Mooney Acclaim pilots willing to give their opinions and demo near Seattle?

[pc500]

I have a friend who is looking at the variety of go-fast 4 seater SEP aircraft (Mooney, Cirrus, Beechcraft) to see which would best fill his needs.  He would like to talk to the owner of an Acclaim (any year) to get their opinion on the aircraft and possible receive an airborne demonstration of the aircraft.  He is in Seattle, but I'm sure he'd travel anywhere regionally if necessary and fill the tank for you.

I'm not sure if this is the correct space to post this, but on another forum they have a "mentor pilot" list who indicate they are approachable for requests like this.  Does this exist here?

Additionally, if anyone can answer these questions I'm sure he's appreciate it.

1) Do all acclaims have the GFC700?

2) Does most of the used fleet have the TKS option, or is it a challenge to find?

I've also invited him to this forum so don't be surprised if he joins in!

Thanks!

[StevenL757]

Welcome to the forum!  Your friend’s potential choice of an Acclaim is a perfect one.  Between the three aircraft you listed, the Acclaim really stands out as the wiser choice, but I’m biased a bit.  Honestly, the choice will depend on his mission.  Depending on what he wants to carry on a regular basis and how far, the Acclaim may or may not make sense.  It would be helpful to know a bit more about him, the mission, and budget.

To your questions...all Acclaims come with the GFC700 A/P.  Depending on year and options, some will have the WAAS/VNAV option and/or Synthetic Vision.  In any case, finding an Acclaim with known ice (TKS) and oxygen should be mandatory if operating in the Pacific NW.  Without those options, he won’t realize the full potential of the aircraft.  As far as finding an Acclaim with TKS, they are indeed out there and not a major challenge to find.  Equipping one with TKS that doesn’t have it presently will be a $60-$65k investment.  Controller list one presently (https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/22638189/2007-mooney-acclaim).  Delta Aviation is a very reputable dealer, and I’d recommend them highly if considering a purchase.

Althought I’m located on the East Coast, I did grow up in the Seattle area and flew for many years there.  Wanted to at least offer what I could given that, plus experience in the aircraft.  There are a few Acclaim owners in that geographical area on this forum, so hopefully, someone should be along shortly to help fill in some gaps.  Tell your friend we look forward to his participation here, and happy to help wherever possible.  Hope this helps a bit.

Steve

[Danb]

No not all Acclaims have the GFC 700, in 2007 the Acclaim was certified with theStec 55X,  The Garmin autopilot was not certified in the Mooney for a year or so later. I'm not sure what the serial number is when the Garmins were ultimately certified.

[carusoam]

@Joe Zuffoletto

See if Joe is hanging around MS this morning...  he has some good knowledge of the Acclaim.

Use caution, though...

I want to have an Acclaim, ever since discussing the plane with Joe!

The ultimate Mooney beats the ultimate recip powered planes built by any other company....

getting a better single engine plane would require going Turbine.

Best regards,

-a-

[Joe Zuffoletto]

I have a fully loaded 2008 Acclaim in Northern California (O69, Petaluma). I'll be around until Thursday if you want to come down and check it out.

[Hank]

2 hours ago, carusoam said:

 

I want to have an Acclaim, ever since discussing the plane with Joe!

The ultimate Mooney beats the ultimate recip powered planes built by any other company....

-a-

Let me know when you're ready to upgrade, I may pick your R up then . . . . I've always liked green.

[StevenL757]

5 hours ago, Danb said:

No not all Acclaims have the GFC 700, in 2007 the Acclaim was certified with theStec 55X,  The Garmin autopilot was not certified in the Mooney for a year or so later. I'm not sure what the serial number is when the Garmins were ultimately certified.

Ok, thanks for clarifying.  I'd be interested to see what S/N started getting the GFC700 by default.

[LANCECASPER]

5 hours ago, Danb said:

No not all Acclaims have the GFC 700, in 2007 the Acclaim was certified with theStec 55X,  The Garmin autopilot was not certified in the Mooney for a year or so later. I'm not sure what the serial number is when the Garmins were ultimately certified.

The Acclaims that came with the STEC 55X were owed the GFC700 when it came out. When the GFC700 was certified Mooney retrofitted it for all of the first 31 (I think?) customers. The way to tell if it had am STEC 55X to start is that they put a PS Engineering CD Player in that spot in the panel when they replaced the autopilot.

Here's the panel on serial #28 which is for sale on controller.

[pc500]

Thank you for the kinds words and assistance.  I've sent him (also named Steven) a link to this thread and encouraged him to join!  I'm not sure how active he is on internet forums (some people just aren't that type) so I'm bridging the gap here to get him started.

To answer a few of the questions that came up, the mission is primarily 2-up cross country flights (200-800NM) between paved airports with services and IAPS, at least 2,500 feet long, in the mountain west.  Occasionally there would be 4 on board.  He is upgrading from a late-model DA40 which is acceptable, but is just too slow and has limited dispatch capabilities during the shoulder seasons.  It just isn't a great IFR performer.  The Acclaim is one of a few possibilities that's in the late-model G1000/GFC700/FIKI go-fast piston category he is targeting.  Of course he's also examining the SR22 and BE36.  Although less likely, The Matrix/PA46 series is also not off the table.

Joe - I don't think it's likely he'll get to NorCal in the next week, but if you're open to it perhaps we can arrange something at a later date, even if that requires traveling to Denver.  How does this sound?

I'm also going to drag him to Oshkosh this year to fill any remaining gaps.

Thanks for the input folks, it sounds like you have a great community here.

Edited December 23, 2017 by pc500

[Joe Zuffoletto]

My Acclaim is based in Petaluma; I have a second home in NorCal. I’ll be out here from time to time in the spring and summer, so we can definitely meet at a later date.