Coast to coast short body Mooney!

[piperpainter]

I've been watching this an hour or so now. I am pretty impressed. The guy has extended range tanks. (88gal totoal) Makes me want to go out and get the LR tanks myself!

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9208M

[HopePilot]

Watching this as well.  Even my wife said, "Go guy in the small Mooney!"

[carusoam]

12:56 hours, non stop?  Or does flight aware string two segments together?

-a-

[flight2000]

He's non-stop, which in my mind is a little on the crazy side.  He is going to be making a night time landing after a looooong trip.  They designed crew rest and work hour limits for a reason. 

Just saying....

Brian

[DaV8or]

Wow. That is kinda crazy. I would have stopped in Texas for lunch or something. No way I could hold out that long. Must be young. I guess he's challenging himself. If he really does have just 88 gallons, that means he's got it throttled back to about 6 gallons and hour. I guess that explains why he flight planned 115kts. He's got a decent tail wind going on. I wonder if he had planned to stop short but when he saw the tailwind decided to go for it?

[N6784N]

wow the best i can do with my 50 gal is 5 hours. even if i dont need fuel i like to stop and eat a br break. kudos to him that was a awsome job

[Piloto]

Wonder what kind of diapers he used on the trip

[rlbowley]

Just landed 17 minutes ago!  Wow.

[Parker_Woodruff]

So basically an 1850 nm flight on airways...

I've done that but with fuel stops and plenty of rest beforehand.  Started at 3pm one day and ended at 7am the next day with an ILS approach...3 hour nap from 1-4am.

Wouldn't have even thought about it without energy saving devices the airplane was equipped with like GPS, nice autopilot, and the rest during the final fuel stop.  That and only the last leg was IFR..

This weekend it's teaching TX to PA...but fortunately that one should be less than 8 hours.

 

[jasonwojo]

This is the same Jonathan Paul that was instrumental in the original organizatin of the Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh in 1998.  I have flow in the Caravan a few times and it is great!  Anyone going to give it a try this year?  As long as I am not deployed, I will be there!  If you have any questions about it, I would be glad to answer.  48 Mooneys on the Madison, Wisconsin runway is a beautiful sight.  48 Mooneys parked together and sharing food, drink, and stories is a blast.  I hope to meet some new faces there this year!

[skyking]

Better than i can do. I have done the coast to coast trip twice and i am doing it again this summer, but not in one leg.

I cant stay in the air that long. I am old and need regular "little boy room" breaks!

[WardHolbrook]

Pretty impressive.

[MB_M20F]

Way to go, Jonathan! I'll take the liberty of posting here an email update I received from him last night:

To everybody who followed my cross country flight today and sent congratulations and/or made interesting comments on the Mooney list, my sincere thanks. I am sitting in my hotel room on Savannah reading them all. There must have been 50 or so. It was better than a cheering crowd (but the notion of a whisky and cigar had some appeal too). Coming through Atlanta center's area the controller sent solicitations from Bill Rebek. Several friends left nice messages on my cell phone. My wife expressed great relief.

To answer a few questions:

1. CK, I forgot to post a notice of my flight as promised after my first failed attempt. So I tried from the air. Those messages didn't get sent till I landed.

2. My power settings were 1950 RPM, 17 inches MP, leaned to 5.2 gph. At 13,000 feet my TAS was about 115 knots, indicating 95-97.

3. I tried to fly at 15,000 feet but couldn't get a reasonable air speed at the low power settings that I was using.

4. I had no difficulty with clouds of chicken grease.

5. The weather was perfect for the flight. Beautiful VFR weather from coast to coast. The strong winds in the west gave me a huge push ( 50-70 knots till west Texas. And I had 10-15 knot tail for the rest of the flight. I had been waiting for these conditions.

6. By far the worst part of the flight were the mountain waves in AZ and NM. 1000 fpm up and down. Most of my first four hour hours of flight were with a block altitude clearance of 13,000-15,000. The controllers didn't seem to care and I was able to maintain something like an optimal airspeed.

7. I landed with 3 hours fuel. (specifically, 17 gallons).

8. The rush to the men's room never happened. Tomorrow I have to tidy up the airplane and remove various "left over" items.

9. Over Louisiana I realized I would arrive at KSAV 10 minutes after the last FBO closed. I called FSS and asked if they would call Signature and see if they would hang around for a few extra minutes. The did and relayed the message that it would cost me $75. I agreed but was disgrunteled. By the time I arrived, Signature had received a half dozen calls of congratulations and must have decided I was some sort of VIP so they waived the fee. But the nice part of the story is that the FSS is really here to help.

10. Now I have to fly home against the wind.

I expect I will write up a further description of this adventure. As somebody said on the list, it does show the remarkable potental of modern light planes and Mooneys in particular.

