M20J GOAT

[201er]

The M20J was tied with 252 for greatest Mooney of all time. Which year/version of the M20J do you consider the greatest of all time? Not just the newest or most expensive, but the most innovative, influential, aesthetic, appealing, and most ahead of its time? 

[anthonydesmet]

Write in vote:

The Mooney you own

[201er]

32 minutes ago, anthonydesmet said:

Write in vote:

The Mooney you own

Well you don't have an M20J but you still get to vote which you think is the greatest M20J of all time.

[toto]

I think we can all agree that 1989 is the year that everything just came together in perfect harmony for the J model

 

[M20F]

3 hours ago, anthonydesmet said:

Write in vote:

The Mooney you own

Haha that is the truth.  It could be missing a wing and somebody on this forum would be like no really, best plane ever.  We all know the 67F is the best though deep down. 

[201er]

20 minutes ago, M20F said:

Haha that is the truth.  It could be missing a wing and somebody on this forum would be like no really, best plane ever.  We all know the 67F is the best though deep down. 

To be fair, there’s also a difference between thinking that’s the best model cause you’ve had it vs you specifically chose to buy that model cause you thought it was the greatest.

 

[redbaron1982]

I like my 1985 201 LM, is not one of the options though... 

[BlueSky247]

How about the best version being the one without leaking fuel tanks and gimpy landing gear actuator? 

[Beard]

Mine J is a 1984 and I believe it is the first year with the one piece belly pan. So that gets my vote.

[M20F]

23 hours ago, 201er said:

To be fair, there’s also a difference between thinking that’s the best model cause you’ve had it vs you specifically chose to buy that model cause you thought it was the greatest.

 

I know what you mean and glad we both agree 67 F hits all the numbers. 

[ArtVandelay]

Mine J is a 1984 and I believe it is the first year with the one piece belly pan. So that gets my vote.

You can retrofit early models, my 78 has 1 piece belly, winglets, speed brakes, wing taxi/landing lights, etc.

[EricJ]

The 77 still has the quadrant engine controls, crank handle emergency gear deployment, and flat glareshield.   This makes it far superior to later production years.

BTW, the aluminum belly skins weigh less than the one-piece and are far easier to remove than the one-piece, especially if you only need to get at one thing.

[Will.iam]

I tend to agree the 1977 model. As it had the biggest jump in performance. All the J’s afterward had small incremental gains. 

[M20F-1968]

How about the one that is turbonormalized and has long-range tanks?

John Breda