Well, Mooney/Bonanza discussions are a little out of my league ... a bit
below me if you will.

But I'll bet the real reason has to do with Mooney's steel tube cabin cage
versus what I think is a stressed skin (monowhatever) structure on the
Cessna's and Bo's. I think that steel tube structure is what tends to be
corroded on older Mooneys.

My Maule has a cargo door almost as big as the other 3, yes 3, passenger
doors. Tube and fabric allows that easily.

We pile 4 in there, 70lbs of luggage in the back, another 20 with the
passengers, and 4 hours of fuel. It's just going so slow that we need the 4
hours to get anywhere.

But put 2 in and *anything* you could possibly want with 4.5 hours. It's a
clean machine!!

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
m...
The other day I saw a guy drive up to his Bonanza with a car load of
bags. This is something I've done for years in my Mooney but many
years since I've flown a Bonanza or Cessna. In my Mooney, the baggage
door opens at the top of the cabin (the door is long enough that it
goes down to the middle and opens like a clam shell, much like a car's
trunk). I can easily load heavey bag on top of heavy bag in the Mooney
by dropping them down on top of each other. How did I do it back in
the Bonanza days? It looks like I must have had to load a bag in the
bottom door , reach in, hold that bag up and then slide another bag
under it. Or perhaps I climbed in through the back seat and loaded the
bags that way.

How do most of the Bonanza/Cessna pilots here do it? Why would anyone
put a baggage door on the bottom of the baggage area. Its like loading
your truck though a little hole near the license plate on your car.

-Robert