gjkirsch

I have owned two Bravos and two 231's. Assuming the 2 alternator 252, I do not think there will be any significant dfference in maintenance costs. The biggest difference in operating expenses was (for me) a 19GPH fuel burn versus a 13GPH burn for about 20 knots in speed. If FIKI is important to you, they are easier to find in Bravos.

If you are close to Grand Rapids (GRR), James Powers works out of Landmark Aviation on the field. He was trained by the Mooney Factory back when it was Northern Air and they were a Mooney Service Center. Not cheap, but he knows his way around a plane. If you are closer to IL, Northwest Flyers in Schaumburg is more reasonable and I think they are good as well.

I was surprised to read that there are about 39 million passports reported as lost or stolen and it is not unusual that there are probably a number of people traveling on false identities on most international flights. May or may not be related to the missing plane.

I only use the boost pump to prime the engine before starting and I verify it comes on during my take off run. I do not use it before landing. The engine is running good and I am at a low power setting, in my opinion, it does not make sense to pour more fuel into an engine that is leaned and at low power setting. Additionally, I lean aggressively on the ground and only go full rich to do the run up.

I lean to 1500 TIT in climb, watch oil temps (190's) and cylinder temps (360's). Cowl flap setting depends on outside temp.

1/2 flaps, crab until ground affect, +1/2 the cross wind speed added to final approach speed. At least 3500 ft runway in strong cross winds.

The hours would not by themselves concern me. (think pipiline duty) It is the school that I would be more concerned about. Damage history and hard landings would need to be carefully evaluated. I would get a very complete prepurchase that was actually more invasive than a typical annual. Fuel tanks, landing gear and attachment points, donuts, engine mount, and exhaust would get extra attention. Even though you are our version of an A&P, I would use somene that is very familiar with Mooney's. Going down the list to other items that wear out or show damage, seat frames and seat tracks, door hinges, leaking windows that cause rust or damage avionics also come to mind. The airframe itself does not have a life limit but all the other things you find may make that great deal a really bad deal.

I own a 98 as well. I do not put over 8 quarts in it as it just seems to blow on the belly. It won't burn any oil in the first 10 hours either and then 2 quarts over the next 15. I normally run at 30/2400 1600TIT. The engine has about 370 hours on a penyan overhaul.

Welcome to the club. I am on my second Bravo and still think they are the best of the fleet. Of course anyone that is fortunate enough to own a Mooney feels the same about his model as well!

49 pounds front tire, 42 Pounds for tires under the wing. Keep an aircompressor in the hanger and check monthly. Put on the Hubba Hubba wheel covers to make it easier to check. Bravo's are heavy.

I will vary my approach depending on first weather and second the airport environment I am flying into. If I am going in anywhere near minimums: 1) Slow to 140 idicated prior to intercepting the glideslope. 2) Once I intercept, I will drop the gear. That brings the speed down to 120 3) Continuing to back off the power, at 1 mile drop the first notch of flaps, 90 knots 4) At breakout drop the second knotch If I am just clearing a layer and there is 1500 foot ceilings, I will still slow to 140 at glideslope intercept and continue to reduce power as I am coming down the glideslope but won't drop the gear until after I clear the layer.

Landed at the wrong airport as a student pilot on one of the required cross country flights after experiencing an engine power problem. Non controlled field and no one was the wiser....until now . Frankly was just glad to be on the ground. They sent a mechanic to get the plane the next day and he could not find anything wrong with it and flew it home. The next week it landed in a field off the end of the runway after a loss of engine power. Thankfully no one was ever hurt.

Having owned a couple of 231's and flew a number of 252's before buying a Bravo, I found the 252 about 10 knots faster than the 231 up to the mid teens and then going up from there as altitude increased. There was a lot less fiddling with the throttle on climb and descent in the 252 as well. One 231 I owned had the meryln waste gate and intercooler and the other had neither. The one with nothing was actually faster but it was an 85 model with smooth belly and covered wheel wells.

