Airways Posted September 23, 2020 Report Posted September 23, 2020 According the maintenance manual, you can level a Mooney just by varying the nosewheel tyre pressure. Is this true ? I’ll need to level my plane in order to calibrate the fuel level readings on my EDM. I was expecting a need for jacking up the plane or something else... 1
EricJ Posted September 23, 2020 Report Posted September 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Airways said: According the maintenance manual, you can level a Mooney just by varying the nosewheel tyre pressure. Is this true ? I’ll need to level my plane in order to calibrate the fuel level readings on my EDM. I was expecting a need for jacking up the plane or something else... I've weighed one Mooney, and we had to let all of the air out of the nosewheel and put 3/4" spacers under the main gear to get it level. It was a C model. 1
Airways Posted September 23, 2020 Author Report Posted September 23, 2020 That might work without too much hassle. Anybody did this with a K ?
PT20J Posted September 23, 2020 Report Posted September 23, 2020 I've never tried it although the manual for the J says it works. But... The wheelbase is about 72". The airplane sits about 5 deg. nose high. 72 * tan(5 deg) = 6.3". It's hard to see how you could lower the nose 6" by deflating the tire. You could always run the mains up on a couple of short 2x6 boards and then let air out of the nose wheel tire. Skip
carusoam Posted September 24, 2020 Report Posted September 24, 2020 Expect lowering the air pressure to be a fine adjustment... As in, get it close by using a couple of boards, and adjust the final amount by letting air out... I think I read that around here somewhere... + It Makes sense... I don’t think the words solely by adjusting air pressure will work... that could be mis-interpreted around the world by so many different people... Best regards, -a-
tmo Posted September 24, 2020 Report Posted September 24, 2020 My K will NOT be level by just letting the air out of the front tire. When lifted by the jack points, the main landing gear wheels are an inch or so above the floor, so it isn't just old pucks.
Airways Posted September 24, 2020 Author Report Posted September 24, 2020 10 minutes ago, tmo said: My K will NOT be level by just letting the air out of the front tire. When lifted by the jack points, the main landing gear wheels are an inch or so above the floor, so it isn't just old pucks. So jacking up is no solution either ? I don’t mind using boards, but I find it odd that a maintenance manual can be off by so much. My trust in manuals is pretty unconditional, you know
tmo Posted September 24, 2020 Report Posted September 24, 2020 (edited) Jacking the plane worked; it lifted the main wheels up about an inch till the plane was level (the two odd screws above avionics bay panel). We chose to jack the mains up because we had the jacks, but putting the mains on some wood /plastic / maybe even cardboard would have worked as well. Edited September 24, 2020 by tmo
Airways Posted September 24, 2020 Author Report Posted September 24, 2020 So let me get this right; deflating the nose tire + jacking the mains 1 inch agl leveled the plane ?
ragedracer1977 Posted September 24, 2020 Report Posted September 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Airways said: So let me get this right; deflating the nose tire + jacking the mains 1 inch agl leveled the plane ? That worked on my C model. @Eric J weighed mine. Nose tire flat, a couple ~3/4" boards under the mains, and it was level. 1
tmo Posted September 24, 2020 Report Posted September 24, 2020 3 hours ago, Airways said: So let me get this right; deflating the nose tire + jacking the mains 1 inch agl leveled the plane ? Partly deflating the nose tire and jacking the mains about 1" leveled the plane, yes. Some plywood under the mains would have worked as well. 1
RLCarter Posted September 24, 2020 Report Posted September 24, 2020 I use a couple of 2x12’s under the mains, then fine tune it with nose wheel psi. My hangar floor is fairly level but you can adjust left/right with tire psi on the mains. 2
Mooney-Shiner Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Bringing this thread from the dead because also planning on calibrating my new CIES fuel senders. How do you know when the airplane is leveled? Do I need to put a construction level inside the cabin floor to know that I'm leveled?
201Mooniac Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 You level along the seam above the battery/avionics access panel and then along the seat rails for side to side. 2 1
EricJ Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 47 minutes ago, Mooney-Shiner said: Bringing this thread from the dead because also planning on calibrating my new CIES fuel senders. How do you know when the airplane is leveled? Do I need to put a construction level inside the cabin floor to know that I'm leveled? It's described in the weighing procedure in the SMM, which can probably be downloaded here if you don't have it already. On most Mooneys there's a sheetmetal seam above the avionics hatch that is used. In my experience with weighing Mooneys you will need to let the air out of the nosewheel tire and probably also have the main wheels on some spacers, e.g., 3/4" plywood squares or something similar. This is assuming that the CiES installation instructions need it to be "level" in the same sense as weighing the aircraft does. The installation instructions for the senders should specify what is needed. 1
Mooney-Shiner Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 (edited) 11 minutes ago, EricJ said: It's described in the weighing procedure in the SMM, which can probably be downloaded here if you don't have it already. On most Mooneys there's a sheetmetal seam above the avionics hatch that is used. In my experience with weighing Mooneys you will need to let the air out of the nosewheel tire and probably also have the main wheels on some spacers, e.g., 3/4" plywood squares or something similar. This is assuming that the CiES installation instructions need it to be "level" in the same sense as weighing the aircraft does. The installation instructions for the senders should specify what is needed. Perfect! I will look the weighing procedure in the SMM. From SMM: Edited February 6 by Mooney-Shiner
N201MKTurbo Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Last time I weighed a plane, I set each main scale on an Aircraft Spruce catalog. 1
PT20J Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 My 1994 J has two screws in the tailcone to rest the level on, so be sure to check the manual for your airplane for the proper reference. I cannot get my airplane level even if I remove all the air from the nose tire, so I put jacks under the wings. The G3X allows two calibration curves: one in flight attitude (level) and one at the attitude it sits on the ground. I believe it switches calibration curves based on GPS speed. Other monitors might allow this too. 1
McMooney Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 they had to use boards under the mains then let the air out the nose to level birdy.
N201MKTurbo Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 I’m telling you, spruce catalogs are the perfect height. You barely have to let any air out of the nose wheel. Make sure you put the binding towards the wing tips so the pages don’t slip. 3
Paul Thomas Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 16 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said: I’m telling you, spruce catalogs are the perfect height. You barely have to let any air out of the nose wheel. Make sure you put the binding towards the wing tips so the pages don’t slip. What year on the spruce catalogs? 2
TangoTango Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 26 minutes ago, Paul Thomas said: What year on the spruce catalogs? As long as you start with a big one, you can remove pages until it's just right 1
N201MKTurbo Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 7 hours ago, Paul Thomas said: What year on the spruce catalogs? Fairly recent. They will send you one for free if you ask and they give them away at aviation events. They are good for drilling sheet metal parts. You can drill right into them and you can still read most of the catalog. 1 3
Recommended Posts