Lood

Thanks guys. Yes, the Ovation is also way out of my league at the moment, but I am working at it! Unfortunately, my children got to an age and size where my F couldn't carry the four of us with full tanks anymore. My regular trip between the farms calls for at least 55 gal of fuel, but our weight became too much and I wasn't able to do the return trip without refueling along the way. I must admit that only it's speed saves the Bonanza on this particular flght. It can carry my family, with luggage and full tanks, but were this flight only slightly longer, the 74 gallons would not have been enough. Compared to my F, (which is absolutely unfair!) the Bonanza only burns 2 gal more over this 570 nm, but it cuts the total flying time with up to 1h30min. I'm also rather concerned about how much more the Bonanza is going to set me back with maintenance, but I guess that's part of the deal.

Hi all. Well, it's been a while since I've posted here and I must admit that I'm really missing Mooneyspace! Anyhow, due to requirements, I've silently gone over to the dark side and bought a Beech V35B in August last year. Magnificent airplane that meets my requirements 100%, but I'd be lying if I said that I don't miss my trusty M20F. Mooney's really are very, very special and one of a kind. One day, when it's only my wife and myself left flying, I would still like to fulfill my longtime dream and get an Ovation!

It seems that wind noise is the main source of overwhelming noise in my F, rather than the engine or exhaust. I once measured it with a sound meter app on my iPhone and IIRC, it was somewhere around 103Db during take off and around 98Db in flight.

My F is noisy, extremely noisy. A friend of mine used to own a stock standard 1982 M20k, which was so quiet inside that he never owned even one pair of headsets, for all of the 22 years that he flew the M20K. It was almost car like in flight and one could just about have a normal conversation. The newer Mooney's does seem to be far better insulated, compared to the vintage models, so I would like to think that any stock M20J would be less noisy than a stock pre 70's F. This can be addressed by installing insulation, and although apparently effective, it does carve away at the useful load.

Yes, lots of times and at DA's of up to about 8000ft. You should still see a ROC of up to 400f/min, but this can be as low as 200ft/min when it's really hot. I'm far more wary about the actual take off run than I am about the climb performance. I once took off at MAUW from a grass strip, with a 7500ft DA. I used 2400ft of the available 3000ft, but once cleaned up, we climbed away at just below 300ft/min. At sea level, you should see close to 500ft/min at MAUW.

Come to think of it, your best bet would probably be to overhaul the engine and fly the airplane for 500 odd hours, before selling it. That way, you'll probably cut your loss to the minimum. You'll have gotten something in return for the your money spent and you should get a good price for it. Not worth it when you don't fly at least 100 hrs/year though.

Ridiculous, some of this certified BS. Except for the price, I'll bet my last dollar that there's no real difference between a certified OAT gauge and a non-certified OAT gauge.

You're between a rock and a hard place. Here in South Africa, the situation is like this: Many buyers are looking for an airplane with a TIMEX engine, but just about all of them wants to pay almost nothing for the airplane. On the other side, the current economic situation, puts an airplane with a freshly overhauled engine, just a little above what most buyers can afford to pay.

I always use WOT for climb and then I reduce to where my engine runs nice and smooth. Strange enough, before the engine and prop overhaul, my engine ran best at 2500rpm, but after the overhauls, it seems to be the smoothest at 2450rpm. So, that's where I run it in cruise flight.

This doesn't say much for the "certification costs" they all like to rave about when the price of their products are queried ... The engine shop who rebuilt my engine back in 2012 also told me that it was not uncommon for them to have to machine brand new cylinders to get them onto spec, before they are able to install them.

Indeed Marauder. I think ferrying a light airplane to SA from the US will now set you back at least $30k, regardless of whether you fly it or crate it and it will obviously be the same, the other way around.

I'm not sure, but I'll can find out. I did the W&B calculations I was referring to quite a few years ago and I don't have that info anymore. I stand to be corrected, but IIRC the gross weight was increased to 3000lbs or 3050lbs. I seem to remember that it has a payload (with full fuel) of between 650lbs and 700lbs. I also remember now that they actually used an OEM M20R/S engine mount, the nose wheel assembly was moved forward by 8 inches and the empennage was reinforced as per that of the Ovation.

As far as I'm aware, it is still fully certified here, because it still carries the "ZS" registration, where just about all South African NTCA airplanes are "ZU" registered and it still has to be maintained by a certified AME. A couple of restrictions were placed upon it though. It may not be rented for hire and fly and I also think that it may not be used for any commercial operations where it is used for financial reward, among others. I'm not 100% sure about the selling price and if it is definitely for sale. I just heard a rumor and my guess is that it should sell for somewhere around the $48 - $50k US mark. Shadrack, yes they did indeed keep the original manual flaps and gear! Comparing its W&B and other specs to my own, or probably any other standard F, it can load a little more and due the high cruise speed, it has the same range, regardless of the higher fuel consumption. It's nowhere close to an Ovation or even a 231 (at altitude) but it is an exceptional airplane. They call it "The poor man's Ovation".

I forgot to add, after being completed, this airplane was subjected to many, many hours of test flights. Certain areas of the fuselage structure was also strengthened by welding in extra tubing at certain points and this whole project was overseen and signed off by an FAA official, all the way from the US. The FAA supplied a complete document of many pages, stipulating everything that this airplane had to comply with and tests it had to pass. Hard to believe if you look at the current state of our CAA and today, this would not be even remotely possible. I guess you can say this airplane is similar to a Missile.

Hi Carusoam, It's basically and F that was modified to duplicate an Ovation in terms of wing and tail, to fuselage proportions. The wings were clipped and fitted with custom made wing tips, increased elevator and rudder fitted, new engine mount for the Continental IO520 - 285hp, three bladed prop, the complete nose wheel assembly was moved forward to be better positioned under the engine, as per Ovation spec, etc. As you can see, it has the SWTA 201 windshield and somehow, they kept the two inspection panels that grants access to the rear of the instrument panel from the outside - these are quite a bit smaller than the original panels, but they're there! The cowling was handmade from the proper grade aluminum and it has speed brakes installed in the wings. Fuel quantity was increased to 72 gal, it has an awesome interior with lengthened luggage bay, two luggage bay doors - one on each side, and so on. It's rather basically equipped in terms of avionics and instruments, but it does have a S-Tec 50 autopilot and an EDM700. I've flown it and it goes absolutely like crazy. Take off performance and climb is potent and it cruises along at a rather satisfactory 175kts GS in no wind conditions. IIRC, the IAS sits at around 155kts in the cruise. Although it is a one of a kind, suited for a specific type of owner, I really love this Mooney. Here's an in flight picture: