Seriously considering leaving Mooney behind....

[N201MKTurbo]

25 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

My hangar is a Port-a-port Exec 3. It opens 60' across the front and 46' deep. It's really pretty obscene. But it was the only hangar of any size I could find.

It’ll fit just fine, right next to the 747!

[1001001]

On 5/23/2020 at 3:40 PM, ragedracer1977 said:

My C has been a great plane, but as my family grows and as we travel more (and probably even more in a personal aircraft as travel requirements become increasingly draconian) we're ready for something bigger.  

I fly an average of 250 hours a year.  Doing rough napkin math, that's 40,000 miles I've flown in the past 12 months.  I USE my plane.  I don't do $100 hamburger runs.  I've been to California, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas twice in the last month.  I've flown to Oregon, Louisiana, Florida, and Wisconsin in the past year.  

Looking at everything available on the market right now, I can't find anything on paper that beats an A36TC Bonanza in my price range.  

I even looked at twins, but the maintenance and operating costs for what amounts to similar range and payload don't make a lot of financial sense.  

I wish Mooney made a six place airplane with the ability to fill the seats and still bring luggage...

So, talk me into or out of a Bonanza.  I feel like I know Mooney's really well as far as maintenance and ADs and what not go, but I don't know much about Bonanzas....

 

When you say "bigger," do you mean more useful load or more seats?  Or something else?

[carusoam]

Just now, 1001001 said:

When you say "bigger," do you mean more useful load or more seats?  Or something else?

Yes...
 

his family is expanding beyond four seats...
 

I tried to solve his challenge with a turbine...  I think his kids deserve one....

-a-

[Mcstealth]

On 5/25/2020 at 6:33 PM, philip_g said:

You don't have to be very crooked to whack that tail.

Come on @MooneyMitch. You are missing some easy ones.

 

 

[MooneyMitch]

51 minutes ago, Mcstealth said:

Come on @MooneyMitch. You are missing some easy ones.

 

 

Huh? What?  Did I miss something?   Since my post of the Cessna 206, I’ve not followed this thread. 

[Mcstealth]

7 hours ago, MooneyMitch said:

Huh? What?  Did I miss something?   Since my post of the Cessna 206, I’ve not followed this thread. 

No worries. There is just a serious funny to be had in that above post.

thread drift. Please resume spending other peoples money, and it seems to me, that an older TBM in the 700 series would fit the bill.

[LANCECASPER]

On 5/26/2020 at 4:31 PM, Ross Taylor said:

If you do go the Aztec route, and buy this one, I'll contribute the first $100 if you don't repaint it.  We could start a GoFundMe for you!

 

That Aztec is destined for a water landing.

[ragedracer1977]

Put an offer on a nice 310 yesterday.  We’ll see where it goes.

[cliffy]

What are you going to name it?  Song Bird?   :-)  Maybe most here don't know of the name  :-)

[ragedracer1977]

1 hour ago, cliffy said:

What are you going to name it?  Song Bird?   :-)  Maybe most here don't know of the name  :-)

I guess I'm in the old fart category now lol

[glafaille]

On 5/26/2020 at 3:43 PM, philiplane said:

Anything with a Continental engine will be more costly and less reliable than a Lycoming.

I wish to take issue with that statement.  I have over 5000 hours flying night freight in minimally maintained Beechcraft Barons with Continental IO-520 engines.  Never had a problem with them and can’t recall anyone else in company having issues either.  And we ran them to 1800 or 1900 hours with FAA approved extensions.

The Beech Baron especially the C, D, and E are incredible flying machines!  Tough as nails.  We had to maintain 95% on time reliability per our contracts and no allowances for weather or mechanical problems.  We flew ours about 10 hours per day, 4 to 5 days per week for years!  Airframe and engines were up to the task.  No radar, no autopilot, no boots and sometimes no transponder or heat (cabin heat was the weakest system). 

Continentals are plenty reliable for me.  As to the cost, you are probably right, the Lycomings are probably cheaper.

[ragedracer1977]

Well crap.  I was reading the logs again and noticed at the very bottom of an entry, almost an afterthought, the IA entered a reweigh.
  
January 2010 there's a weight and balance entry (plane was actually weighed) that notes paint is stripped and complete interior is stripped minus the pilot seat.  Further notes plane needs to be reweighed when painted and interior installed.
  
Going through the remaining entries to now, there is no entry for paint or interior.
  
Thinking this could be a problem.

[cliffy]

2 hours ago, glafaille said:

No radar, no autopilot, no boots and sometimes no transponder or heat (cabin heat was the weakest system). 

