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N6716U is home!


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Thanks a million to @N201MKTurbo!  Was great flying with you today.  Everything went very smooth, except for our commercial departure out of Phoenix, which was delayed over 2 hours.  Got us a little bit of a late start, but other than that I'd say everything went great!

Everything in the plane seems to work, including the ANCIENT Mooney ARC-512A autopilot.  It might need a little adjusting, but it worked very well!  

So glad to finally have her home!

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By the time we got back, we were too beat to do anything but go home.  I was up at 0430 and on the road by 0500.  Our flight from PHX-SMF was delayed over 2 hours so we didn't get back to DVT until almost dark.  I'll be out at the field tomorrow checking her out and what not.  I'll take plenty of pics!

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OK @N201MKTurbo, lay it out.

What did you think?  I don't think you held anything back when we talked about it, but I'm sure everyone else would like to know and I'd like to hear any thing you might have not said at the time now that you have had time to think about it.

Wow... That was a long sentence.

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1 hour ago, ragedracer1977 said:

OK @N201MKTurbo, lay it out.

What did you think?  I don't think you held anything back when we talked about it, but I'm sure everyone else would like to know and I'd like to hear any thing you might have not said at the time now that you have had time to think about it.

Wow... That was a long sentence.

For a 54 year old plane it is in very good condition. Everything worked. The engine is very clean and ran perfect. The airframe looked very good and well maintained. The plane has flap and aileron gap seals a 201 windshield, LASAR cowl closure and late model wing tips. It also has a late model baggage door with internal release. 

The ARC autopilot worked surprisingly well. It tracked the GPS one dot to the left and seemed overly aggressive when correcting for an upset in heading mode. I think both of these minor annoyinces can be adjusted out. 

The controls seemed too stiff. I think a good lubbing would take care of it. All of the rod ends I could see looked new and clean, a little too clean for my liking, I prefer to see them a bit oily. 

The Johnson bar was very difficult to latch down (bar up). Something is binding. It could be the upholstery or it is adjusted too tight and the springs are fully compressed and you have to bend something to get the last 1/2 inch of throw on the bar. Either way it needs to get fixed.

The door is hard to close and could use some adjustment, but it could be deferred. 

At 7500 ft 2500 RPM 22 inches it was truing 145 KTS. A good speed for a C.

The slip indicator shows half a ball to the left. My foot got tired so I just let it fly that way. The plane will probably gain a knot or two when the rudder trim is corrected.

All in all a very good plane. It's problems can be corrected with very little work or money.

Rich...

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57 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

The Johnson bar was very difficult to latch down (bar up). Something is binding. It could be the upholstery or it is adjusted too tight and the springs are fully compressed and you have to bend something to get the last 1/2 inch of throw on the bar. Either way it needs to get fixed.

If I were you, I'd move this right to the top of the to-do list. It is probably a two hour or less job. The manual gear on the Mooney is bullet proof if adjusted correctly. But if not it could be a problem.  You'll need to find a shop that has the correct adaptors to check the over center torque on the gear. The mains take one type and the nose another. It's also important that the A&P using the tools knows how to read a torque wrench.  It very well might be that you've got some carpet or something simple in the way of that Johnson bar, but you really want to be sure.

In other news... Congrats on getting what appears to be a really great C. 

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3 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

If I were you, I'd move this right to the top of the to-do list. It is probably a two hour or less job. The manual gear on the Mooney is bullet proof if adjusted correctly. But if not it could be a problem.  You'll need to find a shop that has the correct adaptors to check the over center torque on the gear. The mains take one type and the nose another. It's also important that the A&P using the tools knows how to read a torque wrench.  It very well might be that you've got some carpet or something simple in the way of that Johnson bar, but you really want to be sure.

In other news... Congrats on getting what appears to be a really great C. 

Don't worry, it will end up in my hangar sooner than later.

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21 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

If I were you, I'd move this right to the top of the to-do list. It is probably a two hour or less job. The manual gear on the Mooney is bullet proof if adjusted correctly. But if not it could be a problem.  You'll need to find a shop that has the correct adaptors to check the over center torque on the gear. The mains take one type and the nose another. It's also important that the A&P using the tools knows how to read a torque wrench.  

Amen to all. Best to have this done at an MSC. Also, if the upper block has never been replaced, time for that too (LASAR) and will be good for another 50+ years.

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13 hours ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Thanks a million to @N201MKTurbo!  Was great flying with you today.  Everything went very smooth, except for our commercial departure out of Phoenix, which was delayed over 2 hours.  Got us a little bit of a late start, but other than that I'd say everything went great!

Everything in the plane seems to work, including the ANCIENT Mooney ARC-512A autopilot.  It might need a little adjusting, but it worked very well!  

So glad to finally have her home!

Congratulations on the new bird!  Enjoy your new C.  And yes, we want pictures!

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Before jumping right into gear rigging, check to make sure the bar is straight and not bent. Mine was hard to get in the gear down position for a long time before I found the real problem. This could save you hours of work and still find the gear to be difficult. 

Congrats on your new bird. 

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Finally, pictures! My wife and kids were dying to see it, so we drive over to DVT.  It was an adventure just getting through the to the ramp.  DVT is very definitely run by a government bureaucracy.  They all wanted to go for a ride, but I can't really fly it yet.  I mean, I could legally, but if something went wrong...  So, I just gave them a ride to the fuel pumps lol.  

Surprisingly, my kids said the backseat felt pretty roomy! We'll see how they feel after a couple hours back there...  

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13 hours ago, CDO said:

Congrats, sweet looking m20c, I am in the hunt for a C or E too.

I am in Houston my 20C just went on the market as for sale or for partnership.  I currently have a couple of people that would like to do a partnership and maybe looking at either a 50/50 or 1/3rds.  You can see pictures here or on https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20C&listing_id=226

Also, congratulations ragedracer.  I know you will enjoy her.  I have enjoyed my 20c tremendously.  So much so I might be staying in as a partner even after I get into my new one (the new one is a whole nother story for another day).

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Nice!  I got my hangar and access pass at DVT today and had a small issue with the hangar door.   The maintenance guy came by and sorted it out and asked what would be going in there, and I told him a Mooney.   He said, "Yeah, there's a lot of new Mooneys coming in here lately!"  

So word is getting out. ;)

 

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1 hour ago, EricJ said:

Nice!  I got my hangar and access pass at DVT today and had a small issue with the hangar door.   The maintenance guy came by and sorted it out and asked what would be going in there, and I told him a Mooney.   He said, "Yeah, there's a lot of new Mooneys coming in here lately!"  

So word is getting out. ;)

 

You were quite a ways back on the list weren't you?  When they finish construction am I right in thinking a ton are going to open all at once?

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