Your next Mooney

[MIm20c]

9 hours ago, irishpilot said:

Man, I'm jealous of all you guys and your forever planes. I can't keep planes more than a few years. My E model was economical, but didn't have long legs and space. My Bravo is awesome: it goes high, fast, TKS, and O2. Problem is useful load at 860#.

My family trips require serious W&B calcs to stay below gross, and that's getting old. My kids keep getting bigger. Planes with over #1100 UL are on my radar...twins and Experimental.

Finally someone who is always looking for an upgrade   

Your useful load looks a little low. We have o2 and TKS and are sitting just over 1k. I don’t remember the bravo being that much heavier than the other long bodies. 

[Mufflerbearing]

There is an old saying "I'm too poor to buy cheap things".  Maybe it was just price creep, but when I was looking at a plane, I really wanted to buy my first/last plane.  I can't imagine a plane I would want more than my Screaming Eagle with FIKI and a ton of electronics.  There is also another saying, "if you don't look back at your car when you walk away, you bought the wrong one".  I think this also applies to airplanes and yes, I always look back when I walk away.

One plane that I would purchase for no other reason than play, would be a 1941 Boeing Stearman.  I think that it would be a really capable back country plane to have.

[irishpilot]

On 3/11/2021 at 7:52 AM, MIm20c said:

Finally someone who is always looking for an upgrade   

Your useful load looks a little low. We have o2 and TKS and are sitting just over 1k. I don’t remember the bravo being that much heavier than the other long bodies. 

Yep, just checked. #860 lbs. 

[Parker_Woodruff]

On 3/10/2021 at 9:52 PM, irishpilot said:

 

My family trips require serious W&B calcs to stay below gross, and that's getting old. My kids keep getting bigger. Planes with over #1100 UL are on my radar...twins and Experimental.

Piper Seneca IV and do some stuff in the panel to make it lighter.

Most importantly, fly at least 100 hours per year and every 6 months do some OEI practice.

[MIm20c]

5 minutes ago, irishpilot said:

Yep, just checked. #860 lbs. 

check the TKS section.  Some aircraft were certified with full tanks (the fluid is really heavy) while others just with the minimum required to fly into KI conditions. Might find another 40lbs+

[Schllc]

56 minutes ago, MIm20c said:

check the TKS section.  Some aircraft were certified with full tanks (the fluid is really heavy) while others just with the minimum required to fly into KI conditions. Might find another 40lbs+

Someone told me a long time ago when I was shopping for my first plane, “the last time anyone asks about a Mooney’s useful load is before they buy one”.

I didn’t really know what that meant at the time. 
I think I do now...

I would love to be one of the first to buy the stc for the new landing gear if it ever happens. 

[MIm20c]

Just now, Schllc said:

Someone told me a long time ago when I was shopping for my first plane, “the last time anyone asks about a Mooney’s useful load is before they buy one”.

I didn’t really know what that meant at the time. 
I think I do now...

I would love to be one of the first to buy the stc for the new landing gear if it ever happens. 

We spent a few years with the O2 two blade prop before the top prop was released. That was such a dog on the ground/initial climb out.  Now with 2700 rpm it feels like you can attach a motor home and get it airborne. 

[kmyfm20s]

I love my Eagle with air conditioning but I have a feeling in the next few years my mission profile will lean more towards a twin turbo with FIKI. 

[gsxrpilot]

After a couple of years with my M20C and falling hopelessly in love with the Mooney efficiency, speed, sex appeal, etc, I also wanted more speed, range, and useful load. The turbo engines give you speed and sometimes incredible range when the winds are right. 

Turbo Mooneys - 231, 252, Encore, Rocket, Bravo, Acclaim. Out of that list the Encore typically has the best useful load. (it has the gross weight increase without all the modern stuff added soon after). But Encores are exceedingly rare, and 252's converted to Encores often have even better useful load. 

So that's what I've done...

[Jerry 5TJ]

11 hours ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

Most importantly, fly at least 100 hours per year and every 6 months do some OEI practice.

Q:  What is OEI practice?

[Parker_Woodruff]

2 hours ago, Jerry 5TJ said:

Q:  What is OEI practice?

One Engine Inoperative 

[Parker_Woodruff]

12 hours ago, MIm20c said:

We spent a few years with the O2 two blade prop before the top prop was released. That was such a dog on the ground/initial climb out.  Now with 2700 rpm it feels like you can attach a motor home and get it airborne. 

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so uncomfortable in my life on an Otherwise normal takeoff than with that set up. 

[Niko182]

4 hours ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so uncomfortable in my life on an Otherwise normal takeoff than with that set up. 

I hated it with the 2 blade and 240hp on takeoff. It cruised nicely, but it took its sweet time getting off the ground. Full gross at 3200lbs and I probably used 2500 to 3000 ft or groundroll. 

[MIm20c]

5 hours ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so uncomfortable in my life on an Otherwise normal takeoff than with that set up. 

There was almost a cavitation feel if you put in the power quickly.  It was a fast prop but not worth the trade off. 

[Parker_Woodruff]

11 minutes ago, MIm20c said:

There was almost a cavitation feel if you put in the power quickly.  It was a fast prop but not worth the trade off. 

Major safety improvement going 3-blade 

[larryb]

Interesting about the 3 blade prop. My Encore seems to use a lot more runway than the J I had.

[Parker_Woodruff]

4 minutes ago, larryb said:

Interesting about the 3 blade prop. My Encore seems to use a lot more runway than the J I had.

The 252/Encore with metal 3-blade Hartzell is the best way to go for takeoff and climb performance. 

[211º]

On 3/10/2021 at 1:30 PM, hammdo said:

I pretty much have my forever plane. Once the AI G5, Trutrak, and Electric Step goes in, it's maintain it. Fix a few small fuel tank seeps, plan a top OH, then paint are about the main items I'd consider. She's running great right now so Top OH will only happen when a cylinder issue starts showing up. Since the bottom was IRAN about 600 hrs ago with the new prop, I'm hopeful she has a lot of hrs left...

David sold me a great flyer... 

-Don 

Ibid. This is pretty much where I am - the longer I own her, the more I know about here.  Back when I owned a 150, there was a certain pleasure in having a simple and inexpensive to maintain airplane. Relatively speaking, I feel the same about the E - less expensive to maintain and insure, easy to understand systems, at the cost of arriving later (or to the benefit of greater hours in the logbook).  I'm still three times faster than my automobile.