Mooney Missile with a 4 Blade MT Prop

[Seth]

First, this will be a novel . . .

My Mooney Missile now has a factory overhauled engine and 4 Blade MT Prop – and it is awesome. N1165N, Hank, took to the skies again for the first time in a long time in February 2021.

The purpose of this novel is to communicate what occurred, the reasons to purchase a 4 Blade MT, and the excruciatingly slow process that left my Mooney grounded for 18 months. I will post several “chapters” of the story in this thread and over the next few weeks. I will post pictures as well.

Edit: After posting some portions of this ordeal, getting this out to MooneySpace, both the aircraft and personal experiences, I’ve realized is very cathartic. Thank you for reading.

I feel comfortable posting this now that the ordeal is over, the aircraft is again flying, insurance is fully paid, etc. I have wanted to share this since the day it happened however chose to instead wait until it was over. Some of you are aware of what occurred, and I have posted certain issues along the way requesting help from MooneySpace. Thank you to everyone who has assisted me.

I want others to learn from what occurred, what I could have done differently, and the excruciatingly long delays and problems associated with the changes made to the STC Missile. The COVID induced delays and other acts of god were large factors as well. You cannot make up some of the things that occurred. I will post information on the 4 Blade MT prop once I have more data specific to the Missile.

On Saturday morning, July 20, 2019, I departed my home base of Gaithersburg, MD (KGAI) in formation with a friend of mine also based at GAI that owns and operates a Van’s RV-8. We each were solo in our aircraft and chatted on two different air-to-air frequencies during the flight (the first got busy so we switched to our backup frequency). My plan was to spend 5 nights at Oshkosh, returning home on Thursday, July 25, 2019 after viewing the Wednesday night airshow. We made a stop at KOXI for fuel (and free hot dogs!) and then continued on to Oshkosh. As we arrived at OSH, a squall line was closing in from the west. Two more aircraft landed after us and then arrivals to the field were shut down (for what ended up being close to two days due to in part what happened to me).

We landed runway 27. It was a really good landing! Precise and I rolled the mains on. Just like numerous previous visits to AirVenture, I was worried about taxing on the grass and went very slow, trim all the way nose up, off the brakes, and control column in my lap. The Missile is the STC modification of the Mooney M20J by Rocket Engineering. It has a normally aspirated 300 HP Continental IO-550A and the 75-inch Scimitar fully feathering prop – a lot more weight at the front of the airplane than a stock J. Also, the stock prop on the M20J is 74 inches. The inch does not seem like a huge difference, but between that and weight over the nose, I have always been concerned of a prop strike and do not often taxi on grass.

The RV-8 landed in front of me and was taxing at a faster clip. We were directed off the south side of 27 and then west toward parking (North 40). Then I was directed to turn south up a slight incline from our grass taxiway to the designated parking area. The RV-8 was well ahead of me at this point so I could not see exactly where he went through the patch ahead. I will post pictures below, but the area in front of me looked like it may be soft or slightly muddy, so I chose to go around that area to the right. I was stopped by the marshals and pointed back toward the questionable area. I then pointed attempting to communicate I wanted to go around and not on the directed path. The marshaller directed me back. I then motioned for him to come to the door which he did. I yelled over the noise I was worried about taxing through there and he said that all the previous airplanes did just fine. In previous years I had a marshaler come to me in similar fashion and said to turn around as he did not like a certain area for a Mooney. So, mistake #1 – I trusted the volunteer marshaler instead of going with my gut and just pulling the mixture and just shutting down.

I taxied where directed, no brakes, trim full nose up, gave it some power, control column in my lap, and as I went through the questionable area, my nose wheel bobbled and sunk into a rut while moving forward. I heard a buzzsaw like sound for an instant as mud splattered up on the leading edge of my left wing through my peripheral vision. The aircraft kept moving, the engine never stopped, so I continued to parking knowing I had just had likely a potential prop strike that did not cause the engine to stop. 

A few moments later by the time I had a parked, the rain had already started and was getting much worse. So, I got under the wing of the RV-8 and waited about 25-30 minutes for the downpour of the line to pass. When we emerged, I looked at my prop and was horrified. The tips were more than cosmetically messed up. I was grounded, AOG, at Oshkosh.

