S Bonanza fuel economy vs J model....

[Alan Fox]

Bottom line , The beech is bigger , carries more weight , and is faster.......argue that.....Oh and I forgot , cheaper to buy....

[201er]

Bottom line , The beech is bigger , carries more weight , and is faster.......argue that.....Oh and I forgot , cheaper to buy....

You forgot to mention that even someone like you can manage to land it!

[Alan Fox]

Yea Mike , where is that video.......And by the way , I didnt have to go around on my return sunday!!!!!!  Ha Ha !!!!!!   And the Beech is a lot easier to handle , and more stable......

[PTK]

I would have liked it if he showed us his panel to verify his numbers. To his credit, he does recognize the superior Mooney efficiency early in the video.

Also is it my imagination or was he running under square? I wonder does he drive down the interstate in third gear too?

But it doesn't really matter. I love it when the Mooney is the golden standard others try to impersonate!

[aviatoreb]

I fly 2500RPM and 2500MP or less in cruise depending on altitude and I am LOP at 9.0 to 10GPM (between 10&50LOP).  So yes I am LOP at 10GPH at the altitudes I fly.  I don't run MP over 2500 down low.  Right or wrong...but I am LOP.

 

He didn't flat out say it (his Beech) was better...just implied it.  Bottom line:  If you are big and fat and your wife likes to sleep in the plane buy a Beech.  That is my take-away.

 

Phew - so you aren't calling me a Beech guy anymore, since I am tall and fit and my wife likes to stay awake when I fly so that she can look at me and my rugged good looks as I pilot the awesomest plane on the planet.  :-)

[Shadrach]

 

 

Crickets...

[201er]

I would have liked it if he showed us his panel to verify his numbers. To his credit, he does recognize the superior Mooney efficiency early in the video.

Also is it my imagination or was he running under square? I wonder does he drive down the interstate in third gear too?

But it doesn't really matter. I love it when the Mooney is the golden standard others try to impersonate!

Dent, I never thought I'd say this, but I completely agree with you on all points.

[kmyfm20s]

Apples and Oranges! Both are great planes but the Mooney comparison is not working. Calling out number while decelerating and not allowing power settings to settle in isn't a correct comparison. Next time show me the guages! If he was entering the traffic pattern he would be letting the power settle in a lot longer than that in a Mooney. I also wouldn't expect to beat him in a drag race, weight lifting or hot dog eating contest (couldn't resist)! I'm 6'4" and could never fit in a Beech but did think the models I have flown handle very nice.

[nels]

I thought it was an interesting video; obviously a little bias but that's ok. He was the only passenger and he was obviously not carrying a large fuel load since he was headed out to get fuel. Also running lop and I think his comparison is against a 201 at book settings.

Anybody ever do similar speed comparison with low fuel, no passengers, and lop?

[jetdriven]

Yea Mike , where is that video.......And by the way , I didnt have to go around on my return sunday!!!!!!  Ha Ha !!!!!!   And the Beech is a lot easier to handle , and more stable......

A Bonanza has less dihedral and MUCH lighter on the controls.  Try this next time, take your hands off the Bonanza control wheel and time how long it takes to get spiral divergence, IE a 45-50 degree bank on its own. Then try that with a Mooney. The period of time is much longer.  Sometimes 3 or 4 minutes.  A Bonanza won't fly hands off for very long.  Neutral spiral stability.  But the Mooney control's feel like something out of a dump truck with the pushrods, high mechanical advantage, heavy ailerons and elevators with bungee springs.   I actually prefer the Beech feel, it's really a joy. You just think and it goes.   but the Mooney safety record, especially in IFR, says something about the airplane when the pilot isnt always actively flying it.  It pretty much flies itself.

 

I asked Bryan when he was going to compare his S35 to the REAL competition, an M20R Ovation.   I'd love to see that. Of course the Beech still has more room and a lot more useful load.

[Alan Fox]

The Ovation is the opposite of this comparison , as the "S" is less than the cost of the "J" , and the "O" is more than the "S" , That being said the Ovation is definitely faster than the  "S" but the "S" still has the advantage w/payload and space......I would think that the economy would be a lot closer with the "O" than the "J" as the "J"s economy is stellar...... I have to agree with Byron , in the respect , that the Beech controls are a lot more intuitive .....on long flights the Mooney is a lot more work to hand fly , I think if I had aileron trim on the Mooney , that would almost be a non comparison ,   The Beech is a lot more easy to fly in the respect that it is heavier and the shorter wing with a fatter airfoil....this makes it a lot easier to land and handle in adverse conditions.....From a maintnence perspective they are both very reliable , There are so many Bonanzas out there , in two years I only had to buy one part from Beech everything else was either generic , or available used , (there are a ton of used Bonanza parts I think they made about ten thousand airframes) .....I have been lucky with the Mooney also , 80 hours last year and no squawks ...NONE ..... I am going to replace the rod ends on the nose doors and the nose steering link , but that is because I want NO play , the IA said they were OK....

[stevesm20b]

The Bonanza is a nice airplane. But a lot more expensive to buy and maintain. If you took the money that it cost to buy a Bonanza and spent it on a Mooney. You could have a Rocket and money left over. He should be comparing his Bonanza to a Mooney with the big continental 6 cyl in it and not a Mooney with a little 4 cyl .

