Tx_Aggie

if you made it a bit more west, I’d join. Fredricksburg, Stephenville, anmarillo tradewind has a relatively new restaurant on the field that’s always busy when I drop in too. That might be too far west for you.

This is the kind of plane that will sell. Spruce it up and it’ll compete with the Malibu/mirage.

I went through this same consideration 5 years ago. I ended up choosing a J as I wanted to make sure I could afford flying altogether. While I don’t live in the mountains I am at 3000’ msl and regularly cruise at 9-11k. The J has been perfect, routinely see 155-160 ktas. sometimes I do wish to have a turbo to get higher but the speed and range of these birds makes it east to circumvent building or established storm systems. also as onboard equipment wears out I’ve replaced with superior garmin equipment, at this point I would only sell/trade for something with equal modern equipment and a much larger power plant. I don’t think I’d make a move to the 231/252 as the incremental increase in spend only equates to getting there maybe 5-10 minutes faster and that’s not worth it to me.

Thread resurrection. I’ve started changing my own oil after local shops are now charging about $500. Like many other things, once you DIY, you pay more attention. I find that when I fill my J up with 7 qts (any more gets blown out first flight), it will stay golden until about 15-20 hours. Once it starts to turn black with contaminants, it starts loosing volume. I suspected it’s at this point that the 15-20 hour old oil is breaking down. I’ll add one quart about every 5-8 hours there after until I get to 25-35 hours then change (and replace filter). 500 hours since overhaul at purchase and no issues.

+1 for no yaw damper and flies like it’s on rails. 1980 M20J

My bird could use a good polishing. This is a great thread. Any recommendations for Texas for a ceramic job?

Do you have an equation? Engineer here, but not aerospace!

Does the 201 make 75% power at 8500? My engine monitor is from last century so it doesn’t calculate % power. I have some notes from a jpi 900 showing an ovation2 at 11,000’ making 59% power, I realize OAT would be helpful to know but didn’t get that info. By the same logic though, if a J makes 59% power at 11k, if you held the k to 75% power, your cruise tas should be far ahead of the J right? 200 x .59 = 112 hp 210 x .75 = 157.5 hp 157/112 = 40%, so should cruise be 40% faster?! Maybe I’m improperly ratio’ing?

4 year J owner here. Spend the next 12 months learning what you have. There will be things that come up along the way but you bought a J presumably for its speed and efficiency. Learn how it cruises, practice your takeoffs and landings, practice greasing the landings etc. enjoy the great plane it is before spending additional $$ on new stuff. The time for that will come later.

Don’t hit the apr button until the faf is the next waypoint. (In between iaf and faf.) you’ll lock on the gs every time thereafter.

NLA?

It should be noted while we’re all talking about how fast our birds are. If you want to get a sense of reality in speeds, look up c/e/f/J etc tail numbers on flightaware. Everyone will tell you their c model goes as fast as a J but flightaware will tell you truthfully what people plan for and what they actually get!

What turbo normalized system do you have laying around?

I bought a 1980 M20J in August of 2020. I considered an F model for 10k cheaper in acquisition cost. My J trues at 155-160 ktas on about 10-11 gph and grabs every ounce of tailwind available. No offense to the vintage guys but if a J is among your options, you won’t wish you’d have gotten anything less. It’s wonderful knowing I’m within arms distance of an SR22, my fuel bill is cheaper and my acquisition cost is a tiny fraction for very close performance. There’s some good deals on M20Js on the market. If I had to do it again with the same or less budget, I’d pick up the best J model I could afford then add better avionics as my budget allowed. It’s a shame Mooney can’t restart the J line again - I’d think they’d find a real niche need in the current market.

I have the two blade original Macauley. My cruise is 155-160 TAS, ambient air dependent. 1980 M20J. I am pleased with the performance / sound.