What’s the biggest myth about Mooney’s?

[201er]

What myths do you hear about Mooney’s? How did getting one change or confirm them?

[corn_flake]

I found the Mooney to be easier to land than Cessna as long as you fly by the number.  Point and shoot.  I even done one in complete darkness with no light.   Cessna tend to wonder all over the place. Establishing a stabilized approach in a Cessna in anything other than calm wind is not easy.  At least for me. 

 

[carusoam]

Today’s myth spreader…

Not bad, just not perfect….

More good than bad… be nice to Mike Mojo…   
 

it does have at least one myth in there…

Probably a few MSers making adjustments in the comment section…

Buying a Mooney was challenging…

It is undoubtedly a better machine than brand B and C…

Buying a plane built by a small machine company in TX, under a string of ownership changes… takes comfort in knowing what you have before plunking down the dough…

22 years of Mooney ownership… no looking back now…

Having two kids growing up in the back seats… proves the Mooney’s size issues… the Long Body solved that…

Suggested Competition… who can put the nicest comment in Mike Mojo’s YT video… 

-a-

 

 

[Mooneymite]

How about the huge myth that Mooney owners are C.B.s?

Oh, wait....    

[INA201]

The difficult to land may be reality until you get it dialed in. Once you get it right it becomes a myth again.  Pipers, Cessnas, and even a Bo is a joke to land comparatively nowadays but maybe that’s just me. Crosswinds are so easy to handle in the Mooney imop.  Tailwinds not so much in the Mooney. Just my two cents. 

[Mufflerbearing]

I love that people actually think Mooneys are hard to land.  That's cute.  Just stick to the numbers and it's butter!

I just finished my tail wheel endorsement flying a 1946 champ with huge off road tires.  Landing that plane with a 15 knot crosswind is a hand full.  The Mooney really doesn't fight in a crosswind.

[ilovecornfields]

6 hours ago, Mooneymite said:

How about the huge myth that Mooney owners are C.B.s?

Oh, wait....    

When I approached my current mechanic I told him that I heard he was reluctant to work on Mooneys but I was hoping he would make an exception. He said “I have nothing against Mooneys. It’s the owners that drive me crazy!”

[Mooneymite]

2 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

When I approached my current mechanic I told him that I heard he was reluctant to work on Mooneys but I was hoping he would make an exception. He said “I have nothing against Mooneys. It’s the owners that drive me crazy!”

Our lust for efficiency apparently spills over into "financial efficiency".  We don't believe in wasting fuel, energy...or money.  

[RobertGary1]

It is hard to land a Mooney that is too fast. But not hard when slowed down. 
Im a big guy and find the Mooney one of the more comfortable planes. I’ve had various Bo’s too and the yoke was always hitting my knee. 

[ArtVandelay]

Biggest myth is they’re a tight fit.

[A64Pilot]

1 hour ago, ArtVandelay said:

Biggest myth is they’re a tight fit.

In a manner of speaking it’s not a Myth.

Many years ago my Father sold his C-210 and bought a Mooney, compared to a C-210 a Mooney is small, and difficult to get into, Cessna has a big door, front seaters get in, position their seats and the back seaters get directly in climbing over nothing. It’s a whole lot harder to get into and out of a Mooney, it’s a little like my Miata, plenty of room once your in, but getting in and out is more difficult.

Personally I find the nose gear well restrictive, if it were a tailwheel it would have so much more room, be faster too

[Mooney in Oz]

1 hour ago, A64Pilot said:

In a manner of speaking it’s not a Myth.

Many years ago my Father sold his C-210 and bought a Mooney, compared to a C-210 a Mooney is small, and difficult to get into, Cessna has a big door, front seaters get in, position their seats and the back seaters get directly in climbing over nothing. It’s a whole lot harder to get into and out of a Mooney, it’s a little like my Miata, plenty of room once your in, but getting in and out is more difficult.

Personally I find the nose gear well restrictive, if it were a tailwheel it would have so much more room, be faster too

Apples and oranges comparison.

C210 is a 6 seater load hauler. Mooney is not and doesn’t try to be.

[201er]

2 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Personally I find the nose gear well restrictive, if it were a tailwheel it would have so much more room, be faster too

It’s been done but it wasn’t faster or much roomier.

[Shadrach]

For all of the above plus some new ones, I give you Mac McClellan and this steaming pile of an article from Air “Facts”:

Mooney owners focused on one thing. How fast they flew on so little fuel.Fuel efficiency matters to every pilot. Even in the days when avgas sold for well under a buck a gallon. But pilots also balanced fuel efficiency against cabin room, payload, runway performance, and cruise speed.Not Mooney owners. They traded all that stuff for fuel efficiency. Tiny cabin? Of course. Anemic runway performance and not much climb? Yes, kind of. Weird landing characteristics? Yes, unless you know how. Not really the fastest cruise speed? But look how little fuel it burns.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Shadrach

[Guest]

I flew a J model yesterday, it reinforced my decision on buying my Comanche. Small cabin, noisy, lacks acceleration, climbs too slow, cruises too slow, but it is good on fuel.

Clarence

[Mooney in Oz]

1 hour ago, M20Doc said:

noisy, lacks acceleration, climbs too slow, cruises too slow,

That's what you get for forgetting to retract the gear and/or flaps after takeoff.

Don't worry, it can happen to anyone. 

[Brandt]

Well, there’s a myth among Cirrus owners that Mooneys really aren’t that much faster….

[A64Pilot]

11 hours ago, 201er said:

It’s been done but it wasn’t faster or much roomier.

I don’t know what that is, but it doesn’t look like a Mooney, wings and tail are wrong, look at the flaps and wing tips. Almost looks like a Meyers 145 maybe?

Cabin is wrong for a Meyers though

If you look, it’s frontal area is less, which would make it faster, and removal of the big nose wheel well would to me make it a lot more roomy

Edited January 9, 2022 by A64Pilot

[A64Pilot]

13 hours ago, Mooney in Oz said:

Apples and oranges comparison.

C210 is a 6 seater load hauler. Mooney is not and doesn’t try to be.

OK, then an Aero Commander 114, which is a very roomy airplane, just slow, several of the Pipers are pretty roomy, but usually slower.

‘Unless someone changes aerodynamics, and the FAA rules if you want to go relatively quickly on relatively low power, it’s going to not be known for being roomy

[1980Mooney]

30 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

I don’t know what that is, but it doesn’t look like a Mooney, wings and tail are wrong, look at the flaps and wing tips. Almost looks like a Meyers 145 maybe?

Cabin is wrong for a Meyers though

If you look, it’s frontal area is less, which would make it faster, and removal of the big nose wheel well would to me make it a lot more roomy

That is a Globe GC-1B Swift made by Temco  with a 210 hp mod from the original 125 hp.

Perhaps when @201er says it has been done before he means that Roy Lopresti, of Mooney M20J development fame,  later developed the Fury based upon the GC-1B

"In the late 1980s, the Swift enjoyed a kind of revival when the Lopresti Fury appeared. Originally designed by Roy Lopresti when working at the Lopresti Piper Aircraft Engineering Company, the aeroplane was closely based on the Globe Swift.

The Fury was powered by a 200hp Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 engine, and had a maximum speed of 222mph. Lopresti secured the rights to the aircraft when the company went into bankruptcy.

There were then hopes that the aircraft, which had drawn a lot of attention, would be put back into production with Aviat, powered by a 180hp engine, but nothing seems to have come of it."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoPresti_Fury

https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/remembering-the-lopresti-fury/

https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/39749579/n80707-1946-swift-gc-1b

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_GC-1_Swift

Edited January 9, 2022 by 1980Mooney

[Yetti]

When we were going to pick up the plane the transition instructor took a look at me and said "you know you bought a mooney right?"    When we were flying back he looked over at me and said "Looks like you fit"

[EricJ]

2 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

That is a Globe GC-1B Swift made by Temco  with a 210 hp mod from the original 125 hp.

Perhaps when @201er says it has been done before he means that Roy Lopresti, of Mooney M20J development fame,  later developed the Fury based upon the GC-1B

"In the late 1980s, the Swift enjoyed a kind of revival when the Lopresti Fury appeared. Originally designed by Roy Lopresti when working at the Lopresti Piper Aircraft Engineering Company, the aeroplane was closely based on the Globe Swift.

The Fury was powered by a 200hp Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 engine, and had a maximum speed of 222mph. Lopresti secured the rights to the aircraft when the company went into bankruptcy.

There were then hopes that the aircraft, which had drawn a lot of attention, would be put back into production with Aviat, powered by a 180hp engine, but nothing seems to have come of it."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoPresti_Fury

https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/remembering-the-lopresti-fury/

https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/39749579/n80707-1946-swift-gc-1b

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_GC-1_Swift

A friend has a gorgeous Swift with a six-cylinder Continental IO-360.   It is slower, by quite a bit, than my J.  There's something about the Swift that is apparently pretty draggy, but I don't know what it is.   Awesome airplane otherwise.

[carusoam]

4 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

That is a Globe GC-1B Swift made by Temco  with a 210 hp mod from the original 125 hp.

Perhaps when @201er says it has been done before he means that Roy Lopresti, of Mooney M20J development fame,  later developed the Fury based upon the GC-1B

"In the late 1980s, the Swift enjoyed a kind of revival when the Lopresti Fury appeared. Originally designed by Roy Lopresti when working at the Lopresti Piper Aircraft Engineering Company, the aeroplane was closely based on the Globe Swift.

The Fury was powered by a 200hp Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 engine, and had a maximum speed of 222mph. Lopresti secured the rights to the aircraft when the company went into bankruptcy.

There were then hopes that the aircraft, which had drawn a lot of attention, would be put back into production with Aviat, powered by a 180hp engine, but nothing seems to have come of it."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoPresti_Fury

https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/remembering-the-lopresti-fury/

https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/39749579/n80707-1946-swift-gc-1b

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_GC-1_Swift

See if @Speed Merchant is familiar with that…

-a-

[MooneyMitch]

Biggest Mooney myth.......being sucked out of a Mooney when the door pops open in flight !!

[EricJ]

I think another myth is that they're so hard to work on.    While there are tasks that are kinda difficult on Mooneys, that's true of many airplanes.   Many things are far easiers on Mooneys than other airplanes, too.