exM20K

perhaps, but the management have been there before - 400 planes in 2007 dwindled to <150 for most of the 2011-2018 period. Maybe this boom goes on forever, but.... a tree doesn't grow to the sky. -dan

Social media and "influencers" like Matt G and Baron Pilot helped Textron deliver a total of 0 Bonanzas and 0 Barons in 2021. There are better things for Mooney's management team to be focusing their time and attention on while they figure out how to make a viable parts and support company. Diamond has made some efforts in social media (youtube is the only one i've seen as I don't hang out on facespace) with a camera-friendly delivery pilot. But the company has a product for which demand well exceeds their ability to produce, so, again, I doubt that even in the case of a successful manufacturer, social media does much more than help owners feel validated in their choice of plane. -dan

also check how property taxes are assessed. Attached hangars are taxed at a house rate here in Du Page county, IL, which is much higher than an out-building.

The reason I went with stick built vs pole barn is that building materials are standardized around this, well, standard. windows and doors fit into some multiple of 16" on center framing, insulation bats do as well. Anything wall mounted is easier. The overall look fits better in a residential airpark. We have a couple of steel-sided pole barns in the neighborhood, and they really are not so attractive. Yes, you can of course put wood siding on a pole barn, but when people are going cheap (pole barn) they tend to finish cheap. -dan

Stick-built is better than pole barn if you intend to heat it. insulate the foundation. put radiant heat in the floor. if at all possible, have the door facing south or east. A NW facing door around here (IL) will have you forever moving the snow that blew up against it. hydraulic doors seal better than bi-fold, and they can make a nice, shady area in the summer. blacktop rather than concrete on the ramp lets the sun help keep it clear in the winter. allow enough ceiling height for a https://bigassfans.com that will make you the envy of your neighbors. make provisions for a car or RV door in the rear if possible. add a 50 Amp outlet for RV storage. -dan

more like the handling from an AA1 with inop flaps. Yikes I spent some time with the people at LX-7, who turn the LNC4's into reasonable aircraft. Cool project. Long lead times. Insurance more than a little difficult I really like what they are doing, but the lead times killed it for me. For this year, at least.... -dan

There is a 252 based at Howell (KOZW). I don’t know the owner, but maybe you could ask around or look him up and get a 1st person feel for the 252. https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N252EM -dan

Acclaim, especially with the 310HP climbes *significantly* better. I routinely see 12-1500 FPM at MTOW and 130KIAS. K model is more like 700 FPM @ 120 KIAS IIRC. Acclaim is quite a bit faster but will burn more fuel. I flight plan 205 KTAS at 16-17,000 on approx 16.2 GPH LOP. I don’t remember what my 231 did exactly, but my recollection is something like 175 KTAS on 12GPH. Acclaim carries more fuel but has less UL. Figure just under 900# for a FIKI Acclaim vs 1050 for FIKI Encore. The better climb rate makes trips @ 16,000 and above painless. no experience with the bravo for me. flightaware performance plus has good models for the acclaim and likely for the 252/encore/bravo. See which works best for your missions, but be sure to subtract 5% from cruise for TKS. -dan

For your mission, I’d choose a turbo. You will easily top the fair weather cumulus in the summer and ice in the winter. Especially for those Destin trips, you’ll appreciate the speed and possibility of not needing a fuel stop. I would buy a plane, not a project. Panel re-do’s are time and money sinkholes. Adding FIKI TKS is very expensive now (I heard but not from @CAV Ice that a FIKI installation is pushing $100,000 now) and for at least some other models, there are no reservoir tanks, or they are bigly backordered. I’m with @Schllcregarding G1000/GFC700. They just work and will be supported for longer than I’m likely to have a medical. However, your budget would not cover an acclaim, and the handful of G1000 Bravos out there have an Stec autopilot, so ever I d about all that if you go turbo. FIKI Encores are the unicorn planes. If I could have found one when I bought the Acclaim, I probably would have bought it. prepare yourself, if you haven’t already, for the current state of aircraft prices. Elevated, to say the least. If you can make the stretch into an Acclaim, do it! They aren’t making any more, and it is simply an astoundingly capable aircraft. We owned a TKS equipped 231 1997-2009 and flew it some 2000 hours. Great plane. My company has owned the acclaim since 2016, and I haven’t found anything as well suited to my mission, hangar, and runway constraints. Good luck.

IMSAFE, just as with any other Illness / flight -dan

Interesting, and that makes sense to me. Speed brakes are good for 20ish KIAS all other stuff being unchanged. This permits a very quick slow-down to gear speed from the descent.

