Houman

Hi, Just did 2 hours of pattern practice in my new rocket, beside the fact that I have to sharpen my timing for takeoff and landing, something really got my attention, it seems that the trim takes for ever to get to the takeoff position and during the flight, it is a hassle to get it where you want. I would say the flaps are the same, but not as bad. The trim push control on the left side of the PIC yoke is slow and awkward, I had an electric trim in the Beech Sundowner that I was flying before I got the Rocket, it was much faster to move when commanded. Is this normal for Mooney’s, or am I just being too difficult. Thanks!!!

Hi, In the series of what we prefer as pilots, I'm looking for an electronic logbook. I have always kept my paper log book up to date, but it would be nice to make it electronic, like everything else, so I'm looking for options. I have tried Safelog from Dauntless, my Mooney instructor who is also an ATP instructor uses LogTen Pro. Looking for suggestions, ideally one that is Transport Canada approved, or that can produce logs that satisfies TC requirements. Thanks !!!

Hi, My M20K Rocket came with an oxygen tank and 2 nose breeders, but I'm not a fan of the nose breeders and looking to get 2 oxygen masks, ideally one that is Headset friendly. Any idea or preferences, it has to work up to 24000 feet and have flow safe indicators. Thanks !

I'm looking for comments and recommendations on the best Yoke for IPAD mini or Ipad for my M20K... I use a lot ForeFlight for many things while flying, but there is less space in the Rocket than I had in my Beech Sundowner ( but it goes almost twice faster, so no complaint )... Anyway, I was looking for an excuse to buy an Ipad midi for the Rocket, but hardly justifiable since my Ipad is not even a year old, but last week my 8 year old son gave me the perfect excuse, he dropped his tablet and broke the glass on it, and since it is a cheap Asus tablet, not worth repairing it. Anyway, so I'm probably buying an Ipad Mini and want a yoke to mount it on the Rocket, any recommandations ??? I have attached 2 pictures of my Yoke... Thanks

Not looking to highjack this tread, but my newly bought M20K Rocket comes with a Medeco bagage door key, those are not duplicable without proof of ownership of the object. Now I would like to copy the key to have doubles in case I loose the original ones. On the key it says : "Do not Dup W/O card imprint and signature" , does anyone know how I could get a paper as such from a 35 year old plane ? Thanks !

Well, I'm at about 140 hours, 75h of that in C172, 64h in Beech Sundowner and 1.6h in my new M20K Rocket, need another 14h of instructor training ( double ) before I can pilot my new toy by myself !!!

Thanks to all Rocket owner's advice, since this beast is very fast, I want to make sure to know my stuff before while getting my insurance required training on my new bird.

Thanks, that was quite a good explanation, I think the IAS indicator on the rocket has a TAS outer ring with a OAT and altitude adjustement, so I guess I should be ok with that. I'm just doing my mental preparation before I get my real training in the aircraft. I find the more I read and understand, the more confidence that I have when I'm behinde the yoke of knowing my stuff... Thanks !!!

Hi, this might sound very long and already answered question, but I just want to check with other Rocket owners to confirm my numbers, here is my question : I'm going through my newly purchased Rocket's POH page by page as I always do with a plane I'm not completely familiar with, on page 2-3 of the original POH, there is the Airspeed limitations page, for all the V speeds, my question in particular is the VNE and VNO. The VNE on this page is 196 Kias, and VNO at 170 KIAS, now on the top of the page, it clearly says : See Supplement for Rocket 305 STC. When looking at the Rocket STC, on the very first page "Flight Tips", it says the Maximum Structural cruising speed (VNO) has been reduced for increased gross weights above 2900 lbs. ( My understanding is that the original M20K 252 had a GW of 2900, but the Rocket 305 STC bring it up to 3200 lbs, but all weight about 2900 lbs has to be fuel in the wings ). Ok, so going back to my question, the VNO is now reduced to 166 KIAS when between 3018 to 3200 LBS, but no mention of the VNE. Also, on the Rocket Engineering site performance chart and there attached excel sheet performance settings: http://www.rocketengineering.com/content/rocket-performance, the max power continuous at 12000ft or less is at 210 Ktas and at 24000ft at 235 ktas. Is this just the difference between IAS and TAS ( Indicated airspeed compared to true airspeed with margins increasing with altitude and OAT) or am I missing something. If I use my normal formula to calculate the TAS via the IAS : TAS= (IAS* .02)* (Altitude/1,000)+ (IAS), that 196 KIAS VNE would give me about 290 KTAS at 24000 ft, confirmed by using : http://www.hochwarth.com/misc/AviationCalculator.html And also the 235 KTAS at 24000 feet give about 162 KIAS, so still below the 196 KIAS... My understanding of the VNE is that it's not attached to the engine, but the aircraft structure limitations, so the Rocket 305 STC should not have changed that, right ??? What kind of indicated airspeed do you guys usually see on the Rocket ?, I want to modify the Excel sheet to include the KIAS, not just KIAS, or maybe that is not really worth much ? Thanks and sorry for the long winded question !!!

