Photo of Johnson Bar boot installation

[Sabremech]

Does anyone have a photo or two they would care to share of the johnson bar boot installation? I have a new one from Aero Comfort and it's just not fitting like it should. I prefer not to do any cutting until I see how others fit.

 Thanks,

 David Staffeldt

 

[Bob_Belville]

David, I glued in a Aero Comfort boot a few months ago using contact adhesive. I did not take a pic while doing it but I will take a close up tomorrow and post it. I did have to do some stretching and a small amount of trimming. On my '66 E the bar gets extremely close to the floor just behind the hole.  

[carusoam]

Mine went under the carpet on the C. It never got glued down, because the sensitive area, and looked incomplete for years...

If you can jack up the plane to test the fitting, this would be key.

Sturdy Velcro would be helpful in the case you have a need to remove it forcefully.

Just thinking out loud, if it helps...

Best regards,

-a-

[Bob_Belville]

I think you'll have to have the plane on jacks. You'll want to move the gear bar stop to stop several times to get the boot in the best position. You'll also want to remove seats, carpets, and at least loosen the plastic dome behind the bar. I think the back edge of the boot should just about line up with the back edge of the hole.

[N601RX]

I put one in a while back. I used 3M weatherstrip glue. I can get a picture. I had the same problem your probably having. I finally pushed the top of the boot all the way down on the J bar and the leather "pouch" is basically under the floor. I don't think it would have stretched for enough any other way.

[M20F-1968]

I am dealing with this now. I purchased one from Aero Comfort and it is designed with a cylindrical cuff sewn vertically onto a flat piece of leather.  It did not work at all.  There are 2 issues.  1) The Johnson bar comes very close to the nose gear wheel well and the cylindrical cuff is too thick 2) the flat piece of leather does not give enough to accommodate the angled bar movement.  I have the original part from the factory.  It is made with the stitching in an "X" pattern with each line of stitching 45 degrees to the length of the airplane.  Clearance with the floor is less of an issue than clearance with the aileron linkage just under the floor and visible through the floor cut-out.  When the Johnson bar fold, there should not be any seams in the material in the area between the Johnson bar and the aileron linkage.   When installing, glue the forward part ahead of the Johnson bar 1st, with the Johnson bar upright.  Then lower the bar the next day when that glue is dry and glue the rest of the bar allowing enough material to allow for the angled part of the bar to move.  I do not have pictures yet.  If anyone has any better ideas I would like to hear them as well.  You can use bathing suit material as LASAR does but it is not good as a

 fume barrier.  This stretchable euroleather type fabric is probably best.   I found some the is 4 way stretchable.

 

John Breda 

[Bob_Belville]

John, since Aero Comfort has no doubt a great deal of experience with this part I assumed it would work and that if it did not work the problem was me.

 

I played with it until I figured it out. I am headed to the airport now to take a pic for David of the position I placed and glued the boot. After playing with the boot while moving the bar stop to stop I painted both the boot and the floor/nose gear wall with contact adhesive and after 10 minutes or so pressed the boot in position with the bar in a mid travel position. I would not claim that's the only way to do it or even the best. The contact adhesive was from my trim shop, I think it is a good solution since the part will stay in place immediately which would not be the case with some glues.

 

If I had not been able to figure it out on my own I would have called Hector since I bought the boot from him!

 

Bob

[Sabremech]

Thanks guys for all the information so far. I have the airplane on jacks and the nose wheel well covers off in the interior. I'll be trying some of the fitting tonight as has been suggested here. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who found this wasn't a straight forward installation. I'd still like to see a picture or two if anyone has them. Thanks in advance!

 David

[carusoam]

The number of things that disappear down that hole is amazing... You will find them at annual time. Specifically hardware that is related to the compass. It will flash before your eyes and then it is gone.

Best regards,

-a-

[Bob_Belville]

Thanks guys for all the information so far. I have the airplane on jacks and the nose wheel well covers off in the interior. I'll be trying some of the fitting tonight as has been suggested here. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who found this wasn't a straight forward installation. I'd still like to see a picture or two if anyone has them. Thanks in advance!

 David

 

David, I hope these are helpful. The key for me was to position the fairly heavy seam in the boot just inside to hole opening so that the bar would not be held up. You'll note I trimmed the corners of the boot around the seat tracks. The distortion in the upper right corner was caused by the trim and flap cables. I suppose I could have made a better fit there if I were more patient and talented. (The knob to the right of the trim wheel is for the manual operated speed brakes.)

 

Bob

[carusoam]

Bob,

Hector's work is nicer than the fabric one that I got. I've learned a couple things from your photo...

Manual speed brakes? Really?

Anyone else have those?

Best regards,

-a-

[Bob_Belville]

Bob,

Hector's work is nicer than the fabric one that I got. I've learned a couple things from your photo...

Manual speed brakes? Really?

Anyone else have those?

Best regards,

-a-

 

 

Bob,

 I've learned a couple things from your photo...

Manual speed brakes? Really?

Anyone else have those?

