K belly pans

[peevee]

We have the stc one piece belly out of wheat ridge Colorado from back in the day. The one with the gear up ribs.

It's a bit heavy, I wonder if going back to the multiple section k model pans wouldn't save us some weight.

Any idea how much the stock belly panels weigh and if it would even be possible to go back to stock after the plane has been modified for the one piece? I have never removed the belly myself so I have no idea what's under there 

 

Ours is an 83, a year too soon for the factory one piece. Maybe someone would even trade theirs and a few bucks for this one in the off season.

Is the stock pan the faster than the aftermarket one piece?

[LANCECASPER]

You don't want the multiple section belly pan. A lot of extra work every time it comes off - even if you are doing the work, especially if you're paying to have it done. If you replace it you're going to have to paint it to match your airplane. People who work on Mooneys love the one piece belly.

Let's say you gained one or two pounds of useful load by replacing it, that's less than 2 gallons of fuel. I gained 15 pounds of useful load this year - I stopped eating late in the evening.

[N201MKTurbo]

I have a Laser one piece, it is probably lighter than yours but still heavier than the stock panels. Unless you can get a good deal on some used panels, I would find someone doing an annual and borrow their panels and have a sheet metal guy just copy them. If I had a decent shear, corner notcher and hole duplicators, I could make one panel an hour. I'm sure that is a lot cheaper than new from Mooney.

I have been making sheet metal parts for the last couple of days, so I'm full of the sheet metal ferver.

[N601RX]

2 hours ago, peevee said:

We have the stc one piece belly out of wheat ridge Colorado from back in the day. The one with the gear up ribs.

It's a bit heavy, I wonder if going back to the multiple section k model pans wouldn't save us some weight.

Any idea how much the stock belly panels weigh and if it would even be possible to go back to stock after the plane has been modified for the one piece? I have never removed the belly myself so I have no idea what's under there 

 

Ours is an 83, a year too soon for the factory one piece. Maybe someone would even trade theirs and a few bucks for this one in the off season.

Is the stock pan the faster than the aftermarket one piece?

I have the same one. It requires removing one crossmember and trimming another so these would have to be replaced so the panels would have somewhere to mount to. 

[kortopates]

The factory 252 belly pan is very light and I would expect it to be the same as the LASAR. After all, Paul L resurrected a 252 maybe built his first one for his 252. The Encore went to carbon fiber cowling and probably the same for the belly pan- so if you really want "light" that could be an option. But it's MUCH cheaper to follow@lancecasper lead!


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[peevee]

3 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I have a Laser one piece, it is probably lighter than yours but still heavier than the stock panels. Unless you can get a good deal on some used panels, I would find someone doing an annual and borrow their panels and have a sheet metal guy just copy them. If I had a decent shear, corner notcher and hole duplicators, I could make one panel an hour. I'm sure that is a lot cheaper than new from Mooney.

I have been making sheet metal parts for the last couple of days, so I'm full of the sheet metal ferver.

Well, the other thing is Maxwell claims a 10kt penalty for the ribbed panel we have. I want to see if he's right.

[peevee]

2 hours ago, N601RX said:

I have the same one. It requires removing one crossmember and trimming another so these would have to be replaced so the panels would have somewhere to mount to. 

That's what I was afraid of

[N601RX]

They made a couple of different versions of the ribbed panel. Some of them only have 2 ribs while other have 4. 

[peevee]

Just now, N601RX said:

They made a couple of different versions of the ribbed panel. Some of them only have 2 ribs while other have 4. 

Can't find much info, since they are long gone.

I think ours is a 4 but I'd have to double check.

[N601RX]

I have all the paperwork and talked to the guy who made them a couple of years ago. He owns a flight school that uses Mooney aircraft and developed the belly as a result of several gear ups. 

[Guest]

Could you make an owner produced part from carbon fibre, using yours as a mould but without the ribs?

Clarence

[peevee]

5 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

Could you make an owner produced part from carbon fibre, using yours as a mould but without the ribs?

Clarence

Yeah, I bet you could very easily. Tape up the inside so it's flat and put down plastic and or mold release. I bet it wouldn't be too hard. Maybe I'll give it a shot this winter. Good idea.

[DonMuncy]

18 minutes ago, peevee said:

Yeah, I bet you could very easily. Tape up the inside so it's flat and put down plastic and or mold release. I bet it wouldn't be too hard. Maybe I'll give it a shot this winter. Good idea.

And if another plane owner furnished you with the dimensions, materials to use, etc,. you cold make them an owner produced part.

[peevee]

Just now, DonMuncy said:

And if another plane owner furnished you with the dimensions, materials to use, etc,. you cold make them an owner produced part.

I could. I've done very little fiberglass work before and I'm basically terrible at it.

[DonMuncy]

Just now, peevee said:

I could. I've done very little fiberglass work before and I'm basically terrible at it.

Doing fiberglass work is easy. Doing fiberglass work well is very difficult.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, peevee said:

I could. I've done very little fiberglass work before and I'm basically terrible at it.

With Oshkosh just around the corner, you have good reason to take some composite classes!

Clarence

[peevee]

6 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Doing fiberglass work is easy. Doing fiberglass work well is very difficult.

That can be said of about everything

[peevee]

2 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

With Oshkosh just around the corner, you have good reason to take some composite classes!

Clarence

I bet eaa has some local stuff. I'll look into it.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, peevee said:

I bet eaa has some local stuff. I'll look into it.

Make friends with a composite airframe builder......Lancair Tom?

Clarence

[peevee]

8 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

Make friends with a composite airframe builder......Lancair Tom?

Clarence

I can learn the mechanics of it online easy but not the finesse 

 

Maybe I can just practice. Fiberglass materials aren't expensive.

 

Biggest problem is I need an autoclave as the belly pan won't fit in my oven.

[N601RX]

I looked in my install manual this morning.  The mod adds 10 lbs with no moment change.  The guy who owns the STC is still around, but he had a partner who was doing the fiberglass work who passed away a few years. 

[peevee]

39 minutes ago, N601RX said:

I looked in my install manual this morning.  The mod adds 10 lbs with no moment change.  The guy who owns the STC is still around, but he had a partner who was doing the fiberglass work who passed away a few years. 

10lbs and possibly 10 knots.

[LANCECASPER]

Do you have a picture of the ribbed belly pan?

[N601RX]

3 hours ago, peevee said:

10lbs and possibly 10 knots.

Mine only has 2 long ribs. I did not see any speed change in either direction. 

[peevee]

25 minutes ago, N601RX said:

Mine only has 2 long ribs. I did not see any speed change in either direction. 

maxwell said it's costing us. he might be right, he might not. there's a limit to how much I'm willing to spend to find out though and a new one piece from lasar is about 5 times over that threshold.