If you need/want the OEM 40:1 Gear Set

[dzeleski]

Interested, assuming its not an insane price.

[MB65E]

Same!

-Matt

[joemoriss]

I'd take one. The mechanic who did my last 200hr inspection warned me that though I passed this time, it was getting closer to wearing past tolerance.

[Matthew P]

18 minutes ago, joemoriss said:

I'd take one. The mechanic who did my last 200hr inspection warned me that though I passed this time, it was getting closer to wearing past tolerance.

I'll keep you posted but you need to start looking at options because I only know one person with a spare set of these and he's not interested on getting rid of them...options range fron $6k upto $16k...find used actuator with unknown gear condition to taking it out and changing over to J-Bar....hope something works out for those of us in this situation

..will let you know

[DCarlton]

Appreciate what you are doing here, but I thought Mooney only sold parts through MSCs.  Is this no longer true?  I'm on a wait list for another part that's being purchased in bulk by a MSC.  I'm also guessing that the Mooney list of Retrofit Kits was published while they were still in manufacturing airplanes?  Wondering if they stock any of the items on the list since the gear kit is on the list.  

[Matthew P]

53 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

Appreciate what you are doing here, but I thought Mooney only sold parts through MSCs.  Is this no longer true?  I'm on a wait list for another part that's being purchased in bulk by a MSC.  I'm also guessing that the Mooney list of Retrofit Kits was published while they were still in manufacturing airplanes?  Wondering if they stock any of the items on the list since the gear kit is on the list.  

Well, the problem is, atleast in this instance, that even the MSCs aren't able to get these parts ordered from Mooney...it is not an individual sale, I'm essentially doing the groundwork for mooney to determine if there is enough demand to make a production run of the gear set, which you would think Mooney would be tracking when the MSCs put in request...I am hoping that we meet the quantity requirement for a run but I'm having trouble getting feedback from the 13 MSCs, I think it's because they have tried, but can't get Mooney to do anything so why waste more time...we currently have 35 individuals wanting a total of 55 gear sets, I'm waiting for mooney to tell me the minimum number required to make a production run, only heard back from (2) MSCs, and don't know the pricing yet because it will be based on final numbers..

Edited June 11 by Matthew P
Update

[Echo]

21 hours ago, joemoriss said:

I'd take one. The mechanic who did my last 200hr inspection warned me that though I passed this time, it was getting closer to wearing past tolerance.

May I ask the approximate airframe time?  I understand landing cycles vary, but was nterested in hearing number.

Edited June 11 by Echo

[DCarlton]

19 hours ago, Matthew P said:

Well, the problem is, atleast in this instance, that even the MSCs aren't able to get these parts ordered from Mooney...it is not an individual sale, I'm essentially doing the groundwork for mooney to determine if there is enough demand to make a production run of the gear set, which you would think Mooney would be tracking when the MSCs put in request...I am hoping that we meet the quantity requirement for a run but I'm having trouble getting feedback from the 13 MSCs, I think it's because they have tried, but can't get Mooney to do anything so why waste more time...we currently have 35 individuals wanting a total of 55 gear sets, I'm waiting for mooney to tell me the minimum number required to make a production run, only heard back from (2) MSCs, and don't know the pricing yet because it will be based on final numbers..

Another slightly off topic question.  Who rebuilds these Gear Actuators?  Anybody?  Aeromotors?   I would think whoever rebuilds the entire actuator would have an interest in the gears too.  I'm guessing I have an ITT actuator but I'm not sure; would have to dredge through logs or wait until the next annual.   You can put me down for gear set just in case.  

[Matthew P]

41 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

Another slightly off topic question.  Who rebuilds these Gear Actuators?  Anybody?  Aeromotors?   I would think whoever rebuilds the entire actuator would have an interest in the gears too.  I'm guessing I have an ITT actuator but I'm not sure; would have to dredge through logs or wait until the next annual.   You can put me down for gear set just in case.  

There is no one currently rebuilding the actuators, that is another issue, to my understanding, when mooney selected that actuator they designed gears just for mooney that were placed in the actuators that were to be used for the landing gear...mooney hasn't stated the current manufacturer they use to make the gears, wouldn't matter if we knew as the drawings and specs belong to mooney and they can only build for mooney, which is also the problem.  There is no 3rd party supplier

[mooneydemi]

I would be interested.

[DCarlton]

3 hours ago, Matthew P said:

There is no one currently rebuilding the actuators, that is another issue, to my understanding, when mooney selected that actuator they designed gears just for mooney that were placed in the actuators that were to be used for the landing gear...mooney hasn't stated the current manufacturer they use to make the gears, wouldn't matter if we knew as the drawings and specs belong to mooney and they can only build for mooney, which is also the problem.  There is no 3rd party supplier

Still catching up.  And because of the Dukes AD and Dukes/ITT Mooney service bulletin, we are more concerned about the gears than the electric motor ?  

[MikeOH]

36 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

Still catching up.  And because of the Dukes AD and Dukes/ITT Mooney service bulletin, we are more concerned about the gears than the electric motor ?  

Yes, because if the electric motor fails you can crank down the wheels; if the gears fail...there's a gear up landing in your near future

[DCarlton]

1 minute ago, MikeOH said:

Yes, because if the electric motor fails you can crank down the wheels; if the gears fail...there's a gear up landing in your near future

Good point but either way it sounds like your not flying for a while.  

[MikeOH]

Just now, DCarlton said:

Good point but either way it sounds like your not flying for a while.  

Perhaps.  But the motor may be easier to source, and likely can be rebuilt, if not.

[DCarlton]

2 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

Perhaps.  But the motor may be easier to source, and likely can be rebuilt, if not.

