EDNR-Cruiser

My only concern is that you guys in the US are usually a step ahead of us... - but I wouldn't want to live in such an absurd system!!! Would you please be so gentle and keep it on the other side of the big pond this time? We are already governed by a bunch of criminal braindeads... - no need to make it worse...

That MAY be because of his BMI and given his family background I'd also be a little concerned, I have to admit! But what the heck does it have to do with BMI?? My health is still okay at my age of 52 with a BMI of 34 although I am no longer doing the Decathlon as I did at the age of 24 with a BMI of 23... - but I have no problem to pull my or heavier airplanes out of the hangar without help or run an hour at a pace... BMI is surely an indicator but can never be a go/no go criteria for sure. Except for some digital people out there: "switch brain cell on / off"...

Yepp!!! Mooney M20: One size fits all...

1966 M20F Executive (quite heavily modded and upgraded) Empty: 1833 lbs (last weight check: Oct. 2013) Full fuel: 64 gal Useful load: 907 lbs FF payload: 530 lbs NR range: 1200 NM (eco. power FL15 --- 10:10h endurance) 1000 NM (cruise FL10 --- 6:36h endurance)

Any of you guys ever fly your Mooneys "low and slow" just for fun and to enjoy the scenery? Yepp, I definitely do that quite often myself... - just soaring over the Bavarian mountains with the buzzards. The scenery here is so unbelievably rich and the colours change every day... - so gorgeous! I feel like an angel and never want to come down again... That is actually the beauty of our Mooneys... - they can do both perfectly well: fly you as fast and efficiently from A to B like almost no other airplane can or just glide along, still be fun and be as efficient as a C172 and with AVGAS prices here of USD 11 to 16 per gallon this is really appreciated! My M20F is almost like two or three aircraft in one... - and I just LOVE it!

First of all: I am NOT an expert! However I find this interesting to test my little knowledge. But a question first: what do you mean with "it doesn't" peak? Each cylinder may show a different EGT = "maximum exhaust gas temperature" (not to confuse with cylinder head temperature) at peak. My cylinders peak roughly in the same order as yours and 3 shows the hottest EGT, then lean of peak the EGT drops on cylinder 3 and remains rather the same on the other three cylinders (roughly about 50° below cylinder 3 peak EGT). Remember the shape of the EGT curve? There you go... Leaning further cylinder 2 EGT goes down while 1 and 4 don't change and when cyl 3 is about 100° below its peak then my engine begins to feel a bit rougher - however cyl 1 and 4 are still almost at their peak or just 25° below. At that point the distribution of fuel has become so uneven in the cylinders that 1 and 4 still generate almost max power while 3 is hardly firing any more - thus the rough "feel". Depending on manifold pressure, pressure altitude and RPM the EGT peak temperatures vary some... - they are no constants but just showing trends. Without turbo charching you will hardly achieve the same peak EGT temperatures at FL100 as on sea level. The diagramm you uploaded looks almost "normal" to me... - except that cylinder 1 seems to top out flatter than the others. The spread in CHT seems pretty constant with a 40° spread. Your cyl 2 is the first to top actually, then 3 which is also running hotter, followed by 4 and then 1. As your cyl 1 is running with more power (i.e. richer) in cruise, the internal pressures are higher also and thus the CHT. The CHT looks a bit high to my taste in the final stage of climb after minute 10. I would have tried to stay around the 350° mark and probably exchanged some climb rate for higher airspeed and lower CHTs...

Well, that may depend how good your hearing still is... - I cannot fly without protection like ear plugs or headphones in any aircraft without my ears ringing for some time but I also wear ear plugs on my motorbikes, in concerts and so on and the doctors are always surprised that someone at my age is still hearing better than most 18 year olds these days....

