jetdriven Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 According to Robert at LASAR darting can also be caused by incorrect nose gear caster. The Mooney SB as described by Maxwell details how it measure caster. A 40$ washer solves that problem. Quote: RJBrown I flew a Rocket for 800 hours and landing was never an issue. The plane never swerved or darted on landing . It was rock solid and straight. The issue is worn/misaligned parts. Because of the additional weight out front I made sure never to allow the nose gear to touch until I ran out of speed. It became a personal challenge to keep the nose wheel up as long as I could. It would never drop hard. I found the additional weight added stability to the landings. I find my current MSE harder to land smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcxmike Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 I've been flying my Rocket since 93 and haven't experienced any negative landing characteristics. If my memory serves me, it lands better than it did prior to the conversion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetdriven Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 FWIW update:We did the M20-202 service bulletin, which means measuring the nose wheel position when down and installing the washer. We also replaced a couple worn bolts and shimmed up the nose gear steering horn. It went from swerving all over the place on takeoff to landing like a 172. I recommend doing this if your airplane likes to dart all over the runway. A side benefit is the nose wheel now clears the gear doors on retraction by another inch. This allowed us to rig the nose gear doors closed better. Maxwell has the write up here: http://www.donmaxwell.com/publications/MAPA_TEXT/M20-202%20-%20Eight-Second%20Ride/EIGHT_SECOND_RIDE.HTM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 I am about to buy my first airplane...a Mooney Rocket! I have experience with Turbo 210 and can't wait to start flying the low wing Mooney. The numbers I read for the Rocket are almost unbelievable. I like the option of going slow on little fuel with all that performance on tap! I will have to coordinate the fuel and payload much more than in the 210s... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetdriven Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 And you must pay a heck of a lot more attention to your landing speed and keeping the nose off while landing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Expect the nose to be heavy, and the elevator to be less than perfectly matched... Follow what Byron said.... Gonna love that big engine.... -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mazer Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Rudy, I've been flying my Rocket since 06, not as many hours as I would like but about 80-100/yr. The Rocket is a great plane and performs well. Landing isn't really tough, just make sure your speed over the fence is under 80 kts with no gusts and trim up a bit and wait for it and it will be fine. The landing roll is longer than I experience in an F I fly by 500 ft. It just is and I can't seem to get it much shorter without coming in too slow, below 72 kts, and the nose comes down too hard for me. So longer it is. A big caution is touch and goes or go arounds require you to trim down or you will be pushing down as if your life depends on it because it may. The additional trim up on landing turns into too much on go around. Fuel flow in cruise runs from 13 - 20 gph depending on power and altitude. Lots of options there. There are a number of Rocketeers on this site and if you have questions we will gladly share our experience for whatever it may be worth. I used to fly a T-210. They aren't even close. You're going to love the differences. Enjoy your Rocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 I appreciate all the information! I look forward to the Rocket and am especially impressed with the friendly Mooney drivers! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 11/4/2011 at 5:41 PM, rocketman said: Weill, I just got my new rocket this week and fast is not the word, nor is economy. But I love it. I have a question for anyone who can help me. Before this plane I have owned (and still do) a 1982 201 and have 1800 or so hours on it. I would consider myself pretty efficient on landing in a Mooney. However, when landing the rocket, once the front tire touches the ground the plane tends to go off in one direction. Gentle correction on the rudders seems to overcorrect in the opposite direction. and this continues until the plane has slowed down. The front wheel looks fine, all tires are new and with correct air pressure. No abnormal tire wear problems are seen. My landing speeds are a knot or so above my J model so my ability to react to Rocket landing speeds is not a factor.The tire wear is fine and the plane otherwise flies well. I do use a slight pitch up attitude on landing to avoid excess weight on the nose gear. What am I doing wrong or are there some things on the plane I need to check to correct this "horizontal porposing". Has anyone else experienced this and what do you do about it. Or maybe I just need to get used to landing with this giant of an engine in front of an equally sized 201 body frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Check in the front wheel well the linkage to the wheel and steering mechanism. It may be out of line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 7/1/2012 at 5:24 PM, carusoam said: Expect the nose to be heavy, and the elevator to be less than perfectly matched... Follow what Byron said.... Gonna love that big engine.... -a- Landing at a slow speed with full flaps is critical. the flaps will act as speed brakes since the will be perpendicular to the ground at slow speeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Airplane will not porpoise if you land slow enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Carlos said: Airplane will not porpoise if you land slow enough. Right on! In fact would it be okay if I say further, she'll land nice and sweet if you land right on speed. Also I'll say this - if you are a bit fast, let it float. It will land when its ready. In fact, when I was first flying my rocket about 10 years ago, I made a game out of, once in ground effect, to try and NOT land, which means hold it off, pulling the yoke back gradually, eyes down the runway, and it will set down soon enough when it is ready, and with never a porpoise. Porpoising is what happens when you push it down to runway when it still wants to fly because it still has too much energy. So holding it off and allowing a long runway when you are new, to allow for a longer float if you are a bit fast. Then all that said, allow the right speed over the fence helps. Edited April 21, 2020 by aviatoreb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Welcome aboard Carlos! Are you a Rocket guy? A fan of Rocket Engineering? (There something funny about my posts in 2012...) Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldguyscanfly Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 4/1/2012 at 11:41 PM, jetdriven said: FWIW update: We did the M20-202 service bulletin, which means measuring the nose wheel position when down and installing the washer. We also replaced a couple worn bolts and shimmed up the nose gear steering horn. It went from swerving all over the place on takeoff to landing like a 172. I recommend doing this if your airplane likes to dart all over the runway. A side benefit is the nose wheel now clears the gear doors on retraction by another inch. This allowed us to rig the nose gear doors closed better. Maxwell has the write up here: http://www.donmaxwell.com/publications/MAPA_TEXT/M20-202%20-%20Eight-Second%20Ride/EIGHT_SECOND_RIDE.HTM I hope I have the same success with my installation of the collar from the -202SB in my 65 E. We also replaced the steering horn, which was pretty worn. Landing it was always exciting on roll out, to the point I felt fortunate that I got my PPL in a C180- it was truly like landing a tail dagger! Hope to have it all back together the end of the week, I'll do a test flight and a post PREP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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