MBDiagMan

As I recall, I had just a little over 100 hours when I bought my first Mooney. At that point, virtually all of my time was tailwheel and the jump to the Mooney involved the wonderful instructor that ferried the plane to my home airport flying with me for a day. When it comes down to it, a Mooney is just another nose wheel airplane except you have to remember to put the wheels down. My initial insurance was only very slightly more expensive than my Cessna insurance. I think I had to have ten hours with a CFI and that was it. The rate stayed very affordable until I reached the age of 74 and then it tripled in one fell swoop. I think at your age it won’t be ridiculously expensive. Don't let anyone talk you out of a Mooney. There is no shortage of naysayers, most of which haven’t even been inside of one, but will tell that it’s cramped, hard to get into, expensive to maintain,……. In eight years of Mooney ownership, I have found none of those complaints to be true for me.

As far as fitting into one goes, unless you are a very large person it is not as much about size as it is position. What I mean by that is that in a Mooney, your seating position is much like a sports car as opposed to a truck. Your legs are straight out in front of you and the panel is very close to you. If you are getting out of a 172 for example, you are accustomed to your feet below you, as if you’re sitting on a barstool and the panel far away from you. I have usually had a sports car around during my life and the seating in my Mooney is very familiar to me. For some this is a very unusual seating position. It is a matter of what you get used to. as far as insurance goes, when I bought my Mooney, I was 68. my insurance was very reasonable when I hit 73 after a year of less hours in the Mooney, insurance tripled. if you are young, I don’t think insurance will be crazy expensive although more expensive than an equal value 172.

If I could read a projected price, I might be interested in a set. Have there been any guesses?

Wow! $750 to $1750! Now there’s some inflation for you!

When it comes to using the brakes, I find the Mooney brakes a little grabby compared to the Cleveland’s on my other plane. I have to be careful not lock up a wheel when in the Moony. Luckily I’m almost always on at least 6,000 feet in the Mooney so it’s not an issue unless I’m wanting to turn off the runway quickly. The next time I’m trying to make the next turnoff I will try to remember to deploy the brakes as I pull up the flaps.

I had understood from some reading long ago that they killed the lift on about 3 feet of the wing. Wish I remember where I read that. They do, however, obviously provide drag also or instead, or both.

Thanks Lance!

When I first got serious about buying a Mooney, I called the instructor who taught me to fly in 1992. Not only a great instructor but a fellow tailwheel as well as a Mooney enthusiast having owned several over the years. When I started asking if I would be able to fly a Mooney he told me two things; “it will be great to get you out of a taildragger into something easier to fly” and “the only thing that will be difficult is learning to slow it down.” At that point I found an incredible C model, bought it, and “learned to slow it down.” A couple of years later, I tripped and hurt my shoulder which led me to turning loose of my beloved Manual Gear C. I then went into a beautiful electric gear F model with all exterior J updates except, of course, for the wing. It also had speed brakes. I used the speed brakes from the beginning for slowing it down to gear speed and then trading the speed brakes for gear at the initial approach fix and trimming nose up along the way for the descent. I learned to love the speed brakes. I flew it today for the first time in about eight weeks following some minor surgery. A pro pilot friend was with me and I got to fly and log an approach for the first time in a while. He liked the way I used the brakes, but the discussion reminded me of something said to me a long time ago about the speed brakes. I think it was Paul or Don Maxwell that made a comment about someone they knew used the speed brakes when landing. I didn’t ask any details at the time but my curiosity now arises. Has anyone ever used speed brakes when touching down? If so, did you deploy them when touching down? Retract them when touching down? Have you used them for anything else beyond simply slowing down to gear speed or dropping out of the sky quickly when too high? Curiosity killed the cat.

Maxwell repaired the tanks when I bought the plane 5 1/2 years ago and they were sealed well until some leaks appeared last summer. I left it at Dons for a week or so in the Summer and they repaired both tanks and they haven’t leaked a drop since. They did it for a fixed price of $750 per tank. I can live with $1500 every five years. I know there are no guarantees that it won’t end up being every year, but it also might go ten years. ”You pays your money and you takes your chances.” Flying isn’t cheap.

The 430 is a great tool. I have one in both planes and they have both served me well. The aftermarket will keep them in service for a long time to come. Garmin has done a good job to support the family for as long as it has. Is there more up to date technology out there? Of course, but not everyone can afford eight or ten thousand bucks every time a new generation of technology comes along. Thanks Garmin!

Unless there was a huge price difference and your budget wouldn’t allow for the Mooney, I can’t imagine how the Cherokee could even be a contender in this decision.

Yes, if I were to put a Continental back in service after an extended time of storage, I would replace the lifters and be done with it.

The point I was trying to make was that if you plan on starting in another plane, any plane, before moving to the Mooney, you will have to sort the first plane, build time in it, and then after going to the Mooney, you will start over in the sorting process to get everything working correctly and equipped as you want it. SO….. why not just start with the Mooney and go through the sorting process only once.

Very well said Huck! I also have a sweet little Cessna 140 as my second plane. There are many differences between a Mooney with its stronger than heck steel cage around the passenger compartment and a crush like a beer can Cessna or Piper. From where I sit, spending owner time in a beer can before then moving to a Mooney has a downside that I haven’t seen mentioned here. I’ve purchased three planes so far and they’ve all been decent e ampules, but there were still things to do to get them sorted out the way I wanted them. Intentionally planning on going to a different plane means one should plan on the expense and time that likely will be required when acquiring the second plane.

Several years back, I simply set two lag nuts from Home Depot into the hangar floor. I then used segments of chain, bolting one end into the lag nuts and the other to the tail eye. When not in use I simply thread a bolt in to keep trash out of the hole. Works great and cost very little.