Tx_Aggie

I can relate to this, we picked up our J to make the journey from west Texas to Houston area more reasonable. But with the extremely reasonable fuel burn and in my opinion low fuel bills, we’ve started journeying further and more regularly to the Florida pan handle. The J can make it in decent time outbound but necessitates two stops usually heading back west. Which I think could be reduced to one stop with a higher output bird. The Bravo would be a great move, and I enjoy considering it as a next option. However, knowing the extra expense, I think at this point I just can’t quite make the jump yet. Thanks for the input!

Yeah I agree if I were to fly higher but that’s not an option for me with a toddler in the back. Plus I really don’t see any 231s filing or flying faster than me at 8000-12000 absent of a monster tail wind. I also think there’s something intangible value to be said for plane you know vs another plane you don’t know the hidden issues of.

Brian - I appreciate all your posts, both here and Facebook. I think I found my M20J about the same time you did or just after. Fortunately for me the previous owner paid for a factory reman io-360, I didn’t know the 390 was an option until I started seeing your posts. I really do enjoy mine and it’s perfect for flying below 10k with the family. I just wonder if I could squeeze a little more out of it. Thanks again!

Does the MT prop improve cruise speed? What’s a Gann Papp engine and Electro Air?

I didn’t think anyone had an active turbo normalized stc but maybe I’m wrong?

Four day weekends and crummy weather lead this Mooney pilot to lots of post searching and ideas! Other than the rocket Missile conversion, what are other modern ways to make my 201 faster? my searches have yielded the following: - io-390 conversion, seems to yield maybe 5% higher cruise speed (vs 155 knots) - lo presti cowling, 5-7 mph increase - modern/ new paint/ wax coat -could the cowling be paired with the 390 and double up on speed increases for a truly ~170 knot/ 200mph cruiser? Any other ideas or examples ?

Finance administrator being on board - now there’s some wisdom! Totally agree!

Has anyone bought and installed one of these to replace their ~40 year old beat up fiberglass cowling? That would be my primary reason, 5-6 knots increase in cruise speed would be gravy on top. Is the Mooney factory still providing replacement parts?

Really appreciate the candid response!

I’ve had an M20J for almost 2 years now. It’s either met or exceeded my expectations from both performance and operating economics. It’s taken my family of 3 as for north as Denver and as Far East as Sarasota - multiple trips to Florida from Texas actually. It’s been very economical (In terms of Amu’s) to own and nothing short of a pleasure every trip. Having said all this, I do wonder what a move up to a longbody would look like. Going faster is always a pleasant idea - even with the increased fuel burn and several extra engine components to maintain. And having a little extra cabin room is something that Id like too. The market still seems to hold higher premium values for ovations over bravos. No one in our family would want to be in oxygen altitudes, but it appears ovations still hold a $75-100k acquisition premium over likekind bravos. That’s a lot of Florida trips to make before an ovation purchase would make sense! The J does everything we ask it to do quite well. So I’d like to ask those who have decided to trade up from a 201 to a bravo what your experience and pros and cons have been - performance, operating economics, etc. TIA.

Thanks for this. Putting the seat back in plus the cotter pins took about 60 seconds. Super easy, glad to have read this and figured it out!

Since no question is a dumb question, I also have had my copilot seat removed by the local a&p when I first bought my plane. He charged an hour’s rate to remove it. I’d like to reinstall it myself, he’s a good a&p otherwise, I’d just rather do the work myself. What size cotter pins and what tools are used to set the pins in place and remove if I want to remove the seat again? 1980 M20J. TIA

So your flight planning TAS went from 155 to 163? That’s what I file in my 1980 M20J at 11.5 gph at 7-8000’. My cowl is getting pretty scuffed up and I’ve contemplated a replacement….

I think most of the J’s and newer came with the standard 6-pack, so it would be surprising to hear that there exists an example that was altered. regardless, you can spend as little or as much as you want to. I picked a J over a K to see if I could manage the expenses of ownership, taking into account that M20Js are the “best bang for the buck” in terms of speed and efficiency. When I bought mine, I bought the gtx345 to pair to my older garmin 480 and not too much later I added a garmin 355 to replace the 480. if you need both adsb and a modern Ifr gps, it’s hard to beat the garmin 375 transponder/gps, from a value/modern technology standpoint. The panel layout doesn’t have to be perfect at the start, you’ll want to hold back some dry powder for the random fixes that will occur in the first year of ownership too. good luck! For what it’s worth i routinely file and see 155 ktas at about 10.5-11 gph up to about 10,000’.

I looked long and hard at k models also before pulling the trigger on a 1980 M20J. I’m very pleased, in terms of aviation, the J is best bang for your buck in terms of speed, fuel burn and affordability. The j will get 155-160 ktas on 10-11 gph depending on engine settings. As others have mentioned, if you look at a few tail numbers on flight aware to compare real world performance, I think you’ll see most k models flying at the same altitudes of J pilots and equal to near equal ground speeds. The J model should be considered a high performance airplane in my opinion, it is so slick and aerodynamic, it takes practiced finesse to slow down and transition from cruise to approach to landing - much more than a piper arrow or 182rg… good luck with the search. by the way - the k model originally posted about was for sale when I bough mine last year. I too noticed the years of corrosion, my 2 cents would be to run from this one. It’ll end up being a curse not a blessing.

My alma mater! I’m out of Midland, TX

I’m not based there but I fly there often!!

I believe New Mexico to be much like west Texas, you have to travel a long ways to ‘get out’ of the area. I took my M20J to get annual at Don Maxwell’s in Longview (GGG) this year. Even with the southwest airline flight back home you will be getting the best attention for your plane and you’ll end up saving money over dropping your bird off anywhere else local/regional.

I’d start somewhere north of 150k… M20J’s are highly desirable in today’s market. Yours being one of the newer versions would command a nice premium in my opinion.

Ended up being able to drop it by Don Maxwell today. The left cowl flap wall was catching on the cowling due to a worn bracket hinge. Don’s guys replaced the bracket on both sides and filed an edge down - now I’m off to the races. Glad to have their expertise available!

Mine are mechanical. Why would they function when the engine is not running but once the engine starts and is idling, they lock up? I will try what you suggest regardless

Took my J for a 3 hour flight to Houston last week and everything worked as it should. Once I took off from DWH headed to Alabama for a week, I couldn’t get the cowl flaps to close. About 10 hours previous I had the cowl flaps adjusted to be open an inch when closed. Now they’ll only close when I wiggle each cowl flap on the ground. However when I turn the engine on, they return to stuck open. Has this happened to anyone else before? Once I get back home I plan to have my mechanic look at it. I appreciate it.

What’s a ham radio?

When I got my license in college, there was an old king radio in the pilot lounge that had power and a speaker connected to it for an ‘on the ground’ radio for listening to and practicing atc communications. This was before liveatc.net. I swapped a mac1700 radio last year with a new garmin 355 and would like to rig up something similar at my house. Has anyone done this before? Thanks!