Parts and Maintenance Manual for M-18C 55

[Keith Mackey]

Okay, let's get this forum going!

A Parts and Maintenance Manual for the M-18C is available on the Mite Site. I have a copy of this manual. Since the '55 model is a bit different than the previous models, I think that Mooney either published a separate parts manual for the '55 models or a supplement to the earlier manual. Since many parts are different between the 55 and other earlier models, there must have been a way for owners and shops to identify these part numbers when ordering from the factory.

Does anyone have a copy of such a document? If so, if I could borrow it, I'll scan it into a .pdf document and make it available to be downloaded from the Mite site.

Keith
N4159

[Gil Gilbert]

Keith,
For your information there are 56 drawings of the -55 parts that pertain to the differences between the C and C-55 models. About 3 years ago I purchased the lists of Mooney Mite drawings from the NASM. There are 3 lists, one is list is by drawing number, another list by drawing title, and the third is a copy of the original Mooney drawing list. The Mooney list for some reason starts with 4. The best I can tell there is no connection between the M-18X drawing numbers and the Mooney drawing numbers. So far I have ordered a few drawings for the C model that are not included in the M-18X drawings such as the A-65 exhaust and some landing gear drawings.

The museum will send you some forms for ordering drawings.

Gil Gilbert.

[Keith Mackey]

Hi Gil:

Thanks for the reply. I have the M18X drawings and as you know, none of them cover the M-18C 55. Does the list of drawings which you have specifically refer to those which are unique to the 55?

There is a page on the Mite Site which is titled "Mooney M-18x Drawings from the NASM Collection are Available Upon Request" I never bothered with the information, as I already had the M-18X drawing set. From the information you've given, I assume that this page is improperly titled and the drawings are the original factory drawings and not the 'X" model.

There is a further note on this page: "In June 2003, the NASM asked us not to publish their index of Mooney Mite drawings on the Mite Site. The reason given was they are considering the idea of publishing the drawings data (index) on their own website. We have been informed they have not yet done this, but we'd like to remain friends of the NASM, so we'll abide by their wishes."

I just did a search ot the National Air & Space Museum (NASM)web site and could not find any such list. Since it has been four years since they asked Dave to not publish the list, maybe at this point they would not object. If you would loan me your copy, I'll .pdf it and return the original to you. Dave could either put the document on the site, or you could provide it privately to anyone interested.

In any case, your information is very enlightening as it points to a source of the original factory drawings and not just those for the M-18X.

Keith
Who is still looking for an M-18C 55 maintenance or parts manual.

[Scott Royall]

Hi Keith,
Boyd Maddox is a mechanic that has done a lot of work on Mites. He is a mite owner and lives in Texas. Try him. If he doesn't know about it then there probably isn't one. Boyd's email is mooneymite@yahoo.com.

[Keith Mackey]

Thanks Scott, great idea. I finally caught up with Boyd who is traveling. When asked if there was a M-18C 55 specific maintenance and parts manual, he replied

"Actually there wasn't. There was one for the M18L and one for the M18LA & C. They did have a one page POH for each of them. I will look when I get home and see if I have anything."

If he finds anything, I'll post it here.

Keith

[Scott Royall]

Hi Keith,
It took me a long time to get up the nerve to submit this loosely related reply to your quest for documentation. I am about to do some speculating and some reporting of things that I have found from my own research, so take it for what is worth. This information is not going to help anyone complete a mite project; it is just a history of how we got to where we are.

Availability (or lack of it) to Mite documentation is largely a factor of Mooney's decision to sell the mite Type Certificate to Fred Quarles. Fred offered the Mite as a home built for a while but wasn’t able to make it a financially rewarding endeavor long term.
With that transaction Mooney washed it's hands of service and support of the mite and delivered all documentation of the airplane and the certificate to Fred. So, we can’t get any help from Mooney.
Fred did some great things for us. For example, many of us have a set of Mite working drawings as a result of Fred's efforts. The problem with the drawings we have is that they don't exactly match any of the planes we own and fly because they are M-18X (for experimental) drawings. They are close in many ways because the planes are all so much alike. I think the drawings most closely resemble the LA model, but there are still many significant differences. (Someone please correct me is I am wrong.)
Fred Quarles and I had a few conversations by phone over the years. I asked Fred if the type certificate would ever be for sale, or maybe I asked if he would sell it to me at that time. My recollection of his response is that he said that I certainly didn’t want to be the owner of a type certificate because of the liability involved and that he was convinced that he couldn’t protect himself if he sold the type certificate. Apparently, a few years ago his fear of this inherent liability led him to donate the Mite documentation to the Smithsonian. They were instructed not to allow access to the information by anyone who wanted to manufacture airplanes or parts thus limiting future liability to Fred.
By donating the documentation to the Smithsonian, Fred has now washed his hands of support of the Mite type certificate, which he still owns.
We can request information from the Smithsonian and they will provide it to us, but so far they don’t really know what they have. Nobody else knows either except maybe Fred. Fred told me that they have photos and other documentation in addition the drawings that are listed in the index recently published on the Mite site. The process of obtaining un-cataloged information from the Smithsonian is so cumbersome, time consuming and expensive that unless you can go there and spend some time going through the actual documents you can’t really tell what you might get when you order something.
If someone has the time and inclination to visit the Smithsonian and find out what they actually have we could all benefit. I expect they have the original engineering and drawings and all the paperwork for all the modifications that Mooney ever had approved by the CAA and all the FAA paperwork up until the time that Fred made his donation.

As Forrest Gump would say, “That is all I have to say about that.”

[Glenn]

I was at the Smithsonian about 15 years ago doing research on the M-19. That's where I found the specifications now posted on this site. At that time all they had on the M-18 was a set of M-18X drawings and a bunch of photos of M-18's. They had no problem releasing copies of the drawings. The archives are a lot of fun to visit. You need an appointment to get in. The folks there are very knowledgable and helpful. What a great job. I thought the M-18X plans where for the L model. The nice thing about the plans are that they share many common components with all model Mites. Still it would be nice to have drawings for all Models.

[Scott Royall]

I think Fred's donation occurred within the last 5 years. I'm sure it wasn't 15 years ago. He probably donated a set of plans, back when he was trying to sell them, just as a way to get exposure. So, they have a lot more stuff now than they did when Glen visited.