Submitted by Cruiser on July 13, 2003
I have a question for you, later on this year i'm planning to go cruising around my native lands. approximately 30+ hours of flying time hour building for commercial liscence. i have my twin rating and access to a variety of twins ranging from Senenca's, baron, travelair, beech duchess and singles access to a mooney and a Porsche Mooney (not rated on but can be achieved). rated on A36 Bonanza, Saratoga/Lance, arrow and Turbo arrow. there's myself and 3 other pax, all of average weights approx 75-80kg's (excuse the metric).some of the legs are long so a fair range with the pax, luggage and fuel is required. i'm leaning towards the big single due to a cheaper price. i haven't done much research into the baron, senecas or the mooneys so i'm not positive of their abilities. but anybodys comments on the pro's and con's of all the aircraft would be much appreciated.
thank again.
Comments (5)
Post a comment
All Comments
July 14, 2003
With four adults and baggage on board, the Mooney is probably out - though it's a fast, efficient machine. My 231 has a useful payload of under 600 lbs (about 550 or so, I think) when fully fueled, but also has 5 hours and 20 minutes of total flight time at 75% power burning 13.5 g/h, cruising at about 165 knots at 10,000 msl, faster if you go higher (serv ceiling is 24,000 msl). If you plan on making lots of stops, you can carry a couple of hours less fuel, though, which might make it work for you. Enjoy your trip!
July 14, 2003
The A-36 would be my choice as it affords tons of space, comfortable seating and a decent cruise speed. While not as fast as the Mooney it has huge double doors and club seating. The twins seem like an un-needed expense and unless you have the B-58 Baron you don't get as much room as the A-36. You only will get about 15 to 20 knots over the A-36 and depending on the Baron will not be as fast as the Mooney possibly.
If everybody travels light and doesnt mind being a little tight on room then the Mooney would be the fastest but the space will be appreciated on most long trips.
August 03, 2003
If you're multi rated, and you must be if you're considering a twin, look into the TravelAir. They haven't made them in 40 years or so, but they use lower powered engines, should be very good of fuel consumption, you are comfortable in the cabin, and four people with baggage shouldn't be a problem. Plus, because of the age of the aircraft, and the smaller engines, you may be able to get a better price per hour, as well as an operating cost just a little above the A36.
The flip side of the coin is, if the airplane hasn't been taken care of, and updated as far as avionics and such are concerned, then you may want to shy away from it.
My thoughts,
Gary
March 01, 2008
I had been flying for more than 15 years on several different plane with my dad, my friend, etc. My dad's plane, 1977 Mooney 201, which I flew with him for 12 years. For my personal is the Mooney is best performance as fastest speed and not bad to sit the seat for four hours of flying. It have some room for four people and cool inside. I never forgot one thing, when my dad and I took off the mooney from Garden City, next five minutes the King Air flew over from same airport. They arrived in Topeka and we arrived there about 20 minutes later. My dad said that King Air is too much gas use as turbo engines than we do only single engine as 204 mph! Richard
Top Rated
Your Comment
All submitted comments are subject to the license terms set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
