Larry

Rick: Does your plane have a Take Off pre-select for the flaps? Or do you manually hold down the flap switch until the flaps reach the Take Off position? I'll attach my schematic for the version with Take Off pre-select. That's what I have on my plane. The Mooney flap operation is simple and elegant, but there are several points that are not clear from the schematics The cockpit switch is not a standard DPDT center-off switch. In the up and down positions, it is standard. But in the center position the poles are split, one up and one down. In the Take Off position, both relays are energized. This still results in the motor being off, but it is not intuitive. The Take Off limit switches do not activate at the same time. They are slightly offset. This is what allows both relays to be energized at Take Off position. For the limit switches, two options are in the IPC (Illustrated Parts Catalog) V3L-3 has the roller actuator built-in. It is very expensive, so the V3-1 with JV-5 is a much more economical choice. 1: Honeywell V3-1 with JV-5 roller actuator 2: Honeywell V3L-3 limit switch Honeywell V3-1 https://www.alliedelec.com/honeywell-v3-1/70119063/ roller lever: Honeywell JV-5 https://www.alliedelec.com/honeywell-jv-5/70120150/