pinerunner

Can you see ALL the cam lobes via a borescope up the oil drain? That could be powerful and easy!

What about leaning? Did you lean for taxi? Etc. One fellow whose article I read and emailed did a bunch of analysis of problem valves with deposits on the stems. The deposits all had plenty of lead and something else that bound it together. The logical first choice for the something else would be the break-down products of incomplete combustion. His data led me to pay a lot of attention to leaning issues at low power. I know ROP vs LOP arguments get tiresome for some and apologize in advance. I am not an LOP troll.

Did you get a look at the valve stems and guides on this cylinder? Could there have been a bit of sticking which would dramatically increase the stresses between the cam lobe and lifter? This seems to be one of the nastiest problems we're likely to run into with our IO-360's and any trick to catch and nip it in the bud would be invaluable. I don't buy the notion that its just dumb luck. There must be a way to catch it if only we can sort it out.

Nice! Was that Central Jersey you landed at?

Scarey, the third guy I talked to about Mooney's (when I was shopping for one) told me a story of camshaft failure. I'm beginning to think its a major boogeyman of the IO-360. What about the carburated C models. Do they see this just as much?

Its nice if you can afford to get an E without a partnership. But its hard to put the hours on it that it deserves, unless you're retired I suppose. I think a good partnership could really add to your flying experience; the trick is getting a good one though. I wish I had a wife with the savy youys has. Don't die when you can fly.

Hmm. That engine teardown, if you had done it instead, would be the perfect chance to do IRAN on the interior. Almost as good as a free overhaul I'm thinking. I'm inclined for the most part to look kindly on your insurance company. Treat that reman real careful in the beginning and break it in just right. I don't know everything about that but I'll bet frequent initial oil changes are part of the regime.

I think in a day and age without good engine monitors the OS provided a good rule of thumb to protect your engine, especially when climbing out. I think in this day and age its still a good rule of thumb but not a straight-jacket to stop you from trying things. I've read (Busch, Deakins, and the folks at GAMI) that the flame front propagates a bit slower when LOP so a lower RPM maybe makes sense there. I certainly watch the CHT's closer when dropping RPMs so OS is still making me increase vigilance. I still take the oversquare rule seriously when asking for high power at low speeds and high angles of attack (poorer cooling). At lower power settings I drop the MP a bit and the RPMs a lot, avoiding the restricted RPM range I have in my old M20E. I don't think OS will ever be totally dead.

Just in case its similar to the problem I have on my M20E. While we haven't found the root cause yet, my charging cuts out after I start the engine. Turning the master off and back on brings it back. If I forget to do this I run down the battery (boy am I glad the magnetos are separate). Now its burned into me master off and on after starting. Yes its on my do do list, tracking it around with my multimeter. Any ideas?

Nice picture. Are you guys a flying couple? I envy you if you are. i had one friend who got into aviation along with his wife. They purchased a plane together and it worked out great. Wish I could get my wife to fly.

I learned something. I never would have thought a bad connection could be so sneaky. I always thought, "metal on metal only needs a little bit touching". The part where it looked fine but it still turned out to be a bad connection.. Bet I'll be glad to remember it down the road.

What I really like about this post is its something any owner could do!

In addition I think its rigged to suit the insurance companies. They'd much rather deal with a few large contracts with large companies than sell small policies to individuals. I've usually had decent health care from the companies I work for but I recall getting jerked around when my employer decided to switch health care plans and I had to get a new primary care provider since mine wasn't on the new list. That got me kind of anti on the current system. Seems like foxs running the chicken coop to me.

I wouldn't let damage history be the deal breaker. Especially if you have an A & P friend to help you look over those specific areas.

When you're running ROP there's insufficient oxygen to complete the burn so by definition you'll get some kind of soot. Worse some of those incomplete combustion products are likely to be energetic radicals that can initiate polymerization reactions leading to those varnish-like deposits you see when you're tearing down an engine. LOP has the air in excess over the fuel so it should naturally be expected to burn cleaner. It doesn't need to be hotter. 50 LOP and 50 ROP are the same EGT.

He did a bunch of non-record ferry flights for Piper. He's probably got an untouchable (if there is such a thing) record for hours over the mid atlantic in prop-driven aircraft.

I went all over the outside looking for loose rivets. If an area has started to "work" a little bit rivets can loosen and develop a dark ring. Since the skin itself is structural something deeper inside losing integrity would transmit extra stress to the skin, speeding up the loosening process. We used to see it with the seaplane which takes a beating going over waves. It'll show right through the paint. The previous owner let me get my biannual in the M20E I now own with an instructor friend of his. It gave me a chance to get a little more intimate with it and I've been very happy with the result. Great sales strategy, by the way.

That advice seems to agree with John Deakins.

I was just reading about the insane distance exploits of Max Conrad in his 250 Comanche. Like going from Africa to Texas and having gas left over. It was natural to wonder; what if he'd had a Mooney? His plane had lot of auxiliary gas tanks and he apparently could get by with no sleep for a couple days. He took out the starter and put in a lighter generator. No frills; just the mission. What if he'd had a Mooney?

Have you considered selling part of it to form a partnership, if you believe you'll be back into it in a year or so? Its hard to find the right partner but done right it could be one of the best ways to get access to the right plane for you and fly it enough and maintain it well. I've been thinking hard about partnerships and how to get a good one. I know guys who are rich enough to own two or three expensive airplanes; but they don't fly them much and that must add to the expense for them. I guess the hardest part is to be brutally honest with yourself about how much you're going to fly, if at all, and then know when to cut the cord.

I should think it would be hard for oil to get from the ring (if there were a problem there) to the plugs since it would be going against a LOT of pressure. It should go the other way. So I bet your mechanic is right. If the valve isn't seating right look out. Doing the "wobble" test on that cylinder would give some peace of mind. In one of Busch's vids (go to SavvyAviator) on engine monitors he shows data from engine with valve seating problem that helped get it fixed before major failure.

Please let us know how it turns out.

I'm getting my IFR in my E which was purchased for the purpose. Mooney's are ideal cross country machines for the dollar spent and make a lot of sense for someone who's looking for an efficient airport airplane. Although I was brought up on bush flying (Super Cubs and Cessna 180's) I really love my M20E as long as the mission fits. Mooneys are not hard to fly. The transition was no big deal. Speed control matters more, though. My maximum flap extension speed is only 100 MPH and is very easy to exceed. I think that was improved in the newer models but not sure. The yellow zone starts at 150 MPH and its not hard to get into it. I decided I'm OK with flying in the yellow when its smooth and then slow down into the green when I encounter much chop. Great choice for instrument trainer and XC machine.

I'm glad to see someone else using peak EGT at low power settings, and giving a reason why.

Probably a J. I'd love to see some E's and C's get some TLC but doubt you'd be able to sell pristine E for what a J would go for. Cessna 180 used to be great rebuild project since they have a niche as a great workhorse bush plane. They would go for a lot more than 182 and many parts are the same. My dad made some money doing that. I'd be interested to see someone make money rebuilding Mooneys but I wouldn't bet on it. Maybe setting up for a slick operation rebuilding the wing like new for a not too scarey price. Like replacing that rear spar that got its own thread a month ago.