Thinking about a Mooney?

[AcclaimML]

Bret, if you plan on frequent- business or personal trips, do whatever you can to avoid "sharing" a plane. You can jump in YOUR plane anytime YOU want and you won't have to argue with yourself about any upgrades or maintenance issues. I've done both and I'll never share a plane again. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are shared ownership groups that are like minded and have the exact same philosophy on operation care and maintenance of your bird. I just haven't met one of those groups yet. IMHO, planes are time machines and are the epitome of freedom. Like getting off work just a bit early and grabbing the wife ( carefully of course) and zooming down to Nawlins in just over an hour for dinner- just cause you can. - and a Mooney is probably your best ticket for that. Speed , cost of initial buy and operation, with useful loads more than adequate for your mission, any Mooney is going to be hard to beat.

[Hank]

Anyone around Owensboro, KY(KOWB) willing to give me a ride in a Mooney? I would be glad to buy the gas and give a ride in a cherokee.

Brett--

Just arranged to drop a buddy in Henderson in the morning. We're coming in my C to pick up his F.

Sorry for the short notice . . . . Barring fog on The River here, we'll be on The River there ~10/1030 Sunday.

[Bartman]

I have a '77 J model as well. I can personally attest to the flexibility of the 981 lb useful load that I enjoy. Wife and I took my parents from Kentucky to New Orleans to watch UK win the NCAA Mens Basketball National Championship this past spring. We made 1 stop each way and were legal with 4 people and enough baggage for the long weekend. I have looked at Beech for an upgrade, and although it is an excellent aircraft it does not have the flexibiliity of our J, and not even close on the fuel burn.

[gregwatts]

Which ever Mooney you decide to buy.........make sure it has the wingtips!

Just sayin'

[cathead]

Hank, are you offering a ride?

[Hank]

At least a look-see and test fit. Can probably manage a short local ride.

[danb35]

Hank, are you offering a ride?

Just saw your earlier post. I'm based at Elizabethtown during the week, and would be glad to have you check out my F if you're interested. PM me if interested.

[Skybrd]

I'm trying hard to get that image out of my head, Byron. ;-)

I've got a fair number of hours in a TN F-33 and with tip tanks and LOP it's an amazing cross country machine. The TN A-36 is even better. I'm too used to the seating of a Mooney to prefer a sofa seats of a Bonanza.

I've been checking out E-33 and F-33 Bonanzas recently and thinking about buying one. I don't like the reports of cylinders going bad and wonder if they would be a maintenance headache. I also read that the turbo normalizer (TN) models cause an enormous increase of fuel. One of my reasons for interest in F33 Bonanza is that my Mooney is about maxed out for value. If I add another 15,000 for a Garmin 540 GPS and get my tanks resealed for lots of money, I won't be able to get that back if I sell it. If I leave it the way it is and buy a Bonanza I can probably save the losses.

[Marauder]

I've been checking out E-33 and F-33 Bonanzas recently and thinking about buying one. I don't like the reports of cylinders going bad and wonder if they would be a maintenance headache. I also read that the turbo normalizer (TN) models cause an enormous increase of fuel. One of my reasons for interest in F33 Bonanza is that my Mooney is about maxed out for value. If I add another 15,000 for a Garmin 540 GPS and get my tanks resealed for lots of money, I won't be able to get that back if I sell it. If I leave it the way it is and buy a Bonanza I can probably save the losses.

Or you could just be trading your Mooney problems for Bonanza problems. I think the reality is that no matter what plane you are buying, there will be surprises. My brother-in-law bought a brand new Columbia 400. During the warranty period and afterwards he is still getting hit with big maintenance bills. For $529k, you think you would have bought some piece of mind. But new planes break just like old ones.

After owning the same Mooney for 23 years, I know that it serves over 90% of the kind of flying I do. Upgrading for the remaining 10% just didn't make sense to me. If my flying changed noticeably, like flying for business, needed additonal capability (FIKI) or routinely flying around high terrain, I would consider a plane change.

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[aviatoreb]

Or you could just be trading your Mooney problems for Bonanza problems. I think the reality is that no matter what plane you are buying, there will be surprises. My brother-in-law bought a brand new Columbia 400. During the warranty period and afterwards he is still getting hit with big maintenance bills. For $529k, you think you would have bought some piece of mind. But new planes break just like old ones.

After owning the same Mooney for 23 years, I know that it serves over 90% of the kind of flying I do. Upgrading for the remaining 10% just didn't make sense to me. If my flying changed noticeably, like flying for business, needed additonal capability (FIKI) or routinely flying around high terrain, I would consider a plane change.

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That was my experience - I owned a 5 year old Diamond DA40 for a while, and it had just as many small nit-pickey expensive little problems as my current plane the Mooney Rocket which is 30 years old.  A well maintained plane, once all caught up in its maintenance, then has a certain rate of the nit-pickey expensive things.  You would think a high performance turbo, retractible, tks airplane would cost more to maintain than a lower performance DA40, but somehow every little part was just more expensive in the new line of airplanes, so the over all cost is roughly the same maintenance wise for my now much more capable airplane. Of course I use more fuel and that costs more.  But I go faster too.  I was mostly talking about cost of maintenance in a given year.

[bonal]

Just a note to brettinlj I fly out of northern CA any time you are going to go north or north east stop in at Nut Tree Vacaville 100LL is 4.79 a gal there. Whenever we fly long trips we will stop and fuel there. Also think about parts availability best choice might be the 182 the Grumman could be a real problem if you need most airframe parts. And I know that annuals are more costly on the beech.

[marks]

IMO, the Debonair would be the perfect choice but they are all old.  Old Bonanzas can end up being very expensive.  I agree with others that having your own plane is always best.  When it comes to upgrades and even maintenance, you don't want disagreements.  If you like the Lycoming IO360 you might consider a Beech Sierra from 1981-1983.  It is slightly wider across the front seats than a Bonanza.  It has three doors.  The wing load is 20% higher than a 201 and as a result handles turbulence a bit better.  The useful load of my '83 Sierra was 155 lbs higher than my '89 J.  Cruising speed is an honest 136 kts. which is slower, but LOP runs just like a J.  A frequent 338 nm trip in my Sierra averaged 2.5 hrs. while in the J just 2 hrs 8 min.  There were fewer than 800 Sierras built and only 12 were built in 1983, so it's only a consideration.  I had one with the six-seat option and we did well with my wife and I in the front two teenagers in the middle and my younger daughter in the back row.  (The back row must not have more than 136 lbs in the seats.)  The Sierra was more than a foot longer than the J with shorter wings and was very stable in the air.  Perhaps the best thing for you is that the Sierra sells for less than a Mooney with the same engine.  I would avoid any 3 blade props on the Sierra.  Don't get me wrong, I love my J and it climbs to altitude faster than my old Sierra, but compared to a partnership the Sierra should be in the running.