Building your own Mooney aircraft jacks?

[DonMuncy]

As to using a chain pulley set-up from a beam in the hangar, you may want to use what Lowes (and probably Home Depot) calls a "come along" winch. Inexpensive and rated for plenty of weight. Also a lot easier to hook up as they are much lighter than chain.

Don

[Magnum]

We had a mechanic here in Germany working overtime alone at night under a jacked aircraft. It fell down and he was found dead the next morning. It is a two peoples job.

[Vref]

Thanks for all to good comments, sorry I had to catch some sleep and have it quite busy professionally but I will post some pictures soon. Jacking an aircraft is one of the most safety critical things you can do on ground...From my airline experience testing flight controls LDG swing with a pressurized hydraulic system is one of those also...to get back on the Mooney. IMHO

- you need to be with two persons minimum for safety

- I will try to use a giraffe (cherrypicker) to lift the nose a bit on the engine lifting point a 1T will do

- to use  a tail stand with a concrete weight (sand bag's)with an adjustable height for added stability

I think the pitch oscillation when jacking up the aircraft is the most dangerous one....using a fixed tail stand will reduce this effect I believe...maybe overkill but safety is important and I am a strong believer in redundant safety measures....;-)

[MooneyMitch]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PIPER-MOONEY-LOW-WING-AIRCRAFT-AIRPLANE-JACKS-JACK-/280694534193?pt=Motors_Aviation_Parts_Gear&hash=item415ab2b031

A set of aircraft jacks on Ebay, $120.00.  They are local pick up only but if you are close enough, you could fly in and pick up.   Dresden, Ohio.

[Magnum]

>>A set of aircraft jacks on Ebay, $120.00.  They are local pick up only but if you are close enough, you could fly in and pick up.   Dresden, Ohio.

I think Vref would like to pick it up by plane, but it's around 3500 miles away...

[jetdriven]

Do not lift it by the prop.  Lift the nose with a short length of chain attached to the lifting eye on the crankcase with a cherry picker.  RSC rental places and the like rent them to pull car engines with.  Truly, it is easier to anchor the tail tie down with a bucket ful of 300 lbs of cement that has a chain or pipe and linch pin attached to it.  Mooney doesnt prohibit that they, just discourage that.  As long as you are careful its fine. But lifting the prop with a saddle and a jack is bad.

[Magnum]

The force you need to lift the nose for jacking is less than the engine weight. (if you remove the engine the aircraft tail will hit the ground). So it is no problem to use the engine hoist eyelet.

[Vref]

so 150kg..or 300 pounds on the tail should fairly ne enough to keep it safe..I guess?

Just calculating how many 25kg sand bag's I need to buy...

Btw just received my new Concorde 35AXC battery...hoping to install it somewhere next week...Anybody experience with the performance of this battery?

I wanted to install the LED PAR46 from Whelen but they can only be delivered from Augustus onward...the GE4522 don't look very solid to me ...you see the filament wobbling when walking around with the bulb..

[OR75]

I have been using a Concord 35XC and no probelm at all with good cranking

I use a battery minder.

[jetdriven]

Mooney S.I. M-20-114 says to only lift any Mooney prior to the M20L by the engine lift point.  They say to "do not"  lift the nose by a propeller jack, and they do not recommend using the tail tie down point to raise the nose.      here it is:

 

http://www.mooney.com/images/pdfs/si-pdf/m20-114.pdf

[jetdriven]

You will find a bucket full of cement and a linch pin in our shop.  It has worked well for 34 years.

[DaV8or]

Anybody know the exact amount of weight needed for the tail? I'm thinking I might use barbell weights on a rolling cart instead of concrete so that I would be able to more easily move it should I move to a new hangar.

[Vref]

just did this afternoon i worked perfectly. I took 6 bags of 25 kg and added a concrete block that I found lying around...with 400 lbs you are way on the safe side for J....

[Vref]

Btw looking for the wiring for the LDG gear logic...anybody?

I thought I could overide the engage logic on ground by pushing the red by-pass switch apart from a relay click nothing happned......strange.......Tommorow I am going to simulate flight conditions with tube over the pitot and generate some airspeed........I will post some pictures soon..my DIY project turns out perfect...I am very happy

[laytonl]

WIth the gear override button depressed, you should be able to move the gear lever up and the gear should come up.

We want to see pictures and specs on your jacks.

Lee

[N601RX]

Does anyone know approx how high the mains must be jacked up if the front wheel is approx 1" off the ground to get the plane level?

[Bacachero]

I would also like to see some pictures, but since we have a video section now.....let make it a video  to get the ball rolling!

[DaV8or]

"Tommorow I am going to simulate flight conditions with tube over the pitot and generate some airspeed........"

This is how I've seen the mechanics do it. They put a piece of surgical tubing over the pitot tube with one end closed. Then they roll the tube up like a toothpaste tube until the ASI reads high enough for gear operation and they clamp it there.

[Vref]

Ok here they are......The system works perfectly..though my LDG gear issue is not solved (I am very unhappy about this)...the CB of the actuator pops when I select the master on.and the gear unsafe light/alarm enages immediatly...for me this can be only the following correct me If I am wrong..

- the downlimit switch is not working and the actuator is running against the overcurrent protection when hitting the mechanical stops..?

- the actiuator is binding mechanically somewhere..

- the electrical motor is u/s (I hope not as this is major $$$$)

didn't have the time to remove all panelling ..I am going to call in a Mooney expert I think........

Came home this evening and realised I forgot a major troubleshooting try out: select gear up..and then engage the CB..so the motor runs in the other direction .....pfffffffft...somewhere next week...

[Vref]

issue solved by the mechanic, the down limit switch was not actuated correctly, after inserting a screw driver point the light came on......happy it was just an adjustment issue...

[MARZ]

Quote: N601RX

Does anyone know approx how high the mains must be jacked up if the front wheel is approx 1" off the ground to get the plane level?