[aaronk25]

To bad the mooney didn't design/rate the gear to carry more load as I'd love a mooney acclaim if it could haul as J does. N322rw use to be located at RST it had a 1030 useful.

[Alan Fox]

To bad the mooney didn't design/rate the gear to carry more load as I'd love a mooney acclaim if it could haul as J does. N322rw use to be located at RST it had a 1030 useful.

Cant you just carry less fuel in the Acclaim to compensate??

[Danb]

Let's make it equal for the big 6 mr beech has, I'll let him chase my Bravo all day long, lop rop any way he wants also with long range tanks Ny to Miami. I'll be able to chech into the hotel have dinner the pick him up at the airport...actually true my buddy gas a beech and that has happened. By the way he has moment envy...also mine is more comfy. But I'm under 300 lbs.

[Danb]

Mooney envy. Stupid spell check

[Alan Fox]

Let's make it equal for the big 6 mr beech has, I'll let him chase my Bravo all day long, lop rop any way he wants also with long range tanks Ny to Miami. I'll be able to chech into the hotel have dinner the pick him up at the airport...actually true my buddy gas a beech and that has happened. By the way he has moment envy...also mine is more comfy. But I'm under 300 lbs.

Dan I bought My S for 45K , after I put in a 530W Sandel and an interior , I'm all in for 60K , What did the GX set you back.....And no offense But I will beat you on the NY to Miami trip , because I am flying Delta for 200 round trip.......No way I am sitting in a Beech , Mooney , or Cirrus for 5 hours ......Cheers....  

[Danb]

Money is what you make it and how much you have. Also door to door from De. I'll take the bet Delta vs my Bravo...plus I am more comfy in mine, know where the pilot was last night and d/n have to put up with the rude folks that fly comm, let alone the tsa. Happy travels. My Bravo was chimp change. Btw

[201er]

Dan I bought My S for 45K , after I put in a 530W Sandel and an interior , I'm all in for 60K , What did the GX set you back.....And no offense But I will beat you on the NY to Miami trip , because I am flying Delta for 200 round trip.......No way I am sitting in a Beech , Mooney , or Cirrus for 5 hours ......Cheers....  

With the car rental waiting on the ramp at the FBO, no check-in, no security, etc, Mooney is going to get you to your room faster. And not gonna catch a cold from some random stranger coughing next to you.

 

5 hours in a Mooney? Pfft, that's nothing. More leg room in Mooney than flying economy class on any airline. And getting stuck center seat on airliner for any length of time is by far worse than any amount of time you can spend in a Mooney.

[aviatoreb]

Dan I bought My S for 45K , after I put in a 530W Sandel and an interior , I'm all in for 60K , What did the GX set you back.....And no offense But I will beat you on the NY to Miami trip , because I am flying Delta for 200 round trip.......No way I am sitting in a Beech , Mooney , or Cirrus for 5 hours ......Cheers....  

 

About 4 years ago I helped a friend ferry his just sold C172 to Miami from here, KPTD - way upstate small town Potsdam, NY.  That plane had a very dirty old raggedy paint job, no wheel pants, and it was one slow 172.  Probably we were doing 105-110TAS, and often we were doing in the 80's for ground speed into the wind (knots at least).  14 hours and many fuel stops later, we were in Miami.  Next day I got on the airlines - Miami to Atlanta, Atlanta to Albany, Albany to Massena and that took...14 hours from arriving at the airport..security gates, boarding, transfers at airports.... to landing at Massena....then 30 minutes drive home.  So that old dirty C172 beat the airlines by 30minutes.

 

My current airplane will do the same ~1200nm in ~6 hours, plus one fuel stop.  I am definitely more comfortable in a Mooney with the leg room, and no security gate hassles, and running between gates at transfer airports, and so forth.

[Danb]

Gotta love those rockets.

[aviatoreb]

I beg to differ that Bonanzas are big - Tall people have a hard time with Bonanzas. I was really interested in a particular V35B until I sat in it.  Like KMYFM20J, I am also 6'4'' - and long legged for my height at that.  That stupid v-bar in the bonanza was impossible to keep away from my knees with no place to put my legs.  That was hte end of my interest in Bonanza.  Lovely planes but too SMALL!

 

I have the same problem on the airlines - no place to put my legs.

 

Al Mooney who was 6'5'' designed a plane that fits me just right.

[fantom]

....Mooney is going to get you to your room faster. And not gonna catch a cold from some random stranger coughing next to you.

 

 

BUT, but gonna catch the avian influenza virus!

[Lood]

Didn't Beech stop producing the S35 somewhere around 1966?

Then why on earth would anyone opt to fly a '66 model S35 when you can fly a M20J that is AT LEAST 11 years younger?

[Shadrach]

Didn't Beech stop producing the S35 somewhere around 1966?

Then why on earth would anyone opt to fly a '66 model S35 when you can fly a M20J that is AT LEAST 11 years younger?

 

 

Lood,

 

There are a number of areas where this line of thinking breaks down... Newer ≠ better in all cases. We're talking about 30+ year old aircraft...Calendar time is not nearly as valid as environmental and operational factors.  I would go so far as to say it almost has no effect at all on the condition of the air-frame...