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When our long-time A&P retired and a new crew took over the shop, we started getting the plane back covered in greasy smudges that weren't there when it went in. Happened enough times I mentioned it to them. I keep it pretty clean. Shortly after that, we had a series of maintenance-caused issues leading to almost a year in downtime and several dangerous conditions before finding a new shop. Looking back, you could see how they were treating the plane by the greasy fingerprints. Should have pulled it out of there then. I'd put new scratches and dents on the plane in the same category. Not talking about chipped paint at the edge of the cowlings and inspection panels, or an occasional chip from a dropped tool. I do understand some of that is going to happen.

A form-a-funnel works pretty well on getting oil from the filter into the bucket. Comes in handy doing lots of other things too around the plane / hangar. $15 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Cyantor-Flexible-Draining-Foldable-Reusable/dp/B08R5YYQJ6/ref=sr_1_7?crid=27IH2ZDX141O3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eLE_CAL9gdciPWXq2JwDmg8HhI5ZgEHmFpABNsHY80nA6s1vyCd93LK7xutKNuTx79SAZDfj_QchQ-RT_TZbTNAigIncivLk-QNledha-Pd5RtUrpqgNf0HdEPeKibQz01-VbF_D0T7Au1Sy1w6ab_uvUfD1Gl0DqNULJo3fwcwgXuuLDc96zVLzY-qpGJB59SNzXLfIr3IErzGDCcODCtFP2zHobSGbcaXnruN7tG4rUSb5efsKfmkXgPNCOeKfXOSmdrlueLc1bZnkH_6x9tHBMBcHfj1OQgWYVi9pJeI.gMEuGBpIAqqiXIxrvh2g-uEVcNs1wECj95gVL1uUGsc&dib_tag=se&keywords=form+a+funnel&qid=1713354127&sprefix=form+a+funnel%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-7

That looks a lot like the flyback diodes sold at Aircraft Spruce: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/solenoidassy.php It acts as a one-way path for electricity and keeps the charge in your solenoid's coil from traveling back up the switch wire and causing a spark in your starter switch. If you have trouble getting your exact part number of replacement solenoid, you can get a Lamar FAA/PMA replacement, very nice units: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/sts-12s24s.php?clickkey=8060 If your master solenoid looks like that one, now might be a good time to replace it too, or at least throw a new one in your spare parts bag so you aren't left stranded on the ground somewhere. And if the rest of your battery-to-starter wiring looks as corroded as the wire ends in the photo, just cleaning the connections with a wire brush and adding some dielectric grease might be a good idea, and might be all it takes to get everything working right again.

I had a very good initial PPL flight instructor. We did a lot of practice where he let me come into the airport at different heights, speeds, directions, etc., then his instructions were "Look out the window, and make the airplane do what you want." and "Keep your aim point centered in the windshield and get your speed right, and the plane will land itself." That was all in a 172 but you can do it in a Mooney too. I am still most comfortable landing that way. I glance at the airspeed indicator but most of my focus is visual, outside. If you come in too fast you'll float, but you can feel that in the controls, and in the seat of your pants, and see it in your attitude - if you're too nose low for your flap setting, you're too fast, usually. Basically what an AOA indicator would be telling you (wish I had one). Another pilot I know and fly with learned only stabilized approaches. His CFI was an airline pilot. He does math in his head in the pattern, calculating his descent on downwind and base, checking AGL on final, compensating wind speed with altitude. Would stress me out. But to each their own. I have wondered how those pilots handle situations where a stabilized approach is not possible. Slam-dunked by ATC. Last minute pattern changes from tower. Flying the FISK arrival at Oshkosh. Landing at Gaston's. Circle to land ops. For the pilot I know, those are very stressful situations. I've encouraged him to go get some VFR practice and instruction. I think it should be taught more than it seems to be.

Found a tip here or somewhere on the internet to use Peerco 321 Adhesive Remover. Pricey, but it works great to dissolve all types of glue without removing paint: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/peerco02-00234.php I guess it's what they use to remove deice boots from wings. I can confirm it removes carpet glue and door seal adhesive very well also. Pleasant citrus smell, no fumes like mineral spirits.

