Low Time Pilot

[teethdoc]

So I'm about to finish up my PPL this month with about 55h.  I have a contract on an m20J that hopefully will go through as expected.  I need 25h in it with a cfi before I can solo in it.  This is completely understandable, but they are so fast it will take some effort to get the hours.  I'm going to have to pull it back to 50% power to build hours instead of just getting somewhere quick.  I see a lot of shrimp runs to the coast in the next few months.  I hope my cfi likes seafood.

[jlunseth]

It goes more quickly than you would expect.  You will need to get your Complex endorsement from your CFI also.  You might take up ten hours just going around the traffic pattern and learning how to slow the aircraft down in order to land it.  It is not that hard, but takes a little time.

 

Congratulations!  Lobster was the hot item last year, maybe this year also.

[Rwsavory]

Congrats! Consider using some those 25 hours for IFR training. You can run into weather quickly in your Mooney.

[bd32322]

Congrats on the upcoming PPL!

Try to get landing practice at different airports, different wind intensities and crosswind angles. Fill the 25 hours with as much meaningful flying as you can.

[rbridges]

why don't you transition into instrument training.  gets dual instruction and instrument hours at the same time.  that's what I did.

[Bartman]

I also recommend transition time to gain IFR experience. You could easily learn to slow down and land in about 5-10 hours and then do all of those seafood runs under the hood with your instructor.

[Becca]

Make sure to get a thorough pre-buy from an independent mechanic.  Make sure to read this board about common issues with an M20J and things to look for.

 

Don't use your dual time to do cross countries -- make it valuable training, get to know the planes slow flight characteristics, land in challenging conditions, learn to lean and learn about how to monitor your engine, get some instrument time, etc.

[aviatoreb]

I finished my PPL at ~50hrs and purchased a Diamond DA40 at ~75hrs.  I didn't start my instrument until ~110hrs.  I really enjoyed that period between PPL training and instrument - doing unstructured flying and just doing seafood runs (we go to Maine here to fetch lobster around these parts).

 

Looking back that was really important for me to have that break in training, because I never really felt like pilot in command while training for PPL, even when solo, and a little pause before working several times a week with a CFI again was important for me to take ownership of the whole decision making process. 

[mooneygirl]

congratulations on your new ticket, and your new Mooney.  The hours of dual spent with your CFI are a great investment. I transitioned from a Warrior to an E model. They are great airplanes.  Have fun fun fun

[DrBill]

Congrats on the PPL and plane..  I had to get 10 dual and 10 solo when I bought my "E".  The 10 dual went fast first doing all the stalls, slow flight and emergency stuff.  Plus learning all the avionics (autopilot, GPS, etc) and then approache speeds.   Make yourself a chart and get numbers of RPM and MP for 90 kts, 100KTS etc.. Speeds you'll use on approaches or when the tower says.. HEY MOONEY SLOW YOUR BUTT DOWN TO 90 KTS.  You can preset the RPM and MP and hold altitude to slow down.  Good practice for instrument approaches too when you get to that.

For the other 10 hrs, pick out some airports you've never been to.  Use SMALL ones so you get the practice with a CFI of taking your Mooney into short (c 2800ft) and narrow (40-50ft) runways.  I learned a lot from that and when I had to go to Farwell in Appomatix VA it was a piece of cake.

Welcome to the team.

Bill

[bd32322]

I also recommend transition time to gain IFR experience. You could easily learn to slow down and land in about 5-10 hours and then do all of those seafood runs under the hood with your instructor.

Do the hood hours before you have the seafood. Not good to get seafood on your new to you Mooney !

[Hank]

Congratulations, Doc! I bought my Mooney at 62 hours. Use the dual hours to learn the plane, how it handles, how to slow down, and land at many airports. All runways are different, so visit lots of them.

I recommend taking 50 hours or so to get comfortable with the plane before starting your Instrument training. Don't wait two years like I did. :-)

Welcome to the club. Enjoy your new ride. Fly it now like you plan to fly it later. The speed just means you can go more places, and farther places. Climb to 6000-9000 msl where our wing is most efficient.

Fly safe! Fly fast. Fly Mooney!

[FloridaMan]

It looks like the ROP/LOP debate got started early, with an LOP guy throwing the first punch. Welcome to Mooneyspace. 

