Freight Dog

I heard your plane on CentAmer frequency today. I was flying SWA809 and heard a Mooney checking in at 14,000. Too cool!!!

Thanks for the feedback. I was... I used to fly for Ameriflight 20-odd years ago. Fun times!

I'm wondering about some realistic O performance numbers, particularly at altitude. I played around on Foreflight, but just wanted to get some real world numbers. Specifically, would you fly the O in the mid-teens if you were going distances if it was advantageous due to wind, how long would it take you to get up there, and how accurate are the FF profiles with regards to fuel burn? Thanks!

Derp... I didn't have Performance Plus. Just fixed it. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I've seen them and selected one. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but none of the profiles give me any cruise TAS, fuel burn per hour, climb or descent speed/fuel burn or descent rates, hence the question.

I'm excited to be coming back into the Mooney community but this time with a 96 Ovation with 280HP and 2500 RPM limit. I plan on flying some long trips, and if I could I trouble the braintrust here to help me out with some planning performance numbers I need to set up various ForeFlight profiles, or share what you guys use, I'd really appreciate it.

Flying a jet is really no big deal. As someone who flew boxes in singles and light twins to build flight time many moons ago and who's currently flying a B-737NG for a living, I can assure you that flying hard IFR in an under-equipped piston airplane is FAR, FAR, FAR more challenging and demanding than anything I've done so far in either airliner jets or turboprops.

Congratulations!! That's a proud dad moment for sure! Just curious - when did he interview? I interviewed on 2/24 and am still waiting to hear.

That's an easy one - Don Maxwell at KGGG. Don did my pre-buy inspection, addressed all the squawks found, did some fuel tank repairs, and every annual since I purchased the plane. For me, it's a 127nm trip and a very easy choice.

I have an E model and keep my plane at KCXO. I fly my plane up to Maxwell's for annuals and any major work. He's not the cheapest by any means, but he knows the plane. Pre-buy? Go to Maxwell's... probably the best insurance money you can spend. I did. I also get my annuals done there. Not the cheapest, but they're done right, and if you need any other work done, you're getting it done at arguably the best shop in the country.

Mine has an ILS (been out of service due to runway extension), NDB to runway 14, and that's it of the conventional approaches. 32 and 1-19 all have RNAV approaches to LPV mins. 430W will make all the difference in the world.

Geez... why do you guys own Mooneys??! "I feel the need... THE NEED FOR SPEED!"

When I bought my plane, it went to Don's for PPI and to address the squawks found. 8 months later, it went to Don's for an annual. I had some field maintenance done at my home field, but this summer, the plane is going back to Don's for an annual. He's maybe an hour flight away, so no compromise. I guess I'm a double moron... and I'm perfectly fine with it.

I just bought a 430W and had it installed at Avionics Unlimited at KCXO along with GMA340 audio panel and GI106A... Out went the old Apollo NMC2001 GPS, MAC1700 radio and KI-208... Still overseas, but can't wait to fly it.

Spins…. only done them in a glider and C-152 during primary training - PERIOD. Not doing them intentionally in the Mooney… PERIOD. If I feel like spinning something, I'll go fly a glider or join Vans Air Force. Having said that… I will always do stalls, steep turns and MCA flight as part of my proficiency training. When I bought my plane, as part of my insurance checkout, the CFI had me let the wing drop when doing stalls. He wanted to show me that Mooneys can get feisty and one needs to be prompt on the pedals and corrections. Yes, it'll definitely grab your attention when it breaks. However, the plane will talk to you long before the wing drops and that's what you really want to pay attention to.

Congrats!! I bought my '65 E last year and spent my vacations back home flying it all over the country. Here is a document you might find useful: http://72.10.105.106/tms/misc/MAPAMooneyManual.pdf You'll find your power settings there under "Flying by the numbers."

Before getting into the story, a small background - I fly a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) for an operator based in the United Arab Emirates. One of the fun things about my job is that our crews are truly multinational. For example, I'd have an Italian FO, Filipino flight mechanic, Moroccan, Russian, Japanese and Aussie cabin crew, Indian dispatchers, etc. So here I am sitting in my recurrent CRM class (pilots and flight attendants), and I'm just chit-chatting with some of the guys who were asking about my plane, and we get to chatting about Mooneys. As we keep saying the word 'Mooney', I noticed one of the girls (Greek) would chuckle, get red and look distracted. So I look at her puzzled... she goes, what did you say your plane is called? I said it's a Mooney. She goes... hmm, that's what I thought you said, and she looked all shy/embarrassed. But now she got everyone's attention... OK, spill it... what's so funny about Mooney? Oh, nothing... just it has a different meaning in Greek. Oh yeah? What does it mean? Again, blushing, embarrassed, etc. We tried to press her to tell us, but she wouldn't. We were all egging her on... aw come on, you can't just say stuff like this and leave us hanging... Now, this poor girl is naturally shy, so this really brought out the blushing, and nervous laughs. Even the facilitators of the class were in on it pressing her to just come out and say what it meant. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and Google'd it... and here's what I found (note, it's pronounced the same as Mooney): http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mouni Of course, shared it with the class... I just looked at her and said... Ah, so when I say I'm almost too big for a Mooney (I'm 6'7"), or that it's a tight squeeze but a great ride, it just has a completely different meaning to you... Anyway, great laughs... but now I feel kinda funny about 'those remarkable Mooneys'.... ... and if this wasn't brought up by our Greek FA, I would have suspected something like this originating over on BeechTalk.

Would anyone have any recommendations for a Mooney CFI in the Houston area? Ideally, I'd like someone with a good amount of M20E or F time, plus Johnson bar experience.

Had a few flights since.... engine purred. I read about MMO and thinking about using it as a fuel/oil additive. Any of you guys doing it?

No we didn't. Just visually inspected them.

I started my engine and it seemed to be running slightly rougher an normal, but noticed on my GEM that I had no indication of #4 EGT/CHT. Seemed a little odd. Suspecting bad connection, I taxied to the run up area. I ran it up at 1900 rpm, but noticed the engine running a little rough. Mag check... 300 drop. Leaned it out, ran it for 15 seconds at 2000 rpm, brought it back, another mag check - 60 drop, but engine still not running quite right... I tried to run it to full power and it only gave me 2300 rpm. Still no data on GEM for #4. OK, clearly we have a problem so I returned back to the ramp. When we popped the cowling off, no obvious leak of any kind, we ran compression check, 78/80 on #4 cylinder. We pulled the bottom spark plug and it was slightly wet. Pulled the fuel injector, clean. Tested the fuel line by turning mixture rich, throttle open, fuel pump on, no issues. Scratching our heads... lets put it back together and try to run it. It purred... ran it up. 60 rpm drop on mag check. Ran it up to full power, like a homesick angel... Strange... Clearly the #4 cylinder wasn't firing as evident by slightly wet spark plug. That would also explain no EGT/CHT info on GEM. Generally, I run it about 50-75 ROP (wanna go fast), though this weekend I played a bit by flying 50 LOP (nice tailwinds). As a fairly new owner, any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.

As a fairly new owner (not quite a year yet), I was concerned that I was perhaps overly leaning by '65 E. I routinely fly 21"/2400rpm and about 9.5 - 9.8 gals on JPI450. This document said I should expect 9 gph even as that's 65% of power, but I was a little leery of overly aggressive leaning. Now I'm starting to think I was still running it significantly rich.

I came across these figures while looking through MAPA Pilot Proficiency manual. I'm just wondering what you guys think about these performance numbers... a little too optimistic? Spot on? Way off?