smccray

I’m still getting comfortable with the settings, but they say an extra 2 knots per thousand ft of altitude. Same fuel burn. I’m fairly light in that photo, but the plane has 1350 lbs of useful load. 4000 lb gross weight- she’s a dog on the runway, but get her going and she’ll haul a$$. She burns fuel like a Bravo, but she’s a little slower and can carry more. I should be able to run 17-17.5 GPH through her keeping her nice and cool, but I’m not generating quite enough manifold pressure to do that. If I drop her down to 2300 RPM, it only costs about 5 ktas and saves probably 1 GPH. Admittedly that’s one of the better performance photos I’ve seen, but’s I’m working through the system settings to get her dialed in after buying her a year ago.

So how long before GMax Certified is announced? *** no inside knowledge- it’s just an obvious next step sales tool.

You can't tell what the real price is for Jet A based on advertised prices. You have to be a member to get the pricing, but the savings are huge.

It’s not just the gph that matters. It’s the fuel cost per mile. 100LL is so much more expensive than Jet A that the higher fuel burn with a turbo prop is no big deal. At the same capital cost would take the higher fuel burn of the turbine engine. Acquisition cost was out of my budget but I briefly considered a turbine conversion. The Silver Eagle (P210 conversion) made more sense to me than the Bonanza. There’s some good info on the different bonanza conversions at Beechtalk- at the end of the day I would want pressurization with a Turbine engine. TN A36 Photo attached- 190 true at 13,000 ft on just over 16 GPH.

My guess- the 1992 is going to be in the $350 range at least. The 2001 is probably $450+

Is pressurization important? I would start there. Not sure I would look at an Ovation compared to an SR22 turbo. I would look at a Bravo, or at your budget you're in Acclaim territory. AC and TKS is going to zap your useful load in a Mooney.

I wouldn’t buy a Garmin AOA again. It uses the experimental AHARS which is fine, but it leaves the static line open to the inside of the plane. It can’t be plumbed I to the static system. When I had a door pop open on takeoff, it changed pressure inside the plane. The AOA indicated an imminent stall. The indication was incorrect during a critical phase of flight. Edit: I brought the problem to Garmin’s attention. It wasn’t met with any overt indication of concern.

JPI's estimates are pretty accurate. I did an 830 in my J and I want to say it was 25-30 hrs of labor. If you can fit it in I would look at a primary (JPI 900) rather than the 830. I liked the 830 and I found it to be more reliable than the analog gauges that were primary. However, the little bit of cash I saved on the purchase price was made up in dealing with analog gauges that failed over time.

+1 I think your proposed equipment stack is going to be too tight. I have a GTX345R and it works great with the GTN750. If you really want to try and wedge it all into one stack, an SL30 or SL40 would be an option, but they're not cheap on the used market. By the time you pay for the field approval, it's probably easier to just go after certified equipment. I like physical buttons for the audio panel, but the Garmin remote audio panel would be your other option. I went PS Engineering.

Need to be willing to spend $250k per year on debt service, maintenance cost, and operations for a TBM. It’s like every other airplane- it’s not the capita cost that gets you, it’s the carrying cost! Owner flown pressurized SETP- I’m told about all you can get is $5M smooth. Corporate aircraft with professional pilots- that’s a different game. $50M+

That's one possibility- that Mooney shouldn't invest in a BRS because the current owners won't buy a new plane. Another possibility is that the Mooney offering in its entirety isn't compelling enough as a whole to entice the Mooney community to upgrade. Ultimately your poll is looking at a bad sample. The population you need to look at is new airplane buyers. Me? I briefly considered new but it was out of my budget. However, I was a candidate for used aircraft. That would indicate that my next upgrade (if I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity) would make me a candidate for a new plane. I would typically be a used buyer to avoid both the first couple years of depreciation and to get occasional sale treatment, but if there were a compelling enough offering I would have to consider a new plane. I do agree with you though- if current/prior owners of Mooney aircraft aren't considering new Mooney aircraft, Mooney has a problem. If Pipistrel is able to get the Panthera certified (we'll see what happens) it's going after the same market as a Mooney Ovation. We'll see what the numbers on that plane look like if/when it ever gets certified.

+1 My mother says the first swat was for me, the next few were for her... With a couple small kids at home including a three-nager, I understand.

What model number do you need (with the dash)? I have a 272A P/N 065-0061-13 out of a 28v A36 that I need to sell. Working when removed, 8130 from 2015ish? Not sure it’s the right part number for a Mooney.

