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So a 300 HP plane whips a 600 HP airplane, on less fuel flow. LMAO!! Seriously, a C55 Baron is a 190 knot machine with a similar sized cabin, and two fans out there making time at 35$ an hour and 600 HP, and a Rocket is faster. At. any. altitude. Beech guys always poke at me that their airplane is faster. It is. But when I mention that Mooney makes 285 HP airplanes, the conversation goes cold. I just flew a Bellanca Super Viking today. Nice plane, and fast. We were eating up 15 GPH. Then we went for a ride in the 201. I ran it LOP at 10 GPH and came close to his 175 MPH IAS. Then I pulled the FF back to 9 GPH and I think I heard "G--damn" 3 or 4 times. He just couldnt get over that. Until I pulled it back to 3.9 GPH. Then he couldnt stop looking at the FF meter.

Yes, but the difference between the Mooney's 900 payload and the Bonanza's 1400 payload is that you could actually put 1400lb in the mooney and not have CG issues but putting even 900lb in the Bonanza will cause you to be out of CG the moment 40 gallons burn off. I've done the math on a lot of the high useful load V vtails and their gross weight is theoretical in the sense they always seem to be out of rear CG. You can't physically load a long body mooney out of CG just using humans. It will have to be gold, concrete or magic Columbian powder ;-)

Again, the complete loss of power on any cylinder, whether it be from lack of fuel or spark would be so noticeable that you wouldn't need an engine monitor to know it. The monitor would only tell you which cylinder.

All of them are. And a Rocket with a determined pilot can whip any Baron but the 56TC and a 58P above 15K. Also on the kill list, Cessna 414 and 421, TAT turbo V35B and A36, Piper Comanche 400, and all variants of the Clorox bottle with wings.

11500 over Colorado springs in my Rocket, normal cruise. Heading down to Santa Fe for lunch. I was on flight following and the Baron was on an IFR at 11000 going to the same place. Center kept calling out traffic 500 below and 12 O clock. Kept getting closer and closer till I passed him. I saw him land as we were leaving in a car for town. When we got back to the airport after lunch my wife and girls headed to the restroom and I went out to the plane to get it ready. He was parked right next to me. He recognized my plane and ask about it. He could not believe that little Mooney had passed him. He admitted to speeding up to no avail. His was not a turbo. It was his first flight away from the local area in his brawny new 600 HP twin. He was a bit disappointed that we had "walked on by" I was at normal cruise 200 knots that low.

No not yet LOL! Im still getting used to the stall feeling ! Maybe in a year or so, just thought it might fill my use, but definately do not want to run the gun, I will wait to get my PPL and then probably rent until I find a good Mooney and then seek training for it, just wanted to see if it was even a possibilty for a low hour pilot - Thanks to all that posted and all the encouragement ! And for answering all my noobie questions ! Yea she is a sweet dog "lot of bad press for the Rotties" She plays with our 3 year old everyday and they are best friends , and boy does she protect that little boy as her own ! I will give her a ear scratch for sure !

Welcome to flying Mooneys in NJ. We have an MSC here and they often rent Mooneys. We also have Mooney specific training available here when you are ready. Learn the search function quickly. There are so many topics initiated/covered by people asking similar questions that you may have. They may have started with the same experience that you currently have. Expect all answers to have a bias, but the recomendations are from the heart. Search for topics like where are you flying this weekend, or holiday travel. Look up the nj mooney web site, one of our members here hosts it. Welcome aboard. Best regards, -a-

Scott I figure about 150 to 200 hours to be 1) profiecient as a pilot , 2) experienced enough to make a no go decision #2 being the most important , as this is usually a decision that results in disaster for the inexperienced aviator..

You have SIX HOURS Total time and you want to buy a Mooney? DON'T DO IT. Get your private pilots license. THEN go fly a Cherokee and see if you like low wing aircraft. THEN get checked off for solo retract aircraft. Then build up to about 100 hours THEN if you still love to fly...all the while reading books about aircraft ownership and costs...go fly a Mooney. I LOVE your excitement, but at six hours you need to "tap the brakes". You will be a better, safer, smarter pilot and owner for the exercise. Good luck obtaining your PPL. Give your pup an ear scratch for me.

Face it in a straight comparison of speed Bonanza is slower. If you factor in fuel consumtion it is even slower. 300 HP in both airframes really shows the difference. Similar useful means the Bonanza has 2 extra useless seats and goes 20+ knots slower. If you do real comparisons Fuel /distance/ time/payload the Mooney will always come out on top. Shall I repeat the story about the time I walked the Baron? The increased drag of the Beech products leaves them behind. 200 hp Mooney is slower than a 300hp Bonanza by brute force. But a 270 HP Mooney is faster than that same 300 hp Bonanza. The 225 hp Beech and the 180 hp mooney are similar speeds but not fuel consumption. The only advantage for 6 standard passengers is if your trip is under 100 miles. Fueled for the same distance any useful advantage by the Bonanza is gone. Flown with 1 or 2 as 90% of flights are similarly powered Mooneys will always arrive first and use less fuel. If you want to brag about how it makes you feel to drive a Bonanza be my guest but dont brag about raw speed cause it ain't there. No sir "YOU WISH"

Oscar-- Here are the Takeoff and Landing Distance charts from my 1970 Owner's Manual. The whole file is 4MB if you want it by email. The Parts and Maintenance Manuals are 25MB and 35MB, so I can't send them by email. Happy flying down there towards Paradise! FWIW, I have no trouble going in and out of a nearby grass strip, 2000' long. There's a slot in the trees at one end for approach, and a cement plant with gravel pile at the other end, so I don't go there heavy. When leaving my 3000' paved home field at gross, I use Takeoff Flaps and have no trouble clearing the trees at the end, usually raising the flaps as I'm crossing over them.

My old 231 did not have speed brakes and I never thought about them. After it was converted to a Rocket I found I really needed them. Had them and long range tanks installed when it was painted. A Rocket really needs both. My current J does not have or need speed brakes. I consider them a waste of money on a J but worth their weight in gold on a Rocket. After spending 800 hour in a Rocket a 4000# Mooney is not impossible. They will lift more than the gear will land for sure. Problem is it will gain weight somewhere to gain the structure needed to certify. But a Bonanza is so Slow.........

Here you go! Sorry for the delay but I have been working on the Long EZ also and getting it flying again is kind of a priority issue now. I put pictures up on picasaweb at http://picasaweb.google.com/n223mm/TandemMooney. I'll keep these up there for you for a month or so. I'll also try to put a couple in the gallery so that something remains after I cycle them out of picasa.

I don't get the whole Apple Kool-Aide stuff. You don't have to drink any beverages to use their products. Just buy what works and use it, no evangalizing needed.