Mooney info

Before you get very far with this, see if you can find a model in your price
range for a test flight, or at least a ride.

Mooneys are great planes on paper, but they have a lot of compromises to
achieve their speed and efficiency: a relatively cramped cabin with very
low seat height, poor outward visibility with an obtrusive center strut in
the panel (particularly on the early models), stiff controls, and skitterish
ground manners on their biscuit gear. To a lot of pilots, these things are
part of the Mooney "sports car" experience and no big deal - for me, they
make Mooney's unacceptably uncomfortable and unsatisfying to fly. A lot has
to do with your size/stature. Big guys tend to like Bonanzas and little
guys like Mooneys.

A 2nd thing to check into early-on is whether you have a good Mooney shop in
your area. To a shop which knows Mooneys, their maintenance/repair is no
big deal and you can get great service - these are well-built airplanes.
But shops that don't regularly work on Mooneys tend to hate working on them
because things are hard to get to.

If you pass these two tests, then go for one. I'm guessing that you're
perhaps looking into a $100K airplane, so I'd be looking at one of the early
201s which were good airplanes and well worth the premium over the earlier
Rangers and other 180-hp models. I really like the Ovations, but I'm
guessing they're in the $150K+ range.

- Mark