AndreiC

Hello all, during my coming annual I was hoping to get my front seats redone. The covering on them is still fine, and I'd like to keep it (it matches with the rest of the interior), but the foam underneath is compressed; I would also like to get the seating position to be higher by maybe one inch by putting more foam in. Problem is that I called Oregon Aero, and they quoted me an incredible price, around $2200 per seat just to make cushions for me. (Without any installation or anything, just to have the molded foam cut.) That is way way too expensive for what I want to do. My question is what other options do I have? Is there a way to source aviation-approved foam to install in the seats? The plane is a 1970 M20E. Thanks.

Wow, your F really is a wonderful machine. What is the useful load? Over 1000 lbs? In my E if I put 800 lbs in the cabin I can barely fly 1 hour with 1 hour reserve... (but I have bladders and 3-blade prop, both of which add to the weight).

Well I got some real life data. Over the weekend I flew some long flights, from Madison WI to Santa Fe NM (two days, with a stopover in Lincoln, NE) and back (one day yesterday). On the way down I had some unforecasted headwinds (they had forecast headwinds to be 8-10kts at 16500, but they were more like 15-20kts) but made up for it on the way back (30-35kts tailwind at 15000). The overall distance covered was 1775nm in 12h10m, for a complete block to block average speed of 145.89 kts. Not so bad. I've been trying to figure out from this data what is a good guess of my block-to-block speed without wind is, and a rough estimate seems to be around 140-141 kts, so about 5 hts slower than @Shadrach's. Of course, the longer the legs the closer the block-to-block speed is to TAS.

Hi @GBFlyer, I am based in Madison, but frequently go to 3D2, Ephraim. I would be happy to let you know when I go there next time (probably in about two weeks). If you want to come over there I am happy to take you up for a ride, or we could arrange for me to meet you at KGRB on my way there or back. My plane is an E model. Let me know if you're interested (you can DM me), and we can try to arrange something. Andrei.

Well, it seems like there is about a 5 knot penalty on my plane for the 1970 model (with many exposed screw heads instead of flush rivets) and inefficient three blade prop. My best speed/fuel efficiency ratio for cruising seems to be 9.3 gph (peak EGT) at 8500 feet, 143 kts, 2500 rpm.

Thanks, Dev. I spoke to the folks at LASAR and decided to try to install the flap gap seals (at least) at my next annual. (At the moment they are trying to get things squared away with the FAA after their move to Oregon, and are not selling any of the kits; but they should be available in a month or so.) The other two kits they recommended were the dorsal fin vertical seal and the wing root fairing. Anyone have any experience if these two do anything to improve speed?

Maybe as the OP I will add that whoever guessed Porsche 914 has my vote. That is my fun car Here is a pic of it. Born same year and month as myself. (That is the Porsche for CB's, 1/4 of the price of a 911...)

@ArtVandelay this is like one of those pictures where you don't notice a guy with half a mustache because of a good looking girl in the foreground... took me 5 minutes to understand what you were talking about. I honestly thought my previous Cherokee was the Honda Civic of airplanes...

One other quick question. Is there any mod that would replace the infinite number of round head exposed screws on the underside of the wings and/or around the windshield with something flatter and less exposed? Would that make a difference?

I know it's stupid. I did all the calculations, and on my longest flights I would save like 15-20 minutes. No idea why this is obsessing me, but it does -- I want to see those book numbers of 155kts or so at 10000 feet.

What does the LASAR cowl closure look like? I may have that one already, is it the one that closes the guppy mouth half way, at the bottom? I'll call LASAR to ask about the flap gap seals. What else did you have on your bird @Fritz1?

I have had my 1970 M20E for three years now, and it fits my mission profile perfectly; I never fly with more that one adult, so I don't need a medium body. The avionics are pretty much where I want them to be. Only thing bugging me is the speed (or lack thereof). A lot of testing leads me to conclude that the currently configured airplane gets about 143 kts cruise LOP (9.3 gph) and around 148 kts if I push it ROP (10.5-11 gph). These are the best speeds I could get out of her at altitudes of around 7500-9500, 2500 rpm. I would like to hear the forum's opinion on how I could get her to be faster if I were to throw some money at the problem, maybe $15k tops. More specifically, my question is what would be the best bang for the buck to get more speed. First question: is this a fool's errand? My plane, as it is, is worth about $80k. Would I be better off just biting the bullet -- selling it and spending another $40-50k to enter J territory? Here are things I considered that could potentially gain me more speed. a) Switch to a Hartzell scimitar 2-blade prop from the current 3-blade McCauley. This is expensive -- probably around $10k, and I would only do it if I were sure to see a significant improvement in speed. b) Install some STC-ed speed mods, like maybe the sloped windshield or one of the J-like cowls. Are any of these still sold? How much do they cost, and how much labor is involved in installing them? How much speed is gained? c) Any other low hanging fruit? My mechanic used the travel boards and checked the rigging at the last annual; I had the plane washed and waxed recently; I tried flying with weight in the back. None of these made much difference as far as I can tell. Thanks in advance!

I tried comparing this plane in my head with the 1970 E I bought 3 years ago from Jimmy for $85k. I figure overall mine was about $6k more expensive, but indeed the difference is not as great as I thought. So maybe prices have gone down 6-8% in the last three years, but this could be more of a rounding error or not checking the log books of the above plane carefully (for example, I don't know when the landing shock disks were replaced; and I did not check if the prop on the above plane is the no-AD one). Here is the comparison. Mine was $85k. On the negative side for mine, the paint is serviceable, but definitely worse than on the plane from Indy: -$7k. Interior was about the same (bad). Mine has no speed mods, a 3-blade prop, and the slower wing made in the 1970s: $-$5k (maybe more). On the plus side, mine has a 430w, an STEC 30 autopilot, and ADS-B out: $+12k. J-model yokes: +$1k. 1000 hours less on the engine: +$25k. Electric gear with later model actuator and relatively new no-back spring: $3k. So about $6k difference after all the pluses and minuses.

It has only flown 120 hours in the last 10 years, 20 in the last 3 years. Not exactly purely sitting, but not flown much. Still, in MN I would be ok with this plane, probably no corrosion and with the cam already coated from 1400 hours of use, likely not corroded either. If this plane had come up when I bought my E for twice as much, I would have jumped at the opportunity.

Just in terms of funny comparisons. At some point I was talking to a friend from Germany who flies gliders, and the first thing he asked was what was the glide ratio of the Cherokee I owned at the time. When I told him his reaction was “what are you flying, an upright piano?”