Bought First Mooney

[Badmoonraising]

Just bought my first Mooney. A 64 M20E, the engine is low time but I know the engine will need an update sometime in the future. What is the optimum engine to replace my "narrow deck" cylinder engine with? 

[Guest]

Congratulations on your Mooney purchase.

If it's a low time engine, why replace it?  There is nothing wrong with a narrow deck engine.

Clarence

[Andy95W]

I have a narrow deck O-360.  A few years ago at Oshkosh I asked a Lycoming rep about the wide deck / narrow deck differences and he said that there was nothing at all wrong with the narrow deck engine (and keep in mind, this would have been an IDEAL time to try to sell me a new engine).  

It sounded like the biggest differences were simply in the manufacturing process and not in the actual design of the engine.  Like Clarence said, if there's nothing wrong with it, just fly it and enjoy!

[carusoam]

Congrats on the purchase, bad Moon!

Did you follow any of the usual recommendations from MS...?

1) PPI...

2) Use a Mooney specific CFI for TT

3) Anything else?

Just wondering,

-a-

[Badmoonraising]

As usual, I get wonderful advice here. 

It is my intension to fly what I have. I just assumed the narrow deck was an older type engine and there were more reliable modern engines out there. This one recently had all cylinders replaced. It should be good to go for some time. 

As for Carusoam's questions; yes and no. I did get swept up in the purchase but had the foresight to speak with the AME at least three times. I was satisfied both he and the seller are straight up people. 

My insurance company requires me to do 13 hours instruction. It's a bit ominous that they picked that number. I have a mooney specific CFI lined up. It's a big step up for me and I can see myself doing at least that amount of TT. (nothing worst than flying behind the airplane). 

 

 

[Yetti]

Need pictures.   Some people think Mooneys are smaller and hard to fly.  I am 6'9" tall and fit fine and think Mooneys are easy to fly

[BDPetersen]

I hope you get a chance to fall in love with your Mooney as I have with mine. I've been around airplanes for all of my 70 years, owned a number of them, flown Cubs to 747's. Nothing made me smile as much as my last flight (which was late last night) in the '66 C I've had for the last 4 months. It's perfect. Enjoy!

[Guitarmaster]

When it comes to certificated airplanes, the Mooney is really hard to beat! Congratulations on your purchase!

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[N33GG]

Congrats!  A '64E is an awesome Mooney.

Some years back, I purchased an aircraft (not Mooney) with an engine that some people reported less desirable.  It flew great and ran fine, but I got convinced by a few that I should upgrade.  New "better" engine went in at great expense, and I had nothing but problems thereafter.  I wound up selling that otherwise awesome aircraft.  Later talked to many people that convinced me there was nothing wrong with that original engine.  What a mistake and bad experience. 

Dont fix what ain't broke!

FWIW

[bonal]

Congrats on your new E if you check the Mooney space by laws you will note a requirement for pictures of any new airplane purchase. As for the narrow deck ours has over 6000 hrs total time and 700 since last OH and runs great. Agreed if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[cnoe]

19 hours ago, Badmoonraising said:

I did get swept up in the purchase but had the foresight to speak with the AME at least three times. I was satisfied both he and the seller are straight up people. 

 

I may be missing something here since I don't understand why you consulted with a physician about your Mooney purchase rather than a mechanic. 

Best of luck with the '64E; they're great planes. And FWIW, you may want to google "Mike Busch AVWEB articles" to see what a waste it is to spend money on perfectly functional airplanes.

 

[carl]

56 minutes ago, cnoe said:

Mike Busch

I just got his book !! 

20 hours ago, Badmoonraising said:

13 hours instruction

Yep, I 'd do 14 hours . 

 

I have a 67 e 

 

[steingar]

On February 28, 2016 at 8:18 AM, Yetti said:

Need pictures.   Some people think Mooneys are smaller and hard to fly.  I am 6'9" tall and fit fine and think Mooneys are easy to fly

Think Mooneys are easy to fly, though a bit tricky to land. 

[gsxrpilot]

19 minutes ago, steingar said:

Think Mooneys are easy to fly, though a bit tricky to land. 

I've only ever landed a Cessna once, so all of my experience is Cherokee's, Bonanza's, Comanche's, all low-wings. But I don't find the Mooney to be any more tricky to land than any of them.