Missile=Awesome

I liked Hill’s comparison very much as well. I have 98 gallon (total) 17 a side Monroy extended tanks and NO speed brakes. I haven’t felt that the Missile was much different from my M20E in decent going downhill. I like having the S-Tec auto pilot and dial in 500fpm and slowly pull MP a couple inches every couple of minutes in decent. No issues keeping on or slightly below 180 knots indicated in decent. (Smooth air). I would agree that options are nice so speed brakes would be a benefit, but frankly I don’t feel I need them and I certainly don’t miss not having them on our Missile. I would enjoy seeing interior and exterior photos of your bird Hill. Scott

Congrats. In years of Mooneyspace you earn my first block. I choose NOT to read a members comments that come from ignorance and conjecture with ZERO consideration to a fellow Mooney pilot owner.

Maintenance areas of emphasis on Missile we have identified: 1. Exhaust system wear/replacement. The exhaust is custom. Rocket has and sells replacement sections that an area shop can weld/fabricate. A custom shop may be able to copy/duplicate for less expense. The exhaust tends to wear prematurely. Needs inspected to include mounts/fittings. 2. Engine Mount wear/corrosion/sagging. Custom to Missile. Heat shrouds important to protect from exhaust. Inspect and maintain. 3. Cylinder premature wear. Plane is tightly cowled and has no cowl flaps. Cylinders temps in climb on hot summer days must be monitored. Increasing speed/lowering nose as in a cruise climb STILL sees very adequate climb performance and covering ground in climb. Seeing cylinder (s) approaching 400 in climb is NOT uncommon and DOES likely result in cylinder longevity impact. LOP operations in cruise see VERY manageable cylinder temps at or below 350. I know of no other maintenance issues unique to the Missile in ownership to date.

Paging: @1980Mooney @MO16576 @N56394 @Seth

I purchased a Rocket Engineering Missile conversion in 2019. I have a thread in Modern titled “Missile Coming Out Party” that describes maintenance and areas of emphasis in the year we have owned/updated our plane. The conversion was to a 1980 M20J. There are fewer than 60 total conversions. One Missile was lost last December when a pilot in NY apparently ran the plane out of fuel and crashed on short final. We LOVE our Missile. An engine overhaul will be needed “soon” for our plane. We have no known “issues” at this time after a lot of sorting in the last year.

Meow=Galore

Make Oddjob stay at home. He is bad for useful load... Obscure Bond humor... Welcome. She’s a beaut.

With Hill I know of five Missile owners. All are on Mooneyspace.

I own a Missile and while you might not think they are a 180 knot airplane, they are. Not with a headwind of course. I don’t have to burn 15gph to get there. Or fly over 10,500...

Start a thread for that...or just keep inserting turbine wanna be sauce like a sixteen year old in his first whorehouse.

There is one guy in particular that has a weird mad scientist lust for turbine power in Mooney. What’s up with that?

Just going to say shame on any and all that went down the road of “turbine Mooney” thread creep here. Come on people. What is the title of the thread? Dickriculous.

Windlace skill shaming me -a- I was into the interior....We removed and refurbished all interior plastics, removed and replaced windows, removed and re-installed new headliner. Removed existing insulation and replaced. Painted the overhead air and center console IN THE PLANE. Removed and had seats rebuilt and re-covered. Of ALL these things the windlace was...a pain (as it is secured with screws and finding screw holes is...a pain....also removed the baggage door cover and refurbished. Took weeks over the winter in a cold hanger. The hours of labor are EXTENSIVE. It is either “do it yourself”, buy it the way you want it, or pay someone with skills to complete. I totally understand why interiors are expensive.

BUT, the more I think about it you will only be able to use it for 15 years, (with fossil fuels being phased out by 2035) so why bother...

Better than Ovation speed on a stock 201 for $100k plus airframe. What’s not to love? Glad they made ‘em in the 60ish airframes that exist. They own the conversion. Mooney could produce the cowls, perhaps modifying to better maximize airflow and sell them to Rocket. Same with K fuel valve. This can be done for well under $100k as exhaust and engine six point mount are not THAT expensive to produce. Mooney saw the Missile as competitive force and made their own. Perhaps new Mooney could purchase and build Missile conversions? Why the hell not?

Looks great. Labor intensive work and skilled employees warrant a good wage. Small market with expertise so price point is higher. We did our own interior update on our E. Headliner was not to bad. Windlace is a pain though.

I have clocks and firearms that are a LOT older than I am. Some over a 100 years old. Quality was quality back in the day too. If maintained and used properly (not abused) they just work...Fear not just because old. They have books and videos for that... Knowledge assuages fear.

We got us a tail lifter...perv.

Get “over it”?

Had a used 535i and a hanger mate (Taildragger) told me that “joke” when I pulled up to hanger one day. I really felt bad when he had a couple Bose headsets stolen...what a douche.

Thanks. That was fun. Five owners in 40 years. NY, TX, AZ, SD & IA. Our N Number change was to match previous owners initials. One minor accident (with J engine prior to Missile conversion) prop strike with porpoise landing in gusty conditions. Also a weird landing light wire contacting the exhaust and damaging plugs (found at annual) in history...Apparently this was a “known” problem and had been “fixed” before. Hmmmm. I will bring this up with my A&P. Never been here and drilled down to the level by serial number before. Interesting.

Never sad when Reaper does his work. Critical Components are needed in an aged fleet. A positive of a sad event, like donor from a loss of life, allowing another to live on. So it is with Mooney salvage...

I buggered a flap years ago. I feel your pain. Winter and I was trying so hard to get up and in on a north facing icing entry I forgot I had a vertical support...got to deep and arghhhhhh... “it” happens. Live and learn.

Had a 700 in plane that was upgraded by us. The 730 and 830 are direct upgrade paths for the 700 and 800 so thought it might be relevant information for original poster. What it resulted in was a vomiting and finger pointing by members in my direction. The 700 was installed for years. I will get back to you on the longevity of the 830 as installed. Sorry for giving everyone nightmares. My eyes are WIDE OPEN. Good luck sorting (original poster) Sorry for the shitshow.

Dunno. Mid body vs. long body weight needs?