We meet Mike and his 1963 Mooney M20c and take it up in the air for a test flight! Really love this channel and want to help it continue? Become a Patron for as little as $1 per month: / flyingdoodles
OMG! I got my complex endorsement in this plane. Not the same model, the same plane. I think I got 25 - 30 hours in it. Knew the original owner. It is a very small world.
2:55 "With the numbers that I ran, it made more sense to NOT get into a partnership..." 3:12 "So I started looking, and a partnership 25 mins. from my house..." That made perfect sense, and it was even at his second most desirable airport. It doesn't appear that emotions had anything to do with that decision.
He also said that he planned on flying a lot. Depending on how much is "a lot", then partnership might indeed be completely out the window no matter the other circumstances.
I'm gratified to hear both of you talk about anchoring your hand before touching the avionics. Every pilot learns this on his own, and you can tell a pilot even in a car, because the habit carries over.
Back in the mid-1960s, I joined a flying club that had a 1965 M20C/Mark 21. Although it was an M20C as is the above 1963 model, it had a rectangular rear window and the "positive control" single-axis autopilot. Still had the manual gear lever. As I recall, it had a true airspeed of 165 mph (about 145k) at 75% power at altitude. Soon thereafter, we traded it for a new 1967 M20F/Executive 21 (about $20K!!), with the longer cabin, 200 hp, and the ram-air "Power Boost" feature for more MP at altitude. Great planes. as long as your nailed your approach speed correctly on final.
That aircraft is a dream. I'm in a constant battle trying to justify one. It's the TCO vs. how often I have the time to fly... Thanks for the video, and congrats to Mike; he found a beautiful example of a 20C.
The C is my all-time favorite! A bone stock naturally aspirated and carb'ed Lycosaurus with constant speed mated to a simple airframe with retracts should make a great, reliable travel steed. The simple airframe of the C can be "pimped" with the one-piece aero windshield and "speed mods" to decrease fuel burn in cruise. The 201-cowling should go on with some technical modification (not worthwhile for retrofitting existing C airframes). Throw in a glass cockpit and you're in the 21st century. I really don't understand why Mooney never made an entry-level version like that based on the "short", "mechanical" Mooney. My gut feeling (caution! no research on this!) tells me, such a model should be possible for a $200k price tag. Increasing the total numbers produced based on the same general architecture as their "higher-tier" models would have undoubtedly improved overall profitability.
Bobby, great to see you be able to do a new episode while you were in town. As always very informative and inspiring. Also very sorry about Maverick He was a great guy. Mike, you have a fantastic looking Mooney there. The paint job is first rate and the whole plane looks well maintained. I never was that much of a fan of Mooneys but that one I really like.
I never use flaps in my 62 m20c Keeps things simple and dramatically minimizes the need to trim the plane from liftoff to touchdown Great job in the video!
This was a great blast from the past for me. My brother had a '57 when I was young teen and he'd take me on flights when he visited. I always remembered that manual landing gear and how fast the gear was.
Enjoyed the Mooney trip as it brought back memories of Carpenter Airport in the Steele Creek Community outside of Charlotte, NC. My Dad was a CFI there and flew me and some of his students in a Mooney M20c there. That Mooney was brand new and smelled like a new car inside, had curtains on the rear windows, and I was very familiar with the "Johnson Bar" watching my Dad stow the gear after takeoff. Not long after, a male student landed with the gear up, ( I got slide photos my Dad took of it ) it bounced and screeched metal down the runway for hundreds of yards, but no fire or injuries. I do remember the pilot had "pissed himself" as he shakily got out of the aircraft.
Loved the manual gear on the Mooney, positive system with very little chance for unwanted retraction. I drove an M20E in the 70's out of Wenatchee, WA.
Way back in the 70's, I'd fly with a Pal in his Mooney. Had the all-wood wing, but a replacement metal tail! Was an absolute delight! I wish I owned one now! Fast, inexpensive and a capable traveler.
“Birds!”... isn’t a flying doodles video if there aren’t birds somewhere judging by the last 3 videos I’ve watched. Really, seriously hoping to catch you at Oshkosh this year (2021 baby!). Love the content. Keep it up!!
I own and fly an Experimental Amateur Built plane. I've owned 2. I greatly appreciate the many benefits of owning E-A/B but if I ever went Certified, it would probably be a Mooney.
Old Bellanca Pilot, likes this. Love the gear mechanism ! Good efficency. When you grew up flying a Luscombe, only a few well balanced and sensitive airplanes really feel right.. Cruisaire was one.. M-20 looks like another. Typical cold clear and bumpy winter day.
Yo Doodle! What's up with the beard and the white shades? LOL! I love this plane and I could fit just nicely in it. The retractable landing gear came up surprisingly quick and 150 knots at 10 gallons an hour would be no problem with my plans for any future long range flights. I think you have a most phenomenal airplane and you're one lucky dude. At $100 an hour maintenance it would be the perfect choice for me and I wish I could afford one. Thanks again for the great post Doodles!
Sad to hear Mooney has shut down yet again. I have never been able to understand how such a fine aircraft could be so well built, so well liked and yet not be able to stay afloat financially. Lets hope they can get it together again one of these days. Thanks Bobby!
Preston Miller New they are expensive, and if you’re going to spend that much most people would rather have a Cirrus. Cirrus still has great performance, fixed gear, a HUGE cabin, and of course the parachute. I think Mooney would have had a shot if they’d been able to get a parachute in the new ones.
In 1963 I flew our club 1962 C nonstop from STL to LLY which was then Cameron Airpark. I flew at 11.5k at 18" and 1800 rpm. TAS was 140 mph. It was CAVU all the way with zero wind component. Flight time was 6 hrs. For the 834 am trip. I put 36 gal into the 48 gallon tanks. Consumption was 6 gph so I had 2 hrs. Reserve. I was alone but that is phenomenal economy. I retired a long time ago from Eastern Air Lines but that trip remained the longest flight I ever had as a crew member. The next longest was a 5:15 JFK MEX as 1st O on a L1011.
I have a 1969 Mooney M20C with electric flaps and gear. Love flying it, but find annuals too expensive and not many mechanics want to touch it. Flying it has been a joy.
I like Mooney's. Even though I am not a pilot just a truck driver, but I am not surprised they went out of business. They really needed to change with the market to stay competitive. Meaning they needed a variety of turbo props added to their fleet of sales, including still keeping their current planes. Including making some planes like the beachcraft C-90...
My father belonged to a flying club and they had a Mooney M20C 1962 I thought. I was taught how to land it in case for whatever reason my father could not. I had to go around on my first try as the Mooney is so close to the ground it tries to float and I was running out of runway ha ha. It's a Great airplane I remember this one indicated 160 knots 8000 ft. at cruising speed.
the Mooney company is actually back up and running but they don't know what they wanna make next, some rumors of a new trainer have come up but that's just speculation
Nicest M20C I've seen. Very nice. With the GTN750 taking up so much dash I assume most of the other 'stack items' are remotely mounted? - Transponder, Audio stuff? - What all can the 750 take the place of in the panel?
