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My longest distance Mooney Flight


201er

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1 hour ago, carusoam said:

Jonathan Paul for the win!

Crossing the country, non-stop...

Required selecting strong tail winds that are seasonal in nature...  a window of only a couple of weeks...

The M20E is an amazing plane...

That San Diego to Savanah is a hell of a flight for an M20E but is only 1819 nautical miles

Our own Brian Lloyd flew his 231 from Honolulu to Oakland a distance of 2093 nautical miles. I remember listening on LiveATC as he checked in with Oakland Center. Oakland proceeded to tell an AA crew to hold up their descent until they passed the Mooney at FL210 they were overtaking... About 60 seconds later the AA crew came back with, "Did you say a MOONEY??" Brian came on the radio and replied that he too was inbound to OAK from HNL and was on his last leg circumnavigating the earth.

We also know of a 231 that flew SFO to IAD which is just over 2100 nm. (A flight I'd like to replicate some day.)

Of course each of those flights required months or years of preparation, and waiting for just the right weather window. Mike's long flights, @201er on the other hand, are just him jumping in the plane and saying let's go. Which might even be more impressive if you ask me.

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We have the MSers that cross the Atlantic...

Most go the northern route using Greenland and Iceland...

One MSer, last year, came across from France, using the southern route, visiting Brazil and Central America...  his write up is so good in French... that Google translate makes it a fun read...  his return route followed the northern route...

Some MSers need more planning than others... :)

Best regards,

-a-

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I am absolutely in love with the Monroy tanks in the 201 I fly. Most of my flights are single-pilot IFR for business purposes, so I can safely fill the tanks to the brim and comfortably carry a suitcase and a box of pre-prepped lunch and dinner. (I have a horrible habit of not drinking much water, so I can easily wait out 9 hours of not going #1)

Recently I completed a trip from Kerrville to Charlotte NC. I was originally planning to make it all the way home to Norfolk VA in one shot but decided to split it up as I was starting to encounter some nasty winter weather (feat. ice), the deviations were getting annoying, and I figured I'd give myself a break. However, this leg really highlighted the capability of the plane - 17000ft, 195~205 kts groundspeed (155 true), and all at 7.5gph. It is a HUGE upgrade compared to the 172's and PA-28's I used to fly - the Mooney consumed a total of around 65 gallons for the whole trip (Kerrville-Charlotte-Norfolk) while an equivalent trip in a PA-28 would have consumed 80-90 gallons due to the fact that it (1) cruises 30-40% slower on the same GPH and (2) can't take advantage of the winds aloft at 17000. Thus, one could argue that in some respects, the Mooney saves both time and money.

image.png.20bd0808e50eaa8a9e311827bdc4005f.png

I've got a few friends from my college days that live up in the Oregon/Washington/Idaho area. I hope to take the plane there to visit them during the summer - now that would be a little trip! Looking forward to it.

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27 minutes ago, Minivation said:

Recently I completed a trip from Kerrville to Charlotte NC. I was originally planning to make it all the way home to Norfolk VA in one shot but decided to split it up as I was starting to encounter some nasty winter weather (feat. ice), the deviations were getting annoying, and I figured I'd give myself a break. However, this leg really highlighted the capability of the plane - 17000ft, 195~205 kts groundspeed (155 true), and all at 7.5gph. It is a HUGE upgrade compared to the 172's and PA-28's I used to fly - the Mooney consumed a total of around 65 gallons for the whole trip (Kerrville-Charlotte-Norfolk) while an equivalent trip in a PA-28 would have consumed 80-90 gallons due to the fact that it (1) cruises 30-40% slower on the same GPH and (2) can't take advantage of the winds aloft at 17000. Thus, one could argue that in some respects, the Mooney saves both time and money.

The Mooney certainly opens up the whole country. I find that often someone buying their first Mooney doesn't realize how much it will increase their cross country flying. So they don't think about things like an autopilot being all that important. 

We've been to almost all 48 states in our Mooney. I've made almost that same flight. Mine was San Marcos, TX (HYI) to Person Co, NC (TDF). Even that was under 5 hours.

I only have stock 76 gal tanks. But I figure I can get from here in Denver, to anywhere in the lower 48, with one fuel stop. And get there before dinner.

1493310231_ScreenShot2021-02-12at9_57_49AM.thumb.png.60dff14bdac49b1612d243ac2d38054a.png

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On 2/5/2021 at 6:17 AM, carusoam said:

We have the MSers that cross the Atlantic...

