Need advice on converted M20F.

[Lood]

Our local Mooney agent has a '67 M20F that they sort of converted into what they call either a "M20F Speedster" or a "Poor man's Ovation". They took a stock M20F and basically did the following:

Put in a 285hp engine, strengthened the engine mounting as per Ovation, moved the nose wheel forward and strengthened it as well, to the same specs as the Ovation. Put on a three blade propeller and of course a completely new style cowling and windshield, extended the lugage compartment backwards to be the same length as the original compartment plus that of the hat rack above. They also clipped the wings, but I'm not sure by how much as well as fitted enlarged rudder and elevators as per Ovation spec.

Apparently, this monster takes off and climbs like a homesick angel and it cruises at 170 kts. I'm curious and am going to view and test fly it during the next few weeks. What I would like to know from the experts is, how this conversion would affect the usefull load of this airplane and how would the C of G limits be affected with the much heavier and longer engine? The Ovation is much longer and probably much heavier than the M20F. I haven't asked, but could there possibly be an increase in gross weight over the standard due to such a conversion?

Oh, and they kept the original manual landing gear and flaps.

[GeorgePerry]

This amalgamation sounds like a one off aircraft.  The utility of the plane depends largely on the quality of the modifications.  Personally I would avoid a 40 yr old airplane that someone has hacked on that much.  A stock F cruises only about 25-30 knots slower and you don’t have to worry if something “critical” is going to give out as a result of the extensive mods not being well engineered.

Personally I’d pass…Instead I’d look for a M20J or if you really want Ovation speed, then a Missile conversion would be the way to go.  Good company, good engineering and a good track record.

 

[carusoam]

Quote: Lood

Our local Mooney agent has a '67 M20F that they sort of converted into what they call either a a "Poor man's Ovation".

Oh, and they kept the original manual landing gear and flaps.

[Cruiser]

It has got to be an "experimental catagory". Check with the insurance companies. Getting it insured might be tricky.

[Cruiser]

Get some pictures. We would love to see what the possiblities are for our Mooney's when taken to the "extreme"

[DaV8or]

Sounds like a home experimental. I don't know the regs where you are, but here in the states it would have to be registered as experimental with a lot of restictions placed on it. More restrictions than a kit or plans built plane. The registration would require a sign off from an FAA examiner and it could never be converted back to a certified plane unless you were to do the work to earn an STC for every modification you did. This makes planes like this in the states only worth the sum of their parts as salvage, so a huge hit in value.

In your country it may be perfectly fine to own and fly a plane you hot rodded yourself, but don't be surprised that you may not be able to ever leave the country in it. I'm pretty sure that you could not fly it in the US without a special trip permit. Anyhow, if it is no big legally, the work looks top notch, you feel comfortable flying an experimental that probably hasn't gone through a flight test regimen and you think you could ever get your money back if you wanted to sell it, then go for it. Could be loads of cheap fun. I would have the same concerns as others above, what about parts?

[Lood]

Thanks to all for your replies. I would like to shed some light on a couple of points though.

This Mooney has been flying for almost three years now, after been modified. AFAIK, it is still certified and everything done to it as well as all parts used, must have been under certification of our SACAA - which basically copies and then aggravate everything suggested and prescribed by the FAA, in the form of another law or regulation. In South Africa, for instance, all SB's are mandatory on GA airplanes and are to be carried out by certified engineers only. We are also allowed to do way less owner maintenance than in the US. So, in terms of regulation and new laws, GA is sort of over regulated and not what it used to be. In the rest of Africa, it has actually ceased to exist in totality, due to the same problems. Luckily, we have a couple of bodies locally, like AOPA, which keeps on fighting to keep GA ilive.

Anyway, I'm not really sure which route was followed during this conversion and how the certification process was completed, but it looks really good, the interior is really something to see and it is very well equipped in terms of avionics and instruments. I also tend to agree that it probably won't be able to go to the US without a heap of trouble.  I do agree that whoever buys it will be married to it as there will not really be many buyers around when resale day dawns. But, I'm curious as to how it will perform and handle.

I'll keep you posted after I've taken a flip in it.