SA Mooney Sales & Services

30/08/2024

28/08/2024

More photos of our recent Mooney gathering. Thanks again to for the beautiful pictures

28/08/2024

A few photos from our recent Mooney gathering. Thank you to for the beautiful pictures.

04/09/2020

Mooney’s new owners revealed themselves in a letter from the new CEO posted on the home page on September 1.

01/09/2020

Some useful information from our friends in the States. Be careful with the chemicals you choose to use in your aircraft - it could be a pricey mistake!

AOPA is warning aircraft operators to be careful in choosing the disinfectants used to keep aircraft COVID-19 safe. A Florida flight school had to remove the instruments and switches and resurface the panels of two Cessna 172s after a well-meaning renter used ethanol-based sanitizer to clean the yok...

13/02/2020

Many Mooney pilots overlook their down-lock tensions or over-centre preload on their aircraft because they simply don’t know about it or don’t understand it. The inspection process requires special tools, only finding use on the M20 airframe so maintainers who don’t service many Mooneys usually don’t have the correct tooling and often don’t check the down-lock tensions correctly. Down-lock tension readings can be “masked” by poorly lubricated linkages and springs. These issues would need to be addressed prior to measuring the tensions or preload in the system in order to get an accurate reading.

Omitting to ensure the undercarriage is in top working condition could seriously ruin your day.

The purpose of introducing preload into the undercarriage system is to provide resistance to the locks that hold the undercarriage down. These locks are pushed “over centre” by the actuation rods against the stop mechanism created by the combination of the retraction link and the retraction truss. The actuation rods are powered by a strong arm in the early Mooneys or an electric motor in the newer versions. Simply put, the amount of force required to push these locks back over their centre point in order to retract the undercarriage is the “down-lock” tension.

When the tension in the system is insufficient, the gear will still lock in the down position, but, with enough external force, from a molehill on a grass strip, for example, the sudden “jolt” or “joggle” in the system could cause the entire undercarriage to fold up under the aircraft on landing or take-off.

A gear collapse opens a whole can of worms, aside from having to recover your aircraft from an active runway – dealing with insurance, removing the engine for shock-loading or sudden stoppage inspections, a new propeller, bodywork, paint, etc. etc. etc…

The inspection takes a grand total of one hour, including jacking the machine up. That’s money and time well-spent!
Book your aircraft in for a health check at Africa's only Mooney International certified repair and maintenance facility.

We are able to inspect and release most singles to service.

Give us a call to find out if we are licensed to service your pride and joy.

09/01/2020

The SA Mooney family wishes you a prosperous 2020. May it be a happy, health-filled year and decade for you and your loved ones. Every now and then over the course of the year, we will be posting some content relating to your Mooney or other aircraft (if you are unlucky enough to not own a Mooney).

Cases of Common Sense: The Importance of Engine Baffling

Baffles in the cowlings of aero engines serve to seal the upper half of the engine from the lower half around the perimeter of the engine. This works as a pressure seal, so when you are flying along, the air fills and pressurises one side of the engine compartment and is then forced through the cooling fins on the cylinders to exit through either a factory-set gap built into the cowl or through pilot adjustable cowl flaps. This action directly cools the areas of the engine that are subjected to high internal friction and residual heat generated by the combustion of the air/fuel mixture. In some instances, the engine oil cooler and/or turbo intercooler is mounted with a feed from the pressurised chamber, allowing a good stream of fresh, cool air to pass over the cooler. The extra cooling effect created by baffling can function in both directions, those being from top to bottom and bottom to top, depending on the design and configuration of the cowling.

Poor sealing of the baffle materials can lead to high engine oil and cylinder head temperatures, decreasing performance and increasing the possibility of cylinder detonation or catastrophic engine failure. Something as simple as the orientation of the baffle seals in your aircraft’s engine cowling is important to note as sometimes they will seal against the inside of the cowling when stationary on the ground, but could be pushed back when pressurised by airspeed creating a gap for cool air to bypass through. Always examine this orientation for yourself after your cowls have been removed and refitted.

Common sense should always prevail but, when in doubt, always consult a qualified professional.

Let’s bring in the new decade by being safe and responsible aviators.

18/04/2018

Watch AVWeb's test of the new Ovation Ultra

Mooney is showing off its new Ovation Ultra, with a new Garmin G1000 NXi from Garmin and--a first--a pilot's side door for the cabin. In this in-depth flight...

07/12/2017

Hein Geldenhuis from E.P. Skydivers giving us new meaning to the term "Just dropping our customer off in Grahamstown"

05/04/2017

Good news from the interwebs!

The two-door Acclaim is officially certified.

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Mooney-Shows-Certified-Acclaim-Recalibrates-M10-Project-228772-1.html

For many Mooney owners--and a few would-be buyers--a second cabin door has always been on the wish list and on Tuesday at Sun n Fun, Mooney deliver just that. The company rolled out the fully certified Acclaim Ultra, sporting both the new left side cabin door and a lighter, spiffed up interior. Moon...

15/02/2017

Check out the new Mooney website!

We are thrilled to launch our new website. http://www.mooney.com