25 Apr 2024, 13:31 [ UTC - 5; DST ]
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Post subject: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 20 Jul 2022, 19:12 |
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Joined: 10/07/10 Posts: 534 Post Likes: +512
Aircraft: Pitts S-2B
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Just saw this rare beast pop up on barnstormers. https://www.barnstormers.com/classified ... rsche.htmlI didn't realize there were any of these left in the US with the Porsche engine. With no support for the engine and the aircraft not having flown since 2013 I don't even know if you could get this airplane flying again, even with an open checkbook. Curious if anybody in the vast Beechtalk brain trust has had exposure to one of these, either flying, owning or maintaining. (No, I'm not going to buy it. Just curiosity!)
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 20 Jul 2022, 19:55 |
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Joined: 01/17/20 Posts: 182 Post Likes: +236
Aircraft: Mooney 231
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Those are such cool looking airplanes. Fully automatic mixture and propellor controls. I heard they were a little anemic in performance despite the extra 10 horsepower. Here is a video posted of a Mooney PFM on the MooneySpace website. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ ... ure=oembed
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 20 Jul 2022, 20:47 |
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Joined: 11/15/17 Posts: 688 Post Likes: +351 Company: Cessna (retired)
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I was at an SAE conference and a senior and/or knowledgeable Lycoming engineer said that if he had proposed that engine to an OEM customer, he would have been invited to leave and never come back.
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 20 Jul 2022, 22:48 |
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Joined: 06/17/14 Posts: 5023 Post Likes: +1954 Location: KJYO
Aircraft: C-182, GA-7
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It sounds like it is a museum showpiece!
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 21 Jul 2022, 00:03 |
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Joined: 03/04/14 Posts: 1790 Post Likes: +804 Location: FREDERICKSBURG TX
Aircraft: MOONEY M20TN
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There's still one or two Mooney Porsches flying in Canada and two or three in Europe.
The biggest problem was that the retail price in 1989 ($193,375) was $16,000 more than the Mooney TLS, which was a lot faster. The Porsche only had 217hp, the TLS 270hp. Mooney had raised the price from $142,900 in 1988 to $193,375 in 1989.
Porsche was very hard to deal with on the engines and made a lot of promises that they never kept and continually raised the prices.
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 21 Jul 2022, 01:22 |
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Joined: 06/17/16 Posts: 505 Post Likes: +557 Location: Santa Monica, CA
Aircraft: 1981 Baron B55
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I flew one and it certainly was a dog. Porsche failed miserably with this.
_________________ ATP ASMEL G-IV CE-500 CFI/CFII/MEI Gold Seal AGI/IGI
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 21 Jul 2022, 07:39 |
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Joined: 02/28/17 Posts: 1214 Post Likes: +1193 Location: Panama City, FL
Aircraft: Velocity XL-RG
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Username Protected wrote: It's an orphan. There was at one time a path to upgrade to an IO-550, but there were still some limitations making them less desirable than straight Ovations. Does that path no longer exist?
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 21 Jul 2022, 10:27 |
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Joined: 03/04/14 Posts: 1790 Post Likes: +804 Location: FREDERICKSBURG TX
Aircraft: MOONEY M20TN
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Username Protected wrote: Many years ago, Mod Works in Florida was converting Porsche Mooneys. I had the opportunity to buy one that was a hanger queen for a really good price. After test flying one that Mod Works had already converted, I decided against it for many of the issues already listed, and the really good price did not look as good. When Hurricane Charley hit in 2004 it destroyed many of the airplanes that were in for conversion. After Mod Works shut down no more IO-550 conversions. http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=m ... 3f1b2afb8e
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 21 Jul 2022, 11:33 |
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Joined: 02/28/12 Posts: 841 Post Likes: +542 Company: CiES Inc Location: Bend OR
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Username Protected wrote: Many years ago, Mod Works in Florida was converting Porsche Mooneys. I had the opportunity to buy one that was a hanger queen for a really good price. After test flying one that Mod Works had already converted, I decided against it for many of the issues already listed, and the really good price did not look as good. I remember the pile of twin plug Porsche engines in the corner @ Modworks The engines had to be scrapped - no parts were to migrate
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Post subject: Re: Mooney M20L (Porsche engine) Posted: 25 Jul 2022, 21:58 |
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Joined: 01/06/08 Posts: 4702 Post Likes: +2705
Aircraft: B55 P2
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I'm curious, why did anyone buy them? Other posters have mentioned all the bad things, what was good?
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