Buying a Mooney

[jameshow]

Hi, I am a low time pilot and was looking to buy an airplane. What would be your thoughts on my purchasing a Mooney m20e super 21 as my first airplane? Would it be too much for a low time (60hrs) pilot? I am looking to get my Instrument rating as well. Thanks, James

[chrisk]

I think a low time pilot is fine in a Mooney M20E, provided you get some training in it.  Fly the right speeds and develop the process to put the gear down and you will be fine. 

 

It's not a Cessna 152, where you really don't have to do a GUMPS check.  And it will float if you land too quickly.   An insurance company will likely want 10 hours of dual.  An average pilot probably needs less, so use the extra time to start your instrument training.

[Hank]

I bought my C with 62 hours in Skyhawks. You WILL need dual to learn the plane and get the complex endorsement. Insurance will probably require more than you need. I had to do 15 hours including 5 IMC. Get an instructor familiar with Mooneys and you'll do alright. Join MAPA and do a PPP to really learn the plane.

Then just fly for 20-30-40 hours, get comfortable, adjust to how she handles, how to climb, descend and slow for the pattern. THEN start instrument work, so you can concentrate on procedures and not on what you need to do with the controls.

You will really like a Mooney! Went out with a different CFII after moving this year, on takeoff his eyes bugged, and he said with a big smile, boy, this sure is different from a Cessna!

[rbridges]

I got mine with 100 hrs, and I eventually did my instrument training in it.  Getting a good CFII when you get the plane would be great.  You're probably going to need 10 hours of dual anyway, so you might as well make it instrument training.

[Mooneymite]

I had about 20,000 hours when I bought my Mooney....all of it in someone else's airplane.

 

There aren't many things in life more exciting than taking delivery of your OWN airplane.

 

Go for it!  

 

You probably have fewer entrenched bad habits than I.  You'll do fine.  The Mooney is a great flying machine.

[ArtVandelay]

I would get a insurance quote, pick a example plane from controller.com, expect it to be high until you get your instrument rating and a few more hrs

[bhilgy]

I had my private pilot for less than a year and fewer than 140 hours when I bought my M20J in may.  I did have about 16 hours of complex at the time and was working on my instrument.  My insurance was still around $2,700 for $150K hull coverage!  I was able to add $1M smooth after my instrument rating for around the same $$.  

 

I felt that getting used to the Mooney was fairly easy, even with low time, and finished my instrument rating in the plane.  I would encourage you to take your instrument training in your new plane and would definitely encourage the rating if you are going to fly with any regularity (and you should).  I already have 110 hours in my new plane and am loving it.

 

Good luck, James!

[bonal]

YAHOO! another new pilot got to keep the numbers up. I think you will find most folks here will agree on the 20E as a good choice but cant emphasize enough on the time you should spend with an instructor that knows Mooneys. Inurance will be lower for an E because you will have a much lower hull value, but your low hours will keep the cost up a bit until you gain more time. I went 5 years with just liability and just added comp to my policy this year. I was only paying 2 to 3 hundred a year but am now still under a thousand.

best of luck to you!

[Danb]

I just completed my ppl when I bought my 1st 201 a thousand yrs ago, that way I was getting my Mooney time and Instrument rating at the same time..just make sure you get a instructor who is very familiar in Mooneys.

[pinerunner]

I think the M20E is great for the purpose you descibe.  I got mine with with 350 hrs total and a commercial rating but no recent time and still only paid a little over $1000 for my insurance. It came down to $800 a year the next year since I had put on 50+hrs in the first year.

 

They'll probably charge you a lot for the first years insurance but after the first 100 hrs in it and getting your instrument rating it'll come down to a more reasonable fee. Make sure you have plenty of cash tucked away for maintenance issues.  Often quite a few for the first year. Be ready to fly it a lot to make it worthwhile.

[bdjohn4]

GUMPs on downwind

GUMPs on base

GUMPs on final

GUMPs on final again

GUMPs on final one more time.

 

If beating up the pattern, just LEAVE THE GEAR DOWN.

 

That is my opinion. Love my E-model BTW. The E still has the shortest take-off roll of any Mooney I believe.

