New Mooney and owner!

[BaronSmith]

 

Hi Everyone,

My name is Baron and I recently joined this forum while looking for a Mooney to purchase with my father. I can already see what a resource this forum is based on the number of searches I made while browsing for perspective Mooneys, and how many answers I found here. 

I received my private last year right at my 18th birthday. I grew up in the backseat of my father's 77 Centurion and have loved aviation for as long as I can remember. Escalating fuel prices led my father to sell the 210 back in 2005, but when I wanted to get my license we bought the 152, and now that I've logged some time we were both ready to get into a faster airplane, (my father especially after all those Centurion hours).

My dad learned to fly in my grandfather's Executive back in 1971, and owned that Executive for a few years back in the seventies, and he will probably chime in on this forum too eventually. My grandfather also owned around 5 Mooney's during his flying career, everything from a couple Execs to a 231, so my family has a love for Mooneys and my father has a few hundred hours in them; and I think being a Mooniac is in my blood because when it came time to sell the 152 we both set our sights on a Mooney.

We found our "new" 1966 Mooney M20C last week and completed the deal Saturday. The previous owner even flew it down from Ohio to nearby Chapel Hill for us to look at it, then left it in Chapel Hill this past week due to instrument weather and the Previous owner being a VFR pilot, and during that time we had a satisfactory prebuy completed, and then on Saturday flew the Mooney up to Newark, Ohio and back to its new home at Twin Lakes Airport in Advance, NC.

The M20C we found is a 1966 with approximately 2280ttaf and 50 on a fresh overhaul and Hartzell two-bladed top prop. As far as avionics go it has a King audio panel, KX155, KX135 GPS Comm, King digital transponder, and a big KMD150 moving map GPS (Which I love now

after playing with it for a couple days). 

I'm already working on my Complex Endorsement and logging the dual hours required for insurance and love how it flies. The speed is shocking after the 152's performance and I even like the focus and planning it requires to slow down for landing, and I love the manual gear and flaps.

After a flight with my in

structor yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited along on a flight in a 201 that he just completed an annual on. The 201 even had the exact same paint scheme and colors as 82W, except for the N numbers being up higher on the fuselage. I was surprised with how similar the 201 seemed to the M20C, but I sure loved that modern panel and extra room in the backseat; although for my father and my mission the M20C is perfect.

I snapped a few pictures to share of 2682W for this forum after cleaning it up last night after a good day of flying, and attached a picture of it in flight from the previous owner. It looks so good just sitting still, and flies so well that it makes the old 152 seem sloppy. I cannot wait to log many, many hours in 82W, and to get to know other "Mooniacs".

 

[MooneyMitch]

Congratulations Baron on N2682W!  You've found yourself a gem.  Welcome back to the Mooney world for your family.  Thank you for sharing you story.   Happy flying.

By the way, along with the Cessna Cardinal, the Cessna 210 is one of my very favorite airplanes!

[Parker_Woodruff]

Nice ride!!  Congrats!

[KSMooniac]

Congrats, and welcome to the forum!  Like Jim, I'm a Mooney legacy and have many hours in the back seat of a '65 C.  The Mooney certainly gets in the blood and there is only treatment, no cure!

[fantom]

Nice Baron.....excellent choice!

[FlyDave]

Congrats Baron!!! 82W looks like a Beaut and it sounds like you're really enjoying flying her.

I found the speed difference from my Cherokee addicting but I've quickly gotten used to it.

Enjoy your new airplane and FLY SAFE!!

[BaronSmith]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

That's great to hear about some other Mooney legacies too. I think once a family member gets a Mooney, the desire for it's speed and efficiency is contagious. My father and grandfather still keep some old pictures and history of the Mooney's they owned, and I can find out the N Numbers and if a current owner of it is on here, maybe share some of its old history. I know some of the n numbers are N9522M, a 67 Exec, N201HC, a 77 201, and N231AS, a 79 231.

Jim: I'm honored if I'm the youngest person here, and I've got about a month left before I become 19, and I certainly can learn a lot from everyone here. Thanks for the compliment on my photography too; though I was kind of rushing to catch the sun before it set.

