Maintenance Induced Failure

[EricJ]

4 hours ago, steingar said:

One of the very few things I dislike about my Mooney is it takes forever to remove the cowlings and even longer to put them back on.  Hence the engine doesn't get the kind of inspection I like prior to flight.  Hence I take off and hope for the best.  Heck, it's worked so far...

Get a J model or later.  Release a few camlocks and the top comes off, a few more and the cowl flap connections and the bottom comes off and it's completely cowl-free.  No frame, no doghouse, just a motor and some baffling.   Not much more effort to put it all back on.

I think Sabremech's cowl works the same, so that's maybe more motivation for people to go that way if they're on the fence.

[FlyBoyM20J]

14 hours ago, EricJ said:

Get a J model or later.  Release a few camlocks and the top comes off, a few more and the cowl flap connections and the bottom comes off and it's completely cowl-free.  No frame, no doghouse, just a motor and some baffling.   Not much more effort to put it all back on.

I think Sabremech's cowl works the same, so that's maybe more motivation for people to go that way if they're on the fence.

Don't forget to unplug the landing light before you walk away with the lower cowling.

Oh, and it's always a good idea to remember to plug the landing light back in once the lower cowling is back in place...but before the upper cowling is attached.

This is what I think I'm going to tatoo on my arm in some fashion.

[mike_elliott]

16 hours ago, neilpilot said:

All but one of the A&P's I've used over the years have had 2 eyes.

I have used Larry Wheelock also...oh wait...he has both eyes, just his hearing is shot, I was confusing him with Dave Taisch

Edited May 11, 2019 by mike_elliott

[RobertGary1]

22 hours ago, EricJ said:

Get a J model or later.  Release a few camlocks and the top comes off, a few more and the cowl flap connections and the bottom comes off and it's completely cowl-free.  No frame, no doghouse, just a motor and some baffling.   Not much more effort to put it all back on.

I think Sabremech's cowl works the same, so that's maybe more motivation for people to go that way if they're on the fence.

Or an F model. It works the same way. 

-Robert 

[RLCarter]

9 hours ago, mike_elliott said:

I have used Larry Wheelock also...oh wait...he has both eyes, just his hearing is shot, I was confusing him with Dave Taisch

lol, Had lunch with Larry today, he is a member of our local EAA chapter which met this morning 

[exM20K]

On 5/10/2019 at 5:43 PM, EricJ said:

Get a J model or later.  Release a few camlocks and the top comes off, a few more and the cowl flap connections and the bottom comes off and it's completely cowl-free.  No frame, no doghouse, just a motor and some baffling.   Not much more effort to put it all back on.

I think Sabremech's cowl works the same, so that's maybe more motivation for people to go that way if they're on the fence.

Better yet, get an Ovation or Acclaim: camlocks only.  No cowl flaps or landing light connections to worry about!

[FloridaMan]

I’ve had a post maintenance catastrophic engine failure at 200ft on takeoff from a reputable shop and know of two other such failures from other reputable shops. Shit happens. Glad it wasn’t expensive and didn’t set you back too much time. 

This is also another reason why the dual mags have killed a number of people. Not only do the gears fail if not maintained properly, I can think of at least one fatal M20j that was the result of a loose dual mag. Poor guy went down in the salt pillars of the devils golf course in Death Valley. 

[alextstone]

I’ve had a post maintenance catastrophic engine failure at 200ft on takeoff from a reputable shop and know of two other such failures from other reputable shops. Shit happens. Glad it wasn’t expensive and didn’t set you back too much time. 
This is also another reason why the dual mags have killed a number of people. Not only do the gears fail if not maintained properly, I can think of at least one fatal M20j that was the result of a loose dual mag. Poor guy went down in the salt pillars of the devils golf course in Death Valley. 

Whoa. Sobering.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Shadrach]

10 hours ago, FloridaMan said:

I’ve had a post maintenance catastrophic engine failure at 200ft on takeoff from a reputable shop and know of two other such failures from other reputable shops. Shit happens. Glad it wasn’t expensive and didn’t set you back too much time. 

This is also another reason why the dual mags have killed a number of people. Not only do the gears fail if not maintained properly, I can think of at least one fatal M20j that was the result of a loose dual mag. Poor guy went down in the salt pillars of the devils golf course in Death Valley. 

I’ve read that report and never understood why he was unable to put it on the ground. I’ve never been to devils golf course and while I am sure it is rough terrain, I would think it possible to land gear up on that service.