[Marauder]

I had about 20,000 hours when I bought my Mooney....all of it in someone else's airplane.

There aren't many things in life more exciting than taking delivery of your OWN airplane.

Go for it!

You probably have fewer entrenched bad habits than I. You'll do fine. The Mooney is a great flying machine.

How long did it take you to stop flaring at 30 feet in your Mooney?

[mooniac15u]

There are certainly lots of folks who successfully made the transition as low time pilots.  Just keep in mind that there is a reason insurance premiums are high for low time pilots in higher performance, rectractable gear aircraft.  The insurance companies base their assessments on many years of accident data and they price according to risk.  The data shows that your risk is higher making this transition now.  Is that a reason not to buy a Mooney?  Only you can answer that based upon your risk tolerance and how you plan to mitigate that risk.  If you follow all the advice here regarding Mooney specific and instrument training that is a great start.

[chrisk]

Good point.  There is a good book on this topic called "The Killing Zone".   The high risk time is between 50 and 350 hours as PIC.  --sort of like a teen age driver.    With that said, at the end of WW2, Germany was putting 90 hour pilots in fighter planes to fly combat missions.  They didn't do well against allied pilots with 500+ hours of training, but they weren't falling out of the sky on their own either.  --And a Mooney is not even close to a ww2 fighter in terms of performance.

[rbuck]

I have a C, but I got it at relatively low time as well (I had 150ish hours). I think that landing a Mooney requires you to be a better pilot than a 172 or a Cherokee, but you will be fine. My first flight with an instructor was very helpful. You feel much more behind the plane when you first start out. But an instructor will help with that. I have really enjoyed my Mooney; there isn't any plane I'd rather have.

My insurance wasn't too, too bad, and I did over 100 hours of flight time in my first year, which helped bring it down this year. (Yep, this is only my second year of Mooney ownership...I'm still learning a lot about the plane.) 

Welcome to the site, too. I've learned a ton on here, and I imagine that I still will be learning for a number of years to come. Some day I'll be able to pay it back. 

[Mooneymite]

How long did it take you to stop flaring at 30 feet in your Mooney?

 

Is this a bad tendency?

 

"Flare early and flare often" is my motto.

[canuckpilot]

You've already shown impeccable judgement by selecting an M20E as your trusty steed - you'll do great!

 

-(totally unbiased)

[mooniac15u]

Good point.  There is a good book on this topic called "The Killing Zone".   The high risk time is between 50 and 350 hours as PIC.  --sort of like a teen age driver.    With that said, at the end of WW2, Germany was putting 90 hour pilots in fighter planes to fly combat missions.  They didn't do well against allied pilots with 500+ hours of training, but they weren't falling out of the sky on their own either.  --And a Mooney is not even close to a ww2 fighter in terms of performance.

Accident rates were actually quite high during WWII.

[GeorgePerry]

Hi, I am a low time pilot and was looking to buy an airplane. What would be your thoughts on my purchasing a Mooney m20e super 21 as my first airplane? Would it be too much for a low time (60hrs) pilot? I am looking to get my Instrument rating as well. Thanks, James

 

 

James

 

See this link…You might find it helpful

 

http://mooneyspace.com/topic/8-prospective-vintage-mooney-buyers/?hl=%2Bperspective+%2Bvintage

[carusoam]

I look forward to the next installment to that thread... The one that captures old M, R, and S.

With an explanation where the old Acclaims fit in...

Best regards,

-a-

[ryoder]

I bought my C with only seventy hours and am now at 100. I was required to get ten hours of dual and my instructor had me doing instrument approaches on hour three after I learned how to land and takeoff safely. Our complex training continued during instrument training and I ended up flying twenty with him instead of only ten and knocked out our long IFR cross country flight. I just recently flew it solo for my 250nm commercial solo flight and it was great. Please do the gumps check over and over. Verify that the green light is on one last time on final and then again on short final before flaring. Also, fly your final approach trimmed out nicely and add just a touch more trim before the flare. This helps your precision on the transition to slow flight and helps you avoid ballooning. Also, my Mooney is light on its feet and likes the flaps retracted upon touchdown.