I immediately worked my way toward the soft spot I had been directed through and took some pictures. I will post them. Understand there was no water when I taxied though (though obviously the ground was soft from previous rain). A few inches one way or the other I may have been fine. The pictures look much worse than what I taxied through due to the water (again there was no standing water when I taxied through and it didn't look as muddy, just not as good as the terrain around it), but the depth was there, and the soft mud without question was there. I should have never taxied through that patch and listened to my gut feeling. I should have never been directed through there after numerous airplanes rutted up that area.

Again, this entire story will be posted over the next few weeks with pictures and updates.

To be continued . . .

Edited March 8, 2021 by Seth

[Seth]

 

Edit: Thank you Anthony for flipping the pics to the correct orientation and reposting below. I've deleted those that were upside down or sideways.

- Seth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Seth

[Seth]

Anyone who want's to properly flip the pics (ANTHONY) please do so and once done I'll edit and remove those not in proper alignment. 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Seth

[Seth]

And yes, that's Byron (Jet Driven / RPM) in the pictures ankle deep in muddy water. He and Becca arrived from GAI earlier that day or the day prior and were parked with their beautiful M20J about four rows from me. He was one of the many people who assisted me during the ordeal.

Some of the other pictures were after a few days when the water had dried out.

-Seth

[carusoam]

I got you covered Seth...

But, a real friend stands in a rut up to his shins in water for you...

-a-

[carusoam]

Seth,

you have a few that were spun correctly, so they are not here...

-a-

[201er]

Now that your bird is fixed I guess they can reopen Oshkosh Airventure!

[Hank]

I'm glad, Seth, that the saga is over, and the results are beautiful! 

The only problem is that it will now be that much longer before my namesake comes home to me . . . .

Looking forward to your flight reports, I'm sure it's even more awesome than before!

[201Steve]

I am not a big three-blade prop fan boy. I think they look kinda dumb. But THAT... the quad... looks bad ass. 

[ArtVandelay]

I am not a big three-blade prop fan boy. I think they look kinda dumb. But THAT... the quad... looks bad ass. 

A bit like a TBM... I wonder how it performs on a 4 cylinder?

[Seth]

8 hours ago, 201er said:

Now that your bird is fixed I guess they can reopen Oshkosh Airventure!

Very True Mike! That will be the number one "scientific" reason to reopen!

-Seth

[Seth]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

I'm glad, Seth, that the saga is over, and the results are beautiful! 

The only problem is that it will now be that much longer before my namesake comes home to me . . . .

Looking forward to your flight reports, I'm sure it's even more awesome than before!

I have a bit more to go - As part of this and it hasn't been mentioned yet, I did some R&R of the cowl including fixing some rub points, a crack, repainted part of it, and during transport the cowl got scratched so that will be repainted again! Also, there was a tad of overspray to be buffed/wet sanded out on the lower cowl. In addition, I need to repaint the leading edge of the wings in the "black cherry color" as that has not held up well where the white color has. So touch up and respray of the black portions of the leading edge are set for this spring/summer. Plus, I'll start buffing up the airplane to really make it shine.

And THANK YOU! I'll get flight reports up as she breaks in and I get more data.

The airplane is indeed your namesake Hank.

 

-Seth

[Seth]

1 hour ago, ArtVandelay said:

A bit like a TBM... I wonder how it performs on a 4 cylinder?

So . . . some of this information will be repeated later, but the 4 blade is not recommended for the 4 cylinder just like the smaller three blade is not recommended for the 300 HP IO550. The Hub has to be engineered to take the power, and the smaller 3 blade would not work on the IO550. The larger hub and 4 blade is not recommended on the 200 HP IO360. I'm not sure if it's not allowed.

The most efficient least drag proeller is a single propeller with a counterweight. Then 2 blade, then 3, then 4. and so on.

With a turbo, the more blades often the better, especially high HP.

The issue is low HP and more blades - it becomes a drag machine and actually harms efficiency.

The Mooney Rocket to a 4 blade makes sense - Old mccauley prop design with a turbo.

MT did tests on a Cirrus SR22T and SR22. On the SR22T the MT 4 blade provided better performance at all altitudes. On the normally aspirated SR22 with an IO550N (similar to my IO550A), the 4 blade MT was faster until 13,000 feet and then it was slower once the HP died off and it caused more drag. The good news, is I don't tend to fly above 11,000 that often unless I am getting a really good tailwind push and have portable O2 on board (1-3 times per year max normally). Thus, I went with it. Once the engine is broken in I'll have data from 6,000 to 11,000 feet, really 6,000 to 9,000 which is the sweet spot for me. I try not to go above 9,000 often without O2 as I can feel the difference (I have asthma).

