Hank

Quote: Sven How much do a thousand ping pong balls weigh?

Ashe-- Just a quick reminder: C's were made up through 1978, and all of them had electric gear and flaps starting in 69, I think. My '70 has both, and I really like the fast gear movement. "Affordability" of maintenance will vary more by individual aircraft than by model or engine type unless you go turbo [at least for B-J models]. The key is to find a plane in good shape with a solid maintenance history that has been taken care of and is still being flown. Search through the older topics here, there are some good threads about the pros and cons of various models, and some general and specific items to look for and avoid when considering a Vintage Mooney. It does seem, though, that if you buy a Mooney in good shape, that you will really enjoy it regardless of which model it is. Be advised, though, that back seat passengers are happier flying in anything other than a short body, although they do seem to run ~3 knots slower.

I don't even fly full rich TO altitude, much less AT altitude. Since I have a carb, I usually back off the throttle ~1/2" for better mixing, then lean away per my "Owner's Manual" to 25º rich for best economy or 100º rich for best power. I'm usually in the 50-75º rich neighborhood depending on how closely I squint at the little lines on my factory EGT. When I climb high, I pull back gently on the red lever in the climb, too, adhering to Mooney's insistence on 200º rich and CHT below 400º.

Our friends in the Vintage Mooney Group can help you find such items as POH, Parts Manual and Service Manual. They were a tremendous help to me! And now, they aren't just on the West Coast but have chapters covering the whole country. Do a quick search and reach out to them. They're good people!

I've never seen my RPMs move when adjusting mixture. Moving the prop will have an inverse affect on manifold pressure, though. Move the levers in that order to protect the engine from power surges, and from the prop-man. pressure relationship.

In my plane, any of the three knobs can be moved at any time, with immediate effect. HOWSUMEVER, it's good practice to protect your engine and lower manifold pressure before reducing RPM, and to increase RPM before increasing manifold pressure. Easy way to remember: Push all three forward moving towards you [mixture rich, prop forward, then throttle up] Pull 'em back away from you [throttle back, prop back, lean mixture] May as well establish good habits now, before the bad ones start costing you money! :-)

Quote: carusoam Clean oil on the floor....? Off the top of my head, the sources I am familiar with: [4] The last thing I can think of... Check the seal on the spare bottle of oil that was in the back that may have spilled? The plastic bottle/induction seal that they are made of probably don't stay sealed in the low pressure environment that 10,000' msl creates.

I used a local CFII. Started just after July 4th, with a goal of around Labor Day. Then came a three-week annual [parts on order], then two weeks for IFR certification [sent out the AI and ALT for rebuild, one at a time, after replacing all hoses & fittings from the static ports], then we had "smoke in the cockpit" when I turned on the panel lights just after engine start [that was something on the annunciator light circuit board, not enough of it left to identify; time to source & replace, 3 months . . .]. With a "quick course," I would have been out a lot of money. Taking the slow route, I flew in lots of varying weather through three seasons, and the many, many repetitions firmly beat the procedures into my head. Keeping them fresh in my mind, and being able to keep up when doing multiple practice approaches, though, is a whole 'nother ball game. Be sharp on aircraft control, too, and not just approaches. My first "real" IFR flight went well. My wife stayed quiet to let me concentrate, and I did a lot of that. Summer thunderstorms in the Deep South are easier to dodge when ATC lets you climb out of the soup to your planned altitude. But you have to be prepared--I spent almost an hour bumping along in the featureless grey before hitting an updraft; the block clearance let me glimpse blue, and ATC finally approved my climb with the warning that I would need to deviate for Charlotte even though I would pass well outside their Class B. The 10º deviation was much less than several of my "intense precipitation" deviations had been, and I could see the buildups instead of having to guess at their location. Not quite the way I had planned to introduce myself to "real" IFR flight, but you get what is served. At least I occasionally flew between clouds and could see what I was about to penetrate. Being above it all was much, much nicer!

I have one, lower left on the panel near the key. [Right where the Owner's Manual panel diagram shows it to be.] But it is noted as "Optional" when reading the POH.

I've had to do 360's to get into our uncontrolled field just because the nearby Class D controller wouldn't let me descend below 4000 msl until less than 4 nm away. That just won't do--1000 feet per mile is an ungodly foot-per-minute rate, and great for acceleration! So I swing wide to the right, do a 360 and head back in. OK, maybe it's just a 320, but it lets me get down and get slow.

Have you thought about owner-manufactured parts? Or is that possible on your side of the water? I have 201 wingtips, and had to replace the light cover from hangar rash. I bought it from LASAR, I think, for $135. Not bad for an airplane part, but then I had to trim it to fit, mark and drill the screw holes, etc. All $100 auto parts fit right out of the box. I could have one made nearby out of Lexan for much less, I'm sure. As our planes continue to age, that will probably become the only economically viable method to stay in the air.

So how is it fair to compare my C against your K, much less against an Ovation with double the HP, double the altitude, and a fraction of the drag??? So he'll only clock 240 kts instead of 242, let's see, that puts me an even 100 knots behind . . . . . .

