Schllc

I don’t think I was beating the brand. I love my mooney, and I have loved every one I have had. I am 100% supportive, donate considerably to this forum as well as MAPA. I am also a big advocate to my peers and anyone who will listen to convert all I can to mooniacs. I also am aware that what I am getting from the factory, I am lucky to get. They had no obligation to help me with the state of the company, and the challenges they face. The poster asked what mooney was today, and I was honest about my experience. If someone disagrees with my opinion I can handle that, but I’m not wrong, because what I conveyed is factual. If anyone has a problem with the truth that’s really not my concern. That being said, and in all fairness, I should mention that as a result of this thread, the CFO of Mooney called me today to discuss my dilemma and as I stated before, I’m confident it will get addressed. Even more so now. I’m waiting on a broken window. It’s been replaced once before and broke again in the exact same spot. It was confirmed again to be “in stock”, but was told they are waiting on some other items needed for install to ship.

I am an owner of a 2019. Their warranty service for me has been borderline. They help but it isnt unusual to go a week or two without a response to a direct question or problem. I have been waiting on a replacement part under warranty for about a month now with no date, in spite of me asking directly for information, and them telling me it was available and being shipped immediately. I do believe it will come, but there is seemingly no sense of urgency and what appears to be severe apathy. At least with regard to communication. It is hard to say how much is just a function of aviation in general, and how much is mooney. It is a bizarre business. I believe it’s mostly just the lopsided leverage owners and operators face. Factories, vendors and shops basically do what they want, what are you going to do? I would say at best there is really very little incentive for me to ever purchase a new plane again. i would rather have no expectation of warranty. At least that way you know what you’re getting into.

Actually no, i would not say is not all “fairly equal”. I have a friend who has been working on their ppl for 7 years, has close to 300 hours and hasn’t taken a checkride. He even owns a cirrus and a Pilatus, and flys with an instructor all the time! I also met a kid, who went through the ppl in two months with the minimum hours required. I started flying when I was 14, stopped for 20 years then started again, and flew with others for several years until time and finances aligned for me to fly regularly, which is when I decided to get my license. I understand some of the folks here think it’s a mistake to move from a trainer to a mooney. They are all entitled to their opinion, I would say for some it may be a mistake, it was not in my case. It was the right path. I evaluated the options and felt it was actually safer to accumulate all the time I could in the plane I was going to be actually flying. On top of that, renting a complex, high performance plane where I am was 350 an hour wet without the instructor. I would have pumped $30k into the ether. Instead I bought my first ovation, put 350 hours on it and sold it for 10k more than I paid for it. The guy asked for some advice and he can decide what’s best for him, without us bashing each other’s opinions

Everybody’s experience and comfort level is different. Whatever works for you is what’s important. I bought my first ovation before I got my ppl, because I wanted to do all of my ifr training in the plane I was going to fly. I hired a flight instructor that was looking for a job flying freight, and probably flew 30-40 hours with him in my ovation until I went solo, then I flew with a variety of instructors until I was ready for my ifr checkride. as a result I became very comfortable and proficient in the actual airplane I fly. I definitely found it different from the 172 I trained in, but the Mooney in many ways is easier to fly because it’s behavior is predictable and crisp. I do not believe moving from a trainer into an ovation is a bad idea if you expect to use the airplane. I have flown close to 200 hours a year since I started flying and almost all of that has been in mooney’s. I say do it, if you really use the plane you will not regret it. I do advise you to go straight into ifr training and fly frequently.

Ok, so an update, ironically right after I posted this I received an email explaining that someone who calculated the W&B at some point added the additional weight of the engine to the calc, didn’t add the increased gross useful load that comes alone. The correct UL is actually 904#, which makes more sense.... still love to know if it’s possible to get the 3200 gross weight for this airframe?

Found a rocket with a useful load of 721# i havn’t seen something that low since the very first mooney I ever looked at which was a converted Porsche model that had a useful load in the high 600’s. The broker told me the last time anyone who asks about useful load in a mooney is when you buy it. Five years and four mooney’s Later, I understand why he said that, even though I still believe it was an irresponsible statement. I understand why that one was low, but I don’t get why this K model is so low. Can this be all old avionics and accumulation of unnecessary additions, or is this typical for rockets/missile conversions? Or is this more similar to what the encore conversions require?

What an awesome trip! my ears are ringing just thinking about it! congrats!

