Greg1

My 1994 M20J basically has a three position flap switch. Up, 15 degrees, and 33 degrees. Therefore, no problem with overshooting the desired flap setting. Yet no mention in the POH of a different limit speed for 15 degrees vs 33 degrees.

The first mark on the guage is the white line depicting 150 degrees. It usually reads right about 150 degrees at takeoff. During cruise, 180 degrees is typical. I have a JPI engine monitor, but the oil temp feature is not enabled. I'll take a picture of the guage the next time I'm at the hangar.

My 1994 M20J POH in the Normal Procedures section states "Do not operate engine at run-up speed unless the oil temperature is at least 75 degrees F. (needle moves off White dot). My Oil Temp guage doesn't even read below 150 degrees and has no white dot. Do I have the wrong guage installed or am I just supposed to estimate when I've reached 75 degrees?

Thanks for the great replies. Interestingly, my POH on the same page referred to by PeytonM only shows the "speed for safely lowering flaps to 33" as 112 KIAS. So, lacking any guidance to the contrary, I have to agree with Mike that the only alternative is to honor the 112 KIAS limit for both takeoff and landing flaps.

I have a 1994 M20J MSE. The POH shows Vfe as 112 with flaps fully extended. I was wondering what the limit speed is for takeoff flaps of 15 degrees. The POH doesn't seem to offer any guidance on that subject.

Thank you all for your responses. And I agree with them all. By the way, I didn't buy the airplane. My question was purely hypothetical and I posed it by asking if it would be legal, not right or smart. Just as an aside, how many of you have ever actually weighed your airplane? Just asking since we all want to know precisely what our planes weigh. Right?

I recently looked at an aircraft that was for sale. A few years back the owner had the airplane weighed and the result was an increase of 80 pounds in the empty weight. Granted, the actual weight of the airplane is now known more precisely, but the cost is a loss of 80 pounds of useful load. OK, I'm braced for the arrows to fly. Is there a legal way to disregard the weighing that occurred and go back to the previous numbers? I honestly think most of us would lose a fair amount of useful load if we actually had our aircraft weighed.

Thanks for all the great responses to my original forum post. It really helps to get the perspective of numerous pilots' actual experiences.

The M20J POH shows a demonstrated crosswind of 11 knots. I know that's not considered a limitation. What is a the realistic crosswind capability?

Sorry I've been away from this thread for so long. Anyway, again, thanks for all the great input. Ive read all the recommendations and done some research. Just about the time I've convinced myself that the K model is the way to go, I reread this article http://www.mooneypilots.com/mapalog/M20K231%20Eval%20Files/M20K231_Eval.htm. When I get to the part that begins with "But there's never a free lunch", I pause and start the whole turbo vs non-turbo debate in my mind again. My typical trip involves taking off from KANK in the morning with 2 people on board and full fuel. I then fly about 600 NM easbound to KFYV. There is some terrain going easbound, but 11,500 MSL will clear it all. On the return flight I'm usually closer to max gross weight for takeoff, but will have burned off a lot of fuel before arriving back at KANK in the afternoon. So I think the J will fill the bill for that kind of flight. KANK is situated just east of Monarch Pass which lies on the continental divide. So obviously, I'm not going to be able to take off from my home airport and proceed westbound without a lot of climbing first. But that's been true for the P210 also. My feeling as I of right now is that I'll probably end up going with a J. But I could wake up tomorow and not be able to get the K out of my mind. Any thoughts on the above article's implication that the K's engine will require at least one top overhaul and two turbo overhauls to make it to TBO?

Thanks for all the great input. To be a little more specific about my situation, I am looking for an airplane to replace my Cessna P210. As I approach retirement, I'm not going to be able to support the care and feeding of this aircraft. I do enjoy the turbo power, the useful load, the pressurization, and the known ice capability. I don't enjoy the fuel burn, maintenance upkeep on all those systems, and insurance cost. I want to go into an M20J with my eyes wide open. I don't plan to takeoff at noon in the summer at max gross.. What I would like to do is takeoff at 8AM at 200 pounds under gross and climb to 12500 MSL with reasonable authority. Any more thoughts along those lines?

I'm looking at a 1979 M20J with the IO360 engine. Can anyone tell me how this aircraft performs at high density altitude? I am based out of ANK, Salida, CO, Field Elevation 7523 MSL.