PIREP: flap and aileron rigging by Flight Enhancements LLC

[Flyler]

TL;DR: the plane flies straight.

I'm sure many of you know Flight Enhancements as the maker of the electric step conversion, and some other nifty items.  I have flown in the owners plane with the "Auto Lean" and it is amazing.

This is a review of Rob as an A&P, and particularly his skills at rigging my 79 J model.  This man knows his Mooneys.

I took delivery of a beautiful 201 and while it flew straight enough, it didn't *look straight*.  The left side flap was hanging a bit low, and both ailerons were "drooping" down quite a bit.  We looked in the manual and it states between 0 and 2 degrees downward is the appropriate range.

Rob helped to adjust the ailerons and flaps so they looked proper, and followed the book properly as well.  We took it up for a flight. A slight pull to the left.  We made another adjustment. Now a very very slight pull to the left and required a little rudder correction.

We landed and Rob said, while my face was glowing with happiness about my new plane, "you might want to hop into the FBO for a minute" and he pulled out a pair of pliers and custom made tool.  "Oh my god, no" I said and ran away.  The final tweaks require slight bending of the trailing edge of the control surfaces and I couldn't watch.  I just bought this plane!

He finished up, and the sun went down.  Next time we went up for a flight, I had almost forgotten about the rigging.  Why? Because the plane flew perfectly straight and called no attention to it!  Best part is, he didn't have to take the dreadful pliers to the plane again

The straight facts are: Rob Takacs is honest, intelligent, well-skilled and a real Mooney pro. 

He is a true mentor when it comes to his CFI duties but that is a post for another day.  And probably too sappy.

[Hank]

You neglected to mention the location, so that the rest of us can enjoy straight-flying Mooneys . . . .

[LANCECASPER]

8 minutes ago, Flyler said:

TL;DR: the plane flies straight.

I'm sure many of you know Flight Enhancements as the maker of the electric step conversion, and some other nifty items.  I have flown in the owners plane with the "Auto Lean" and it is amazing.

This is a review of Rob as an A&P, and particularly his skills at rigging my 79 J model.  This man knows his Mooneys.

I took delivery of a beautiful 201 and while it flew straight enough, it didn't *look straight*.  The left side flap was hanging a bit low, and both ailerons were "drooping" down quite a bit.  We looked in the manual and it states between 0 and 2 degrees downward is the appropriate range.

Rob helped to adjust the ailerons and flaps so they looked proper, and followed the book properly as well.  We took it up for a flight. A slight pull to the left.  We made another adjustment. Now a very very slight pull to the left and required a little rudder correction.

We landed and Rob said, while my face was glowing with happiness about my new plane, "you might want to hop into the FBO for a minute" and he pulled out a pair of pliers and custom made tool.  "Oh my god, no" I said and ran away.  The final tweaks require slight bending of the trailing edge of the control surfaces and I couldn't watch.  I just bought this plane!

He finished up, and the sun went down.  Next time we went up for a flight, I had almost forgotten about the rigging.  Why? Because the plane flew perfectly straight and called no attention to it!  Best part is, he didn't have to take the dreadful pliers to the plane again

The straight facts are: Rob Takacs is honest, intelligent, well-skilled and a real Mooney pro. 

He is a true mentor when it comes to his CFI duties but that is a post for another day.  And probably too sappy.

Hmm . .  that sounds like @takair

[Flyler]

He is local to KOXC and it is indeed takair.

[Hank]

10 minutes ago, Flyler said:

He is local to KOXC and it is indeed takair.

Ah, so New England. 

[PT20J]

That's exactly how it's supposed to be done. Too many start bending metal as a quick fix. But the SMM is clear; set it up according to the manual and then tweak the aileron trailing edges as a final adjustment if necessary. It doesn't take much. These airplanes all flew straight when they left the factory. It's people messing with them without knowing what the are doing that get them all messed up.

[takair]

Thanks much @Flyler Tyler for the compliments!  It’s a pleasure working and flying with you.

@Hank….we had dinner at KHFD many, many moons ago….if I remember correctly.
 

 

[Thedude]

I need this, my J needs left rudder while cruising to stay coordinated, but then banks left pretty quickly, but I'm on the west coast...

[Hank]

1 hour ago, takair said:

Thanks much @Flyler Tyler for the compliments!  It’s a pleasure working and flying with you.

@Hank….we had dinner at KHFD many, many moons ago….if I remember correctly.

Yes, we did. I'm still in Alabama. That was while working on an ultimately successful project from hell, but we got into production on time, and the launch was very successful. 

Us C owners have to stick together!

[jamesyql]

I had some issues with my J (wing drop) when I first bought it, but I fixed them with flight control rigging as per the maintenance manual. The Mooney Flyer and Knr-Inc websites have great resources that make the process easier and clearer. My mechanic is very conscientious and follows the maintenance manual. He got my plane flying straight. While it’s nice to bring your Mooney to an expert, if you trust your local mechanic, they should be able to fix it without the hassle of travel. Your plane should also now fly faster and stall safer.

https://themooneyflyer.com/issues/2017-OctTMF.pdf

https://knr-inc.com/shoptalk-articles.html?view=article&id=75&catid=25

https://knr-inc.com/shoptalk-articles.html?view=article&id=106&catid=25

[Pinecone]

What does something like this cost?

