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Well, we left N252AD in Smithville, TX in the capable hands of JD and Laura Casteel at SWTA. It's time for the big one. Her engine made it to 1830 hours on the original cylinders and turbo. But she's definitely tired. Only one cylinder was able to make compression over about 50. And her belly is just one long oil slick all the way to the tail skid. The governor is leaking oil as well, and the vacuum pump can't seem to muster enough power to deploy the speed brakes anymore. This year's annual will include an engine overhaul and Encore conversion. The engine, turbo, waste gate, governor, and fuel pump will all go to Jewell Aviation for overhaul and conversion from an MB to an SB engine. All of the other Encore parts are laid out and organized by Laura, ready for installation. This includes new double puck brakes and all the associated parts and pieces. New control surface counter weights, instrument remapping, and the engine stuff. We will also swap the vacuum speed brakes for electric and remove the remainder of the vacuum system. And finally swap the dangling compass for a panel mounted version. We're looking forward to a horse power increase and useful load in the 1100 lb range when it's all said and done. To say nothing of a clean belly. A big thanks to @Denver98 for picking us up in Smithville and giving us a ride back to Denver in a Cessna 421. A very nice ride.

I am an individual looking for a well maintained 252TSE. I live in Austin, Tx and have a home in the mountains requiring a turbo plane to get in and out of. If anyone out there is thinking about or know someone thinking about selling their plane, we can save a little money and bypass a dealer (and tire kickers and scammers) to each of our benefit. Please reach out to me directly at Ford McTee ford@mctee.net

I’m upgrading my M20K 252 to an Encore with SB engine and dual caliper brakes. I need an Encore POH in printed or .pdf format. Does any have one to sell or know where I can get one?

Getting used to flying my new Encore (conversion) and loving it. But as a newbie to the plane and high performance engines in general I'd like to hear some best practices. First question is about descent... My instructor, quoting an old rule of thumb for turbocharged engines, says reduce MP by 1" per minute to avoid shock cooling. My mechanic, still being conservative, says maybe 2" per minute is ok. Either way, the thing just wants to fly so you've gotta wait forever to slow down and start descending. But this MAPA article, written by one of Mooney's test pilots, says just chop it to 20" all at once if needed and don't worry about shock cooling: http://www.mooneypilots.com/mapalog/M20K252_evaluation_report.htm I've read other articles as well that say shock cooling isn't as big a deal as it's made out to be in the 252/Encore, as long as you avoid going below 20" right away and 15" on initial approach. What do encore/252 drivers out there do? I also notice the article says I should see 2700rpm on takeoff full power setting but I see just below 2600. I think my prop governor needs adjustment but I also noticed my Encore POH says 2600. Did they reduce this speed from the 252 to the Encore? Lastly, how do people feel about this article? It's seems pretty sensible to me. Cheers, Nicholas

Does anyone have a good supplier for a gear down switch for my 1997 Encore?