Hi, I have a very well done Excel W&B sheet for my previous plane ( Beech Sundowner ) that I got from a Beech Forum, and I'm looking to find somethig similar for the Mooney Rocket. I know there are W&B excel sheet in the download center, but I was wondering if someone has something that not only shows the weight, but also shows where in CG will my flight start and finish ( Calculating the fuel from amount in tank to empty ). Here is what I have for the Beech, unfortunetly I'm not that good with Excel to adapt it for the Mooney I tried to attach the Excel file here, but it said that I don't have permission to upload this kind of file Thanks for any help or advice

Hi, I was wondering if owners here have a favorite pulling device to move their Mooneys when the engine is shut-down. The airport that I am at, has hangers on the back side and the distance between the row of hanger walls and fence is about 4 feet more than the wing span, so usually the previous owner would pay the linemans at the local flight school 20$, and have them use their 4 wheeler to put the Mooney in the hangar. But now the 4 wheeler is out of service and pushing this bird several hundered feets on the ground to clear the hangar walls is not easy, it can't be done alone, so I was thinking of buying a used 4 wheeler or something else to pull the airplane out or put it back in. Any suggestions ? Thanks !

Yves, did you guys needed a special authorisation or flight plan to do a formation landing, not someting you see everyday within GA...

Yes Yves, I'm based at CSK3 Mascouche, I sure will come to Ottawa, I love the Aviation museum and I am a member of Bombardier Aeroclub ( as an ex-consultant ), so we go there often. Will message you from here when I will visit next time

Sure Steve, My son loves Niagara Falls, and I will for sure be going there this summer and Waterloo is not that far... But maybe not with the mooney since I might not have enough experience on it before the trip and I'm super super cautious when I have my son in the plane. We might go with my rented Beach Sundowner, at a crawling 110 Kts ( well better than 7 hour driving from Montreal ). Looking forward doing all kind of trips with the Rocket Thanks for the lunch invite

Forgot to attach the customary picture

Hi, I was thinking I'm a mooniack, but now I know I'm one.... I copiloted for the 1st time my new toy, the M20K Rocket I had purchased 2 months ago, but needed to wait for the GTN installation and the import for US to be competed. I had tried it before buying, but only a short time and not really done much with it on that flight. But yesterday, with the help of an expert pilot that is actually an airline pilot trainer, we brought my bird back to my home base, during the flight, we did many manouveres, simulated approches and all. Amazing how much speed this bird has, 190 kts easly without forcing things, but the FF gage goes way up when you have that much speed and power at low altitude, also amazing how this bird just don't want to land, it floats for ever if you let it, with a smaller prop ground clearance that I'm use to, it will be a learning curve for me. Can't wait to finish my 15h insurance required duo training and then solo in it ( I'm a low time pilot )... I'm hooked, so let's kick the tires and light the fires as Harry Conick Jr says in Independence day !!!!

Just a feed back, KACY was great, the ramp guys were awsome even tough we got there late on the 4th of July ( got to see NY fireworks from the air trough the Hudson river corridor ). And honestly the cost was decent, the fuel price was a bit higher, but not too too bad... Thanks again all for your good advice !!!

Thanks all for your valuable input, I will try KACY and keep Ocean city as alternate, unless Arthur decides to go westbound inland and cancel my trip...

Hi, Going to Atlantic city for the 1st time next weekend ( 4th of July weekend ), and I was wondering what airport are you guys recommending, KACY seems good, but a lot of different fees, any other airport where some members here might have 1st hand experience ? P.S. my trip might get canceled because of the hurricane, hopefully not !!! Thanks!!!

Thanks, that was too simple and a bit embaracing...

Hi, I just had a GTN 650 installed in the Rocket, and trying to get aquinted with it by using the GTN trainer in my IPAD, the only problem is that I can't find a way to change the GTN trainer on Ipad from a 750 to a 650. Garmin email support has been less than efficient, still waiting for a response after several days. Anyone knows how to change the device type in the Garmin GTN Trainer for IPAD ? Thanks !!!

I just got a GTN 650 installed on my M20K Rocket, it is still in the importation process, so I have not played with the GTN yet, I did download the Garmin GTN 650 simulator on my iPad, but it seemed pretty non-functional during the 30 days eval period, or maybe I needed to pay the 25$ to get it working properly. I would really like to get used to the interface on a sim before using it in the air. Thanks !

Would this be something that can be done in Canada ?, I'm interested, but my M20K Rocket is now imported in Canada, and need this belt/airbag to be Transport Canada certified... Any luck on that ? Thanks !!!

I did most of my flight training with the Halo, they are great, but not really comfortable in cold weather, the yellow ear tips are not good for winter, never thought of using the silicone ones, not sure I got them, since I bought it 2 years ago. I ended up buying a Zulu for the ANR I guess have not used the Halo for a while, but loved the fact that by the time I was ready to taxi, I had forgotten that I had a headset on !

Is this something that can be installed by the pilot / owner, I'm looking to get a seal for my rocket, something not that expensive, but works well and ideally aircraft approved... Thanks !