New Member from FL

[Z06-Acclaim]

Hello,

I just wanted to introduce myself as I am new to your forum.  First, thank you for such a great forum!  It really has a lot of great information on it for someone like myself.

I am not currently a Mooney owner, but am looking to purchase a one as my next plane. This will be my fourth plane that I will own since I have been flying.  Previous planes went from a Warrior to start, to an Arrow which build my Complex Time, to a Bellanca Super Viking in which I received my high performance ratings.  My next plane however is going to be a Mooney as I have been sold on Mooneys since I first flew one in the 90's. 

All of my work is in the Caribbean so I will be flying over water most of the time.  I am going back and forth between a 201 and a 231 model.  I keep steering towards the 231's as I feel I will have more options for weather.  I wanted to ask for opinions from some of you however as you are the ones flying these planes and can certainly advise me better regarding some advantages and disadvantages of either model.

My budget is around 100K give or take a bit so I am looking in the 77 - 82 vintage years of either plane. 

Any advise would be appreciated and I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Again, thanks for this forum, it's really great having a place to learn so much from about the planes we all love.

Darren

 

 

 

 

 

[jlunseth]

I have the 231.  Having the turbo does give you alot of options for weather.  But I am wondering how far your flights are going to be, most things in the Carib. are not that far apart.  The 231 does not have a scorching climb rate unless you want to make it climb fast, and if you do that your TAS is going to be 100 or less.  Most of the time I climb at a nice, sedate 500 fpm.  So to get from sea level to 18k, as an example, would be 36 min.  At 110-120 you have covered alot of ground in that time frame.  Then, of course, you have to come back down.  My home airport is at 900'.  Even with no tailwind I like to have about 75 nm to get down to land.  I generally don't slow down for the descent, I generally just leave the throttle where it is to start with and point the nose down.  As you get to lower altitudes it is necessary to throttle back from time to time to account for the higher ambient air pressure.  Descent speed in this config. can be pretty snappy.  This last weekend with a tailwind in the 35-40 knot range at 19K, my descent speed hovered around 244.

What I am trying to tell you is that it sure is nice to be able to get up to 17-22k for cruise, the plane is fast up there and altitude is your friend in the event of an engine out, but at the same time it is not something that works very well for, say, the 145 nm hop from West Palm to Treasure Cay.  You would spend most of your time climbing or descending.  Also, it is not very fuel efficient in a climb, best method is WOT to keep the fuel flow up and the engine cool.

Now, for a couple hour flight, or a trip from Minnesota to Niagara Falls, it is just the ticket.  Fast, high, fuel efficient, and at 18 or 19k the Mark I eyeball can see most of the serious weather that is coming.

[carusoam]

Darren,

Check with Piloto (Jose)  I believe he is cruising the carribean in an M20J.

-a-

[Z06-Acclaim]

Thank for that input.  My flights are very far.  Most of my work is in Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad, St. Maarten, Bermuda, Etc.  Barbados is 1800NM from my home in FL so I would be looking for a Fuel stop in Turks and Caicos and then on to Barbados.  This is assuming I can make 900NM with some form of Long range fuel tank setup.  If not, I'll have to plan two stops.  Once in Barbados, Trips will reduce in length, except for Aruba, Curacao which far from there.  As you can see with distances like that, I'm like the altitude for a margin of safety as well as the advantages you list.  My only short trip will be to Nassau Bahamas.

What kind of range can I realistically expect from the 231?

 

[Z06-Acclaim]

Quote: carusoam

Darren,

Check with Piloto (Jose)  I believe he is cruising the carribean in an M20J.

-a-

[carusoam]

As a member, you can look up other members for means of contact, or search "piloto" you will find some of his writing on aircraft preferences.

Fortunately, he is never far from mooneyspace.

-a-

[jlunseth]

Quote: Z06-Acclaim

My flights are very far.  ... As you can see with distances like that, I'm like the altitude for a margin of safety as well as the advantages you list.  What kind of range can I realistically expect from the 231?