The noise attenuation aspect of the various headsets is definitely a hotly debated topic, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone about what works best for them. i fly with the clarity aloft, and have tried all of the top brands for more than a quick flight. I have actually purchased four different headsets and used them for a few weeks, each time going back to clarity aloft. when I fly for several hours with noise cancelling headphones, my ears ring and hurt for days after. I do not have this problem with the in ear headset. for me the clarity aloft works best for noise and the comfort cannot be matched. No issue with sunglasses, they are a fraction of the weight, no hot Sweaty ears, or head bumping on the ceiling, and no ringing in the ears when I land. I love them, and highly recommend them. the only con is you can’t mount the o2 boom to them

The one axiom of insurance, is that the premiums are expensive when you don’t need it and cheap as heck when you do.

This happened to me on my ovation. there is a procedure you can do to recalibrate the magnetometer on some models within the menus. If it won’t recalibrate, it’s shot, as it was on mine I don’t believe it works on all versions of g1000 software, and there are myriad as the vary with equipment, appointments , as well as software versions. in my instance the magnetometer had to be rebuilt. parts 1320 parts, 1000 labor. turn around was pretty quick.

What about airframes that already have two alternators and two batteries?

Very Limited options for autopilots in the Sierra. If it doesn’t already have one, not sure if there are any options. I considered one at one point, most did not come with one, the few I saw that had them were very old ones, and when I started looking at modern autopilots, the Sierra was on none of the lists. I even posted on beech talk asking for help or suggestions and got no replies. I would not own a traveling plane without an autopilot. for my personal preference, it’s a safety feature I do not want to be without.

Practically I think you are right about needing the 3200# increase. I looked at one that has a useful load of 740# with 105 gallons that’s a 90# UL?

Anyone know what the average rocket UL is? also what would it would cost for a rocket to get the gross weight increase to 3200#? Is this the same as the encore conversion?

Love love love that paint scheme. if I ever painted one it’s exactly what I would choose. id go with the Carmel color interior though...

I would budget 1500 for the gami’s which would include purchasing, replacing and tuning one additional set after the first. I had to go through five sets of injectors before I hit paydirt. but my fuel flows at cruise went down over 3gph at the same speeds. that being said, I had a tsio550 and one of the worst spreads gami said they had seen, so it was a bit of an outlier. however, the fuel you save will more than pay for the injectors if your spread is bad. you can document your procedure and send to gami and they will tell you if you need them. I have had them tell me on other planes the improvement wouldn’t be worth the money. they are a really good company to deal with, and know their business.

Looking at buying one of these as a spare/trainer for some friends to learn in. I would love an autopilot in it, but have no idea what if any, are approved for this model. Does anyone know?

28 hours of continuous use for two people and I didn’t use 1/3rd of the capacity

My current plane has the precise flight system which comes with flow regulators. this distributes oxygen when inhaling and conserves a LOT of o2. A side benefit is it’s a lot less stressful on sinuses, and you can literally hear it disburse so the constant fear of “am I getting flow” is gone. I find that noise wears me out more than lack of o2. I think it stresses all your senses which adds to fatigue. I just took a trip that flew for almost 32 hours doing 6-8 hours of flying every day, and I was never as tired as in my old plane. vast majority of the trip was between 16-18k. if I ever have another plane with o2 and it doesn’t have these regulators, I will purchase the mountain air system. Whatever it costs, it’s worth it.

My take away is that uncontrolled fields are the wild Wild West, and "if you aren’t in the mood" stay away from them.

I flew into an uncontrolled airport a few years ago in my hometown. had the whole family with me. Got on freq, made all my calls, flew over the airport at 1500’ to see the windsock and got in the standard pattern, making all my calls, then about 100yds from the threshold, a crop duster takes off, with a tail wind, coming right for me. I was close enough to see his face as he 90deg banked away less than 50’ off the ground. I landed without incident but was enraged when I recovered on the ground. I called the faa, and they said the same thing geebee said. The pilot also called me after the faa got his side and tried to explain his side to me without an apology. My response to the FAA is that someone did something wrong, if it was me I would like to know what it was but I don’t believe that to be the case. when I flew over I saw the crop duster parked and not running, he had to hear me in the pattern. It wasn’t my first close call at an uncontrolled field... My take away is that uncontrolled fields are the wild Wild West, and if you aren’t in the mood stay away from them. My suggestion would be to require all planes flying to have adsb and a radio, in this day and age, and with all the other feckless regulations, there is no excuse for an airplane to not have those basic items.

Amazing, 15% difference in size but four times gross weight. And 5x hp I flew one of these and without weapons armor and drop tanks the climb rate is 7k minute!! To heck with a turbine put a RR on a Mooney!!!

Threw a piston through the cowling. Also told me he lost 60gallons of gas, but never explained that part. I didn’t press him because he obviously had enough on his plate.

Not just on phones. It’s a problem on my iPad as well.

How do you get to your messages and profile? thats no longer on the menu that I can see