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252 Speed Brakes


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Standby Boomer...

While you wait...

What do you mean by 252 Rocket?

We have 252s, a Mooney brand name...

We have Rockets, a Rocket Engineering brand name...

Just want to understand what you are looking for...

 

What do you mean by converted to vacuum?

The older versions were mechanical, then vacuum, then electric....

So... if you are installing new... vacuum probably isn’t the way to go...

If they are electric, it would be Non-sensical to convert to vacuum driven...


I think you may be looking at planes with vac driven speed brakes... and wondering what to do next...

Some people leave the vac pump on the engine to drive them...

If going dual alternators... a back-up vac pump makes a great speed brake driver...

 

There may be a paperwork challenge to have proper STCs in place... but that has been covered around here as well...

See if you can clean up your request to be more understandable for what you are trying to get done...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Go Rocket!

Best regards,

-a-

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I guess I omitted some of my assumptions.  As far as I can tell, all 252s came with electric speed brakes.  Perhaps they were optional, but I don’t recall seeing a 252 without them.  I have seen multiple Rocket conversions on 252s with vacuum brakes.  Also, as far as I can tell, all 252s with the Rocket conversion have Jose’s tanks.  Hence, it appears that there may have been some reason the electric brakes had to go, and were replaced with vacuum.

I sent a message to Jose, but he seems to have been offline for a while.

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25 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

I have been searching for a 252 Rocket.  There aren't many, but I have seen a few with vacuum speed brakes.  Is it true that with Monroy tanks, the speed brakes in a 252 must be converted to vacuum?  If so, why?

The 252's were all equipped with Vacuum speed brakes as standard equipment. My vacuum system still works perfectly, but I did need need to renew the cables some years ago. But I don't see too many needing to upgrade to electric brakes. But I am sure some have and the Monroy tanks won't prevent going to electric.

I am afraid you got it backwards on your assumptions.

Edited by kortopates
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Expect to go all electric...

Some people are there already...

Interesting concern about electric speed brakes and extended fuel tanks...

That may be a non-issue as well...

I can invite José to join us... @Gagarin he still swings by every few days or so...

My 100 gallon fuel tanks have electric speed brakes... the brakes are mounted on the other side of the spar in my plane...

We were discussing Missiles the other day... and one prospective owner was trying to determine where the fuel tanks were in relation to the speed brakes...

Rocket Engineering documentation, generally, is incredibly clear and complete...  Trying to contact the company is sometimes a challenge...

Rocket owners love their ships...

252 owners love their ships...

Encore owners love their ships...

You won’t go wrong with any of them... They are highly evolved from the original M20K...

PP thoughts only, 

Best regards,

-a-

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Just now, Fly Boomer said:

Just reviewed some of the “for sale” postings, and they just say “speed brakes” — not “electric speed brakes”.  Where do these ideas come from......

Look to see who the seller is...

You might be running into...

  • owners trying to sell their own plane...
  • brokers not familiar with Mooneys...
  • For the best sales descriptions ever...find All american aircraft.... GMax...  https://www.gmaxamericanaircraft.com

 

PP thoughts only, not promoting one MSers planes over another...

Best regards,

-a-

 

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19 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

I have been searching for a 252 Rocket.  There aren't many, but I have seen a few with vacuum speed brakes.  Is it true that with Monroy tanks, the speed brakes in a 252 must be converted to vacuum?  If so, why?

The Monroy Long range tanks can be installed with either vacuum or electric speed brakes.

José Monroy

Edited by Gagarin
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My 252 Rocket has vaccuum speed brakes.  Work fantastic.  They're the only thing vacuu  powered left on the airplane, powered by engine driven vacuum pump, electric stanby vac removed.

I was led to believe that the electric ones are not a simple drop in replacement for vacuum...needs sheet metal work for differen opening or opening in a different place altogether.

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I'm seriously contemplating switching from vacuum to electric speed brakes. My vacuum pump is tired and so the brakes only deploy at medium to high rpm. Like @PJClark, they are the only thing using the vacuum pump in my 252. I've got a set of electric brakes on the bench, just need to have them installed. But it's not just a drop in.

She'll be at SWTA for her annual the end of Sept and we'll see what happens then.

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On 8/31/2020 at 9:16 AM, Fly Boomer said:

Thanks, José.  Is the tank capacity affected by the choice between vacuum and electric?  Any differences at all?

All The Best

Installing Monroy tanks, in a ship with speed brakes of any kind, you lose I think six gallons per side. Confirm with @Gagarin 

 

Edited by Mcstealth
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I have the Monroy tanks in my 252.  Unfortunately, the original owner wanted every bit of fuel capacity he could get, so he removed the speed brakes.  That gave him 2 additional gallons per side, beyond the normal capacity Monroy tanks.

I’d rather have the speed brakes!

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