When did you see your first Mooney?

[David M20J]

I just bought my first airplane ever and it happened to be a Mooney and this forum has been so helpful it got me thinking about when I saw my first Mooney and what my opinions were of it then, Im starting this thread as a fun look back.  Only opinions and first thoughts, no tech arguments.

 

My first venture into aviation was in 2004 when I took my first flight lessons (yes im a youngin), but college took priority so i didnt fly again till 2014, but before that I worked as a fueler for cutter at KDVT (2013).  There was this Mooney that flew in regularly as a commuter to our FBO and being young and dumb I thought it looked really weird, I even said to myself "I'll never own anything like that, that tail is so dumb looking".  The gentlemen that got out of it was this older gentlemen in his late 60s and all he want to do was talked about his Mooney while tipping us to park and fuel his plane like we did every other week.  As a good customer service rep I listened and seemed interested, but all I was thinking to myself was wow thats the dumbest looking tail ive ever seen.  When I buy myself a plane it definitely wont be that...

 

....fast forward... I go through helicopter flight school... fast fwd... I learn that I love anything that flies... fast fwd...

I want to get my fixed wing addon, my life long friend says he wants to get a plane too, we start doing research go look at tons of planes but nothing peeks our interest...

 

6 months into looking, he sends me a listing for a Mooney 1977 M20J, the next day both of us are on a plane traveling across the country to look at and test fly this mooney which we are now proud owners of.  While I still think to myself I would love to land on a short grass field, I could not be happier with my Mooney, I love this thing so much and maybe it's my first love syndrome, but she has already cost me thousands of dollars before I could even fly it but I still find myself wanting to drive to the airport all the time.  There was a 182 we were looking at and I feel like I wouldnt be as enamored with that 182 as I am with our Mooney.

 

Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon stage of buying my own mooney but curious about others experience with their first interactions with Mooneys because when I was young I thought I hated these things and here I am in love with mine 10 years later

[larrynimmo]

In 1977 while taking pilot lessons (which I didn’t complete during that century) a good friend took me up for a ride in a C and it got my dream started.  I regularly flew C150s topping out at maybe 100 knots under the best of circumstances…now I was in a sports car.

the M20J purchased in 2017, will likely be my only plane…

[Guest]

In about 1983-1984 I saw and worked on my first Mooney.  A 1964 M20C, C-FAZA still lives in Canada.

Clarence

[A64Pilot]

My Father had a C model way back when, as a kid I was allowed to push the button that turned off the wing leveler and dodge clouds

I remember it said Mark 21 on the wing tip I believe. It’s still out there flying although my Father has been gone a long time, N9241M.

I’ve never thought the backwards tail odd, quite the opposite, but I’ve always thought the swept back tails of the newer Cessna’s silly, the square tails work better as in more authority for less weight.

Edited April 20, 2022 by A64Pilot

[1964-M20E]

It was summer of 1978. I was a cadet in CAP at summer encampment Barksdale AFB in N. Louisiana.  I broke my arm and rather than ride 9 hours home on a 1953 old Ford Air Force bus Col. Sartess had his Mooney there and was flying back to New Orleans so I got my first look at and ride a Mooney 201.

[Hank]

When I was a student pilot in the XC stage of training, March 2007, a Mooney came up for sale. I'd been looking to see what I could afford, and actually test flew the Mooney (which was out of my price range, but what a ride!). It was hard to mentally set it aside and concentrate on finishing up, but it was still available after my checkride in May. The owner agreed to sell it to me a half at a time.

The evening we met for paperwork and that first big check was in June. When everything was done and he and I were all smiles, my wife asked if she could see the plane . . . . We both thought she had! Into annual it went, then transition training, and it was oh so much nicer than the FBO's rental 172s! I liked it so much, and mynwife enjoys going places in it so much, that we still have that little C.

