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Hello from Houston TX


noeesp

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So let me start by saying that I am not a pilot but the father of a future pilot.  My son is a freshman at the University of Oklahoma in their aviation program and just passed his first check ride after his first solo.  So I am here to learn about Mooney aircraft.  Who knows maybe I might decide to give it a go myself.  Long story short I want to buy an airplane that my son can fly(after he has his PPL) and that our family can enjoy.  Wife loves to travel.  I may be asking some very newbie questions so bare with me.  So is it to early to start considering a Mooney?  My son is training in a piper warrior III.  He will be home for the holidays and I am hoping to find somewhere I can get him a ride in a Mooney.   We live in Houston Texas.  Really enjoying reading all the great info here.   

 

 

 

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Welcome aboard. It is going to depend on what the mission is for your son and family. My mission was frequent trips in the 300-500 nm range with my wife and often my son to visit family. For us the Mooney was perfect. It's fast, efficient, and a joy to fly. They look great too! 

I don't think it's too early to consider a Mooney. However if he goes up in one he will probably fall in love with it. I did all my PPL in Cherokees and going to Mooney was a real treat. I finished my PPL and bought my Mooney with a little under 60 total hours. That was about 140 hours ago. 

I will warn you, if you are playing with the idea of maybe "giving it a go yourself" you might as well resign yourself to giving in and learning to fly. It's addictive... ;)

This was my first flight in my Mooney :

http://intothesky.us/2016/12/17/a-second-first-flight/

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20 years ago, I bought my C model specifically for my son to build flight time after he got his private.  I had no intention of keeping the plane once he was done.  I only considered bang-for-the-buck for this particular mission...time building.

Logged complex time is more valuable when looking for employment and when my son got that all important first jet job, his employer specifically mentioned the Mooney time that put him ahead of all the other low-time pilots trying for the job.  Today, my son is a pilot for SWA (proud dad, here).

Once the C had fulfilled its mission, I found it to be a delightful airplane and a great travelling machine.  Had I bought a plane for myself, I might have bought a Bonanza, but once experiencing the Mooney's economics and reliability, I think we found the perfect plane.

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8 hours ago, Skates97 said:

Welcome aboard. It is going to depend on what the mission is for your son and family. My mission was frequent trips in the 300-500 nm range with my wife and often my son to visit family. For us the Mooney was perfect. It's fast, efficient, and a joy to fly. They look great too! 

I don't think it's too early to consider a Mooney. However if he goes up in one he will probably fall in love with it. I did all my PPL in Cherokees and going to Mooney was a real treat. I finished my PPL and bought my Mooney with a little under 60 total hours. That was about 140 hours ago. 

I will warn you, if you are playing with the idea of maybe "giving it a go yourself" you might as well resign yourself to giving in and learning to fly. It's addictive... ;)

This was my first flight in my Mooney :

http://intothesky.us/2016/12/17/a-second-first-flight/

Awesome write up.  Thanks for the welcome and info.  

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Welcome from another Houstoian...  There are quite a few of us from the area. Norman is right around 145 mooney minutes from here.  (Of course it depends on what model and how much gas you want to burn)  What part of town are you in?

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I should have told you where in Houston we live.  We are in Northshore on the east side of Houston.    Not afraid to travel to get a ride from anyone.  Hell my wife will drive hours to go to the mall.  I travel in my business during the week but when I am home I can pretty much make my own schedule.   Really appreciate all the welcome post.  Looking forward to learning a lot 

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I have to agree with @Skates97 it all goes to mission.

My mission is the Joy of Mooney. I love flying it, I love working on it, I love looking at it. Yes, a bit creepy, but what can I say?

As for aspiring ATP's, a lot of ex ones own Mooneys, there's a reason.

As for aspiring A&P's, repairing Mooneys tests the mettle of any man, or woman for that matter. Whenever I complain to my IA that something was a PITA to get at, remove and or replace he just says "Welcome to my world!"

As for aspiring pilots in general, there is a continuing myth that Mooneys are hard to fly. That is nonsense, they almost fly themselves :P

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37 minutes ago, HRM said:

As for aspiring pilots in general, there is a continuing myth that Mooneys are hard to fly. That is nonsense, they almost fly themselves :P

It is much easier to fly than any of the Cherokee's I trained in and as long as your speeds are right I think it is easier to land. (It's getting the speeds right that is the challenge sometimes)

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