CCAS Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 Not really, but.... After four years of owning my 1989 M20J I've had to repair/replace my cracked plastic compass case a couple times due to excessive vibration of the center post where it was mounted. No matter what I tried, the compass seemed to shake (often times violently) during most phases of flight. I read about other Mooney owners with a similar problem so I just chalked it up to how Mooneys behave. Then during my recent Annual Inspection, the shop identified a discrepancy (among others) for: another cracked compass housing and a missing compass 'clamp'. I asked, "What the heck is a compass clamp"? See the circled part in the photo. Let's just say that with the clamp installed, the compass doesn't shake and it now actually reads within a degree or two of my HSI heading. I feel a bit foolish for not knowing earlier but I'm happy with the discovery. Best of all, it wasn't a very expensive fix. 1
Falcon Man Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 Good post. None of my Mooneys had a compass clamp - where did you find that?
CCAS Posted August 30, 2024 Author Report Posted August 30, 2024 Surprisingly, the Mooney factory had them in stock. Your local MSC should be able to order one.
LANCECASPER Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 9 hours ago, CCAS said: Not really, but.... After four years of owning my 1989 M20J I've had to repair/replace my cracked plastic compass case a couple times due to excessive vibration of the center post where it was mounted. No matter what I tried, the compass seemed to shake (often times violently) during most phases of flight. I read about other Mooney owners with a similar problem so I just chalked it up to how Mooneys behave. Then during my recent Annual Inspection, the shop identified a discrepancy (among others) for: another cracked compass housing and a missing compass 'clamp'. I asked, "What the heck is a compass clamp"? See the circled part in the photo. Let's just say that with the clamp installed, the compass doesn't shake and it now actually reads within a degree or two of my HSI heading. I feel a bit foolish for not knowing earlier but I'm happy with the discovery. Best of all, it wasn't a very expensive fix. You would think they could have come up with a shorter brass screw for the top hole and put the head on the front. 2 1
Pinecone Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 31 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said: You would think they could have come up with a shorter brass screw for the top hole and put the head on the front. Since I grab the center post when getting in and out, I would prefer the heads towards the windshield. But agree that they should have used a shorter screw, or cut that one down
N201MKTurbo Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 Wow, I haven’t seen a mic in a Mooney in a long time. 1
EricJ Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 I got tired of constantly repairing those plastic mounts, mostly from getting bumped by passengers, maintainers, me, etc. I put in a full-face dry compass that has a floppy mount and have had zero issues since.
BlueSky247 Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 2 hours ago, LANCECASPER said: You would think they could have come up with a shorter brass screw for the top hole and put the head on the front. Any longer and they could use that for a cupholder bracket. 1
LANCECASPER Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 Since I grab the center post when getting in and out, I would prefer the heads towards the windshield. But agree that they should have used a shorter screw, or cut that one down Any screws that I've seen like that have an acorn nut on the front 2
A64Pilot Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 4 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said: Wow, I haven’t seen a mic in a Mooney in a long time. I keep mine in the pocket in the front of the seat, with the spare headset batteries I’ve had a mic on my headset go bad once, then I called tower on the phone and they gave me light signals, since then I keep a mic in the airplane.
Pinecone Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 I have the mic in my plane. Right now it is a convenient place to coil and hold the excess hose going to the O2D2 unit.
CCAS Posted August 30, 2024 Author Report Posted August 30, 2024 3 hours ago, BlueSky247 said: Any longer and they could use that for a cupholder bracket. I plan to hang my fuzzy dice from it 2
N201MKTurbo Posted August 30, 2024 Report Posted August 30, 2024 44 minutes ago, A64Pilot said: I keep mine in the pocket in the front of the seat, with the spare headset batteries I’ve had a mic on my headset go bad once, then I called tower on the phone and they gave me light signals, since then I keep a mic in the airplane. There are always a couple of headsets on the back seat. My old M20F always had a hand mike in the seat back. When I first bought that plane, I used the speaker and hand mic.
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