[Flyler]

6 hours ago, Pinecone said:

What does something like this cost?

I would suggest reaching out to Mr. Takair to chat. We did a bit of owner assist, and some other work on the plane so I don't have an exact cost for the rigging. I'm sure it depends how much adjustment is needed as well.  Looks like you are nearby, maybe it would be a good connection for you!  P.S, I'm still a novice but perhaps week could do a CT Mooney meetup one day.

[jamesyql]

What does something like this cost?

I would say it’s more of an hourly until they get it right. Mine took 8 hours but would be variable depending on what needs to be done.

[takair]

Depends how far out of rig it is.  If nobody messed with it and the ball is just out of center, it might be less than 30 minutes and a test flight.  If someone tried to get it right the wrong way it might require correcting the basic rigging and then a few flights with adjustments between.  The hardest part is gaining access to some adjustments and being patient with making small adjustments.  One wrong adjustment can get you chasing your tail…. You might actually get it to fly hands off but then have severe wing drop in a stall because all the controls are cockeyed.  Also, an out of rig Mooney costs a lot of speed….  A well rigged, clean  plane might actually hit book numbers.  Feel free to PM me if I can be of help or provide advice on a specific issue.

[SilentT]

I don't think mine has ever been touched but aelerons are about quarter inch up on both sides. Dan Bass pointed it out on our flights. But it seems to fly straight (not what I was focused on). So probably leave it unless it becomes an issue. Just interesting to hear it's supposed to be down a few degrees not up 

[N201MKTurbo]

21 minutes ago, SilentT said:

I don't think mine has ever been touched but aelerons are about quarter inch up on both sides. Dan Bass pointed it out on our flights. But it seems to fly straight (not what I was focused on). So probably leave it unless it becomes an issue. Just interesting to hear it's supposed to be down a few degrees not up 

I wouldn’t fix that. I did way too much rigging and test flying on my old M20F and it goes faster rigged like that.

[PT20J]

The pressure on the top of the ailerons is lower than on the bottom so they tend to drift up slightly in flight. The rigging spec is 0 to 2 deg down to account for that, but I agree with @N201MKTurbo   - if it flies straight I wouldn’t mess with it. 

[SilentT]

3 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I wouldn’t fix that. I did way too much rigging and test flying on my old M20F and it goes faster rigged like that.

It does go real fast... I mean I had only ever flown a 152... So yeah. But I was getting 155-160kn ias on what the questionable flowmeter said was 9.5gph.

[N201MKTurbo]

5 minutes ago, SilentT said:

It does go real fast... I mean I had only ever flown a 152... So yeah. But I was getting 155-160kn ias on what the questionable flowmeter said was 9.5gph.

That’s the performance that made Mooney famous. You have a sweet one. Don’t mess with it.

[Flyler]

Probably just from combined, but roughly equal, wear on all of the many joints out to the ailerons. 

I forgot to update my post- we did some stall testing and my plane went from dropping a wing, to feeling a lot like the Piper Warrior in a stall.  I really don't like comparing my Mooney to a Piper, but that means "nice and docile" so that's a major win in my book!

[N201MKTurbo]

When I bought my current Mooney, it was way out of rig. I did a flight review at night a week or so after I got it. I did a departure stall and it snap rolled inverted. Most flight reviews don’t include night aerobatics. 
 

I fixed the rigging after that and now it is hard to do a departure stall. At full power with the yoke all the way back, it will just hang in the air. I have to push the nose down a bit and jerk the yoke back to get it to stall. When it does stall, the nose just drops straight ahead. Pushing the nose down any amount will recover it. Pushing it down a lot will recover faster. 
 

My point is, any rigging exercise must include stalls.

[Greg Ellis]

3 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

When I bought my current Mooney, it was way out of rig. I did a flight review at night a week or so after I got it. I did a departure stall and it snap rolled inverted. Most flight reviews don’t include night aerobatics. 

That will get your attention.  Holy cow.  I guess I should be happy with the rigging on my airplane.  It stalls as docile as can be, no wing drop, definitely no flight regime that requires a parachute....And departure stalls at full power are easy as can be.  Okay, I am now happy with my rigging.

[Flyler]

Rob wasn't quite happy with the trim on my plane and showed up with a travel board and level.  Sure enough, it looks like the trim has been "out of factory spec" for a long time on this plane.  Probably since the last time the trim motor was replaced, if I had to guess.  So now we have flaps, ailerons, rudder, and elevator trim rigged properly.  We took it up for a test flight and...

The plane is so docile and predictable.  I loved the Mooney even when it was out of rig but wow, it is downright luxurious now.  My confidence level shot up a ton as the workload has gone down so much!

Chef's Kiss