DanM20C

Hey everyone, I'm a new Mooney owner as of Oct 2010. I never thought I wanted a Mooney but one came up for sale locally that I couldn't pass up. As it turns out, it fits my mission perfectly. I'm 33, a small business owner, recently married, no kids yet, and the wife likes to travel by airplane. The airplane: A 1969 M20C, 2500hr TT, 500hr 0 time Lycoming, original P & I, GMA 340, GNS 530W, KX155, GTX 237, Stec 30a. I also own a 1946 Ercoupe that I have had for nearly 10yeas and 1000hrs of fun (slow) flying. I hold a CFI certificate, but I don't do much instructing anymore. I have enjoyed reading this forum and look forward to meeting other members in the future. I will be flying the Mooney and the Ercoupe to Airventure this year! Dan

I'm planning on installing a JPI FS 450 in my C soon. JPI recommends mounting the transducer between the mechanical fuel pump and the carburetor. They also say it should be mounted at the same level or slightly below the carburetor inlet. I have read that the transducer (flowscan) should have a fairly straight shot into it (no elbows) and it should be mounted somewhat horizontal. Taking all these things into account, I have a hard time picturing how/where it should be mounted in the Mooney. Any of you C owners have pictures of your transducer? Thanks, Dan

Joe, do you have an airplane now? If not, I would go out and buy a Mooney and then decide if you want to build. I have been dreaming about building a Cozy MKIV for years now. I finally bought the plans a few months ago but I still haven't decided if I'm going to go ahead with it. I thought it was going to take a month or two to get my garage converted into a workshop to build my Cozy. Well 1-1/2 years later it is almost ready. I thought a Cozy would take me 5 years to build. If wiring, insulating, and finishing the garage took 9 times longer than I thought it would, the Cozy could take me up to 45 years to complete. That would put me into my upper 70's and probably trying to fly sport pilot. Over the last few years used aircraft prices have fallen considerably. There are some very reasonably priced aircraft right now. I bought my Mooney a few months ago and basically got the airframe for free when you consider all the avionics and new engine/prop the PO installed. A few years ago I would have had to pay 20K more. But in the homebuilt arena, kit/material prices have gone up. People sometime try to convince themselves that they could build a airplane cheaper than buying a comparable one. There was a time that may have been true, but it certainly isn't now. I will probably start on the Cozy at some point because I want to build. But being a realist I know that there is a very good chance I will never finish it. I have two airplanes now and just keeping them flying takes a fair amount of time. Not to mention the rest of life we are forced to deal with, like work and family. Good luck, Dan

I too, will boycott any flightPrep product or business that advertises with them. NavMonster was my first stop when starting to plan a trip. It was a wonderful tool! Dan

Quote: jpusser The fuel burn is calculated only by filling the tank. The mixture is set by leaning to rough and then back in till smoth. The engine has about 1900 hrs with 700 since toh. I generally set the prop at 2500 and throttle to the wall at 4500 or above. I am averaging 11 gal on 3 hr trips not around the pattern. I am going to add an egt and fuel computer soon. Any ideas on the other questions? A note to others please leave your differances to your post or qestions.

I'm an Ercoupe owner and new M20C owner. The story is Mooney bought the TC from Alon in 1968. They built 33 airplanes that were nearly identical to the Alon a2 and are know as Mooney A2a Cadet (twintail). Then they build 52 of the M10 Cadet. The M10 is the same airframe as the A2a but with a conventional tail. I have flown both the Mooney M10 and Mooney A2a. Very nice flying airplanes. The M10 has a little more ruder authority than the A2a but other than that they fly identically. For a 2 place, 90hp airplane, they are great. Dan

Hello everyone. I'm new here and just bought my 1969 C-model about 3 weeks ago. Last week I crossed the mountains in WY to ID at 14,500msl and returned at 13,500. It was close to standard temps, when I was at 14,500 the DA worked out to be just over 15k. I was fairly light, just me, 50lbs of baggage, and about 1hr burned out of full tanks. I saw at least 250fpm climb up at 14k indicating about 100mph. Once in cruise I saw about 136kts true. That was leaned at full throttle @ 2500 rpm. Overall I am pleased with the altitude capabilities of the Mooney. I don't think I would have had a problem getting up to the 16k range that day. Dan