Does anyone in the Pacific Northwest have a Rocket I could get a ride in?

[wombat]

Looking at buying a rocket, but I've never flown in one before.   

Anyone in Washington or maybe Idaho, Oregon, or Western Montana have one and would be willing to take me up for a short flight?

[Austintatious]

Good luck, you will love the rocket... Absolutely amazing airplane.   I'm not up there, but If you find yourself in DFW I could take you up.

[geoffb]

252AC is here in Corvallis for sale.  None better.  I suspect you could arrange a test flight if you’re actually looking to buy.

pretty plane, fresh engine, the best maintenance, regular use, zero abuse.  If I didn’t aleady have the 262, I’d have bought it.

i believe it’s on TAP

[geoffb]

It flys like a Mooney, just faster and a bit nose heavy.  Otherwise, it’s like any other K.  You have E experience, so did I and the transition is about zero.  Learning to manage the turbocharged engine takes time but the plane flies like a Mooney.  More stable in pitch than a short-body

[Austintatious]

34 minutes ago, geoffb said:

It flys like a Mooney, just faster and a bit nose heavy.  Otherwise, it’s like any other K.  You have E experience, so did I and the transition is about zero.  Learning to manage the turbocharged engine takes time but the plane flies like a Mooney.  More stable in pitch than a short-body

The CG envelope is exactly the same as the 20k...     Most rockets have Charlie weights and an extra battery in the tail...  The ONLY way I can be too far forward CG is to have 2 225 people in the front seats with an empty baggage and rear seats... this will put me about 1 inch forward and the plane flies just fine ( I know because I flew it this way on the demo flight with the previous owner and figured it out after Buying)  Put people or stuff in the back and you find yourself smack in the middle of the envelope.

The turbo is easy to manage... the waste gate is automatic.  It is wild how little I touch the engine controls. I take off and climb full power... then I back down after leveling off to 29/22, lean to 17.5 gallons and cruise away at anything from 180-210 KTAS (depending on altitude).  Descend at 600 FPM, leave power where it is at... then about 10 miles from the field reduce MP to 19 inches.   Configure on speed, reduce power as needed, speedbrakes as needed... Leave mix and prop alone till touchdown... If there is a reason to I will increase RPM to 2500, otherwise I do not bother.

 

[Fly Boomer]

2 hours ago, Austintatious said:

Most rockets have Charlie weights and an extra battery in the tail...

According to the latest W&B data, mine is a little more nose heavy than what you describe.  How many Charlie weights do you have in your tail?  I have two, but thinking I may need three to move the CG back a little.  Also, I should ask what prop you have -- I still have the McCauley 3AF32C505.

[Austintatious]

I believe there are 3 in the tail of mine... I have the McCauley 3 blade...  I would like the MT prop though for all the other benefits...  Maybe If I got it a charlie weight or 2 could be removed.

That could potentially get me to 800+ lbs of full fuel payload.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Austintatious

[Fly Boomer]

2 minutes ago, Austintatious said:

I believe there are 3 in the tail of mine... I have the McCauley 3 blade...  I would like the MT prop though for all the other benefits...  Maybe If I got it a charlie weight or 2 could be removed.

I suspect at least one could be removed.  We would need to know the weight of the two props and the arm for both the prop and Charlie weight to calculate.  I think each Charlie weight is about six pounds.

[Niko182]

1 hour ago, Austintatious said:

I believe there are 3 in the tail of mine... I have the McCauley 3 blade...  I would like the MT prop though for all the other benefits...  Maybe If I got it a charlie weight or 2 could be removed.

That could potentially get me to 800+ lbs of full fuel payload.

whats your useful load?

[Austintatious]

6 minutes ago, Niko182 said:

whats your useful load?

around 1150 right now...   75g of fuel = 450 lbs            1150 - 450  = 700 lbs 

I thought the MT prop was about 65 lbs lighter... maybe I have that wrong.

[Niko182]

1 minute ago, Austintatious said:

around 1150 right now...   75g of fuel = 450 lbs            1150 - 450  = 700 lbs 

I thought the MT prop was about 65 lbs lighter... maybe I have that wrong.

No long range tanks on the rocket?