Thank you for the TBM compliment!

-Seth

 

[dlthig]

Seth, sorry to hear about your trouble, but glad you are on the other side. I'll echo the comments, it looks great. 

[aviatoreb]

Now that's a good lookin' airplane!

[Seth]

Just now, aviatoreb said:

Now that's a good lookin' airplane!

What can I say Erik? I just wanted to match your prop! 

For all, Erik was a huge resource during the last 18 months on this - really since before it happened. 

I do plan to list out everyone who assisted as part of a future write up in this thread.

-Seth

[Seth]

2 hours ago, 201Steve said:

I am not a big three-blade prop fan boy. I think they look kinda dumb. But THAT... the quad... looks bad ass. 

It does! I'll list the reasons why I chose it in a future post. However, believe it or not, I was not keen on the 4 blade look. I was worried it won't look right on my airplane. As it turns out I LOVE it and looks really cool. Again, that was not the original intent, but it's pretty awesome and in just a few hours of flying time it's already getting comments such as "I've never seen a four blade prop on a Mooney!" I just need to come up with a "I bet you've never seen a Mooney pilot that can . . ." I don't have anything good for this yet. You all can help me with that one!

 

-Seth

[Seth]

20 minutes ago, dlthig said:

Seth, sorry to hear about your trouble, but glad you are on the other side. I'll echo the comments, it looks great. 

Thank you! It was rough not having my bird for 18 months. But as this write up continues you'll see I was plenty busy both personally and also professionally during the time Hank was grounded. 

It does look good!

-Seth

[Sheriff23]

Seth, 

Glad to see the "Hank" is flying again and you're happy with the outcome!

I haven't been to OshKosh yet....hopefully next year since it'll reopen because you have your plane back!  Is all parking and most of the taxiing on the grass?

Did insurance cover any portions of your replacement costs or was it all out of pocket?

Congrats and looking forward to seeing how the aircraft performs for you!

[Seth]

Here is the next portion of the novel:

I tracked down Oshkosh personnel by going to the parking check-in area and got the name of the people to contact. It’s a longer story, and this is already going to be a long series of posts, so I’ll simply state that I learned the following: If I had a prop strike on the runway, or if I was taxing on my own, this would be entirely on me/my insurance company. However, as I was being actively marshalled by AirVenture volunteers/staff (and in my case even requested to NOT go through that area) the EAA insurance policy for the event will cover me 100%. They do not want bad press. So, my entire claim was serviced and paid for by the EAA insurance policy for the event. I did not have to put a claim in to my insurer. This did not affect my own personal rates this past year which were also lower as my aircraft was deemed “NIM” meaning not in motion and cut the rate to about 60% of the prorated portion when I was not flying. We will see now that all is complete how it will affect my rates in July 2021 when I renew. My current firm and the firm EAA used were different insurance companies thus this incident did not count against the ledger at the insurance company I’ve been using for my own policy for a while now.

It took the EAA staff quite a little bit of time however to get the right person to me and during that time I was sweating bullets, Oshkosh was partially ruined for me, and I was trying to figure out what to do. The event occurred on Saturday. I was given the name of a higher up at the EAA to contact Saturday afternoon/evening. I called her Saturday evening, Sunday, and finally heard from her Sunday evening or Monday. I got the name of the insurance adjustor, Dave, who was excellent from Global Aerospace and we connected finally on Tuesday. That’s when I officially learned EAA would cover this 100%. Yes, there were additional out of pocket expenses as well - I'll note what was done in future posts.

In the meantime, we have some GREAT people in our Mooney Community.

Byron and Becca – They had flown in a few hours earlier and were parked a few rows from me. Byron just opened up RPM at GAI as not only is he a United Captain but also an A&P. He immediate came over to assess. He was with me when we walked over to the muddy area and he is pictured standing in the water that had since collected in the ruts.

