Mooney type recommendations

[FloridaPilots]

Hello,

What type of Mooney would you recommend for low time pilots?

 

Inquiring minds want to know!

[MyNameIsNobody]

Inquire within.  There are literally dozens of threads "search" on this topic.

[gsengle]

The slower ones. But older airplanes come with their own set of issues where more experience both with piloting and ownership helps.

How much time you have, how much retract, instrument rating? And what's your mission?


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[M20F]

A new pilot should start with an M20A and  gradually progress up the alphabet as they become a better pilot.  For example if you are a commercial rated pilot then the C model is correct for you.  

[gsengle]

:-o


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[kortopates]

A modern Mooney is easier to fly than a vintage model so whatever latest NA model you can afford. But its very doable to transition to a Turbo too - right out of the C172. Don't get hung up on mission; especially as a hobby venture. Supposedly mission needs put you into a single engine 4 seater. Beyond that's is about how much you love this pursuit of aviation and how willing and able your are to put the requisite amount of money into it to get the most enjoyment out of.  

Edited April 18, 2017 by kortopates

[gsengle]

I disagree, a new PP should be very careful jumping into a Bravo/Acclaim/Ovation.... for a number of reasons...


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[blakealbers]

I had about 450 hours in a few different planes, Light sport, C172, C182RG, C206 and Piper Warrior before moving into a Bravo. I think i was easier to fly aside from the fact that if you stay on this forum long enough you will never know exactly where you want to run your MP/RPM TIT fuel burn etc etc....Jokes aside I think adding the anxiety of handling a very expensive engine while flying the plane is the biggest hurdle...if you have speed brakes...cant imagine being a low timer flying a Bravo without brakes if there are any out there. 

[Skates97]

15 minutes ago, gsengle said:

I disagree, a new PP should be very careful jumping into a Bravo/Acclaim/Ovation.... for a number of reasons...


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I'll agree with you there. I was a new PPL at 58.6 hours when I got my Mooney. It's a converted D, so basically a C. While it was not hard to adjust to after flying the Cherokee's, there was a learning curve to it. I have never been in a Bravo/Acclaim/Ovation but if I had the funds for one and had purchased one, I imagine it is a steeper curve, and I would have found myself well behind it.

[Jerry 5TJ]

Well, a single turboprop is easier to fly than the Ovation or Bravo so if you have the cash go get one of those. If you are low time (a few hundred hours TT) you can be certain that your insurer will demand specific initial training followed by 100-150 hours dual by which time you'll be fine. 

 

[gsxrpilot]

M20C to an Acclaim, none of them are that difficult to fly. Get the nicest one you can easily afford and get proper training to go with it.

Here's a scenario... new Private Pilot buys an Acclaim, spend the next 100 hours in it with a CFII getting an instrument rating. Insurance would be very expensive, but so is the airplane. 

A better scenario... new Private Pilot buys a C/E, spend 10 hours with a CFI to satisfy insurance. Fly it 50 hours, then start instrument rating. 100 hours later, now IRF, sell the C and get an Acclaim.

Get the best plane you can afford and learn to fly it.

[kortopates]

Of course taking a big step up is going to take much more transition training time than a more lateral move; especially the lower the experience level of the pilot.  I've worked with freshly minted Pvt pilot into a 231 and freshly minted Commercial SE/ME pilot in an Acclaim. Both took a few months and tens of hours to get them comfortable but neither was ever questionable.

[gsengle]

The issue isn't just handling the airplane aerodynamically, it the judgement and experience to handle an airplane that can take you at over 200kts over 20 states and five weather systems at 25k feet...


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[Jerry 5TJ]

As I've previously recounted -- in the mid 1990s I introduced a professional colleague to GA travel.  I was flying a T210 at the time.  He liked it so much he bought a brand new TBM700.  Got his private and instrument flying the TBM for business with his CFII.   Has a CJ3 now.  All it takes is dedication, some smarts and bags of cash.  

[Hank]

It's doable without bags of money or your own personal CFI. I bought my C just five weeks after my PPL checkride, with 62 hours in my logbook (all in two different 172s). Insurance required 15 hours dual including 5 hours actual/simulated IMC. The day after I finished the dual, the wife and I went 140 nm across WV for lunch, and the next weekend almost 400 nm, crossing the Appalachians from western WV to central NC for her dad's birthday. 

But then again, two weeks after my PPL, we took the /A Skyhawk 200 nm down the Appalachians to see my parents at KAVL. Some people around the airport were shocked that I didn't take a handheld GPS with me, even though I hadn't trained with one. Had no problems .  .  .

So it's really up to the pilot, how well you learn and how you apply your knowledge.

Go for it! Many of us have.

[DonMuncy]

I agree with most of these sentiments. You can work your way up; C then J, then ..... or you can start anywhere up the ladder. But the higher up the ladder you start, the more hours you will need with a CFI (preferably an experienced Mooney guy). And yes, it is building skills and judgement as you go. As Paul says, buy the highest you can reasonably afford, bearing in mind, you are going to spend a lot more in CFI costs.

[RLCarter]

if your planning on getting your Instr. rating, you can get double duty out of your CFI for the first 10~15 hours. My first flight in my Mooney was interesting at the end...Mooney's are great airplanes and one of the things they do very well is go fast on very little power. You dont have to think much faster than in the C-172, just sooner, a lot sooner

[carusoam]

Getting used to your own limitations is probably the challenge.

Any Mooney can take you into trouble faster and more efficiently than any other plane.

know where the troubles lay(?) or lie(?).

1) Don't run out of gas.  A few Mooney pilots get this badge. Fortunately they are still here.

2) If the engine dies on departure, land straight ahead... Canopyman might say put that in the flight plan.

3) if there is more runway, taxi back for it. Use it all might be the words from Patrick...

4) if there is time for a fuel stop, take it.  Running low on both tanks may not leave enough fuel for a go around... we'll never know why our Canadian Rocket pilot didn't finish his last long cross country...

5) add some knowledge regarding ice...

6) add some knowledge regarding thunderstorms...

7) get training early and often.

8) do a lot of reading.

9) write often.

10) get started sooner rather than later.  I went with an M20C.  Would have gone J if dough wasn't so limited... O work out well because the economy allowed for it....

11) Turbine... proof that there is always another level...

there are no starter Mooneys...

Go Mooney!

Best regrads,

-a-

Edited April 19, 2017 by carusoam