Knocked Up

[smccray]

Well ladies & gents- my wife and I are headed down that path that many others have traveled. We celebrate our 10 year anniversary next month and we're expecting our first child in August.  It's going to be a ride!!!

 

Keeping with the aviation content of the board... how have you traveled in your Mooney with kids?  Do you fit?  Candidly I'm not sure how we'll make it work.  The plane is full with my wife, me, our stuff and 2 15 lb dogs.  I generally lay the back seats flat, load things in then put a large dog bed right behind the 2 front seats.  That certainly won't work with a car seat in the back.  I can easily ship luggage, but that doesn't change the size of the cabin.  My wife isn't a big fan of the Mooney anyway, so I'm thinking about 6 seats with air conditioning but I don't like the price tag.

[N201MKTurbo]

Leave the dogs at home.

[carusoam]

Hooray!

Welcome to the other club...

Two kids grew up in the back of our C. Space was tight for the usual baby carriers.

I thought engine knock may have been today's topic....

Best regards,

-a-

[DonMuncy]

Scott,

Congrats on the upcoming August event.

As I have told you before, I sympathize with your "wife thinks the Mooney is too small" plight.

The EAA series of webinars is having one on March 8 about "getting your spouse to fly". They may have some ideas that may be of help.

My ideas about how to cut down on the amount of stuff one carries, is of little help. Only you and the spouse's desires count, especially after the increase of stuff due to a baby.

Good luck.

[rbridges]

Leave the dogs at home.

 

don't be uncaring.  He can bungee strap them to the outside if he doesn't exceed useful load.

[aviatoreb]

There was a cartoon picture I saw once, but can't find, joking around of the presidential dog (Bush?) carried in crate on top of air force one.

[PTK]

Congratulations Scott!

 

You'll be fine. I've been flying with wife and our twin boys for a while. They're 14 now. No dogs though!

[KSMooniac]

Congrats! My brother and I grew up in the back of dad's C model...somehow we traveled in it for summer vacations with luggage. No dogs, though. I think you should be able to use your J easily for quite a few years if you pack smartly. Just be prepared for in-flight diaper changes without gagging and losing control of the plane. .

Hard to beat an A36 plus a/c, though, if you can get it thru the finance committee. I know you already have that fever...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Danb]

That's a riot Scott.

[Bob_Belville]

There was a cartoon picture I saw once, but can't find, joking around of the presidential dog (Bush?) carried in crate on top of air force one.

That sounds like a variant of Romney's dog on top of the station wagon. Ann said the dog liked it up there.

[mooniac15u]

I started out in an M20D with a two-year-old in a car seat.  Added a second one a year later.  They did fine for about six years and then we upgraded to a J. 

 

One thing to note is that not all car seats are equivalent.  Some have shorter bases and easier mechanisms for attaching seatbelts.  In your car you will just use the LATCH system but in your plane you will need to route the seatbelt through some sort of retention mechanism.  Pay close attention to this feature when you pick out the seat that you plan to use in your plane.

[Seth]

Congrats Scott!!  We too are expecting our first and I know that means less flying time.  My wife has issues with her ears as a kid, so I'm pretty sure the baby will not be flying for some time on our Mooney.  However, in time, I think it'll work out.  If we have more than two kids however, we'll also have to tinker with the idea of a six or eight seater.

 

Pressurization is what my wife wants - which is good.  She does not like to fly locally just to fly.  She loves using it to visit friends, travel distances, go on vacation, etc . . . she's actually kind of spoiled that way now.  She however also understands the value of a dollar and knows that the Mooney is about the most efficient you can get speed wise before getting a bigger cabin and costs associated with pressurization.

 

This is part of my future thoughts and former topics on step up aircraft, as for pressurization, that'll be necessary in X amount of years (maybe).

 

Pressurization is a must:

 

Piston Single

-Cessna P210 (write up in aviation consumer this month about them actually)

-PA-46 Mirage/Malibu

 

 

Piston Twin

Cessna 414/421 (340 is too small for similar operating costs)

Aerostar (a friend of mine may sell his superstar to me in a few years)

P Baron (then add the 340 back to the list)

 

Single Turbine (probably too expensive)

TBM 700

PC-12 

PA-46 Meridian

PA-46 JetProp

EPIC when it rolls out? 

 

Twin Turbine

King Air B-200

King Air 90 series

Piper Cheyenne II

Mitsubishi MU-2

Cessna Conquest I & II

 

Lust:  Piaggio P-180 Avanti II (makes now finical sense)

 

 

Non pressurization:

 

Single:

Bonanza 36

C-206, C210, C-207

Piper Saratoga/Lance

Piper 6 / Cherokee 300

Piper Matrix 

 

 

Twin:

Baron 55 series

Piper Seneca 

Cessna 310R

Piper PA-31

 

 

 

Good luck!

 

-Seth

[N33GG]

If you don't want to pay the price for an A36 Bonanza, a Piper Saratoga is very hard to beat for performance and utility.  Be sure to get retract gear, and non turbo, unless you really need the performance.  The Lance is not even close to the Saratoga...FYI.

[N201MKTurbo]

I hade a friend who had a Saratoga. We flew that thing to California a few times. About the same speed as my F with about twice the fuel flow. He had two of the rear seats taken out, you could sleep on the floor. You could bring your kids the dogs and a horse.