As a PPL student earlier this year, I spent many, many hours trolling these forums as well as other sites, trying to glean the benefits of others' experience. My goal was to acquire a plane that I could fly to/from client sites all over the east and midwest. I want to share some of my recent thoughts/decisions in case someone else comes along who is looking for similar info. I bought Parker's Encore-converted 252 in July, about the same week as I got my PPL. I thought really hard about whether I needed TKS at the time, but it was a big jump price-wise to find something already equipped. And, N252BH was such a nice plane... I went ahead and bought it and figured I'd sort through the TKS issue when I got to it. Fast forward to now, and I'm about 10 hours from getting my IFR. I've been trying to fly back and forth from my home in southern Missouri to a client site in eastern PA, every week. Let's just say that, as a VFR pilot in a non-deiced airplane, my opportunities to fly an 800 nm route to the northeast have been severely limited. I'm still flying commercially as a "fallback" 3 trips out of 4. First it was frequent IMC that kept me on the ground, and as the weather has turned colder, now it's ice. Doh! but I insist on learning the hard way, I guess. I thought really, really hard about where to go from here. Getting the IFR will help, but doesn't solve the ice problem. Short of not flying, I considered these options: a) trade up to a newer Mooney with FIKI buy a booted Baron as my winter commuter and load hauler (very appealing in some ways) c) upgrade 252BH with TKS If I were able to a find a partner, I'd love to have a B55 Baron. But I don't want to take on the financial responsibility for a twin, as a sole owner. When I see how many of those poor birds have been sitting on the market for years on end, I cringe at the thought of ever trying to sell one. And I looked at John G's transition from his Bravo to an Aerostar and, well, that's a whole 'nother league of cost. Be nice to have that 2nd engine in night-time IMC though... As for upgrading to a newer plane, it's a big jump price-wise to get to a FIKI Mooney that interests me. And, 252BH has a 1050lb useful load - it would be hard to replace that. It's got nice new paint thanks to Parker, and it's a low time airframe. The final data point came this past Monday, when I flew up to PA with an instructor. We picked up moderate rime ice on our climb to FL190, and ended up having to go to FL230 to get above the tops. At FL230, 252BH was doing this: Manifold: 28.5" RPM: 2400 or so OAT: -22C or so TAS: 207 kts, calibrated Fuel: 11.2 GPH, 25 deg LOP That was the first time I'd been above 15,500 MSL, and I was really pleased with the performance at FL230. I wouldn't want to fly that high all the time -- after 3 hours on oxygen I was feeling pretty crunchy by the time we landed. But nice to know the plane can do it, and maybe I'll adjust.... So I bit the bullet yesterday and booked an order for TKS and some new avionics. I had planned to get inadvertent TKS, but CAV and AirNet (installer) essentially refused to quote it. I was torn over the choice anyway, so with their "encouragement", FIKI it shall be. I feel good about that, although not about the cost. <cough> One other note: I decided that, while the plane was down for TKS, I'd go ahead and do some avionics and interior work. I talked to a number of shops around the country, hoping to find at least two places that could do all three tasks. Airnet Aviation at KLCK (Rickenbacker - Columbus OH) was the only shop I could find that could handle all three. I looked at breaking it up into 2 phases, but it's both cheaper and less downtime to do it this way. Here's hoping that goes well.

Been flying my new (to me) 252/Encore conversion for about 3 months now, so I'm still getting used to it in many ways. But one thing that is alarming is that I smell fuel in the cockpit rather strongly on short final sometimes. It seems to happen the most and be the strongest when I close the throttle completely if I'm coming in too high, for example. It may be the attitude (fuel moving forward in the tanks?) and not related to the throttle position, but I feel like I've noticed it more often when I've been too high (darn slippery airplane!) and cut the throttle abruptly. This is rather concerning... any ideas what is going on?

Wanted: M20K Encore or 252 Wish-list: FIKI TKS, G500 or Aspen PFD, WAAS capabilities, nice Engine Monitor, Flown and Well-maintained Hopefully you're for sale out there! Was going to go with the 231, and found a great plane, but I ski, bike, and load gear. Fold down/removable seats are a must. Plus, FIKI is not an option in that plane. If I can't find soon, plane partner wants to pull the trigger on a Bo.

First aircraft purchase. I've done a ton of research and have set my mind on getting an Encore. There are 2 on Controller and I can't find any others on aso, trade-a-plane, or barnstormers. Anyone know of others out there or have any tips on where to look? This one looks perfect, waiting for a call back from the broker: http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20K-ENCORE/1998-MOONEY-M20K-ENCORE/1253099.htm Any thoughts on how to price this one out? I've looked into moving the registration from Canada to US and it will likely be on the easy side of things since the aircraft came from the US originally (some sneaky work with Google turned this up). Many thanks in advance. Can't wait to be a Mooney owner! Nicholas

Has anyone looked at any of the three Encores on controller.com? Any intel for a prospective buyer?