Full Flight: 1966 Mooney M20F

[@kjackles]

I appreciate that you enjoyed having the privilege to fly a vintage M20F. It is indeed one of the finest 200hp singles ever made. Fast, efficient, and a good load hauler (mine will take 800lbs in the cabin over 500nm). Reliable, durable and reasonable to maintain (though tight to work on). Unfortunately, it takes more than a hundred to really get to know a bird. Lots of misstatements/misunderstandings. The tail is vertical to facilitate max rudder authority at high AOAs as is the forward slant of the rudder. Mooneys do fine in cross winds, but pilots might not. I have landed my F in components approaching 40kts. I would not recommend it, but it is possible. NO Mooney has gear “locks” in the wing. Electric and Manual gear systems are the same except for the the actuator (motor vs arm). The system is locked by going over center. 65kts is not slow. You are flying 1.3Vso for MGW (2740lbs) which is 70kts. This plane is likely ~600lbs under gross with pilot in the video. 1.3Vso would be closer to 60kts. As was mentioned earlier, the electric pump is used to prime. Leaving the boost pump on while cranking is not a normal starting procedure. I won’t pick any more knits on power settings and procedures, but you are leaving speed on the table. It’s 150-155kt bird at the altitudes you are flying. I’m glad you liked the airplane. They are very nice to fly and a joy to travel in. Good luck in your future flying endeavors.

[@jbarrer2196]

Agree. I once owned a '67 Exec. I flew it all over the East coast from Maine to go skiing and Marsh Harbor Bahamas for sun and fun. What a beautiful airplane.

[@zxguy747]

So interesting on your starting procedure. I owned a Mooney with the IO360. As you know the battery is aft so I don't understand why you would want to have a huge draw with the the fuel pump on as you crank. Checklist calls for 1/4 cracked trottle, fuel pump on with mixture rich for approximately 5 seconds and monitor fuel pressure (green arc), mixture lean, fuel pump off, crank and as it catches increase mixture.

[@gregdavis5933]

Really? All of my references say to start with the fuel pump on, unless it's a flooded start!

[@jacobellis6150]

I was wondering the same thing. Pretty sure my poh says to turn it off as well.

[@Marauder92V]

I’ve owned my F for 33 years. There are quite a few things wrong with his statements. The fuel pump is never left on during start and as you point out, it’s a huge battery draw and that is why he had a hard time getting the starter to swing the prop.

[@timothywackerle2374]

I have a 1968 M20F Executive. I love this airplane. It is rock stable as an IFR platform. It does what you tell it to do, very responsive to control inputs. Definitely feels like a sports car. 150kts on 10gph. It's a good tall person's airplane. I'm 6'4" and I have to move the seat up to reach the rudder pedals. It is not a wide airplane, however. Very few AD's comparatively speaking. I have the electric gear which I prefer to the manual, however, this increases maintenance somewhat.

[@Mitch-Yeh]

Thank you for sharing this viedo, this give me an idea how it is like to fly one mooney, helps a lot as a buying refrence.

[@utah20gflyer76]

When I am approaching an airport and need to descend and slow down I descend full power/speed to the target altitude 2-3 miles out from the pattern and then pull the power back to the pattern power setting of 16 inches. Then slowly trim the nose up to slow the airplane to pattern speed.l and maintain that altitude. Done correctly you should never hear the gear horn. You’ll be on speed before you enter the pattern and can drop the gear abeam the numbers and perform a stabilized approach. Personally I don’t find a Mooney difficult to slow down or descend or even do both at the same time. It’s just a matter of knowing your speeds and power settings.

[@quantumjim45]

Formerly active Mooney pilot - some time in 20B, C, E, F and J. Re comment about width I found the Mooneys pretty identical to the Cherokees I got my ratings in, BUT for me the lower seating position is what made the Mooney feel tighter to me. I loved them all, but the longer F and the J most. However, I also really liked the fast and super reliable gear bar best.

[@2005TJSOCAL]

The tail is designed for control when the aircraft is on the or near the ground with approach / take off. Its straight when your on the ground giving it more blade in wind. I never heard about it doing anything in flight.

[@kenjohnson6137]

Love my Mooney and the Jbar -simplicity yields reliability.

[@richardray1942]

Got my complex acft training in a mooney with jbar late 70s in Arizona. Loved flying it.

[@hattrick2219]

It's not cramped. You wear the aircraft. Great felling.

[@purdueschmidt]

Correction, the tail had nothing to do with cross wind. It is the most aerodynamic

[@PilotFun101]

Love the F models.

[@taraweathers1606]

It was nice to see the Mooney. A good plane.

[@brianhoy]

Have you tried wearing earplugs under the passive David Clark H10 headset and comparing noise levels to the DC One X also wearing earplugs?

