Boot aroun Johnson Bar

[MtPleasantFlyer]

Does anyone know where I can order a "boot" for the area around*(sorry for the title) my Johnson Bar and the floor board? I am tired of looking at the taxiway and hate knowing I could have a critter get in while its parked. Thanks!

[BigTex]

Contact Hector at Aero Comfort.  They manufacture a top notch leather boot.  210-340-0177/

[Bob_Belville]

+1 on Aero Comfort.. Leather for ~ $50. 

[AmigOne]

Also read a more extensive thread on this subject where some difficulties were reported when installing the Aero Comfort boot. Maybe the design has been improved by now.

[M20F-1968]

The Aero Comfort boot did not work for me.  Hector made a boot that simply had a vertical cylinder of leather sewn into the center of a flat piece of leather.  That simply did not work.  The leather was too thick and the flat piece did not fold onto itself very well thus binding under the Johnson bar.  (In all do respect, I just saw a NOS boot made of cloth on E-bay and it was made this was). 

However, my original boot in a 1968 F was made somewhat differently, and had some pleats, in the form of an "X" around where the vertical cylinder is sewn.  This creates some slack in the leather, and keeps the sewn parts away for the area directly under the Johnson bar.  This configuration worked for me. 

The boot is held into the airplane using three strips of aluminum screwed to the floor so the leather can move.  This is per the original Mooney drawings.  There are attached pictures of my original boot and our copy.  The original has an O ring around the bar but we did not do this to minimize thickness.  The material we used is a 4-way stretchable Euroleather which, when compared to leather is more stretchable and thinner.  Another quality you want in the J bar boot is its ability to block gasess - CO, so synthetic material may be better.  The original cloth had a vinyl piece sewn to the back of it.

 

John Breda

 

[N601RX]

I purchased one from Aerocomfort a while back.  It's all leather and worked out well.  They also sell matching rudder pedal boots. If you search for rudder pedal boots you will see a couple of prior discussions on this.

 

http://mooneyspace.com/topic/8432-photo-of-johnson-bar-boot-installation/

 

http://mooneyspace.com/topic/10948-a-pretty-good-christmas/?hl=%2Brudder+%2Bpedal+%2Bboots#entry130857

[Sabremech]

+1 for John,

 I too purchased the leather boot from Aero comfort last year and it did not fit without major surgery.  I talked with Hector a number of times and sent him one that I modified with flexible material for the part that wraps around the bar. I haven't heard if Aero Comfort changed their design and material since. If it's still made fully from leather, good luck making it work properly.

 David

[Bob_Belville]

Well, as reported earlier, my boot, purchased 9/12, worked fine. (We had tried to make one of leather to match new seats but even after a couple of modifications we could not get it to fit right in both the up and down positions. I used contact adhesive to attach "flange" to floor. 

[jpjp]

I believe that the design has been changed recently.  I buddy of mine bought one from Aero Comfort a couple of months back.  I saw it installed-it was made of a black fabric that seems to have some stretch and looked like it worked to me.  Try Hector again.

[Sabremech]

Thanks jpjp.

 Sounds like Aero Comfrot made the modifications needed to work properly. Good to hear.

 David

[Shadrach]

I made my own from "ultra leather". The material is not really the issue; it's the fabrication.  I used what was left of my old one as a pattern and then gave it to a friend's wife to sew on her machine.  I made sure I had enough material for it to articulate 90 degrees. We used the factory o-ring as well. IIRC, it's important that you have excess material when the gear is down and locked. It's not perfect, but once installed it looked professional.  I'll try and find some pics...

[BigTex]

I know that back in the summer when I had my interior redone and mine didn't fit. Don said he and Hector had several conversations and Don ended up installing the cloth boot. Don said he was going to send him a cloth one to reference. Maybe Hector reworked them so they now fit.

[carusoam]

There is another manufacturer for comparison in NJ, who also does the material for the door welt. And interior poster board/rug walls and floor rug.

I would expect that Hector's new version is probably e nicer of the two. I had the lower cost NJ fabric version.

Unfortunately I need help with their name...

Best regards,

-a-

[tomn]

There is another manufacturer for comparison in NJ, who also does the material for the door welt. And interior poster board/rug walls and floor rug.

I would expect that Hector's new version is probably e nicer of the two. I had the lower cost NJ fabric version.

Unfortunately I need help with their name...

Best regards,

-a-

Sounds like you are referring to Airtex.

[triple8s]

"If it's still made fully from leather, good luck making it work properly."

Doeskin is quite flexible and soft, and if you use the right piece it already has a hole. :-o

[Bob_Belville]

I feel compelled to point out for the 4th or 5th time that the Aero Comfort standard leather boot worked for me. I installed it myself using contact adhesive. (And I suppose Hector has installed scores if not hundreds.) The plane must be up on jacks because the gear has to be cycled several times to get the boot right. But you might need a more patient installer. 

[Sabremech]

^{I too installed the all leather bioot from Aero Comfort and couldn't get my gear to lock in the down position or all the way up as the leather would not flex. The gear would not lock down because of the folded over seam at the top of the boot interfering with the bar and the wheel well cover. The gear wouldn't go up and lock either because the boot wouldn't give enough or flex enough when glued to the floor. I was able to make it work when I cut the seams and stiching apart and removed the double layer of leather at the top of the boot around the bar.}

 ^{I worked with Hector to revise his boot to make it work as advertised with little or no chance of it interfering with gear down and locking.}

 ^{So maybe you got a differnt boot than those of us who had issues or maybe you have different clearances between your johnson bar and nose wheel well. Maybe your johnson bar doesn't pivot aft almost 4 inches as mine does. Just because their all made by Mooney doesn't mean they are exactly alike.}

 

 ^{I would highly recommend Aero Comfort products and from what I've heard his new Johnson Bar boot.}

 ^David

[N601RX]

I have the all leather version and was able to make it work by pushing it down low (below the welded angle on the Jbar).  When down below the weld, wheel well clearance isn't a issue and the rearward travel is reduced when the Jbar is lowered into the floor socket.

[BigTex]

There is almost no room at the base of the Johnson Bar and the floor when the bar is down. I had to go with the cloth boot (which looks pretty nice) and I still had issues locking the bar to the floor. The new carpet was thicker than the cheap stuff used before so I has to cut away an additional three inches at the base to make it work.

[Bob_Belville]

The trick for me was understanding the the critical point was where the bar to floor gap was the closest which is right at the aft edge of the hole in the floor. As shown pretty well in this pic, the flange of the leather is glued to the floor with the seam between the flange and the boot itself about an inch forward of the edge of the hole. When the bar goes down the vertical seam slips slightly to the side and there's only two thin thicknesses of leather between the bar and floor at the critical nip point.

[Sabremech]

Hi Bob,

 You definitely have more space between the Johnson bar and the wheel well. I barely had enough room for one layer of leather let alone folded over and hemmed. Also when I glued mine to the floor, it pulled the boot off of the floor when I went to the gear up and  locked. I posted here last year about my experience with the boot and others posted pictures of theirs installed low or under the floor. 

 I'm glad that yours worked, mine didn't. It does now with the boot made of leather and flexible spandex type fabric.

 David