kommers

Gentlemen, I thank you all for sharing your thoughts with me. Your input was priceless and helped us reach the verdict: we decided not to buy this airplane. Personally, I would probably take a chance but my wife who was in the left seat of our 20C when its gear collapsed is scared and pscyhologically traumatized enough so she wants to play it the safest way possible. So, back to square one and actually even further back... All of a sudden, I realized that aside from finding a good plane I have another issue to deal with: finding a new insurance. My insurance agent no longer replies to my e-mails since I informed him about my desire to buy another plane. I take it as an indirect way of him saying "you already caused monetary damage to the underwriter so get outa my face". I had the insurance through him for just under 3 years and this is my first plane and first insurance. Yes, I know I should have started with Skyhawk 172 but I started right out with Mooney and had some issues finding the company that would agree to insure the green pilot like me. Now, 3 years later, I have a totalled Mooney behind me and even though I wasn't flying on that day, I was still a main policy holder. This makes me wonder if my name is now on the black list with insurance companies since my insurance agen aparently doesn't want to re-insure me. I am afraid that I may find myself in the situation when I invest hefty amount in 20J that will become a ramp queen because I won't be able to secure insurance policy for it.

The issue is very easy to explain - or very hard whichever you prefer: no one was able to tell us why the gear collapsed. FAA conducted its own investigation and cited mechanical failure as possible cause. There were at least three factors in that incdident, both human amd nechanical, that might have played the critical roile but nobody will ever know for sure which one was the real culprit. I don't want to land the plane having back thoughts every time that the next moment my plane may turn into the pile of metal on the runway. For my wife, who was actually in left seat on that day, getting back into this airplane even on the ground, brings very painful memories. So, my bird has to fly... away

At this point I have a potential buyer (this is why I chose buyout option) but the sale is not finalized so I may end up having a pile of useless aluminum and steel on my hands.The goal, is to return my bird to the flying condition, never allowing anyone to buy it for parts, but neither my wife nor I will fly it again. Me, I am on the market for 20J with the goal to find something in October or November since I will be out of country for the entire September.

Status update: as expected, insurance company declared it a total loss. We exercised a buy-out option...

Yes, this is a very wise elaborating on a balance between what is okay by the standards and what gut feelings a person may have... having lost my M20C due to the gear collapse after the landing and getting through that experience emotionally and pschycologically thereafter, I don't think that either my wife or myself want to put ourselves into the state of doubt every time we pull the yoke... I need a plane which damage history will be limited to the cut in the seat upholstery, that's about it, I don't want to live by expectation, however little the chance is, that iit may fail any moment because cranks and rods were affected but it was not detected..

That unfortunately I am not aware of.

Well, I can add that the engine is 700 SMOH this is what is known

This is what Mooney shop owner said exactly in his message: "We complied with everything that the factory requires. AD 2004-10-14c1 has been done" "

Question to all Mooney experts: I am on a market for M20J and recently came across quite decent 1986 bird that landed gear up due to the pilot error which, of course, resulted in a prop strike. Plane has been repaired and put up for sale by the Mooney shop. I came very close to signing a deal on it when my local mechanic who used to service my M20C stopped me with one simple question: has the engine been overhauled after the prop stirke? The answer was "no" and then my mechnic told me that such engine poses a serious danger of prop stoppage especially at takeoff. I asked Mooney shop owner and he replied that repairs have been conducted in accordance with AD 2004-10-14c1 and since then the plane has been flown for quite a bit. Since I don't have enough knowledge to make determination who is right and who is wrong here, I ask you folks to express your opinion here. Considering, that, unlike a cat, I have just one life, what my mechanic said may be a show stopper for this deal unless I hear something positive here on this forum. Thanks in advance !

5600

Here is an update: initially, my understanding was that FAA was going to finish its investigation today and it was a job for one investigator; at least I got that notion last Sunday. However, this incident apparently sparked quite an interest as today a whole FAA team of five people was observed around the plane and they were inspecting the plane again, reviewing plane logs and interviewing CFI and mechanic. There were some FAA guys inspecting the plane yesterday as well. Something that doesn't look to me like a thing that would draw such attention if it was an ordinaryJB pilot error overlooked by CFI...