[smccray]

Thanks guys.  I'm solidly in the single engine unpressurized category, if for no other reason for the sake of budget.  I'd love to look at a TBM 700 C2... guess I need a reason to work harder.  I recently rode right seat in a TBM 850.  Take my advise- don't do that!

 

I'm not in any hurry at the moment.  Going to just keep flying my plane but we won't end up using it for family travel.  I'll sell it at a fair price if anyone is looking but I'm not going to put a lot of energy into trying to list it.

 

I haven't spent a lot of time looking at choices.  I'll have to consider all the usual suspects across brands in a 6 seat single.  I'm intrigued with the idea of a turbo normalized Beech F33 which would virtually eliminate the CG issues of the short body bonanzas.  That said, I've heard that the best airplane to own is the one your wife likes.  That pushes me to club seating in the back.  We'll see what happens.  

 

My father in law had a Cessna 337 when my wife was a kid.  I like the idea of a push/pull twin (unpressurized) but I'd only do it with the Reilly intercoolers and the STC to eliminate the main gear doors.  That should give me the power to clime out if the rear engine died.  I guess I could get one with a cargo pod and take N205MKTurbo's suggestion on the dogs.

[smccray]

Just be prepared for in-flight diaper changes without gagging and losing control of the plane. .

 

 

That sounds like a perfect way to get out of changing the diaper!  "Sorry dear... I'm busy flying the plane."  Something tells me I'd be landing the Mooney to change a diaper.  My wife might try changing a diaper in flight once, but somehow I doubt she would try it twice.  2 unhappy dogs, an unhappy kid, and no room to turn around and change the diaper (head rest in the way).

[AndyFromCB]

Another thing that rocks about Saratoga/Seneca/Lance is the "almost cabin class". If you remove the center console, you can actually move between the front and rear seats in flight, which is really nice when flying with two kids. Cannot do that in the Beech. You can also remove one of the rear seats and put a little portable potty in there.

[smccray]

 Only you and the spouse's desires count, especially after the increase of stuff due to a baby.

 

 

Fixed that for you .

 

I hope my wife doesn't read Mooneyspace!

 

By the way- my wife is a peach.  Pregnancy has had its challenges but overall we couldn't has for things to go more smoothly.  Say a little prayer for us if you're so inclined that the next 5 months go as well as the last 4.

[DanM20C]

Scott,

 

My wife and I flew a 2550nm trip in our C last month with our 2 daughters.  The oldest is just shy of 2-1/2 and the other one turned 1 on the trip.  If we can do it in a C you should be alright for a good while in the J.  Even with the miniature dogs.  Our dog (Yellow Lab) used to fly everywhere with us but since the kids she has stayed home.  After our trip my wife did say it was time for a bigger plane.  We will probably go with a Lance or Seneca, it's hard to beat their cabin space for the price.  The speed/fuel burn combination is a little disconcerting.  I have my eye on a local J that I might be able to get a good deal on.  If I can make that happen I will continue to leave the dog home and enjoy the efficiency that is Mooney.

 

Congratulations on the baby.  Flying with kids can be great fun.  This past weekend my 2-1/2 year old asked if we could take the plane to get some popcorn.  Twist my arm.. We flew 20mn to the next airport over that has free popcorn.  She sang me songs over the intercom both ways. It was great.

 

Dan

[bonal]

Congrats to you and your wife and my prayers for a safe and healthy event. Don't feel bad lots of guys have to trade in their 2 door 2 plus 2 seat sports coupe for the SUV/mini van. Thankfully the kind of SUV's your talking about can really fly.

[DrBill]

Time for the dogs to "vacation" at the local kennel.  Thats what we do with our and they LOVE it.  We found a kennel that specializes in vacations and really treats the dogs nice as compared to a vet and "boarding" them.

 

You'll have enough room for the 3 of you in the J.

 

Congrats.. Out 2nd grand child is due in October we found out last night !

BILL

[1964-M20E]

Congrats on the baby.  I hope you can find a way to keep your wife, baby the dogs and the plane a lot to juggle. 

 

I gave up flying for 15 years when my son was born, my daughter was 9, but I did not own a plane and I was flying very few hours a year <4.  It took my daughter getting married and moving 600 miles away to revive my flying.

 

Dr. Bill congrats on grandchild #2  I have my second one coming in June

[Parker_Woodruff]

Congrats, Scott!

The Saratoga is a nice, roomy airplane.

The A36 flies nicer and is a bit sleeker, as you know.

I've flown both. The space of the Saratoga is incredible. But you won't be going much faster, if at all, than your current Mooney.

[PTK]

Congratulations to everyone having babies and grand babies!!

 

Now I know the secret on how to get quick approval from above for the purchase of a bigger airplane!

 

Have more babies! Why didn't I think of that!

[kmyfm20s]

Congrats on the new baby! Take out the passenger side back seats. You will have a lot more room for the dogs and bags. If you plan on flying a lot buy a designated baby seat for the plane and save yourself the frustration of taking in and out all the time. You can always put a blanket on top of the bags for the dogs if you have to bring that much stuff along. With the baby behind the pilot seat and the passenger seat slid all the way back your wife will have good access to the kiddo, worked well for us.