Bob_Belville

Since the normal issue is getting the bar to seat in the floor socket (gear up) due to the close fit to the floor right behind the hole (thick carpet makes it tough) I can visualize that raising the gear with a belt buckle or some other stray object on the floor between the seats could provide a fulcrum that might permit the tubing to be bent in the plane that's giving David his problem. IOW, put a smart phone or a belt buckle right behind the JBar and push down hard on the bar trying to get it to the floor... anyone want to get a confession off your conscience here?

Lynn's a more careful mechanic than his wife (or daughter?) is a proofreader! What's a decimal among friends?

There's at least one longish thread on this subject within the last year. Our A&P/IA @ KMRN publishes his flat rates: (M20B-G with manual gear are 22 hours, 24 hrs for electric gear including Js. Long bodies are more.) http://content.sitezoogle.com.s3.amazonaws.com/u/162433/463199fe19d0e7185f3d6003cde4e48b43bd7ed2/original/flat-rate-prices.pdf?response-content-type=application/pdf&AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA&Signature=YOq%2B4sTRjeeKFtZKaOCf1Ni6x8A%3D&Expires=1461367629

Very interesting! I wonder if there is anything Mooney that DMax hasn't seen? Multiple times.

Yeah, the web site looks fine although I don't think I saw anything posted that wasn't several years old. I call the K9N3 (Seamans) FBO after not being able to talk to O&N but they didn't answer either and I didn't call back. Hope you can get through. That's fantastic.

One caveat, the industrial gas supply house may not want to sell his O2 to a known aviation user (at his welder's pricing) so some of us save both parties embarrassment by not bringing up what the end use is. When I need more O2 I will take my tank to the supply house and exchange. He won't ask and I won't run my big mouth. Capish? For the record, I actually have a welding set up in my home workshop. Flame away.

In a FB post a couple of days one of our MS members from the Northeast (he can chime in if he wants to) informed me that O&N has discontinued operations. I tried to verify that but even though their phone system is operational they have not returned messages via phone of email. I have freely passed on my excellent experience with their bladders to anyone weighing reseal vs. bladders. From time to time I have considered adding the extra 10 gallon bladders which were not available when mine were installed in 1997. I believe O&N actually got their bladders from someone in CA so with my MS friend I wonder what arrangements might be necessary to install bladders if it turns out that O&N is permanently of of that business ... I don't know if O&N is the only holder of any required STCs. I do not know if the owner(s) of O&N has made any arrangements to sell their STCs etc. So... who knows what?

Jeff, there a thread from a year or so ago with a lot of info. An initial investment in a large supply tank for your hanger that you can exchange is the most cost effective and convenient way to go. The pic is my tank from the plane and the tank i can exchange at the (welding) gas supply place. O2 is O2 is O2. Here's one of the earlier threads:

Bruce was at the last Mooney Summit. A lifetime of experience and a really clever guy. Chris, I might be interested and if NC is more central to folks I'd offer my hanger...

Jeff, there a thread from a year or so ago with a lot of info. An initial investment in a large supply tank for your hanger that you can exchange is the most cost effective and convenient way to go. The pic is my tank from the plane and the tank i can exchange at the (welding) gas supply place. O2 is O2 is O2.

Dave, the Elizabeth City B20SH event would work except that Nancy and I are leaving very early Monday morning for a week in CA. Is there anything at all in June? Thanks!

Mooney Caravan Mid-Atlantic Formation Clinic - Fredericksburg, VA - May 21-22 Attention East Coast Pilots. Plan to attend the second annual Mooney Caravan Mid-Atlantic Formation Clinic at KRMN Stafford Regional in Fredericksburg, VA for your Mooney Caravan formation training and proficiency. Whether you are an experienced formation pilot and need a "tune up" for this year's Caravan or a newbie who's tired of the Fisk Arrival and finally wants to arrive at OSH in style, this is your East Coast opportunity. Registration deadline is May 3 so get registered early. Please download the Clinic brochure with all the info here. Thanks Dave. I had found that one. Unfortunately, the date conflicts with MooneyMax maintenance seminar ! KGGG that I'm attending. Perhaps someone knows of a Beech or Piper formation clinic that would qualify and would accept a vintage Mooney. Otherwise I'll probably do the Fisk arrival and camp in the Vintage Aircraft section. Comments and advice welcome. (I've never been to AirAdventure though I did fly into SnF once. That was easy enough.)

