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Mooney has been sitting


sdflysurf

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11 hours ago, Fookz92 said:

Thanks @gsxrpilot for the shoutout. 

@sdflysurf congrats on the find! It is very rewarding to be able to find such a bird in such a co diction and then be able to build it up to make it your own. Mine sat for 11 years.  The thread on my find on here is "Resurrecting a J".  

To answer some questions of what I did:

-Get yourself a buffer and buff, wash, & wax it. 

-yes replace the tires with those sizes (don't be cheap with your tires)

-boroscope for sure and send the Cylinder you take off to get an IRAN done. 

-overhaul the prop since it may have AD's and you can see if parts are still good

best of luck!

Cool thanks - I'll make sure to read it!

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There is a lot written about new tires and swinging the gear...

Apparently Somebody, somewhere, at some time had a tire get stuck and not come back down...

The clearance is pretty tight.

So.... Swinging the gear is good...?

PP thoughts only. Not a CFI.

Best regards,

-a-

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Most of the things posted here are for after you get it home. washing waxing, tires gear swing elt battery etc.  You are getting it ready for ferry, not doing an annual.  Let your mechanic decide what needs to be done for ferry. He is signing the ferry permit.  Too bad you are so far away. Would be a nice afternoon flight moving it to your plave 

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2 hours ago, acpartswhse said:

Most of the things posted here are for after you get it home. washing waxing, tires gear swing elt battery etc.  You are getting it ready for ferry, not doing an annual.  Let your mechanic decide what needs to be done for ferry. He is signing the ferry permit.  Too bad you are so far away. Would be a nice afternoon flight moving it to your plave 

Yeah - I'm bummed I don't have my complex and time in a mooney already so that I could be the one to fly it back to SD.  This whole test pilot thing sounds fun!!!!

 

5 hours ago, carusoam said:

There is a lot written about new tires and swinging the gear...

Apparently Somebody, somewhere, at some time had a tire get stuck and not come back down...

The clearance is pretty tight.

So.... Swinging the gear is good...?

PP thoughts only. Not a CFI.

Best regards,

-a-

I think what I read about clearance was only on a re-tread.  So far everyone is confirming that the FCIII 6.00-6 6ply (main) and the 5.00-5 6 ply (nose) are good to go.

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The test pilot thing is fun when you know you have a known working platform. Not so much fun when you are a test pilot of something that may still have some unknown characteristics or surprises.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

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Ok back from a loooooooong day of cleaning and preparing the plane.  We removed most of the panels and cleaned out the birds nests....fortunately birds scare off rodents, and birds just are messy, they don't chew on wires, so all of the wires are looking nice.  There is quite a bit of corrosion to deal with on the exterior, but the interior looks good and the wing spar inspection was nice.IMG_7210.thumb.jpg.30ab51a54ac948fba3ebcb1be38cd24a.jpg

-drained oil and borescoped/inspected engine components, sparkplugs, wires, filter, etc.

-added new oil and hand turned prop for quite a bit then double checked filter again.

-jacked up plane and pulled all wheels - Repacked the bearings and inspected the wheels and tires and greased the landing gear.  Surprising they had very little wear and zero dry rot or any other causes for concern so I will be returning the FC3s until another day!

-cleaned fuel tanks, replaced gaskets, and added fuel - no leaks!

-replaced batteries and turned on avionics - bad squeal on one of the components on the right side of the panel until warmed up (King KY-197 - Comm or Narco AT50A Transponder?)

-Retract gear failed - not sure if it is wiring or a bad retract motor.  Looking for wiring diagram and advice today.

-Starting test: electronic fuel pump worked nice, starter didn't engage (needed lube to move it had been sitting too long), then finally:

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1 hour ago, sdflysurf said:

Ok back from a loooooooong day of cleaning and preparing the plane.  We removed most of the panels and cleaned out the birds nests....fortunately birds scare off rodents, and birds just are messy, they don't chew on wires, so all of the wires are looking nice.  There is quite a bit of corrosion to deal with on the exterior, but the interior looks good and the wing spar inspection was nice.IMG_7210.thumb.jpg.30ab51a54ac948fba3ebcb1be38cd24a.jpg

-drained oil and borescoped/inspected engine components, sparkplugs, wires, filter, etc.

