Hradec Posted January 15, 2020 Report Posted January 15, 2020 Hi, My 1964 M20E had a mitchell wing leveler installed in 1965. The box in the tail section is 1c359 mitchell gyro amplifier. Does anyone have an owners manual? Installation manual? Wire diagrams? Does anyone repair, support, supply parts for this system. I out power to it and the gyro fired up. Plane wont be flying for next several months, going through it. Thanks Glenn Quote
carusoam Posted January 15, 2020 Report Posted January 15, 2020 Glenn, The 65s were the first to use the Brittain system... Check the downloads section for manuals... they are probably posted around here somewhere else as well... The original gyro in the tail is probably what you have found... Later versions got updated TCs mounted on the panel to drive the wing leveler... Do you have the half size TnB in the center of the instrument panel? It might be a Mitchel instrument as well...(?) TCs are bad... TnBs were worse... If updating the panel make sure to have a second AI for back up... Very important if intending on flying in IMC... PP thoughts only, not a mechanic... Best regards, -a- Quote
Hradec Posted January 15, 2020 Author Report Posted January 15, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, carusoam said: Glenn, The 65s were the first to use the Brittain system... The original gyro in the tail is probably what you have found... Later versions got updated TCs mounted on the panel to drive the wing leveler... Do you have the half size TnB in the center of the instrument panel? TCs are bad... TnBs were worse... If updating the panel make sure to have a second AI for back up... PP thoughts only, not a mechanic... Best regards, -a- It was not installed by mooney, it appears it is a self contained wing leveler, not slaved to any instuments. Box in the tail is a gyro, there is a toggle switch to turn on, a knob to adjust? And a automotive glass fuse that screws onto the panel. There is a motor and associated mechanisms connected to aileron control behind instrument panel. Aftermarket set up Edited January 15, 2020 by Hradec Quote
Hradec Posted January 15, 2020 Author Report Posted January 15, 2020 Mitchell system, definitely not a Britain Quote
carusoam Posted January 15, 2020 Report Posted January 15, 2020 Interesting.... share pics if able... Does it use vac servos like the Britain system? My 65C’s wing leveler was so independent of any other system in the plane... it turned on and off with the master... It was hard to know it was there... except for the sound of gyro winding down when you left the plane... My C’s build date was at the end of August in 1965, about the 3kth C they built... Best regards, -a- Quote
Hradec Posted January 15, 2020 Author Report Posted January 15, 2020 Just now, carusoam said: Interesting.... share pics if able... Does it use vac servos like the Britain system? Best regards, -a- No vac servos, electric drive motor and mechanism attached to aileron tubes behind instrument panel. When I go back to the hangar I will post pics 1 Quote
kerry Posted January 15, 2020 Report Posted January 15, 2020 I had a Mitchell wing leveler with a heading bug in a 1960 A model. It had an electric servo with most the brains in a box which was attached right behind the end of the control wheel shaft. I had some basic paperwork on the autopilot. Nothing technical, mostly instructions on to operate it. I'll search around and see if I can find it. 1 Quote
kerry Posted January 15, 2020 Report Posted January 15, 2020 I just found the manual. It's more detailed than I thought. The autopilot I had was called a Mitchell Airboy Copilot and it was installed by Mooney. Quote
Hradec Posted January 15, 2020 Author Report Posted January 15, 2020 6 hours ago, kerry said: I just found the manual. It's more detailed than I thought. The autopilot I had was called a Mitchell Airboy Copilot and it was installed by Mooney. Any possibility of scanning and sending it to me? I searched the internet, not much out there. Any repair shops that might have something? Thanks Glenn Quote
Hradec Posted January 15, 2020 Author Report Posted January 15, 2020 Here are the pictures of my aftermarket Mitchell wing leveler installed in 1965 Quote
Hradec Posted January 16, 2020 Author Report Posted January 16, 2020 I checked the logbook, it was actually installed in 1968 and they called it a mitchell wing stabilizer, no other documentation. Glenn 1 Quote
Andy95W Posted January 17, 2020 Report Posted January 17, 2020 Sorry to be a buzz-kill, but by the time you drop a few thousand $ on repairing your Mitchell-orphaned autopilot, you could've had a TruTrak with vertical modes and GPSS. On the plus side, it'll probably take you the better part of a year to troubleshoot and repair the system, so by then the TruTrak will actually be STCed for your Mooney. Quote
jetdriven Posted January 17, 2020 Report Posted January 17, 2020 You could try calling autopilots central in Tulsa. I just sent in my entire century Ii and they went through it. Wasn’t terribly expensive. They said the servo passed but I made them overhaul it anyway.. it cost about 1500 bucks. If they don’t know much about it then I don’t think anybody else will either Quote
Hradec Posted January 17, 2020 Author Report Posted January 17, 2020 7 hours ago, Andy95W said: Sorry to be a buzz-kill, but by the time you drop a few thousand $ on repairing your Mitchell-orphaned autopilot, you could've had a TruTrak with vertical modes and GPSS. On the plus side, it'll probably take you the better part of a year to troubleshoot and repair the system, so by then the TruTrak will actually be STCed for your Mooney. They are working on an stc for m20e? Quote
Andy95W Posted January 19, 2020 Report Posted January 19, 2020 Yes, TruTrak (recently acquired by Bendix King) say they have been working on an STC for Mooneys. And they've been saying that for almost 2 years. Maybe another year? 1 Quote
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