hubcap

Based on your mission, I would definitely agree that you do not want anything with a turbo. Personally, I fly a K and my personal minimum for runway length is 3000'. I can and have certainly landed much shorter than that and do regularly, but with obstacles and a potentially unfavorable wind or density altitude and a little too fast on the approach and a little heavy and I might have a problem...but that's just me. It sounds like a 182 would fit your mission quite nicely.

I own a M20K 231. The 252 does have a few amenities that the 231 lacks, but I couldn't be happier with my 231. The 252 does make engine management easier, but as @DonMuncy points out, engine management becomes quite a non-issue with proper training and flying. I would be cautious about buying a 231 that doesn't have a good engine monitoring system. The TSIO-360-GB engine was original equipment in the 231 but later models have the TSIO-360-LB engine, which is considered to be superior due to engineering improvements. I have the JPI-900 which makes it very easy to manage the engine without over-boosting, and to keep CHT's at appropriate temperatures. I added the Turboplus intercooler and Black Magic pressure controller to my 231 after I purchased it. My POH calls for 40" of Manifold Pressure when taking off, but I was trained to use 36" as max, before adding the intercooler. I never run 40" of manifold pressure. My useful load is 950 lbs but will go up in the fall a bit after we upgrade the panel. With full fuel, my wife and I can take bring 120 lbs of baggage with a 6-hour range and IFR reserves. Travelling we typically fly in the mid-teens or lower flight levels and cruise at 160-165kts LOP or 175-180kts ROP. LOP = ~10 gal/hr ROP = ~12 gal/hr I would guess that there is about a $50k premium for a 252 over a 231, but I am sure that other's here have a better idea of the delta. If you can find a great 252 for a price that you can afford - GREAT!! If not, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 231 in good shape.

I pay $150 + Oil & Filter. That includes sending the sample to Blackstone. No complaints.

Are you getting O2 at the scuba shop? All the scuba shops I have ever used only do air or nitrox, not O2.

@Hank is correct. Pretty much any question you have about Mooney's can be asked of the experts during the Mooney Summit. We plan on being there in our M20K.

Since you already have the 275’s, I would say 20 AMU should cover it. I have all of my stuff on order at this time for an installation later this year. On my quote the servos were way less than 10AMU. If you contact me offline I will share my actual numbers with you.

In reality, nobody prosecutes theft crimes unless it is a very significant amount of $$. Even armed robbery won’t get you jail time in a big city.

It had something to do with the way MP is measured when the Black Magicis installed.

Is anyone here using the Garmin EIS and G3X in an installation along with the Merlyn Black Magic upper deck pressure controller? I was told that there could be an issue with the manifold pressure reading interfacing from the Merlyn and the Garmin EIS. I am not THAT technical so I was curious if anyone else had encountered any issues. I am currently running with a JPI 900 with the Merlyn Black Magic.

If you don’t already have a BatteryMINDer now may be a good time to get one. It may be able to help your battery.

If you ever want or need a ride in a Mooney you let me know. I would be happy to take you for a ride in Myrtle

The Mooney engineer guest speaker at MooneyMax earlier this year was very specific in that the cowl flaps on the "K" should be 1" open when closed all the way. As was mentioned earlier by @kortopates it provides for better cooling and higher speed because of better airflow. Mine are closed all the way now, as that is the way they were rigged when I bought the plane. She is going in for an oil change this week and I am going to set them at 1" open. I cannot run with them closed in the summertime or my CHT's get up around 380-400. I am anxious to see how much the CHT's cool off with the cowl flaps open 1".

That’s fair, however for me, looking at the total cost of aircraft ownership, the cost of filling the O2 for a year falls into the category of “rounding error”.

I recently ordered a new 3-blade propeller for my 231, so I will be selling my current one if anyone is interested. It is a Hartzell Heated 2-blade Q-tip. The prop was sent out for overhaul in October of 2021. Both blades were replaced with new blades during the overhaul. Total cost for new blades and overhaul was around $13AMU. I will be putting hours on this prop until the new one comes in but it should have less than 100hrs on it. If you are interested let me know. Will accept a reasonable offer of $

I will give that a try and report back. Heading home today and planning the trip now.

Same for me. I climb to 1000’ AGL at Vy and then at 105 kts with cowl flaps open.

Those are good numbers. Does it get warm during climb?

Cylinder head temperatures.

That is plenty good enough. What kind of fuel burn and what temperatures do you see?

My wife and I fly an average of 3 to 4 hour trips. In my K model we typically fly in the mid-teens. I fly LOP at 165-170Kts TAS on about 9-1/2 gallons / hr. My useful load allows two 200 lbs people, full fuel (76gal) and 130lbs of baggage. If there is a better cross country plane, I am unaware of what it may be. It is not a good platform for $100 hamburgers. The J is much better suited for that IMO. I personally would not go back to a NA aircraft. I appreciate the performance of the turbo and flying at 15000’ in the summer is far more pleasant than 8000’.

I was given JEN (Glenrose VOR) in an amended clearance around the DFW Bravo earlier this year. It still shows as a waypoint on the IFR charts, and it is still in the Garmin database…at least it was at that time.

Just donated. Please add me and take away the ads. @mooniac58

I sent my prop in for overhaul while my plane was in for annual. THAT was a nightmare. One of the blades was out of spec, so I had to find new blades.

I have read this thread and others with interest, as I have a KAP 200 presently, which I have chosen to replace with the GFC500. I discussed this issue at length with the folks that will be doing the installation and my concerns were addressed to my satisfaction. The owner of the shop doing the installation was a Garmin engineer for 10+ years and dealt with these issues while employed at Garmin. We shall see.

May want to confirm your RPM at idle since the prop change. Too fast an idle speed can cause your airspeed to be too high.