Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.
Today’s Top Pick is a 1981 Mooney M20K 305 Rocket.
Mooney’s M20 series has caught the attention of performance-minded pilots from its earliest days. When the type arrived on the market during the mid-1950s, people wondered how it could approach 150 ktas with a 150 hp Lycoming O-320 engine. Soon the 180 hp O-360 became the sweet spot among Mooney powerplants, boosting the M20’s speed and useful load while continuing to sip fuel.
While maximizing efficiency is a commendable goal, there have always been pilots out there who see the M20’s slippery airframe as a potential home for larger, more powerful engines capable of driving the svelte machine through the air even faster, especially at higher altitudes. Mooney itself recognized this and developed turbocharged versions of the M20 to take advantage of thin air and favorable winds in the flight levels.
Some pilots who obsess over every knot of cruise speed, however, might not be satisfied until they are running high and fast with the turboprop crowd. For them, Rocket Engineering Corp. offered a conversion that swapped the turbocharged, 210 hp standard engine in the M20K with a larger turbocharged, intercooled engine producing 305 hp. The changes turned the M20 into a speed demon.
The aircraft for sale today is an example of what the already-slippery Mooney M20K airframe can do with the Rocket conversion’s additional horsepower and other firewall-forward modifications. Its maximum cruise speed ranges from 220 ktas to 228 ktas between 18,000 and 24,000 feet, with typical cruise speeds around 200 ktas at midrange altitudes.
This 1981 Mooney M20K 305 Rocket has 5,320 hours on the airframe and 10 hours since overhaul on its RAM-modified, 305 hp Continental TSIO-520-NB engine. The airplane’s MTV-14-D four-blade propeller has 667 hours since new and 10 hours since it was disassembled, inspected, and resealed.
This Mooney carries up to 105 gallons usable, burns 20 to 22 gph at high power settings, and has a useful load of 930 pounds. Maximum takeoff weight is 3,200 pounds, and stall speed is 61 ktas in landing configuration.
The panel features a Garmin GTN 650 GPS/nav/com, GNC 355 GPS/com, dual GI 275s for attitude indicator and HSI, JPI EDM 830 engine monitor, Bendix/King KFC 200, Trid TT331 transponder with ADS-B In and Out, GDL 50 traffic and weather, Aera 660 portable GPS, and Flight Stream 510.
Additional equipment includes Precise Flight speed brakes, Mountain High oxygen system, LHS-200-C gear warning system, and LED lighting.
Pilots who appreciate the role aerodynamic efficiency plays in high cross-country cruising speeds should consider this 1981 Mooney M20K 305 Rocket, which is available for $229,900 on AircraftForSale.
If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use our airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.
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