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Posted

Hi, 

I recently bought an M20J as my first aircraft, I have less than 200hrs of flight time and would like to hear your opinions about what to do, what not to do, how to fly it properly, maybe some great power settings you guys use. Any help or advice will be well appreciated. 

Have a nice day!

Posted

Congratulations on your new Mooney!

  • Fly often
  • Budget for maintenance and be proactive in giving attention to various systems.
  • Learn to land "by the numbers"...too much speed and you will set yourself up for incidents
  • Take others flying who have never gone before
  • Go places, make memories!

Alex

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Posted
31 minutes ago, Wojciech Kacprzyński said:

I recently bought an M20J as my first aircraft, I have less than 200hrs of flight time and would like to hear your opinions about what to do, what not to do, how to fly it properly, maybe some great power settings you guys use. Any help or advice will be well appreciated. 

Get excellent transition training from a CFI with at least hundreds but preferably thousands of hours *in Mooneys*.

  • Like 5
Posted
37 minutes ago, Wojciech Kacprzyński said:

Hi, 

I recently bought an M20J as my first aircraft, I have less than 200hrs of flight time and would like to hear your opinions about what to do, what not to do, how to fly it properly, maybe some great power settings you guys use. Any help or advice will be well appreciated. 

Have a nice day!

Get transition training

Learn to land it

Lots of practice

Get instrument rating

Fly the heck out of it and enjoy

  • Like 2
Posted
30 minutes ago, alextstone said:

Learn to land "by the numbers"...too much speed and you will set yourself up for incidents

And learn how these numbers can change with varying weights in the plane. Approach speed near max weight is very different from approach speed lightly loaded. Can get exciting if you don’t adjust for weight!

  • Like 2
Posted
48 minutes ago, alextstone said:

Congratulations on your new Mooney!

  • Fly often
  • Budget for maintenance and be proactive in giving attention to various systems.
  • Learn to land "by the numbers"...too much speed and you will set yourself up for incidents
  • Take others flying who have never gone before
  • Go places, make memories!

Alex

Thank you very much, I will certainly do so.

  • Like 1
Posted
17 minutes ago, Oldguy said:

And learn how these numbers can change with varying weights in the plane. Approach speed near max weight is very different from approach speed lightly loaded. Can get exciting if you don’t adjust for weight!

Thank you for the insights ^^

Posted
28 minutes ago, Oldguy said:

And learn how these numbers can change with varying weights in the plane. Approach speed near max weight is very different from approach speed lightly loaded. Can get exciting if you don’t adjust for weight!

But the angle of attack is the same. Install an AOA indicator and that's one less thing to mix up.

  • Like 1
Posted

Join MAPA [Mooney Aircraft Pilots Assn]. Take a weekend PPP [Pilot Proficiency Program]--they will teach you how to properly fly your Mooney, complete with power settings, expected performance and how to land correctly, i.e., not like a Piper where speed over the numbers can be ± 5-10 knots.

Then practice what they teach you until it becomes habit.

Posted

A bunch of little relatively inexpensive things:

  • Get a Kool Scoop , it helps immensely on hot days
  • RAM makes good yoke mounts for tablets and iPads
  • Replace the small C-loc fasters with Skybolt wide flanged fasteners.  You probably already have some C-loc's that are starting to pull through their worn holes in fiberglass.
  • A good MicroMesh polishing kit is nice for clearing up the side windows.  Avoid using on the windshield unless you know what you're doing
  • Get some safety wire pliers and learn how to do oil changes.  You want to do it every 4 months or so.
  • Print out new checklists and laminate them.  Keep a sharpie around.  As you figure out what does and does not work for you, make notes right on the checklists with the sharpie, later on you can modify the checklists as you see fit.
  • Replace the landing light with an LED if legal to do yourself
  • Print out a little laminated card warning about towing on an office chain that you can hang on the nose gear 
  • Get a pitot tube cover and maybe cowl plugs

 

  • Like 1
Posted

I did this last year with my New to me J. BEST thing I have ever done. 

Get good transition training from a CFI who has hundreds of hours in Mooney (ideally J's ) - talk to your insurance to figure out the minimum here 

If you don't have your IFR go get it in your plane (I did IFR6 down in Charleston SC and loved it and more than willing to chat about it more in depth just PM me) 

Set aside a maint budget, things break and things get old 

Send oil off to Blackstone for analysis and keep track of your engine 

Fly often and take long trips, I think the sweet spot for the J is 7-10k on trips of 250-500nm, will it do longer, yes but thats where I find its happy and more importantly my and my wife are happy 

go ahead and order a case of oil, and a few oil filters, you can order oil sample kits in bulk from black stone so you have one on hand 

get a set of travel covers (including tail) if you're going to take trips where you cant be inside 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Posted

Welcome aboard Woj!

1) Add your location to your avatar data fields…

2) If you are in Europe… there are other MSers near you…. (I tried to guess by your tail number)

3) +1 for Transition Training… there are a few Mooney specific things that are good to know and see before you need them…

4) Fly fast…

5) Fly efficiently…

6) Fly safely…

Enjoy!

-a-

Posted
15 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

A bunch of little relatively inexpensive things:

  • Get a Kool Scoop , it helps immensely on hot days
  • RAM makes good yoke mounts for tablets and iPads
  • Replace the small C-loc fasters with Skybolt wide flanged fasteners.  You probably already have some C-loc's that are starting to pull through their worn holes in fiberglass.
  • A good MicroMesh polishing kit is nice for clearing up the side windows.  Avoid using on the windshield unless you know what you're doing
  • Get some safety wire pliers and learn how to do oil changes.  You want to do it every 4 months or so.
  • Print out new checklists and laminate them.  Keep a sharpie around.  As you figure out what does and does not work for you, make notes right on the checklists with the sharpie, later on you can modify the checklists as you see fit.
  • Replace the landing light with an LED if legal to do yourself
  • Print out a little laminated card warning about towing on an office chain that you can hang on the nose gear 
  • Get a pitot tube cover and maybe cowl plugs

 

There are not a lot of hot days here in Poland, but thanks anyway, I'll consider it

A polishing kit sounds great

I already do oil changes, but did not realise it was 4 months and not 6, so thank you very much for the info

The sharpie is a great idea

I will have my LED installed right away with my mechanic.

Do you know any places where I can buy cowl plugs?

Thank you very much for the feedback ;)

Posted
15 hours ago, cwaters said:

I did this last year with my New to me J. BEST thing I have ever done. 

Get good transition training from a CFI who has hundreds of hours in Mooney (ideally J's ) - talk to your insurance to figure out the minimum here 

If you don't have your IFR go get it in your plane (I did IFR6 down in Charleston SC and loved it and more than willing to chat about it more in depth just PM me) 

Set aside a maint budget, things break and things get old 

Send oil off to Blackstone for analysis and keep track of your engine 

Fly often and take long trips, I think the sweet spot for the J is 7-10k on trips of 250-500nm, will it do longer, yes but thats where I find its happy and more importantly my and my wife are happy 

go ahead and order a case of oil, and a few oil filters, you can order oil sample kits in bulk from black stone so you have one on hand 

get a set of travel covers (including tail) if you're going to take trips where you cant be inside 

 

 

 

Hi, unfortunetely there are not a lot Mooney pilots in my neighborhood, there is only one that I found and he flies only K and TN models. But he teached me well I think.

I will for sure want to do my IFR training on my Mooney, if only I find a CFI that can both teach IFR and fly Mooneys ^^

Do you think a maint budget of 25$/hr would be sufficient?

Blackstone is not really close to me, diffrent continents, you know hahah, but I already do oil analysys every 50hrs.

What do you mean by the numbers 7-10k?

I recently bought a case of oil and now I am about to order the filters as you adviced.

Do you know any covers fitting Mooney that will ship to Poland?

Thank you for the advice :D

Posted
4 hours ago, carusoam said:

Welcome aboard Woj!

1) Add your location to your avatar data fields…

2) If you are in Europe… there are other MSers near you…. (I tried to guess by your tail number)

3) +1 for Transition Training… there are a few Mooney specific things that are good to know and see before you need them…

4) Fly fast…

5) Fly efficiently…

6) Fly safely…

Enjoy!

-a-

1) I did now

2) yup, Poland here

3) I had a transition training from an instructor fluent with the K and TN.

4,5,6) I certainly will!

Thank you <3

  • Like 1
Posted

1. Fly fast

2. Fly often

3. Good Mooney specific training is always valuable 

4. Put the gear down prior to touchdown

Posted
32 minutes ago, Wojciech Kacprzyński said:

Hi, unfortunetely there are not a lot Mooney pilots in my neighborhood, there is only one that I found and he flies only K and TN models. But he teached me well I think.

I will for sure want to do my IFR training on my Mooney, if only I find a CFI that can both teach IFR and fly Mooneys ^^

Do you think a maint budget of 25$/hr would be sufficient?

Blackstone is not really close to me, diffrent continents, you know hahah, but I already do oil analysys every 50hrs.

What do you mean by the numbers 7-10k?

I recently bought a case of oil and now I am about to order the filters as you adviced.

Do you know any covers fitting Mooney that will ship to Poland?

Thank you for the advice :D

Check Bruce’s covers 

I mean 7-10k feet 

the oil analysis is the important part so good there 

 

my cfii for my IFR had some Mooney time but when you’re learning IFR the cfii is not teaching you to fly the plane really, they are teaching you to trust the plane and interpreting the instruments, don’t worry so much about a cfii that also flys Mooney 

 

i would search for really good transition training unless you’re comfortable in you plane right now 

Posted

I remember a European Mooney group, something like EMOA? Uses to read about their get-togethers in the MAPA Log magazine. Surely MAPA could put you in touch with them?

Posted
5 hours ago, Wojciech Kacprzyński said:

There are not a lot of hot days here in Poland, but thanks anyway, I'll consider it

A polishing kit sounds great

I already do oil changes, but did not realise it was 4 months and not 6, so thank you very much for the info

The sharpie is a great idea

I will have my LED installed right away with my mechanic.

Do you know any places where I can buy cowl plugs?

Thank you very much for the feedback ;)

Didn't have a clue about Poland's climate :) When I moved here to the US Northwest, I thought it was always rainy and cold, but we still get a couple weeks of blazing hot weather during the summer (more so in the last 10 years).

Cowl plugs for the M20J can also be had from Bruce's Covers, it does seem like they ship to Poland.  Not sure if there's a source in Europe.

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