[Greg Ellis]

I got my Private in 1993.  I do not recall ever seeing a Mooney until I went to buy one 16 years ago.  Now, I probably did see them around the airport but I just did not pay attention to them until another member of this forum, @KLRDMD, advised me to look into Mooneys when I was going to purchase one.  I am so glad I took that advice because Mooney never entered my thoughts at the time.  Of course, its like anything....let's say I want to buy a red corvette.  Well, all of a sudden I see them everywhere.  I think it is the same.  I bought one, now I see them everywhere.

[A64Pilot]

43 minutes ago, Greg Ellis said:

Of course, its like anything....let's say I want to buy a red corvette.  Well, all of a sudden I see them everywhere.  I think it is the same.  I bought one, now I see them everywhere.

My wife and I call that the VW effect, we never noticed them until we bought one ourselves in 1981, then there were so many it was sometimes difficult to remember which one was your’s in the parking lot

Edited April 20, 2022 by A64Pilot

[201er]

4 hours ago, David M20J said:

There was this Mooney that flew in regularly as a commuter to our FBO and being young and dumb I thought it looked really weird, I even said to myself "I'll never own anything like that, that tail is so dumb looking".  

You never mentioned how you got over the “dumb looking tail”?

[201er]

4 hours ago, David M20J said:

I just bought my first airplane ever and it happened to be a Mooney and this forum has been so helpful it got me thinking about when I saw my first Mooney and what my opinions were of it then, Im starting this thread as a fun look back. 

My answer is in a video 

 

[carusoam]

Youngin, you will learn…

1) MS rules for herding cats….

2) You can’t make up rules for a casual conversation… too much focus on what you don’t want to see…

3) Try making suggestions… some guidance to what you do want to see…

4) After reading several posts… the average reader won’t remember all of the rules….  
 

5) First Mooney I saw… in the mid 90s, M20C that was for sale at my home drome.

6) While I was… Training for the PPL…  took two years… financially constrained…

7) Looking for the right plane for me was a paper exercise… which planes had speed and efficiency and affordability…

7.5) Somebody pointed me to MAPA, and reading the MapaLog… there was an article about the ownership of M20Cs written by a Mooney engineer…  (first great insight)

8) Pre-internet and pre-Amazon days… I bought a book… in a Borders bookstore… that later got a Starbucks coffee counter in it… could spend an hour test-flying the book… 

9) The airplane consumer book outlined all available used airplanes in the market in order from lowest cost to highest… most affordable was 152… familiar, because that was also my training plane…

10) The M20J was sooo dreamy, but at least 2X my budget… twins and seaplanes and wooden structures got slowly eliminated…for financial reasons…

11) In the running… Cherokee150, Cessna 172, an Mooney M20C… all from the 60s… all equally affordable… Brands P & C had the advantage… people in my family had heard the name before….

12) Going Mooney… while the factory was in and out of closure and changing hands…. Same as today… all the wear parts are supplied by aviation suppliers not Mooney… Just don’t bend anything…. If you bend something… the pool of pre-flown M20Cs is quite sizable… and parts can be found…

13) The first M20C I saw… became available again after I finished my PPL… the affordable C172 had the expensive Continental engine in it… the Cherokee 150 I brought for a PPI failed miserably…

14) testing out the M20C… was magical… the plane selected me! 

15) Looking backwards… first Mooney I saw… I bought it!
 

16) The M20C met or exceeded expectations… if it didn’t… I would not be flying today…

17) Challenges I could get over… a bad cylinder in the first year of ownership…. Uncomfortable… it happened, I got over it…

18) Losing a cam, and having to OH the engine… that would have been a one way trip to the poor farm…

19) The difference today… The MS community… ask your questions, sort out the responses that best meet your situation….

20) Everyone is similar, but everyone is at different places in their lives…. Buying a house, having kids, paying for school(s), starting a company, nearing retirement, empty nester….

21) Oddly, inflation was always a part of capital equipment buying decisions… buying a plane with 20year old data had its challenges…. We’re about to see that again….

22) if you are lucky… your forever-plane is a Mooney….

Go Mooney!

