MOONEY M20F

[Ram]

Hello Mooney community,

I fell in love with the Mooney M20F when I started flight school.  Just got my PPL and thinking of buying a Mooney M20F, it fits my mission and plan to hold it for a very long time.  Would the M20F be a good plane to build hours?  

[Hank]

An F is a great plane to fly and travel, but not somuch for building hours--that's what slow planes are for. Of course you can reduce the throttle and lean an F, which will slow it down. But you'll still travel further, faster, on less fuel, than most hour-building planes. 

EDIT:  I recently flew with a CFII, a regular student trip, as part of my IPC. We took 1.4 hours and 14 gallons, where the "normal" trip is 2 hours and generally 20+ gallons.

[Ram]

Thank you for your feedback. 

[N201MKTurbo]

If you fly an F at 105 KTS, the speed of a C152, it uses less fuel than a C152. Consider it an option if you want to build hours.

[Will.iam]

Slow planes are slow because they can’t go fast. If he gets that mooney sure he could fly it as slow as the 152 and save more gas but i bet he will do that once to see that he can. Then he will fly it at the 152 burn rate or more and just enjoy the increased speed. 
 

[Eight8Victor]

It would be a great plane to build time. Your logbook will have more x-country hours and complex hours as well. 

[TonyK]

My opinion is that a 2hr flight is a 2hr flight if you are time building.   The real problem with the Mooney is the distance you can cover in that 2hrs.  Yes you can slow it down and not go far but you won't.  Speaking as a owner of a 172 and a F getting caught out with a airplane that won't start or penned in by weather puts the retrieval in another state which starts to be a burden on whoever you have to call to come get you by car.  My son is working his way through his ratings and I am dreading getting the call which will start a multi hour road trip.  Also there is a large delta between the all in operating costs.  The 172 with its fixed gear and simplicity is infinitely more affordable to maintain and insure than the Mooney.  All that being said if you are going to hang on to the aircraft for a long time and can afford it....buy the Mooney

[A64Pilot]

My normal cruise in my J is 135 kts and leaned out to 7 GPH, Sure I can fly faster too, but I’m often not in a hurry and flying with slower aircraft in a group.

‘I have also on occasion flown leaned out at 20” or 21” at 6 GPH, this gives me 1 GPH an hour more than my C-140, and 30 kts faster, so I’m actually burning less fuel  per mile than my C-85 in the 140

‘I don’t think she will fly comfortably at 152 speeds, but it will at its burn rate.

‘I’ll spend more in a year maintaining the Mooney than I will in ten for the Cessna though

Edited June 6, 2021 by A64Pilot

[eman1200]

F

[Utah20Gflyer]

I bought a g model Mooney for basically three reasons.  First to get my instrument rating, second to build complex and total hours and lastly to go places.  If you can afford to own and operate an f model Mooney it is a great choice.  If you wanted to build hours at the lowest cost possible there are other cheaper choices but you didn’t mention cost as being your primary consideration.   If in the future you want to move up in plane  then Mooney time looks a lot better to an insurance underwriter than C150 time so there are definitely advantages to building time in a Mooney versus cheap plane.  

[FastTex]

4 hours ago, Eight8Victor said:

It would be a great plane to build time. Your logbook will have more x-country hours and complex hours as well. 

I echo what @Eight8Victor said. I have an "F" and you can always go slower but you can also go faster when you are ready or when need to. Please do not underestimate the complex and x-country experience you will accumulate. That's a big value also from the insurance point of view.

[Ragsf15e]

Check to see if you can get insurance on an F.  Complex/retractable is tough with brand new ppl.  Possible, but could be prohibitively expensive.

[Ragsf15e]

4 hours ago, TonyK said:

My opinion is that a 2hr flight is a 2hr flight if you are time building.   The real problem with the Mooney is the distance you can cover in that 2hrs.  Yes you can slow it down and not go far but you won't.  Speaking as a owner of a 172 and a F getting caught out with a airplane that won't start or penned in by weather puts the retrieval in another state which starts to be a burden on whoever you have to call to come get you by car.  My son is working his way through his ratings and I am dreading getting the call which will start a multi hour road trip.  Also there is a large delta between the all in operating costs.  The 172 with its fixed gear and simplicity is infinitely more affordable to maintain and insure than the Mooney.  All that being said if you are going to hang on to the aircraft for a long time and can afford it....buy the Mooney

As a CFI, I’d be celebrating that phone call from your son that kicks off a multi hour road trip.  It means he’s realized he’s not indestructible and is learning to make good aviation decisions.  

