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:

Noooooo - I love my F, but unfortunately, we're outgrowing it and it is struggling to meet the requirements of my mission, which I fly 90% of the time. It simply can't carry the weight anymore and I have a minimum fuel requirement for this flight. So, I've decided to sell my F and get something that goes as fast or faster, but which can also carry more weight and have the range. Unfortunately, the local used aircraft market is just about at a complete standstill, even more so when it comes to vintage Mooney's. C's and E's are even worse, advertised at giveaway prices, but there aren't any takers. J's are generally moving all the time though. Just to confirm my loyalty to the F, I saw that modified monster F again yesterday, while viewing a C210, and I there and then decided that if I can live with the "limited" weight carrying ability of the F, while cruising at 175kts!!! So I made an offer on it. Watch this space...

FWIW, here in South Africa, J's still sell, while vintage Mooney's don't, not even at dirt cheap prices - full stop. When I bought my F, I was 100% sure that I was settled forever and that I would never need to upgrade. Well, it turned out that I was wrong and reality now dictates that I am married to my F. And this is very evident in all other local vintage Mooney's, up for sale. It seems that buyers have now settled into two rather specific camps: The one lot buy's new TCA airplanes (Beech A36, Cirrus, C182, Acclaim, etc) and the others go NTCA (RV, RV, RV, a few others and did I mention RV). The situation might be different over in the US, but this seems to become the tendency, worldwide. I would go for a J ...

I got a 2 hour conversion tot type from an experienced instructor and that's it. I also found my F very, very easy to fly. I did read up everything about Mooney's though and I was very well versed in all the theory around them. I take my F to the Mooney agent for maintenance. Not only because they're the agents, but because they're among the best AMO's to be found in Africa.

This is the reason why I never use anything in my airplane, which isn't critical or really necessary, at any time. I only use the landing light and strobes when I fly into busy airspace and controlled or busy airfields. When flying between the farms, there's no traffic for the next 100 miles, so no lights. My philosophy around many mechanical things, is that they have a specific lifespan, depending on how much they are used. If I only use my landing light on every 3rd flight, it should last three times longer, compared to it being used during every take off and landing. Probably not the best practice, but just imagine how much of an an issue this can become here in South Africa, not to mention the costs involved.

John, do yourself a favor and get a B&C starter, instead. My Skytec also failed and here in South Africa, I can't just quickly send it in to the agent. So, I switched to B&C and I've never looked back. It's also lightweight, extremely powerful and seemingly very, very reliable.

I would then much rather just buy the RV10 or if it has to be a Mooney, I'd buy a used Ovation - for less half that of a new J. Either are more capable and I'll have $200k odd in change to spend on running costs and maintenance.

Hi John, Does this pair include 1x inner and 1x outer sender or are both the same?

Thanks a lot. John, I'm still looking out for your email wrt the senders you want to sell?

Does anyone have the Ohm range of these senders, please?

Thanks John. Please, reply to my email, with the part numbers as well as your selling price: loogengels at gmail dot com