exM20K

Maybe…. But they do permit 120KIAS climbs to the high teens with everything comfortably cool (below 375) even on the hottest days. I’m pretty sure the S22T’s aren’t good for much more than 700 FPM, at least basis hat I see on flightaware. Getting up out of the heat, clouds, ice, and bumps and into cool, clear air in just over half the time is big for me. -Dan

Because every knot counts....

Fairly typical summertime cruise for my Type "S" FIKI plane: 16,000 16.5GPH ~70*LOP (to keep #3 50* LOP) gives 198-200 KTAS typically. The POH power charts are mostly useless to me, but extrapolating as best as I can between rows and columns, it looks like 16.7 GPH should give 210 KTAS at that altitude, so I'm fine with all that. It looks like #6 EGT probe has entered the "Reading Low" stage of the failure sequence. This engine eats EGT probes like they're free. -Dan

I haven’t found anything that works better than correctly sized and correctly “installed” foam plugs. The better ones are good for 30+ dB of protection, which is very good. As they expand in your ear canal, you should hear the ambient volume go down a bunch. If not, they are not installed correctly. Perhaps you could get a ser made be an audiologist and get more protection. I had a silicone set made at a motorcycle show, and they were useless. -dan

Wife bought me one years ago, and it is da bomb, as the kids used to say. Company founder was an enthusiastic GA pilot and owner who was, sadly, lost when his MU2 went missing on a return flight from the Bahamas. That they fold and stay folded makes them a perfect fit in and out of the Moo ey baggage compartment. -dan

Do you fly with people whose survivors will sue your estate if you lawn dart, or do you fly mostly with family who won't? If mostly family, I'd lean towards sublimits. -dan

I see 0-5 ppm on the Tocsin which was just overhauled by them. I have no good explanation for where it's coming from, but I know it's not the heat. I run LOP, which I thought took care of CO, but evidently it doesn't. I suspect various cabin leaks create low pressure that draw exhaust into the cabin and also let me cheat on airspeed reports by using the alt static like @mike_elliott does lol. -dan

@Ozz You're overthinking this. Most all the candidate planes you're considering will have a Direct Operating Cost (DOC) of $150-$200 / hour - maybe higher in Canadia due to fuel costs, user fees, and socialism. Fixed costs are what they are. Higher hull value = higher insurance and oppty cost/debt service, but it doesn't really move the needle in DOC dollars. Are you willing to spend $20-$30,000 per year on your flying? That's really the only question you need to answer, and the choice of plane will nudge that number up or down a not-very-meaningful percentage. If it flies, floats, or fornicates, it will always be cheaper to rent than own. But the rental experience is very different from the ownership one, as several have noted above in this thread. If you own a plane, it's very likely you'll fly more than 80 hours per year as the marginal hourly cost is much less significant when you're paying all those fixed costs anyway. It's all rationalization anyway, but that's ok. -dan

Nah, brah. You had the alternate static open lol First plane I ever owned (as a partner) N8122Hwas the world’s fastest archer. Thing would show 135+ on the true ring of the ASI. Yay. This was before GPS and the 3 or 4 leg test. Didn’t believe it for a minute. -Dan

@mike_elliott I run 16.5-17GPH, usually 16,000 or 17,000 unless there is a compelling reason to go higher or stay lower (winds, ice, etc). I set power by fuel flow LOP. I run the ForeFlight slider back 5% in speed and 2% in fuel burn and am usually dead nuts on at 29ish x2500 (or 30.5ish x 2400.) That's 200 - 210 when adding back the CAS vs IAS errors. Cruise is only part of the equation. Climb matters bigly. The 310 HP will sustain 12-1500 FPM all the way up to the low flight levels at 120-130 KIAS. Compare/contrast with any other piston. I'll do a 120 KIAS climb out tomorrow tuesday on the way home in the afternoon with a full bag of fuel... assuming the WX is flyable in the AM. Winds are a compelling reason to stay low in the AM... Every time I fly my 310HP Acclaim "S," I'm amazed at how capable a plane it is. I can only imagine the Ultra is even better. Go Mooney! -dan

Pay your tax. Illinois Department of Revenue routinely tours ramps and monitors flight tracking. If found to be avoiding use tax, it’s treble damages. Labor is not taxed, so buying a “needs work” plane and dumping labor into it will save you some tax if not aggravation. -Dan

+1 for Airfleet. Lezonne helped dozens of my Diamond customers over the years, and I consider her a friend. A broker will know the lay of the land better than a loan officer at an individual bank. Different banks will have different appetites for your risk. -dan

There is a Mooney Service Center at Schaumburg, Northwest Flyers. I've never used them but not because I wouldn't. Quick, easy stuff I've had done by Chicago Aviation Services (Used to be Travel Express Aircraft Maintenance) at DuPage JA Aircenter at Aurora has worked on my plane. Good shop, but not cheap. Also, they are authorized CAV Aero installers and good for TKS repairs, and they are a Garmin dealer. -dan

Yes. Useful load 835#.