-added new oil and hand turned prop for quite a bit then double checked filter again.

-jacked up plane and pulled all wheels - Repacked the bearings and inspected the wheels and tires and greased the landing gear.  Surprising they had very little wear and zero dry rot or any other causes for concern so I will be returning the FC3s until another day!

-cleaned fuel tanks, replaced gaskets, and added fuel - no leaks!

-replaced batteries and turned on avionics - bad squeal on one of the components on the right side of the panel until warmed up (King KY-197 - Comm or Narco AT50A Transponder?)

-Retract gear failed - not sure if it is wiring or a bad retract motor.  Looking for wiring diagram and advice today.

-Starting test: electronic fuel pump worked nice, starter didn't engage (needed lube to move it had been sitting too long), then finally:

IMG_7243_TRIM.MOV

Really cool progress!  Thanks for documenting here. It sounds like you have the right person helping you.

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Ok back from a loooooooong day of cleaning and preparing the plane.  We removed most of the panels and cleaned out the birds nests....fortunately birds scare off rodents, and birds just are messy, they don't chew on wires, so all of the wires are looking nice.  There is quite a bit of corrosion to deal with on the exterior, but the interior looks good and the wing spar inspection was nice.IMG_7210.thumb.jpg.30ab51a54ac948fba3ebcb1be38cd24a.jpg
-drained oil and borescoped/inspected engine components, sparkplugs, wires, filter, etc.
-added new oil and hand turned prop for quite a bit then double checked filter again.
-jacked up plane and pulled all wheels - Repacked the bearings and inspected the wheels and tires and greased the landing gear.  Surprising they had very little wear and zero dry rot or any other causes for concern so I will be returning the FC3s until another day!
-cleaned fuel tanks, replaced gaskets, and added fuel - no leaks!
-replaced batteries and turned on avionics - bad squeal on one of the components on the right side of the panel until warmed up (King KY-197 - Comm or Narco AT50A Transponder?)
-Retract gear failed - not sure if it is wiring or a bad retract motor.  Looking for wiring diagram and advice today.
-Starting test: electronic fuel pump worked nice, starter didn't engage (needed lube to move it had been sitting too long), then finally:

That’s awesome!!!


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For sharing video to a wider audience... load the video into YouTube, then post the link...

Then laugh at Steve Jobs....for making it hard, but easy enough....

 

Were you able to check the backside of the wing spar under the rear seat? This is a spot that may get forgotten...

The front side is easy to see, the back side is often taped with original tape from the factory...

Bird pee is Ammonia(?) based... tough chemistry for aluminum...  spend the effort to get it washed out really good...

Best regards,

-a-

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On 5/17/2018 at 1:22 PM, sdflysurf said:

Yeah - I'm bummed I don't have my complex and time in a mooney already so that I could be the one to fly it back to SD.  This whole test pilot thing sounds fun!!!!

 

I think what I read about clearance was only on a re-tread.  So far everyone is confirming that the FCIII 6.00-6 6ply (main) and the 5.00-5 6 ply (nose) are good to go.

Test piloting is not fun and not to be taken lightly.  I watched from my airplane as my best friend went into a field with an engine failure and flip upside down on landing.  It was the worst flight of my life.

This is serious business.

Clarence

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6 hours ago, sdflysurf said:

Retract gear failed - not sure if it is wiring or a bad retract motor.  Looking for wiring diagram and advice today.

I imagine you already have these, but if not you certainly need them - the maintenance manual and parts catalog for your bird (same ones apply to my '68C).  The maintenance manual contains a guide on electric gear trouble shooting for those among us who are not blessed with a J bar ;)

Mooney_maintenance_manual.pdf

Mooney parts catalog.pdf

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1 hour ago, carusoam said:

Bird pee is Ammonia(?) based... tough chemistry for aluminum...  spend the effort to get it washed out really good...

