I would sit right seat next to my dad as kid flying in the 201 Mooney. He has always owned a Mooney, 201, 252 and now has a Bravo Mooney. I think he has some 7000 hours in Mooneys. They are great airplanes, the cabin is actually one inch wider than a Bonanza. Very efficient, great panel. Draw back is comfort for passengers (even though we would fly as a family of four from Florida to Minnesota every summer it can be done). Great memories.
Mooney has been one of my fav's since I was very young. My fav Mooney story is when the French company acquired Mooney in the mid 1980's. Socata was looking for an airframe for a new project, and they liked the Mooney 301 that Mooney was working on, but not yet certified. Long story short, that turned into the TBM 700! They are made in Tarbes France, that's where the TB comes from, and "Mooney" is where the "M" comes from. TarBes Mooney, or TBM. Mooney never did go forward with the 301 that I know of, and I think China has their hand on Mooney now? Oh well 8( Thanks for the review Rich! --gary
Hey Rich - nice to see the Seneca on the channel. I’ve also got a 75 Seneca II and can attest it is a really stable platform to fly, super comfortable and very roomy. The numbers you were getting are pretty much what I get, maybe a couple of knots quicker as the de-ice boots add a touch of drag. Sure wish I had that panel though…just beautiful…about the only common avionics I have is the WAAS 430! You’re right about the club seating…it was an option in 75 (sadly not on mine) and isn’t too bad to upgrade with the STC. I love the twin redundancy when flying up north when airports aren’t that plentiful! If anyone is thinking of a twin or a real nice 6 seater you won’t go wrong with a Seneca….great value in my opinion. Cheers!
Ah the Mooneys they were central to my GA experience in the 90's renting from KUDD fly club, such kewl adventures productive, profitable , fun flying out to Camarillo , Goleta, returning over Long Beach to KUDD. $65/hr wet :) blessings OCR crew .
15:26 - Beautifully upgraded Seneca II .... but.... all those G5s, a 750, etc, and that's some nasty skimping on the autopilot. The STEC 55 is such a poor unit. The number of squawks that so many people have with alt holding. It's just a poor, unreliable product. The Garmin GFC500 would have been so much better; FLC mode and VNAV (neither of which the STEC 55 has), better interfacing with the GTN for RNAV approaches. With all the APs on the market these days, the STEC 55 would be the second last choice I'd ever go for. (The last choice being the STEC 30 that was in the Mooney! - doesn't even have any approach or climb/descent capabilities). Just avoid STEC and you'll be good to go. Even an old KAP140 knocks the socks off the STEC 30 and 55. If you skimp on this when upgrading, the money will come straight off the resale value. More and more people are aware of just how weak STEC APs are and will want to factor in a replacement from the outset. PS. Despite all the moaning - loved the video!
@@FlyingwithRich - Purely based on experience (not sure what other reason I'd have. I don't work for Garmin!), yes, absolutely. As the other gent said, two units in a row, both with squawks. It's just so common is all. PS. Still loved the vid. I just made it my mission in life to warn fellow pilots about STEC serial unreliability.
Flew one years ago - nice airplane, big heavy airplane feel, but slower than the competition and never really caught on in the market. Risky purchase when compared with a Bonanza, 210, Mooney or Saratoga. Thanks for watching!
Hi Rich, always look forward to your content - thanks. Language argument, totally meaningless, but here goes. I think it would be r's p m . Because two things are revolving but there is only one minute. The counter argument might be that "rpm" is a single self-contained phrase, of which there are two occurring. One left rpm, one right rpm. Thus "rpm's" Enough english, let's go flying.
Dude, learn your aircraft before you start flapping tour gums. Thank goodness I only wasted less than 5 min before I turned it off. If you have to guess the facts … come on….
1. A Mooney is like a Porsche; you either love them or hate them. After seven Porsche's in my life, and many years in Mooney's, you really can't do much better with one fan. 2. I vote for - "RPM" (singular), even in a multi-engine plane. If those propellers are not synched, presumably at the same... RPM... you're going to have some very unhappy passengers listening to the... waa...waa...waa...waa. The Seneca is a great, stable, economical airplane. NOW... to be young again and have a Twin Comanche with Rayjay's............. The day my Ship Came In..., wouldn't you know it..., I was at the airport, flying! Great video, Rich!!