I cut out for the fuel strainer. I just laid the piece over it and used a fresh utility blade knife to cut through like a pie, then around. Wasn't too bad. The directions say to fold the pie pieces under but they didn't sit flush and it wasn't working so I cut them out. Ideally I would put some binding or something around the circle, but I have not done that. They sent velcro strips with the kit. I have not installed them yet. So far, the carpet stays where it is supposed to and doesn't move, since it is such a nice tight fit. I am not currently planning to do anything to hold it down, which makes it easy to pull the carpet for cleaning, inspections, or modifications. If I have trouble my plan is to use some rubber cement to install the velcro strips it came with. I did glue down the pieces on the split rear seat backs. I used 3M spray carpet adhesive, followed the directions, very easy. I would not glue all the carpet down. We spent a lot of time stripping out old glue before installing the new carpet. Nasty mess.

I recently got a kit from SCS. It was easy to order samples in advance to see what you're getting. I needed some pieces from their 231 kit and some from their 252 kit. I had some parts of my plane that did not match their drawings at all. Sent them measurements for those and they custom-made them, turned out great. Had to slightly trim some pieces, easy to do with a pair of scissors. They also made a piece for my hat rack, which was not carpeted on their drawings. I think it took about a month (which included Christmas and New Years) for the custom work order and they did a good job. I'd recommend the kit and the company. I had considered just ordering raw material and trying to cut and bind it myself, since none of the kits seemed to really fit my plane, but I'm glad I did not. Theirs is much nicer than I could have done. My only complaint is that next to the new carpet, the seats and the plastics now look a little worn out, where before I thought they looked pretty good...

Went to Skybolts instead of Camlocs and never looked back: https://store.skybolt.com/storefront.aspx I ordered an assortment of SK27S3 (2700-series) in different lengths. E.g. some SK27S3-3S, some SK27S3-4S, some SK27S3-5S. The -<number> is the length of the fastener, and our cowls are somewhat custom items that over time will work better with different lengths. You can keep swapping till you find one that is tight enough to not fall out, but easy to install. I believe most that fit were 4S or 5S. You may also want some SK28S3 (2800-series) which have a wider flange for any holes that becomes wallowed out, and some SK40S5 (4000 series) which are the large ones that go in the bottom of the cowl. Having some spares in the hangar for when a shop returns your plane with fewer fasteners than you delivered it with, or when you land with fewer than you took off with, may be a good idea.

I believe so, but both were in the plane when we got it.

Sounds familiar. Got a new trim chain cover in 2021 from Vantage Associates Alva Plane Plastics. Part number K740227-001. Cost $16.20 shipped. If I remember right, I had to call them, but they figured out what I needed and sent it. Never did figure out where the old one went. There were 3D printed versions described here on Mooneyspace, and the guy who made it was offering to sell them at one point. But Plane Plastics is hard to beat.

It's a floormat that came with the carpet kit from SCS Interiors. Great kit. There's a matching one for the pilot's side, but it covers the fuel drain valve, so I opted not to install it out of fear that I'd forget to drain the fuel as part of the preflight. I have since removed the copilot's floormat also, because it looked lopsided with only one side installed. I considered trying to cut a hole in the pilot's floormat for the fuel drain valve. Still could, but I'm not sure it would look good.

Here are some I took after putting in new carpet. It's a 1982 model year 262 conversion but I believe the interior is all from a 252 model. Hope it helps.

Had a KAP-150 that started acting up. Chased problems with it for a couple of years. When they go bad, they can have some undesirable failure modes. The last time, about 50% of the time, when you engaged the AP, the right wing wanted to drop 30 degrees. Not pleasant in IMC or with passengers. It also would randomly just stop capturing the glideslope on approaches. Shops were confused. Some chance it was the old King HSI driving it that was failing. Not many people wanted to work on either the HSI or the KAP-150, or understood how it all worked, and this was in 2018-2019, I suspect it would be worse now. Never did figure that one out. We put in the GFC500. Huge difference in the way the plane feels to fly. Reliable. Easy to use. Intuitive. Safe. Would do it again, despite the cost.

The theory here is this: You had a perfectly running engine at shutdown. For shutdown, all you did is move the mixture to idle. There's still gas in the lines, primed and ready to enter the cylinders. The throttle is already cracked and set to idle speed. If you put the mixture back to full rich and crank, you're returning the engine just back to how it was a few moments before when it was running happily. It should re-start. This works only on short turns, such as refueling or loading or unloading passengers. If the plane sits for longer (30+ minutes) the fuel in the lines may vaporize from engine heat (vapor lock), drain back to the tank, or drain or evaporate out of the carb. Then you have to either re-prime, flush the lines with cool fuel from the tanks, or something else to return the cylinders to the proper fuel/air mixture to run. But after a quick turn, I will typically just crank first and see if it fires. If it doesn't, then you know it's safe to add more fuel without flooding the engine.

