N2652W will have a new home!

[hammdo]

Wheel wells look a lot nicer along with a new compass card!

Feel much better knowing this is done. I noticed more rivets seeping 100LL (left tank) so I’ll need to plan that for this year. So far, she’s doing well!

[hammdo]

Decided today to see why the rear vents did not work anymore. We initially thought it might be corrosion but, tuned out it was old tape. Anyway, I cleaned all the years of gunk off the vents, boeshield everything, got a look at the air chamber and roll cage, looked great. Looked under the black insulation in the chamber and all was well. Was fairly liberal with the boeshield in the vent area. All that is left is tape her up( aluminum 3M 4380) and put the overhead console back on. Glad it was better than I thought. Here are pics of the vent assembly:

[hammdo]

Great weather today!  Wife and I went to Hot Springs AR today -- fun 'sight seeing' flight instead of doing pattern work.  Need to fly more with 'someone' in the right seat as the plane is really different ;o).

Pics added -- beautiful day to go!  Plane did great, we were in no hurry so just let her go leaned out Key # 46 all the way there and back.  Before we left we went to SWI as Rise Aviation fuel is just crazy priced ($7.25 for full, $6.25 self or SWI for $4.60 -- yep)

Plane was doing great, was able to descend using the right combo, -- just a big difference vs the Warrior...

Ran into smoke and Haze on the front peaks on the way back -- looked crazy as several peaks were like that -- not sure if it was a 'controlled' burn or not -- did do a Pi-rep.

Hopefully the pics will show right I don't see the option to 'align' them -- IF someone rotates them PLEASE let me know what you used (I rotated them locally but they still didn't show up).

Edit -- I figured it out -- you need to re-edit and save -- what a pain.

-Don

Edited March 20, 2022 by hammdo

[carusoam]

Great pics Don!

Perfectly oriented too.

-a-

[Greg Ellis]

On 1/14/2022 at 5:29 PM, hammdo said:

Just got the Blackstone report and she still looks great. I'm going back to Victory + Camguard for now and decided to do quarterly oil changes or 25 hours - whichever comes first. It seems the longer I go between oil changers, the higher the lead (makes sense). Better to keep her clean. Sure wish we'd get 100 UL going ;o). I am STC'd for 94 UL (KACT has it) but that is too far ;o)

-Don

 

 

Hi @hammdo.  I did not go back and re-read all of the posts so I may have missed something.  What is the reason for using Victory Oil and CamGuard?  Victory oil already has the Lycoming anti scuff/anti wear additive in it and I would think CamGuard would be redundant.  Just curious.  Thanks.

[Greg Ellis]

Just now, bluehighwayflyer said:

Camguard and the Lycoming anti scuff additive do two different things.

Thanks.

[hammdo]

Since I can’t get Exxon Elite, I went with as close as I could get. With EE, I probably would not add anything. The scientist of EE created Camguard thus its use. Just my personal preference.

I could go with cross country oil and camguard as victory may not be needed. Engine seems to like what I’m using so, sticking with it.

-Don

Edited March 23, 2022 by hammdo

[hammdo]

Today, I decided to visit the 'mad' DFW hanger elf himself - @DonMuncy @ Redbird - well, now Dallas Executive.  We had lunch, talked about his issue with the Landing Height System (LSH) and gandered at the hanger elf 'toys'. Saw his 'K', nice bird - loved the paint colors and the leather seats are really comfortable! Seems wider than my C and I was really surprised by the longer body. Was a great day to visit and Ambassador FBO is top notch!

-Don

[hammdo]

Finally got around to an oil change with ~15 hours on the oil. Filter looked great and sent oil in for analysis. Did have an issue where the fuse for the SureFly blew - probably when I cut the safety wire and it slipped down towards the SureFly. Fortunately, Home Depot had the exact same fuse - 5 for $2.53. An aviation website wanted $12.95 shipped for 1!

After Rise raised hanger rent 85%, I was lucky to receive a call from Mesquite Metro. I'll be able to save ~$200 a month AND 40 minutes round trip! Has an electric hanger door, level entry, and finally, just my plane. Now I can keep my aviation tools etc. there. Towered airport and self service fuel is right next to my hanger area!

Plane is flying great and now I hope I can finally get a flight school there for my IFR rating.

-Don

 

[hammdo]

Just installed these NavStobes (since I don’t have strobes). I like them, nice and bright and the ‘strobe’ feature is really easy. I’ll post a video later to show the effect. Clear lens and gasket replaces the original. Really nice…

 

[hammdo]

YouTube video:

 

Link to Aircraft Spruce:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/navstrobesextant45.php

Company:

https://navstrobelighting.com/

 

-Don

[carusoam]

Great follow up video Don!

Good hustle around the hangar too!
 

Fancy bulbs

Fancy lenses

Fancy wingtips 

Fancy M20C!

Go Mooney!

 

-a-

[hammdo]

Got the Blackstone report back - still looking great. I'll need to let the oil drain a bit more so I get a better mid stream sample. Outside of that, keep it flying!

I'm basically changing the oil every quarter or 25 hours. I expected silicone higher as I found the air intake hose was not reinstalled correctly (oil cooler is real close) but I got it on right.

