'82 TKS de-iced Missile - PRICE REDUCED

[mwthomps2010]

I posted this for-sale for this Missile about 3 weeks ago.  I'm reducing the price to $149,900 which in my opinion (admittedly I am obviously biased) is an absolute steal for the amount of airplane you are getting.

 

Contact me with any other questions.

 

-Mark

630-849-3608

mwthomps2010@yahoo.com

 

 

-- ORIGINAL POST (with newly modified price and some other minor changes) BELOW --

 

1982 Mooney Missile for sale.  Rocket Engineering STC to convert a standard M20J by adding a Continental IO-550A and a 3-blade, fully feathering Hartzell Scimitar prop. VERY low engine and prop times (120 SMOH and 90 SOH)

 

TKS anti/de-ice equipped. Only de-iced Missile I've seen anywhere. IFR equipped with a Garmin GNS 430W, KFC-150 autopilot, and King KNS-80 Nav/Comm with glideslope as radio/nav #2.

 

It is tough to beat this aircraft's speed-to-cost ratio.  Rich of peak, it will cruise at 175-180 KTAS on 16-17.5 GPH. It has GAMIs, so it can cruise lean-of-peak very smoothly at 155-165 KTAS on only 10.5-11 GPH. Better gas mileage than my wife's mini-van.

 

Other equipment includes a US-8A eight-point engine analyzer, 2 x Whelen Parmetheus LED landing lights, Monroy long range fuel tanks (93 gal useable), 2013 Weep-No-More main and aux tank re-seal, Tanis plug-in engine heater and new nose-gear shock discs (4/13).Grey leather interior installed in 1994 in good condition. New tires (8/13).

 

Useful load is 1000 lbs. Even if you top it off with all 93 gallons (rarely have I had to do that), that still allows about 400 lbs full-fuel payload.  Bear in mind that is 93 gallons...that gets you a 4-7 hour endurance depending if you decide to run it rich or lean of peak, usually way more than I need.  I usually on put 70-75 gal in it, and that's plenty.

 

Asking $149,900. Considering that TKS is a $42,000 option installed, this aircraft is a bargain with its low engine and prop times and how it is equipped.  I don't want to sell it, but the family is outgrowing 4 seats and the military is moving me soon!

 

Aircraft located in Goldsboro, NC

 

Contact Mark at 630-849-3608 or mwthomps2010@yahoo.com for more info.

 

[Seth]

The Missile is fantastic - and this one has TKS - if you have ever thought about upgrading look at this airplane.  I have not looked over the logs carefully, but do look at this plane.  I'm a Missile owner and it is wonderful - I'd love to have TKS, but I'm not going to spend the money to put it on this plane (and no, I'm not buying yours).

 

-Seth

[bnicolette]

I've looked at upgrading to an O and I will at some point (more for the TKS than anything). I've also seen this Missle on here but looking at past flight plans I don't see that big of a performance boost.......well as far as the flight tracking anyhow. I know they can be off but it routinely shows 150 ground speed. What kind of fuel burns are you seeing to get that speed? Seth? I know yours is fast but does the TKS come with a big speed penalty?

[mwthomps2010]

I usually fly the airplane very conservatively and lean-of-peak whenever possible to save even further on gas....that yields 160-165 KTAS at only 10.2-11 GPH...so, yes, I go a little slower most of the time to save gas and wear on the motor.  If I run it rich-of-peak at at 75% power, I'll easily get 170-175 KTAS or more.  TKS has no speed penalty from my experience.  The system is 40lbs without fluid and 96lbs when full, so it is a little bit of a weight penalty, but well worth it for the capability.

 

My typical trips in this plane too are with my wife and daughter, who are sensitive to turbulence more than anything, so I fly high even if it means a groundspeed penalty (all the flight tracker sites show groundspeed) to keep the ladies comfortable.  I also have flown a lot from east to west and gotten beaten by headwinds for a lot of my flights, slowing the groundspeed further.  When I have a tailwind, I elect to pull it lean-of-peak to cruise at the same groundspeed with WAY less fuel flow (10.2 to 11 GPH as mentioned earlier).

 

Your observation is making me want to go out, file IFR so everyone can see it and open it up so people aren't scared away by the groundspeed numbers on FlightAware...there is more to the story behind the speeds shown on those websites.

 

Feel free to call me (630-849-3608) or email me (mwthomps2010@yahoo.com) if you have any other questions.

 

-Mark

[bnicolette]

Mark,

 

Thanks for that reply.  I hope I didn't offend you.  I was just noting what I've noticed looking at Flightaware and it makes perfect sense now.  I was not aware however, that you could get the fuel flows down that low in the Missile.  Even in "my" J running LOP I run about 9.3 gph with a TAS of around 155 kts.  

 

So I could literally move up to the Missile or "O", get TKS and it's only going to cost me approx. $10 more in fuel per hour than my J and get another 5 kts min on top of that?  Is that true? That's extremely tempting!

 

Seth do you run LOP?  Are you seeing the same numbers?

 

Mark you've had the plane less than a year.  Do you just not like it or is it not what you thought it would be?

[mwthomps2010]

No offense taken at all!  It is difficult to convey tone in typing, but I wasn't offended.  It is just that I've been so pleased with the airplane's performance that I want other people to know that it will haul if you open it up, I just like to run it LOP (the GAMIs allow that very nicely) and do 160-165 on less than 11 GPH.  It is a winner all around in my opinion...cooler motor, cleaner burn and a ton of cash savings.  Plus, with the big IO-550, you know in the back of your mind that you always have the option of going rich-of-peak and going fast.

 

I LOVE the Missile. I would keep it if I could, but I have a double whammy of my family expanding beyond 4 seats and the military moving us to places where we wouldn't have the utility for the airplane.  We've had a perfect situation to use it living in North Carolina and flying home to see the rest of our family in the Midwest.  The TKS is an awesome system too that has allowed way fewer cancelled trips to the Midwest in the winter.  Usually, if I was using the system right and had it on before I got in the weather, the only way I knew I was getting ice was the icicle on the tip of the spinner after landing.  If they made a 6-seat version of this airplane I would keep it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

As a note, I'm asking $149,900, but considering any reasonable offers.

 

-Mark

[KSMooniac]

I recently had the pleasure of flying a Missile and it is a sweet, sweet machine.  The one I flew ran very nicely LOP and was just a tad less efficient than my J at similar speeds (ie maybe 10 GPH vs. 9 GPH) but of course the Missile has the option to climb very, very fast and cruise much faster.  We went to OSH around 175 KTAS at 12.5-13.0 GPH IIRC.  I'm sure a Missile would do much better in/over the mountains than my J, where I struggled mightily to get to 17,000' a week ago.  The IO-550 engine is super sweet, although it can be a crap shoot with CMI cylinders these days unless you get them re-worked by a competent shop due to valve fit issues.

 

Mark's Missile looks like a pretty strong value relative to the rest of the market right now.  It delivers near-Ovation performance  at lower cost, especially if comparing to a TKS-equipped Ovation.  I can't say I like the paint, but that is easy enough to fix and this one has many other strong points like the fresh engine, tank reseal, TKS, etc.  The split rear seats are much nicer than what I currently have in my early J.

 

Best of luck finding a new caretaker for her!

[Seth]

I'm not sure of the speed penalty of TKS, but I'd take it due to the flights in this mid-atlanitc in the winter.  To get the best fuel burns on the normally aspirated IO-550,  you have to fly above 7,000, really 8,000+.  However, that's hard to do in winter months due to usual low layers of clouds.  The TKS would allow you to bust through that without issue. 

 

Also, speed wise, yes, mine is pretty fast but to go fast you have to burn a lot of gas.  I back mine down to 15-17 gph to see 175.  18gph+ to see 180, 185+.  Also, I want to run mine LOP and do have GAMI's but have not reworked the GAMI's yet to make sure the spread is tight enough to do so.  It's not quite smooth LOP, but that's a fix I just have to make in the fuel spread.  Once there, I'll probably run LOP as well.  Often when loitering, I'll just pull back on power and watch a 12-13.5 gph rate around 160 to 165.

 

Once I get it set up the way I want with the GAMI's I'll post some altitude/spee/fuel burn numbers.  I'm a bit more conservative with ROP and feed the engine plenty of fuel right now.

 

The only issue I have with the Missile is I want to go fast when flying it.  So at the end of the flight I land, and when I fill it up, I always compare it to my former F model that sipped fuel.  Speed is AMAZING but it comes at a price.  When all is said and done, you get a tad less MPG, but less wear and tear hours wise on the engine, since it takes less time to get places, which helps with oil change and overhaul costs.

 

 

-Seth

[Mcstealth]

I would be all over this, if I could.

David

[Seth]

Update-

 

On my trip last weekend to Ohio, I was at 8,000 feet, 17.5 gph, 182-5 kts true - wind was near 0, and you can see the groundspeed on flight aware when i was heading WEST at those power settings.

 

It is rare when my groundspeed and true airspeed match.  On the flight home, I went closer to 175knots on 15.5 per hour at 9,000 feet.

 

-Seth