MagicCarpet Posted July 17, 2012 Report Posted July 17, 2012 Anyone know about this aircraft? http://www.aircraftmerchants.com/cf/acDetail.cfm?AircraftId=AF4ED3BD-EB93-4D07-A7B1-108F46178B90
KSMooniac Posted July 17, 2012 Report Posted July 17, 2012 I know someone that *almost* bought it, and then decided owning perhaps the only plane like that in the world might not be the wisest decision, and then bought a "conventional" Rocket instead. I believe there were only 5 liquid Rocket conversions total, and the others used an M20M airframe. That engine is very rare, and may or may not be difficult to operate in terms of parts and maintenance. RAM used it in some Twin Cessna conversions and are likely the best resource for supporting it. All that aside, it would be cool as hell, and maybe faster than just about any other Mooney. The payload SUCKS, though, if you're one to never exceed the gross weight limitations. I've heard that they'll fly with just about any weight that fits in the cabin, though. Tread carefully if you're thinking about buying it.
jetdriven Posted July 17, 2012 Report Posted July 17, 2012 Fill up all 90 gallons and put 298 LB in the cabin, its at gross. Put 60 gallons on put 481 LB in the cabin, and fly 3 hours plus reserve.
MagicCarpet Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Posted July 17, 2012 It is considered Experimental? I think it is very cool too. Most people have no more than a 3 hour backside.
jetdriven Posted July 17, 2012 Report Posted July 17, 2012 Nope, STC'd. Having a 3 hour backside is one thing. Having a 150K aicraft with a tight cabin and a two-person 550nm (3 hour) range is another.
MagicCarpet Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Posted July 17, 2012 220kts * 3 hours = 660nm, tight cabins in a Mooney? Yes. Anyone know what the weight overhead is for the water cooling? I think 50-60lbs. over a standard IO-550?
jetdriven Posted July 17, 2012 Report Posted July 17, 2012 That airplane won't do 220 KTAS average from brake release to top of climb, Nor in cruise below 15K, nor below 8000 feet all the way to landing. So your block speed is closer to 185 KTAS.
MagicCarpet Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Posted July 17, 2012 True math, but pretty cool still. Reminds me of the Mooney Mustang, very cool airplane but had some limitations. Besides, if you weren't a fat ass weighing 240 you could put more stuff in it too! Hah!
AndyFromCB Posted July 17, 2012 Report Posted July 17, 2012 Looked at one when I was buying my Bravo. The gross weight is a non issue. All long bodies got a paper increase to 3368 from the initial 3200 with no modifications, so I'd have no problems flying this baby at 1000 useful. Never seen a scale at a ramp check ;-) Quite frankly with that kind of power, you should have no problems taking off at about 4300lb but that might be pushing it a bit. From my limited experience so far, if Mooney just redesigned their landing gear, they would have a full fuel/full 4 seat aircraft because climb rate on my Bravo with only 270hp has never been a limiting factor even closer to 3600lb on take off. I've had 650lb in the cabin before, TKS full and 530 or so lb of fuel on board. Still saw 1100fpm climbing at 120knots. Once again, not recommended, to each their own. Trick I think is always landing below the 3200lb limit. You might actually be able to do 200knots door to door with this airplane if you're willing to climb to 25,000 and wear a mask and the fly on the redline in descents. Not the wisest thing to do in my humble opinion. My understanding is it will still do easy about 600fpm at 25,000 and gets there in under 25 minutes. At that altitude it will hit 240 to 245knots. The biggest issue with this airplane is you will chasing coolant leaks forever. At least that was the experience of the 421 driver I know who had the 421 converted to these engines.
Skywarrior Posted July 18, 2012 Report Posted July 18, 2012 A former airplane dealer I once spoke to warned me about coolant leaks also. That said, a Liquid Rocket owner once told me he'd never had any trouble with his. Oh well... my plain ol' Bravo is plenty fast enough, if I want it to be... :-)
jwilkins Posted July 20, 2012 Report Posted July 20, 2012 Just as a side note, Ronnie at Dugosh has the original Mooney Porche prototype fuselage in one of his back rooms, Mooney kept the engine and maybe the cowl, Dugosh bought the rest. Very cool to see a piece of Mooney history preserved. Jim
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