I had my pitot static check done today. A fellow comes to my hangar and does the whole thing and he's very thorough even though he is not a "Mooney guy". It's very convenient.
Today I asked him to check the pitot and static drains. He quickly found and cleaned the static drain, but he was flumoxed on the pitot drain. After pointing it out, he said, we were taking a chance messing with it because if it had to be replaced, there was no way to access it.
I assured him that it could be accessed either from the wing root fairing, or from the small access panel beneath the wing. I was wrong.
After removing both the fairing and the access cover, we agreed that the airplane must have been built around that darn drain.
Does anyone know how to access the drain should it ever need to be replace? ('74 C Model.)
The first picture shows the drain near the lower left wing root....
The second picture is the amount of room removing the wing fairing allows...even skinny fingers would have a problem getting in there....
The third picture shows the lower access panel removed. No help since there is a rib between the panel and the drain valve.
The fourth picture is the drain valve which can only be seen with a mini cam on a wire. Picture taken from above through that small space under the wing fairing.