mpponte

I spoke with Premier of FLA, who sold my Acclaim, and they recommended to remove the plate on the pilots side. But the Mooney AD says both sides have to be removed and each of the 10 bolts tested for looseness, you will need a mirror to look at the tail section. If a loose screw is found, my understanding is that the whole tail of the A/C has to come out.

I fly an Acclaim which is a different body Mooney than my former M20J, a lot more nose heavy and a lot faster. It's a "fly by the numbers airplane" that follows the dictum PITCH +POWER = PERFORMANCE very closely. When entering the pattern, 16-18" MP = 140-130 KIAS which allows for lowering the gear. I usually do this ASA I enter the downwind leg. Then, down to 15", and abeam the N's, flaps are lowered to the T/O position and MP down to 12" with nose up trim for the magic 90 KIAS. Then just manage the 300-500 FPM descent. From this moment onward, it's all visual, address your attention to: the landing threshold and the IAS. Keep it at 90 KIA, through your base and base to final turn, keeping in mind where the wind is coming from. This will determine how far away you need to make your turn. Turns should not be > 30 degrees of bank, because we know what happens to the load factor when the bank increases. Then comes full flaps which generates an aggressive nose down pitch moment; so it's important to use nose up trim to prevent this aggressive nose down movement. You should be around 500-600 AGL at this point, and approximately 1/3 mile from the RWY. if you're above the GS (VASI), keep the landing spot fixed in the windshiel. If you're low, give it power, if you want to loose altitude reduce power, but keep the pitch steady. This Mooney does not like unstable approaches. POH says 75 KIAS over the N's but I like to add a few extra knots, because there's always some wind and because if you chop the power, the a/c settles into the grown very rapidly and you can bounce it. Also, keep in mind, this a/c floats 200 FT for every knot above the recommended IAS, so plan your approach accordingly.