dkkim73

Thanks for the anecdote; that's exactly the kind of situation I'm thinking about. Was just doing some groundwork with a local instructor this AM and he was also telling me the climb rates out of KMSO on missed approaches etc. really ask for a higher-performance airplane, too. Also high DA in the summer. As for load, yes, I should be more specific. We are close to being empty-nest. Two children, one in college, one with two more years in high school. So at some point it will be 4 adults, 2 of them large-ish. Although I suspect a lot of the trips will probably be 2 people. For the commute it would be me and light baggage.

Thank you all the great responses so far! One thing I wanted to clarify re: flying "in all conditions". I didn't mean that I would expect to entirely avoid icing (practically), just that I didn't think any aircraft in my scope would be able to complete the mission in any wx. Ie. IIUC it would be good to have FIKI to remain legal and (in some sense) prudent not having to divert if there were actual ice reported in a layer ahead of me on approach, etc. I would imagine, from prior midwestern experience, that it would be mostly an issue in layers at each end, or extending time during an inadvertant encounter. Sorry if I was being unclear there. It sounds like the devil's in the details with the Lycoming vs. Continental choice. If running the Bravo rich yielded adequate or better reliability, that might make the cost argument *for short trips* which this is for the near-term. Cruising at those levels it does seem like LOP is the long-term way to go. It is a bit hard to follow the multiple G1000 threads. Has there been any recent top-level guidance from Mooney on long-term commitments to upgrade paths on the G1000 installs in the Bravo DX, Acclaims, etc (once WAAS is upgraded)? IIUC the up-front cost and time of the STC is the issue, and thereafter there would always be the costs of Garmin equipment. Have existing G1000 users here felt anything basic was lacking, or just chafed at the lack of upgradability? (I would understand this being a tinkerer). Not to threadjack, just trying to understand if I need to go a lot more deeply into this before making what would otherwise be a more airframe/powerplant-driven set of decisions. Thank you, David

Mooneyspace post Hello Everyone, I'm new to this forum, although I have been lurking and reading for a couple of weeks. Posting to ask for thoughts on potential choices for a plane to use for: -Commuting in central-western Montana over the next 18-24 months, between Billings and Hamilton (so KBIL to KHRF or KMSO), as weather allows -General family trips in the region, a secondary and less often consideration, more so after that period in 2-3 yrs, which may extend further and will primarily involve western WA (Puget Sound) and Utah (SLC/OGD area) I started looking at a range of aircraft and settled quickly into looking for FIKI singles with TKS (currently I am only ASEL-instrument rated and a twin would add a lot of issues), and most likely turbocharged. The Mooneys seemed to rise above Cirrus and Bonanzas for a combination of cost and reliability while still being FIKI. Questions for the group and things I am pondering: -Any thoughts from people who've flown in this region? Note I am not looking to fly "in all conditions". I'm probably going to expand my operating envelope carefully, and run the trip with go/no-go parameters driven by wx briefs. Fallback is the car or scheduled commercial via 2 hops. -Trade-offs between Ovation (2DX probably) - Bravo - Acclaim for this role I've read the main thread here about the Ovation/Acclaim comparison. Have also spoken to a couple of very knowledgeable and kind gentlemen (who I think may also be on the forum) who shared some thoughts on the models. Q: If dealing with the Bravo's complexity and maintenance cost to get a turbo, does the Acclaim make more sense (assuming can work the cost)? Q: Some have opined that the Acclaim can be flown in different ways. Can the Acclaim be flown "gently" to achieve the same longevity as a non TC/TN engine like the Ovation? -The need for turbocharging/turbonormalizing: Several locals have strongly recommended this to climb above icing conditions, though there will be times when that will definitely not be doable in a non-pressurized piston. Sustained climb rates might be an issue. Q: Has anyone from an Ovation in this area? (looking at the 310hp/TopProp models) -Avionics Have read some very reasonable opinions on non being locked into the G1000, also many people seem to be happy with the G1000 situational awareness and overall feature set. This obviously ties in with the model choice on the higher end above. Most of my time is in 6-pack aircraft, less in TAA planes, so I really do want *some* glass for the higher SA and a good autopilot. I am in that sense biased towards either a fancier panel or upgrading it soon (at least to a big-screen GPS). Anyhow, that list I realize now is quite long, and probably enough to frame the situation. Any thoughts appreciated, David