Hank

I finally completed my Instrument Rating last year in my C-model. It's a great, stable platform for flying, VFR and IFR. I've flown almost 400 hours in her and never had a trace of ice. I do have the "optional carb temp gage" installed, down low on the left side of the panel, and I check it from time to time. Occasionally I will add partial carb heat, but only rarely as the needle is almost always comfortably above the orange "danger zone" stripe. At the end of my IA checkride, the DE advised me to start working on my Commercial as "you have the perfect plane for it." Reasonably fast, low fuel burn, stable in flight--what else do you want for flying in the clouds? Yes, the O-360 is an icemaker in some aircraft, but that's all due to cowling & induction. Ours are so tight that everything stays pretty warm. Call it a design feature.

Quote: GeorgePerry A better way to put it would be after you could afford it, how long did it take you to decide a Mooney was the right airplane? The implied question the original poster might also be asking is how much flight time is required to feel comfortable in a Mooney.

Sounds like it's official now, Squirrel. Have a good trip, and eat a lobster for me!

Quote: jetdriven

Squirrel-- Please take your lovely wife somewhere that she wants to go! There is no better way to get her to fall in love with the plane and encourage you to stay current. Be advised that a trip that long, VFR, may have some delays . . . But PHD is a nice airport, just watch the only tree in the cemetery on final, that's why the runway is displaced. Gatlinburg is about an hour from here, PHD is also about an hour the other way, if that helps you with planning any. PHD is our "local" avionics shop [1-800-GPS-DUDE if you need any Garmin work done . . . ] The mountains are really pretty flying over; personally I would hold at least 8500 VFR or 9000 IFR. I usually go towards either Hotlanta or Raleigh at 7500 or higher, but the hills are taller on your route unless you deviate well east of Knoxville; although I recently went roundtrip Huntington-Nashville at 5000 msl down/6000 msl back up due to a cold front and low freezing level. [approx. 2 hours each way] Have a good time, let her take scenic pictures, and try to sneak a few of her in the plane with either mountains or coastline visible out the window behind her.

Quote: aviatoreb ...my Mooney came with an ash tray. (I know ALL of yours did too). Wish I could get ride of that.

I heard that! Been with the local guy four years, and beat Avemco's price this year by 40%. Haven't tried AOPA or Falcon yet . . . But I figure the savings against Avemco will almost pay for my owner-assisted annual this fall. My broker gave me four quotes, three within $40, one a couple hundred higher, then my call to Avemco [never got the hat] at $850 higher.

Just don't ignore it, that makes them angry . . . and you don't want any tax people mad at you. The state kindly sent me a letter this spring advising me that I had a mathematical error in my 1040 [earned less than reported], but that I owed more tax. Their addition included the amount I had paid beyond withholding plus the amount I owed when refigured for the reduced income. All it took was a phone call, then they mailed me a check. I would call the Florida tax people and explain it to them. If'n they are dead set on collecting sales tax, maybe they should get it from the seller?

That sounds pretty decent, Austin. It won't hurt to ask a local broker, too. Fellow pilots can always recommend one. I bought my plane half at a time, so it came with an existing policy and now it's only me.

Yeah, it would be hard to explain to the insurance company how you hit a [parked] backhoe on your takeoff roll . . . Doing it in a jet, though, I think the resulting fire would preclude any conversations with the crew. Seems like the pilots are not reviewing NOTAMs, or else they are just buried in the standard 60-page printouts from DUATS. There should be some way to highlight the departure and arrival airports, then you can ignore unlit towers around the hundred airports you will fly past and the other two hundred that are within 50 miles of your flight path. Any construction NOTAMs require close attention; I have accidentally made an intersection departure due to construction, but there was still 5000+ runway available. Since I was solo that day, no GPMS activation, either. :-)

Quote: galt1074 We feel the airplane around the air quite a bit...I just have numbers to tell me where the edges of the envelope are and for critical phases of flight I need to be on the edge of the envelope which means dead on speed.