I got a pair of lightweight plastic chocks with the plane. They are thin, but sturdy, with some gussets on the underside. Similar to these https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/ASAwheelChocks.php I believe. 1# per set. Cool what you can do with the 3D printer. little bits of weight really add up. I once dumped the plane to weigh all the extra headsets, oil, blankets, chocks, umbrellas, baby wipes, flashlights, O2 supplies, plexus, cleaning cloths, etc etc. I was not pleased and have edited down that stuff considerably -dan

I find this to be the case on a lot of web forums. Some have a google search embedded in the site, which kind of works. The hardest part of using a forum’s native search for me is the correct syntax of the search including all words, any words, words in a particular order, specific areas, etc. I believe that google and Bing are very, very good at discerning a user’s intent in a search, perhaps with some cookie or history hints. I just specify the site in a google search eg: “Mooney Acclaim site:mooneyspace.com”

Apologies for the thread drift into Nate’s book. I’m saddened to read that a man lost his life in this mishap. Perhaps a new thread in the safety forum would be better for the engine out discussion. I extend my condolences to the lost aviator’s loved ones should they be reading this thread. -dan

No. It’s all about energy management/ conservation, L/D, key altitudes in a power off pattern. He adapts USAF F16 simulated flameout practice to GA. I did a bunch of this with Parvez at a MAPASF PPP a couple of years ago, and it is very cool to see how the straight in or overhead pattern work every time. His bonanza numbers were easy to adapt for the acclaim. buy the book. You will be a better pilot for reading it and practicing. -dan

I’m fortunate to have a plane with pretty good automation and systems. This weather for the last couple of weeks in the southeast has been challenging for sure. I’ve flown more than 25 hours in the last 30 days between Florida panhandle, West Virginia, back to Florida, up to Illinois, down to SE Texas, Florida and back to Illinois. A lot of that has been over LIFR, and it is not my favorite thing to do. So I guess my en route minimums are “flexible” depending on how important it is that I complete a trip. im much more rigid on departure minumums… I want to have at least circling minimum ceiling and viz for the departure field so I know I can get back in if something goes bad early on, say, for example, a door pops open or a mag goes bad. Approaches to minimums are fine for me. YMMV. All this flying over LIFR and mountains does have me re-reading Nate Jaros’s excellent book Engine Out Survival Tactics For at least the third time. Will be reaching out to my local Rocket-owning CFI Michael Baraz to do some practice soon and on a regular basis going forward. -dan

https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/small-plane-crashes-on-a-street-in-carrollton/ looks like the fire is responsible for the skins. Is the oil access door in the right place for a rocket?

The filed airspeeds in the flightaware history look more 231-like than Rocket. Glad to read responders reported non-life-threatening injuries. -dan

They do very nice work. My Acclaim is on their website. Third model I e bought from them https://www.factorydirectmodels.com/gallery-details/7970-mooney-m20tn-model-airplane/

I believe the CMI Factory overhaul includes all accessories, drives, turbos, and exhausts. Quotes for field overhauls may not. in this environment, I’d be more concerned with down time than 10AMU, and I doubt the delta, apples to apples, is that much. Now, if you o/h the turbos and put a new exhaust on 100 hours ago, that’s a different calculation. I wouldn’t murder a working engine because of the time on the tach. -dan (1450 TT and fingers crossed)

Not for me. The excess power is for takeoff and climb. Power is great for that and not so great for going fast. I think the STC and governor work was something like $4.5 AMU’S. Bargain. you could fly around at 2700 and 80% power ROP, but why? For another 10-15 KTAS? 5% speed gain. 25% more fuel. Nah. -dan

This. Mine is a 310HP TKS Type S. I have flown it 800 hours during my six year ownership. If you’re ok with a piston single, aren’t fat and don’t have fat or many PAX, can deal with the nose hose (O2D2 with flared cannula or beam installed make O2 much more comfortable) there really is nothing that can compare. PA46, while pressurized, climbs like a wounded duck. Various TN Bonanzas are significantly slower. twins other than AEST are slower and gas hogs. For @the acclaim Mario here are my numbers with this preamble: TKS costs 10KTAS where I fly, mostly 16,000 and 17,000. Full power climb 33.5 x 2700. 35GPH and an astounding 1200-1500. FPM climb rate at 130 KTAS all the way up. 16.5 +/- 0.2 fuel flow with last-to-peak cylinder 50* LOP. 16.5 * 13.5 = 226 HP, which is about 70% of 310. CHT’s are all below 335 unless it is really hot out. cruise is around 205 KTAS. can operate comfortably at MTOW/ MLW in and out of a 2550’ strip with practice. Mostly. There are days….. I have found the fuel system to be finicky, much more so than the induction or exhaust systems. Make sure your fuel setup metered and unmetered pressure at full power as well as unmetered pressure at idle are set up right. A high idle, or a unstable idle which impels you to keep a hair of power in will really stretch the landing distances. I do recommend the 310 HP STC. It transforms the takeoff and climb for very small money. hang on to your Acclaim. They’re not making any more, and there is nothing that compares if it fits your mission. -dan

But not for the Mooney. I reached out to them via website, went to OSH specifically to speak with them, reached out to the contact whose card the booth people gave me, and nothing. It's a pity, since the long body planes have two batteries for balance, and the Kelley Aerospace A/C goes in the back, it's conceivable that the weight penalty for adding both Lithium ion batteries and the A/c would be minimal. The hit to the wallet, not so much. Also at OSH, I asked Walter if he could speak w/ True Blue Power as this would be a mutually beneficial installation. Dunno if they ever connected. @Kelly Aerospace, any interest in doing this? I'd be in. -dan

Posting a copyright and password protected article on the forum is not a great thing to do.

assuming you had a good pre-buy and have no big show-stopper issues, maybe it would be best to do it locally and have a mooney expert like DMAX, Oasis, Air Mods, etc get you on the schedule for next year. Short staffed is pretty much the norm right now. Next year is unlikely to be worse. -dan