-Don

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by hammdo

[Propnut]

I just saw these post, not to sure how old this conversation is but I wanted to say that I owned   2652W back in the 80s, My airplane partner and I bought it from a repair FBO in Raleigh NC where it had been parked for over a year. Seems the previous owner didn't want to pay for the annual they had done, so the judge said "sell it"  We got it flyable and took it home knowing we had a gem. I flew it up and down the east coast for business for several years. After I sold it I missed it so much, I bought another one just like it and flew it for over 10 years.

[hammdo]

Finally moved to my new home @ Mesquite (HQZ) flew great. Starting my IFR training tomorrow!

Before I left, found hanger rash that was caused while in the community hanger. Talked to the line crew with their manager so they’ll be looking into it. We suspect someone used one of the air tanks (another plane owner, possibly). Their line guys are really sharp and careful and I know most of them really well. Thankfully, only marks and no damage (that can be seen). One of the big reasons I wanted my own hanger. I was concerned that if these scrapes were done on another plane and not reported, there could be something damaged.

We’ll see what happens now that I’m not there anymore. Rise is a great FBO and they’ll want to nip this quickly…

This is why I always do a complete pre-flight - even in my own hanger… You never know…

Pics below.

[hammdo]

Wow, night flying is so different! Have not flown at night in 23 years. Did my night currency tonight but I'll need more time for sure but what a difference vs daytime. I had to go instruments on climb out until pattern altitude for each takeoff then had references to follow. Weather came in after I left home so tower was kind enough to let me know the sigmet - which I checked out and decided to stay in the pattern vs going out and coming back.

One thing for sure, night flying is better suited for IFR flying but, I'll very likely avoid flying @ night in unfamiliar area...

-Don

[hammdo]

Instrument written is done (finally), did the long cross country to Galveston and back (RNAV @ GLS, RBD, HQZ). Ate at Tortuga's cantina. Plane flew fantastic, avg 150 knots true (173 MPH true on G5) @ 9000 ft (instructor took pics!) on the way down and back. Did 45 gallons round trip for avg of < 9 gallons per hour (start to stop) each way. Start up to shut down time was 5.9 hours total time (not tach time). Did SIDS and STARS too. Approaches still need a lot of work but I'll get there.

Got some actual, used the StormScope to verify build-ups. She did great for 100°' plus temps. Almost time for oil change again ;o).

Going to have the VOR antenna checked as signal was weak (could barely hear Morse Code) but not strong indications on KI206.

-Don

 

 

[David Lloyd]

Don, Weak nav volume is a common problem for our aging KX155/165s.  Sandhills Avionics repaired mine, now works like it should.

[hammdo]

My radio was gone over and it worked great bench tested. Today, the shop tested the antenna, cable, and splitter - turned out to be the splitter. They found it was the splitter when they remounted it and then everything stopped working - it was OLD ;o). Put another one on and it worked! I test flew and was able to pic up VOR 30 miles out @ 3000 ft (BYP). Next will be a VOT test to confirm!

-Don

[hammdo]

Took her out today to do a VOR DME A at McKinney. Was going well until about 20 miles out - flags came on and full deflection. I was with my safety pilot, needles pegged. Looks like I'll need to do an antenna just to be safe. I'll need to do an ILS to see how that goes. I was still able to ID the Station - which seems odd it would go off scale...

At least I had GPS ;o)

-Don

[hammdo]

So, did my oil change today (25 hrs and was at the quarter year time so all good). A couple of Mooniacs happened by and of course, the oil change was put 'on hold' for a bit. I was trying a new 'fold a funnel' I bought after the last oil change and yep, worth the $40 bucks (got the extended version)!

Not one drip of oil to clean-up. Formed as I needed - simple cleanup.

ready for the next 25 hour/quarter year oil change...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016KTC3FO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

-Don

 

[hammdo]

Cut open filter today, very clean but found one 1/32 sliver - non-magnetic. Magnet had nothing on it. Looked great for 25 hours!

 

Sending sample to Blackstone.

Happy 4th everyone...

-Don

[Marauder]

Cut open filter today, very clean but found one 1/32 sliver - non-magnetic. Magnet had nothing on it. Looked great for 25 hours!
 
Sending sample to Blackstone.
Happy 4th everyone...
-Don

The sliver probably is from the oil filter. Seen this a couple of times.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[hammdo]

That is my guess but it is hard not to cut and have those. The element was really clean outside of that one sliver. Being that it was non-magnetic was the reason I noted it...

-Don

[AceSkyking]

Congrats on owning 52W. My partner and I, now both retired military pilots, owned it in the 80's. We flew it from our base in SC to TX, New England, FL and all states in between much of it IFR.  When we got it, the interior was basically Goodwill material. So we made some aesthetic improvements to the fabric interior.  On one night flight there was a complete electrical failure. So we decided to rip out the entire dash's electrical system and upgrade it.  My partner happened to have his A&P license.  As you may already have found, the Mooney won't just drop out of the sky like most singles and on landing it floats forever.  A good Mooney pilot knows when to tell a controller  "I want lower now, or plan for a go around."
Good luck and enjoy flying one of the best single engines ever built.