[EricJ]

A J model is an F with a little better aero, so if you like an F then look at F or J models.

They're good for building time, and you have the option of flying far or going slow in the same time, so that's nice.

 

[N201MKTurbo]

9 hours ago, eman1200 said:

F

Damn right an F

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard Ram!

What are you building hours for?

If you want to see how people build hours for getting a pilot job...

Find Alex...

He has been flying an M20C/D... to get started...

It didn’t take too long before he was getting paid to fly somebody else’s single engine airplane...

And that got him to the next wrung on the ladder...

Sure, The M20F is a great Mooney.  ...And ownership is a great idea...

But why are you building time?

If you want to accumulate ratings.... many people get to commercial and IR in their Mooneys...

Complex and HP often come with the territory...

Unfortunately, HP will require something a smidge more powerful...

PP thoughts only, not a CFI....

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

19 minutes ago, JohnZ said:

Mooney excels at efficiency, safety, and useful load....

Some of the "to-be-desireds" that came with it:

• It is difficult for people that do not have good mobility to get in and out of, and my mother-in-law physically cannot get in or out of it....

The F is a lot of fun. Great for local flying and cross-country time building. Make sure to check AD compliance... some things to look for: corrosion AD and prop hub inspection AD. Get a good, thorough pre-buy inspection done by a mechanic that you trust. 

Good luck!

Tru dat!! My mother-in-law has the same trouble. 

20 minutes ago, JohnZ said:

• The cabin is a little tight. I'm 180 pounds, flying with anyone else in the right seat that is larger than me, it is snug.

That was me when I bought my C in '07. Since then, moving once and changing jobs three times has put a few pounds on me. The front seats in C and F models are the same. I've rarely had trouble these 14 years putting a second guy beside me; if the right seater is really large (i.e., 250+), then simply offset the seats one click--this is easy for me since I fly with the seat moved forward one click from where it locks in.

I used to tell people that the Mooney made my '01 Corolla seem roomy and spacious. 

[Bartman]

I bought a J in 2007 and after putting 1000 plus hours on her I couldn’t be happier.  However, in retrospect there was an F model we were looking at which was very well equipped and I simply didn’t know any better, but I could have bought a modified F which was basically the same performance as a J with better avionics for significantly less. 

[Ragsf15e]

4 hours ago, JohnZ said:

Hi Ram,

I purchased an F to be an affordable time-building aircraft that is great for both simple local flights and big cross-country trips. Mooney excels at efficiency, safety, and useful load.

Some really great positive features of the F, spoken from personal experience:

• You can expect 145-150KTAS at 6-10K ft on 11-11.5gph
• If you're wanting to slow down and burn less gas then you can pull it back to about 120KTAS on 9gph or less
• With 64 gallon fuel tanks, I can fly comfortably for 4.5 hours and go 600nm+ with IFR reserves
• My F has a 942 pound useful load
• It is very comfortable when flying single-pilot

 

Some of the "to-be-desireds" that came with it:

• It is difficult for people that do not have good mobility to get in and out of, and my mother-in-law physically cannot get in or out of it
• The cabin is a little tight. I'm 180 pounds, flying with anyone else in the right seat that is larger than me, it is snug.
• Parts availability and maintenance is I think a little more of a challenge with the F than newer Mooney's or other more mainstream general aviation aircraft

The F is a lot of fun. Great for local flying and cross-country time building. Make sure to check AD compliance... some things to look for: corrosion AD and prop hub inspection AD. Get a good, thorough pre-buy inspection done by a mechanic that you trust. 

Good luck!

 

I agree with everything you said, but my F will definitely go faster than 120 on 9gph.  Have you tried LOP at ~8,000’?  You should be close to 140+ and 9gph.