I hope to make it to AirVenture for the first time this year and arriving in the Mooney Caravan would be a big plus. Can anyone point me to a formation training weekend scheduled for anywhere within a few hours flight of western NC?

I'm no trump fan but I don't think this would be newsworthy if it were one of us... and of course we know that Oklahoma City never makes a mistake...

Do you associate the problem with the new receptor? Can the block be adjusted, perhaps shimmed? (I have not studied that assembly even though I just replaced all 3 control cables and spent several hours right beside it, drilled out the hole for the throttle and mounted the gear alert limit switch!

David, are you talking about the down lock against the panel or the up lock on the floor? I ask because a mention was made of carpet thickness which is indeed a potential issue but it affects what I'd call the up lock. In my plane the bar is tightest to the floor right behind the hole where the bar comes through the floor.

I've never had to adjust the gear preload and I'm pretty sure Don Maxwell says that once that adjustment is done correctly it should not change.

Wise words - there will be more great deals come along. If you are patient. The overall market for our vintage Mooneys may go up but it is at least as likely that it will go down or remain static.

Once in a while missing out on a great buy happens. Far more often it is better to assume that in a buyers' market there will be other planes when you are really ready. I would recommend continuing your training in trainers and continue your education in aircraft in general and Mooneys in particular. If you keep reading ads and study prices vs. engine time and panel improvements you'll develop a feel for what things are worth. There were not many M20Gs built. (190 total, almost all in 1968 - the year it was introduced). By that time there were 2 body lengths and 2 engines. The G has the longer body and the small engine. folks quickly decided that it was the least desirable combo and that the longer body "needed" the 200 hp engine. Useful load for the G was no doubt a factor. So... a G (Statesman) is a fine plane except when compared to a C, E, or F. But if your family is young/small and since your range is over flatlands and if the price is right... a G might be worth a look. http://www.mooneyevents.com/chrono.htm

Chris, I agree that the your area is "special". The clearance I got out of your home drome was similar to clearances coming out of ME or MA toward Lancaster PA, my more usual pit stop between NE and NC. But the 750 and GPSS makes it pretty easy. I've never gotten anything similar anywhere else from VA to TN to TX to FL. Actually, flying up the coast over JFK is pretty standard routing. Airways near NY and then more direct.

My 750 installation by a certified Garmin shop includes an avionics master and a separate master for the Aspen. But in addition every item in the panel has its own CB - the 750 has 2 - NAV & COM. Sometimes it is necessary to recycle or shut down a single device after startup, even in flight. Well labeled CBs are an important feature in a proper installation.

You've been warned. Just sayin'.

Yeah, so be warned. If you flip up that innocent looking hydraulic flap valve in a vintage Mooney @ 60 kts you're on the edge of a stall and behind the power curve... throw in gusty winds and you're is a pickle.

In a normal, full flaps, landing as flaps are deployed the nose wants to drop so you hold back on the yoke and trim nose up. On an abort those actions have to be reversed. With my mechanical (hydraulic) flaps dumping flaps happens much faster than the nose up trim can be unwound. And since you've also slowed to something like 1.3 or even 1.2 x Vso it is imperative that AS be increased before dumping flaps (Vs is 17% higher than Vso for my E). Therefore: step 1 - full power to increase speed to at least Vx with positive rate of climb, and 2 - dump flaps and trim down to offset the elevator (down) pressure you're exerting to maintain Vx (or Vy when you're comfortably clear of terrain). IMHO raising the gear can wait until you are close to being in trim. Mooneys with electric gear and flaps may allow the pilot more flexibility, as if she had more hands.

Would you rather be Cool or Extremely Super?