[@WalkerWeathers]

I have been wearing earplugs under my headset for years, so I have done both. I read in an aviation medicine textbook that it decreases fatigue from flying which sounded crazy, but it actually does work. Some of the fatigue from flying long days is from noise, so less noise helps some. To answer your question you should know that I have after market ear seals on my H10 and that has helped slightly with their passive noise canceling. Now for the comparison with earplugs worn under the two: H10 with stock ear seals and One X with noise canceling turned off are about the same noise level (uncomfortably loud for me) H10 with aftermarket ear seals has better passive noise canceling than the One X with active turned off (still unpleasantly loud) One X with noise canceling turned on is much better, but still not quite as good as I had hoped (loud, but bearable) For a long time after buying the One X I regretted not buying the Bose A20, but then I got a job flying multi-engine pistons and realized where the One X truly shines: it does a fantastic job of canceling the sound from two props out of sync. It makes the multi sound like a single and I really have to listen closely to get the two props synced. Pilots flying with me who have the A20 seem to be bothered by out of sync props far more than I do, and if I had to guess, I would say it is because of the noise canceling on the One X (I certainly notice if I forget to turn it on). I have purposely never worn an A20 with the noise canceling turned on because I'm afraid I would want one, so I can't say for sure, but just from seeing how pilots with them respond to out of syn props, I think I made the right choice going with the One X.

[@brianhoy]

@@WalkerWeathers I’m about 1 month away from taking my PPL Checkride, so flying solo XC with no one to talk to other than ATC had me thinking about comparing the H10 and the One X with earplugs and I would agree with your assessment of the noise levels. When I started my flight training in a Cherokee I used the schools passive headsets but with the engine noise, needing to concentrate to hear and learn aviation lingo was more difficult. I then bought the One X after my instructor recommended I get an ANC headset to help with hearing the radios. I wanted to save some money so I opted for them over the Bose A20. After wearing the One X with ANC I thought it was still very loud maybe 20-30% less engine rumbling noise vs ANC off. Then I got the idea to wear foam earplugs underneath my headset after needing to use them during fireworks on New Years. I first tried Yellow 3M foam earplugs that my dad gets for free at work. Made a huge difference in noise reduction maybe 40-50% reduction, but they were uncomfortable after a while. So I bought Moldex Sparkplugs and found them to be even quieter than the 3M ones and more comfortable. It looks like you use the same brand as well. I’ll ask a friend to borrow his Bose A20 to compare with the One X side by side next time I fly. Also would you recommend the aftermarket ear seals? Are they the Oregon ones? Is it just the seal or is it a different ear cup foam as well?

[@berndalmstedt5060]

Apparantly you are not too familiar with the Mooneys... - I own and fly a Mooney M20F for more than 10 years now and it hurt seeing you starting the engine...

[@Marauder92V]

I cringed quite a bit as well.

[@Marauder92V]

Ok, I cringed A LOT. 😂

[@edstoybox]

Great video!

[@utah20gflyer76]

I’ve heard it’s simpler to skin a wing/tail with a straight leading edge and it was a cost saving design choice. I don’t think it has anything to do with being more efficient. The full trimming tail on the other hand IS a design element that increases performance since no trim tab reduces drag.

[@muhammadsteinberg]

65kts very slow? Hello says Cessna 150's-182's (in the 40's). Mine (172N) would stall at 43kts. Only time I've ever carried over 60kts over the numbers is if the crosswind was over 20kts.

[@vadimlevi]

how much money it cost to make glass cockpit with with system?

[@WalkerWeathers]

This is not my aircraft, so I don't know, but it was certainly an awful lot.

[@Marauder92V]

Your first born and then some… that’s a Dynon system, with the navigator, you are probably looking at $50k. I’ve learned that whatever the cost of the hardware, you’re looking at least another 50% for installation cost.

[@andrewong6370]

Weird aircraft 😄

[@alexeygusev698]

would be way more beneficial to see the instruments during flight instead of a swinging magnetic compass…

[@Marauder92V]

A swinging compass that is mounted incorrectly and doesn’t have the required lighting hooked up 😂

[@Marauder92V]

And oh yeah, the compass is off by 30° 😂

[@FlyingNDriving]

Wow a lot of incorrect wives tale gospel in this video. The Mooney and it's very low wing is perfectly fine in a wind, in fact way better than a Cessna, the wingspan is not that long 34ft vs 36ft on other GA airplanes. This is in fact a mid body Mooney, it has not been correct to refer to these as long body since the early 90s when the bravo/ovation debuted.You still use the 1.3vso for approach speed. They only float if you are faster than that, there's no reason to be at 65kts. Also for the love of God stop shaking the control surfaces with such a jerking motion

[@mule6689]

you talk too much.....constant talking....really?