mbremer216 wrote:
Hello:

I currently own a 68 cherokee 180. Had it for 8 years. I'm IFR rated with
over 600 hours.

I'm looking for a faster ride for me, the Mrs. and a small dog. I'm not too
interested in a turbo to fly high as the wife and dog are opposed to flying
on O2 (I know that will put a limit on the speed, but thems the breaks!).

I have been looking at Mooney (M20J).

Any pros, cons, alternate suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Mike




Where do you fly and on what type of surfaces do you land? What kind of
room are you looking for on the inside? Bonanza's, Mooney's and 210's
will by far get you your best gas mileage. I made my choice and went
with the Bonanza. At 75% I get 178 kts true at 15 gph at best altitude.
At 10,000 MSL at just a hair under 65%, 19"/2300 rpm I get 159 kts
true burning 11.5 gph. I used to have a 182 and at the top of the green
in cruise I would indicate 135-140 mph, sucking down 12.5-13 gph. In
the Bo at 150-155 MPH indicated, 45%, I burn 8.5 gph So as you can see
I get damn near twice the mpg as the 182 if I want as well as the
capability to go 47 kts faster while still getting better mpg than the 182.
Go get a ride in or at the very least sit in all you are interested
in. Mooney guys have a complex about people saying their planes are
small on the inside. Only you can make that decision. I flew one for a
few hours. Way too small for me. Major design difference too. In the
Mooney you sit on the floor with your legs straight out. In the Bo and
210 you sit on a chair just like in your kitchen, legs bent and with
room to move them around. Baggage door on the top of the fuselage, not
the side. Damn stupid if you ask me. Ever try to load a 48 qt cooler
filled with appropriate beverages from the top? Or get it out again?
Some people like it though. Go figure. No prop or gear door clearance
so nothing rougher than mowed grass. I spend a lot of time landing off
road in the Bo so that would be a deal breaker for me no matter what
else the plane had going for it. Too hard to land with those rubber
donuts. You need to be on speed. I don't want to be on speed landing
in the dirt. I want to be able to not have to even look at the panel
while landing. The 200 HP and lower Mooneys are ground lovers. They
have low horsepower and low drag but need comapartively more runway than
either the Bo or 210. The older ones had manual gear which can't
break, tnat's a good deal. Makes insurance a little lower too.
The 210 and the Bo are about the same speed. I don't like 210's
because Cessna's design philosophy for every plane is to build them as
light as possible. So they usually have a little better useful load
than the Bo but you feel like the whole thing is made out of a beer can.
When I had my 182 I was always having things rattle apart. That was
one of the first things I noticed about the Bo, built like a tank. You
pay for that in weight but things don't break. If you're interested in
a 210 make sure you call you insurance agent first. 210 owners crash
their birds with alarming regularity and as such you'll find insurance
can be 2-3 times higher than a Bo or Mooney. 210's have smaller tires
and therefore is not as good on dirt strips. Bonanza's were designed at
a time when most runways were not paved and they kept that thinking
right into the brand new ones. I have 7.00x6 mains and more prop
clearance than my 182 had with the larger nosewheel. The Mooney is far
and away the worst of the three to have to work on. Somebody here with
a Mooney says it takes something like an hour and a half to decowl the
engine. That's criminal. The 210 is Ok but not great, you'll have a
good 15 minutes getting a cowl off, having to screw with induction air
tunnels. In the Bo...10 seconds with the models with the camlocs. No
seconds with the models with the single handle. The Mooney has this god
awful belly pan with a zillion screws. The 210 and Bo have the standard
inspection panels. Stuff you wouldn't think of until you have to work
on it.
I wouldn't even consider aircraft like Arrows, 172RG's, Commanders.
They're too slow for the additional cash it costs to insure. Jay's
right, this is about the best time ever to buy. The longer you wait the
better it'll get for you. I have a 64 S35 and I lowered my hull value
for my insurance that comes due in August. The hardest part for you
will be getting an owner to sell his plane for what it's actually worth,
not what he thinks it's worth.