Time to pull the logs and see his many times the actuator has been repaired or replaced in the last 50 years or 5000 hours.  If we all did that, it could make for an interesting data point.  

[MikeOH]

10 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

Time to pull the logs and see his many times the actuator has been repaired or replaced in the last 50 years or 5000 hours.  If we all did that, it could make for an interesting data point.  

Exactly.  No evidence in my logs.  That's why I started another thread earlier asking how many gear-ups are actually due to failure of the gearbox.  Was the AD because of just ONE failure?  Or, multiple ones.  Not saying it can't happen, but have to wonder if properly inspected and lubed how big a risk this is.

[Vance Harral]

12 hours ago, MikeOH said:

Not saying it can't happen, but have to wonder if properly inspected and lubed how big a risk this is.

I think the risk of failure for a gear set that was properly inspected and lubed in the past 200 hours is quite low, and I don't lose any sleep over it.

As discussed in other threads, though, the gear set really does wear out over time, even when properly inspected and lubed.  That's the reason the lack of availability is so maddening.  It's a little bit like being told the manufacturer of your airplane just isn't interested in the availability of brake pads or O-rings or oil filters, or other stuff that you are absolutely guaranteed to have to replace at some point.  The long lifetime of the gear set compared to those other consumables makes it a slow-moving problem, but it's a problem nonetheless.

[tony]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:58 PM, Matthew P said:

I spoke with the CEO of Mooney earlier in the week regarding the fact that the 20:1 or 40:1 gear sets, for the landing gear actuator, are unavailable and that there are only (2) rather expensive alternatives those face whose gear sets fail the Reoccurring AD. I made a proposal that he is considering but I need to know how many individuals are interested in or want a set of the OEM gears, depending on the outcome, we may have a (1) time opportunity to acquire a set. So, the information I owe Mr. Pollack is how many sets are needed which will determine if what I proposed is doable. If he accepts the proposal, then I will be able to let you know both the pricing and lead-time for the item, this would be similar to a consolidated purchase that would require that payment be made upfront.

If (seriously) interested, please let me know how many sets you are interested in, if you know any of the MSCs that may be interested, please let them know as well, I am hoping that there is enough interested that the volume will both reduce cost and make the proposal acceptable to Mooney and the purchaser.

 

 

Once again, this is for OEM gear sets, NOT what I am currently working on in the event this doesn't work out.

 

V/r

 

Matt

Matt, just verifying, you are talking about the 40:1 gear sets?

 

Edited June 12 by tony

[Matthew P]

2 hours ago, tony said:

Matt, just verifying, you are talking about the 40:1 gear sets?

 

Yes, to my understanding,

Mooney quit having the 20:1 gears made, but I'll take either if you know os a set that's available

 

[Ragsf15e]

20 hours ago, MikeOH said:

Exactly.  No evidence in my logs.  That's why I started another thread earlier asking how many gear-ups are actually due to failure of the gearbox.  Was the AD because of just ONE failure?  Or, multiple ones.  Not saying it can't happen, but have to wonder if properly inspected and lubed how big a risk this is.

I’m through about 700 hours on a set of 40:1 gears and my mechanic says he can see some slight slop but they are still good.  Im sure cyles would be a much better metric than hours but a little harder to track.  I generally fly long flights and don’t do multiple patterns more than a couple times a year so i think I have low cycles. They will eventually wear and it would be nice not to have to throw the airplane away when they do…

[Matthew P]

9 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

I’m through about 700 hours on a set of 40:1 gears and my mechanic says he can see some slight slop but they are still good.  Im sure cyles would be a much better metric than hours but a little harder to track.  I generally fly long flights and don’t do multiple patterns more than a couple times a year so i think I have low cycles. They will eventually wear and it would be nice not to have to throw the airplane away when they do…

That's why I'm trying what I can, either through mooney or opp

[Echo]

Really sad that this level of desperation is necessary.  How many electric gear Mooney aircraft are alive in the wild?  What does the gear cost to make?  The engineering has been done.  All this is known and yet a hundred percent mark up is not enough?  Just sad that the liability and who "owns" the part stops these from being produced at a huge mark up that isn't *#$& you money..

and at $500 NOT $2500 I am at *#¥& money.

Edited June 13 by Echo

[Matthew P]

1 hour ago, Echo said:

Really sad that this level of desperation is necessary.  How many electric gear Mooney aircraft are alive in the wild?  What does the gear cost to make?  The engineering has been done.  All this is known and yet a hundred percent mark up is not enough?  Just sad that the liability and who "owns" the part stops these from being produced at a huge mark up that isn't *#$& you money..

and at $500 NOT $2500 I am at *#¥& money.

I'm not sure how many, fortunately I have friends that are in the business trying to help me out, upto a point that is...I won't know the cost of the gears till the drawings are complete and I can send them over to a gear manufacturer for an estimate, when I sent the rough definitions and pictures they estimated $4,800 for minimum order of 10, so $480 ea, which is cheaper than the last ones sold for before the well ran dry...but won't know for awhile yet

[Echo]

9 hours ago, Matthew P said:

I'm not sure how many, fortunately I have friends that are in the business trying to help me out, upto a point that is...I won't know the cost of the gears till the drawings are complete and I can send them over to a gear manufacturer for an estimate, when I sent the rough definitions and pictures they estimated $4,800 for minimum order of 10, so $480 ea, which is cheaper than the last ones sold for before the well ran dry...but won't know for awhile yet

Well you are already below my *#$& money so add me to your list Matt.  Good luck.  Of course would need confirmation that they were designed and built to OEM standard. (Not the OEM that forgot to heat treat  )

[Echo]

Come on let's get these down to 10% of an AMU people.