Missile First Flight Impressions

[RogueOne]

After making purchase on 8/1 on our “new to us” Missile Conversion I thought I would communicate my initial impressions of the Mid-Body Missile to my short-body M20E. 

Pushing in and pulling out of hanger.  I have a longer “break-down” tow bar with the Missile/J.  I feel it gives me more ability to push/pull.  I find the effort to move the Missile to be on par with the E even though it is a significantly heavier airframe.  That was a NICE surprise.

Seating position.  I really like the seats in our plane.  I feel as though I am higher in relation to the E Model.  This may be do to the padding, but the panel although appearing taller visually does NOT give that effect when looking out of the plane.

Start-up.  The Continental IO550 in the Missile is VERY easy to start.  The engine fires quickly and has a nice throaty sound.  The vibration at idle was negligible.

Run-up.  The Continental seems smoother to add power/run-up.  The six vs. the four I guess?  Regardless the plane feels great.

Take off/Ground run.  I was told that the canting of the engine to offset the P-Effect works well and the Missile is not a handful on the ground roll.  Agree.  I used take off flaps and trimmed for take-off and uneventful.  Didn’t feel like a significant difference from the E.  When power is in it is ready to fly.  Loved my J Bar, but love the auto-trim more.  The manual trim on the Missile rolls easier than my E.  I like the detents/ribs on the trim wheel vs. the round E trim wheel.  I prefer the hydraulic flaps vs. the electric.  Just more precise, but I will get used to it.

Climb: E and Missile are Great initial climbers.  Low ceilings kept my at 3500 feet, but both of these airframes (both with three blade props) really have nice initial climb with cool temps.  (It was 41 degrees today in Iowa).  I look forward to a nice cruise climb up to 8500 in the Missile.  The E is over a thousand fpm up to 3500, but then drops to 700ish (when cool). I have read that the Missile will carry 1,000fpm easily up to 8500.

Cruise and handling.  I loved my E, but the Missile seems smoother on control input/response.  I was doing East/West and turns in Class C for ADSB cert flight and just loved how the plane flew.  I was burning 12.8GPH down low and there was a BIG wind at 310 that saw ground speeds of 178knots going East and 135 going west.

Landing.  I found VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE between my E and the Missile.  I am about maxed nose up trim with full flaps in the E and same with the Missile.  Into a strong wind (just about down the runway) there was plenty of energy for flare.  Not a greaser, but landings were adequate.

I REALLY look forward to flying this plane.  A LOT!  

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by RogueOne

[irishpilot]

Congrats on your new plane. Enjoy and fly safe!

Fly Safe,
Safety Forum Mod

[Seth]

Congrats on getting your Missile in the air!!  Go back and fly an E after this and you’ll feel the difference even more.  E is a great plane.  You’ll find the difference will be more magnifies then.  Enjoy it!

-Seth

[Seth]

As a follow up and having flown hundreds of hours in M20F, M20C, M20E, M20J, M20J-300, and M20K aircraft here are some finer differences I noted going back to the M20E from the Missile:

-Directional control - P-Factor with the Missile is less than the E.  The canted engine mount is why.  In addition, with the 100 more horsepower (50% greater) it may seem similar, but that's part of why it's "less."  Also, with the longer body and more effective rudder, it's easier to smoothly manipulate the directional control.  Especially when applying power on the takeoff roll.  

-Climb:  The E is indeed lighter - thus it's going to be a runway champ.  Once you are climbing for a bit however, the Missile does show those extra 100 horses.  Also, I've found the Mooney climbs best a little faster.  The cruise climb in the Missile is pretty good at 110-120 knots.  Try it out.  The wing gives you the same FPM climb rate but you get increased speed as attempting to hang it on the prop.  Try 140 knots as well.  Less climb, but crazy distance covered and better cooling.

-Handling:  I find the M20C, M20E, and M20F all have a lighter pitch control feel than the Missile.  I'm hoping this changes when I get my four blade prop on the front and lighten the tip of the nose by 30+lbs.

-Landing:  when you go back to land a M20C, M20E, M20F, or M20J, you'll notice the "window" for making that smooth landing is so much winder than it is with the Missile.  The fact that you are already not slamming the Missile in is fantastic.  I always think of the movie Apollo 13 where the reporter is holding up a basketball and explaining that when re-entering the earth's atmosphere if the capsule is too steep it burns up but if not steep enough it'll ricochet off the atmosphere and the window to hit is thinner than this piece of paper.  I feel the Missile landing "window" is more narrow on pitch control that the lighter Mooney's.

I'm thrilled you are enjoying your Missile!!  Can't wait to get mine back in the air.

 

-Seth

[Seth]

And my wife’s first impression from the M20F to the Missile was that “Hank wants to fly.”  She was pretty amazed at the acceleration. When light, the Missile will use The same or less runway that the E.

-Seth 

[Hank]

3 hours ago, Seth said:

And my wife’s first impression from the M20F to the Missile was that “Hank wants to fly.”  She was pretty amazed at the acceleration. When light, the Missile will use The same or less runway that the E.

-Seth 

Yes, Hank wants to fly the Missile!! 

But I've never met your wife . . . . .