sakosky1

It seems that a common recommendation is if I'm going Mooney, to jump right in and skip the Cessna or Piper idea. I like the idea, but practically, that means finding just about the cheapest M20 I can find and trading up later on to get longer legs, more speed, and capability. All things considered, might be the best route. Put off the upgrade until I can afford a bird with FIKI. By that time my experience level might be getting to the point that I'd consider flying in weather that might have some use of it. I do best when I have a multi-year roadmap, so having an idea of what the practical capabilities and reasonable use cases of the various models helps me plan it all out. Obviously I don't even have my IFR yet, so early days with what ever plane I end up with would be fair weather and conservative IFR. With that thought in mind. How do the earlier models fair with cold (non-icing) and with warmer IFR? How are the newer birds with FIKI in winter IFR?

You guys are great! Lot's of useful thoughts. I'd love to get something fast to start with. But we're house shopping and have most of our finances allocated to that endeavor at the moment. So 20-30k and 10k per year is my limit right now. But in a couple years, my budget should be around 100-150k (maybe up to 200) and 25-35k/yr. Wouldn't mind getting a C414 or C421 for ~100-150k, but the yearly cost would be a lot more, not to mention, insurance companies would probably laugh me out the door without some decent complex, high perf, dual time. On the last trip my wife and I went on, we maxed out one leg in the Tampico at 4.6 hrs and we both did alright with that. With an onboard "relief" option, I'd guess 6hrs is probably our longest leg time. While my wife isn't certified, she completed her ground work and about 10 hrs of training, so she can take a some of the workload off enroute. I don't have any experience flying with oxygen, but having used a cannula for a sleep test, I didn't mind it and would probably be fine using it in the air. I also love being in the air, so longer flights are just fine with me. But my wife does get antsy on longer trips (car and plane), so speed is worth some extra cost to preserve my sanity lol. I'm curious how you would feel about making this trip in what you have (good and less-than-ideal weather, especially winter). How comfortable have you been flying in UP sort of weather? How does your model handle cold temps, snowy runways, and icing (if equipped). Also, any recommendations on the best way to get a little seat time in an M20 to get a feel for it? Thanks again!

Hey everyone, I was hoping to get some informed opinions on the M20 meeting my mission requirements. I finished my PPL about 1.5 yrs ago and have about 110 hours in the books. I'm currently looking for an inexpensive time builder (Cessna/piper) and am working on my Instrument rating. I'm also looking a bit further out and want to have a plan for purchasing a traveling machine in 2-3 years. I'm based at KLOM. My wife and I enjoy our weekend getaways to places like Montauk (KMTP) and would like to eventually be able to do day/weekend trips to places like Maine (~400nm) or Florida (800-900nm). But more than just vacation trips, we want to make visiting family easier. My family in NC (KBUY) and NY (KBGM) are pretty easy, but my wife's family is a bit trickier. Her family outside of St. Louis is pretty easy to reach with cheap commercial flights. But her parents recently moved to the Upper Peninsula, MI. I want to have a plane that makes that trip possible for the weekend, because 3 days with the inlaws is pushing it lol. My wife and I visited them over President's day weekend and flew commercially. It took us 11 hours to get there (door to door) and 14 to get back and cost us about $400ea (coach, no upgrades), which is a lot of travel time for even a 4-5 day trip. Her Parents live in Trout Creek, MI which puts them 75-85 minutes from all possible commercial options (KSAW, KIMT, KRHI, KIWD, KCMX). The closest airport to them is KLNL (45min drive). I flew there with my wife Sept 2019 in a Socata Tampico (105kt cruise) and it took ~9hr there and ~6hr back. It was a fun trip, but we had to dance around the weather. From what I have figured, flying ourselves there (especially when we have kids) will save time and money and be more enjoyable (at least for me). I'd like to be able to make the trip non-stop most of the time (although 1 stop if headwinds are strong is ok). LOM to KLNL is 710nm and flying direct crosses Lake Erie, Huron, and Michigan. Between winds, clouds, icing much of the year, and winter temps commonly below 0℉; It's not the friendliest route. So a strong IFR platform and possibly FIKI are important considerations. If the plane can handle this trip, it will handle anything else I could think to throw at it. Right now I'm looking at potential budget of ~100k. Obviously I'm not planning on jumping right into a high performance, complex bird and flying hard IMC with icing, but with experience, having that capability would be important. What are your thoughts? Is an M20 the right platform for this mission? Which variant(s) should I be considering? What is the best way to prepare for and move up to an M20 over 2-3 years? Thanks in advance