If you walk southwest from the ramp past the t hangars, you can walk down the road past the GT Service Center (whatever that is) and there’s a path all the way to the National Guard parking lot—or at least there used to be. It’s an easy walk- and very much needed after lunch! 6/15 doesn’t work for me. Grandma is coming in to watch kids for the weekend.

Not your exact question, but if a BRS were available as a retrofit for my A36, I would write a $35K check today.

The move to business aviation means traveling aircraft. Cabin class aircraft aren't in same class as Mooney aircraft- what you're looking for is what the business owner needs in a plane, or what the business owner purchased before he/she purchased a SETP, or moved up to a crewed airplane. That info is out there... my answer would be SR22, Columbia 400, A36, or Mooney. Aircraft with speed that can travel for business. The ultras aren't a square peg in a round hole. The Ultra is a fantastic airplane and it probably works for most GA missions without any problem as is. The problem is the competitive position of the product against other planes addressing the same market. Cessna shut down the TTX, so there's one competitor gone, but it doesn't really matter. Rumors have been flying for years that Beechcraft is going to shut down the piston operations. It doesn't matter; the Ultra isn't competitive against the SR22- that's not my opinion, that's what the market is telling me looking at sales volumes. Mooney could be pursing a low volume high margin strategy so the volumes wouldn't tell the whole story, but the discussion about labor cost of the airframe seems to indicate that Mooney's production cost is higher than an SR22. Mooney isn't a business, it's a product. The company's current product was a step in the right direction back in the mid 00's when they did the development work to add a second door, but we've seen other upgrades in the competition since then. The SR22 added useful load when they reengineered the fuselage. Mooney needs to do the same thing, reducing the cost of production while increasing the useful load, while working with the FAA to avoid having to re-certify the airframe. That seems like a heavy lift to me. The M10 would have been an interesting new product, but that venture appears to have failed. The real question, from my perspective, is how much cash does Mooney have to invest in an improved airframe?

Exactly what market do you suggest Mooney go after? From my perspective, the Mooney Ultras are traveling airplane. The question, then, is what is the demographic of pilots who would buy traveling airplanes. It's not that you can't use any plane for many different missions, but an Acclaim isn't a good choice for local sight seeing flights.

Okay- now this is painful. After seeing/commenting this thread now I’m seeing the manscaping ads... damn cookies...

I knew I was going to regret clicking on this topic when I did... I still don't know why I did it.

We can argue about that :). Acclaim probably has 15-20 knots on the SR22 Turbo. The Acclaim is going to be in the 210 ktas range, SR22 in the 190 range. That's a 6 minute difference for every 200 miles traveled. On a long trip it could add up to make a big difference, but I doubt it's a real world factor. I don't believe the economy of the flight is all that much of a factor- we're talking about half a million dollar machines. Range could be a factor (I don't know enough here), but I suspect that's a fringe use case rather than a common use case. There absolutely is a difference, but I suspect it's about measuring the size of the pilot's pitot tube more than the relative usefulness of single pilot operations.

No brainer to add the BRS as an option. Parachutes sell airplanes. The issue Mooney has isn't solely the BRS. It's the useful load of the airplane. Add 100 lbs, not big deal by itself. Look at an airplane with less than 900 lbs of useful load competing in a market with an 800 lb gorilla in the market, Mooney is in a bad spot. I loved my Mooney. I love my Beech. I wouldn't consider buying a new piston airplane right now other than a Cirrus. If I were running Mooney, #1 objective is to increase the useful load to 1400+ lbs. #2 is to add a parachute option. Without #1, #2 doesn't do much. There's only so much opportunity in selling "Fastest piston" where the block times in the real world aren't significantly different. Replace steel with aluminum? More use of composites? There are trade offs here and I'm no where near smart enough to figure out how to do it, but it needs to be done for Mooney to thrive.

Yep. No question crossing line on the map introduces risks. Times to do it, time to stay away. A blanket “stay away” from all lines is a little too conservative for me.

Sorry I’m going to miss it. Sitting at love field- backup plan since flying north isn’t in the cards today. Including the dry line? Hard to fly anywhere in TX in the spring without dealing with that.

Or for practical considerations- if you need the timer move the iPad. Unlikely that you'll ever shoot a timed approach other than the training environment. If I needed a timer in the airplane I would have to use the GTN or going searching in the G500. I have a clock on the yoke but it's covered by an iPad.

It’s a very personal decision, but I’m very happy with the autopilot control panel at the top of the radio stack next to the PFD. looking forward to seeing your final product!