Best regards,

-a-

This is a '66 E. I would think there are quite a few installation like mine which was done in 1997 along with just about every mod then available. "Speed brakes by Precise Flight Inc STC SA5708NM" With a gear max extend speed of 120 mph and flaps @ 100 mph, speed brakes are very useful in our older Mooneys in the vicinity of higher terrain. 

[Bob_Belville]

This is a '66 E. I would think there are quite a few installation like mine which was done in 1997 along with just about every mod then available. "Speed brakes by Precise Flight Inc STC SA5708NM" With a gear max extend speed of 120 mph and flaps @ 100 mph, speed brakes are very useful in our older Mooneys in the vicinity of higher terrain. 

 

 

In 1997 the parts for the Speed Brakes cost $3000 and labor was budgeted @ 30 hours.

[sreid]

David, I hope these are helpful. The key for me was to position the fairly heavy seam in the boot just inside to hole opening so that the bar would not be held up. You'll note I trimmed the corners of the boot around the seat tracks. The distortion in the upper right corner was caused by the trim and flap cables. I suppose I could have made a better fit there if I were more patient and talented. (The knob to the right of the trim wheel is for the manual operated speed brakes.)

 

Bob

It looks like the boot doesn't close up very well around the bar. What do you think of the overall fit/quality? If you don't mind, what is the price?

Thanks

Steve

[carusoam]

Speed Brakes...

They are nice, usable, devices.

Comfortable for passengers that don't like the sideways slip.

I was unaware that they were available for short bodied Mooneys.

Being mechanical,fits right in with mechanical gear and hydraulic flaps.

Best regards,

-a-

[Sabremech]

Hi Steve, not sure I can honestly answer the fit question yet. Quality is good. Is there room for improvement? I think so, especially with the very limited amount of space between the J bar and the wheel well cover. I'll post my installation results over the weekend.
David

[N601RX]

Last year the J bar boot was $49 and the rudder boots $25 each. The J bar boot is susposed to have a piece of lace around the top of it to pull it up snug around the J Bar.

[Sabremech]

I don't think the J bar boot has a piece of lace like the rudder pedal boots do. Mine is new from Aero Comfort with no lace cord.

 David

[Bob_Belville]

My $50 black leather boot from Aero Comfort did not have no stinkin' LACE! Seriously, I had to snip the stitching on the top of the boot. I do not recall if that was to get it over the handle or to get it to move up and down as the bar is moved. I did not bother to try to stitch it back, had not thought about it until the close up pic.

[Bob_Belville]

Speed Brakes...

They are nice, usable, devices.

Comfortable for passengers that don't like the sideways slip.

I was unaware that they were available for short bodied Mooneys.

Being mechanical,fits right in with mechanical gear and hydraulic flaps.

Best regards,

-a-

 

 

Speed Brakes...

They are nice, usable, devices.

Comfortable for passengers that don't like the sideways slip.

I was unaware that they were available for short bodied Mooneys.

Being mechanical,fits right in with mechanical gear and hydraulic flaps.

Best regards,

-a-

The speed brakes can be deployed at any speed, have little effect on pitch, landing or even take off/go around. They can be partially extended as well. I flew a lot of hours in this make and model w/o SBs. They are really sweet.

[duke]

I would have to agree. My f with speed mods is a lot more slippery than my s. s has speed brakes which i rarely use after

being used to the f. The s with the big 3 blade out front is a lot easier to slow down. Poh also says it has a 11% greater glide ratio than standard 2 blade.

[N601RX]

My $50 black leather boot from Aero Comfort did not have no stinkin' LACE! Seriously, I had to snip the stitching on the top of the boot. I do not recall if that was to get it over the handle or to get it to move up and down as the bar is moved. I did not bother to try to stitch it back, had not thought about it until the close up pic.

I was able to stretch it over the top of my J Bar.  I'm not sure if they intended it to have lace or not but I had some and just wrapped 2 turns around the cuff of the boot and tied it down tightly so it sealed up tight around the J bar. I did not punch any holes for the lace as the rudder pedals have. 

[AmigOne]

My J-bar boot is probably original and made of a fabric like material so it has stained and no amount of cleaning can make it look nice so this thread was very timely.  Based on the comments I will not order one from AeroComfort but take the old one to have one made not of leather, but of a lighter but stain resistant material (any suggestions as to which material???) on a color to match the carpet.   Also from the comments it seems to me that the heavier leather makes installation and operation of the J-bar more complicated.  This will be the incentive I need to also remove the nose wheel cover and paint it on the same color to match the side panels.    

[Sabremech]

I wouldn't rule out Aero Comforts product just yet. I'll be installing mine tomorrow and there have been some great suggestions here so I hope to post my results tomorrow. They make an excellent product that may need just a little tweaking and who better to advise them than Mooney customers.

David

[N601RX]

Here is the one from Aero Comfort that I installed. It took a while to figure out how to position it. Once I did it worked fine. Most of it is below the floor and it doesn't interfere with the J-Bar any. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD