Would you trade your Mooney for a Cirrus Poll

[Raptor05121]

I love my plane, but there's no doubting she's the bottom of the barrel in terms of fleet quality. I'd trade her in for just about anything faster/newer

[Lance Link]

Yes, and then I'd add a GTN 650.  But it is not a fair comparison, because that plane is worth easy $75k more than mine.

[MooneyMitch]

2 hours ago, rbridges said:

Haha. My dad painted aircraft at the local air for the local air force base, and his car's paint looked like a calico.

Exactly!!!  It’s twoo, it’s twoo!!! 

[Davidv]

So who are the 7 and why are they on MS?

[MIm20c]

17 minutes ago, Davidv said:

So who are the 7 and why are they on MS?

Because I’m a CB and don’t want to spend $50 to join COPA  

[RJBrown]

I rented a J, I loved it.

while looking for a J I bought a K.

The K became a Rocket.

I sold the Rocket to finance a new business real estate deal.

I sold the old real estate and compromised my standards to save on fuel and maintenance. 

I bought a J, expecting to fly it through my retirement, but I hated it. 
I sold the J
Those that won’t trade up don’t miss what they have never experienced.

Once you have experienced better than the sea level climb rate of a J all the way to 26k, wallowing at 17,000 just won’t do.

oh yea, I’ve seen over 300kt ground speeds and over 225tas.

but I would never buy a Cirrus.

 

 

[RLCarter]

4 hours ago, Raptor05121 said:

I love my plane, but there's no doubting she's the bottom of the barrel in terms of fleet quality. I'd trade her in for just about anything faster/newer

bottom of the barrel? I've seen the bottom and your plane wasn't there  

[Schllc]

For me airplanes are like boats. They are 100% discretionary and unnecessary.  
When I bought my first boat someone told me that old saying, the two happiest days of a boat owners life are the days he buys it and the day he sells it...

This was not my experience, I loved all my boats, and was sad to see each one of them go, and I feel the same way about my airplanes.

The point is, I view them both romantically.  I get excited and happy when I see them. 
This, for me, is a prerequisite to buying one.  Reason being is that you have to write a lot of large random checks to care for them. If you do not love them, you will resent this exercise. 
I am also checked out in the cirrus and have flown the latest and greatest...  
I find the cirrus to be an ugly airplane, the side stick is odd, the cockpit is noisy, and the training is antithetical to everything I learned and feel is important. 
When you get checked out the instructor gives you a debrief after each flight and the only comments they had for me was to engage the autopilot sooner after takeoff and leave it engaged longer on approach.  It is not a pilots airplane, it’s a button pusher platform.   This isn’t meant to denigrate its capabilities, merely the fact that it’s disconnected from the one thread that connects me to aviation. 
To each their own, but I prefer something that makes me happy every time I go to climb in it, and the cirrus never did that for me. 

[Chocks]

IF they ever make one, where the gear goes away, my choice might change.
But I'll be happy with just being able to modify a shortbody into a race plane one day.

[carusoam]

I’d like my next Mooney to be turbine powered...  500HP should work ok...

Have a parachute...

Be WAAS equipped...

Have that land me now button...

have TKS in a Fiki format...  the system would get exercised, but never get used in anger...

The air conditioning would be there, but never get run...

My UL is going to be about 1300#, and my retracts will have trailing links...

My fuel tanks would be upped to about 130gal...

 

Which Cirrus would I be comparing against?

 

Does anyone have an Acclaim, Forever-plane?

I need to get a lot of stars to line up to make this plan happen....

None of those stars has the letters Ci in its name...

 

PP thoughts only, happy with what I have, not going anywhere...

Best regards,

-a-

[Niko182]

6 minutes ago, carusoam said:

I’d like my next Mooney to be turbine powered...  500HP should work ok...

Have a parachute...

Be WAAS equipped...

Have that land me now button...

have TKS in a Fiki format...  the system would get exercised, but never get used in anger...

The air conditioning would be there, but never get run...

My UL is going to be about 1300#, and my retracts will have trailing links...

My fuel tanks would be upped to about 130gal...

 

Which Cirrus would I be comparing against?

 

Does anyone have an Acclaim, Forever-plane?

I need to get a lot of stars to line up to make this plan happen....

None of those stars has the letters Ci in its name...

 

PP thoughts only, happy with what I have, not going anywhere...

Best regards,

-a-

What your describing exists. Its called an M600.

[Skates97]

I wouldn't, I love my Mooney. It is everything I need for my mission now and as I see it through retirement. In the almost 4 1/2 years I have had her I have gotten to know her  inside and out. I have redone the avionics to be what I want, and about a month from now when it has the GFC500 in it I will have spent more on the upgrades than the purchase, but everything that has been done has been to either improve the safety or the enjoyment or both. and I don't regret spending any of it.

[JimB]

Not really on topic but I might trade my Mooney for a DA 50 NG....(but that's unrealistic and will never happen). 180 kts on 9 gph of cheap Jet A and 1230 lb useful load sounds pretty appealing.

 

[bradp]

Depends - I love my Mooney. I like the way it flies. I like the efficiency. However if I could get a cirrus with a UL increase, 5th seatbelt, TKS, and a chute I would jump ship.  Just like my lovely said no more 20 year old sport coupe with a family and the SUV is now sitting in the driveway. 

[gsxrpilot]

1 hour ago, bradp said:

Just like my lovely said no more 20 year old sport coupe with a family and the SUV is now sitting in the driveway. 

And then one day the kids are gone... and you're shopping for something small, quick, with a drop top and two seat.... and a fast Mooney with range.

[bradp]

5 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

And then one day the kids are gone... and you're shopping for something small, quick, with a drop top and two seat.... and a fast Mooney with range.

Yup. And so it goes. 

[Skates97]

24 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

And then one day the kids are gone... and you're shopping for something small, quick, with a drop top and two seat.... and a fast Mooney with range.

When we were down to two kids left we sold the Suburban and that was the down payment on the Mooney. 

[philiplane]

You might not trade your Mooney for a Cirrus, but your wife might...

because when you keel over in flight, she pulls the chute. She gets to walk away, and with your life insurance proceeds. This scenario has sold many Cirrus.

 

[0TreeLemur]

I view myself as curator of an Apollo-era museum piece that happens to take me places.  I'm an engineer and I've bonded with the hardware.  Technology upgrades promote safety, but the airframe remains the same. 

I understand why things were assembled the way they are, and where most of the sharp edges are.  Mooneys have more in common with WW-II fighters than contemporary designs.  That appeals to me and to me at least, imbues my Mooney with something akin to "soul".   I see the handwritten pencil numbers on parts in the aft fuselage written long ago, and it reminds me how I'm the caretaker of something built 54 years and two months ago by people who are now long gone.   From the logs and FAA records, I think that my co-pilot and I are the 8th owners IIRC.

Would I Iike 20 more knots?  Sure.  But I'm not willing to trade for an a/c lacking in "soul". 

[ChrisV]

Just now, philiplane said:

You might not trade your Mooney for a Cirrus, but your wife might...

^^ Yep.  My wife wants nothing to do with landing our J.  She knows the basic emergency drill and could most likely get the plane near the runway, but it would be ugly.  Pulling a chute would probably be safer for her.

I am not afraid to admit that I am one of the 8 who said yes.  I would trade my plane for a cirrus, but even the cheapest cirrus is close to double the value of my J.  And I would fly it for a few years and sell it off for a mooney.  I would NOT buy a comparably priced/equipped cirrus to a mooney.  No way.  

I have never even sat in a Cirrus, but I would love the chance to try the sidestick. 

95% of the time I am on autopilot and I think I would like to not have the yoke/tablet in my chest.  Again, i have never NOT had a yoke in front of me so i really don't know.

[ArtVandelay]

You might not trade your Mooney for a Cirrus, but your wife might...
because when you keel over in flight, she pulls the chute. She gets to walk away, and with your life insurance proceeds. This scenario has sold many Cirrus.
 

If the engine is running does pulling the chute stop it? If not she probably won’t walk away.

[ArtVandelay]

The better alternative is the Pipistrel Panthera - a true "Modern Ovation".  It is not a heavy pig and it doesn't have the oversize wings that require a costly "twin" hangar like the DA 50NG .  And it has CAPS.  Its Lycoming will also still be running when 100LL is phased out.  And it costs less than a Diamond or Cirrus or a Mooney.

Looks like luggage space is lacking. Useful load?

[NJMac]

18 minutes ago, 1980Mooney said:

It is a very light aircraft.  It is currently certified with a MTOW of 2,900 lbs. and a UL of 1,100 lbs. (and that is with the standard CAPS/BRS chute)  They are applying for an increase to a 3,000 lb. MTOW and 1,200 lb. UL.  That will allow great load even with lots of options like TKS.  Don't know about luggage space.  

The Diamond 50RG is a complete pig weighing 3,175 lbs. EMPTY without options and it does not even come with CAPS/BRS!

Dangit.  That's a sexy plane.  You've got me thinking. 

[Davidv]

13 minutes ago, 1980Mooney said:

It is a very light aircraft.  It is currently certified with a MTOW of 2,900 lbs. and a UL of 1,100 lbs. (and that is with the standard CAPS/BRS chute)  They are applying for an increase to a 3,000 lb. MTOW and 1,200 lb. UL.  That will allow great load even with lots of options like TKS.  Don't know about luggage space.  

The Diamond 50RG is a complete pig weighing 3,175 lbs. EMPTY without options and it does not even come with CAPS/BRS!

They built a nice plane but that UL is misleading.  It only has a 54 gallon tank.  At 54 gallons I have close to the same payload in my bravo.  Since they also have a Lycoming 540, their range of 1000nm is LOP.  I’d be curious to see real world cylinder temps on engine performance claims.  For instance, the Bravo book performance is calculated at Peak TIT.  I don’t know how long my engine would last flying around everywhere at peak TIT (which is about 1730 degrees at a normal power setting).

[philiplane]

Let's face it though, the market has spoken. Since about 2008, both companies offered reasonably equivalent products (avionics & performance) in the Ovation vs SR22. Cirrus wins on useful load and cabin size.

For those who had the choice between a new Mooney and a new Cirrus, at the same price, well, you know the outcome. One company is selling 300 planes a year, and one is selling none. I'm reasonably certain those 300 people are smart buyers.

Mooney can't go much further with the constraints of the existing design. The long body series needs something substantial to compete. 200-300 pounds more useful load is the most important. A CAPS system would also be a big draw. 

The Pipistrel Panther doesn't compete with a Cirrus, it's more like a Diamond DA40 with a bigger engine and retractable gear. Cabin size is similar to a Mooney, but smaller yet in the baggage area. And when you read the fine print, you don't get four people, 200 knots, and 1000 mile range. Pick two of the three, like any other plane.