You should be good to go, Austin. I had 62 hrs, 0 complex. Fell to ~$1650 after the first year, with 100 hrs in my C. Now with my IR and ~450, I renewed for $1134 last month. 65k hull, -0- deductible, 100k/1M. I would expect 10 hrs. dual/5-10 hrs solo for insurance, depending on what your Complex time is in. Pricing sounds good.

Quote: AustinPynes Until then I am assuming it is just part of the search and may not be the plane I buy. When I get past the mechanics review and settle on any fixes I will post pics and details. More to follow. trying not to get excited yet. Waiting on the insurance company to tell me what my training requirements will be so i know if I can fly it home myself.

Good luck in your endeavor, John. My C-model has a smooth 3-blade Hartzell; must be a fuel-injector issue, as the only ones who complain either have injectors, or don't have a 3-blade. Kind of like C, B & P drivers who say that Mooneys are too small . . . Do get the one-piece belly, even if you don't get the expensive new carbon-fiber one that Bill Wheat is marketing. And have someone who knows Mooneys check your gear rigging, preload and bearings before you taxi out the next time.

I've heard good things about Cole Aviation up in Rome, but have never been there. He apparently does significant Mooney business.

C'mon, guys--a "WAG" is somewhat less accurate than an "Engineering Approximation." My POH says to rotate at 65-75 MPH, drop the nose a bit and accelerate into a climb. The charts in the back show Best Rate of Climb at Max Gross, Gear Up, Flaps 15, No Wind. [i.e., 100 MPH - 1 MPH per 1000' msl up to 10,000]. Greg, on the other hand, has to calculate his Rotate Speed based on his actual takeoff weight, runway available and other factors. I don't have the information to calculate either Rotation Speed, Rotation Distance or Distance to 50' for any takeoff conditions other than the one particular setup shown in the book. No, wait, I can interpolate between two weights and three sets of Density Altitude for Ground Roll and 50'. Do I do that on every takeoff? No. Since my home field is 3000' long with trees at both ends, I only worry about it if I'm going somewhere shorter. Also, my home field has neither "gates" nor "hundreds of yards of grass beyond the paved runway." See the photo below. Once I know I'm in the air and climbing, the gear goes away and I hope to not have to choose between the trees and the river; other places have other choices, some actually have options. Military pilots spend a lot of time in flight planning. I cannot calculate [due to lack of available information] the takeoff run, rotation speed, climb air speed and climb rate for every single departure. I know about how far it should take me to get in the air, I have a general set of guidance on air speed and climb rate that works for me, and another set that I use to baby the plane on hot, humid departures. There is nothing "exact" about anything, except when following the needles down on an approach in IMC. Even there, the POH gives precious little guidance--I get to choose my airspeed and time myself along the ILS based on what is on the approach plate, based in feet per nm and judged on my VSI in feet per minute and a little conversion table. We have it easy! I took a retired B52 pilot to ride, and my thorough, complete and "by the book" pre-flight inspection took 5 minutes; he used to spend 1½ hours or longer, not counting time at the desk planning and calculating. I rotate at 70 MPH [75 if heavy and/or really hot], and make initial climb at 100 MPH after clearing the trees, 105-110 when really hot [watch the temps and speed up when needed]. This is for solo flight, half tanks in January when the temps are single-digits F, and for three people flightseeing with full tanks in the summer--Mr. C130 has different speeds, distances and rates of climb for different loads, different fuel amounts and different airports. That's the point he is trying to make. GA flying is easy on purpose, it keeps it accessible. The book gives best performance, plan to be a little under it depending on your skill and comfort levels, loading and variable weather. We can't even agree to raise the gear for good climb rates. My wheels are tucked away before I reach tree-top level, whether leaving the nearby 2000' grass strip or the 10,900' Class C that I visit occasionally. When to raise gear will vary by aircraft type, though, as the wounded-duck Cessna gear create tremendous additional drag while cycling oh-so-very-slowly, but my electric ones tuck away in 2-3 seconds.

