DaV8or Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Intentionally. People say the Mooney is a traveling machine and meant to efficiently go point to point and they are right. They also say the Mooney is the wrong machine for low and slow cruises around the patch. Is it? I did a little cruise around the Delta here at 2,000ft and dialed back to 100kts cruise. Very much simulating Skyhawk cruise... except I was seeing 5.5 gallons an hour at peak and 65%. I don't remember doing that in the Skyhawk, or the Warrior. I might make another flight to see how my F stacks up against the C-152 at those speeds. Any of you guys ever fly your Mooneys "low and slow" just for fun and to enjoy the scenery? Quote
rbridges Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Any of you guys ever fly your Mooneys "low and slow" just for fun and to enjoy the scenery? Not really. I had enough of that flying the cherokee around. I remember catching tailwinds and seeing 125+ and getting excited about that. Now, it kills me to see #'s that low. Maybe it's the relatively new pilot in me, but I like watching the larger ground speed numbers. Quote
bonal Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 For speed and efficiency Mooney's are fantastic but for low and slow my 150 will slay all takers last 4th of July my wife and I decided to circle our local towns fire works display. 10 degrees flaps and an easy 45mph power set at a lazy 1900rpm. One time playing around behind the power curve I managed 38mph sustained. Quote
jetdriven Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 My standard "looking at horse property" setting is 15" and 2100 RPM peak EGT and has a FF setting or around 4.2 to 4.4 GPH and 105 MPH IAS. It also works well for holds. If you really want to get miserly you can get it down to 3.6 GPH. 1 Quote
N201MKTurbo Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 I once made my Mooney go backwards when I lived in Denver. The wind was blowing about 70 MPH out of the west. (at 6500, they were only 40 on the ground) I slowed to just above stall watched my DME go to zero and then back up to 5 KTS. It is weird watching the ground when you are going backwards. And yes I was the only fool out flying that day. Call me crazy, but when the wind is blowing like mad I figure it is a good day to practice TO and landings. 1 Quote
bonal Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 If the wind ever blows 40mph down the runway I'm going to try VTO and VL saw it done on a video once looks like fun. Quote
EDNR-Cruiser Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Any of you guys ever fly your Mooneys "low and slow" just for fun and to enjoy the scenery? Yepp, I definitely do that quite often myself... - just soaring over the Bavarian mountains with the buzzards. The scenery here is so unbelievably rich and the colours change every day... - so gorgeous! I feel like an angel and never want to come down again... That is actually the beauty of our Mooneys... - they can do both perfectly well: fly you as fast and efficiently from A to B like almost no other airplane can or just glide along, still be fun and be as efficient as a C172 and with AVGAS prices here of USD 11 to 16 per gallon this is really appreciated! My M20F is almost like two or three aircraft in one... - and I just LOVE it! Quote
Jeff_S Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Count me in on the low and slow crowd, from time to time. Those of us who don't get to use our airplanes for regular productive activities (like work!) often need to just get a flying fix. There's no reason to burn 10gph when your goal is basic sight seeing. Besides, then you can say you practiced slow flight in the log entry and it will make you feel like you really did accomplish something besides burning up dinosaur juice. Quote
N201MKTurbo Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 I always herd that if you fly a Mooney at C150 speeds it gets better mileage then a C150 Quote
orionflt Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 I fly to breakfast on sunday mornings with a group of other pilots from my airport, we have a varity of aircraft from cubs and 170's to mooneys, arrows and lancairs. on one particularly nice day we decided to form up in a loose V formation and fly home. on this paricular trip my mooney was the fastest plane in the group, the slowest (and leading the formation) was a cub. I had everything pulled back, flaps at approch and maintianed between 85-90 MPH all the way back. it was a fun flight but i had to work hard becuase at those speeds everything starts to get mushy, and once we started the decent to fly over the field i had to break off becuse i picked up too much speed with everthing pulled to idle. as for fuel flow, not sure what i was burning because i did not have a FF guage, but i think i landed with more fuel then i took off with . on another breakfast flight, a friend of mine flying a Lancair IVP put me in my place (bragging on how fast and efficient the mooney is compared to the other plane I usally flew with). I was 2cd to last to take off in a group of 10 planes, he was last....by about 5 min behind me. I had already passed about three of the slower planes when he went zooming by me like i was standing still...he proceded to pass the whole line of planes, circle back to the end, and then proceed to do it again. then to rub it in more, he landed at the destination about 15 minutes before the first plane in our group got there. Quote
jetdriven Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 I always herd that if you fly a Mooney at C150 speeds it gets better mileage then a C150 It gets better mileage than a C150 at all cruise speeds, but at 90 knots it burns about a gallon an hour less. or about 20% better. Quote
bonal Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Since I've only had my 20 "D" for 8 months I'm still trying to go as fast as I can but in cruise my 150 burns 4.5 GPH at 90 knots. I have yet to figure out fuel burn at slower speeds in the mooney. You guys know your aircraft better than I do. Tell the truth 4.5 GPH? If so then great. I'm going to run some test flights should be fun. Quote
N201MKTurbo Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Since I've only had my 20 "D" for 8 months I'm still trying to go as fast as I can but in cruise my 150 burns 4.5 GPH at 90 knots. I have yet to figure out fuel burn at slower speeds in the mooney. You guys know your aircraft better than I do. Tell the truth 4.5 GPH? If so then great. I'm going to run some test flights should be fun. Can't wait to see the results! Quote
bonal Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 Should be fun. I've got a BFR to do in march so working on slow flight will be good I will keep notes on my fuel burn. I don't have a flow meter so It will take some time to determine my exact fuel levels. After I'm certain I will have much more knowledge about my aircraft . Quote
Parker_Woodruff Posted January 20, 2014 Report Posted January 20, 2014 On Friday I saw 8 knots groundspeed in a Cessna 172 in slow flight at 45 KIAS. Still need to make it fly backward one of these days. Quote
BigTex Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 Should be fun. I've got a BFR to do in march so working on slow flight will be good I will keep notes on my fuel burn. I don't have a flow meter so It will take some time to determine my exact fuel levels. After I'm certain I will have much more knowledge about my aircraft . Bonal, I highly recommend you look up and see if there's a MAPA Pilot Proficiency Program in your area. It's an unbelievably good way of getting your BFR and be trained by some of the best Mooney pilots out there. You'll never find a better way to spend your training dollar. Here's the link to their website: http://www.mapasafety.com/proficiency 1 Quote
DaV8or Posted January 21, 2014 Author Report Posted January 21, 2014 I always herd that if you fly a Mooney at C150 speeds it gets better mileage then a C150 That's what I intend to find out. I'll report back. Quote
bonal Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 Actually, a good friend is also my own personal CFI he has been ferrying and test flying Mooney's for LASAR for over 12years and knows mooney flying better than most any one. He has so much flight experience I can't even imagine over 40 years flight instruction he has flown cargo all over the world, rock stars, movie stars. working for Cessna delivering new aircraft all over the country. C47's 707's any way he has incredible knowledge I am starting at his insistence to work on my IFR training. I am pretty lucky to have him. 1 Quote
Hank Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 I second the motion for the MAPA PPP. I hit 100 hours on the way to my first one. Lots of information, and a notebook for review later. For flightseeing, I generally run 2300 and set desired speed with throttle. Usually somewhere in the 16-18" range, for speeds of 110-120 mph. Quote
DaV8or Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Posted January 28, 2014 On Sunday I played like a Cessna 152 for awhile and set up a cruise of 90kts. 4.6 gph! Nice. I think I read awhile back that the most economical cruise speed in a Mooney is somewhere around 100 kts according to the CAFE people. Quote
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