A similar, non-Type S plane I’m familiar with…. FIKI, AC, WAAS - recently transacted at $435,000 I’m told. I immediately upped my hull value. this was a $350,000 plane a year ago. Vref and Bluebook are lagging, incomplete indicators. I don’t mean to be flippant, but “fair market value” is a wide, high range and a toxic intersection of a game of Chicken and the Fear of Missing Out. -dan

From @Shadrach's plots, that must have been a harrowing, very violent ride. It's hard to contemplate. Regardless of the cause, I will be sure to emphasize partial panel in my IPC's and BFR's. Complacency creeps in w/ G1000 and other glass AHRS systems, and the standby gauges in the G1000 are not well located all the way over on the right. Everything can break. -dan

this one doesn't seem all that mysterious to me. LOC on an instrument approach (meandering across the LOC) due to incapacitation, vacuum / instrument failure, or other unknown, break out of the overcast at low altitude in unusual attitude at warp 9, big hard pull, and that's it. Very sorry for the loss. -dan

Another issue with the auto engine use: auto manufacturers change and evolve their engine design, and when they do, you’re SOL. Example is the 1.7L Thielert, which definitely had its share of problems (piston cooling nozzles and case cracks most prominently). When Mercedes went to the 2.0 L architecture, these problems became basically un-fixable. -dan

Flightaware understands wildcards. Try M20* -dan

William, I keep an Acclaim at Naper Aero Club (LL10). MX costs are unsurprising, figure TCO in the $200/hour range if you fly enough and can find reasonable hangar space. Flying characters are very nice, not as you might read on the interwebs… Things you should research: Can you get a hangar? PWK is tough, and these planes shouldn’t be left outside. Is there qualified MX on or near where you will base the plane. There’s a Mooney service center at Schaumburg that I’ve never used but not because I’ve heard bad things. Will the fit you and your 80% pax load? is getting in and out, especially the back seats, ok for you? Is the visibility out the front satisfactory? Other than a handful of G1000 and “DX” units, these planes have a tall panel. other than the panel height, I can probably help you assess room, ingress and egress, etc. Im in Florida at the moment but should be back up that way Wednesday. Shoot me a PM with your contact info if you’d like to sit in the acclaim -Dan

Ball’s in Mooney’s court.

These sorts of statistics are based on very small sample sizes and will be meaningfully changed by a handful of mishaps. They also disregard the use case environment (training vs personal/biz etc) Yes, Diamond Aircraft are safer than Mooney Aircraft during / after the crash. In the DA40: Seats are an integral part of the airframe and engineered to dissipate energy especially the "up" vector that will break your back. Seats are fixed in place to keep you away from the panel and maximize flail space No yoke shaft pointing at your sternum, though an impact with the center stick may change your pitch No fuel lines enter the cabin Fuel tanks are nestled between two massive wing spars Visibility out of the cabin is much better (before the crash) Stall speed is much lower. (49 vs 55 KIAS DA40-180 vs M20J) I endeavor to avoid crashing my M20TN, but if I had to put it into the trees, I'd rather be in a DA40. Or somewhere else :-) -dan

Kevin Surrell ran a great Mooney shop out of Flora, but sadly Kevin and Midwest Mooney are gone. @Raptor05121 's suggestion of Byerly would be my choice, too. This pre-buy checklist comes from a credible source. -dan

Bruce Chien is my AME. I’m not a difficult case, but who knows what the future holds… Great guy, knows how to get things done, and now that he has relocated to 1C5 from Peoria, he’s easy to get to with an airline flight to MDW. -dan ,

Have you checked your detector? I just sent my 6 year old Tocsin unit in for sensor replacement. Sensor is good for two-ish years. Maybe another pilot near you has something you could borrow to check your device. -dan