Alan Fox – Just so happened to be bringing a delivery of something to someone near Oshkosh and DROVE, did not fly but DROVE to Oshkosh with his pickup truck and trailer. Once given the okay by Dave the insurance adjustor, I assisted Alan in removing my damaged propeller for transportation back to east coast. We also dialed the crank as an inspection to potentially ferry it back to the east coast for further repair. I later picked up the prop from NJ in a friend’s pickup truck. The original Missile prop is currently in my hangar now.

Paul Maxwell – I happened to see him at the Mooney Caravan get together and he offered if my aircraft were ferriable to have his guys box up his Missile prop from his Mooney Missile, and send it to Oshkosh so I could ferry my Missile back to Maryland. The prop would arrive after AirVenture, so we would be heading back at some point. I cleared this with insurance, and they were fine paying for a loaner prop to get the airplane back to the shop of my choice (which was the Freeway Mooney Service Center that has taken care of my airplane for years).

The amount of pilots and friends operating King Airs (Chuck Swim who also owns a 201), Barons (Peter Galvin and his brother who are based at GAI), and Mooney’s that offered me a ride home was humbling. Ken in his 201 ended up flying me back to my home airport on Friday, July 26, 2019. In the end I got an extra day at Oshkosh.

As it was Oshkosh – I went into deal making mode for the new prop. I spoke directly with Hartzell on site who made some calls to the factory to get the exact information. The Missile propeller is a one-off design. They only made 55ish – one for each aircraft converted. They had the blades in stock (as the blades are used in other designs too) and could create a new propeller/hub for me in a 6-week timeframe. They quoted me the price (which I got in writing a few weeks later while following up) and that is what I ended up submitting to insurance for payment as that is what would have been necessary to return the aircraft to how it was prior to the mishap.

When life gives you lemons, as my wife says add some tequila.

I also immediately started thinking about Erik Bolt’s Rocket with the 4 Blade MT. Erik and I are friends and we have communicated quite a bit over the years (and I have been up to Potsdam, NY twice!). Both the Rocket and Missile have similar nose heavy tendencies, and both could benefit from the lighter prop. I’ll write about the exact reasoning for the MT prop in my next post.

I went to the MT booth and started discussion with the two main people manning the booth. The discussions became serious quickly. I asked about Oshkosh discounts and wanted very specific information. Once I learned the pricing and Oshkosh specials, I then divulged that my aircraft was parked on the grounds, the propeller was damaged as Saturday, and I’d be purchasing a new Hartzell or other company propeller pretty much immediately. Both of these gentlemen were based in Germany and were higher up at MT. I admit, there was a slight arrogance from one of them in addition to the helpful information. The other was pure customer service. He the next day actually walked out to my airplane and took measurements so they could come up with the exact quote.

I also of course had to stop by the Mooney setup. A suggestion was made by a good friend to considering trading in the plane and flying home in a new Mooney that was heavily discounted at the show. That said, the price difference, payments, not speaking with my wife about it first . . . that was a bad idea. But it was neat looking at the new Ovation and Acclaim Ultras (I was concentrating on the Ovation Ultra that had a serous discount going on). The chances were low I’d pull the trigger, but I was actually considering it in the back of my mind for a few moments. I did not purchase a new Mooney.

To be continued . . .

 

[Seth]

Story of why my airplane is named Hank: I purchased it using a broker from Hank Williams III. Son of Hank Williams Jr. Son of Hank Williams.

This is why our Hank feels the airplane is named after him!

The first time my wife, then girlfriend at the time took a flight with me in "Hank" she said "Hank wanna fly" during the takeoff roll. She said she could feel the power increase compared to my former 1967 M20F.

Here's some information on Hank Williams III

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams_III

Also, the airplane is know as "Lady Luck V." 

My paternal grandfather who I never met passed away in 1071 at 50 years old. He flew B-17's with the 401st in Europe during WWII. He completed 43 combat missions. His first B-17 was the "Lady Luck" which he ditched in the english channel. "Lady Luck II" was shot down over france - he bailed out. "Lady Luck III" he finished the war in. My former 1967 Mooney M20F was "Lady Luck IV" and Missile is "Hank" and also "Lady Luck V"

-Seth

 

[Seth]

22 minutes ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

I’m sorry this happened to you, Seth, but welcome back!   I think it looks great, FWIW.  More importantly, though, how much weight did you shave off of your nose, how much more ground clearance do you have now, and what impact has the new prop had on both your W&B envelope and your control forces?  I would have to image that this mod would impact all of these characteristics very favorably.  

