LordHelmet

I know who you're talking about... guess who now owns my IAR? :)

With full fuel? Flew a buddies Meridian one weekend and remember being shocked at how much gas we had to leave behind for four of us. Gotta feed that thing a lot of dollars bills! Jeev i sent you an pm with my contact info

You also have no useful load

On the PA-32 I was never able to get the EGTs to the lean side of peak before I was up to TIT limits. Further leaning to peak to get on the lean side would’ve put TIT over the limit... hence my dilemma and why I was curious how you guys do it.

Hey Smut I was a VFA-86 guy... when you get out? Flew Lot 18’s in the fleet but have time in A-F’s. Had no idea the TSIO-360 was so expensive. I had a 230hp IO-360 custom built for my RV from Lycon for 1/2 the price of that thing. Lots to consider but I’m really thinking a 201 is the way to go. I had considered a johnson bar model but was turned off to an older one by a former hanger mate. His had continuous fuel leaks and electrical problems no matter how much money he threw at it. Brian I’ll send you a PM, I’d like to see your spreadsheet. I’m trying to find the best airplane out there for about $125k or less, and I’ll budget hourly according to what that winds up being. Interrogative, how do you get a turbo lean of peak? I was never able to get PA-32 LOP without rapidly bumping up against TIT limits. A36 was turbo normalized IO-550 but never had an issue going LOP for some reason...

Excellent point about strapping O2 on the kids. So if the majority of my flying is below 12k’ you’re saying the J and turbo models are fairly even in terms of speed/economy down low? Maintaining an IO-360 is def more appealing.

The 252/Encore seems to be the best airplane for the job.... they just never come up for sale! Im not interested in FIKI, one the weight penalty and IFR over the rocks in a single is not my bag. I don’t want to finish a four day trip only to be terrified the whole way home. Tell me about this turbo option for the J....

Long time lurker, thinking about a Mooney purchase looking for some insight. I’ve previously built/owned a few RV’s and an IAR-823. I’ve ruled out any 4 seat experimental as they’re all vastly more expensive (Lancair, RV-10) or have performance issues (Velocity). The M20 series seems to be the best fit. I’ve got about 100 hours instructing in an M20J but it was 20 years ago. I currently live in Reno and am looking for the best combination of speed, economy, maintainability for two mission. 1.) Commuting from Reno to the Bay Area once or twice a month for work (airline pilot). Winter months when there’s icing are out of the question, and I’d predominantly try and keep to to day VFR or full moon nights. This would be me solo with minimal gas and about 75% of the flying. 2.) I’ve got two small kids and my wife has really enjoyed the use of friends Bonanzas and Turbo Saratogas, however a newer one is out of reach and the older ones are expensive to maintain and overhaul (and gas pigs for commuting vs an M20). I’d like something we can grow into and use for family trips, mainly around the west coast but maybe an annual trip across the country to family in FL. This and some periodic joy rides would be the 25% RNO to the Bay Area requires crossing the Sierras and VFR 8500’ is about as low as you want to be no wind, more like 10-12k. Solo, a 201 seems to be the best bang for the buck. For long family trips the 231 and more so the 252 seem to be the right airplane but mild overkill for the solo commuting. How would the 201 fare with the family at high altitude and 2-3 hours of gas with reserves? Density altitudes here frequently hit 8k’ in the summers at field elevation. The kids are small, 3 and 1... but I’d like to be able to grow into whatever we buy and not have useable load become something that cuts us back to two hour legs. For the experienced owners out there, thoughts or recommendations?