Mitch: My father would agree with you on the 210 being one of his favorite planes. He owned N732VR for about 20 years, and loves to brag about how you can fill the tanks and haul 1000lbs of people and bags, and pretty much anything you could fit in there. It was a great plane. But I have to admit... The Mooney seems a lot more fun to me; and I'm loving every second of flying it and even just cleaning it up and making it look nice.

Thanks again all! I'm so happy with 2682W.

 

 

[DaV8or]

Quote: fantom

Nice Baron.....excellent choice!

[DaV8or]

Congratulations on the new Mooney! I can tell you're a Mooniac because the sun went down and your still taking pictures of your plane!

[Parker_Woodruff]

PS:

Yes, it's in your blood. My grandfather made his living after the Air Force selling Mooneys and Beechcraft. Though I was only about 7 years old wen he died and had no idea I'd want to become a pilot, it's still there. And now that you mention it, I need to see if my mom has any of the old Mooney sales material

[BaronSmith]

Quote: DaV8or

Wait... I thought he bought a Mooney, not a Baron!!?? Go back and look at the pictures again. Barons have two engines and the tail points the wrong way.

[fantom]

For a great "smaller" twin, if money is no object, you can't go wrong with a P Baron, Baron.

[BaronSmith]

A P Baron would be a great plane; but with my name saying something like "Baron, five eight Bravo Sierra" every time I transmitted, would seem very pompous . 

[Skywarrior]

Nobody has to know it's your name!

[Ned Gravel]

There is a fellow from the aviating.com Mooney list that sold his 231 or 252 and bought a Baron that that has two IO-720s in it.  Just to clarify, each engine is twice the size of my own IO-360 with twice as many cylinders.

Enough about Barons, Baron.  We now return you to our regularly scheduled discussion on Mooney's...........

[scottfromiowa]

Welcome Baron!  Your C is BEAUTIFUL...Nice accident on the lighting as I think your shots are really special...She wanted to look her best and truly seems to be glowing for you.  My son Hunter is 17 and yesterday (he always flys right seat) with my wife and English Pointer riding shotgun...had controls for majority of our two hour flight from D25 to CID (Northern Wisconsin to Cedar Rapids, IA).  He does not yet have any formal flight training, but holds a heading and altitude easily as well as I...He hopes to begin formal training, but seems to think that the Air Force might teach him for "free"...we shall see.  All my best,

Scott

(I found our '66 E to be just a tad quicker than the 150/152's I trained in)

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: scottfromiowa

He does not yet have any formal flight training, but holds a heading and altitude easily as well as I...He hopes to begin formal training, but seems to think that the Air Force might teach him for "free"...we shall see.  All my best,

Scott

(I found our '66 E to be just a tad quicker than the 150/152's I trained in)

[BaronSmith]

Thanks Scott! Yeah we really lucked out on finding such a clean C. That's great that your son is already getting some flying practice too. I started a flying club at my high school last year and helped a couple friends get started on their training, and a few others are aiming to go the Air Force route too. 

82W is so much faster than the little 152. With all that extra horsepower I actually feel the p-factor on take off now too, haha.

Ned: That IO-720 Baron sounds like a monster of an airplane. The fuel flow difference between that and the owners previous Mooney must be huge. But yes, enough of Barons and back to talking about these great Mooney's 

[scottfromiowa]

Yes, I agree Parker.  I am just going to arrange for an intro flight and pay for it.  They have Archers so VERY similar in feel to Mooney...set the hook a little bit more for him.  He knows SO MUCH MORE than I did at my first lesson (as I crank the yoke to turn (in taxi) and nail the tail skid as I rotate on my first take-off)....LOL on the "P-Factor" Baron

[Theo]

Congratulations, Baron! Always glad to see another Mooney in the Carolinas.

[BaronSmith]

Thanks Theo! Yeah it's always good to know some other local Mooney owners. We're hoping to go to a Mooney fly-in in the Carolinas or Southeast soon too and meet more.