I checked the manual of my '66 M20F again and other than the info I see every day, like performance charts or the red arc of my Mooney between 2100 and 2350 RPM, I also found a small chart for maximum HG with min RPM. Limit manifold pressure for continous operation: > 2400 RPM - no limit 2300 RPM - max. 28,0" HG 2200 RPM - max. 27,4" HG 2100 RPM - max. 26,8" HG 2000 RPM - max. 26,1" HG 1900 RPM - max. 25,6" HG The above data is also in line with that found in a Lycoming performance and operations chart of the IO-360 A1A engine. My M20F has the usual IO-360 A1A and a Hartzell HC-C2YK-1BF/7666A2 prop. The funny thing is that the Mooney performance charts don't list RPMs below 2350 RPM except for max. endurance at 1950 RPM and 17" HG with a fuel flow of 5.6 gal/hr and a max. endurance of 11 hours and 26 minutes at 2500ft... - and that is definitely more than even my well trained (and certified) iron butt is willing to endure! But to come back to the initial question: based on my M20F manual there seems nothing wrong with flying at 2000 RPM and 25" HG and I will definitely give it a try, too, even though noise level is no longer a concern since Santa Clause was so kind to bring me a Lightspeed Zulu 2 last XMas.

The PC is no more than a simple wing leveler... 50 years ago before the age of autopilots it really added some safety to flying. Pilots back then knew pretty well how to trim their airplanes and the "Positive Control" wing leveler made the early Mooneys really stable platforms. If your Mooney has an autopilot on board then PC is definitly obsolete... - if not it might be a cheap option for an occasional coffee break on board your Mooney Airline...

Oh my!!!! You are expecting strange things from Mooney... Ever heard of "momentum", "mass" and "things that matter"? The new owners will have to gently push a skyscraper to get Mooney going again and I pray that merchandise, fleece jackets and website are the very last points on their schedule!!!!

Similar "problems" here with my M20F and her IO-360 A1A engine... - hot start is a tricky business and it depends on many factors how she behaves... In the end I follow roughly your procedure, too... - before idling I make sure that the RPM is somewhere in the 1200 RPM region. After shutdown I don't touch the throttle anymore. Starting the hot engine (up to 60 minutes depending on OAT) is then just cranking the engine until it fires and then slowly (!) push the mixture in. Afterwards the engine mostly produces some "hickups" for a minute or two when idling or running with very little throttle before it finally runs normal... - usually it helps when I open the throttle to almost full once or twice but that is not always welcome... The O-360 with its carburator is much easier to start when hot and can't be compared to the IO-360... - took me some time to get used to it after my transition from a PA28-181 with an O-360 to my M20F with the IO-360.

I'd say the prices above are more on the cheap side, especially hangar cost which is more often in the vicinity of $3000 and above as long as your M20 is not based on an old forgotten grass field. Hull insurance is about 1,9% of the value of the aircraft and you always have to add 19-22% VAT and other taxes... Now add about $10 per gallon of 100LL AVGAS and you know why you have to be a true enthusiast if you want to afford flying in Europe... (or very wealthy...) The latter is one of the reasons why I enjoy the efficiency of my Mooney even more than its speed!

Thanks very much! There is a picture of the panel in posting #10 of this thread...

Just go for it - provided you have a good FI for the transitional training. The Mooney is just another plane and nothing spectacular, if I may add... - it's just a tad faster and more efficient and wants to be flown a bit more than the other types around... :-) Just one more word from my examiner: You will hardly ever be better trained than the moment you passed your exam... - you can now either enjoy your success or continue learning... I decided for the latter, immediately began the training for our IFR Warrior, got my night flying permission, went for the IFR radio license (the German AZF) and bought my Mooney with just 120 hrs total flight time on fixed wing under the belt... The first 2 hours of training showed me how little I knew but then it got better and after 5 hrs of training my FI had a broad grin in his face! :-)

I used to fly solely Flight Sims for years before I finally decided to go "for the real thing" three years ago. Although a lot of things are different in real life it still was a good practice to learn some basic skills, navigation and also procedure and I still enjoy my Flight Sim X with some great third party add-ons for winter "flying"... I lately re-visited some airfields with the FSX and tried to match some photos I shot in real life with screenshots... - here are two examples... and the FSX... Wish you guys a happy new year 2014!

