Does Anyone Know What Happened To HangarToolbox.com?

[pilot_jb]

The website is down.  They used to, or still do, rent travel boards for rigging.  Anyone know if they're still around and have alternate contact information?

Thanks.  

[kortopates]

As far as I know, they haven't rented anything for years. All I remember hearing back when they closed long ago was for "health reasons". Maybe one of our MSers from Arizona might have more accurate info but they haven't been a rental source for tools in a long time. Its a shame, as they were the only such service around. Although you can get the nose shock disk compression tool from LASAR with purchase of disks, but that is about all I know of that you can rent or borrow.

[pilot_jb]

I’m a bit surprised. Their website was active after I purchased my Mooney in September of last year. Was really counting on that during annual next month. Bummer. 

[smwash02]

He's out of Dallas if I remember right. The gentleman who runs it has had health issues for a long while now and more or less shutdown 2-3 years ago.

My last correspondence was with him was January of last year when he said he wasn't able to help me due to illness. The email address he used was @littleflyers.com, which appears to be for sale now.

The lack of renewal of both of these sites doesn't spell anything good. Really unfortunate, he was really nice to talk to when I spoke with him while renting his puck compressor.

[RobertGary1]

3 minutes ago, pilot_jb said:

I’m a bit surprised. Their website was active after I purchased my Mooney in September of last year. Was really counting on that during annual next month. Bummer. 

I wouldn’t put boards on a Mooney unless you’re replacing flight contols. You probably just need an adjustment. Boards are a starting point. Then you have to tune to fly straight. 

-Robert

[N201MKTurbo]

14 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

I wouldn’t put boards on a Mooney unless you’re replacing flight contols. You probably just need an adjustment. Boards are a starting point. Then you have to tune to fly straight. 

-Robert

I couldn't agree more. Even if you replace a flight control, just put the new one on and if it needs adjusting just put it back where the old one was. If it is an aileron and the old one sat 1/8 inch above the flap, put the new one on so it sits 1/8 inch above the flap. I can see using them when the plane was assembled or if you replaced the whole tail, or had to replace a bunch of control rods after a gear up. Anyone who thinks all their woes are going to be cured with a set of travel boards is probably going to be disappointed. Unless someone in the past really screwed it up.

[pilot_jb]

I assumed they would be needed for two reasons. First, the trailing edges of my ailerons are rigged slightly high, and one more than the other, but they are very close to even. Just have to fly with slight opposite yoke and rudder inputs. I know that I’m losing a few knots from the high condition. 

The other issue is play in the elevators, which is likely from old bungees and/or rod ends. This is the bigger concern, because I read that the tail has to be “rerigged”after removing the bungee cartridges. 

Maybe I’m overthinking. It certainly won’t be the first time.

[N201MKTurbo]

17 minutes ago, pilot_jb said:

I assumed they would be needed for two reasons. First, the trailing edges of my ailerons are rigged slightly high, and one more than the other, but they are very close to even. Just have to fly with slight opposite yoke and rudder inputs. I know that I’m losing a few knots from the high condition. 

The other issue is play in the elevators, which is likely from old bungees and/or rod ends. This is the bigger concern, because I read that the tail has to be “rerigged”after removing the bungee cartridges. 

Maybe I’m overthinking. It certainly won’t be the first time.

If you are having uneven ailerons or a heavy wing, that is fixed by adjusting the flap up stops or bending the trailing edge(s) of the ailerons. If the ailerons are level in flight but the yokes are crooked you will have to make differential adjustments to the aileron links or possibly to the rod behind the panel. Once the plane flies level with even ailerons you can center the ball by bending the trailing edge of the rudder or the rudder trim tab if you have one.

One thing the boards would be useful for is setting the aileron stops. They should have been set when the plane was made and they won't change the way the plane flies.

Before you do any rigging, put the plane up on jacks and make sure the gear doors are not hanging down.

Edited July 18, 2018 by N201MKTurbo

[N201MKTurbo]

One way to check for perfection in aileron rigging is to make sure your tanks are equal and have another person in the passenger seat and do a stall series. If it is rigged right it will stall straight ahead.

[RobertGary1]

2 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

One way to check for perfection in aileron rigging is to make sure your tanks are equal and have another person in the passenger seat and do a stall series. If it is rigged right it will stall straight ahead.

Oddly, when Top Gun rigged my plane to get it to fly straight they had to rig it for a 30 degree roll off in stall.

-Robert

[N201MKTurbo]

30 minutes ago, RobertGary1 said:

Oddly, when Top Gun rigged my plane to get it to fly straight they had to rig it for a 30 degree roll off in stall.

-Robert

Hummm, that does seem odd. 

[DonMuncy]

Ordinarily I do not discourage guys from tinkering with their plane, but for rigging, I would take it to a real Mooney guru and pay the price to get it rigged properly. Short of bending something, it is unlikely to require it again.

[gsxrpilot]

I had a Mooney once that was slow and wouldn't fly straight. A day with Don Maxwell and I picked up several knots and it flew straight hands off from that day forward. I real guru can make a huge difference when it comes to rigging.

[pilot_jb]

14 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

If you are having uneven ailerons or a heavy wing, that is fixed by adjusting the flap up stops or bending the trailing edge(s) of the ailerons. If the ailerons are level in flight but the yokes are crooked you will have to make differential adjustments to the aileron links or possibly to the rod behind the panel. Once the plane flies level with even ailerons you can center the ball by bending the trailing edge of the rudder or the rudder trim tab if you have one.

One thing the boards would be useful for is setting the aileron stops. They should have been set when the plane was made and they won't change the way the plane flies.

Before you do any rigging, put the plane up on jacks and make sure the gear doors are not hanging down.

The ailerons are high on the ground and in the air.  Did I read correctly that the elevator boards are necessary when removing the bungee cartridges?

[N201MKTurbo]

8 hours ago, pilot_jb said:

The ailerons are high on the ground and in the air.  Did I read correctly that the elevator boards are necessary when removing the bungee cartridges?

The bungees are not magic either. If you just want to take them off and put them back on you don't need travel boards. If you take them off and replace parts and put them back on you just have to make sure you make them the same length as the ones you took off.

Here is what I would do. Take the bungee off lay it on a piece of scrap lumber. Get a drill bit that fits the bolt holes in the rod ends. Clamp it to the board with a C clamp and drill a hole in the board with the bit through the two bolt holes. When you reassemble the new bungee, adjust the rod end so the two holes line up perfectly. This will make it the same length as the one you removed.

As for the spring in the bungee, it isn't that critical. Count the threads showing when you take it apart and tighten it to the same number of threads.

To test fly the bungee to tune it for max speed, fly the plane straight and level at cruise power and note the speed. Now trim it a bit (1/4 turn) nose down and manhandle the pitch back to level flight and note if the speed was higher or lower. Now do the same with nose up trim. Adjust the bungee so you see an equal speed decrease in both directions. This will give you the optimal elevator to stabilizer angle in cruise flight. This is best done on a very smooth day because the speed differences are slight. You will find that the factory settings are pretty close to the mark.