Again, thanks to all.

Jonathan Paul

(Recuperating in Savannah)

[KSMooniac]

Truly a milestone flight!  Congrats to Jonathan!  (I saw that he just registered here today, so hopefully he'll join us in posting soon)

I'm looking forward to the Caravan this year and am anxious to sign up in 10 days.  It will be my first, and first time to go to OSH since 1994, so I'm way overdue.  I will also be bringing my father, a former M20C co-owner, along for his first OSH experience.

[140pilot]

Wow. Very cool flight. Something he can look back on for life. Glad I came upon this thread!

[N9208m]

Quote: Parker_Woodruff

Wouldn't have even thought about it without energy saving devices the airplane was equipped with like GPS, nice autopilot, and the rest during the final fuel stop.  That and only the last leg was IFR..

Below is a comment sent on the Mooney mail list with regards to speed mods but it addresses the issue you raise about energy saving devices:

N9208M has no speed mods, per se. It does have the oil cooler relocation mode that I think reduces cooling drag, and certainly helps in keeping the engine cool.

It obviously has the Monroy long range tank STC, that adds 36 gallons to the normal 52 gallons. This may be the best "speed mod" because it can eliminate the necessity for en route fuel stops and extra climb and descents.

There is the issue, also, about other upgrades that made a 13-hour flight feasible and reasonable comfortable. Foremost among this is an autopilot with altitude hold that basically allows the pilot to sit back and monitor the flight rather than hand-flying it all the way. I have an Stec 30 with altitude hold.

Second is a smart GPS that makes navigation "automatic" in that the entire route can be entered and, once again, the pilot only has to monitor progress and note the time-to-destination readout. I have a Garmin 430W.

Third is a fuel totalizer. This is, in my opinion, an essential item. It allows accurate fuel management to the 1/10 of a gallon and is an invaluable tool for leaning the engine to for the ultimate efficiency. I have a JPI 450 which is also linked to the GPS showing fuel requirements to destination.

Fourth, is an all-points EGT or engine monitor. This is necessary, along with the fuel totalizer for accurate leaning of the engine.

Fifth, is in flight weather monitoring. I have a portable Garmin 695 with XM weather mounted on the pilot side yoke. This can portray Nexrad weather ahead, forecasted winds aloft, and destination weather. Also, it can do a dozen other useful functions including receiving XM radio (I don't use the latter function).

 

[N9208m]

 

For those interested in the (excruciating) details of my recent non-stop trans-continental flight in my Mooney, I have posted the story at the following web address.

 

 

http://razzolink.com/~jonathan/DreamAchieved.pdf

 

Jonathan Paul

M20E, 1966 N9208M

Salinas CA

 

[MooneyMitch]

Hi Johnathan. 

I will read your trip experience and thank you for putting that up for us all.  On the way out this AM but looking forward to taking it all in.  Looks like a very fun adventure you had.

 

[KSMooniac]

Jonathan, congrats again, and thanks for sharing the tale!  I hope you'll make it to OSH this year so I can meet you in person!

[jkb458]

Congratulations Jonathon!!!

I just finished reading your trip report and it was excellent!!!

As a fellow 66 E model owner, it made me feel proud.

Congrats again on an incredible journey.

 

Best regards,

Jeff Bridges

[scottfromiowa]

Jonathan,

CONGRATULATIONS from another '66 E owner.  Thoroughly enjoyed reading your trip (successful) (and initial attempt that in my mind was an excellent prep with the modifications you implemented...lessons learned) log.  I wish you continued safe and exciting...in a good way...flying in your beloved Mooney.  Your description of the moonrise was awesome...THAT must have indeed been a moment.

All my best,

Scott Thompson

[fantom]

Heck of an accomplishment and very well written story, Jonathan.

 

Very well done!

[Sven]

That's a fantastic adventure, Jonathan. Thanks for taking the time and documenting it for the rest of us. I, too, look forward to meeting you at Oshkosh this year if you're there unless you make it up to Santa Rosa first.

-Sven

[DaV8or]

What a vourney! One for the Mooney history books. Well done! What kind of seats do you have? I have a hard time imagining sitting in the left seat of a vintage Mooney for that many hours. If it were me, I'd be seriously in pain by the time I got there. Did you do stretches or exercises while enroute?

[Urs_Wildermuth]

Hi all,

read this with high interest, congratulations to Jonathan and thanks for sharing this report.

I realize this was done with an E-Model. My own is a C with standard tanks (so far) and I have no intention to do this long flights, but I have seen these unusual power settings in the AOM. Has anyone got experience with the C's O360 and long range cruise? I'd be interested to hear about them. What power settings at what altitudes?

Best regards

Urs

Switzerland