Move CG aft

[RLCarter]

My W&B was incorrect, followed the Maintenance Manual procedure including draining the fuel… empty CG moved a crap load… and solved loading issues… years of errors can add up each time something is added or removed, weight the aircraft and have solid numbers to work with 

[EricJ]

6 hours ago, Kerrville said:

I’ll just get it weighed again. 

If you're looking at it to purchase, use it as a negotiating point, that it'll have to be redone and who knows how it'll come out, maybe it'll be problem.    Clearly from your point of view it creates a ton of uncertainty and should justify a significant reduction in purchase price.    If whoever did that has been maintaining the airplane, it calls into question what else might be jacked up and need attention, so, more negotiation...      (in other words, use it for bargaining)

Weighing it just requires attention to detail and then you'll know exactly what's up with it.    There are many potential sources of error when weighing an airplane, like properly zeroing the scales, accounting for tare weight, getting it level, accounting for fuel or lack thereof, etc., etc.    There were probably multiple errors that were made, but doing it again carefully should solve the problem...after negotiating. 

 

[EricJ]

8 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

For comparison, mine was shipped with CG 44.9 and now 45.85, yours seem a little far back, what was it’s factory CG?
OPs is definitely not correct.

On 7 January 1977 it was 45.7".   By 2010 it was 46.68" (might be an error in there somewhere but maybe not).   A year ago it was 46.74" before I swapped out the boat-anchor Prestolite starter for a Sky-Tec.    That alone moved it back to 47.07". 

All of those are from recalculations over the years, although I do have to trim nose-down a lot.    I just ordered an Aerocruze 100 autopilot, and when that gets here (however long that takes), I'll remove the Century III which has a lot of big boxes on the avionics shelf and servos in the tail and re-weigh it after the new autopilot is in.    I'm eager to see the actual W&B after all that is done.

[LANCECASPER]

14 hours ago, Kerrville said:

I’ll just get it weighed again. 

If you're in Kerrville, Mike Kneese over at the factory service center will weigh it for you. Since they've done a few thousand Mooneys, it will come out right.

[ArtVandelay]

On 7 January 1977 it was 45.7".   By 2010 it was 46.68" (might be an error in there somewhere but maybe not).   A year ago it was 46.74" before I swapped out the boat-anchor Prestolite starter for a Sky-Tec.    That alone moved it back to 47.07". 

All of those are from recalculations over the years, although I do have to trim nose-down a lot.    I just ordered an Aerocruze 100 autopilot, and when that gets here (however long that takes), I'll remove the Century III which has a lot of big boxes on the avionics shelf and servos in the tail and re-weigh it after the new autopilot is in.    I'm eager to see the actual W&B after all that is done.

I have sky-tec starter as well. I don’t see how you can get such a high CG unless you installed a lot of avionics, a 2nd battery, oxygen tank, an electric vacuum backup system or some other equipment in the tail.

[EricJ]

3 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

I have sky-tec starter as well. I don’t see how you can get such a high CG unless you installed a lot of avionics, a 2nd battery, oxygen tank, an electric vacuum backup system or some other equipment in the tail.

We'll see when I re-weigh it!    Forty-five years of hand updates can certainly have had errors creep in.     It does have a lot of crap in the tail, mostly from the Century III autopilot, but there's some other stuff back there as well, including the ELT, GMU, etc.

 

[Fritz1]

This happens. Once upon a time I had a G-model, found that CG was 12" off, don't remember which way, found error by county operated FBO committed in the mid 70s, corrected error, CG was perfect, Brian Kendrick at Modworks signed off on the new W&B in 98 or 99. Choose wisely if you really want to weigh the bird, I hear they are like older ladies and heavier than you might want to hear. If you already own the plane and there is a factory W&B as a starting point I would rather redo the additions and subtractions and see where that comes in. If you are in the process of buying the plane you might as well weigh it and then decide if you want it or not.