If the flooded start procedure is working (mixture full lean, throttle full forward), then I would suspect your engine is getting flooded somehow as you try to restart. In many engines, after a short shutdown, you can just put the mixture back in, turn the mags on, and crank to restart, and any boost pump or priming activity before that or along the way will flood the engine, requiring the use of the flooded start procedure. I'm not familiar enough with the E engine to recommend a hot start procedure for it, but I bet if you post here what you're trying to do that isn't working, you'll get some suggestions.

When I tackled this job, I drained the old fluid out through the calipers while keeping the reservoir in the tail full. Got a fair amount of chunky brown fluid out of the calipers when I opened the bleeders. Kept going until fresh red 5606 came out. Still ended up with some air in the system due to changing the old stiff brake lines at the same time. Refilled from the bottom up using a pressure pot. Went OK, but the cheap Amazon pressure pot wasn't really up to the task. Next time I would buy a better one or try the oil can linked here. And the 5606 has eaten up that plastic pressure pot. I would use the synthetic fluid if doing it again, and also order the AN fitting to seal up the reservoir in the tail, which I did not have. Brakes worked afterwards but weren't even, had some softness in the right one until the second pump. Flying, changing attitudes, and pumping the brakes got it to better, but not perfect. Don Maxwell's shop fixed it all up at the next annual. Don't know what they did, but they were better at it than me. It seems to be a job best done by someone with the proper equipment and fittings, and maybe some experience, if that's an option.

I have a G500TXi. The chart overlay feature shown works OK, but is a little clunky. Like Don said, it's always track up, or at least it stays track up since that's what I have the MFD map set to. So you may be reading the numbers on the chart sideways or upside down. It also zooms in too much, automatically, and repeatedly. Like, so far in you can only read the step-down altitude of the leg you're on, and you have to keep zooming out to see the next leg, or how far you are from the airport. Zooming out is easy, but you have to do it so often it's annoying, as it zooms in again at each fix. If they fixed the auto-zoom feature it would be a lot more useful. Come to think of it, I should check and see if that's an adjustable setting, which I've never done. The chart overlay makes it pretty much impossible to get confused as to what part of the approach you're on, so that part is good, but I always have the chart open on my phone so I can read all of the data and information easily. Or, once I'm established on the approach plate, I'll just switch the G500TXi's MFD off the map to show the approach plate itself instead, which is then the proper orientation and still shows the geo-referenced blue airplane dot on it. Once on approach, the map overlay feature seems to me to be of little use. It's more helpful while you're 50 miles out and wanting to get oriented about where the approach and potential missed is going to take you in relation to the rest of the world. I always thought that was its intended use, and not trying to fly the approach itself on the map page. But you can certainly fly an approach with it. Never knew the G3X didn't have that feature. But I wouldn't miss it too much if I were choosing between the two today.

Whenever you have it ready, let me know pricing and how to order. Thanks @Gee Bee Aeroproducts

Not sure about the replacement or adhesive, but Peerco 321 Adhesive Remover did a great job removing the old glue from my door where the seal used to be without stripping any paint. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/peerco02-00234.php My research showed off-the-shelf factory-style replacements weren't easily available. But I did stop short of calling the factory. Hope you find one.

Also, if you buckle the seatbelts and tighten them up all the way, they make a nice handle for lifting the seats in and out of the plane. And it keeps them from flopping around and banging on the wing as you carry the seats in and out.

That's a nice looking F model at a good price. I think those late-model F's are a great value in the market. Having it looked at by a good mechanic is recommended. Have them look for corrosion. Most everything else can be fixed reasonably. If I were buying, I would open up all the inspection panels myself and spend a lot of time looking around the inside with a mirror, flashlight, and borescope camera. Make sure it has complete logs before you invest much time or money. Most lenders will not finance a plane with any of them missing. Be ready for the first year or two to spend a bit on catch-up maintenance. There is usually some that gets deferred after the owner decides to sell. Or it has been sitting, and things will break as you start spinning them back up. I would budget at least $10k per year for those years for maintenance, and hope it was less. Not trying to scare you off, just something I think all new aircraft owners should know, so you don't have a bad experience. Good luck!

Had never heard of these, but just ordered some. Looks like Simple Green makes something similar too. Going to try those also.

I've had problems with most of the system, but not the regulator. It's a pretty simple system actually, just lots of places leaks can develop. Currently have all the leaks fixed. What's the problem with yours?

Congrats on persevering through what I'm sure was a frustrating struggle. And now you know your plane that much better. These birds are all unique creations at this point after years of modifications and improvements with unique installations. Probably why it costs so much to get them worked on...

From the M20K POH: