New to me M20J

[jamesyql]

Greetings everyone,

Just wanted to say hello and thank you for hosting such a wonderful community. It has been invaluable to me over the past month while researching and finally (today!) purchasing a 1978 M20J. Deal closes next week.

I am on my PPL journey and plan to take it nice and slow with a combination of training in the pipers at my school and in my new plane. The eventual mission is family flights for weekend trips with my wife, young son and small dog.

I had a very detailed PPI completed and glad I did. Plane will need some work over the years (as they pretty much all do), and needs paint, but I'm looking forward to tackling those things over time and with the PPI I know generally what to expect at the first couple annuals.

Interested to hear thoughts on training in a Mooney or anything else that comes to mind for a student pilot planning ahead for a life of fun in the Mooney.

James

[NickG]

Congratulations and enjoy! Make sure you get lots of dual with a Mooney CFI. You need someone that knows the aircraft. Look like a beauty!

[blaine beaven]

Welcome to the club! I’ve got a 1978J as well here in Saskatoon. Yours looks very nice and you’ll love flying it. 

[BlueSky247]

Grats! I am also working on the ppl and in the process of hopefully buying a J. Make sure you continue your training right on into the instrument rating. Gives you a lot more flight planning options and a nice insurance discount.

[1980Mooney]

15 hours ago, jamesyql said:

Greetings everyone,

Just wanted to say hello and thank you for hosting such a wonderful community. It has been invaluable to me over the past month while researching and finally (today!) purchasing a 1978 M20J. Deal closes next week.

I am on my PPL journey and plan to take it nice and slow with a combination of training in the pipers at my school and in my new plane. The eventual mission is family flights for weekend trips with my wife, young son and small dog.

I had a very detailed PPI completed and glad I did. Plane will need some work over the years (as they pretty much all do), and needs paint, but I'm looking forward to tackling those things over time and with the PPI I know generally what to expect at the first couple annuals.

Interested to hear thoughts on training in a Mooney or anything else that comes to mind for a student pilot planning ahead for a life of fun in the Mooney.

James

 

That is a great looking M20J.  Resist any thought or comments from anyone here saying "never to early to start thinking about or saving for upgrades".  Just learn to fly it, learn more about it, improve your proficiency and enjoy it for now.  I also bought a used M20J long ago while working on my PPL.  I finished the PPL with the flight school Cessna 172 while flying the Mooney with a Mooney instructor at the same time.  Also start working on your Instrument as soon as time, money and life's interruptions permit.

It is still on Trade-A-Plane.  It looks nicely equipped. I see from the pics that it has Rosen visors.

 

[DC_Brasil]

Helly everyone.

I am in the process of acquiring a share on a 1990 M20J and I am very excited to join the Mooney community. It will go through its annual and we're also upgrading the panel to a G3X + Gi275 (backup) set up.

 

I have always been fascinated by the looks of the plane and now will have the opportunity to fly one. I hold a PPL license and am about to have my IFR checkride. Most of my 170 total hours have been flown on Piper aircraft (Cherokees 140, 180, some Arrows) and C172s, a few hours on a Diamond DA40 (what a fantastic plane!). 

I would like to ask you if you have some starting pointers for the initial training and transition to the new plane.

 

Thanks a lot.

DC

[NickG]

On 7/19/2024 at 5:20 AM, DC_Brasil said:

Helly everyone.

I am in the process of acquiring a share on a 1990 M20J and I am very excited to join the Mooney community. It will go through its annual and we're also upgrading the panel to a G3X + Gi275 (backup) set up.

 

I have always been fascinated by the looks of the plane and now will have the opportunity to fly one. I hold a PPL license and am about to have my IFR checkride. Most of my 170 total hours have been flown on Piper aircraft (Cherokees 140, 180, some Arrows) and C172s, a few hours on a Diamond DA40 (what a fantastic plane!). 

I would like to ask you if you have some starting pointers for the initial training and transition to the new plane.

 

Thanks a lot.

DC

Hi DC,

I can tell you that I transition to an Ovation after owning a Cherokee 235. It took me 35 hours of transition training to really start to feel comfortable. These planes can get ahead of you really quickly. They are wonderful to fly but they are not trainers. So my advice? Make sure you have a good Mooney instructor, and don't be impatient. Make sure you can fly the right speeds and equally as important - get used to the very much lower sight picture and gentle flare on landing. It could take you 5 hours or 50 hours... get the training you need and then you will really enjoy the Mooney. I could wrestle my Cherokee 235 to the ground if I needed to but try that in a Mooney and you'll likely tail strike, prop strike or both...

I never imagined it would take me that much transition training, but it did (I must be slow on the uptick), but at the end of day, every hour in transition was an hour well spent. 

 

Enjoy. There's truly nothing like a Mooney.

[Hank]

^{You can start your "transition training" now by working on airspeed control in the pattern and landing. Mooneys land when they are ready and not before; forcing a Mooney to the runway will lead to a bounce, best followed by a go-around and a second landing a little slower with more patience. Bob Kromer, former Mooney test pilot, later VP of Engineering, says that for every knot of extra airspeed in the flare, the plane will float 100 feet [call it 30 meters].}

If what you are flying now has a stall speed of 50 knots, pattern speed should then by 1.3 x 50 = 65 knots, but achieving the stall horn in the flare should be 55 knots. So try to level off after the flare at 55 knots, not 58 or 60, even though the Piper will let you land anyway, because the Mooney will not. It's all about the numbers--that's why people say to get a good, knowledgeable Mooney instructor, because he will know the numbers for airspeed, RPM, performance and landing.

Enjoy your new plane, and fly safe!