Advice on an orphaned K model?

[BlueSky247]

Swung by and had another look at it today. Might as well share a pic so you guys can see what I’m talking about. I tried to get one of the nice panel in it but the windows were too dirty.  Sure hope he gets it back in the air soon. 
 

[Fly Boomer]

15 hours ago, BlueSky247 said:

Swung by and had another look at it today. Might as well share a pic so you guys can see what I’m talking about.

While I hate to add anything to the emotional attraction, the TKS on that 252 is pretty rare, and would cost a fortune if you could even get it these days.  Probably an inadvertent system but, while FIKI is "better", inadvertent is way better than no ice protection.

[BlueSky247]

Oh, I agree. Realistically, this one is way outside of my current price range between that and the panel. 
 

Emotional attraction was done for when I found out the service celing on it.  I have been playing around in foreflight with that one and winds aloft. Dang it can cover some ground!

[LANCECASPER]

17 minutes ago, BlueSky247 said:

Oh, I agree. Realistically, this one is way outside of my current price range between that and the panel. 
 

Emotional attraction was done for when I found out the service celing on it.  I have been playing around in foreflight with that one and winds aloft. Dang it can cover some ground!

When I first got a Mooney 231 I used to fly it up to FL240 a lot, later in the first Bravo I had many flights at FL250, with no oxygen backup and no pulse oximeter. Very foolish.

Even though the service ceiling of a Mooney 252 is FL280, I would be very reluctant to take an unpressurized airplane that far into the flight levels. Useful consciousness time at the altitude is near zero when you have an oxygen failure. 

Having a backup O2 and a regular check on o2 saturation helps make it safer.

Things can happen. 

 

[BlueSky247]

Great points. I wouldn’t even consider going over 10k without a bio monitor going. Would be interesting to see what options are out there to have a fast backup tank in the loop as well. 

[natdm]

3 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

When I first got a Mooney 231 I used to fly it up to FL240 a lot, later in the first Bravo I had many flights at FL250, with no oxygen backup and no pulse oximeter. Very foolish.

...

Having a backup O2 and a regular check on o2 saturation helps make it safer.

 

Not to derail too much, but I'm pretty ready for some 240 trips (IFR, O2D2, oxygen, oximeter, masks, mission). What backups would you suggest for oxygen? We have a 79 231 and we strap a tank to the back of a seat. Would you do a whole other tank, or something like those boost cans?

Edit: Wondering if getting this as a backup and just being able to switch the O2D2 to it would be better. I'd be able to keep the mask on and coordinate with ATC.

[LANCECASPER]

15 minutes ago, natdm said:

Not to derail too much, but I'm pretty ready for some 240 trips (IFR, O2D2, oxygen, oximeter, masks, mission). What backups would you suggest for oxygen? We have a 79 231 and we strap a tank to the back of a seat. Would you do a whole other tank, or something like those boost cans?

Edit: Wondering if getting this as a backup and just being able to switch the O2D2 to it would be better. I'd be able to keep the mask on and coordinate with ATC.

Boost is definitely better than nothing to get you back down to a breathable altitude. Another portable tank would be best case. 

Not a bad idea to go up with an instructor that has a lot of time in high altitude operations in an a pressurized single.

[BlueSky247]

You guys are a motherlode of great pointers. (Referring to the logbooks thread as well.). Sure would be cool if there could be an index of all those awesome nuggets of wisdom. 

[Texas Mooney]

3 minutes ago, BlueSky247 said:

You guys are a motherlode of great pointers. (Referring to the logbooks thread as well.). Sure would be cool if there could be an index of all those awesome nuggets of wisdom. 

No need.  Just search on google with the string starting with

• site:mooneyspace.com and then add whatever you are looking for

For instance you might search with site:mooneyspace.com m20k prepurchase and you would get

•  site:mooneyspace.com m20k prepurchase - Google Search

It is better than the search function on this site.  You can find links to threads, pictures and videos.  Sadly many (most?) images were lost when the site migrated to a new server a few years ago.

[Fly Boomer]

9 hours ago, BlueSky247 said:

Emotional attraction was done for when I found out the service celing on it.

The story I was told by Bob Kromer (test pilot for the 252) was that Marketing had already decided to call it the 252 (meaning miles per hour), and it was his job to make it go that fast.  Only way he could do it was to go up to 28,000 feet.  Not sure, but it may be the highest ceiling of any model they ever built.

[Fly Boomer]

5 hours ago, natdm said:

What backups would you suggest for oxygen? We have a 79 231 and we strap a tank to the back of a seat. Would you do a whole other tank, or something like those boost cans?

Both.  Oxygen is like fuel.  The only time you can have too much is when you are on fire.

[LANCECASPER]

37 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

The story I was told by Bob Kromer (test pilot for the 252) was that Marketing had already decided to call it the 252 (meaning miles per hour), and it was his job to make it go that fast.  Only way he could do it was to go up to 28,000 feet.  Not sure, but it may be the highest ceiling of any model they ever built.

That's exactly right. The M22 Mustang (pressurized) only had a 24,000 ft. service ceiling.

[BlueSky247]

6 hours ago, Texas Mooney said:

No need.  Just search on google with the string starting with

• site:mooneyspace.com and then add whatever you are looking for

For instance you might search with site:mooneyspace.com m20k prepurchase and you would get

•  site:mooneyspace.com m20k prepurchase - Google Search

It is better than the search function on this site.  You can find links to threads, pictures and videos.  Sadly many (most?) images were lost when the site migrated to a new server a few years ago.

You are absolutely right, and that does work very well. I should have been more clear - I'm referring to things like this log book goldmine. There's entire areas or topics some might not even know to search for. I was thinking that having an index "best of" would be a great way to pick up great tips. Maybe the AI's will sort all that out in the next year or two.