I have a very good friend whom I introduced to GA 3 years ago. He bought a F33A before he even got his license. He is a recent instrument pilot yet has 300+ total time. He flies for work and is hooked bad on GA. He was in Ft Lauderdale on business and somehow ended up looking at an TN 300HP Acclaim. 208 model 900TT, recent top overhaul with all the bells and whistles including air/no de-ice for $275K. He want's it bad and called me for advice. Pro,s Vs Cons. I am reaching out to Bters to help me help him make an informed decision. I know nothing about the Acclaim. Any input appreciated. F3A Vs Acclaim?

Hi David-
My firm owned an Ovation which we bought new but I believe BT'er Chuck Taylor owned an Acclaim around that vintage your buddy is looking at...paging Chuck

Assuming that is supposed to be "2008" model, looking at what's for sale on Controller, that 275k is a nice price.

Other than that, I know nothing else to tell you! They look slippery.

Hard to cool hard working cylinders up high. Hence the top.

Mooney's": They just seem like a great sweet spot in the performance and value spectrum.

Insurance is cheap, performance is high, owners love them and generally have Mooney's for life, mechanics tho?.. meh~nsm lol, not their #1 favorite.

Some people fit better in a Bo more than a Mooney I suppose.

Unless his mission involves carrying more than 2 people regularly, it's just hard to go wrong with an Acclaim. Never flown one, but I have lots of time in the same airframe (normally aspirated).

I would presume most of the depreciation would be behind him at this point. Hard to go wrong with a long body Mooney like the Acclaim.

I'd say the top overhaul is mostly due to the well-known TCM quality in this vintage. Hopefully they did something other than buying replacement TCM cylinders, but who knows. FYI, it is not technically a TN engine...that is just marketing BS. It has low compression pistons like other turbocharged planes, but the HP was limited to 280 HP or 310 HP via STC.

Biggest knock on the Acclaim is the useful load situation, which makes it a 1-2 person plane for trips of any length as Tony pointed out. Otherwise, it is a great plane and the fit/finish of that era should be great and likely still smell new inside. The back seats are easily removable (one or both) to create a ginormous cargo space.

Any new Mooney owner would be well advised to retain a Mooney-savvy CFI for transition work, especially a 300 TT pilot. Mooneys are not dangerous by any measure, but must be flown precisely with speed control for successful approaches and landings. There are quite a few Acclaims with a few hundred hours TT and landing damage history. Sometimes multiple events too. Mike Elliot is one such CFII (member here) and is based in FL if your friend is interested in going that route. He is also a long-time Mooney owner.

There are a few Acclaim owners on Mooneyspace if your friend wants to go fishing over there. We're mostly friendly.

Perhaps "Mooneyspace" would be another place to get advice, perhaps even those who know this specific plane and its owner(s).

Martin

If it's a personal airplane (1 or 2 person trips) and he doesn't mind using oxygen the Acclaim will let him fly high and fast, with good efficiency. If for some reason he doesn't like the hose in the nose, the turbo is less of any upgrade and he should stick with the Bonanza.

If he wants to fly high and fast with 4 people and bags, a turbonormalized A36 is the plane to have. There is a nice on (Tom Gresham's) listed here on BT in about the same price range. The Acclaim is a little faster than an A36.

If he just wants "new" rather than turbo, there are lots of Cirruses to look at with good avionics and autopilots in that price range. The parachute is a nice selling point.

Does the plane fit the mission, i.e. usual distance and payload? No matter what he buys, if it's not mission appropriate he'll soon want something else or out altogether.

I own an Eagle (derated Ovation). It's definitely more challenging to fly than a Bonanza. Speed control on short final is critical, and it doesn't quit flying on touchdown. I always thought touching the flap switch on the runway was a no-no, but without raising the flaps it's very hard to get decent braking. Also, speed planning on entering the airport environs is important. The plane is fast and doesn't slow down easily. Speed brakes are marginally helpful, but I try not to use them. I don't believe in the shock cooling OWT.

The Cirrus is a compelling alternative, but is much more expensive to buy, and probably to operate. We can argue about chutes all day, but the non-flying public and spouses want them, period.

That would definitely be consistent with the claims we typically see on long body Mooney's with lower time pilots or pilots transitioning into the type. I would have to say landing porpoise incidents / prop strikes leads the most common claim for the type

$280K gets a pretty decent SR22. Both 300hp engines. Not sure what would make a big DOC difference.

An SR22 is about 160 KTAS ON 15.5 GPH. Mine is 170 KTAS on about 13 GPH. An Acclaim below the flight levels is less efficient than mine, but probably better than an SR22T. Hangar and insurance on an equally priced airframe are probably similar. Maintenance costs probably depend more on the individual airframe.

Of course the chute comes with the mandatory repack that would add ~$1k +/- annually to account for the tab when it comes due.

I know insurance was much higher on Cirrus airframes, but I'm not sure if that is still the case after COPA did their thing with training.

One more critical item I neglected to mention above... make sure the candidate M20TN already has WAAS with the GFC700 autopilot. As of now, there is not an upgrade path to get WAAS on the G1000 Mooneys with the Stec 55x autopilot. ADS-B compliance can be had with the new Garmin transponders, but WAAS nav is still not available.

I like the Acclaim. I put 10 hours on one before I bought my V35B. My only complaint was keeping the CHT's down. This could have been the plane I was flying... Fast bird and truly a pilots airplane.

Jim