[T. Peterson]

On 3/19/2023 at 11:26 AM, Austintatious said:

Good luck, you will love the rocket... Absolutely amazing airplane.   I'm not up there, but If you find yourself in DFW I could take you up.

I am in the DFW area……. But I’m afraid a ride in your Rocket will turn me into a very covetous man!!!

 I better stick with my leaky 231…..

[wombat]

@geoffb Thanks, I might head down there at some point.   My father-in-law lives in Corvallis and keeps his planes there and I get there once a quarter or more.  Part of my mission with the Rocket is to get down there more often.   I saw N252AC for sale, and since it doesn't have TKS I'm not interested at this time.    If I got a flight in that it would be purely a gift from the seller.

 

[Will.iam]

On 3/20/2023 at 2:02 PM, T. Peterson said:

I am in the DFW area……. But I’m afraid a ride in your Rocket will turn me into a very covetous man!!!

 I better stick with my leaky 231…..

Nah 17.5 vs 10 to go 180 instead of 160. I’ll take the slower speed for less gas especially with fuel up at $6 per gallon. When i got my plane it was only 2.20 per gallon. Now your useful load is impressive. 

[wombat]

Well, I now have a signed purchase agreement; just waiting on the prebuy.   The one I'm looking at is N5773S

 

https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/221183449/1985-mooney-m20k-305-rocket-piston-single-aircraft

 

If anyone has any knowledge of this plane other than what I can get from the FAA or in the advertisement, please let me know!

[Fly Boomer]

9 hours ago, wombat said:

Well, I now have a signed purchase agreement; just waiting on the prebuy.   The one I'm looking at is N5773S

 

https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/221183449/1985-mooney-m20k-305-rocket-piston-single-aircraft

 

If anyone has any knowledge of this plane other than what I can get from the FAA or in the advertisement, please let me know!

Nice!  We need more Rockets.  Certainly looks good in the pictures.  Hope it pans out.

[wombat]

Thanks.  I do too.

[BobbyH]

20 hours ago, wombat said:

Well, I now have a signed purchase agreement; just waiting on the prebuy.   The one I'm looking at is N5773S

 

Beautiful looking airplane.  Looks like you will be working with Jimmy Garrison.  My experience is he is upfront and easy to work with.  Like Fly Boomer said, hope it works out well for all involved. 

[T. Peterson]

On 3/23/2023 at 7:10 AM, wombat said:

Thanks.  I do too.

I think it’s probably awful! Just buy mine and I will sacrifice myself and take that one off your hands. 

[wombat]

Jimmy and I are still working on finding our stride.       Let's see how it all goes.

I think we've got a shop to do the exam the week after next and I'm now coordinating to get the plane over to the shop's location, and trying to get dates locked down so I can buy airline tickets to go see it then.

But so far I'm not seeing anything to keep me from buying it.  

[Austintatious]

On 3/20/2023 at 1:29 PM, Niko182 said:

No long range tanks on the rocket?

Nope, one of the few without apparently... I haven't found it to be much of an issue... 3.5 hours is about time for a stretch anyway... and also, usually the cheap fuel is in between the places I want to go.  All long range tanks would do for me is allow me to buy more 7.00 a gallon fuel.

[Austintatious]

On 3/22/2023 at 1:12 AM, Will.iam said:

Nah 17.5 vs 10 to go 180 instead of 160. I’ll take the slower speed for less gas especially with fuel up at $6 per gallon. When i got my plane it was only 2.20 per gallon. Now your useful load is impressive. 

That's a bit slanted.  The rocket is more realistically 17.5 to go 190-210 KTAS, just depends on altitude, and It can get up there... at FL190 you see 210... at FL210 215KTAS.  And truth be told, if I could figure out how to get more air over the number 5 cylinder, I could probably get the flow down to 16 gph.    And FWIW, I can absolutely bring the power back to 10 GPH and still do 165 KTAS.... I do this with big tailwinds when stretching fuel...

Where the extra power /speed comes in is when you have no choice but to suffer large headwinds... Faster is better.  For instance, should you and I race from A to B... in a 160 knot wind... well, i will finish and you would still be at the starting line.