This is just to test the import of photos from external URLs...

I use the German equivalent of Kleenex Cottonelle Moist Wipes... - no kidding! The oil in the Kleenex is doing a great job removing all the grease on my Mooney's belly and once clean I wipe it off with a wet old cotton T-Shirt before waxing it with a modern nano wax. I "bought" that trick with my Mooney from the former owner and it works like a charm... - as you can see from the pictures I posted already...

Thanks very much, Dave. The wing tips of my Mooney were certified for all Mooney M20B thru M20J with STC SA4443NM (3-01-82), if that helps.

Hi Dave, No worries... - I don't feel interrogated at all. Asking questions, giving answers and exchanging thoughts is what a forum is all about... BTW, your Mooney also seems to be in perfect shape! Very nice! My M20F Aircraft Log has the following information: Date: 11-9-66 Ser.No.: 670121 Lic.No.: N9544M Production Flight Test completed: 11-9-66 Cert.Airworthiness: 11-16-66 Ferry Flight to Germany: 12-2-66 till 12-18-66 So it was obviously build and ferried to Germany in 1966 despite having a 67xxx serial number. The wing tips were made by LASAR just as most of the other speed mods installed: No. 102 - Flap Hinge covers No. 103A - Wheel Well Liners No. 103B - Brake rotation (not installed for whatever reason) No. 104 - Dorsal Fin Fairings No. 105 - Tail Root Fairing Horizontal No. 107 - Wing Tip Fairings No. 108 - Wing Root Leading Edge Fairing No. 111B - Inbord Flap/Filler Fairing No. 120 - One Piece Windshield The fiberglass cowling incl. new baffle system, oil-cooler and spinner is from Southwest Texas Aviation. Hope this answers your questions... ...and now I have one question for you: How comes that my pictures are shown only as small thumbnails whereas your picture is full size page width??? Cheers, Bernd

Hi all I am Bernd Almstedt from good ol' Germany and proud Mooniac since April 2013 when I could not resist to exchange some "coloured paper" for a great '66 M20F in pretty good shape. Despite my age of 52 years I am a real newbie, not only to Mooneys or this forum but to flying in general. After spending years with various flight sims I decided in fall 2010 that I was finally old enough to go for the real thing... I joined the local flight club, spent the winter 2010/2011 learning theory, started flight training in April and got my PPL end of July 2011. In summer 2012 I began looking for an own aircraft but with little luck - although I checked various aircraft (PA-24, C182, TB-10, PA-28R...). I was just about to sign a contract for a PA-28 Arrow IV when I got a call from the owner of a M20F, asking if I might be interested in a Mooney, too?! Today I have about 200 hrs flight time in total and 60 hrs with my Green Lady... - apparently things are getting better the older we get...

Thanks very much for the welcome... - as some already supected, my Lady is actually a 1966/67 model but she got some mods over the years from the previous owner: new cowling, new one piece J-Type windshield, one piece side windows, new wing tips plus other speed mods, new leather interior, upgraded avionics and also a new paint job some years ago... My Mooney is based in Bavaria, EDNR near Regensburg and I could see the alps from here the last couple of days... , at least from FL50 and above... ...and here's a photo of the panel for Gary: ...and another picture from a better angle:

Hello fellow Mooniacs, I'd like to introduce myself to this forum as a Mooney newbie from Germany who purchased his upgraded M20F in April 2013 and accumulated 60 Mooney hours so far... ;-) I spent some time lately to dig thru the topics of this forum and already found some really helpful information here... - so I decided to register and say thanks a lot! That's my Lady: Cheers folks, Bernd