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I haven’t seen him in years. This would have been in the late 80s his last name was Cherry, first name was either Paul or Dave, I think. I’m real bad with names. He was my step dad’s nephew.

Get a dynamic balance

Thanks for that tip. I'll keep it in mind but, so far, I've not had that issue (thankfully!). My usual stunt is impatience and I advance the mixture too rapidly and get too much fuel.

I just bought a 1971 M20C and it's been great so far across my first 6 hours and I'm still learning the quirks. At cruise speed it seems like there is normally a vibration. I don't think it's a misfiring cylinder since I'm getting good power (~144-146 KTAS). It seems like it might be a propeller harmonic or the prop is out of balance. I've tried adjusting the prop RPM up and down in 10 RPM increments which I'd expect to help if it's a harmonic, but that doesn't really seem to fix it. I also don't notice it 100% of the time so sometimes it runs totally smooth. I tried cracking the throttle until I saw a .1" decrease and then playing with the mixture up/down slightly but that didn't seem to fix it either. That leaves me with the opinion that the prop itself might be slightly out of balance. I'll have to look in the logs, but I'm pretty sure it was just balanced not much more than 100 hours ago. Any thoughts?

It's the ADS-B FIS-B weather overlay. There can be incomplete data that then gets filled in when you are in better reception. If you were to toggle that off momentarily, you should see it disappear.

AOPA's Basicmed website is helpful for this. They will send reminders (if you request it) as well as give you the required training and forms.

Is OPP allowed when PMA parts are available? Asking for a friend.

One other factor for me in this discussion... I look at airplane ads all the time just like every other pilot. I can't find anything under $250K that I'd rather fly than a Mooney. I don't want an experimental unless it's built by a highly reputable professional builder and it's a fully tricked out award winner. An RV would be fun but would it feel like a toy after a while? What about a fixed gear Velocity; would I have engine cooling and engine maintenance issues? Not crazy about doors that can't be opened if the plane is upside down either (happen to a Velocity at our airport; flipped over by a jet). What about a fixed gear Glasair; a Sportsman might be nice but a II or III is 25 years old now. A Cessna or Piper would probably feel like a let down; just another utility vehicle. Don't really want an older beat up Cirrus at that price; may not want a Cirrus at all; never flown one. What else is there? A Flying Legend Tucano? A SLING? Hum... Mooneys still rock.

That's good to know. Was the two week turnaround recent? They did what they said they were going to do when they said they were going to do it?

Which leads to another question. How do you know when it's time to have the doc fill out the form again. It is self managed or do you get a reminder from the FAA? I was thinking about every other year too instead of waiting until the deadline. I usually get an annual physical.

I parked my plane a couple of days ago after a 40 minute flight, had a "$100 Cobb Salad", walked around the airport and looked at my buddies RV project, had the discussion all over again about whether to use a hot or cold start procedure, then climbed in the plane and attempted the hot start procedure. It fired but stalled on the first attempt; I may have advanced the throttle too fast; I usually do. I tried again and it started right up. I was on the ground between 1-2 hours. I don't think you can go wrong by trying the hot start procedure first.

I’ve seen this a couple times recently. After a couple minutes, display is normal.

THanks for responding. Those don't fit my plane.

Two things to try that work for me depending on the situation: Prime like a cold start, but for about 1/2 the normal time. Then start like a cold start. This is usually what I do. Whatever you're doing, once it starts turn the boost pump on. If the problem is that the mechanical fuel pump is hot and cavitating, the boost pump will add input pressure and reduce the likelihood of cavitation (vapor lock). I do this at high DA or when it otherwise seems to have trouble starting.

When was he there? Name? I flew the A-10 with MD ANG. And the former squadron commander is about 4 hangers down from me. He has a T-34 and a Bonanza

Nice. TIT is a bit high. Have you checked your mag timing?

My cousin used to fly A-10s out of the Maryland NG. My only A-10 time is when he let me set in the seat and make machine gun noises while I pulled the trigger.

Some of you are assuming that everyone sees a doctor every year or so. Many people do not. I get a full physical every year (and yes it includes this). Every other year, I have my doc fill out the BasicMed form.

Scenic Airlines used to offer flight training in their Ford Tri-Motor. It wasn’t crazy expensive. Another life regret that I didn’t take advantage of.

@bonal the Ford Trimotors were produced between 1925 and 1933. The one that flies at Osh every year is from 1929. The beginning of commercial flight! Design was taken from the Fokker F.VII Trimotor produced by Anthony Fokker. He was super excited to fly the Fokker Trimotor in the original 1925 Air tour that he painted his name in large letters all over the aircraft as advertising. https://www.fokker-history.com/en-gb/ford-national-reliability-air-tour I’ll have to check when the Ford Trimotor first flew in the tour…I was thinking it was the 1927 tour… Amazing to think of the early titans of industry and intrepid aviators of the time.

My favorite plane drawn by my second favorite plane. And the two planes I have the most time in make/model.

VERY NICE!! I like the side bolsters and the headrests. Bet she's comfy to fly, especially if you have an AP!

Clean engine with mineral spirits. Add some UV dye to the oil. Start, run up to 2000 RPM for 2 minutes and shut down. Check for leak using UV light.

Thanks all for the great advice. Once I get it home and get a few hours on it, I'll start digging into the improvements!

Thank you for that titbit; I didn't know a single source had raised that much.