mikesalman

I put 22 hours on my M20F since the last oil change and she's about 1/2 qt. low. I feel lucky since I just bought her 4 months ago.

Hi folks my manual flaps keep leaking back up. I notice halfway down the runway I have half of my t/o flaps still left. In downwind I put t/o flaps and on final with runway made I use full flaps. By the time I reach the taxiway I have 1/2 of my t/o flaps left. What could possibly cause them to leak back like that. I know the lever is in the closed position. Where would I look for the cause. They go down good when pumped but will slowly bleed back when parked and much faster with wind flowing past them. 1968 M20F with approximately 2700 TT. Thanks

I got my PPL Sept. 2012 and my first airplane a 1968 M20F Jan. 22 2013. I had a total of 125 hours flying time. During my training I researched Mooney, Cessna, Piper, & Cirrus as potential candidates for my first airplane. I found that Mooney fit the bill to the T. My flight instructor said too hard to land go with Cessna or Piper. I could not settle for anything less than what I wanted so I disregarded what he said and I valued his opinion greatly and figured when I get my plane I will transition VERY SLOWLY & CAREFULLY with lots of duel instructions. Now I have 18 hours of duel instruction in my plane the last 8 hours the flight instructor just sitting there enjoying the flight with his arms folded and getting paid to be ready to take over if needed. I believe I'm ready to solo, my landings are great as long as I stay ahead of the plane. Oh by the way I only had 30 hours when I decided on a Mooney.

Also when they block the bidders and make them private listings that's a big red flag. That is one of the first things I look at when bidding on big ticket items. I like to see how many airplanes, cars GPS's that person bid on besides this particular plane. It let's you know if they are real bids or just dummy bids. I bought 21NA on EBAY and don't regret it. Anybody that wont let you do a pre-buy inspection at a shop of your choice with you covering the expense is a bigger red flag. I personally would not bid on this plane.

I just purchased my 68F in late January this year and she came with new interior (3 years old) and new paint also 3 years old so hopefully it should be a easy match.

I went out and purchased a Ipad mini because I was under the impression that my Ipad would be too big and block the instruments, I was wrong The Ipad mini was hard to see on a sunny day so I figured I would try my Ipad. That worked out great you just have to mount it sideways, at least in my 1968 M20F the sun was not so bad on the Ipad.

$150.00 for the drain plug conversion kit from Laser. Ouch, I figured I would go for broke and ordered the cowl closure too. Lol

I agree with John, you can't go wrong with Dr. Ray. He loves teaching and helping fellow pilots . He is the only instructor I could find that the insurance company would allow to train me in my new to me Mooney. No other flight instructor had any Mooney experience in Memphis that I could find. You can book him by calling Downtown Aviation at 1-901-354-3001

It's a 1968 F. I will show the AP this message you never know you could be on to something.

Thanks for the link. I will take it to my AP in the morning.

Wet tanks.

Any advice on how to repair or replace the wing sump drain? It's on my right wing and does not appear to unscrew. My mechanic tried blowing air back into it hoping that would fix the problem, but it did not.

I just want to say thank you to all the folks who took the time to help me get familiar with my airplane. It will take time but I am sure with a little patience and a lot of luck I will be ok.

I also purchased a 68 M20F with a Brittan auto pilot in January. The auto pilot was not working because the turn coordinator was not working. I sent out the turn coordinator for repair and $750 later for a rebuild on the coordinator the auto pilot holds direction but its off by about 10-15 degrees and will not hold altitude.

Thanks, any special reason to go to 2000 to cycle the prop instead of 1700 ?

Hi folks, I purchased a 1968 Mooney M20F and the POH says run up at 1700 RPM's. Now that was fine until I purchased a check list from Sporty's Pilot shop for a Mooney M20F in order to preserve the original POH that came with N21NA. That one says 1900 RPM and today, I saw one on E-Bay that also said 1900 RPM. Since I have always been known to be overly cautious you can just imagine what I go through at the beginning of every flight. 1700,1900,1700,1900 who do I believe? The POH was written 45 years ago and the engine is a 580 hour 6 year old, Should I go with 1900 or 1700. Please help I am new to all this and I am also a new pilot with 135 hours TT and 16 Hours in my Mooney. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Mike Salman

Let me know (901)335-5252 M01

I purchased my 68 M20F 3 months ago and had exactly same problem. the seller said it's all ways like that after an annual and will ease up in time, my mechanic was not convinced and my arm was starting to become sore REALY SORE. I purchase the gear rigging tools here on Moonespace and my mechanic went through the landing gear, checked and re-rigged the landing gear. Yesterday was my first flight after the rigging 3 takeoffs and landings and I can't be happier, It takes very little effort to raise and lower the landing gear now. I just hope my right elbow will eventually stop hurting. P.S. This was my first Johnson bar experience.

I would be interested. I need to meet this famous Don. Especially since im a new Mooney owner.

I was helping my friend shop for his first airplane and he decided on a Mooney.Well we found one locally a 1968 M20F just like mine but I was a little curious about it's history with 2645 TT on the airframe and 1575 on the engine. I checked for damage history and found none. I have not gone over the log books or done a pre-buy inspection because I wanted to get some input from anyone that may know some history on this aircraft. Any input would be highly appreciated.

Hi folks, the problem is getting the Johnson Bar down / getting the gear up that I am having so much trouble with. I have put it up on jacks and cycled the gears until my arm felt like it was going to fall off. We could not see anything wrong, keeping in mind the mechanic did not remove the doors either. I have made 25 landings in the past 3 weeks since I have purchased this airplane and it is not getting any easier. Now Berry was kind enough to take me up in his M20F with a Johnson Bar and he let me retract the gear (bar down) it was so easy two fingers is all it took, mine is like a wrestling match trying to get the Johnson Bar down and locked. And I even removed the carpet and that did not help. Mike