manoflamancha

I'm looking to do a prebuy on a nice Mooney Bravo for sale in the Chicagoland IL area. Any recommendations for a decent Mooney Service Center (MSC) in the area? It looks nice but needs paint touch up.

Amen to that brother. I am looking at moving on either a nice 252 or Bravo. Prices are decent too for under 150K one can have the ultimate personal airliner. If I had kids and a large family then I'd need something like a Bonanza A36 or Cessna 210 pickup truck but its just me and a friend most of the time. I'd like to fly to Florida for a long weekend to scuba dive and sail the Caribbean and the Mooney works for a single guy!

Speaking to a bank on financing for a used plane, they advised me that Mooney hold value quite well compared to most GA aircraft. Compared to depreciation on Cirrus, it is quite encouraging. Plus for a high performance bird, nothing really beats a Mooney 252 or Bravo. Period. I looked at other models but for the cost comparison and resale value, the banker told me Mooney and Cessna hold value best especially 201J/252/Bravo, etc. and Cessna 182 models. Hopefully with the reboot in production, Mooney will eventually bring back the entry level 201J to compete with Cirrus and Cessna. That would be awesome.

Very nice 201J! If it had a turbo then I would be all over it.

Add 2 doors gull wing style like Cirrus Bring back sub 300K entry level J model Add air conditioning

Agree my Apple TV lets me watch hundreds of free movies available via YouTube

Rockets are awesome in spite of the high fuel burn rate! I saw 200kts at 5500' with close to 2000 FPM climb out now I was at a sea level airport so might vary at a place like Sedona.

Great book and I bought a copy signed by the author. Very educational on Mooney history and aircraft. I have the other Mooney book as well.

Unlike some fanboys who trash talk against certain makes, I like all airplanes for different reasons. Mooney is great go fast on less fuel plane Bonanza great family plane for short grass strips Cessna 182 is good all around plane and Piper Arrow a good complex trainer. Cirrus is good but overpriced for what they are a dressed up plane with fancy glass cockpit and parachute.

Agree and this particular CFI is an arrogant jerk who thinks Beechcraft is the center of the universe. Funny because the instructor who checked me out for my high performance and complex endorsements said good on both makes as well as the downsides to both makes. If I was flying in and out of short back country strips I'd get a Bonanza or Cessna 182 since Mooneys are not good landing on short grass strips from what I've seen. But if it's just me going places with decent paved runways the Mooney wins especially something like a fast 252/Bravo/Ovation. I'd rather buy a fast Mooney for less than half of what a new Cirrus costs.

Agree and this was for a BBQ at local FBO in RHV airport. The guy is tall and thin but anyways he is one of those Bonanza fanboys who hates Mooneys. Sad really since both are good aircraft fir different reasons. I'm not crazy about Arrows and 172RG that I used for training but I don't bash them either.

This guy used to own a Bonanza and has some weird vendetta against Mooney. I told him ok whatever since I like Mooney and know they are well built with the steel cage and solid landing gear. Don't get me wrong, Bonanzas are great planes as well but not as fast or fuel efficient. If I had a wife and kids I'd get a Bonanza A36 but I'm a bachelor so a Mooney fits me well. Now it would be entertaining to get someone like Don Kaye a Mooney expert instructor and owner into a debate with this Bonanza instructor bigot.

So I'm at a local pilot BBQ and meet up with a so called CFI guru who trash talks Mooney as being inferior to Bonanzas. I ask him why and he goes on a rant that they are poorly built and that A&P have trouble working on them. I disagree and ask him again why he is against Mooney and realize he favors Beechcraft so I walk away.

Nice job! I'm working on mine and wanted to find out what you used to pass the difficult written exam? It's harder than the other written exams.

This is why I decided on getting a turbo Mooney over a 201 in spite of the added maintenance cost since living on the west coast it's very important from a peace of mind safety perspective.

Good point, I'd definitely want to add long range Monroy tanks for extra long trips.

I'm looking at best payload in Mooney and wondering which models have the best payload with full fuel.

My only concern with non turbo aircraft is how well they fly in mountains and high density airports?

Nothing against Cirrus as the parachute and marketing is quite nice but for me, I prefer Mooney and Bonanza.

It's funny because after only a few hours of flying a retract for my complex checkout in a Piper Arrow to be honest the new stuff with landing gear and constant speed prop was not hard to learn. After a few hours in a Cessna 182, high performance was not difficult other than getting things prepared in advance and slowing the faster aircraft down. I don't think learning an Ovation or Bravo will be difficult coming from flying a Cessna 182, Mooney 20F and Piper Arrow. The flying clubs make a bigger deal out of things than necessary.

Right now I'm leaning toward a nice Ovation since prices are a good deal for under 200K one can be had. Definitely would take one over a Cirrus.

If money no object and we are talking warbirds, I'd love a nice P51 Mustang or L39 jet.

I need to get to step 1 first

I'd still take a fast Mooney over a Lancair until I had over 1000 hours and my advanced ratings. The Lancair Propjet is pretty cool plane though and would have Dave Morss train me on it.

Socata makes nice comfortable but slow planes with high fuel burn. If I needed two doors and had to fly more than two people then I'd consider it. But Mooney does more with less and support is much better for parts and service. Plus used Trinidads are expensive for a slow 150 kt aircraft. A used Ovation or Bravo burns almost same fuel rate as a TB21 Socata and costs the same price to purchase but flies higher and way faster. Nothing against Socata but they are slow for a high performance retract. Still I'd take either over a Cessna 182.