Best regards,

-a-

[201Steve]

The original Microsoft flight simulator had a mooney. 

[Hank]

28 minutes ago, 201Steve said:

The original Microsoft flight simulator had a mooney. 

I remember the Sopwith Camel and Lear jet, but not the Mooney.

[carusoam]

How original was your flight simulator?

Did it have monochrome color?

Wireframe buildings?

Did the C172 always start at a now defunct airport in Lake Michigan?

Did you load a copy of the program from a 5 1/4” floppy disk?

Characteristics of MSFS in the 80s…. The dawn of the PC age… 

Simple program that was great at fanning the flames of flighty dreams…

Best regards,

-a-

[Greg Ellis]

6 minutes ago, carusoam said:

How original was your flight simulator?

Did it have monochrome color?

Wireframe buildings?

Did the C172 always start at a now defunct airport in Lake Michigan?

Did you load a copy of the program from a 5 1/4” floppy disk?

Characteristics of MSFS in the 80s…. The dawn of the PC age… 

 

Best regards,

-a-

Well, technically the first MS Flight Simulator may have had a Mooney.  The wire framed monochrome flight simulator of which you speak was created by SubLogic.

[Mooney Dog]

I remember staying late at the airport when i was learning to fly and i saw a plane come in. It looked slick and fast, and i said to myself that looks like a sports car for planes. I wonder if ill ever get to fly one, i hope so. i bet it goes faster than the 172 im training in. 

 

Man was i right about that.

[MooneyMitch]

My first Mooney sighting. Sometime in 1958.  I was 8.  

Some of my first memories were of my father taking me out to Tulsa airport, parking at the end of the runway to watch big airplanes (American Airlines DC6 type) take off and land.  

Beyond that my interest in flying machines continued. We were most fortunate to live out in the country, about 20 miles east of Tulsa during early primary school years, where our neighbor up the road just happened to have his very own airplane and his very own dirt strip.

Turns out the dad (Mr DeBore (spell?)was a WWII flying vet that continued his flying privately after the war.  Unfortunately, I was too young to be interested in his military flying career, so I know nothing about that.

I would wonder up the road ( about a mile or so) to the DeBores to get close ups of their Cessna 170 (incidentally, dad DeBore sold the C170 and purchased one of the first 172’s).

The DeBores had flyins at their place frequently.  Lots of little yellow airplanes would fly very low and slow over their home, waving wings back and forth.  One got so low over their backyard, it crashed.... no major injuries.  I was fascinated to continually inspect the broken airplane prior to its removal.

Ok, on to my first Mooney sighting.  My dad had a pilot friend at Harvey Young airport ( east of Tulsa).  Friend had a Cessna 170, which we were invited out to see one day.

I’m surveying all the little airplanes and my eye transferred to a little plane that looked so unique.  It sat very low and looked like a little fighter plane to me. A four seater, must have been an early M20 at that point in time.  I was instantly attracted to the racey looks and fell in love! 

It took me nearly 30 more years to become an owner of my first  Mooney.... N9505M, which I owned for close to 20 years....a 1967 M20F.

Still in love with those fighter looking little airplanes!   Go Mooney, go! 

[201Steve]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

I remember the Sopwith Camel and Lear jet, but not the Mooney.

Hmmm… maybe I am misremembering though. Perhaps it came out in later iterations. Or I am just making shit up in my head. Lol

[201Mooniac]

I got my PPL and IR in 1993 and after a few maintenance related issues with rentals decided I would buy an airplane.  I was looking for archers and arrows and one day I went to check out an archer and parked next to it was an M20J.  I went straight for it and didn't even really consider the archer after that.  About 6 weeks later I found my 1980 M20J just about 25 miles from my home and have owned it for 27 years now.  It is my first and forever plane.

[David M20J]

4 hours ago, 201er said:

You never mentioned how you got over the “dumb looking tail”?

I matured, and my tastes got better

[LANCECASPER]

In the fall of 1992 I flew my Cessna 172RG from San Antonio down to McAllen a few times for work. McCreery Aviation had a 1983 M20K 231 (N5655T) for sale with 1000 hours - first Mooney I had ever seen in person. I grabbed a spec sheet and did a lot of reading about the 231 over the next few months. Airplanes weren't selling fast back then. The next Spring it was still for sale and I traded in my 172RG on the 231 May 6, 1993. I got an hour check-out and flew it back on May 7, 1993. The first weekend I owned it I flew it from SAT - KGPZ (Grand Rapids, MN). The next weekend I flew it to Peachtree DeKalb in Atlanta and the 3rd weekend I flew it to Pensacola FL. Looking back I really didn't have a clue what I was doing, but really grew to appreciate the airplane and got used to it by flying it a lot. In 1995 I got my Instrument rating in that airplane. I traded it on a Bravo in Kerrville in September 1996. 

[Mcstealth]

1 hour ago, LANCECASPER said:

In the fall of 1992 I flew my Cessna 172RG from San Antonio down to McAllen a few times for work. McCreery Aviation had a 1983 M20K 231 (N5655T) for sale with 1000 hours - first Mooney I had ever seen in person. I grabbed a spec sheet and did a lot of reading about the 231 over the next few months. Airplanes weren't selling fast back then. The next Spring it was still for sale and I traded in my 172RG on the 231 May 6, 1993. I got an hour check-out and flew it back on May 7, 1993. The first weekend I owned it I flew it from SAT - KGPZ (Grand Rapids, MN). The next weekend I flew it to Peachtree DeKalb in Atlanta and the 3rd weekend I flew it to Pensacola FL. Looking back I really didn't have a clue what I was doing, but really grew to appreciate the airplane and got used to it by flying it a lot. In 1995 I got my Instrument rating in that airplane. I traded it on a Bravo in  September 1996. 

Lance, who is the skinny guy on your wing? 

 

Ps:  I have no room to talk.

[LANCECASPER]

1 minute ago, Mcstealth said:

Lance, who is the skinny guy on your wing? 

 

Ps:  I have no room to talk.

Haha I'm working on that. Trying to get more useful load the easy way.

[Will.iam]

I was born into mooney. My dad had a mooney execute that he traded on a brand new 1977 M20J from the factory in 1978 using the cash we were going to use to build our new home on our airpark lot they had in hidden valley. My mom wanted to kill him as they now had to scramble to get loans and borrow from friends and family to pay for the builders to start on the house. I loved how the tail and wings looked and thought all other airplanes looked like limped well you know. We even got a 78 vinyl record that was the song of the mooney 201 and as a kid I’d play that over and over. I sure wish I could find that record as it would bring back some great nostalgia. My dad would let me fly with a brief case under my butt so i could see over the instrument panel. He thought i held a heading well but i would just pick a point or object on the horizon and fly to that. Sometimes we would take our dachshund weenie dog and go float her in the backseat of the plane when we would do what i called hills to later find out those are called zero g push overs. Dad loved that he could go as fast as most of the twins at hidden valley saying he goes just as fast on half the gas. I’m sure they loved that statement. I was really glad to find a mooney with the same color scheme as my dad’s plane and now flying out of the same airpark, reliving the memories are fantastic. I love the efficiencies that only mooney give in the certified world of aviation. You have to go to homebuilt or experimental to get as good or better than mooney. 

[hubcap]

I saw my first Mooney in 1979 while I was working on my PPL. The first one I saw was fabric covered with a Johnson bar for the gear. I think that is the "A" with the wooden wing spars???

I absolutely fell in love with the Mooney when AOPA magazine ran a big article on the 201 and 231 but I couldn't afford the $31k price tag on the 231. I bought a Cherokee and it was a great plane but I always wanted a Mooney. I purchased My 1982, M20K, Myrtle a couple of years ago and she is everything I hoped she would be. She is my forever airplane. Will be doing a major avionics and autopilot upgrade this fall. She will be one of the nicest K's in the fleet when the upgrade is finished.