Is there anyone in the Midwest? Both wetwingologists in Miami and Paul in Minneapolis have great reviews, but both are >600 nm away. Midwest Mooney is pretty close, but they use polyurethane and charge 30% more. Don Maxwell is likewise >600 nm. Any other options???

The Halos come with several different silicone inserts [i use the white ones], and a handful of yellow foam ones. Try them, use what you like. I started with the white silicone and six months later, haven't tried the rest yet. Perhaps one reason that "99.744% of airline pilots" don't use Halos is that they have not been on the market for very long, Sporty's doesn't carry them, I've not seen them in any FBO's, and the good Doctor apparently manufactures them as a side business to his practice, right here in the USA. Kind of like Mooney airplanes--what percentage of pilots fly Mooneys? Does ~10,000 [including partnerships] out of 680,000 licensed pilots mean that the "other" 98½% of pilots are correct, and we should abandon our non-favored planes? I don't think so! I value performance, not what happens to be popular.

Get the thicker windows when you replace them. The extra sound insulation is worth it.

That would be Mark Twain [see posts above].

The "Earth, water or Trees" thread in General Mooney Topics opens up, but I cannot scroll down past aviatoreb's post at 0943 t his morning. Even then, I can only read the title and not whatever he wrote. Others have posted there since his, and I can't read them, either, despite multiple attemps and Refreshes. This happens to a post every couple of months. Any idea what is going on?

I love my Halos! Bet they cost less than your lightly used Bose X . . . and sound just as good, with greater comfort. Takes me four months on average to hit 30 hours at 8 hours a month for the last five years. Better performance through science, not magic and batteries.

Two F-16s seems like overkill to intercept a single sub-100 knot target . . . Kitfox! Thought about building one years ago, then decided I would never put in 2000 hours of work. One issue of Kitbuilder magazine convinced me. Guess Ms. Rose, a dangerous threat to society, did not either call for a briefing, watch the news or, worst of all, file a flight plan!

Hear, hear for Mark Twain!! :-) I fly ~100 hrs/year. Since I started lessons, I'm averaging 8 hours/month and am currently pushing towards 500. Guess I died last fall . . . but the fun won't stop until I'm in the box.

It's really very simple to count thousands of feet from TPA to cruise and double it. Start down that many minutes out; request descent if necessary. Push the yoke to hit 500 fpm, and trim out the pressure. RPM stays where it was. Yes, IAS increases going downhill--this makes up a little for the initial climb. I just watch MP and EGT, and whenever either one has moved significantly, I put it back to the original cruise values. Once I level off, then I start watching IAS and slowing down for the pattern. Vintage birds have gear speed lower than flap speed, so there's no drag bucket to slow us down. Tuesday evening coming home, I was cruising at 8000, WOT [~21½"], 2500 RPM, ~50ROP, ~142 MPH. Started downhill: whenever MAP hit 23", I pulled it back to 21"; whenever EGT rose near 1500, I pushed forward to 1450 or a little below; IAS topped out around 170 MPH [yellow starts at 175]. Leveled off at 3000, then 2500 before cancelling and heading home VFR in really bad haze. At 21"/2500 she slowed back down to around 140 MPH; as I maneuvered for downwind entry, I pulled back to 15-16", and entered downwind at 1600 msl with speed dropping towards 100 MPH. White arc is 125; Vg is 120 MPH. Dropped flaps, retrimmed; dropped gear, pulled throttle back a little and started down at 90 MPH, slowing to 85 MPH on final, over the trees with a loaded plane at 80 MPH, kept a little power in until I cleared the road and the drop-off, idle over the numbers, touchdown on Stripe #3. Lunch runs with no luggage are a little slower and usually idle power before the trees. If I can figure it out, I'll post a landing video on youtube--final approach to squeak/squeak is 22 MB using a Sony camera in video mode. You turbo guys and Rocket/Missile conversions have a little more work to do, but it does pay off handsomely in speed and ability to outclimb weather.