I am no Don Kay (Mooney flight instructor extraordinaire) and these are just my findings after flying high performance aircraft for over 40 years. Any Mooney Guru feel free to correct me on any of these points. I have over 15k hours with about 2k of that being single engine general aviation airplanes and much of that as a CFI. I bounce (no pun intended) between an Airbus A350 and my M20K, so finding consistency has been tough as I start the flare at 50’ in one aircraft while I feel like I’m landing in a hole in the other. Through experimenting, the old adage of “stabilized approach” is very important. Your numbers are right on (even though you have an Ovation and me a M20K, it’s the same wing) using 75kcas when heavy and 70kcas at lighter weights. Make sure you’re stabilized at these speeds by 500’ with checklist complete; if you’re flying an instrument approach, I highly recommend that this be done by the FAF.
Now for the fun part. You can’t fly a Mooney like a 172 and pull the power off when the runway is “made” because (for me anyway) this sets up way too high of a sink rate. You also can’t carry power to touchdown unless you have a 7,000’ runway. The transition from final to flare is very important. This is what I have found sets up a normal sink rate and reasonable energy at touchdown.
1) Be on speed and stable (mixture, prop, throttle, and flaps) set at about 500’ AGL. Sometimes I use the last 10degrees of flaps to adjust my speed or glidepath if not right on.
2) About 500’ from your intended touchdown point (horizontal distance not AGL) quit looking at the airspeed (unless it is way off) and start reducing the power toward idle while starting your round out.
3) At about 10-20’ above the runway the power should be idle. Keep increasing your back pressure and, if done just right, touch down on the mains with the stall warning just going off and when you are using significant nose up elevator pressure. Some people like to trim nose up while in the flare. Be careful, as adding go around power will result in significant forward stick forces to maintain proper go around attitude.
Speaking of go arounds:
1) If you bounce, GO AROUND!
2) If you float and start porpoising, GO AROUND!
3) The BIGGIE. If you touchdown nose wheel first, GO AROUND! There is no saving this landing and will likely result in a new prop and engine IRAN.
I have attached a couple of references I have found helpful.
Take care, fly fast on little gas but do it safely!
Steve
Wayne Fisher on Landing.pdf
Landing Cheat Sheet.pdf