Unless I'm mistaken, birds excrete uric acid to dump nitrogenous waste (unlike the urea in human pee).  Birds don't really pee at all - the white stuff in their poop is the crystalline form, which allows them to conserve water maximally. So if there's not visible bird poop on it, I imagine you're good to go.  

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4 hours ago, DXB said:

Unless I'm mistaken, birds excrete uric acid to dump nitrogenous waste (unlike the urea in human pee).  Birds don't really pee at all - the white stuff in their poop is the crystalline form, which allows them to conserve water maximally. So if there's not visible bird poop on it, I imagine you're good to go.  

Thanks Dev... I was stuck with half an idea.  You finished it!

fish pee ammonia... birds, uric acid... so make sure all the nesting material is removed and washed of anything left behind...

If fish have been nesting in your plane... that’s a much bigger problem. :)

PP thoughts only...

Best regards,

-a-

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Before you start digging into the retraction system, did you remember there is an airspeed pressure switch.  Gently blow into the pitot tube and see if the gear. come.up.  

Edited by tony
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4 hours ago, tony said:

Before you start digging into the retraction system, did you remember there is an airspeed pressure switch.  Gently blow into the pitot tube and see if the gear. come.up.  

Thanks for your reply - That is exactly what I am researching/looking for - to see if there is some safety switch that might be stuck (ie gear feels pressure from being on the ground so it knows it is on the ground and wont allow it to go up accidentally, airspeed as you described, etc).

So are you saying that the M20F has an airspeed pressure switch and so when you do a gear up test when the airplane is on jacks you have to blow into the pitot?  standard procedure?

Edited by sdflysurf
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Thanks for your reply - That is exactly what I am researching/looking for - to see if there is some safety switch that might be stuck (ie gear feels pressure from being on the ground so it knows it is on the ground and wont allow it to go up accidentally, airspeed as you described, etc).

So are you saying that the M20F has an airspeed pressure switch and so when you do a gear up test when the airplane is on jacks you have to blow into the pitot?  standard procedure?

 

Your F won’t have the airspeed switch, it will have a squat switch on the left main. I believe there may have been a few Fs with airspeed switches. I’ll snap a picture of it when I head to the airport in a bit. That way you will know for sure.

 

The switch is probably not being activated because the donuts are not expanding.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Marauder said:

 


Your F won’t have the airspeed switch, it will have a squat switch on the left main. I’ll snap a picture of it when I head to the airport in a bit. The switch is probably not being activated because the donuts are not expanding.


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Thank you!!!!  I read about the squat switch and sent that to the A&P (it was too late because he was gone for the day) and that is the first thing we are looking at today.  you think the donuts are not expanding while on jacks because maybe they've just been compressed  too dang long?  If so I'd be interested to understand if there is a way to condition them or if they should be replaced.  Looking at them while on the jacks and on the ground showed no cracking or tearing or poor condition.

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3 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Your F won’t have the airspeed switch, it will have a squat switch on the left main. I believe there may have been a few Fs with airspeed switches. I’ll snap a picture of it when I head to the airport in a bit. That way you will know for sure.

The switch is probably not being activated because the donuts are not expanding.

Or because the plane has been sitting for years and the switch is stuck. Isn't it under the belly panel?

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Just now, sdflysurf said:

Thank you!!!!  I read about the squat switch and sent that to the A&P (it was too late because he was gone for the day) and that is the first thing we are looking at today.  you think the donuts are not expanding while on jacks because maybe they've just been compressed  too dang long?  If so I'd be interested to understand if there is a way to condition them or if they should be replaced.  Looking at them while on the jacks and on the ground showed no cracking or tearing or poor condition.

There's a test in the Maintenance Manual describing when the pucks should be replaced. It's a clearance measurement above the pucks when first jacked off the ground. Has nothing to do with appearances but material properties of the rubber.

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