Whatever is the outcome, we will not be flying this plane again. At this point I am not sure if my wife will overcome the shock and if she does there will be no 20C in my possession again.I will let the dust settle, count my financial and emotional losses then we decide if we are buying another plane or explore other ways of keeping ourselves busy in this life. And if it is another plane it is likely to be 20J

Forgive me for asking, but what is called "thumbnail trick"? I never heard this term. When my mechanic replaced the bracket with new one that has j-hook, I was instructed to move JB into gear down position, push the handle up while twisting slightly its head counter- and clockwise until I hear that it "snaps" into place. I used this ever since the bracket replacement for about 15 flights and never had any issues. I pretty much passed the same info to my wife and her CFI. Quite frankly, I saw nothing else that could be done there to ensure that JB is securly latched

he did measure it I saw the instrument in his hand

it didn't have the button initially, after the bracket was replaced 3 months ago, it got that button. This is 1962 C

the whole story actually started when about 3 months ago I found that JB was getting super hard to operate. Nobody could handle it but me. My mechanic flew with me and after he failed to gear up my Mooney, he inspected the whole thing and first thing he found was that the bracket was elongated and the whole assembly needed re-rigging. So he bought another bracket but old JB didn't fit so he had to replace JB handle as well. And result was both new bracket with J-hook and a new handle. I flew test flight and was able to gear up and down only on the first leg; on the way back I had to fly with gear down that's how tight it was. So, here we go again, another round of re-rigging. He did it light this time and I was screaming with joy but he said no, can't leave it like this your bearings in truss area are worn out if I leave it like this your gear will collapse on landing (don't judge me on technical side, I am a computer guy, not a mechanical engineer so I may not recite his words exactly). So he made JB reasonably tight again, but at least I could operate it again. So I started flying and it seemed to me like JB was getting easier and easier operate with every flight, even my wife finally was able to operate it and she said how nice it is getting manageable.. Well, it was getting nicer and nicer until yesterday...

not necessarily so, JB could have left its position after the impact and as a result of the impact shock. No one paid attention to what JB was doing at the impact inception

Alas, there is even more to it. I was right in the middle of upgrading my upholstery when this occurred. I paid about $2K for a new headliner and all new seats covers from Airtex. My upholstery guy already installed the headliner and the bench seat. He was going to replace front seats next week, I told him if insurance company is going to own the plane he may stop right here, I will pay him full amount (another $800) and insurance guys will own the salvage plane with brand new ceiling, and shiny bench seat but with dull, scratched front seats

according to my wife, it was in the middle position when she exited the plane. It was in gear down when collapse started to develop

Yep, I thought the same way. Well, I guess I have to bite the bullet and lose my new radio... the bad thing about the whole situation is that my mechanic just replaced JB socket a month ago because he found old one elongated. He just followed AD and installed that new fancy socket with J-hook. The reason for gear collapse seems to be in preload. I noticed that JB was lighter and lighter to operate with every flight but I thought it is because JB was brand new and it was going through break-in. In reality, it was probably just worn-out bearings that my mechanic was going to replace in August during the annual, I just didn't survive to that point...

thank you for the answers. A couple of years ago I installed a new nav/com from Garmin which ran me 3 AMU. This was after I got my current insurance policy for Mooney. Do you think it would be a good or bad idea to remove it before insurance adjuster arrives?

I doubt it since we had a prop strike which is likely to require engine overhaul. Insurance company told me that the repairs will most likely cost more than the plane is worth so it is going to be written off. Hence the question: do you guys know that if the insurance pays me the entire amount the plane was insured for, they become the owners of the plane or not and if they sell plane for parts or leave what's remaining of the plane to me?

They checked JB position 4 times before landing and yet.... J-hook didn't hold, apparently. No damage to people, just a shock. They just removed the plane and taxied it to tiedown. Amazingly,recovery crew was able to extend the gear and roll the airlplane off the runway

Airport is closed since 9 am, Mooney is stiil on the runway. My wife was flying it with her CFI

my 1962 M20C has no temp indicator for it? I typically just pull the red knob one inch out, but I am sure this is not the best setting, and this probably needs to be adjusted with altitude. Any advice? thank you