Good morning.
I have a 1965 PA 28 180. I haven't flown it since October primarily due to my mechanic taking a lengthy amount of time on the annual. He's meticulous but a bit slow as he's new. We did quite a bit. Worked on all three struts, rebuilding the front one. Installed inspection panels. New primer pump. New starter. Ran wiring to sequence the new navigation lights etc. Quite a long list but everything checked out, including all engine specs. Yesterday I took her up for the first time since October. Take off and climb seemed normal. I stayed in the pattern for 20 to 30 minutes in the event something went wrong. Nothing did but I was concerned with the way the plane ran at cruise. I may be convincing myself there's an issue but it seemed like the engine would bog down every now and again but not show a drop in rpms. I set cruise at approx 2300 rpms and leaned the mixture. When I started feeling like the engine was acting up I checked carb heat and went full rich on the mixture. Now, it was a bit bumpy with a fair amount of updrafts etc. And, I just spent quite a few hours in a cherokee 160 so I was basing my flight off of being used to the 160 and having not flown the 180 in 9 months. Landing was uneventful and everything seemed ok. Am I making this up in my head or does this ring a bell to anyone? Should I look for an issue?
Thank you all for your help
Josh
I have a 1965 PA 28 180. I haven't flown it since October primarily due to my mechanic taking a lengthy amount of time on the annual. He's meticulous but a bit slow as he's new. We did quite a bit. Worked on all three struts, rebuilding the front one. Installed inspection panels. New primer pump. New starter. Ran wiring to sequence the new navigation lights etc. Quite a long list but everything checked out, including all engine specs. Yesterday I took her up for the first time since October. Take off and climb seemed normal. I stayed in the pattern for 20 to 30 minutes in the event something went wrong. Nothing did but I was concerned with the way the plane ran at cruise. I may be convincing myself there's an issue but it seemed like the engine would bog down every now and again but not show a drop in rpms. I set cruise at approx 2300 rpms and leaned the mixture. When I started feeling like the engine was acting up I checked carb heat and went full rich on the mixture. Now, it was a bit bumpy with a fair amount of updrafts etc. And, I just spent quite a few hours in a cherokee 160 so I was basing my flight off of being used to the 160 and having not flown the 180 in 9 months. Landing was uneventful and everything seemed ok. Am I making this up in my head or does this ring a bell to anyone? Should I look for an issue?
Thank you all for your help
Josh
