New Guy - Turbo vs. Non-Turbo

[jlunseth]

We went to Kalispell earlier this summer in my turbocharged 231.  The weather on the east side of the Rockies was the pits, heavy mountain obscuration and layered clouds up to tops of 16, with the freezing level at 10.  We talked to a local pilot about the wisdom of trying to make the flight (we were taking off from Great Falls).  The weather at Kalispell was clear.  If we could get on top we would be clear all the way to Kalispell and we have plenty of power to go to 18 or 20 if we wanted.  Any more altitude would have been wasteful given the relatively short length of the trip.  Local pilot told us that in our turbo it would not be a problem.  So lugging our built in O2 that costs $40 to refill, we went up through the scrum, right at freezing level we found a blue hole and took that to the clear at 20.  It was glass smooth and beautiful up there.  When we got to Kalispell we found that the obscuration lapped into the valley somewhat so we were only able to get down to about 8 or 10 until directly over the airport.  Still at 7, the controller asked what we needed to get down (elev. 2700).  I said we could get down pretty fast, so he gave us a long downwind for 20.  We deployed the speed brakes and lost the rest of the altitude in the pattern. 

One of the things I am discovering about the turbo is that in addition to the glass smooth rides in the teens and the extra speed, the ability to get through IMC quickly and get to the top is immeasurably safer than being stuck in it because the plane cannot make more than 10 or 12.  Ice is not to play with.  Sometimes when we cruise one direction with a nice tailwind and get to do 230 knots in cruise with a 14.5 gph fuel flow, we have to pay the piper coming back and cruise lower to reduce the wind.  Its ok with me, but my copilot really does not like the constant rocking down at 6-8,000. 

The turbo has been an excellent choice so far.  The only down side is that I don't get to build up hours.  The 400 miles from Bismarck to Minneapolis happens in as a little as 1:40.  And it is so smooth up there the passengers do get a little bored.

[scottfromiowa]

Sorry, I couldn't get past your mother-in-law getting in the plane...in the back seat...and thinking the whole updraft over the mountain was "cool".  You "Big Rock" guys (we call them mountains in the flat-lands)  Have, er bigger "rocks" by your zipper than this dude.  Great story!  Thanks for sharing.  Maybe your MIL can spend a little time with mine?

[MB_M20F]

I'm sure I'd love a turbo as I like to fly high (for all the reasons outlined above) but I thought I'd point out that NA Mooneys are surprisingly capable at relatively high altitudes; I routinely fly my NA F model at 15-16,000 feet where I get a respectable ~140 KTAS at ~8 gph.

[jlunseth]

I haven't flown an F, have flown a J, I did not find anything about it I didn't like.  My passengers really like the turbo altitudes though, and being a fairly new instrument pilot, and icing season coming, I can see some other advantages.

[ikeanddee]

Wow, what a topic – love the posts!  After reading the replies on the updrafts, I felt like I need to ‘splain a little more.  On a normal day when I’m not full gross and there isn’t a nasty downdraft we can comfortably climb to FL140 with plenty of climb rate remaining to continue beyond. How far beyond? I don’t know since I don’t carry oxygen.  But, hot, heavy and unfavorable winds left us looking for alternatives that day. 

I should mention even with the heat, the flight home was fully uneventful.  Normal climb up and over the same pass.  Of course, that's not really very interesting to read.

Glider training?  No, but I did have a great hands on mountain flying course.  My 201 is a rocket ship compared to the carbureted C-172 used for the course.  The rental with full tanks and 3 souls left that trainer struggling well before the hills.  But the course taught how to read the hills and where to expect downdrafts and how to find and use updrafts to your advantage. 

At any rate, I love my 201; if I had it to do over again I’d buy 'er again.  Great speed, all-around affordable initial price, modest recurring maintenance.  It's a good value (the best I could afford