I need advice. Mooney, 182, or nothing.

[Jerry 5TJ]

6 hours ago, Danb said:

Back to the Meridian

It was actually a JetProp, a Piper Mirage conversion with the -21 engine.

 

[Danb]

Sweet

[glenn reynolds]

Travis, I'll jump in and offer my comments:

I have 1,600 hours in a Cessna 182.  I bought half the plane from a friend, bought the other half after ten years, then put 23 STCs (fun and cool modifications) on the plane.  It carried my family (two adults + two kids) six trips across the US, two trips to Mexico, Five trips to Canada and a month of sky camping in Alaska.  Not only did i learn to fly, but the plane took me through an instrument rating.  I can only say that this was the safest, absolutely best plane for our use.  We could gets parts and service anywhere.  We stuffed more gear into that plane than would fit in our car to get to the airport.  The plane was stunningly forgiving, stable and saved my bacon more times than I care to remember.  One way airstrips, rough strips, ice, extreme endurance etc. My insurance was $900 per year.  It wasn't uncommon to have an annual for $1,000.  fifteen years later my kids leave for college and now I need to go visit them.  It's just my wife and I and occasionally a single young adult (they really are not kids anymore).  So now I fly a Mooney ovation.  There is nothing forgiving about landing a mooney.  Do it wrong and you have a badly damaged airplane.  The Mooney won't carry full fuel and full cockpit in the eyes of a family.  The Mooney is considerably more expensive to own than a Cessna, simply look at the production numbers.  I stepped UP to a Mooney when the time, money and mission was right.  The mooney is very very fast.  The Mooney is a fantastic airplane, but I would not recommend it for a brand new pilot who wants to fly his family around.