It ended up being 26 or 28 lbs off the nose, I'll write it up later on with the technical information. It moved my CG back a little over 1 inch. It has made a difference in handling and nose heavy tendencies when landing. It has been a favorable addition. The prop is 74 inch diameter vs 75 inches so I did gain back one inch. So that's 1/2 inch more of ground clearance plus the nose is lighter so a little less puck/tire compression. 

I did get some Mooney time when I wasn't flying with some friends, flying for the 135 I contract with, and some other professional training that I'll discuss later on. So I did fly during this time, but very little "fun" go poke some holes in the sky type flying.

Insurance did cover dry rental rates of Cirrus SR22's through Open Air which I also fly for on their charter side. I used this three times for flights already planned and they fully paid for the rental - which included a trip to Mooney Summit - I admit - it was odd arriving at Mooney Summit 2019 in a brand new SR22. I parked away from the rest of the crowd next to Alan Fox's Bonanza. Alan and I flew in formation about halfway back from Mooney Summit. He flew with Anthony and I had Mari "Mars" Metzler with me. I dropped her back in Virginia at her new base before continuing back to Maryland.

-Seth

Edited March 3, 2021 by Seth

[Seth]

23 minutes ago, Sheriff23 said:

Seth, 

Glad to see the "Hank" is flying again and you're happy with the outcome!

I haven't been to OshKosh yet....hopefully next year since it'll reopen because you have your plane back!  Is all parking and most of the taxiing on the grass?

Did insurance cover any portions of your replacement costs or was it all out of pocket?

Congrats and looking forward to seeing how the aircraft performs for you!

Hey Sheiff-

I'll call you with some of the specific details.

Insurance covered a lot of the work - a lot. I'll go into what was covered and what was out of pocket in a later post. They were very reasonable and covered any thing I requested, but I only covered what I should have asked. I did a lot of while the engine is off work and items are already disassembled which was pure out of pocket, but the removal and reattachment were covered so it was worth it in some cases while the items were "off." 

When the ground is dry most taxing and parking is on the grass, unless you want to pay Bassler to keep your plane at the FBO for I think it's $50 per day of any minute of any day. This gets you onto the field with a reservation when parking is full on the grass, but you can't camp there and it can get expensive. In the past when I've only had a chance to come mid week for two nights I've parked at Bassler. I got charged $150. Each day counts as $50, not each 24 hour period. So if you arrive tuesday, stay all day wednesday, and leave thursday morning, that's "3" days.

When the ground is wet, often you are not allowed to taxi on the grass except in certain areas deemed "safe." One year I landed and was told to only taxi on the pavement until directed to the grass parking spot - this was really nice as I worried a lot less.

As noted before, one year I was turned around as they didn't like the idea of a Mooney taxing through a questionable area other airplanes were fine to go through.

It's most important to keep trim all the way up, control column in you lap, go very slow and don't touch the brakes if you don't have to, instead, simply power back gently and let the airplane come to a stop on its own through grass resistance (if possible). Otherwise brake very gently.

-Seth

 

 

[Danb]

1 hour ago, Seth said:

Thank you! It was rough not having my bird for 18 months. But as this write up continues you'll see I was plenty busy both personally and also professionally during the time Hank was grounded. 

It does look good!

-Seth

Seth a shame what occurred, but what a great look it has, I totally agree with the bad ass look, because it is bad ass, I’m concerned how much smoother and quieter it is, good luck, stay off the grass..hopefully see you at the Summit.

Dan

[Seth]

The sound at idle is different. It's different somewhat quieter tone. I'll include 

11 minutes ago, Danb said:

Seth a shame what occurred, but what a great look it has, I totally agree with the bad ass look, because it is bad ass, I’m concerned how much smoother and quieter it is, good luck, stay off the grass..hopefully see you at the Summit.

Dan

There is a distinct sound difference at idle. Both Erik and I noticed that. It's softer but also simply a lower tone - maybe the "scooping" or flexing in of the prop. It is smoother though I used to dynamically balance my prop so it was smooth anyway (but this is smoother) and the pitch changes are faster than a metal prop because it's lighter.

I'll write more in the further write ups to come.

Yes! I hope to see many of you at Mooney Summit in our "new normal" that should be here by October.

-Seth