Quote: DaV8or Thinking of making this cup holder mod for my F. It would be vacuum formed Royalite type plastic with similar grain and incorporates a side pocket for things like check lists or a POH. Below is a before photo and a crude photoshop of what it would look like. Only would work for guys with electric gear and would have to be adjusted for J and K types. Any thoughts or ideas on it? Anybody want one?

I've heard some people complain of their low 105 mph flap speed. My 70-model flap speed is 125, and gear is 120 mph. When transitioning from my training aircraft, a large part of my transition time was spent learning how to slow down to pattern speed; I still often drop initial flaps while rolling into the downwind, decelerating through 120 heading towards 90 mph. Mooneys of all models and years are slippery little buggers, and just pulling the throttle back will do very little to change your speed. Pull the throttle, watch the altimeter, inch the yoke back, and finally the airspeed needle starts to crawl. It can take some distance to slow from descent [~160 mph] down to flap speed . . .

Quote: DaV8or Here's a good follow up question to this thread; how many here have actually launched, gone up to see how bad the weather is and then actually turned around and went back?

Quote: jpusser Just bought a 62 c model and wanted to get thoughts on a few things. Every where I researched said the c would burn about 9 gph but I can't get it below 11gph. I normally fly at 055 or 065. Any Ideas?

And I was happy last Friday, southbound towards Charlotte, when my C hit 183 knots . . . The trip to EQY was 1.6 hours and 15.1 gallons. No complaints at all! Maybe us carb guys should start our own thread?

My 70-C has your rotary-type vents overhead. I have airliner ball-vents in the footwells.

I survived the airline jumble into O'Hare, late, on Tuesday, and home again on time on Thursday. Friday afternoon the wife and I went to Charlotte, with an Airmet for moderate turbulence below 10,000 msl. We had a great tailwind, with groundspeed sustained at 175+ the whole way, initially 180-183 knots. Even descending at 160-165 mph indicated, the ride was very, very smooth. oops, battery is dying. Time to go get the cords out.

Check with our friends at LASAR, Plane Plastics, etc?

You're right, our birds fly great, and can be flown with great precision if you so desire. I transitioned from my C-brand trainer, and found slowing down to pattern speed was the problem, not slowing her down to land. The ability to descend at cruising speed on reduced fuel flow is a great thing, but I don't want to blast into the pattern that fast. It took some repetition to get comfortable slowing down to flap speed, since my gear and flap speed are essentially the same. Your newer bird has higher gear speed, so you have the luxury of dropping them to use as speed brakes. Congratulations on your new purchase, and may you have many happy hours generating wonderful memories for your family!

Time requirements vary tremendously by insurance company. When I bought into my C-model with 62 hrs on my damp certificate, my broker received everything from "not insurable" to 15 dual/10 solo, right on down to 15 dual including 5 IFR with a Mooney CFI. Then came the bill . . . But hey, it has Tires and Transistors, so it ain't gonna be cheap!

Congratulations! Spend a few months just having fun and enjoying your new plane. Take the time to get comfortable, learn how she handles, and how to slow her down. Once you feel good and know the plane's abilities and your own, THEN grab a safety pilot and start experimenting with your power settings. Don't try to start your IFR training until after you learn how to fly your new Mooney. It's a fun ride!

The roof vent in my 70-C works well, but the plastic piece under the headliner that send scooped air forward to the vents was demolished installing the new WAAS antenna, and the tape used to rebuild it apparently is too sticky and won't open up. Neither LASAR, Plane Plastics nor anyone else has any ideas. I did buy an aluminum piece once that's not right, but it matches the number in the Parts Manual. The biggest problem is you have to remove the rear headliner to get to it, and that requires removing the front headliner . . . I'm open to suggestions, drawings to make my own, or salvage parts from your back lot if you have them. Winter is approaching, so it's less important now, but summer is going to come around again. Thanks for any help. Maybe if you strip the moving parts out of your spare fuselage, you can also get this non-moving piece for me?? :-)

I have an older Strike Finder. It's useful for weather avoidance, and does not carry a monthly fee like XM. It is also pretty much real time. It works by measuring the difference in [electrical] potential, and as such will show most significant atmospheric disturbances, with or without precipitation. Just make sure to twist the knob to the range you want to see--mine has Off, 50 nm, 100 nm and 200 nm. The unit is panel-mounted, the wires and antennas are all permanent and hidden from view. If the weather is changing rapidly, press "Clear" from time to time. XM weather provides recent satellite weather, but the refresh rate and data lag also relegate it to weather avoidance. It shows precipitation and lightning strikes over the moving map. Monthly fees are continuing to rise, the XM antenna needs to be put somewhere with a wire, and the unit itself needs to be put somewhere visible and secure. Since it's only available on handheld GPS units, and I have a 430W, it's an investment I have not yet made. Others can comment on its full functionality separate from the included GPS. Having the weather on the map itself would be nice if trying to find shelter from something accidentally blundered into, but the whole point of either system is to see what's around so that you don't blunder into it unknowingly. If you knowingly go where you shouldn't, there's not much an instrument is going to be able to do.