Aviation is probably about the only hobby where you enjoy it 100 hours a year, and 25K a year is "cheap". Yes I am frugal.... Cheap is using reground lifters that fail in 1300 hours.

I've done the math a hundred times (I love math, just ask me about the massive spreadsheets I created to help us decide what airplane to purchase and craft our partnership, I'm a habitual "counter"). Cost per mile, purely airplane cost, the Mooney is cheaper. But man, did that Bonanza fly way more beautifully than the Mooney. It starts with takeoff where it hugs the ground and then rocketed into the sky, compared to the Mooney which kind of jumps all over the place. It was nice to be in a plane light on the controls, and two adults in the front not brushing shoulders, as much as I like brushing shoulders with the husband. The only thing that would change the price equation I think is if I saved time flying and converted it to hourly billing. But my salary as an engineer is fixed, as is Byron's (for the most part), so saving time does not buy us additional economic opportunity - arriving 15 minutes later doesn't cost us the way it would if we were a salesperson or flying for business and billing by the hour. Anyway, it is what it is. Maybe one day we'll have a Bo, or maybe we'll go the other direction and have an RV. What I know we won't have (despite Byron's pushing about speed vs. mpg) is a Sonex. Those things look like toys you'd buy your 6 year old with their funny canopy and tiny little prop, not my thing

I've done the math a hundred times (I love math, just ask me about the massive spreadsheets I created to help us decide what airplane to purchase and craft our partnership, I'm a habitual "counter"). Cost per mile, purely airplane cost, the Mooney is cheaper. But man, did that Bonanza fly way more beautifully than the Mooney. It starts with takeoff where it hugs the ground and then rocketed into the sky, compared to the Mooney which kind of jumps all over the place. It was nice to be in a plane light on the controls, and two adults in the front not brushing shoulders, as much as I like brushing shoulders with the husband. The only thing that would change the price equation I think is if I saved time flying and converted it to hourly billing. But my salary as an engineer is fixed, as is Byron's (for the most part), so saving time does not buy us additional economic opportunity - arriving 15 minutes later doesn't cost us the way it would if we were a salesperson or flying for business and billing by the hour. Anyway, it is what it is. Maybe one day we'll have a Bo, or maybe we'll go the other direction and have an RV. What I know we won't have (despite Byron's pushing about speed vs. mpg) is a Sonex. Those things look like toys you'd buy your 6 year old with their funny canopy and tiny little prop, not my thing

+1

Rebecca,

Welcome to BT. Glad to hear you like flying the Bo better than the Mooney. You are obvioulsy a sensible person.

What's the difference between a Bonanza and a Mooney?
You fly a Bonanza. You wear a Mooney!

Welcome Rebecca, and it does not matter to me what you fly. This is a real great group of people and the knowledge that is on tap is very humbling to me.

Welcome Rebecca, we've got to get you in a Bonanza and from reading your posts move you over to the right just a little!

I've seen you throw out this number before. Depending on altitude, I run 167k on 11.9 to 12.4. ROP is 16.5ish for 175ish.

Becky , The Mooney fuse is two inches wider than the Bo... Although I fly a Bo , I miss my Mooney tremendously.... The Mooney takes a lot more skill to fly and land , The Bo is probably the easiest plane I have ever landed ... I miss the Glide ratio of the Mooney , the extra margin of glide (either real or percieved) made me feel a lot safer.... The Bo carries a lot more and is a lot faster , at a cost (fuel)... Enjoy your J model...

The Mooney overhaul is under 20K Its an IO360 4 cylinder , not a 6 Cyl continental... The Mooney will go 145 knots ias on 11 gph...

I got an invoice here for 27,500 for a factory OH IO-360-A3B6. Delivers ~August 1st. Field shops wanted 21-25K but this is reground cam, rebuilt heads etc. adding that pushes it up to 25 easily. We bought a mid-time engine to avoid this, and didnt look at it to hard. Its quite shocking, actually. What's an IO-520BB overhaul run?

It actually will do the 153-155 TAS on 10 GPH, 150 around 9. higher altitude, low 8s. Want slower? You can do 6 GPH. 11.5 is a ROP number and believe it or not, I never ran it in cruise ROP.

I was not injected so LOP was not an option , also talking low altitude #s , A 520 factory reman is closer to 38K Plus install and incedentals..

We have a lot of discussion about this on the Mooney forum with the hard core types claiming the Mooney is bigger.

So yes, at the widest point the Mooney is wider than the Bo, and I think the cubic volume is technically larger too.

But you have to consider how that space is arranged. For how I sit, the widest point is about midway up my torso and then it starts narrowing again. Whereas the Bo seems to stay wider for more vertical space.

The real volume advantage in the Mooney is actually leg room, I think for a tall person this is a huge selling point. Me, I'm 5'6", I have to put 3 inch rudder petal extensions and move my seat to the most forward and second most forward position to manipulate the controls (we actually just got the diagrams from the factory to put a hole in the seat tracks between these two positions). So, I take zero advantage of that extra volume.

Anyway, doesn't change me loving the J model - it is a fuel efficient flying machine, and its just Byron and I, and we can load up about all the luggage we could possibly need in the back seat and cargo area. I mean, I guess we could always find somethign to do with more space, the C-180 parked across from us at Osh managed to get a small motorcycle in their plane