Mooney Gust Locks?

[DaV8or]

Jolie's video of the Tahoe fly in got me to thinking about securing a Mooney on a windy ramp. Are there any gust locks available, or is there any technique that people use? Tie it up with a seatbelt like a Piper maybe?

[Jeff_S]

Here's your answer:

http://www.airplanethings.com/controlsaver.htm

I use them for my J which is parked outside full-time and it does two things. Locks the ailerons, but also allows you to lock the elevator in a down position so rain runs off it better.  Highly recommended and very inexpensive.

[FlyDave]

I had one of these for my Cherokee and will probably order one for my Mooney:

http://www.aircraftglareshield.com/windlock.htm

[JoeSpeed]

Buy a 40 inch long, Flat wide bungee with plastic j hooks on the ends. Hook on the seat fwd/aft adj. bar of east seat and through and/or around the inboard horn of each control wheel. Works great and is cheap. Just dont takeoff with it on.

[MikeinFL]

How about the 'ol seat belt around the yoke trick??

[Magnum]

I use these: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/airgizmouniversalgustlock.php

With them you don't have forces on the rod ends.

[DaV8or]

Quote: Jeff_S

Here's your answer:

http://www.airplanethings.com/controlsaver.htm

I use them for my J which is parked outside full-time and it does two things. Locks the ailerons, but also allows you to lock the elevator in a down position so rain runs off it better.  Highly recommended and very inexpensive.

[GeorgePerry]

Quote: MikeinFL

How about the 'ol seat belt around the yoke trick??

[Jeff_S]

Quote: DaV8or

These look pretty good. How does it attach to the panel. It's not quite clear from the photo on the website. Do you have to attach anything to the plane?

[Ron McBride]

I ahve a gust lock from Aircreaft Spruce. When I lived in So Cal, we would see wind for 3 days, 60mph+ was probable. This gust lock grabs the rudder pedals and the yoke. Locks all the controls tight. It works great.

Ron  a 69F

[DaV8or]

Quote: N9154V

I ahve a gust lock from Aircreaft Spruce. When I lived in So Cal, we would see wind for 3 days, 60mph+ was probable. This gust lock grabs the rudder pedals and the yoke. Locks all the controls tight. It works great.

Ron  a 69F

[Ron McBride]

Dave I have this one.

Ron

3. YORK GUST-LOK™ York Gust Loks the ultimate protection for your plane from wind and theft. It locks the control surfaces in a neu- tral position and prevents damage to control surfaces & tail caused by wind Gust loads. It is welded steel, fully ad- justable, http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/yorkgustlok.php - 13.4kb 13-00863 YORK GUST LOK MOONEY GRUMMAN $149.95

[DaV8or]

Quote: Jeff_S

You see a strap that extends from the middle of the device toward the panel. For the Mooney installation, they provide a little "L" bracket that has the male side of a snap fitting already attached. There is a panel screw that you simple remove, slide the "L" bracket onto and replace. It's very easy...takes about 30 seconds to install. To utilize, I'll slide the right-side (fixed) loop over the yoke, snap the cross piece in place, and then tighten the left-side loop which pulls the yokes forward into a nice down position.

[Immelman]

Go to home depot and buy a set of adjustable bungees for a few bucks. One attached to the two yokes keeps the ailerons neutral. One around the top of the yoke and clip it you the part of your seat you pull up on to get it to roll back and forth for the elevators.

[Jeff_S]

I forgot that there are two different versions for Mooney...sorry about that. But as Jim says, they should be able to fix you up. I like it better than a bungee solution because, well, it's just more elegant, has the big REMOVE sign on it (although it would be VERY hard to take off without removing it!) and it just appeals to my general aesthetic. But it probably doesn't WORK any better than a bungee solution, I will admit.

One other thing I like about this as compared to the Gust-LOK or other solution that ties into the rudder pedals is that you can put it on while traveling, and the FBO can still tow your plane wherever needed as the nose-wheel and rudder pedals will still have full movement. So you don't need to leave your key or let them into your plane. I had a Gust-LOK for my Warrior and it worked great, but it did have that limitation.