A friend of mine shared this for a flight in 1965 with a M20E, the ferry pilot & his uncle flew it all over the place USA, Azores, France, Greece, Lebanon

Boston to SantaMaria was an impressive 16h on pre-GPS, I imagine plotting VOR radio bearings on mercator projection far from tangency line and use of celestial navigation are lost skills now :lol:

 

M20E.jpg

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51 minutes ago, Oscar Avalle said:

Really impressive.

 

And your longer flights are just as impressive, such as your fairly recent trip from Key West (KEYE) to San Salvador (MSSS), which really began up the easten seaboard! 

Not just from the length, because in the US its not that big of the deal. But doing it internationally without good onboard wx and ability to land anywhere its a much bigger under taking IMO. Honestly, I would have made some some stops, at least at Cozumel, maybe Beilze too.

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22 hours ago, Ibra said:

A friend of mine shared this for a flight in 1965 with a M20E, the ferry pilot & his uncle flew it all over the place USA, Azores, France, Greece, Lebanon

Boston to SantaMaria was an impressive 16h on pre-GPS, I imagine plotting VOR radio bearings on mercator projection far from tangency line and use of celestial navigation are lost skills now :lol:

 

M20E.jpg

Norwood is the home of a long standing MSC...  KOWD...

The flight from KOWD to KBOS is less than 15nm. The taxi time was probably longer than the actual flight...

Great Mooney log page!

Thanks for sharing it...

Best regards,

-a-

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32 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Norwood is the home of a long standing MSC...  KOWD...

The flight from KOWD to KBOS is less than 15nm. The taxi time was probably longer than the actual flight...

Great Mooney log page!

Thanks for sharing it...

Best regards,

-a-

I spent 3 years based without fuel, but it was available during FBO hours 10nm away. When taking off on 13, that was toward my fuel stop. Takeoff, wheels up, call departing the pattern, switch radio, call inbound, climb to 1000agl, reduce to 23" / 2300, call 5 miles out, lean, reduce power, enter pattern, land. Engine on to off was 12 minutes if I was on speed and made the mid-field turn off; if I took of on 31 away from the field, the flight was 15 minutes engine on to off.

Fun times! Much nicer than my current 3-hangar taxi . . . .

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4 hours ago, Hank said:

Takeoff, wheels up, call departing the pattern, switch radio, call inbound, climb to 1000agl, reduce to 23" / 2300, call 5 miles out, lean, reduce power, enter pattern, land

You forgot wheel down in that list :P (I do regular 4min flight to see the AP/AI, I figure out touching radio & throttle is enough and it’s already a lot, the rest is better left as per takeoff config, funny it takes 40min to go back by taxi :lol:)

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On 2/12/2021 at 2:38 PM, kortopates said:

And your longer flights are just as impressive, such as your fairly recent trip from Key West (KEYE) to San Salvador (MSSS), which really began up the easten seaboard! 

Not just from the length, because in the US its not that big of the deal. But doing it internationally without good onboard wx and ability to land anywhere its a much bigger under taking IMO. Honestly, I would have made some some stops, at least at Cozumel, maybe Beilze too.

Thank you! True the flight began in Washington DC... Weather was not so much of an issue. I had a stormscope and I had made it a condition that forecast was VFR most of the way, in particular at arrival. Now, landing in Belize and/or Cozumel... would have meant a three hour delay... (paper work) plus costs. So we decided to push on and land in San Salvador. 

Two weeks ago I did another flight MSSS to MROC... although shorter, that flight really made some of my hair turn white. Forecast was OK, VFR, and winds manageable. However, I committed several mistakes:

a) overly optimistic with winds aloft,

b) overly optimistic about forecast (winds)

c) overly optimistic about conditions in my alternate

So I took off with enough fuel to get to the destination, fly to my alternate and then 45 more minutes. 

Well, I took off and winds aloft were MUCH stronger than expected!!!! Believe it or not I had 45 kts headwind!!! right on the nose.... and my CHTs were to high so I had to leave the mixture rich... So, I started getting nervous about my fuel!!! and there are not many option between MSSS and MROC, unless you want to land in Nicaragua... Sandinistas don't like it too much if a gringo plane lands without prior notice (48 hrs). 

Second mistake... I believe in the forecast at my destination... On my way I checked once I crossed into Costa Rica on my winds... and I got really scared... crosswinds at my destination were above limits for my Mooney (forget about my personal ones). Not a problem... let's just check my alternate... to my surprise (to say the least) winds at my alternate were even stronger!!!! 

So here I am out of options... and just thinking let's trust in my skills.... I have been flying this bird for many years.... and at the end everything went well... look at the video...

Oscar 

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