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Johnson bar + electric gear?


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Hello all, new member here.

I always thought that a manual gear F model would be the one to have.  That would limit me to the 1966-68 years, with both manual and electric gear available in 67 and 68, I think.  Did any F or later models have electric gear, but kept the Johnson bar as a backup gear system? I thought I saw an ad recently that hinted at that.  Thanks for any info.

Fred

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Welcome aboard, Fred...

It is great to have the manual gear option...

So when you move on to the electric gear, you know what everyone is crowing about!

The ultimate in manual Mooneys has a J-bar, hydraulic flaps, a crank down step, and manual speed brakes!

Then you graduate to a Long Body, and everything can be all electric....

There are no bad Mooney models... just some are preferred more than others by one group of pilot, or the other... :)

Go Mooney,

-a-

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25 minutes ago, RLCarter said:

If I remember correctly the early ratio was 40:1 and the new (replacement) gear motors are 20:1

That'd be mine and his'n, respectively. My hand crank is 52 turns, so halving the gear ratio should double it to 104 turns of that rotating handle. Doesn't sound like fun. The one time I needed it for real, the wheels were mostly down when I lost electricity, only got about 6 turns before it stopped. But the floor indicator showed good, I landed smoothly and taxied to the hangar., no problem. Until the door handle broke instead of opening . . . . .

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30 minutes ago, N803RM said:

Early electric gear motors are 20:1,   40:1 can be retro fit.  40:1 is much better.

Ron

How so? It's slower, so people automatically assume that means lower stress on the motor and longer life. But I've never seen any data either way, only opinions and pronouncements.

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10 hours ago, Hank said:

How so? It's slower, so people automatically assume that means lower stress on the motor and longer life. But I've never seen any data either way, only opinions and pronouncements.

With the 20:1, I could feel the gear slamming up and down, with the 40:1 to ones you can feel it, not nearly as much. Has to be easier on the components. 

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For what it’s worth for the OPer, IMHO, I chose the Jbar mainly because the electric has a single point of failure that is a $1 coil spring that has a cold formed flange.  If the tiny flange breaks, you’re SOL.  If I understood correctly after speaking with an MSC, it is a return spring??, and so he said if it breaks, you can’t even drop the gear manually.  You’re forced to land on the belly.    I’d rather not have a bad day because a tiny fatigued spring decided to break.  That’s why they have to be replaced every so many hours, which is quite costly in labor.   There are also limit switches and other things that can and do go bad.   I recall a friend spending a few thousand getting his gear motor worked on...  I also think the electric gear costs UL.  If you do get electric gear anyway, get the one that has the slower gear ratio.  

Edited by Browncbr1
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I believe your MSC was talking about the Js and up without the E gear hand crank method.   They have a brass part that if it strips you are belly landing.

The hand crank has a spline gear for engaging.   If miss adjusted it would be possible to strip the spline gear and have a belly landing.   The actuator should be lubed along with the rest of the gear. 

 

This is all easy to know before a belly landing if you are doing the E gear extension at annual like you should be.   If the pilot has not done one, they should ask the shop if they can participate.

 

Edited by Yetti
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