And I had friends at Ameriflight in Cherokees with no boots, no hot prop, no A/P , no RADAR AND it was a single engine  at night over mountains in crappy weather picking up ice!!!!!!!   What we do in the name of "I'm in aviation!"

[glafaille]

6 hours ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Well crap.  I was reading the logs again and noticed at the very bottom of an entry, almost an afterthought, the IA entered a reweigh.
  
January 2010 there's a weight and balance entry (plane was actually weighed) that notes paint is stripped and complete interior is stripped minus the pilot seat.  Further notes plane needs to be reweighed when painted and interior installed.
  
Going through the remaining entries to now, there is no entry for paint or interior.
  
Thinking this could be a problem.

Should be an entry for rebalancing the ailerons, elevator and rudder after painting too.  Not sure what has to be done after an undocumented paint job.  Maybe rebalance the flight controls, reweigh the aircraft and off you go?

[glafaille]

Cliffy:

At least the Cherokee drivers had heat! 

[ragedracer1977]

On 6/8/2020 at 5:39 AM, glafaille said:

Should be an entry for rebalancing the ailerons, elevator and rudder after painting too.  Not sure what has to be done after an undocumented paint job.  Maybe rebalance the flight controls, reweigh the aircraft and off you go?

I moved on from that one.  Too many red flags 

Made an offer on this one, they accepted, and it's on the way to prebuy!  

1978 T310R Ram I (300hp) conversion. FIKI certified.  G500, GTN750, 430W, Avidyne EX500 with radar.  Tail number blocked since it's not "mine" yet. 

[jetdriven]

On 6/8/2020 at 2:48 AM, cliffy said:

And I had friends at Ameriflight in Cherokees with no boots, no hot prop, no A/P , no RADAR AND it was a single engine  at night over mountains in crappy weather picking up ice!!!!!!!   What we do in the name of "I'm in aviation!"

i think one of those iced up and crashed near Nashville a few years back.

[SantosDumont]

1 hour ago, ragedracer1977 said:

I moved on from that one.  Too many red flags 

Mooneys really are great first airplanes.  They teach you everything you need to look for when you buy your 2nd airplane.

[aviatoreb]

24 minutes ago, SantosDumont said:

Mooneys really are great first airplanes.  They teach you everything you need to look for when you buy your 2nd airplane.

Oh!  You didn’t just say that! :-0

[ragedracer1977]

40 minutes ago, SantosDumont said:

Mooneys really are great first airplanes.  They teach you everything you need to look for when you buy your 2nd airplane.

I won't be surprised if a Mooney is my last airplane.  It really was/is fun to fly.  For just me and the wife, it's pretty comfortable.  Someday, I'll probably be back in one

[alextstone]

42 minutes ago, SantosDumont said:

Mooneys really are great first airplanes.  They teach you everything you need to look for when you buy your 2nd airplane.

I must be a slow learner...I'm on my fourth Mooney! 

[KLRDMD]

Just now, alextstone said:

I must be a slow learner...I'm on my fourth Mooney! 

I've had four Mooneys . . . plus a dozen other airplanes.

[bonal]

Hope you find what you're looking for and as you transition into your future twin please stay with us and share the experience. I'm sure it will provide some interesting stories.

[cliffy]

Just remember-

Blue line  Blue Line  Blue Line

[philiplane]

On 6/7/2020 at 11:58 PM, glafaille said:

I wish to take issue with that statement.  I have over 5000 hours flying night freight in minimally maintained Beechcraft Barons with Continental IO-520 engines.  Never had a problem with them and can’t recall anyone else in company having issues either.  And we ran them to 1800 or 1900 hours with FAA approved extensions.

The Beech Baron especially the C, D, and E are incredible flying machines!  Tough as nails.  We had to maintain 95% on time reliability per our contracts and no allowances for weather or mechanical problems.  We flew ours about 10 hours per day, 4 to 5 days per week for years!  Airframe and engines were up to the task.  No radar, no autopilot, no boots and sometimes no transponder or heat (cabin heat was the weakest system). 

Continentals are plenty reliable for me.  As to the cost, you are probably right, the Lycomings are probably cheaper.

In a high use commercial environment, of course they will be better. It's the sitting around that kills engines, and Continentals are more prone to this than Lycomings. I'll see your 5000 hours in night freight, and raise you with maintaining 150,000+ flight hours worth of Continental engines over the past two decades, in owner flown, and rental environments. Low utilization kills engines prematurely, and that is the exact type of operation the OP will be doing. It would be foolish not to have large maintenance reserves for the two Continental engines on the 310. Up to, and including, a premature engine replacement with no core value on the old one, if it pukes a rod through the case like this one:

Edited June 12, 2020 by philiplane