Jon Kraus wrote:
"My A&P took a look, sure enough, said I have never seen anything
like
this."

He's never worked on Mooney then has he. :-) One thing about
Mooney's, either they are leaking now, or they will be :-)


There are actually more options than most people realize for a leaking
Mooney wing (there is no fuel tank). When my Mooney started leaking we
decided to try to least expensive method first. We went out and bought
some aviation B-2 fuel sealant. We opened up the top access panels and
(under an A&P supervision) painted the B-2 all over. There is a Mooney
SB on how to do this, just be sure to not plug up the rib fuel flow
holes. We then resealed the access panels using some special sealant we
bought from a Mooney dealer (this sealant doesn't harden so you can
reopen the panels some day). That was over a year ago. We spent $200 on
sealant and A&P time and have not had a drop leak yet.

Another options is a partial reseal. A lot of people think this is a
waste of money, but most of them haven't looked into it seriously.
There is a Mooney factory service center in Oregon (Reliant Aviation)
that specializes in this. They spot seal the tank by taking certain
parts down to the metal and rebuilding them with sealant. Its much less
expensive than a full reseal and they claim that 90% of their customers
don't need a reseal. They claim lots of references of Mooneys still
leak free 10 years later. Expect to pay $3K-$4K.

Another option (ugh) is bladders. For most of us, bladders mean
increased weight and decreased capacity. There is also and AD on them.
Some people like them because they are a "life long" solution (how many
people really own the same plane for 50 years though?). However, if you
get bladders you need to keep your bird full of fuel or they will dry
out. Most of us dont' fly 7 hour missions so hauling around a truck
full of gas just isn't our cup of tea. Expect to pay around $10K

Another option is to full reseal. There are a limited number of places
that can do this, due to state environmental laws (there are none in
California that I know of). For a Mooney with sealant that is pealing
and chipping all over, this is probably the best option. Expect to pay
around $12K. The reseal will probably out live the number of years you
will live.

-Robert