An Ovation IO550 question

[Alan Maurer]

Mooney People, Last summer Got new Lord engine mounts. Now,the spinner /prop looks low ( maybe one inch) and not  exactly centered in the upper and lower cowling. 

Our Maint manager here at Sarasota Avionics and Luca...my flight instructor from MAPA, both thought "they all look like that." Anyway, I was still thinking about it 

and thought I would ask anyone here who has wondered about this. 

Any thoughts? this is an 2008 M20R

Thanks

Alan

 

[KSMooniac]

They might have lost some shims during reinstallation. I believe Don Maxwell has an article on his website about shimming engine mounts.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 2023 using Tapatalk

[carusoam]

Key details to consider…

1) How long have you had the Hartzell TopProp?

2) know the cowling was designed to match a McCauley spinner…

3) Hartzell didn’t have the right sized spinner to match our cowl…

4) They promised a replacement soon…. More than a decade ago…

5) the diameter looks about a 1/2” shy of what it needs to be…

6) meaning it looks like a 1/4” step between the edge of the smaller spinner, and where it needs to go to be flush…

7) overall, it makes the prop look like the engine is drooping…

8) look closer… to see if the prop shaft is centered in the round hole

9) I’m still a bit bummed by this situation..

Built on Honor, but not sized appropriately…   

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic…

best regards,

-a-

[Fritz1]

Prior comments are on target, engine mounts are torqued to spec, remote chance torque is off, loosening the bolts and re-torqing is simple and eliminates that remote chance

[LANCECASPER]

4 hours ago, carusoam said:

Key details to consider…

1) How long have you had the Hartzell TopProp?

2) know the cowling was designed to match a McCauley spinner…

3) Hartzell didn’t have the right sized spinner to match our cowl…

4) They promised a replacement soon…. More than a decade ago…

5) the diameter looks about a 1/2” shy of what it needs to be…

6) meaning it looks like a 1/4” step between the edge of the smaller spinner, and where it needs to go to be flush…

7) overall, it makes the prop look like the engine is drooping…

8) look closer… to see if the prop shaft is centered in the round hole

9) I’m still a bit bummed by this situation..

Built on Honor, but not sized appropriately…   

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic…

best regards,

-a-

@Alan Maurer's Ovation (N913ND) had the Top Prop from the start. (https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/200807015/n913nd-2008-mooney-m20r-ovation2-gx)

[Scottknoll]

Took mine to @jetdriven Some pictures below. Bottom of spinner was flush with cowl. After, the top of the spinner was flush with the cowl. Told to go fly it and check again. It’s been perfectly centered for the last 2 years. I think he checked engine mount stacking and torqued. Not sure if the mounts were incorrectly stacked or not. But it should be centered, the spinner/cowl gap is very small.

[carusoam]

Scott,

I admire Byron’s work.

But, the H spinner is still too small….

L/R has a step.

T/B still has a step.

 

It sure looks better when the top cowling line matches the spinner!

I would really like to have a prop guy define what is really happening here…

what would it take to get a spinner of the right dimensions…. If this is the true issue.

What would that spinner parts cost be?

Best regards,

-a-

[carusoam]

3 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

@Alan Maurer's Ovation (N913ND) had the Top Prop from the start. (https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/200807015/n913nd-2008-mooney-m20r-ovation2-gx)

Lance,
 

that’s a lot of mis-matched spinners…

Do the Ultra’s carbon fiber cowls carry on the tradition, or did they get designed to fit the H prop?

hmmmmm….

-a-

[LANCECASPER]

4 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Lance,
 

that’s a lot of mis-matched spinners…

Do the Ultra’s carbon fiber cowls carry on the tradition, or did they get designed to fit the H prop?

hmmmmm….

-a-

Good question - I don't have an Ultra, but I'll look at my airplane. Since it was designed with the Top Prop in mind, they hopefully got it right.

[Mark89114]

Maxwell told me that in flight the engine comes up a bit to make it "fit better".  So I don't know if that is meaningful or not, but if it is true and you get this thing all centered on the ground and then fly it, it might be too high?   All I know is that mine also doesn't seem to fit 100%.  Nobody seems concerned about it and there is enough movement that I can believe Maxwells theory.  

 

[jetdriven]

I believe George Perry has some Hi-Rez photos of his plane that he posted on here in flight. It’s exactly as it does on the ground. If it’s low sitting in the chocks, it’s low in cruise.

[EricJ]

12 hours ago, jetdriven said:

I believe George Perry has some Hi-Rez photos of his plane that he posted on here in flight. It’s exactly as it does on the ground. If it’s low sitting in the chocks, it’s low in cruise.

For a Continental with bed mounts that makes sense.   For a Lycoming with dynafocal mounts it's expected to come up.   People sometimes apply the behavior of one to the other.

[jetdriven]

10 hours ago, EricJ said:

For a Continental with bed mounts that makes sense.   For a Lycoming with dynafocal mounts it's expected to come up.   People sometimes apply the behavior of one to the other.

I don’t think the Lycoming or the continentals move up.

[Mufflerbearing]

I was concerned about how my spinner lined up with the cowl so I ordered new mounts.  It looks the exact same as before the mount change.  The fronts were even shimmed and still looks just like the op's.  I used to be concerned about it, but not anymore.