I'd like to introduce myself as a proud new owner of a 1963 Mooney M20C that I recently purchased from a great seller in TX.
I flew to TX, did the pre-inspection of the plane and all log books, took a test flight and had the owner do three landings to allow me to get a feel for the plane, then I jumped in the driver seat and did two excellent landings, even greased the 2nd one! I owe all the reading I've done on this site to prepare me for the Johnson Bar, Manual flaps (love both of them over electric now) and approach pattern speeds. I rounded out on final at 80 mph and the Mooney just sat down on the runway nicely, no floating.
After the paperwork was complete, I jumped in and headed straight for MS to visit family and again, great landings. Flights from MS to TN with a proud mother, from TN to MS with mother, sister and niece, then back to TN with sister and niece, then off to VA for its home airport. All landings were great except for VA when the ATIS was down. Luckily some g1000 Cessna's were in the pattern; unlucky, reported 18kt direct crosswinds. My first landing I had to immediately reject due I had come in full flaps. As I got back into the pattern, I remembered the reading material stating no flaps for high winds and on the 2nd attempt, I came in with no flaps, less power but did stall the airplane about 6' off the runway to make for a hard hit. The plane did not bounce, just kept on rolling. Lesson learned!!!
As far as performance, the engine was recently top overhauled so still running mineral oil for the break in. Prop is brand new and the plane has the 201 windshield and flap gap seals. This plane cruised at 145kts no wind and hit 170kts for about 10 minutes between TN and VA over the mountains. This plane is fast!!!
I'm happy to be a mooney owner and look forward to many cross country trips. Now I just have to get the vor/ils repaired, get my ipad mini (great vfr gps!) mounted on the yoke (ordered the parts), fix a couple of minor issues and get the plane IFR certified!
John