Why are Mooneys so fast?

Ted DuPuis said:
I'm all about fast and efficient. My current bug is wishing I could replace the tip tanks on the 310 with winglets.
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Are there any STC's for such a thing?
 
Lance F said:
Are there any STC's for such a thing?
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Nope, but they do sell 414As and 421Cs without tip tanks.

Edit: That option is not one I'm interested in.
 
Tony_Scarpelli said:
You do not need many hours in type to know you do not want to wear a plane.

I would rather go 10 knots slower in an Arrow or 15 knots slower in a Sierra.
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Some people don't have to wear them.
 
Actually I am more like 20 kts slower than my friends Mooney but they just installed an IO-390 in it. it makes a good 155 to 160
 
DavidWhite said:
I've always thought it was roomier than a 172, and no one ******* and moans about how small they are.
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In both the 172 and the Cherokee you do not need to squeeze your knees together like sitting in a coffin.

The knock out for the nose wheel gear reduces the leg room width you have which is my problem trying to sit in the mooney. I'm completely comfortable in the 172, Cherokee even the Arrow but the mooney console just makes it painful to sit in for more than 5 minutes.

And yes, like many Americans I am fat.
 
I was smaller in my 20's too. the old saying is that **** happens! Fat happens too, at least to some of us.
 
tmyers said:
Actually I am more like 20 kts slower than my friends Mooney but they just installed an IO-390 in it. it makes a good 155 to 160
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Are you saying that the difference between M-F mooneys and arrows is more like 20 knots because you know some guy who has a modified engine? By that logic the wow cowl on the Arrow that goes 155knots is the standard arrow speed and the Wow Cowl on the Comanche 250 is 175 knots.

This sounds like when people talk about Bonanzas that would have you believe that every Bonanza E185 through and IO550 all go 170 knots.

There is a 3 year old thread on redboards where a member collected and posted the real flight speeds of about 80 popular models of airplanes as apposed to owner reported exceptions and friends of friends hearsay and the diff between a fast mooney m-F and a doggy Arrow is 10 knots on the same fuel burn. Put wow cowl or J model speed mods on both and they are much closer in speeds as the Arrow has more to gain.
 
DavidWhite said:
At 5'9 and 150 pounds I can fit pretty comfortably in just about any airplane
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That is good for you. I had a buddy in my car sales days who still shops in the Children's clothes at Dillards and brag's about it but wonders why he always left the bar with some of the guys and the rest of us left with gals sometimes..... Call us when you grow up. OK that was just teasing.

Mooneys are great planes, just not for everyone. I would probably have owned one when I was in the military and wanted cheapest transportation.

But now I prefer to either fly an Arrow 10 knots slower or fly a Comanche 250 and pay the extra 2 gallons per hour fuel and feel comfortable.

BTW my friend Av (on the redboard) is about 150 lbs and about 5' 9 and he prefers a larger airplane as he does not like the closeness of the cabin in the Mooney.
 
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Pilawt said:
Is this the 21st Century translation of, "Sir, I respectfully disagree. My opinion differs from your opinion, for the following reason:" ... ?

:nonod:
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Movie: Fail to Launch "Mathew McConaughey" and "Sarah Jessica Parker"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427229/

No its more like "you are trying to blow smoke up someones arst and we are not buying it."
 
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Mooney's are boring.

THIS is fun. :D
 

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The fastest thing a Mooney can do is remove money from your bank account.
 
RotorAndWing said:
No thanks, Mooney's may have a small cabin, but at least you don't need a shoehorn to get in and out. :rolleyes:
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Actually, once I am in the cockpit, the RV-8A is quite spacious.

Getting in and out requires a bit of gymnastics, to be sure -- but it's worth it!
 
Bill Jennings said:
And very efficient cowl design that cools well at low drag.
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Well, that was one of Al's original screw-ups. The original cowl design was horrific...both in drag and cooling efficiency. That was a key fix that Roy brought to the party.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Just wish they had been manufactured with left AND right entry doors!
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Which would have added more weight and more wind noise. All airplanes are compromises. But if you want two doors and don't mind going slower while burning a lot more gas, a Commander might be your ticket.
 