If you want TKS on a plane, try and buy one with it already installed. There are a selection of Mooneys out there available with TKS with the price delta between a TKS equipped plane and one without less than half the cost of the TKS installation cost.

In my opinion, the Bravo only has a couple of weak points and many more strong ones. The two weak ones are the fuel burn and the exhaust system. After that, it is almost bullet proof. The wet head engine will most likely make TBO with original cylinders. The strong points are that it has a lot of redundant systems, is fast down low and really fast up high, climbs well at any temperature and weight, and with long range tanks has great range.

What TIT are you peaking at with the lower power settings? I don't want to run hotter than 1600TIT to protect the exhaust and turbo and see an almost linear drop in speed with power setting. FWIW, I get between 9 and 10 mpg.

Marauder If you have a mini and an Iphone, you can link them and just use the data service from the Iphone. No need to have two plans. Go through creat a hot spot on your phone and then connect them on the bluetooth setting Gordon

If I am too far above the glideslope, it will not show up. The approach ends up looking like a localizer approach until I descend far enough for the glideslope to show up

I would not take advantage of the change if it were to happen. If I wanted an expermintal airplane, I'd buy one (or build one myslef if I really wanted to crash!). I would prefer an accelerated program to certify new avionics rather than put non certified products in a certified plane. Also, as time goes on, with some AD's complied with and some not, some certified avionics and some not in a plane, it will make valuations and comparisions very challenging. The planes maintained as certified should hold their value better. I do not look at my plane as the last one I will own (it is number 4 now), so resale is always in the back of my mind.

A quick pirep on switchbox and Phil. I switched from the Ipone 4 to 5 and could not get the app to work. Sent Phil an email on Sunday afternoon and had an answer in minutes. Switchbox works great, Phil is great. I am not so good with all the new tech stuff! Totally pilot error.

I thought it beneath us Bravo drivers to respond. After all, the entire market has by the valuation difference.

I started with the Ipad 2 and switched to the mini after it came out. I use foreflight and stratus for weather. I have the mini in an "otter" case and it fits nicely in the mount between the yoke. I will take a picture the next time I am at the airport. The only negative I have is that it is difficult to read in bright sun light. I do keep a backup battery that will fully charge the Ipad and the stratus at the same time.

I have had both and currently just use ADS-B with foreflight and stratus. I liked the display better with XM and information on Tops. If I flew a lot more than I do (about 100 hours a year) I would stay with XM. The data refresh rates on weather are virtually identical as is the way the data is compiled. Some will argue that you get XM on the ground and won't get ADS-B until you are up in the air but I have access on the ground with an Iphone. So there is only a few minutes where I don't have weather and I won't cut my flying that close anyhow. The only other very minor negative to me is keeping all the stuff charged. I now keep a back up battery pack that will charge both the ipad and stratus. I have not had a lot of luck running off of ships power. I have tried a number adapters and a transformer. The adapters got hotter than I would have liked and I got static in the radio with the transformer. I could probably figure it out eventually, but the systems last long enough on battery and the battery backup works well enough. Both systems have been bullet proof for me. I probably got one of the first stratus units released and have not had any issues with it, the Ipad (I did downsize to the mini when it came out) or foreflight.

As others have noted, the price spread between the 231 and 252 has shrunk. There are some other differences that justify the spread and if you can do it, the 252 is probably now a better value (in my opinion!). The differences include: 24Volt dual alternators (most) back up electric driven vacuum (most) speed brakes (not originally standard in the 231) one piece belly (not in all 231's) reclining rear seats (not in all 231's) intercooler lower MP for same HP (36 VS 40) higher critical altitude (24,000 versus 14,000) typically a better autopilot (many with preselect) better air induction system to reduce risk of icing up (my 231 iced up) Of course others will argue that you can find some of these on 231's. I owned 2 different 231's and flew a number of 252's before I bought a Bravo and to me, the 252 was far superior with much easier engine management. Gordon

If it is N1005U, it looks really good. 530W, KFC150 with preselect, dual alternators and back up vacuum pump are all very desireable. Paint and interior also look good from the pictures.