Continental liquid cooled 550 parts

[Marty Kiehm]

I’ve got two TSIOL-550 engines for parts.  952-469-5600.

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard Marty!

What plane did they come from?

Where are there currently located?

I’m not sure if any Mooney owners can use one...

Mooneys typically have IO550 A,G, and Ns....

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

5 hours ago, carusoam said:

I’m not sure if any Mooney owners can use one...

Mooneys typically have IO550 A,G, and Ns....

Anthony! You're forgetting the five Porsche Mooneys converted to Liquid Rockets! One of them is based at the same field I am . . . .

[carusoam]

19 hours ago, Hank said:

Anthony! You're forgetting the five Porsche Mooneys converted to Liquid Rockets! One of them is based at the same field I am . . . .

Thanks Hank!

You would think I could remember a 350hp engine on a Mooney LB....   

I don’t think I have ever seen either, the Porsche or the Liquid Rocket... in person.

That would be nice...

Burning rubber in a Mooney....  you accelerate so fast... the tires have a hard time spinning up... and you leave a smoke show...

Really impressive... 

Getting that STC... out of the dead letter file.... would be a challenge...

Best regards,

-a-

[Will.iam]

There was tsiol-550 mooney for sale last year in addison Tx i believe. It was priced at a killer deal but the reason why was the engine was at 800 smoh with tbo of 1300 and the seller said up front continental was no longer supporting that engine i. E. No parts for it so when overhaul comes it would be a paperweight or very expensive to convert back if you could. He also said the cg was way forward and had to fly around with ballast in the baggage compartment.  Sure looked cool with the radiator exhaust ports on the sides behind the wings. Had great paint job and recent new interior. Don’t know if it ever sold or if they just took the ad down. 

[Will.iam]

I found the ad and yes it sold in the beginning of this year:

[carusoam]

Great sharing Will!  (Looks like they used a European date code... month/day in reverse order...)
 

M20Ls are known for their spindly legs....

They could use some magic to get them some M20M legs...  not too far from the realm of possibility....

And Mooney is around the corner from doing the same type of improvement for the most recent LBs...

PP thoughts only, not a breath holder...

Best regards,

-a-

[exM20K]

8 hours ago, Will.iam said:

I found the ad and yes it sold in the beginning of this year:

A datapoint suggesting that anything will sell this year.  Great time to be a seller of just about anything.

[LANCECASPER]

10 hours ago, Will.iam said:

There was tsiol-550 mooney for sale last year in addison Tx i believe. It was priced at a killer deal but the reason why was the engine was at 800 smoh with tbo of 1300 and the seller said up front continental was no longer supporting that engine i. E. No parts for it so when overhaul comes it would be a paperweight or very expensive to convert back if you could. He also said the cg was way forward and had to fly around with ballast in the baggage compartment.  Sure looked cool with the radiator exhaust ports on the sides behind the wings. Had great paint job and recent new interior. Don’t know if it ever sold or if they just took the ad down. 

All M20M, R, TN and Ultras have ballast (charlie weights) in the back, in addition to two batteries, to help offset the heavy engines up front.

[KLRDMD]

December 2019:

Me to a well respected Mooney expert that all of you would recognize: Is a Liquid Rocket worth pursuing, in your opinion?

Reply: Run Forest Run. I maintained one in Dallas for a few years. I felt very uncomfortable with it and finally told the owner I did not want to work on it. Just a bad feeling. Heavy piggy plane. My 2 cents. 

[Will.iam]

45 minutes ago, KLRDMD said:

December 2019:

Me to a well respected Mooney expert that all of you would recognize: Is a Liquid Rocket worth pursuing, in your opinion?

Reply: Run Forest Run. I maintained one in Dallas for a few years. I felt very uncomfortable with it and finally told the owner I did not want to work on it. Just a bad feeling. Heavy piggy plane. My 2 cents. 

What scared me off was the comment that continental stopped supporting that engine and with the certified world being crazy expensive to change back to an aircooled engine if that would be even possible, I didn’t want to get stuck with it if the engine broke. If i had that fear so would other buyers if i decided to sell it later. I think the price reflected that a little but with this being a seller’s market someone took the gamble. Too rare (small base) of that unique engine with many unknowns for me. Never thought i would see someone selling 2 liquid cooled engines for parts a year later. I have a 1993 infiniti J30 car runs great right now but parts are getting scarce as no one makes aftermarket parts because the production base is so small 1993-1998 where as a mustang or cameo has a huge base and thus people maintain them from a half a century back.   

[Will.iam]

55 minutes ago, KLRDMD said:

December 2019:

Me to a well respected Mooney expert that all of you would recognize: Is a Liquid Rocket worth pursuing, in your opinion?

Reply: Run Forest Run. I maintained one in Dallas for a few years. I felt very uncomfortable with it and finally told the owner I did not want to work on it. Just a bad feeling. Heavy piggy plane. My 2 cents. 

I never did find out what the useful load was.  Bet it was pretty low with the radiator and water

[carusoam]

Speaking of odd engines and Mustangs...

The M22 Mustang had an odd duck of an engine...

So... as an ordinary PP... it would be incredibly expensive to maintain... along with the pressurized cabin... 

Certain advantages go to the mechanics that can handle these kind of things in their spare time...

There is a reason people collect spare parts when they see them come available....

 

So when you see a really cool classic airplane that goes by... is it a really wealthy guy?   Or a mechanic with an incredible wealth of knowledge and planning skill..?  Or both...  

Best regards,

-a-

[carusoam]

42 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

I never did find out what the useful load was.  Bet it was pretty low with the radiator and water

M20L ULs are very low because of the MGTW is also low...  

Being the first LB... it collected a few growing pains... week legs were the most obvious need for an upgrade...

The M20M TLS was the next rendition of the LB... sort of the Bravo model of the M20L...

Kind of like the 1965 M20C... lots of small improvements showed up on an already good airframe...

 

The M20M continued with its improvements.... the second version was the third version of the LB... and it got the name Bravo...

Mostly because the Turbo Lycoming Sabre had some other company’s brand name right in the middle of it... 

 

Some planes are better for somebody else to own...

Be amazed when you see all the different talents that some people have... 

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Guest]

RAM Aircraft of Texas installed the liquid cooled 500’s in a number of Cessna 414’s .  I looked after one for a few years, the owner sold it and bought a King Air.  I was glad to see it go.

Clarence