Dale

The 262 I am looking at doesn't have a hot prop but does have dual alternators, but probably the 14v system. The 262 is suppose to be similar to the 252 FWF so I need to check to see if it has the electric cowl. You think it would if it is the same as the 252 FWF. I wonder if I could work a deal, if I buy it to dump the weather radar and get the hot prop put in. Maybe more useful.

This 262 conversion was done on what appears to be one of the last 231's that were made in 1985 and was called the special edition and had the one piece fiberglass belly. From what I can tell it had the full 252 FWF done in addition to a new leather interior, 2006, new paint, 2006, the wing, rudder and gear door mods along with the soundproofing, a package of new instruments, 2008 (due to the older ones being stolen). It has an unusual feature in that the owners installed a weatherscout radar system in the plane in addition to the Garmin 430, 480 and MX-20 with traffic and XM. No deicing equipment or hot prop on the plane. Don't know if I would really need that although I do make trips up north a couple of times a year in the summer. Paint looks brand new as does the leather interior and the door panels and glass look almost brand new. Has about 500 hours left on the engine before TBO. Really can't decide if I should wait for a 252 or seriously consider this 262. Any help here would be appreciated. I really need the speed and altitude performance of the 252 and am trying to see if I can get that with this 262.

I am looking at a possible buy on a 262. Can anyone tell me how the 262 compares to the 252. I know the 262 is suppose to be a clone of the 252 FWF but I see some indications that there are differences. Are the speeds the same or is one model faster than the other. How about useful load, are they similar? I have seen some 252 with useful loads over 900 lbs but some 262's in the 800 lb range. How about resale value? I would appear the 252 has a higher resale value. Any similarities or differences would be appreciated and if you have a 262, how do you like it. Thanks.

We kept and hangared our M20E on a grass field for 20 years and used it in our farming business. We flew it from farm to farm and landed it on many grass strips on those farms. The Mooney was exceptional out of grass fields if you know what you are doing. In fact, it was easier to get the Mooney out of some of the grass strips than the 172's we flew. The M20E had more power to get through the grass and with the Johnson bar landing gear you could clean up the plan quickly, which can be important on some grass strips. Landing techniques in some of these fields were also tricky and you need to keep the nose up to keep the propeller out of the grass, but with practice the Mooney was an easy plane to fly in and out of grass strips. In fact, many of the grass strips were easier on the landing gear than the airports hard surface. Its just a matter of technique and practice.