Peter wrote:
I have seen some pretty bad cases of early Mooneys, in terms of airframe corrosion which was bad enough to render it close to scrap.
Not only close to. There have been many cases, particularly in the US, where outside perfectly fine looking Mooneys went into annual and never came out as they found spar corrosion. In most cases that was the end for that particular cell unless a wing could be sourced.
I think this is not type specific at all: Corrosion and bad maintenance can be a killer for any airplane.
Peter will not like what I write
You can write more or less what you like within the Guidelines; whether I like it or not doesn’t matter Actually I am pretty chilled unless somebody goes crazy and starts to trash the place. Disagreement is good!
And I am far from the only TB20 owner here on EuroGA. I just write more about it
But I have been around the “which plane” block a few times so let me just make some little points, which I am sure I have posted previously:
Peter will not like what I write but there is no comparison in build quality btw a 201J and a TB 20. The wing build quality of a Mooney is legendary. Corrosion needs to be checked on the air frame on older Mooney’s . This will be difficult on a pre buy as the front side panels need to come off. The Lord LDG rubber pucks when to be replaced are also legendary expensive ..;-). They have an impact on how long you will be leak free on the wings to absorb the shocks when taxing landing etc…
Remember that the nosewheel on a Mooney sits relatively far back, because of this geometry, if you taxi in a pothole of maybe two inches,the prop will drop a lot more; My friend with a 231 found this out the hard way after only 5 hours on a new prop and overhauled engine.
I owned a J for several years. Stable platform for IFR. Good economic two men traveler. Pax tend to have claustrophobic feeling in the back. Later J´s have the shoulder straps in the back and separate recline able seats. Landings improve your aviator skills, sometimes not so good for your ego when the speed is a couple of knots to fast and you end up a bit further then expected..:-). I learned to fly the mooney from Aachen Merzbruck a 550m concrete runway, challenging :-). Speed its around 155 Kts TAS at 8000 ft. About 36 Ltr/Hr
Unless you have a three blade ground prop clearance is not much… Landing an grass doable, however the inner doors are an issue when the grass is bit higher then a golf ball terrain. I even had one damaged with some debris lying an a concrete surface. My preference would be an encore 252 with TKS, I believe this is an amazing performer. Leaking fuel tanks can be an issue, can be solved with a weep no more solution. Their is even a maintenance company in Europe I believe now doing this process. The wing construction is amazingly strong as the whole thing is build in one piece…….The over center torque for the LDG gear needs to be carefully rigged asp per maintenance manual otherwise you might end up with some surprises……
The K is longer, but only firewall forward to accommodate the longer engine. Makes it look prettier in my view, but does nothing for the legroom
Pretty sure the J & K have identical dimensions.
Edit: No you’re right….K is a few inches longer.
Sir_Percy wrote:
Interestingly not many are talking about legroom which is much more important for me especially on longer flights.
Entry and exit is only a very short period of your flying experience while the need to stretch your legs might be more
often (probably not if you are a low cost airline frequent flyer …).
Have you ever tried to stretch your legs in the „big“ Bonanza?
Compare that to a Mooney and you will see that this is where the Mooney cabin really shines…
Yes this is a stubborn misconception. I’m 2 meters tall and slide in easily with ample legroom. I fly a K model tho, it has a slightly longer body than the J.
OliverB wrote:
Is there really an issue with Mooneys on grass fields?
I might have a suitable mission for the plane coming up that involves regular landings at grass fields.
Yes, their prop clearance isn’t all that. I do land on grass strips I know well enough, such as Ameland (EHAL) or Texel (EHTX) but carefully. Taxiing on grass is usually done with firmly clenched butt cheeks. Mind you, the landinggear itself is rugged as can be, and will take a beating: it’s the prop.
I was always wondering about the discussion about how tight a Mooney is.
It actually is the height, the smaller windows and the close distance to the panel.
It is wider than a lot of other singles … Cabin width
Interestingly not many are talking about legroom which is much more important for me especially on longer flights.
Entry and exit is only a very short period of your flying experience while the need to stretch your legs might be more
often (probably not if you are a low cost airline frequent flyer …).
Have you ever tried to stretch your legs in the „big“ Bonanza?
Compare that to a Mooney and you will see that this is where the Mooney cabin really shines…