5'11 and 240 pounds. Not exactly slim if you know what I mean, but routinely do 4+ hour trips in my Mooney and comfort is not a problem. Keeping myself awake for that long in the thin air at 10k can be. Need to get some O2 :)
 
Perezhr said:
5'11 and 240 pounds. Not exactly slim if you know what I mean, but routinely do 4+ hour trips in my Mooney and comfort is not a problem.
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6'1", 175lbs. 4+ hours in a Mooney beats 5+ hours in a "P" or "C" brand aircraft. :D
 
Because their airspeed indicators are calibrated in MPH lol. Really, I never considered the Mooney all that fast with the 4cylinder engines.
 
Henning said:
Because their airspeed indicators are calibrated in MPH lol. Really, I never considered the Mooney all that fast with the 4cylinder engines.
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Mine isn't....
 
When I saw the vertical leading edge on a Mooney's empennage rather than the less aerodynamic but so called "faster-looking" raked, vertical tail common to other subsonic aircraft, it was apparent the designer knew about aerodynamic ways to achieve speed and was going to attempt to attain those speeds no matter what the general population thought of his aircraft's "looks". Impressive and admirable.

Downcycle said:
I know that asking this is going to make some people smile and others wet their pants. I'm not asking if you like them or if you think they're pretty. As I've been reading more and more about the planes I'm likely to fly in the coming years, I have found it shocking how much faster and more efficient these planes are than equivalent offers from other manufacturers. Just to clarify, I'm not a "Mooniac", in fact I fell in love with a Piper Cherokee, 25 years ago when I took my first flight in one out of FFA. So I'm not a Mooney fanboy trying to get pumped up, I'm just honestly curious what they do differently that allows them to get so much speed per hp while consuming so little fuel/hour.

Sorry to stir up any old feuds, but thanks for your insight.
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Tony_Scarpelli said:
You do not need many hours in type to know you do not want to wear a plane.

I would rather go 10 knots slower in an Arrow or 15 knots slower in a Sierra.
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I loved wearing my Midget Mustang, once in it it was as comfy as could be.
 
Henning said:
Because their airspeed indicators are calibrated in MPH lol. Really, I never considered the Mooney all that fast with the 4cylinder engines.
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Mine is calibrated in knots. I like my 4 cylinder engine and it's sub 9gph fuel consumption @ 150+ knots. The Warrior I used to fly would struggle to do 115kt at 11gph.
 
MSPAviator said:
Mine is calibrated in knots. I like my 4 cylinder engine and it's sub 9gph fuel consumption @ 150+ knots. The Warrior I used to fly would struggle to do 115kt at 11gph.
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Yep, won't do three miles a minute. When did Mooney go to Kts? The 201 is the 201 because it would go 201MPH.
 
I wil tell the downside of having a Mooney. It makes it very hard to consider something else. I would dearly like a twin. But the huge percentage increase of fuel flow and operating costs compared to the small increase in speed, just make it so hard for my somewhat cheap** frugality to accept. How does one move up?

My 1984 Mooney built in 1983 is in knots.
 
Henning said:
Yep, won't do three miles a minute. When did Mooney go to Kts? The 201 is the 201 because it would go 201MPH.
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I can't afford to go 3 miles a minute and pay for twin engines so the point is pretty moot to me.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm flying a 4 seater with 64 gallon tanks that burns less gas than a Piper Warrior at Rental Power and goes 35 knots faster. I can easily hit about 167-170 knots if I wanted to but it would cost me about $20 +/- more per hour in fuel burn so that's not the way I fly it.

Fast and economical was kind of Mooney's creed in the early days anyway. I'm not as interested in the long body TSIO-550s because I simply can't afford them. The perfect Mooney to me would be a long body with the IO-360 and 1100+ lbs of useful load.

I just hate looking at other planes and seeing parasitic drag all over the place. I don't like Mooneys, I LOVE them.
 
MSPAviator said:
I can't afford to go 3 miles a minute and pay for twin engines so the point is pretty moot to me.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm flying a 4 seater with 64 gallon tanks that burns less gas than a Piper Warrior at Rental Power and goes 35 knots faster. I can easily hit about 167-170 knots if I wanted to but it would cost me about $20 +/- more per hour in fuel burn so that's not the way I fly it.

Fast and economical was kind of Mooney's creed in the early days anyway. I'm not as interested in the long body TSIO-550s because I simply can't afford them. The perfect Mooney to me would be a long body with the IO-360 and 1100+ lbs of useful load.

I just hate looking at other planes and seeing parasitic drag all over the place. I don't like Mooneys, I LOVE them.
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The perfect Mooney for me would be a short body with a TSIO-470 and the big windows.
 
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