Flymu2 Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I'm considering purchasing one or the other. Given similar vintage, avionics and times, anyone care to comment on pros/cons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Ovations are solid IFR platforms and durable compared to the plastic alternative. Good luck with your decision... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
231flyer Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I have a friend who sold his Bravo and bought a 300. He was a low time pilot and the retract gear made him very nervous. Anyway he was not very happy with the performance of the 300 and ended up trading up to the 400 within the year. I think he has been in his 400 for 5 years and seems quite happy with his decision. His mission profile is mostly VFR 300-500 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSMooniac Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Tough choice, two great airframes. I have no idea what it costs to run a Columbia in terms of insurance and annuals, and would want to compare that against a relatively known quantity with a Mooney. The Columbia will have more room inside, and similar performance to the Ovation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flymu2 Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I was quoted $1700 for the basic annual inspection by Aero Industries at KRIC. The director of maintenance at Van Bortel said the usual annual runs $6-7000. That sounded high to me, but he would know. I don't have a quote yet on insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donshapansky Posted July 12, 2012 Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 My research is limited on the Columbia but I get all my avionics work done at Van Bortel since 2002 and spent a lot there upgrading 2 different airframes with better avionics and restoring pitot static intsruments. The pilots' comments are to a man that the 350 is gutless compared to the 400, they say the only appeal now to the Cessna 350 is that it is rare and that may cause the value to hold fairly flat. My bet is that it won't stay close to the Mooney unless you run it at the max end of the power scale, don't forget they performance numbers are shown at 2700 RPM. I guarantee you that annual cost will exceed the Mooney if you do the annuals at a Cessna dealer, they will remove all the auto pilot servos and check them for torque output, just that service will cost you $1,900.00 because the Cessna annual inspection calls for this. Maxwell acknowledges this but can also certify the aircraft as airworthy without this costly procedure. This is just one example, let alone surface cracks on the gel coat, rain errosion of the leading edges and cost associated with paint repairs on fiberglass surfaces, very few shops are capable and the cost is way up there. I think if you fly one the seats are tighter than the Mooney especially larger people have less room than the Mooney, there is no vertical seat adjustment except for different seat cushions, back angle adjustment is very crude, the pedals are adjustable to compensate somewhat, but the Mooney is a clear winner in the ergonomics area. Airframe strength is an unknown yet, the Mooney is well known as extremely strong, just read about the wing loading test, the test rig broke at 9 G's! You can't beat the steel chromoly airframe in a crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBCK Posted July 12, 2012 Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 This is hears say as I haven't experienced the 300, but I did read somewhere that the flying characteristcs of the 300 where not that great and it had some bad tendencies. These where corrected in the 350. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M016576 Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Probably not the best place for an unbiased opinion/review of the two... Go mooney or go home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flymu2 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Quote: M016576 Probably not the best place for an unbiased opinion/review of the two... Go mooney or go home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N513ZM Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 I have flown both - I reccomend you do the same. I have 6 years and >800 hrs in Ovation2 although I have recently sold mine. I also have ~4hrs in Columbia. You can get a FIKI Ovation - to my knowledge you cannot retrofit an older Columbia. I would buy the Ovation hands down. The only possible negative in this comparison is parts availability for the Mooney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.