Mooney drivers, what app speed do you fly?

Bill

Bill

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything I've flown so far has been a category A aircraft flown at 90kts on instrument approachs. Are Mooneys flown category A, or do you bump up to B (120kts)?
 
Gear speed in my M20F is 104 knots. I like to be below that so I can drop the gear at the FAF.
 
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90 is fine. And Bill, when you do your transition training, learn NOT to be afraid of flying Mooneys slow. Many Mooney mishaps are from poor speed control, in that people come down final too fast, float, and either force it on and porpoise or overrun.

Learn to nail that final approach airspeed to +5/-0 knots.
 
Ken Ibold said:
90 is fine. And Bill, when you do your transition training, learn NOT to be afraid of flying Mooneys slow. Many Mooney mishaps are from poor speed control, in that people come down final too fast, float, and either force it on and porpoise or overrun.

Learn to nail that final approach airspeed to +5/-0 knots.
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Thanks for the advice, Ken. I plan on doing lots of MCA type flying in the practice area with the gear down and all the flaps out.

I normally fly the 172 50kts on short final (one person), and normally add 5kts per pax. I like landing slow, and don't like having lots of excess energy in the airplane during the flair.
 
If your mooney has speed brakes, you can get away with flying the approaches at higher speeds. Without them, you do need to be able to slow a lot earlier and thus be in Category A for the whole approach.

Actually, even in The Aluminum Mistress (98 J MSE), I flew the final approach with gear and approach flaps at 90 or less. I sometimes flew the initial and intermediate segments at 140 and 120, but with speedbrakes I could decelerate from 140 to 100 or less in less than a mile.

So, bottom line, I think most mooneys flown on approaches in IMC are flown at Category A speeds, even the turbo'ed models.
 
Bill, my J has a Vle of 133 kts, so higher approach speeds at the FAF are very doable. 90 kts works fine in a Mooney for your approaches. However, for those times when ATC says "can you maintain 120 (or maybe more :hairraise: ) to stay ahead of a 767 or something?" it's good to be able to say yes. It might save you a long hold. So practice both and have your RPM and MP settings written down for both. Numerous websites have tables with good operating settings for your Mooney to be. Or I can send you mine.
 
Not a real Mooney driver, but last night, Michael let me land his Mooney - I took her in at 80MPH.
 
SkyHog said:
Not a real Mooney driver, but last night, Michael let me land his Mooney - I took her in at 80MPH.
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...and that is exactly the correct speed for final. Touch at or below 75 and you will be rewarded with a cosmic smile. At or above 80 and it will be potentially very expensive.....
 
Lance F said:
Bill, my J has a Vle of 133 kts, so higher approach speeds at the FAF are very doable. 90 kts works fine in a Mooney for your approaches. However, for those times when ATC says "can you maintain 120 (or maybe more :hairraise: ) to stay ahead of a 767 or something?" it's good to be able to say yes. It might save you a long hold. So practice both and have your RPM and MP settings written down for both. Numerous websites have tables with good operating settings for your Mooney to be. Or I can send you mine.
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So the Vle did go up with the J. I was remembering it came with the long body. Another reason to like the J/Ks. Would be nice to drop the gear sooner.
 
Bill Jennings said:
How did you like flying the M20C?
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I love flying his plane. It is a bit tighter than my Cherokee, but the speed more than makes up for that.

If it were turboed it would be the ultimate airplane, for real.

[trans]
Mi ami flugi lia plata. Ĝi estas pli malgranda ol mia Cherokee, sed Ĝi estas pli rapida.

Se Ĝi estis "turboed" Ĝi estos la pli bona aviadilo.
 
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