 

Where are you located? I highly recommend going up with a highly experienced pilot for some upset and aerobatic training in something other than a Mooney and when you do your transition training, do it with somebody who really knows Mooneys. I would not trust my safety to a CFI with a few hours of Mooney time and everything else in primary trainers. 

 

I found my Mooney to be easy to fly and more enjoyable and fun than the trainers that I flew beforehand. Things happen much more quickly in these airplanes and they, supposedly, are not as forgiving as other airplanes when it comes to certain things, such as stalling without making sure you're coordinated (don't worry about what the ball is doing, just make sure you look outside at something in the distance, like a cloud, and keep the nose pointed at it with the rudder). 

[jetdriven]

Get the stick and rudder out of the way and dont call it complete until you can land confortably on a 2000' runway. A M20J will land and stop in 1200'.  After that, turn it up with precise instrument flying and LOP.   You have an efficient aircraft, at 50% power you can fly 1000 NM at max range power settings. 

[Bob_Belville]

In 1969 I got my PPL after 40.6 hours (all in C150.) I then joined "Flyers of Nashville" based at BNA where I had taken my instruction. The 20 member club had a Cherokee 140 and a M20E. My log book shows 1.8 hours for check out in the 140  and 4.8 in the Mooney and I was free to go. Total time 57 hours including getting checked out in a 172. Simpler times.

 

FWIW, my memory is that we paid $30 per month to cover all "fixed" costs for the 2 planes and $8 per hour for the 140 and $10 for the Mooney. Wet. N3224F is still flying somewhere in Florida.

[Becca]

if you are referring to my statement "learn to lean and learn to monitor your engine" - I worded it that way in particular to be independent if you are flying LOP or ROP.  You should know how to do it on either end of the curve, in that you need to learn how to find ROP or LOP, and you need to learn how to monitor your cylinder health because its a good way to prevent trouble or catch problems as they start rather than when they become catastrophic...  For someone who's flown 172's, learning how to manage our engines, use cowl flaps, etc. is a big transition topic -- you wouldn't believe what you hear -- Byron taught a guy who's flight instructor just told him to always leave his cowl flaps open! 

 

It looks like the ROP/LOP debate got started early, with an LOP guy throwing the first punch. Welcome to Mooneyspace. 

[FloridaMan]

if you are referring to my statement "learn to lean and learn to monitor your engine" - I worded it that way in particular to be independent if you are flying LOP or ROP.  You should know how to do it on either end of the curve, in that you need to learn how to find ROP or LOP, and you need to learn how to monitor your cylinder health because its a good way to prevent trouble or catch problems as they start rather than when they become catastrophic...  For someone who's flown 172's, learning how to manage our engines, use cowl flaps, etc. is a big transition topic -- you wouldn't believe what you hear -- Byron taught a guy who's flight instructor just told him to always leave his cowl flaps open! 

 

I think it was in response to JimR's post, but I don't remember. 

[jetdriven]

-- Byron taught a guy who's flight instructor just told him to always leave his cowl flaps open! 

 

No kidding. This guy just bought a 182, and his instructor said lean it until it stumbles, run the mixture knob in 3 full turns, and then leave the cowl flaps open at all times because "These 182's run hot".  No mention of how % of power, mixture, altitude, OAT, RPM, or anything else affects this. No wonder they replaced 3 cylinders at the last annual.  With a good EGT at minimum, and preferably a multi-cylinder CHT/EGT instrument, you can do way better.

 

That's advanced stuff. For now, get the basic airmanship stuff out of the way and tackle LOP etc later on.  Just don't climb 25 square. I cringe when I hear that. That old myth won't die. Learn the "target EGT" method for climb and leave those black and blue knobs full forward until cruise.

 

That noisy thing under the cowling cost north of 30 grand to replace when it goes bad.  Fly it often to prevent corrosion-related failures.  Besides that, keep your CHT under 400 and, time permitting,  learn how to operate it for maximum longevity.

[marks]

My advice is to land at very long runways and pretend they are 2,000 ft. long.  Measure your performance and nail the landing speeds you intend to use depending on the local conditions.  Fly until you are confident and comfortable.  Then take the next step.  Enjoy.